'To Kill a Nightingale' 9/11
By phoenix99 (xphoenix99@hotmail.com)

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

CHAPTER 9

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

"And I'm flying, floating on the wind again
 Hoping it will drag me in
 Can't you see I'm hoping
 Wishing I could see myself
 Wishing I was someone else
 But don't you know by now?
 This is what we are."

-'Forest Fire', David Usher

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

March 22nd
Some where on Hwy. 9 north of Allentown
3:03 am


Krycek awoke slowly. The air was damp and his next 
breath made his chest hurt and he coughed. There was 
a bright light flickering in front of his eyes, making 
his head feel like it was being eaten away from the 
inside out by saber-toothed, acid- secreting, 
spike-covered worms. Yes, that would describe the 
sensation perfectly, he thought to himself.

"Excuse me, sir?" came a muffled voice, followed by an
annoying tapping noise. Krycek moaned in agony at
the pain it caused. He fought to open his eyes, and when
he did, he found himself in his car. There was a dark
figure standing outside with a flashlight, alternately
tapping it against the glass and shining it in his eyes.
Raising his hand to shield the bright light, Krycek
peered out and as a car passed by the headlights 
illuminated the police officer standing by the car. 
Krycek sighed as he rolled down his window.

"Sir? Are you alright?" the officer asked as he got a 
better look at Krycek's wounds. "You look pretty 
banged up. Would you like me to call an ambulance or 
give you a ride to the hospital?"

"Uh... no, no, I'm alright." Krycek answered as he began
looking around for his keys.

"Are you sure?" the officer questioned, his eyes 
roaming over the interior of the car.

"Yeah, thanks," Krycek replied as he pulled his keys 
from his pocket, trying not to sound as pissed off as 
he really was. The officer nodded slowly and left to 
go back to his car.

Krycek rolled up the window and jammed the keys into 
the ignition, mumbling obscenities to himself, hoping 
that perhaps it would help to lessen the ache in his 
head. He quickly became aware of the burning sensation 
coming from his wrist and when looked at it he found 
that it was blistered and raw. The large welts were 
crusty and stung like hell. He turned on the inside 
light and pulled down the sun visor to looked at himself.

"Aww shit," he muttered, lightly poking his bruised and
bloody face. The long interrogation he had suffered
through was wasting no time in coming back to him. He 
hadn't told them anything... at least he didn't think 
he had. Hell, he didn't know anything anyway. As soon as 
Mulder and Scully had shown up at the hospital it had 
been all down hill from there.

Slamming the sun visor back up, Krycek turn the ignition 
and punched the gas, swerving into the speeding traffic. 
His anger quickly became rage, and he had to slam on the 
brakes to avoid smashing into the back of a mini van. He 
punched the steering wheel, but it only succeeded in 
causing him more pain. In his hazy and frustrated state 
he almost missed a sign which read 'Wilmington Airport 
Next Exit'. Perfect, Krycek thought as he turned off the 
highway.

When he arrived at the airport, he quickly parked his car
and headed inside. It wasn't a large airport, and wasn't
very busy because of the time, which was just fine with
him. After a quick clean up in the bathroom, Krycek pulled
out his cell phone and dialed a number. It rang as he got
in line to get a ticket.

"Yeah?" came the voice of Nick on the other end.

"What have you got for me?" Krycek asked before he
pulled the phone away from his mouth and said, "One
business, soonest you have to Washington DC." The
person across the counter looked him, then at his ID and
nodded.

"Man we've been looking everywhere for you, what the
hell happened?" Nick asked. Krycek got his ticket and
began walking to the terminal.

"I got caught up with that bastard Spender. He had his
fucking goons beat the shit out of me," Krycek said
bitterly, the dull pain from his bruises a constant
reminder or his incounter with CGB.

"Well, maybe this will make up for it," Nick said as
Krycek was getting on the plane. "Ilya went out to track
Skinner down so that he'd be easy to find when you got
back."

Krycek sat down in his seat; the people around him were
mingling tiredly, trying to find their seats. The flight 
attendants were beginning to speak to the passengers and 
show them the safety proceedures. "Is that it?"
Krycek asked impatiently as he prepared to stare down
everyone who tried to sit in the seat next to him.

"No, I saved the best for last. We finally got word back
from one of our scouts in China," Nick said excitedly.

Krycek sat up straight in his seat. When they had first 
heard of these 'gifted' people they had sent out several 
scouts to find out what the different factions were doing 
with them, but without success. They hadn't heard from 
any of them for months; most of the updates they were
supposed to send ended abruptly after the first three
weeks. Now, all of a sudden one of the scouts shows up, 
right in the midst of potentially the best chance he 
would ever have to get his hands on one of these gifted 
people. How convenient.

"Wait, I thought they were all dead," Krycek said 
quietly, turning towards the window so other passengers 
wouldn't hear him and get suspicious.

"That's what we were told. It seems he was cornered for a
while and wasn't able to get out of the country, so he sent
us letter."

"What does it say?" Krycek asked, the urgency in his
voice growing. He could almost taste the answers he was
about to hear.

"These people can heal, but that's not all. They have the
power to make the body change itself," Nick said
enigmatically.

"Explain," Krycek demanded. The people in front of him
looked at him strangely. He wanted to laugh at them, the
stupid fuckers. If they only knew what he knew....

"They've been teaching them to make people genetically
immune to the alien virus..."

There was a brief pause in the conversation as the impact
of what had been said seeped into Krycek's mind. "Holy
shit," he muttered in astonishment, "...that would mean 
that all their children would be immune as well."

"Exactly. The only problem is that these people become
extremely suicidal. They haven't been able to keep them
alive for very long. Even when they're kept in a safe
environment, they still manage to kill themselves."

"Excuse me, sir?" Krycek looked over at the flight 
attendant trying to get his attention, "Sir, please 
turn off your cell phone." 

"Ok, keep Ilya on Skinner. I'm on my way back to DC."

Krycek closed his phone and slipped it back into his
pocket. His heart was racing, and it had nothing to do
with the plane that was beginning to rumble down the 
runway. 

There was a way. These people really were the answer;
they were the solution for a permanent vaccine against
the black oil.

The flight attendant stopped her cart beside Krycek's
seat. "Can I get you something, sir?" she asked 
happily, forcing a friendly smile that betrayed the 
fatigue in her eyes.

"Straight vodka." He didn't usually drink while on
planes, but he definitely felt like a drink now. The
attendant handed him the small glass and he took a large
gulp of the clear liquid. He finished it quickly before
setting it in the cup holder and dropping his head back
against the seat. He watched the blackness pass by
outside his window as he reanalyzed what he had heard
from Nick.

His slightly intoxicated mind rationalized that Skinner
was the reason he had lost the girl and had bruises all
over his chest and face. This was all his fault, and he was
going to pay. He had destroyed all that he had accomplished 
and Krycek swore he would watch that bastard take his last 
breath.

And, in doing so, would bring all the little FBI agents and
their new friends out of the wood work.

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

9:55 am


He awoke on the couch, a blanket covering his almost
naked body. He couldn't remember how he'd gotten his
boxers on or how he had gotten on the couch, but that
didn't really matter. He sat up and pushed the blanket 
off, rubbing his hands slowly over his face. He quickly 
pulled on the wrinkled clothes sitting on the floor and 
walked into the kitchen. Through the glass doors Mulder 
could see Scully's slim, jacket-clad figure standing out 
on the deck, a glass of orange juice in her hand.

He slipped on his jacket before he pulled open the glass
door and stepped out into the cool air. Scully glanced at
him over her shoulder before turning back to look out at
the pristine lake. He came up beside her, leaning against 
the railing and following her gaze down to the shore. 
Karen was sitting on the dock, a few rocks piled beside 
her. Every once and a while she'd pick one up and hurl it 
into the glassy water, making it ripple unnaturally.

"Has she been down there long?" Mulder asked as he
watched her toss in another rock.

"She was down there when I came out. I almost had a
heart attack when I couldn't find her," Scully said before
taking a drink of her orange juice.

"Almost had one of those yesterday," Mulder replied
quietly as he remembered the way he had panicked when he'd 
thought that Scully and Karen were gone.

The air was chilly and Mulder shivered as he tried to 
snuggle deeper into his jacket. The cool wind rustled the 
dead branches and budding trees making the world around 
them whisper. The birds were rather quiet this morning 
and the water in the lake was calm and inviting, though 
it was obviously too cold to swim. Scully looked over at 
Mulder as he appreciated the view. She nudged him with 
her glass, offering him a sip of her orange juice, and he 
smiled, accepting the gift. He took a drink before 
handing it back to her. It felt good to be able to share 
things like that without it being awkward anymore. He 
smiled at her before leaving the deck and walking down 
the small path towards the shore.

It even colder on the rocks and he pulled his jacket a 
Little tighter around himself to fight back the biting 
chill. Carefully he stepped from rock to rock until he 
was on the small dock. He walked the short distance to 
where Karen was sitting and sat down beside her.

"You know, I remember reading a story," Karen said to
him, keeping her eyes fixed on the shoreline off in the
distance. "It was about an old man who was dying and
was so afraid of death and the pain it would bring that he
prayed to the gods, pleading to be kept alive. So one day
the gods answer him and make him an offer. They tell
him that they can grant him a quick and painless death,
or they can take him to paradise where he would not die.
But, for every day he spends in paradise, his death will
be that much more painful when he chooses to leave. The
man chooses paradise, of course.

"After the first day, the man says he's not ready to die,
and that he wants another day. The gods remind him
about the penalty for every day he spends there, but he's
sure it's better than death. As the days go by, he refuses
to die, and he starts thinking more and more about how
painful his death will be now that he's spent so much
time in paradise. By this time his family and friends are
dead; he is all alone, but he will not die for fear of the
pain. So he stays there, forever, always fearing his death
and never ending it even though he could have anytime."
She hurled another rock into the water, the noise it made
scaring a small flock of geese out of some reeds not far
away. The startled birds took to the sky and disappeared 
over the trees. "I've been wondering if this is my 
paradise," she finished quietly.

"This place is far from paradise," Mulder said jokingly 
as he looked around them. "There isn't even a beach."

Karen rewarded him with a small smile and an offering
of a rock. He took it, looking at it a moment before
throwing it as far as he could out into the lake. It made a
large splash, the water crinkling oddly before it
smoothed out again. It left him with a wonderful feeling
and he soon felt another rock being placed in his hand.

"Agent Scully wants to go to the hospital today," Karen
murmured as she rolled a small stone around in her
hand, mapping out the tiny ridges and marks on its
smooth surface.

"She just wants to know why you are what you are," Mulder
tried to explain as he threw his rock out into the water. It
made more of a 'plunk' sound than his first. Karen made
a noise in response to his explanation as she threw her
own stone in after his. There were a few minutes of
silence before anyone spoke again.

"You can just call us by our last names if you want. I'm
not really used to being called 'Agent Mulder'. Just
'Mulder' is fine and I'm sure Scully wouldn't mind if you 
just called her 'Scully'."

"Ok," Karen said, and Mulder saw for the first time what
might possibly be a genuine smile. Maybe she had been
waiting for him to invite her closer; to finally start
treating her like a person, not a lab rat. Or maybe she
just wanted to be let in, to be allowed a place with the
only people left who really cared.

"I wanted to thank you for what you've given us, Karen.
You've given us back our lives."

She looked over at him, her eyes clear and bottomless but
still kind and understanding. "I think that maybe you
should be thanking yourself."

"What do you mean?" Mulder asked, stopping mid-throw
to hear what she would say.

"I've been thinking about what happened, and if doesn't 
make sense. I don't believe I had any control over what 
happened at the hospital. I mean, I did the basic stuff, 
fixing your obvious injuries and all that. But I think 
when I lost it, I only became the source of power; you 
and Agent Scully were the controllers and I think
you gave each other what you wanted most."

"Why do you say that?"

"If I had actually lost control, total control, I think the
results would have been much more... unpleasant and
not as specific. I just think it's strange that the things 
that you wanted so badly were the things that you got."

Mulder couldn't say anything to that, and he watched
Karen as she stood up and brushed off her pants. He
looked up at her and she reach down a hand to him. He
took it and she helped him up, almost falling off the dock
in the process. Catching her arm, Mulder stopped her
from her fall. Mulder grinned and Karen smiled with 
embarrassment, mumbling something about the water being 
so cold that not even she could save them if they fell in. 
They both laughed and joked about it as they started back 
to the house. Both were stepping carefully along the 
rocks until they reached the soft dark earth and 
protective trees. Karen stopped suddenly and turned to 
Mulder who stopped behind her and waited to see what she 
would say.

Her smile was still light when she spoke. "I hope that
after whatever happens, you'll move on. I didn't... I 
never thought it would go this far." He didn't know
what he should say to that and Karen just nodded,
understanding his loss of words and continued towards
the house.

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

1:27 p.m.
Washington DC


Lunch had been rather bland today. The Dagion, where
he usually bought his chicken sandwiches, had been
packed and crowded with other government employees.
He hadn't been that hungry anyway. He wasn't feeling
well today. In fact, he thought he might take the rest of
the day off.

He was on his way back to his car when he heard
someone following close behind him, the soft footsteps
coming closer and closer.

"Not having a very good day, Skinner?" said a familiar
voice. He turned around quickly to find Alex Krycek
walking casually behind him.

"What the hell do you want?" Skinner asked bitterly, still
walking to his car.

"You don't look too good Walter, maybe you're not feeling 
well... That's too bad. You know, I heard there was a bug 
going around. I think I had one a few days ago," Krycek 
said suggestively.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Skinner said as he
opened his car door. Underneath his cool exterior he was
praying that Krycek wasn't hinting at what he thought he
was.

"Probably nothing to worry about; you should go home
and get some rest," he said with such an evil grin Skinner 
could have sworn he was the devil himself. Skinner watched
Krycek carefully as he got in his car. "Hope you're feeling
better," he heard Krycek call as he quickly drove away,
watching in his rear view mirror as Krycek disappeared
behind him.

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

3:53 p.m.
EMMC in Bangor


The waiting room was small and cramped, but thankfully
rather empty. He and Scully had been with Karen
through each test, every step of the way. They had all
played their parts well; Karen the ill patient, Mulder the
stricken father, and Scully the worried doctor. No one in
the hospital suspected a thing.

They had just finished the MRI, which Scully had
promised would be the last test for the day. All she had to
do was make sure it came out properly and Mulder and
Karen could leave.

It seemed to be taking a little longer than Mulder would
have liked. He was getting anxious about sitting out in
the open; with so many people around it was dangerous.
Any one of them could be looking for Karen. His
paranoia was getting the better of him, and it was making
Karen a bit antsy as well. He was about to go ask for
Scully's whereabouts when she appeared at the door.

"I have everything I need, so you two can head home,"
Scully said, having to stay in character in front of the
three other people in the room. When she finished
talking, Mulder noticed she was looking at him curiously
and he wondered if the thin sheen of sweat on his
forehead was giving away the amount of stress he was
feeling.

"When do you think the... results will be in?" Mulder asked 
as they got ready to leave. He tried to phrase his questions
to sound as innocent as possible.

"It's hard to say; it will probably be later tonight," 
Scully answered casually.

He nodded; that was what he'd thought she'd say.
"Alright, thanks," he said before ushering Karen out the
door.

He was quick to get them out of the hospital and into a
cab. Deciding against stopping to get anything like
clothes, Mulder told the driver to take them straight to 
Alligator Lake.

They were just leaving Bangor when Mulder's cell phone
began to ring. He pulled it out and turned it on, catching
himself before he answered in the usual fashion--with his
last name.

"Hello?"

"Mul...John?" came a familiar voice on the other end. It
sounded like Frohike, but how could he be sure?

"Who is this?"

"You know who this is. *John*, something's happened," the 
person on the other end said urgently.

"If you are who you say you are, what is the name of your
computer?" Mulder asked seriously.

"Dammit, I named it Dana. Now listen to me," Frohike said 
angrily. "Skinner is at Sibley Memorial Hospital. He's got 
that nano virus again... you know, the one you told us 
about. He's dying."

Mulder was speechless for a second. "When did this
happen?" he demanded. He could see the driver of the
taxi glancing at him in the rear view mirror.

"We heard about it a half an hour ago, so we sent someone 
in to take a look and he confirmed it."

Mulder felt a tug on his sleeve and he looked over at
Karen.

"We should go to him," she whispered. "I can save him."

Mulder frowned as he covered the phone so Frohike
wouldn't hear them. "You'll be walking right into their
outstretched arms, Karen. They'll be waiting for us."

"We can't let him die. He's too important in the grand
scheme of things to just let him die," Karen tried to
explain to him. "And he's your friend."

Mulder studied her for a moment, looking for any sign of
indecision. But here were none, and she nodded at him in 
reassurance. It was a difficult decision to have to make; 
Skinner, a man they had known for years who had always 
helped them out of difficult situations and would help 
them in the future, or Karen, a miracle cure and their 
guardian angel.

"Alright, thanks," Mulder said as he ended the call.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Mulder asked her,
hoping that she knew what she was stepping into.

"I'm well aware of the risks. I think we should go."

He nodded slowly and sighed before dialing another
Number on his phone.

"Driver, Bangor International Airport," Mulder said to the
driver. He turned the car around and started heading in
the new direction.

There was a click on the other end of the phone at
Mulder's ear before he heard Scully's voice, "Hello?"

"Scully, we're going to have to go back to DC."

There was a pause.

"Mulder, are you insane?" Scully whispered harshly, the
surprise obvious in her voice. Mulder wouldn't give her
the satisfaction of answering that question. "There are
going to be people waiting for us and we aren't ready."

She was right, but what else could they do?

"The Gunmen phoned, Skinner is dying and it's Krycek 
again. Karen says she'll help him, so I'm taking her to 
the airport now. Can you meet us there?"

Another pause. He could tell Scully was as caught up in
this now as he was. And it didn't look like she was
coming up with any sound alternatives.

"Mulder... what about the interview tape? It's still at the
house. I still have test results to go through."

"Dammit," Mulder murmured to himself.

"What if get all my stuff together, go back to the house,
get the tape and take a later flight to DC," she suggested.
"There just isn't time for you to wait here."

"Ok. We'll go straight to the hospital and then wait
somewhere else for you to arrive."

"Alright, I'll call you when I arrive at Dullas," she said,
ending the call.

It wasn't long before their cab pulled up to the front 
doors of the airport, which was unbelievably busy. They got 
their tickets as quickly as possible and boarded the plane. 
As they waited to take off, Mulder kept staring at the door, 
wishing that Scully had gotten the tape and would be able to 
take the flight with them. But he knew she wouldn't be able 
to do all those things in such short time. He'd just have to 
wait for her in DC, as much as he hated the idea.

Karen seemed unusually calm, watching the people around her 
carefully. She had been like that since he'd received the 
call from Frohike, and it was reaching a point where it was 
almost unsettling. Maybe she was doing the same thing she 
had done to the nurses in the hospital and the soldier at 
the roadblock... maybe she was trying to keep them hidden 
for wandering eyes.

"Karen, you'll tell me if you see anybody?" he asked her
and she nodded, understanding him exactly. They both
knew that she was their best protection.

The pilot announced over the speakers that the plane was
about to take off and that he hoped everyone had a good
trip. They buckled their seat belts and the plane started 
down the runway.

"You know, Mulder," Karen said to him, and he turned to
look at her. The plane shook a bit as it took off; other
people could be seen gripping their seats or closing their
eyes, but it didn't phase either of them. "I think this may
be the end of the road."

Mulder blinked at her, not sure what she meant and not
sure if he wanted to know. She turned away from him to
look out the window as Maine disappeared beneath them
under the orange evening sky.

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

7:33 p.m.


They'd waited at the airport for a while, against Mulder's
better judgement. His instinct were screaming at him to get 
out of there and get to Skinner, but he wanted desperately 
for Scully to come with him so that if something happened 
to him she could take Karen. He was also afraid to leave 
the protection that the crowded airport offered.

"Let's go to the hospital; hopefully Scully will catch up
with us there," Mulder said reluctantly. God, he hoped it
was the truth. "I don't think staying here any longer is
such a great idea."

Mulder let Karen lead him out of the building, since she
was able to tell which exits were being watched. They
were on their way out when Karen turned suddenly,
looking into a large crowd of bustling people.

"What is it?" Mulder asked nervously as he scanned the 
crowd.

"Just keep going," she whispered as she pushed him
towards the exit.

It was wet and dark outside; it had been raining off and
on all day in DC, unlike the strange pristine conditions 
they had become accustomed to in Maine. Mulder hurried Karen
into the closest cab and told the driver to take them to
Sibley Memorial.

The ride was quicker than he thought it would be; traffic
seemed abnormally light. When they arrived, Mulder
paid the driver and stepped out onto the busy sidewalk. 
Before they went in, Mulder stopped Karen with a gentle 
hand on her shoulder.

"If anything happens, I want you to run," he told her.
Karen gave him a brief but uncertain nod, her eyes
roaming over the outside of the hospital with uncertainty.

"We don't have to do this, you know," he explained to
her, wondering if she was having second thoughts.

She took a deep breath and looked him in the eye. "We
didn't come all this way for nothing."

He looked over at the entrance; people seemed oblivious
to them as they went in and out. Mulder took a deep
breath before taking her hand and walking her inside. The 
hospital was crowded with people, but Mulder was still 
able to find out what room Skinner was in, having been 
able to develop his skills of finding information in 
hospitals over a number of years.

They hurried into the closest elevator and the other
passengers looked on nervously as Mulder pushed the'close doors' button repeatedly until they closed. When 
the elevator doors opened to let them off, Mulder 
scanned the hallway, looking for anything suspicious at 
all. Doctors and nurses going about their business were 
the only things in sight. When he was satisfied that it 
was safe they stepped off the elevator and Mulder led 
Karen down the hall until they came to Skinner's room. 
Opening the door, Mulder was faced with an image he 
remembered well from the year before. Skinner was lying 
unconscious in the hospital bed, his skin covered in 
pulsing, black and blue veins.

Damn Krycek and his nanos. He was such a fucking coward.

Mulder closed the door behind them and leaned up
against it as Karen walk over to the dying man. She
regarded him critically for a moment before she placed
her hands on his chest. Immediately Mulder could feel
the electricity in the air; his clothes became staticy and
the doorknob gave him a good shock. His eyes grew wide
with curiosity as he left his spot at the door and
approached the bed. He could see the dark veins under
the skin beginning to disappear until they were gone
completely and Skinner looked just like he had the week
before.

Skinner gasped and Karen opened her eyes abruptly.
She stepped back as he began to move and slowly wake
up.

Suddenly Karen turned to the door, her eyes frightened.
"Krycek," she whispered. Mulder was confused for only a
moment before he began to look around frantically for
something to use as a weapon, since he didn't have his 
gun.

Seconds after her warning, the door opened and none
other than Krycek walked into the room, stopping
suddenly when he saw Mulder and the large steel bar he
held.

Krycek's moment of surprise disappeared quickly when
he noticed Karen.

"Mulder, I've been expecting you. I wanted to meet your
new friend." He sneered as he approached them, making 
them back into the corner of the room.

"Get the hell out of my way, Krycek," Mulder threatened,
waving the steel bar in front of him.

"I don't think so," Krycek said as he pulled his gun
from its holster. But before he could do anything with
it, he was attacked from behind by a very pissed-off
Assistant Director.

"Go!" Skinner yelled as he wrestled Krycek to the ground.

Mulder wasted no time in grabbing Karen's hand and
dragging her out of the room and down the hall to the 
closest stairway. He slammed the heavy door behind them 
and hurried her down the steps. He tried to help her 
along, but Karen was slowing down and she began to slip 
and fall as her legs became entangled.

Stopping, he let go of her hand as she stumbled towards 
the closest wall, leaning up against cold cement. "Karen 
what's wrong?" Mulder asked desperately, his breath ragged.

She was gasping, trying to catch her breath. "I don't
know... I thought I was strong enough...."

"It's ok, we'll get you out of here; we'll get you some place
safe, where you can rest," he said, trying to reassure her.
She nodded and they continued their struggle out of the
hospital.

After struggling through the parking garage, a spooky
reminder of a few days earlier, they ended up out on the 
sidewalk. Mulder left Karen near the side of the building 
where the shadows cast by the street lights hid her as he 
tried to hail a cab. Finally one stopped, and Mulder rushed 
Karen into the back.

"Where to, sir?" the driver asked him.

Where could they go? Mulder wondered. Karen needed
some place to rest, some place very low key.

"Take us to Idylwood," Mulder finally said to the cabbie.
Hopefully they could find a motel. At least this way they
would be closer to Dulles and hopefully out of the
spotlight. He couldn't risk leading Krycek or anyone else
to the Gunmen's place and his and Scully's apartments were 
far from safe.

The car lurched forward as they started for Idylwood.
Karen didn't look well at all, and Mulder kept talking to
her, trying to keep her alert. She wasn't as bad as she had
been when they'd first found her, but she was definitely
unable to focus. She was shaking a bit, but when Mulder
asked her about it, she said she was fine and that she just
needed to catch her breath.

When they arrived in Idylwood, Mulder paid the driver
and helped Karen out of the car. She stumbled over the curb,
but he supported her with his arm as they stumbled together
towards a dingy motel across the road.

"Come on, there's a motel just over there. You can rest
there and we can wait for Scully to get back. She'll help
you; we'll take care of you," he rambled. Karen nodded
weakly, not seeming too concerned with where she could
rest, only when.

They finally made it into the main office, where Karen 
quickly collapsed into the closest chair. The large, 
hairy woman behind the counter unglued her eyes from the 
shopping network on the TV sitting beside her to meet 
Mulder's frightened eyes. 

"One room." Mulder said as he laid a pile of bills on 
the counter. The woman handed Mulder the keys but before 
she could hand him the change he was already out the door.

Mulder jammed the key into the door and hurried Karen 
into the room. He was anxious to get her rested so that 
if they had to leave quickly she'd be ready to go. They 
had to take advantage of every opportunity they got.

The room was almost a replica of the one he'd had in
Albany.... But most motel rooms looked the same. Karen
didn't even look at the room, she immediately went
straight to the bed and flopped down on it.

"Are you going to be alright?" Mulder asked her again 
as he passed around the room, becoming extremely 
concerned and hating himself for putting her through 
this. He should never have brought her back.

She nodded and mumbled into the pillow she had
burrowed her head into. She still insisted that she'd be
fine in a few minutes. Despite all her reassurances 
Mulder didn't think that was likely.

Unable to help her, and with nowhere to go, Mulder
started to look for something he could use to defend
them. He'd have liked to have the metal bar he had found
in the hospital, but it didn't seem like he'd be that lucky
here. After an extensive search he decided that the
wooden towel bar would have to do. He went to the
window to keep a look out, nervously playing with the
edge of the curtains with one hand and gripping the
piece of wood in his other. Suddenly his cell phone rang,
startling him from his concentration. He pulled it out and
answered it. "Hello?"

"Mulder, I'm at Dulles. Where are you?" Thank god, it
was Scully. He felt the relief of knowing she was close by
wash away some of his anxiety.

"We're at a motel in Idylwood. It's called...." Mulder
peeked between the curtains at the neon sign outside.
"Stop and Go. We're in room 31."

"Is everything alright?" 

"I don't know Scully, Karen doesn't look so great." 
Mulder told her as he looked over at the girl asleep on 
the bed.

"I'll be there right away," Scully said quickly before she
hung up.

Mulder put the phone back into his pocket as he
continued to watch out the window for Scully's arrival.
X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X

9:01 p.m.

Scully sped all the way from the airport, the light drizzle
making her feel like she had hydroplaned the entire way,
and maybe she had. Her rental car bounced over the
poorly paved edge of the parking lot as she checked the
blinking neon sign one more time to make sure she had
the right place. Ahead of her she noticed something on
the wet pavement and she was about to swerve around it, 
but as she came closer, to her horror she realized it was 
a person, lying on their stomach. Her car came to a jerky 
halt and she got out, quickly running towards the body. 
Dropping down on her knees, she grabbed the damp clothing and
rolled the person over.

It was Mulder. He had blood on his face and his right eye
was starting to swell. Without thinking of anything else
Scully pressed two fingers against his neck. He moaned
when she touched him and she breathed a sigh of relief.

"Mulder?" she asked shakily as she brushed the hair out
of his eyes, but he couldn't seem to answer her. His eyes
came open and he looked frightened; they darted around
her and he seemed desperate about something. She
immediately thought of Karen.

Suddenly, from out of nowhere, someone grabbed her
from behind. She fought them bravely, striking back at
them with her elbows and legs, but they were larger and
stronger. They knocked her down to the ground and
roughly gagged and tied her hands with duct tape.
Another person was already tying Mulder up, and he
could give little resistance in the state he was in. Scully
could see the faint rivulets of blood rolling down his face
and knew she could do nothing to help him.

One of the men gave a short yell and a second later a
white van came speeding around the corner of the
building. It screeched to a halt beside them and the back
doors opened. The men picked Mulder up and tossed
him uncaringly into the back. When they came back to
get Scully she fought them again, but it didn't last long
after one man hit her hard across the side of her face,
disorienting her enough to force her into the van as well.

The doors slammed shut and they were surrounded in
darkness. It took Scully a moment for her eyes to adjust
to the new light, and even then it was hard to see
anything. She heard a noise to her right, definitely not a
Mulder noise. It was must be Karen she guessed, tied up
along with them.

The sound of slamming doors was followed by the van
jerking forward violently, flinging them to the back.
Scully heard Karen cry out when her head hit the hard
door and Mulder made no sound when he was thrown
into it.

She realized now that they had failed. This was the end
of the road and they just didn't have the strength to walk
on. This could probably be the last time she would ever
see Karen again... maybe Mulder too. If it had to happen
this way, then they wouldn't get her without a fight. If
she was going down she would damn well take some of
them with her.

Crawling over to Mulder, Scully tried to assess the
damage. She could see the blood in the dim light, but
could do nothing with her hands tied. She looked over in
Karen's direction, asking in her mind if she was alright.
Karen made a noise which sounded to Scully like an 'uh
hunh'. At least she hoped it was, but maybe she was just
imagining it.

There was some shuffling and she could barely see Karen
moving around, turning and leaning back against
Mulder. He was drifting in and out of consciousness,
making little noises, then going silent. In the dim light,
Scully could see Karen reaching back until her bound
hands rested on Mulder's side. Hopefully Karen had recovered 
enough to help Mulder so that he'd be able to defend himself 
when he needed to. He wasn't much use the way he was now.

It was only a few seconds before Karen turned back
around and Mulder was waking up. He fought the tape
around his wrist for a few seconds before remembering
what was happening. He made a noise, and Karen and
Scully called back to let him know they were there as
well.

It was an impossible situation to be in. They couldn't talk
to create a plan, and they couldn't use their hands to
defend themselves. Scully kept wishing and waiting for
Mulder to pull out something to cut the tape, anything to
make their situation a little better, but he just quietly 
sat beside her. If there had been a little more light she 
was sure she would have seen a familiar expression of 
self-loathing on his face. This wasn't his fault, but he 
would never agree with her.

The van stopped suddenly, and they all slid forward into
the opposite metal wall, Mulder's shoulder crashing into
it hard. The doors opened and they all prepared to fight.
They struggled with the men, but they were overwhelmed 
again. The captives were thrown out of the truck and 
onto the white cement floor. They soon saw that there 
was little to fight about since they found themselves
surrounded by armed soldiers, all of them with their
guns aimed at their heads.

"Stay on the ground. Don't move or you die," ordered an
unfamiliar voice behind them.

Scully turned her head and looked over at Karen, who
was lying on the ground to her left. She had her forehead
pressed against the floor and her eyes were squeezed
shut tightly. Scully thought maybe she was hurt, but she
couldn't see her well enough to tell.

"Take the two FBI to the brig," they heard the same 
gravely voice order.

Four officers stepped up, walking towards the spot where
Mulder and Scully lay.  They grabbed their arms and
hauled them roughly to their feet. But when Scully faced
the soldier in front of her, his eyes looked blank, vacant.

Scully looked over quickly at Mulder, who was seeing
the same thing. Suddenly all hell broke loose. Soldiers
started fumbling with their guns and asking what was
going on; some of them were turning on each other.
Scully took this moment to knee the soldier in front of
her in the groin and he yelped in surprise. Out of the
corner of her eye she saw Mulder fighting off the
disoriented soldiers as best he could with his hands still
tied.

Frantically, Scully looked down at Karen who was
struggling to get up.

Karen yelled at her, her voice muffled by the tape across
her lips, but Scully ignored her cry and tried to help her. 
She desperately tried to lift her exhausted body off the 
Floor, but Karen was almost entirely limp with exhaustion.

"Attention!" yelled a large, scary looking man standing by
the van, trying to control the chaos. Some of the soldiers
were snapping out of their dementia and stopped what
they were doing, quickly regrouping. Two of them went
after Mulder, hauling him to the ground. He grunted as
he hit the hard pavement, knocking the wind out of him.

Suddenly Scully felt hands on her arms, trying to pull
her away from Karen, who was almost to her feet. She
struggled against her opponent, but they were just too
strong. Just when she was about to give up, Karen
reached out and grabbed the man's leg. He howled in
pain, falling backwards into another soldier. Grabbing
his leg, he curled up into a ball, whimpering pathetically.

Karen seemed stunned by what had happened, and just
stood and stared at the wounded man in total
bewilderment. Scully tried to pull her away, but before
she could she was taken down forcefully by another soldier.

"Get this girl out of here!" someone yelled. Scully
watched in horror as one of the soldiers near her hit
Karen in the side of the face with the butt of his gun. She
fell limply to the ground and didn't move.

"No! You bastards! She didn't do anything!" Mulder
yelled, having somehow gotten his gag partly off.
However, he was quickly silenced with a hard boot to his
side from the soldier holding him down. He groaned in
pain and Scully winced in sympathy.

"Take these two away," someone shouted to the soldiers,
who were now much calmer and collected. Scully got one 
last look as Karen's frail body was carried away, before 
she was blindfolded and dragged in the opposite direction.

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

END OF CHAPTER 9

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