Previously on The Essence of Existence...
He's not ready to leave this hell… not when what he loves the most is out there. Not when they've gotten so far. He's not ready to give up.
The gun goes off when it hits the ground as they struggle for control; the shot hits no one and it slides away from them. Punches are thrown from each side, they roll over the snow, grunting and yelling curses that travel through them. For a few moments Mulder has the upper hand, but Weaver's desperate and resilient determination is overpowering. An angry kick to his ribs and the instant and painful crack of bone leaves Mulder contorting in pain as Curtis reaches for the gun and towers over him as he lays on his back.
"You should have known better," he says, cocking the gun once more. "You should had killed me when you had the chance."
Mulder takes a sharp breath, and if he were a religious man, he would say that that fleeting thought that just crossed his mind was actually a prayer.
"NYPD! Freeze!"
-36-
The shout startles them as Mulder feels a bolt of relief flood his senses. Rushed boots crush the snow, singing a marvelous tune when the uniformed officers approach them, cautious but authoritative.
"Drop the gun, drop it! Now!" Mulder chances a look toward the commanding voice, lifting his head just an inch from the ground, making sure it's the right side of the law approaching. He takes a cautiously optimistic breath. Officer Hastings aims at Curtis' back; fierce determination in her eyes. Behind her, another two officers follow suit.
"I could still kill you, you know?" Curtis grits his teeth, cursing under his breath. For a moment Mulder fears that the situation isn't threatening enough to stop Weaver's intentions. "Though, now that I think about it, as long as you're alive, Scully will be stupid enough to look for you… with him. I need him. You're going to lead me to him, eventually."
"Drop it!" This time it's the angry tenor of the male officer that orders Curtis to stop. He presses his lips into a thin forced smile, abandoning his threatening stance, and turning to face the trio of NYPD officers that point their guns at him. He lifts both hands in surrender, releasing a manic laugh and taking a step towards them. It's a flurry of limbs and commanding shouts that take over as the male officer tackles Curtis to the ground and cuffs him.
He can breathe now.
"Are you alright?" Hastings offers him a hand to get him up from the snow as she briefly regards him with a respectful and concerned nod.
"Yeah," Mulder confirms, stoic, as he takes back his gun and checks the periphery for any other units coming. No sirens yet. He zeroes in on LT's tags. "Officer Tolliver, if you could read Mr. Weaver his rights... I'll give you this collar for free."
LT lifts an eyebrow in response to Mulder's nonchalant instruction.
"He's the head of the cult that kidnapped Mr. Castle and William Van de Kamp," Mulder continues, dusting the snow off of his jacket.
"Go on, Mulder. This isn't the last time we're going to see each other," Curtis mutters, daring as LT starts reciting the Miranda warning to him and pulling him up off the ground. He doesn't stay still while the officer pats him down. "Get your hands off me!"
"I said, you have the right to remain silent… I suggest you shut it. You were caught assaulting a federal officer; you're gonna be down for a while," LT recommends, but Curtis is beyond following any order; his face fills with a sickening smile while he fixes his eyes on Mulder.
"I'm being set up!" He says, laughing. He's lost it. "Next time, Mulder… next time, I'll make sure it's the last one."
Mulder can only hope that the mention of his real identity goes over the officer's heads. He doesn't want to risk their obedience over a slip up like that. He crosses a brief look with Weaver and curses the day that he entered their lives. He can feel his fists burn with rage and impotence; his cheeks tremble as the exertion of controlling an outburst takes over. In his quiet and demurely controlled stance, he knows that letting his feelings show would only make things worse; he'd out himself, showing emotions that the simple FBI Agent Miller would never have.
So he'll curb his dog, for now.
"Ok, then." LT continues, dragging him toward the van that's parked a few feet behind. "We'll continue with this: anything you say or do, can and will be used against you in a court of law..."
Officer Tolliver isn't kind, or careful, and Mulder appreciates the harsh handling. Pulling out his phone, Mulder dials Scully's number once more but it goes straight to voicemail. The system is no longer putting the call through.
"Agent Miller, a moment?" Hastings approaches Mulder, discreetly pulling him aside and lowering her voice. "We have the… stuff with us. The rest of the team is on its way, they won't be long…"
Mulder nods as he considers her update. There's some welcomed relief because part of the plan is actually going to schedule, but he needs to locate them. The maps are pivotal to their mission, to what William has been channeling in the last months, and even years. Those will be their guides to a place where he hopes to find a safe destination, closure to questions unanswered, and most likely, to gain more questions as well. He's not naïve. He knows that this will never be over; he'll always want to dig deeper.
"Did you receive any call from dispatch about a nearby explosion?" His voice is but above a whisper, careful of what Curtis might overhear despite the vile rant he keeps screaming to the skies. Angry recitations of the bible and prophecies abound.
"Just now? Wasn't that us?" Hastings asks, understandably. He would have assumed the same. "We responded. Didn't want to chance outsiders coming to this party…"
"Good thinking, Hastings." Mulder nods his approval. "Do you have the address where the explosion was reported?"
Hastings nods while she pulls up the notepad app on her iPhone. Curtis Weaver continues to resist arrest and spew venom at them, drawing the attention of the scarce few onlookers who drive by. He can shout all he wants. By now they've drawn enough attention to themselves - the strike team on the roof of the complex is making enough noise as it is, and he's sure that the few employees left in the two or three warehouses around have figured out that those pops are not firecrackers. Fuck caution. His only worry is making sure that he's not too late to find his wife and son; he won't be able to survive if he learns that those who've become his life force… are in a situation that he cannot reverse.
Fowley's mangled body ascends and hits noisily against the powered magnet above. Unnatural sounds come out of the woman, like the growls of a diabolic beast as she tries to free herself. A demon, an alien... indeed – this is the feeling that has haunted him in his dreams before they set off on their mission. Before Mulder and Scully came to him. Before he met his true parents. Fear is not quite the name he'd put on it, but a mixture of nervousness and exhilaration that settles in his bones. He must protect them.
William's muscles quiver like they never have. He imagines that this is how it must feel to have electricity coursing through your veins instead of blood. He hurts all over, but he's filled with an overdrive that's surprised him since he left his mother in the aftermath of the blast. Everything is a blur in his confusion. He feels and knows that this will end soon; he fears he will disappoint. He fears he might not be strong enough.
He has to protect her. He has to protect them. William strains to block those thoughts from his head; it has always done him better to escape the world for a while, to center his strength in the threat before him, to enter the dark tunnel he's learned to navigate.
These forces are not kind or benevolent; they used to come and take over his senses, but he's learned to negotiate a controlling grip over them. He's learned to shape them and match his intentions. He can almost understand how to tame the unknown, letting it channel out of him the things he still can't comprehend.
Hardly anyone understands. His journey was very lonely until they finally came.
He focuses on the crane and with another groan the telescopic arm swings fast, toward the grease pit. William knows that the crane above him won't bear his handling for too long. It's falling apart; it's belts and cables moan and emit high-pitched sounds he's never heard before. He spots his mother as she moves towards him but he can't let her continue, it's too dangerous, for her... for his resolve.
"Don't move!" He barks through gritted teeth summoning even more strength. A howl grows, and it's daunting, like nothing he's seen before as the wind snaps at the loose legs of his pants, burning his face with the frigid touch of ice. If he can just hold on for just a few more seconds...
The crane complains as the arm stops forcefully over the pit, shaking, persevering a few moments before the cables snap, like gigantic leather whips, dropping the magnet and taking Diana to the depths of the viscous pool. He's done it… but the relief is short lived. The force he inflicted on the machine makes it snap back, collapsing and toppling as his mother dives toward him, as everything seems to falter around him, and he falls spent to the ground.
Debris and contorted metal falls over them. Scully braces for impact, protecting him – dust, snow and the deafening sounds of the machine coming down. She holds on tight to his aching body, a prayer the last thing he hears her mutter, willing whatever force is out there to give her another chance… Asking for a miracle, in a promise sealed with her tears.
Dread settles in Mulder's stomach at the loud sound. This isn't part of the plan.
"What's going on?" Hastings asks. The painfully loud collapse of metal and the wail of a structure bending forcefully startle them all. She follows Velazquez's cautious path West on Main.
"I think it came from the MTA yards," Velazquez suggests, pointing towards the area about three blocks down. "Was that part of the operation?"
Hastings turns to check on Mulder; he shakes his head. This is spinning out of control, he thinks as he catches up to her.
"We need to get there," Mulder looks at Velazquez then. "You stay with Weaver. Wait for the other units."
"What's going on? We were told we'd have to support, but-" Hastings asks, stopping him and he takes a brief breath. He needs to communicate with this team. They won't follow blindly.
"There's two members of our team that might be in danger, off-site." He shorthands the explanation. The most important members of this team.
Velazquez shares a look briefly with Hastings that nods her approval to the woman and she rushes her way back towards the van. LT has a heckling Weaver pinned to the front of it. Mulder's mind strains to figure out the moving pieces of this mess so that he can still live up to his promise to Beckett. He needs to protect her team too.
"Tolliver…" Mulder prompts, signaling LT to come to them while checking the app on Hasting's phone. The man trades posts with Velazquez. "Head over to the address where the first explosion was reported; its just two blocks out. Hastings, you come with me."
Mulder starts his way out on foot with Hastings trailing behind.
"Wait, what about-?" LT stops them, eyeing the loaded NYPD van. "They're going to question that we didn't put the suspect inside the vehicle- and we can't… you know, mix goods."
The maps and the evidence are too important; compromising it would make their exit even messier. They can't let it anywhere near Curtis or anyone from the task force coming to the area.
"I wouldn't leave it behind…" Hastings worries, and they're right.
Fuck this all. Fuck the moment that they let them attack the Van de Kamps at the diner, fuck the moment that they let the NYPD take the maps, fuck unfairness. Yes, fuck that one the most.
"I'm going to get you, Mulder!" Weaver continues in his bloodthirsty rant but Mulder all but ignores him.
"Hastings, hop in." He orders as he walks his way back to the van and stops to address Velazquez. "Officer- This is what happened: when you responded to the site of the explosion, Officer Hastings and you canvassed the area, while Officer Tolliver stayed behind. You spotted me and came to my aid. Hastings and I went to check out that suspicious noise."
Velazquez nods in confirmation and pulls Weaver away from the van.
"What, Mulder? Did you sell your soul to the hyenas? Are you part of the syndicate now?" he taunts, and Mulder comes closer to his face as Curtis furiously stands his ground, defiant and irate. "You know I'm always going to have the last word…"
Mulder sighs, annoyed by the deviant rants the man throws his way. He's had it.
"As for the injuries on the detainee, as painful as they look…" Mulder says as he hits Curtis on the side of the head with the butt of his gun, making him fall to his knees unconscious, startling the officers. "Just say it happened in the middle of the struggle. Put it on me if you want."
He walks to the door and opens it while Hastings catches up and LT starts his trot to their van, leading towards the site of the first explosion.
"Radio if you need help," Mulder throws Velazquez' way as he climbs in.
Castle and Ally climb up the stairwell just off the West entrance, already on edge by the telltale signs of the onslaught. The floor of the ground level is a mess of slush, debris, and the ominous crimson tint of blood. A few bodies lean against the walls; some of them fatally wounded from the explosion must have passed away instantly… some others, wounded, show gory shots to the head. Someone spared them from their suffering, he rationalizes. He has to. Reaching the second level of the structure, they stop in their tracks when they spot Diana and another supersoldier standing just inside the hallway.
"Shit," Ally cusses under her breath. "You have to be kidding me. Did they mass produce the Knowle Rohrer model?"
"What?" Castle whispers too. Ally motions Castle to keep quiet.
"The guy we just killed downstairs…" and then she points toward the wall of a guy advancing down the hall. The implications of this throw his head for a spin.
"Is it the same…?"
"No…" She responds. So there are many of them, he thinks, and she nods. He wishes he could read thoughts; it would make not being heard while they eavesdrop on ruthless assassins way easier.
Castle can't really see the man's face from this angle; a camouflaged baseball hat obscures it as he speaks to Diana. He dons a combat uniform, just like the three men beside him – they're fit, strong, and in normal conditions, Castle knows they would be lethal. As supersoldiers, he actually believes it's almost overkill. A couple of men dressed as civilians walk ahead, past the fire doors that communicate to the central part of the cluster of buildings that make up the complex. A woman with long dark hair and the posture of a warrior follows along beside Rohrer, checking on the rooms and windows of the hallway. They're sealed shut. The rooms are empty, but they're alert.
"Do you know where they're headed?" Castle hears him ask Fowley. The man has his back to him, walking deeper into the space.
These beings are surely able and trained to detect any disruption around them; thankfully, the noise of the fire exchange happening above them drowns out any noise they could make. Castle thinks back to the times he's scurried into buildings with Beckett, backing her up, listening in for the best moment to strike… somehow he doesn't feel so brave right now. It's not the same. He doesn't think that a well-placed kiss and a burst of rage-infused punches will save their ass any time soon. And he thought they'd seen terrible; right now he's actually wishing he were fighting Lockwood… At least the man bled blood, and he is one hundred percent sure he is dead.
"They rushed down this hall past the fire doors and into the central atrium. They're trying to get to Detective Beckett and Reyes," Diana explains, and the group nods, examining the path ahead. "I said I'd stay behind to divert you from following… Great job back there; they're so gullible."
Alarms go off in his head over the calculated way that this woman carries the conversation. For a moment, she reminds him of Sophia Turner… the evil version of Sophia Turner.
"We need to stop them!" Castle whispers to Ally. His blood boils with anger at this betrayal. This woman really is the devil that Scully warned them about. But the girl beside him wags her head No.
"Something is off," Ally tilts towards the group as much as she can without blowing their cover, strain showing on her features, and Castle wonders if her faculties ever cause her pain other than the emotional scars she carries around.
"I'll tell you what's off," he continues to whisper, much closer now, unable to contain himself. "They're betraying us. She's betraying us. We need to warn Beckett and Reyes."
The response is a slap to his cheek that actually stuns him, leaves him speechless. If that was her intention, well, she got it. The blow came out of nowhere.
"Shhh," she hisses, putting a finger to her lips. Her features transform showing something like relief. She points then to the staircase above them. "Skinner… he's here. Close."
"Right… Skinner." He remembers hearing this name, but can't quite keep track of all the things and people he's had to memorize in the last few hours. Too much information has never hurt his brain, but this time around he might have met his limits.
"They're conning these poachers," Ally explains, adjusting her crouching position, always leery and checking the perimeter as the group goes further in. It continues to be daunting how her face reacts to the information that she catches and steals from people's minds, especially when it's his own. "We need to carry out the plan as it was. They can't hold the supersoldiers back on their own."
"But-" Castle starts, but before he has a grip on her, Ally has jumped across the landing and started climbing up the stairs. "Wait. Stop! Ally-" he hisses, but she won't have it, and urges him to follow.
Castle takes a deep breath and checks on the group standing in the hallway to his right. He moves slowly and hides behind one of the doors that allow access to the area. The civilian men and the uniformed supersoldiers are far enough into the next building. Diana speaks to Rohrer in hushed tones he can't hear over the shouts from upstairs. That advantage is now playing against him. Diana ushers him further down the hall. He has to make a choice. If he gets seen, most likely he'd ruin the operation.
Fuck. Here goes nothing, he thinks. He rushes across the gap, keeping his eyes trained on the group and holding the magnetite bags close to his body, careful not to spill any of the material. For the briefest moment he thinks that Diana has made him… but nothing happens. Castle releases the breath he'd been holding; relief comes in great gulps of air that almost hurt his chest as tiredness starts to set into his muscles.
A few steps up, he finds the group holding court. Esposito stands alert; his eyes speak of his relief at the sight of him. A bald man briefly hugs Ally - he must be Skinner - Castle figures as he sees the exchange.
"Where's John? And Mulder?" Ally asks rushed, but the men take a pregnant pause to respond to her.
"Mulder is off site-" Skinner begins, and the girl's eyes zero in on him. She's reading him. Castle knows it, Skinner knows it, and she doesn't look like she likes what she's seeing.
"Scully? William?" she utters, swallowing. Castle isn't sure that he even wants to know what's going on.
"We're waiting to hear confirmation," Skinner says. Confirmation of? Castle dreads that this whole plan has gone to hell.
"John is at the other end – at the center building. We're going to bottle them in," Esposito continues to explain. "This place will hold up like you guys planned - no windows to escape from, not too many flight routes either - and White will condemn the fire doors."
"We had to start without you- the supersoldiers trapped Monica and Beckett in the East wing…" Skinner tries to explain, almost apologetic for their actions, and Castle instantly flares at the mention of Beckett's situation.
"But Beckett—Is she ok?" He asks. Esposito nods the confirmation his way.
"They've got it, bro." But he can't quite read certainty in his friend's features.
"We'll have to make up for our snafus then," Ally says in a tone that reads like she's angry with herself. That's one way to put it: a snafu. She cracks her neck, allowing herself a few seconds, perhaps to go through the motions of the situation at hand. Castle admires her capacity to compartmentalize and push through despite the simultaneous situations they've been in. He has to admit that terror is starting to seep in. The thought that Beckett could face any of the men downstairs, after having met one of them himself… he doesn't want to imagine. He wouldn't be alive if it weren't for that magnetite, and Ally.
"Can we get a hold of John?" She asks.
"We need to wait," Esposito explains, pulling the blueprint of the building up on his phone. "They're luring the supersoldiers away from the roof accesses and into the central atrium. My guys have the situation upstairs …about to be controlled."
Castle takes a look at the drawings; there's a very solid chance that they could get stuck and exposed to these dangerous entities. It's just two men against seven… and one of them is set on destroying whoever is not their kind. What if Beckett and Reyes take this route? What if they get caught in this weak scheme?
Ally turns to him. His worry frequency must be pretty loud judging by the look she throws at him. Great, Castle. You've managed to spook her too.
"Skinner - it's you and me," Ally declares, nodding to Skinner and signaling the magnetite they've been carrying. "Grab Castle's bags."
"What are you doing?" Castle asks, handing out the magnetite to the bald man.
"We're going to continue with the plan," she informs him, and then focusing her attention on Javier, "You need to assure me that we can get John out of that funnel."
"Ally. You know what I'm worrying about," Castle says, cutting the crap and addressing the elephant in the room, the fact that she's read his thoughts, his worries, and won't address them. What does she fear? "It's not just his life in danger in there. The girls, they could have taken that route too."
"Trust me, we'll be fine," Ally dismisses, and Castle wonders what exactly makes her so sure that they shouldn't even worry. She zeroes in on Javier. "Make sure that whoever is on our team – John and your boys - makes it out of the building, that they know we're moments away. Are we clear?"
Esposito nods at Skinner and her, respectfully. Ally's train of thought is not quite laid out for Castle; his heart rate starts to soar as he tries to consciously make do without it.
"Ally let's just wait- Just a few moments until we can confirm that Beckett and Monica are out," Castle pleads with her again as she adjusts her grip on the bags and her own gun. She shuffles and picks at her straps, securing, adjusting them. She's stalling an explanation. He knows that look, not quite meeting his eyes; he's used to seeing it on Kate when she deflects, when she doesn't want to share… when Kate would freeze him out because she feared the possibilities. Maybe that's it. There's a limit to the amount of worry this girl can carry within.
"I'm getting this train back on track," Ally finally says, stubborn, lifting her gaze to him and releasing a breath that he refuses to see as a defeated one. But it feels that way. Frustration settles in on him, at her lack of understanding for their fears.
"Hey. Just in case," Ally extends her hand to him. "It was a pleasure meeting you."
No, he won't allow it, not like this.
A/N:
If I can bribe our faithful Ky into Betaing more this week, you'd have the end of this fic a lot faster in your 'puters. LOL
Realistically, we have a lot of writing to do for other virtual and real life matters! Thank you SO MUCH for your enthusiastic reviews, they are really something I look forward to, and like I said, keep me in check. If you missed it, you can see the map for the area of the complex in my instagram, which you can find using my handle AviQuijada. You can also see pictures there of copious amounts of coffee, food and babies.
To my Unicorn as always, and to all the unicorns in my life that are just amazingly kickass.