TITLE: A Little Help
AUTHOR: JordanX
DATE: August , 2003
DISCLAIMERS: X-Files characters don't belong to me... ::sigh:: The song
lyrics before and after the story aren't mine either. Don't sue
me....please.
SPOILERS: None that I can see.
RATING: PG-13...I guess. There's one "bad" word, so use your own
discretion.
SUMMARY: Krycek needs help from the least likely person to give it to him.
FEEDBACK: Always good....except of course when it's bad...uh, anyway....yes please. JordanXF9@CS.com . I like to know what you think.... ----------------- "Right Behind You" - Our Lady Peace
You haven't seen the world outside for days You sleep, you hope, you wait Imagination disappears And all the dreams you have you save Confrontation like a mirror They try to take your mind away I don't know, but I believe in yesterday And what it means to bleed and know that you're okay
Are you waiting? No matter what you say No matter what you do No matter what, I'm always right there behind you
Bombarded by the atmosphere You breathe, you choke, you breathe again Conversation disappears You realize they're not your friends The panic of the future rears You dig, you jerk, you find another way
You open up my veins, now I don't feel the same no, no, no You open up my brain, but I won't be replaced no, no, no
No matter what you say No matter what you do No matter what, I'm always right there behind you
-----------------
MULDER'S APARTMENT 3:57 AM
It was really late. Or really early depending on how you wanted to look at it. It was also one of those rare occasions when Mulder was actually sleeping. These things thrown together made for one very angry Mulder when relentless pounding on his apartment door woke him up.
He got up from the couch reluctantly and made his way toward the door. Looking through the peephole, his mood did improve one bit. In fact, now he was pissed.
"What the hell do you want Krycek?" Mulder said angrily as he opened the door.
Krycek looked at Mulder but did not answer. He looked like he hadn't slept in days. His hair was a mess and his clothes disheveled. Whatever his reason for coming, it didn't seem to be violent. Mulder noticed the lack of weaponry aimed at him - when Krycek was involved, Mulder usually wound up with a gun to his chest.
"Well?" Mulder pryed.
"I need your help."
Mulder's first reaction was to laugh and slam the door in his face, but there was something about the way he asked. Like it was the hardest thing he ever had to do. So, he returned Krycek's penetrating gaze and stepped aside, wordlessly inviting him in. Krycek accepted and moved past Mulder to the living room.
"I'm sorry if I woke you," Krycek said, realizing a moment to late how lame it was to say that.
"Why should I help you? Why should I even listen to what it is you have to say?" Mulder replied, ignoring Krycek's comment.
"I know there's no reason why you should help me. Literally. I couldn't give you one if my life depended on it. But....I didn't know who else to go to...there is no one else to go to. I wouldn't be here if it wasn't really important....I need someone I can trust...." Krycek finished quietly.
"And you trust *me*?" Mulder asked disbelievingly.
"In a way, yes. I mean, I know you hate me - and you have every right to - but I also know that your genuinely a good person, and if you decide to help I know you won't let a personal vendetta get in the way."
"So, what? Your using me?" Mulder was still angry, but more than that, he was curious.
"No. Like I said, there is no one else I can ask for help. No one's making you do anything. I didn't even bring my gun. I'm just asking if you'll hear me out." Krycek had never felt so vulnerable before, so weak. He was practically begging for Mulder's help.
Mulder sat on his couch and motioned for Krycek to do the same. They couldn't have sat further apart if they tried. Mulder turned to face the man beside him and gave him his full attention. "Go ahead."
Krycek sighed and then began. "Yesterday this was slid under my door," he pulled neatly folded papers from the inside pocket of his leather jacket and held them in his hand, "I didn't know why anyone would want me to see these at first....but, I kept reading." He stopped and nervously cleared his throat, trying to conceal the emotion that was slowly rising to the surface. "Apparently, when I was still working for the men in the Consortium, there was an experiment conducted....I didn't know about it. I don't even know how they did it...I - They must have drugged me or something..." he paused to regain his composure. Falling apart in front of Mulder was not high on his list of things to do.
Mulder reached out and took the papers, giving Krycek time to gather himself. Medical records. One medical record to be exact, for a 4 year old boy. Mulder looked up at Krycek for an explanation. Mulder's usually quick on the uptake, but he was still utterly lost as to what Krycek was telling him.
"I don't know the specifics, " Krycek continued, "of how...or why...but, I think, according to those anyway - he's my son." His voice gave out a little as he finished his sentence, but at this point he was beyond worrying about being tough in front of Mulder. There were more important things at hand.
Mulder didn't know what to say. A son? Definitely didn't see that one coming.
Mulder skimmed through the record quickly, and sure enough, it mentioned Krycek as the father. "You think that he's being held somewhere? Even though the Consortium's destroyed?" Mulder asked, deciding to ignore all the questions swimming around in his brain and aiming straight for a plan instead.
"I don't see why else I would be given this," he opened his mouth to continue but stopped, searching for the right words. When nothing eloquent came to him, he decided to just be blunt. "Will you help me?"
Mulder thought for a minute. Why should he bother? Why risk his life to help Krycek, after all he's done to him, his family, Scully...the list goes on. And yet, when he opened his mouth to speak, none of this was mentioned. He asked, "Where? Do you know?"
"Uh, no. There's a doctor's name on the record though. I figured I would start there."
"Yeah...what time is it?" Mulder asked, noticing the confused look on Krycek's face.
"4:28, why?"
"Well, it's a little early but I have to shower and get ready. If you want to wait, we can go down to the FBI and look up that name, see if we can get a location." Mulder stood as he finished speaking.
Mulder was going to help. Krycek honestly hadn't expected that.
"Okay," he said simply.
Mulder nodded and headed towards the bathroom. he thought to himself before stepping into the shower.
A short time later Mulder reentered the living room, but he was alone. Quick glance around, no one there. A sound came from the kitchen. So he's still here. Mulder entered the kitchen and couldn't help but smile, even though he tried not to. There was Krycek, making coffee. It was a simple thing that would probably go unnoticed had it been anyone else, but to see Alex Krycek standing in his kitchen making coffee was to much. Too bad he didn't have a camera.
Krycek noticed a prescence behind him and turned. "What?" he asked , wondering what Mulder found funny.
"Nothing." He grabbed a cup and poured himself some coffee.
After a considerably long moment of silence, Krycek spoke, "Thank you."
"I should be the one thanking you, this is really good coffee. How come it tastes like crap when I make it?" Mulder asked, almost seriously.
"Maybe your doing it wrong." Krycek said drily. "But you know what I'm talking about."
"Yeah, I know. Don't go thanking me until we actually accomplish something."
Krycek nodded. There wasn't much more to be said.
FBI WASHINGTON D.C. 6:12 AM
Scully wasn't at work yet. Thank God for the little things. Mulder didn't want to think of what her reaction would be to this unlikely duo. He walked over to his desk and started up the computer. Krycek followed and stood beside him awkwardly.
"Pull up a chair," said Mulder, "what's the name?"
Krycek opened the paper he had been holding, while pulling a chair alongside Mulder, and searched for the doctor's signature. "Dr. James Darek."
Mulder opened the FBI's database and typed the name into the search box. The computer whirred, Krycek and Mulder sat quietly waiting. In what seemed like an eternity later, but in reality was probably about thirty seconds, the search was finished. The screen had one name on it: DAREK, JAMES . DR Mulder clicked and a file appeared on the screen. 32 years old, brown hair, brown eyes, looked like a nice enough guy. Oh yeah, except for that whole experiment-on-innocent-people thing.
"Ever seen him before?" Mulder asked.
"I don't think so. I've seen so many faces over the years, so many doctors on the Consortium's payroll," he concentrated on the picture for a moment, then continued, "His address is there. West Virginia, not that far. It would be better if we could get an office address though."
Mulder scrolled down the rest of the file. "Well, that was easy."
Krycek followed Mulder's gaze to the screen. An office address, in D.C. "Too easy," replied Krycek skeptically.
At that moment Scully walked through the door and froze at the sight of Krycek. "Mulder?"
Mulder glanced up, so did Krycek. "Oh, hey - Scully, good morning."
"Mulder?" She repeated this again with an angry tone to her voice.
"Look, I don't have time to explain this, Scully. I'm not sure it would matter if I did anyway. I'm helping him with something...." he trailed off waiting for her to start in on him.
"What are you helping with?"
"I can't tell you Scully. I'm sorry. You just have to trust me on this one, I know what I'm doing." He wanted to tell her. God knows they could use all the help they could get, but on the way into work earlier Krycek had asked if Mulder would keep it between the two of them. He didn't think it was smart, but it wasn't his operation they were running.
Scully sighed. She gave Krycek a look that redefined the meaning of the phrase 'if looks could kill.'
Mulder was busy scribbling down the address of the doctor's office on a post-it note. When he finished he stood and walked towards Scully, reassured her that he would be fine, and then motioned for Krycek to follow him. He did, but as he got to the door he turned around. "I asked for his help...he was nice enough to do this even though he has every reason not to. This isn't a game, Scully, I'm not going to hurt him." And with that he left to meet Mulder waiting by the elevator.
Scully wasn't sure what to think.
DR. JAMES DAREK'S OFFICE WASHINGTON D.C. 8:22 AM
They walked through the double doors of the doctor's office and up to the receptionist's desk.
"We need to talk to Darek," Krycek spat.
So much for being polite. Mulder tried to smooth things over a little. With a smile he said, "we don't have an appointment but we just have a couple of questions and we'd really appreciate it if we could speak with him." Mulder pulled his badge from his jacket and flashed it at her.
"Let me see if he's available," the young woman replied as she got on the phone.
"Why don't you let me do the talking, huh?" Mulder whispered to Krycek. Before he could comment, the woman told them to follow her.
They were led to a spacious office and told that the doctor would be with them in a minute. As soon as the woman closed the door behind her, Krycek reached into his waistband and pulled out his gun to check if it was loaded.
"You said you didn't have a gun!" Mulder said, whining a little more than he would have liked to.
"Last night-this morning, whatever, I said I didn't have it with me and I didn't. I wanted you to trust me , but I'm not stupid, " Krycek said as if that was obvious, "we took my car here, and I always carry a spare."
Mulder looked a little put off, but he couldn't blame they guy. If they were going to find his son they were going to need protection.
Just then the door opened and a man entered, walking over to Mulder and Krycek.
"Dr. Darek? I'm Agent Mulder, we just had a few questions." Mulder asked, shaking his hand.
The doctor turned to Krycek and held out his hand. There was an awkward pause and Mulder thought that this was going to be it, but Krycek cautiously raised his hand to the doctor's and shook. He didn't offer his name though.
"Your signature is on this medical record," Mulder got right down to business, handing over the papers. "Can you tell me about this boy, what was done to him?"
A glint of uncertainty flashed in the doctor's eyes. He studied the paper in front of him. Krycek figured he was trying to come up with a believable lie in the span of ten seconds. Turns out, he wasn't very good at it.
"I don't know what was done to him and I don't know anything about him, other than what I can read from here," he tried to say innocently.
Krycek was out of his chair and around the desk before Mulder had time to register what was happening, and what was about to happen. His gun was out held directly under the man's chin before Mulder even stood up.
"Tell me what you did to him! Where is he?" Krycek was inches from the man's face.
"I don't know!" cried the doctor, Krycek cocked his gun.
"Go ahead, lie again. Just give me a reason."
"Okay, okay...please, just back off..."
Mulder decided to step in, the doctor was sufficiently scared. "Back off, let's see if he has something worthwhile to say."
Krycek reluctantly moved back, but trained the gun on the man's chest. No need for him to forget who's in charge. "Talk." One word uttered so coldly that it sent a chill through the air.
"I was...I - I was the doctor working on this project. A project to develop human beings from existing human DNA..."
"Cloning?" asked Mulder.
"No..better than that. This would be a new person altogether. Different DNA, just as if it had been conceived the conventional way." The doctor paused.
"But?" proded Krycek, getting angrier by the second.
"But it's not the conventional way...we developed a way to simulate conception, using an artificial egg made in our laboratories. I could give you the science behind that but it would take awhile and I get the impression your in a hurry...Anyway, we still needed sperm because we haven't found the technology advanced enough for what that would take...then we use a surrogate to carry the baby to term. That's the gist anyway."
"How many came to term?" Mulder inquired.
"Just the one...it really was something, we were expecting failure. You know, first time experiment, there wasn't much hope put into it. Amazing really."
Krycek stepped forward pushing the gun roughly against the other man's chest. "Where is he?"
"Can I ask what your interst is in this experiment?" The doctor was bold. It wasn't generally a good idea to mess with the crazy man holding the gun. But Krycek didn't answer, just stared.
"That *experiment* is his son." Mulder figured maybe the doctor had a heart in there somewhere and could take pity on Krycek. Anything to get a location.
Dr. Darek sat quietly for a moment. "What do I get for helping you?"
"You get a ten second head start before I kill you," Krycek whispered. The look on his face must have told Darek that this man was serious, deadly serious.
Almost frantically, the doctor grabbed a pen and slip of paper, wrote an address as quickly as possible and then turned to Mulder and held it out. Mulder leaned forward , took the paper and put his hand on the arm Krycek was using to hold his gun. Krycek glanced out of the corner of his eye and saw Mulder. Mulder's eyes were telling him not to kill this man, but everything inside Krycek was screaming that the world would be a better place without him. He owed Mulder, though.
They left the office building silently and didn't speak until they had been driving about twenty minutes.
"Where are we headed?" Krycek asked, realizing he hadn't seen the address yet.
"Airport."
Vague, but good enough.
T.F. GREEN AIRPORT PROVIDENCE, R.I. 2:48 PM
They were lucky to get a flight almost immediately out of D.C. Amazing what a little badge can do. They arrived in Providence a few hours later, rented a car, and set out.
"You want to get something to eat?" Mulder asked. Krycek looked at him and shook his head. "Come on, I'm hungry. You must be too."
"I don't want to waste time."
"It's been 4 years, I don't think another ten minutes are going to make much of a difference." As he said it he realized how insensitive it sounded.
"Fine. Do what you want."
Mulder pulled into the first fast food restaurant he found. As they were eating, Mulder started feeling a little guilty about what he had said.
"Sorry, about that before....we'll eat quick. Right?"
Krycek smirked.
"What's his name? Was there a name on his chart?" Mulder was making small talk. The silence was getting unnerving.
"No. No name."
"Well, start thinking." replied Mulder, he smiled at Krycek who smiled back. What just happened? Was that civilized conversation? Interesting.
ABANDONED WAREHOUSE PROVIDENCE, R.I. 4:17 PM
The address brought them to a warehouse. One that, from the looks of it, hadn't been used in many years. Both guns drawn, they approached the door and stepped inside. Nothing was immediately noticable as looking out of place. Then, Krycek nudged Mulder and nodded towards a door at the far end of the room.
"Stainless steel?"
"I doubt that's original." Krycek murmured.
They warily walked toward the door. When they reached their destination Mulder stood beside it and nodded, Krycek kicked it open and Mulder entered, gun poised and ready. It was empty save for an examination table, counters and cupboards lining the wall. All stainless steel. After breifly looking around, the passed through another door on the opposite end. Well, looks can be deceiving because this warehouse looked somewhat small from the outside, but now....In front of them was a long hallway, doors scattered on either side.
"I'll take door number one, please," Mulder said drily.
They peered through the tiny window of the first door. Empty, except some furniture, looked like an office. They continued down the hallway looking through doors, they were all unlocked but they didn't waste time looking around every room. This was getting old quick. Just as they started to wonder whether or not they had been tricked - and Krycek made a mental list of different ways Dr. Darek could *accidentily* die - they came to a door that was locked. They looked at each other. This might be it.
"Lock pick?" Mulder asked. Krycek shot him a devious grin. Of course he had a lock pick. Krycek was disappointed to find that Mulder, on the other hand, didn't have his with him. He knelt down in front of the door and within seconds had it open.
Another exam room. But this one looked like it hadn't been abandoned. Various instruments were left on counters and the table had a sheet over it. Everything had that overly clean look to it and it smelled like a hospital.
"Krycek."
Krycek looked over to Mulder who was looking through a window into another room. This room looked like a bedroom, though not nearly as nice or comfortable, but there was a bed. And someone on that bed. A boy.
Krycek stood with his mouth slightly open, unable to believe how lucky they were to find him this quickly - it had only been hours since they left Mulder's apartment, and know here they were. So close.
"Too easy," he said once again out loud, but more to himself than to Mulder. Unfortunately Mulder agreed.
"Door's locked." Mulder stated.
He tried to pick the lock but his hands were shaking, he wouldn't ask for help though. Mulder noticed this and placed his hand over Krycek's, took the pick, and opened the door himself. Krycek was grateful, but he'd never admit it.
Krycek stood in the doorway, Mulder behind him. "Go on, " Mulder said encouragingly. He didn't move, just looked back at the man behind him. He wanted to go in, he really did, but something was holding him back. "It's okay," Mulder continued, "just go in, I'm coming with you."
Finally, he walked toward the bed where the little boy was sleeping. Mulder followed. Krycek wasn't doing anything, just watching the boy. That would be all well and good later on, but right now they needed to move, so Mulder took the initiative. He lowered the bar on the side of the bed that was keeping the boy in and then looked to Krycek. Still not doing anything.
"Krycek?" He didn't get a reaction. "Alex?" This got his attention. Mulder pointed to the boy but Krycek just shook his head, so Mulder gently picked him up, grabbed the blanket that had been covering him and started out of the room.
They got back into the hallway and walked quickly toward the door leading back into the warehouse. So far so good. Although Krycek seemed to be keeping his distance from Mulder and the boy. That would have to be dealt with later. Okay, into the warehouse. Out the front door, over to the car. Everything was going smoothly. Krycek got into the passenger's seat as Mulder opened the driver's side door.
"Your going to have to hold him. We don't have a carseat or anything."
"Uh..okay." Mulder passed the boy over and started the car.
Without incident they drove away, and only then did Mulder realize the hell that this kid must have been through during the 4 years of his life. He glanced to his right to see the little boy curled up against Krycek's chest. Still sound asleep. Krycek absently rubbing the little boy's back in a steady rythem while looking out the window. He never in a million years would have predicted that he could be sitting next to Alex Krycek and not have an overwhelming urge to kill him.
"I figured we could stay at a motel tonight. When he wakes up he's probably going to be really scared. It won't look good for two guys to bring a kid on a plane who won't stop screaming. Might look a little shady. So...I guess we should stop and get some food first."
"Yeah. Sounds good." Krycek thought a minute and then said, "Well, we accomplished something, so....thank you."
Mulder looked at him and smiled. "Your welcome. Come up with any names?"
"A middle name but not a first yet."
"O...K...Are you going to share?"
"Mikhael."
"Hmm, nice. Any special meaning, or do you just like the name?" Mulder asked.
"I just like it. Most of the names I was thinking about are Russian. Kind of a familly thing. Not that I'm trying to hold up any sort of tradition...I don't even remember the last time I talked to anyone I was related to."
"How did you end up with Alex if all the names are Russian?"
Krycek laughed. "It's Alexei actually."
"Ohh. Middle name?" Mulder was suddenly very curious about Krycek. He realized he knew nothing at all about this man, except for a few scattered things. But nothing personal.
"Christian."
Mulder nodded, and then there was silence.
"Ack," Mulder said out of nowhere.
"Excuse me?"
"Your initials...A.C.K."
"Very good. Nice to see that an Oxford education counts for something," Krycek said rolling his eyes.
Suddenly, and very loudly, Mulder's cell phone rang. He grabbed it as quickly as possible, but it was too late. He looked at the phone, saw Scully's number, and answered. "Scully? I'm okay, but I'm gonna have to call you back," and he hung up.
By now he had pulled into a convenience store parking lot, parked on the side, and turned off the engine. The boy was waking up. Krycek looked worried. How was he going to react?
"Hey... ," Krycek said as the boy looked around, still groggy. The boys eyes were wide, taking in his surroundings. Mulder wondered if he had ever been outside before. "It's okay... , " Krycek continued reassuringly. "You're okay." He continued to look back and forth between Mulder and Krycek. Then he, very noticably, started to shake. Mulder reached into the back seat to where the blanket had been thrown, retrieved it and wrapped it around the young boy, who had now started crying.
"You don't have to be scared," Mulder added, "we're not going to hurt you." Krycek continued rubbing the little boys back as he curled himself as tight against Krycek as he could. As scared as he was, the only thing he could find to hide behind was the very thing he was afraid of.
"Why don't you go inside and get what we need so we can get to a motel."
"Yeah." Mulder went in the store and shopped faster than he ever had in his life. The scene inside the car didn't change much in the few minutes he had gone. He started the car and drove to the nearest motel, which was about a 15 minutes ride. Along the way, Krycek periodically uttered different things to the boy, trying to make him comfortable. Mulder could see that that was not going to be easy.
MOTEL WARWICK, RI 7:41 PM
Mulder had gotten the key to the last available room. He walked back to the car.
"Look's like we're sharing," Mulder said holding the key in front of him.
"Fine," replied Krycek, as he got out of the car with the boy clutching on to him for dear life, still crying.
They got into their room and from there all hell broke loose, kind of.
First, Krycek put the boy down on the bed in order to take off his jacket. Big mistake. Now that the boy had somewhere else to hide, he no longer needed Krycek. He instantly threw himself under the covers, then as an afterthought, covered himself with a pillow.
Mulder went over to the bed and sat on the edge, next to the lump in the middle.
"Hey buddy....you don't need to do that," he took the pillow away and pulled the cover back to reveal the boy's face. His eyes were red and puffy and his face was streaked with tears. Mulder brought his hand up to the boy's face and wiped some tears away with the back of his fingers. The boy flinched at the touch. "My name's Mulder. This is Alex. Do you have a name?" The boy looked from Mulder to Alex, confused. "It's okay. Alex here will come up with one. Are you hungry?" He shook his head. "Okay....what about something to drink? Do you want some juice?" He didn't reply and Mulder figured that was good enough. He needed to get something in him. He went to the chair where he had placed the bag of groceries, brought out a 20 ounce bottle of apple juice and went back over to the bed. He was accutely aware of not only the boy watching him, but Krycek too. Krycek was acting the way he had in the warehouse, keeping his distance.
Mulder unscrewed the bottle cap. "Can you sit up for me? Come on.." He took the boys hand and helped him into a sitting position with little resistance. He held the bottle to the boys mouth and tilted it up slightly. The boy drank, and Mulder asked Krycek, "Do you have a name yet?"
Krycek looked at Mulder. "I was thinking...maybe, Nikolas."
"I like that. Nikolas Mikhael." Mulder looked at the boy who had stopped drinking and realized how much this kid looked like Krycek. Same brown hair, green eyes....an innocent look about him.
"Want some more?" Mulder said bringing his attention back to the juice.
"No," Nikolas replied meekly. The first time he talked to them. His voice was so weak, so....little.
Once again, Mulder's phone rang and as he stood to get it he caught Krycek's eye and nodded toward the bed. Krycek took Mulder's place, but didn't say anything.
"Mulder."
"Ah yes, Fox. How are you? How are things going with the little one? I must say, it would be an interesting site to see you or Alex caring for a child. Together, no less." replied the all to familiar voice on the other line.
"What the hell do you want?" Mulder whispered, not wanting to upset Nikolas.
"I'm just a concerned party. I wanted to see how things are going. That warehouse you broke into may not of had security, but it was well-equipped with top of the line surveillance equipment."
"Your nothing but a cigarette-smoking bastard."
"A bastard who is willing to let you and your two new friends walk away from this."
Mulder thought for a moment, looked over his shoulder to find Krycek watching him. "What do you want?" Mulder asked a second time.
"Alex has something I want. I've wanted it for some time, but now I've grown tired of waiting. It's a small price to pay for the life of his son, I would think."
"You sent him the medical record? So you'd have something to bargain with?"
"I'll be in touch with you soon. I suggest you pass this information on to Alex."
Click. The line went dead.
Mulder sighed. He should of known it was to much to hope for that they could just leave with no complications.
"What did he want?" Krycek tried to keep his voice steady, but the anger seeped into his tone and Nikolas pulled the blanket up a little higher.
"After," Mulder answered with a nod towards the other man's son. Krycek understood the implication, but he didn't want to wait til later. Mulder showed no signs of swaying on this decision though.
Mulder had walked to the other side of the bed, leaned over to get the juice that had been placed on the night table and sat down. Slowly, so as not to frighten Nikolas, he shifted himself so that he was leaing against the headboard. He then gently took the boy under the arms and pulled him closer until he was leaning against Mulder's side. Nikolas made sure the blanket moved with him.
"Some more juice?" Mulder asked.
"Yes please." Mulder was suddenly overcome with emotion, though he didn't show it. Yes please? How cute is that? He placed the bottle at his lips and waited until he took a sip. Mulder put the cap back on and placed the bottle beside him. Nikolas had started shaking again. Mulder put his arm around him and moved down a little until his head was just above Nikolas'.
"I know your scared, and you don't know us....but we won't hurt you. Everything's going to be okay." Mulder wondered if he was overstepping his boundaries, he was acting like it was *his* son. Glancing at Krycek he saw, if anything, a look of relief. Krycek was glad he didn't have to deal with this alone. So, he went on.
"Can I ask you a question?"
Nikolas nodded.
"Back in that place, where you were when we took you - "
"No!" Nikolas said frantically turning his body into Mulder, burying his face under his arm. "Don't wanna go back," he said in a muffled voice. "Don't want to, please?"
Krycek looked like he was going to cry.
"We're not taking you back. Ssshh, don't cry...you don't ever have to go back there. It's all right....we won't talk about it anymore, okay?" Mulder hugged him close to his body.
Krycek, not knowing what to say, laid down on the other side of Nikolas and ran his hand up and down the boy's side, comforting him. It took awhile, but he fell asleep with both men holding him, giving him security he had never once felt in his short life.
After he was sure Nikolas was sound asleep, Mulder began to tell Krycek about the phone call.
"He said you had something he wanted," Mulder said quietly. "Do you know what he's talking about?"
"Yeah."
"What is it?"
"When I stopped working for them, I knew I couldn't just walk away. If I wasn't holdong any cards, so to speak, they would have no reason *not* to kill me. So, I took a little souveneir..." Krycek slowly pulled himself off the bed and began to pace slowly back and forth. Mulder watched him.
"So, are you going to give it to him?"
"I have to, don't I? What choice do I have? " Krycek's voice broke as he finished the sentence.
"Well, tell me what it is."
"It's a disc. It has a lot of information on it, records, names, everything. Everything they don't want out in the open," Krycek paused. "I was going to give it to you....eventually."
Mulder didn't feel like trying to figure out if that was true or not. It didn't matter now. As if on cue, the cell rang. Krycek grabbed it before Mulder could move.
"Fuck you," he answered quietly. " Mulder was glad that it didn't end up being Scully.
"Alex, nice to speak with you again."
"You can have the disc, but then you leave us alone....Mulder too."
"How selfless of you....Well, I assume you'll need to get back to D.C. first?"
"It's not there, I'd have to go and get it."
"I'll give you four days starting right now. Then I'll be in touch. Remember, if you don't give me the tape, I now have something to take from you." Then he hung up.
Krycek looked over at Mulder and then sat on the edge of the bed. "I've got four days."
"We can get a flight out tommorrow and be back by the afternoon." Mulder stated.
"The disc isn't in D.C."
"Where is it?"
"Russia. In a safety deposit box in a bank."
"Oh."
Krycek opened his mouth to speak, closed it, and then quietly asked Mulder a big favor.
"I know it's asking a lot...after everything you've already done...But I - I can't bring him....I mean, I could maybe find someone else..."
"Who?" Mulder asked smiling. Then added, "I'll do it, he can stay with me."
Krycek heaved a sigh of relief. He was staring to hate Mulder less...a lot less.
The three of them slept in the same bed, Nikolas in the middle. Mulder, as usual, wasn't sleeping well. His mind was reeling with everything that had happened in the last 24 hours and also the fact that he was now in the same bed with Krycek....Alex. He called him Alex earlier. Maybe he could do that more often, if they're going to be civil to one another it seemed like an okay thing to do.
Anyway, morning came. Mulder was up first and he got them three plane tickets - two headed to D.C. and one to Russia. Krycek woke up next and Mulder took this oppurtunity to speak with him before Nikolas woke up.
"Hey....I was thinking," Mulder started as Krycek climbed out of bed, "you should maybe tell Nikolas your his father today, before you leave. This way he'll know your going to come back, you know?"
"How do I tell him something like that? He's going to wonder where I was for four years."
"Just tell him the truth, or as much as you can anyway. Tell him your his dad and that you didn't know about him until a few days ago and thats's when we came for him," Mulder said simply. Krycek thought to himself. Nikolas stirred on the bed. Both men looked over at him. Slowly, he started to wake up and when he opened his eyes he quickly pulled the blanket over his head. Krycek walked over and sat beside him, gently pulling the blanket back so that his eyes were showing.
"Hi."
"Hi," Nikolas said silently.
"I wanted to tell you something...can you put the blanket down for a minute?"
Nikolas pushed the blanket a way from his face but kept a tight grip on it, just in case.
"Do you know what a dad is?"
Mulder was surprised for a second, he hadn't even thought of the fact that he might not even know.
Nikolas nodded, he looked sad and at the same time he looked proud that he knew. "They told me I don't have one, but I know every one else does." And after a second he added, "I don't have a mom either."
Krycek had tears in his eyes. He assumed that Mulder did too. He was right. Krycek took the little boys hand in his own and squeezed reassuringly.
------------------------------------ Continued in Chapter 2 (which will be here soon - keep checking back.)
"Simon" - Lifehouse
Catch your breath, hit the wall Scream out loud as you start to crawl, back in your cage The only place, where they will leave you alone 'Cause the weak will seek the weaker til they've broken them Could you get it back again? Would it be the same? Fulfillment to their lack of strength at your expense left you with no defense They tore it down
And I have felt the same as you I felt the same as you I felt the same
Locked inside the only place Where you feel sheltered, where you feel safe You lost yourself in your search to find something else to hide behind The fearful always preyed upon your confidence Did they see the consequence? They pushed you around The arrogant build kingdoms made of the different ones Breaking them til they've become just another crown
Refuse to feel anything at all Refuse to slip, refuse to fall You can't be weak, you can't stand still Watch your back 'cause no one will
You will know why they had to go this far Traded your worth for these scars, for your only company Don't believe the lies that they have told to you Yeah, not one word was true Your alright, your alright, your alright
And I have felt the same as you I felt the same as you I felt the same as you I felt the same.... As you I felt the same
FEEDBACK: Always good....except of course when it's bad...uh, anyway....yes please. JordanXF9@CS.com . I like to know what you think.... ----------------- "Right Behind You" - Our Lady Peace
You haven't seen the world outside for days You sleep, you hope, you wait Imagination disappears And all the dreams you have you save Confrontation like a mirror They try to take your mind away I don't know, but I believe in yesterday And what it means to bleed and know that you're okay
Are you waiting? No matter what you say No matter what you do No matter what, I'm always right there behind you
Bombarded by the atmosphere You breathe, you choke, you breathe again Conversation disappears You realize they're not your friends The panic of the future rears You dig, you jerk, you find another way
You open up my veins, now I don't feel the same no, no, no You open up my brain, but I won't be replaced no, no, no
No matter what you say No matter what you do No matter what, I'm always right there behind you
-----------------
MULDER'S APARTMENT 3:57 AM
It was really late. Or really early depending on how you wanted to look at it. It was also one of those rare occasions when Mulder was actually sleeping. These things thrown together made for one very angry Mulder when relentless pounding on his apartment door woke him up.
He got up from the couch reluctantly and made his way toward the door. Looking through the peephole, his mood did improve one bit. In fact, now he was pissed.
"What the hell do you want Krycek?" Mulder said angrily as he opened the door.
Krycek looked at Mulder but did not answer. He looked like he hadn't slept in days. His hair was a mess and his clothes disheveled. Whatever his reason for coming, it didn't seem to be violent. Mulder noticed the lack of weaponry aimed at him - when Krycek was involved, Mulder usually wound up with a gun to his chest.
"Well?" Mulder pryed.
"I need your help."
Mulder's first reaction was to laugh and slam the door in his face, but there was something about the way he asked. Like it was the hardest thing he ever had to do. So, he returned Krycek's penetrating gaze and stepped aside, wordlessly inviting him in. Krycek accepted and moved past Mulder to the living room.
"I'm sorry if I woke you," Krycek said, realizing a moment to late how lame it was to say that.
"Why should I help you? Why should I even listen to what it is you have to say?" Mulder replied, ignoring Krycek's comment.
"I know there's no reason why you should help me. Literally. I couldn't give you one if my life depended on it. But....I didn't know who else to go to...there is no one else to go to. I wouldn't be here if it wasn't really important....I need someone I can trust...." Krycek finished quietly.
"And you trust *me*?" Mulder asked disbelievingly.
"In a way, yes. I mean, I know you hate me - and you have every right to - but I also know that your genuinely a good person, and if you decide to help I know you won't let a personal vendetta get in the way."
"So, what? Your using me?" Mulder was still angry, but more than that, he was curious.
"No. Like I said, there is no one else I can ask for help. No one's making you do anything. I didn't even bring my gun. I'm just asking if you'll hear me out." Krycek had never felt so vulnerable before, so weak. He was practically begging for Mulder's help.
Mulder sat on his couch and motioned for Krycek to do the same. They couldn't have sat further apart if they tried. Mulder turned to face the man beside him and gave him his full attention. "Go ahead."
Krycek sighed and then began. "Yesterday this was slid under my door," he pulled neatly folded papers from the inside pocket of his leather jacket and held them in his hand, "I didn't know why anyone would want me to see these at first....but, I kept reading." He stopped and nervously cleared his throat, trying to conceal the emotion that was slowly rising to the surface. "Apparently, when I was still working for the men in the Consortium, there was an experiment conducted....I didn't know about it. I don't even know how they did it...I - They must have drugged me or something..." he paused to regain his composure. Falling apart in front of Mulder was not high on his list of things to do.
Mulder reached out and took the papers, giving Krycek time to gather himself. Medical records. One medical record to be exact, for a 4 year old boy. Mulder looked up at Krycek for an explanation. Mulder's usually quick on the uptake, but he was still utterly lost as to what Krycek was telling him.
"I don't know the specifics, " Krycek continued, "of how...or why...but, I think, according to those anyway - he's my son." His voice gave out a little as he finished his sentence, but at this point he was beyond worrying about being tough in front of Mulder. There were more important things at hand.
Mulder didn't know what to say. A son? Definitely didn't see that one coming.
Mulder skimmed through the record quickly, and sure enough, it mentioned Krycek as the father. "You think that he's being held somewhere? Even though the Consortium's destroyed?" Mulder asked, deciding to ignore all the questions swimming around in his brain and aiming straight for a plan instead.
"I don't see why else I would be given this," he opened his mouth to continue but stopped, searching for the right words. When nothing eloquent came to him, he decided to just be blunt. "Will you help me?"
Mulder thought for a minute. Why should he bother? Why risk his life to help Krycek, after all he's done to him, his family, Scully...the list goes on. And yet, when he opened his mouth to speak, none of this was mentioned. He asked, "Where? Do you know?"
"Uh, no. There's a doctor's name on the record though. I figured I would start there."
"Yeah...what time is it?" Mulder asked, noticing the confused look on Krycek's face.
"4:28, why?"
"Well, it's a little early but I have to shower and get ready. If you want to wait, we can go down to the FBI and look up that name, see if we can get a location." Mulder stood as he finished speaking.
Mulder was going to help. Krycek honestly hadn't expected that.
"Okay," he said simply.
Mulder nodded and headed towards the bathroom. he thought to himself before stepping into the shower.
A short time later Mulder reentered the living room, but he was alone. Quick glance around, no one there. A sound came from the kitchen. So he's still here. Mulder entered the kitchen and couldn't help but smile, even though he tried not to. There was Krycek, making coffee. It was a simple thing that would probably go unnoticed had it been anyone else, but to see Alex Krycek standing in his kitchen making coffee was to much. Too bad he didn't have a camera.
Krycek noticed a prescence behind him and turned. "What?" he asked , wondering what Mulder found funny.
"Nothing." He grabbed a cup and poured himself some coffee.
After a considerably long moment of silence, Krycek spoke, "Thank you."
"I should be the one thanking you, this is really good coffee. How come it tastes like crap when I make it?" Mulder asked, almost seriously.
"Maybe your doing it wrong." Krycek said drily. "But you know what I'm talking about."
"Yeah, I know. Don't go thanking me until we actually accomplish something."
Krycek nodded. There wasn't much more to be said.
FBI WASHINGTON D.C. 6:12 AM
Scully wasn't at work yet. Thank God for the little things. Mulder didn't want to think of what her reaction would be to this unlikely duo. He walked over to his desk and started up the computer. Krycek followed and stood beside him awkwardly.
"Pull up a chair," said Mulder, "what's the name?"
Krycek opened the paper he had been holding, while pulling a chair alongside Mulder, and searched for the doctor's signature. "Dr. James Darek."
Mulder opened the FBI's database and typed the name into the search box. The computer whirred, Krycek and Mulder sat quietly waiting. In what seemed like an eternity later, but in reality was probably about thirty seconds, the search was finished. The screen had one name on it: DAREK, JAMES . DR Mulder clicked and a file appeared on the screen. 32 years old, brown hair, brown eyes, looked like a nice enough guy. Oh yeah, except for that whole experiment-on-innocent-people thing.
"Ever seen him before?" Mulder asked.
"I don't think so. I've seen so many faces over the years, so many doctors on the Consortium's payroll," he concentrated on the picture for a moment, then continued, "His address is there. West Virginia, not that far. It would be better if we could get an office address though."
Mulder scrolled down the rest of the file. "Well, that was easy."
Krycek followed Mulder's gaze to the screen. An office address, in D.C. "Too easy," replied Krycek skeptically.
At that moment Scully walked through the door and froze at the sight of Krycek. "Mulder?"
Mulder glanced up, so did Krycek. "Oh, hey - Scully, good morning."
"Mulder?" She repeated this again with an angry tone to her voice.
"Look, I don't have time to explain this, Scully. I'm not sure it would matter if I did anyway. I'm helping him with something...." he trailed off waiting for her to start in on him.
"What are you helping with?"
"I can't tell you Scully. I'm sorry. You just have to trust me on this one, I know what I'm doing." He wanted to tell her. God knows they could use all the help they could get, but on the way into work earlier Krycek had asked if Mulder would keep it between the two of them. He didn't think it was smart, but it wasn't his operation they were running.
Scully sighed. She gave Krycek a look that redefined the meaning of the phrase 'if looks could kill.'
Mulder was busy scribbling down the address of the doctor's office on a post-it note. When he finished he stood and walked towards Scully, reassured her that he would be fine, and then motioned for Krycek to follow him. He did, but as he got to the door he turned around. "I asked for his help...he was nice enough to do this even though he has every reason not to. This isn't a game, Scully, I'm not going to hurt him." And with that he left to meet Mulder waiting by the elevator.
Scully wasn't sure what to think.
DR. JAMES DAREK'S OFFICE WASHINGTON D.C. 8:22 AM
They walked through the double doors of the doctor's office and up to the receptionist's desk.
"We need to talk to Darek," Krycek spat.
So much for being polite. Mulder tried to smooth things over a little. With a smile he said, "we don't have an appointment but we just have a couple of questions and we'd really appreciate it if we could speak with him." Mulder pulled his badge from his jacket and flashed it at her.
"Let me see if he's available," the young woman replied as she got on the phone.
"Why don't you let me do the talking, huh?" Mulder whispered to Krycek. Before he could comment, the woman told them to follow her.
They were led to a spacious office and told that the doctor would be with them in a minute. As soon as the woman closed the door behind her, Krycek reached into his waistband and pulled out his gun to check if it was loaded.
"You said you didn't have a gun!" Mulder said, whining a little more than he would have liked to.
"Last night-this morning, whatever, I said I didn't have it with me and I didn't. I wanted you to trust me , but I'm not stupid, " Krycek said as if that was obvious, "we took my car here, and I always carry a spare."
Mulder looked a little put off, but he couldn't blame they guy. If they were going to find his son they were going to need protection.
Just then the door opened and a man entered, walking over to Mulder and Krycek.
"Dr. Darek? I'm Agent Mulder, we just had a few questions." Mulder asked, shaking his hand.
The doctor turned to Krycek and held out his hand. There was an awkward pause and Mulder thought that this was going to be it, but Krycek cautiously raised his hand to the doctor's and shook. He didn't offer his name though.
"Your signature is on this medical record," Mulder got right down to business, handing over the papers. "Can you tell me about this boy, what was done to him?"
A glint of uncertainty flashed in the doctor's eyes. He studied the paper in front of him. Krycek figured he was trying to come up with a believable lie in the span of ten seconds. Turns out, he wasn't very good at it.
"I don't know what was done to him and I don't know anything about him, other than what I can read from here," he tried to say innocently.
Krycek was out of his chair and around the desk before Mulder had time to register what was happening, and what was about to happen. His gun was out held directly under the man's chin before Mulder even stood up.
"Tell me what you did to him! Where is he?" Krycek was inches from the man's face.
"I don't know!" cried the doctor, Krycek cocked his gun.
"Go ahead, lie again. Just give me a reason."
"Okay, okay...please, just back off..."
Mulder decided to step in, the doctor was sufficiently scared. "Back off, let's see if he has something worthwhile to say."
Krycek reluctantly moved back, but trained the gun on the man's chest. No need for him to forget who's in charge. "Talk." One word uttered so coldly that it sent a chill through the air.
"I was...I - I was the doctor working on this project. A project to develop human beings from existing human DNA..."
"Cloning?" asked Mulder.
"No..better than that. This would be a new person altogether. Different DNA, just as if it had been conceived the conventional way." The doctor paused.
"But?" proded Krycek, getting angrier by the second.
"But it's not the conventional way...we developed a way to simulate conception, using an artificial egg made in our laboratories. I could give you the science behind that but it would take awhile and I get the impression your in a hurry...Anyway, we still needed sperm because we haven't found the technology advanced enough for what that would take...then we use a surrogate to carry the baby to term. That's the gist anyway."
"How many came to term?" Mulder inquired.
"Just the one...it really was something, we were expecting failure. You know, first time experiment, there wasn't much hope put into it. Amazing really."
Krycek stepped forward pushing the gun roughly against the other man's chest. "Where is he?"
"Can I ask what your interst is in this experiment?" The doctor was bold. It wasn't generally a good idea to mess with the crazy man holding the gun. But Krycek didn't answer, just stared.
"That *experiment* is his son." Mulder figured maybe the doctor had a heart in there somewhere and could take pity on Krycek. Anything to get a location.
Dr. Darek sat quietly for a moment. "What do I get for helping you?"
"You get a ten second head start before I kill you," Krycek whispered. The look on his face must have told Darek that this man was serious, deadly serious.
Almost frantically, the doctor grabbed a pen and slip of paper, wrote an address as quickly as possible and then turned to Mulder and held it out. Mulder leaned forward , took the paper and put his hand on the arm Krycek was using to hold his gun. Krycek glanced out of the corner of his eye and saw Mulder. Mulder's eyes were telling him not to kill this man, but everything inside Krycek was screaming that the world would be a better place without him. He owed Mulder, though.
They left the office building silently and didn't speak until they had been driving about twenty minutes.
"Where are we headed?" Krycek asked, realizing he hadn't seen the address yet.
"Airport."
Vague, but good enough.
T.F. GREEN AIRPORT PROVIDENCE, R.I. 2:48 PM
They were lucky to get a flight almost immediately out of D.C. Amazing what a little badge can do. They arrived in Providence a few hours later, rented a car, and set out.
"You want to get something to eat?" Mulder asked. Krycek looked at him and shook his head. "Come on, I'm hungry. You must be too."
"I don't want to waste time."
"It's been 4 years, I don't think another ten minutes are going to make much of a difference." As he said it he realized how insensitive it sounded.
"Fine. Do what you want."
Mulder pulled into the first fast food restaurant he found. As they were eating, Mulder started feeling a little guilty about what he had said.
"Sorry, about that before....we'll eat quick. Right?"
Krycek smirked.
"What's his name? Was there a name on his chart?" Mulder was making small talk. The silence was getting unnerving.
"No. No name."
"Well, start thinking." replied Mulder, he smiled at Krycek who smiled back. What just happened? Was that civilized conversation? Interesting.
ABANDONED WAREHOUSE PROVIDENCE, R.I. 4:17 PM
The address brought them to a warehouse. One that, from the looks of it, hadn't been used in many years. Both guns drawn, they approached the door and stepped inside. Nothing was immediately noticable as looking out of place. Then, Krycek nudged Mulder and nodded towards a door at the far end of the room.
"Stainless steel?"
"I doubt that's original." Krycek murmured.
They warily walked toward the door. When they reached their destination Mulder stood beside it and nodded, Krycek kicked it open and Mulder entered, gun poised and ready. It was empty save for an examination table, counters and cupboards lining the wall. All stainless steel. After breifly looking around, the passed through another door on the opposite end. Well, looks can be deceiving because this warehouse looked somewhat small from the outside, but now....In front of them was a long hallway, doors scattered on either side.
"I'll take door number one, please," Mulder said drily.
They peered through the tiny window of the first door. Empty, except some furniture, looked like an office. They continued down the hallway looking through doors, they were all unlocked but they didn't waste time looking around every room. This was getting old quick. Just as they started to wonder whether or not they had been tricked - and Krycek made a mental list of different ways Dr. Darek could *accidentily* die - they came to a door that was locked. They looked at each other. This might be it.
"Lock pick?" Mulder asked. Krycek shot him a devious grin. Of course he had a lock pick. Krycek was disappointed to find that Mulder, on the other hand, didn't have his with him. He knelt down in front of the door and within seconds had it open.
Another exam room. But this one looked like it hadn't been abandoned. Various instruments were left on counters and the table had a sheet over it. Everything had that overly clean look to it and it smelled like a hospital.
"Krycek."
Krycek looked over to Mulder who was looking through a window into another room. This room looked like a bedroom, though not nearly as nice or comfortable, but there was a bed. And someone on that bed. A boy.
Krycek stood with his mouth slightly open, unable to believe how lucky they were to find him this quickly - it had only been hours since they left Mulder's apartment, and know here they were. So close.
"Too easy," he said once again out loud, but more to himself than to Mulder. Unfortunately Mulder agreed.
"Door's locked." Mulder stated.
He tried to pick the lock but his hands were shaking, he wouldn't ask for help though. Mulder noticed this and placed his hand over Krycek's, took the pick, and opened the door himself. Krycek was grateful, but he'd never admit it.
Krycek stood in the doorway, Mulder behind him. "Go on, " Mulder said encouragingly. He didn't move, just looked back at the man behind him. He wanted to go in, he really did, but something was holding him back. "It's okay," Mulder continued, "just go in, I'm coming with you."
Finally, he walked toward the bed where the little boy was sleeping. Mulder followed. Krycek wasn't doing anything, just watching the boy. That would be all well and good later on, but right now they needed to move, so Mulder took the initiative. He lowered the bar on the side of the bed that was keeping the boy in and then looked to Krycek. Still not doing anything.
"Krycek?" He didn't get a reaction. "Alex?" This got his attention. Mulder pointed to the boy but Krycek just shook his head, so Mulder gently picked him up, grabbed the blanket that had been covering him and started out of the room.
They got back into the hallway and walked quickly toward the door leading back into the warehouse. So far so good. Although Krycek seemed to be keeping his distance from Mulder and the boy. That would have to be dealt with later. Okay, into the warehouse. Out the front door, over to the car. Everything was going smoothly. Krycek got into the passenger's seat as Mulder opened the driver's side door.
"Your going to have to hold him. We don't have a carseat or anything."
"Uh..okay." Mulder passed the boy over and started the car.
Without incident they drove away, and only then did Mulder realize the hell that this kid must have been through during the 4 years of his life. He glanced to his right to see the little boy curled up against Krycek's chest. Still sound asleep. Krycek absently rubbing the little boy's back in a steady rythem while looking out the window. He never in a million years would have predicted that he could be sitting next to Alex Krycek and not have an overwhelming urge to kill him.
"I figured we could stay at a motel tonight. When he wakes up he's probably going to be really scared. It won't look good for two guys to bring a kid on a plane who won't stop screaming. Might look a little shady. So...I guess we should stop and get some food first."
"Yeah. Sounds good." Krycek thought a minute and then said, "Well, we accomplished something, so....thank you."
Mulder looked at him and smiled. "Your welcome. Come up with any names?"
"A middle name but not a first yet."
"O...K...Are you going to share?"
"Mikhael."
"Hmm, nice. Any special meaning, or do you just like the name?" Mulder asked.
"I just like it. Most of the names I was thinking about are Russian. Kind of a familly thing. Not that I'm trying to hold up any sort of tradition...I don't even remember the last time I talked to anyone I was related to."
"How did you end up with Alex if all the names are Russian?"
Krycek laughed. "It's Alexei actually."
"Ohh. Middle name?" Mulder was suddenly very curious about Krycek. He realized he knew nothing at all about this man, except for a few scattered things. But nothing personal.
"Christian."
Mulder nodded, and then there was silence.
"Ack," Mulder said out of nowhere.
"Excuse me?"
"Your initials...A.C.K."
"Very good. Nice to see that an Oxford education counts for something," Krycek said rolling his eyes.
Suddenly, and very loudly, Mulder's cell phone rang. He grabbed it as quickly as possible, but it was too late. He looked at the phone, saw Scully's number, and answered. "Scully? I'm okay, but I'm gonna have to call you back," and he hung up.
By now he had pulled into a convenience store parking lot, parked on the side, and turned off the engine. The boy was waking up. Krycek looked worried. How was he going to react?
"Hey... ," Krycek said as the boy looked around, still groggy. The boys eyes were wide, taking in his surroundings. Mulder wondered if he had ever been outside before. "It's okay... , " Krycek continued reassuringly. "You're okay." He continued to look back and forth between Mulder and Krycek. Then he, very noticably, started to shake. Mulder reached into the back seat to where the blanket had been thrown, retrieved it and wrapped it around the young boy, who had now started crying.
"You don't have to be scared," Mulder added, "we're not going to hurt you." Krycek continued rubbing the little boys back as he curled himself as tight against Krycek as he could. As scared as he was, the only thing he could find to hide behind was the very thing he was afraid of.
"Why don't you go inside and get what we need so we can get to a motel."
"Yeah." Mulder went in the store and shopped faster than he ever had in his life. The scene inside the car didn't change much in the few minutes he had gone. He started the car and drove to the nearest motel, which was about a 15 minutes ride. Along the way, Krycek periodically uttered different things to the boy, trying to make him comfortable. Mulder could see that that was not going to be easy.
MOTEL WARWICK, RI 7:41 PM
Mulder had gotten the key to the last available room. He walked back to the car.
"Look's like we're sharing," Mulder said holding the key in front of him.
"Fine," replied Krycek, as he got out of the car with the boy clutching on to him for dear life, still crying.
They got into their room and from there all hell broke loose, kind of.
First, Krycek put the boy down on the bed in order to take off his jacket. Big mistake. Now that the boy had somewhere else to hide, he no longer needed Krycek. He instantly threw himself under the covers, then as an afterthought, covered himself with a pillow.
Mulder went over to the bed and sat on the edge, next to the lump in the middle.
"Hey buddy....you don't need to do that," he took the pillow away and pulled the cover back to reveal the boy's face. His eyes were red and puffy and his face was streaked with tears. Mulder brought his hand up to the boy's face and wiped some tears away with the back of his fingers. The boy flinched at the touch. "My name's Mulder. This is Alex. Do you have a name?" The boy looked from Mulder to Alex, confused. "It's okay. Alex here will come up with one. Are you hungry?" He shook his head. "Okay....what about something to drink? Do you want some juice?" He didn't reply and Mulder figured that was good enough. He needed to get something in him. He went to the chair where he had placed the bag of groceries, brought out a 20 ounce bottle of apple juice and went back over to the bed. He was accutely aware of not only the boy watching him, but Krycek too. Krycek was acting the way he had in the warehouse, keeping his distance.
Mulder unscrewed the bottle cap. "Can you sit up for me? Come on.." He took the boys hand and helped him into a sitting position with little resistance. He held the bottle to the boys mouth and tilted it up slightly. The boy drank, and Mulder asked Krycek, "Do you have a name yet?"
Krycek looked at Mulder. "I was thinking...maybe, Nikolas."
"I like that. Nikolas Mikhael." Mulder looked at the boy who had stopped drinking and realized how much this kid looked like Krycek. Same brown hair, green eyes....an innocent look about him.
"Want some more?" Mulder said bringing his attention back to the juice.
"No," Nikolas replied meekly. The first time he talked to them. His voice was so weak, so....little.
Once again, Mulder's phone rang and as he stood to get it he caught Krycek's eye and nodded toward the bed. Krycek took Mulder's place, but didn't say anything.
"Mulder."
"Ah yes, Fox. How are you? How are things going with the little one? I must say, it would be an interesting site to see you or Alex caring for a child. Together, no less." replied the all to familiar voice on the other line.
"What the hell do you want?" Mulder whispered, not wanting to upset Nikolas.
"I'm just a concerned party. I wanted to see how things are going. That warehouse you broke into may not of had security, but it was well-equipped with top of the line surveillance equipment."
"Your nothing but a cigarette-smoking bastard."
"A bastard who is willing to let you and your two new friends walk away from this."
Mulder thought for a moment, looked over his shoulder to find Krycek watching him. "What do you want?" Mulder asked a second time.
"Alex has something I want. I've wanted it for some time, but now I've grown tired of waiting. It's a small price to pay for the life of his son, I would think."
"You sent him the medical record? So you'd have something to bargain with?"
"I'll be in touch with you soon. I suggest you pass this information on to Alex."
Click. The line went dead.
Mulder sighed. He should of known it was to much to hope for that they could just leave with no complications.
"What did he want?" Krycek tried to keep his voice steady, but the anger seeped into his tone and Nikolas pulled the blanket up a little higher.
"After," Mulder answered with a nod towards the other man's son. Krycek understood the implication, but he didn't want to wait til later. Mulder showed no signs of swaying on this decision though.
Mulder had walked to the other side of the bed, leaned over to get the juice that had been placed on the night table and sat down. Slowly, so as not to frighten Nikolas, he shifted himself so that he was leaing against the headboard. He then gently took the boy under the arms and pulled him closer until he was leaning against Mulder's side. Nikolas made sure the blanket moved with him.
"Some more juice?" Mulder asked.
"Yes please." Mulder was suddenly overcome with emotion, though he didn't show it. Yes please? How cute is that? He placed the bottle at his lips and waited until he took a sip. Mulder put the cap back on and placed the bottle beside him. Nikolas had started shaking again. Mulder put his arm around him and moved down a little until his head was just above Nikolas'.
"I know your scared, and you don't know us....but we won't hurt you. Everything's going to be okay." Mulder wondered if he was overstepping his boundaries, he was acting like it was *his* son. Glancing at Krycek he saw, if anything, a look of relief. Krycek was glad he didn't have to deal with this alone. So, he went on.
"Can I ask you a question?"
Nikolas nodded.
"Back in that place, where you were when we took you - "
"No!" Nikolas said frantically turning his body into Mulder, burying his face under his arm. "Don't wanna go back," he said in a muffled voice. "Don't want to, please?"
Krycek looked like he was going to cry.
"We're not taking you back. Ssshh, don't cry...you don't ever have to go back there. It's all right....we won't talk about it anymore, okay?" Mulder hugged him close to his body.
Krycek, not knowing what to say, laid down on the other side of Nikolas and ran his hand up and down the boy's side, comforting him. It took awhile, but he fell asleep with both men holding him, giving him security he had never once felt in his short life.
After he was sure Nikolas was sound asleep, Mulder began to tell Krycek about the phone call.
"He said you had something he wanted," Mulder said quietly. "Do you know what he's talking about?"
"Yeah."
"What is it?"
"When I stopped working for them, I knew I couldn't just walk away. If I wasn't holdong any cards, so to speak, they would have no reason *not* to kill me. So, I took a little souveneir..." Krycek slowly pulled himself off the bed and began to pace slowly back and forth. Mulder watched him.
"So, are you going to give it to him?"
"I have to, don't I? What choice do I have? " Krycek's voice broke as he finished the sentence.
"Well, tell me what it is."
"It's a disc. It has a lot of information on it, records, names, everything. Everything they don't want out in the open," Krycek paused. "I was going to give it to you....eventually."
Mulder didn't feel like trying to figure out if that was true or not. It didn't matter now. As if on cue, the cell rang. Krycek grabbed it before Mulder could move.
"Fuck you," he answered quietly. " Mulder was glad that it didn't end up being Scully.
"Alex, nice to speak with you again."
"You can have the disc, but then you leave us alone....Mulder too."
"How selfless of you....Well, I assume you'll need to get back to D.C. first?"
"It's not there, I'd have to go and get it."
"I'll give you four days starting right now. Then I'll be in touch. Remember, if you don't give me the tape, I now have something to take from you." Then he hung up.
Krycek looked over at Mulder and then sat on the edge of the bed. "I've got four days."
"We can get a flight out tommorrow and be back by the afternoon." Mulder stated.
"The disc isn't in D.C."
"Where is it?"
"Russia. In a safety deposit box in a bank."
"Oh."
Krycek opened his mouth to speak, closed it, and then quietly asked Mulder a big favor.
"I know it's asking a lot...after everything you've already done...But I - I can't bring him....I mean, I could maybe find someone else..."
"Who?" Mulder asked smiling. Then added, "I'll do it, he can stay with me."
Krycek heaved a sigh of relief. He was staring to hate Mulder less...a lot less.
The three of them slept in the same bed, Nikolas in the middle. Mulder, as usual, wasn't sleeping well. His mind was reeling with everything that had happened in the last 24 hours and also the fact that he was now in the same bed with Krycek....Alex. He called him Alex earlier. Maybe he could do that more often, if they're going to be civil to one another it seemed like an okay thing to do.
Anyway, morning came. Mulder was up first and he got them three plane tickets - two headed to D.C. and one to Russia. Krycek woke up next and Mulder took this oppurtunity to speak with him before Nikolas woke up.
"Hey....I was thinking," Mulder started as Krycek climbed out of bed, "you should maybe tell Nikolas your his father today, before you leave. This way he'll know your going to come back, you know?"
"How do I tell him something like that? He's going to wonder where I was for four years."
"Just tell him the truth, or as much as you can anyway. Tell him your his dad and that you didn't know about him until a few days ago and thats's when we came for him," Mulder said simply. Krycek thought to himself. Nikolas stirred on the bed. Both men looked over at him. Slowly, he started to wake up and when he opened his eyes he quickly pulled the blanket over his head. Krycek walked over and sat beside him, gently pulling the blanket back so that his eyes were showing.
"Hi."
"Hi," Nikolas said silently.
"I wanted to tell you something...can you put the blanket down for a minute?"
Nikolas pushed the blanket a way from his face but kept a tight grip on it, just in case.
"Do you know what a dad is?"
Mulder was surprised for a second, he hadn't even thought of the fact that he might not even know.
Nikolas nodded, he looked sad and at the same time he looked proud that he knew. "They told me I don't have one, but I know every one else does." And after a second he added, "I don't have a mom either."
Krycek had tears in his eyes. He assumed that Mulder did too. He was right. Krycek took the little boys hand in his own and squeezed reassuringly.
------------------------------------ Continued in Chapter 2 (which will be here soon - keep checking back.)
"Simon" - Lifehouse
Catch your breath, hit the wall Scream out loud as you start to crawl, back in your cage The only place, where they will leave you alone 'Cause the weak will seek the weaker til they've broken them Could you get it back again? Would it be the same? Fulfillment to their lack of strength at your expense left you with no defense They tore it down
And I have felt the same as you I felt the same as you I felt the same
Locked inside the only place Where you feel sheltered, where you feel safe You lost yourself in your search to find something else to hide behind The fearful always preyed upon your confidence Did they see the consequence? They pushed you around The arrogant build kingdoms made of the different ones Breaking them til they've become just another crown
Refuse to feel anything at all Refuse to slip, refuse to fall You can't be weak, you can't stand still Watch your back 'cause no one will
You will know why they had to go this far Traded your worth for these scars, for your only company Don't believe the lies that they have told to you Yeah, not one word was true Your alright, your alright, your alright
And I have felt the same as you I felt the same as you I felt the same as you I felt the same.... As you I felt the same