One-by-one, he picked off the two of the guards who'd crossed his path, finally making his move close to dawn. He was quiet, efficient and quick. It didn't seem the guards checked in with anyone frequently, and that would be their downfall.

It gave him a thrill to take Spender's pawn right from underneath his nose.

He knew this house. It had been used before. He'd even been in it a time or two, so he used his memories to maneuver through it. He did not encounter any other resistance until after he stealthily climbed the stairs, putting a bullet in the brain of the man outside the door, the silencer doing its job magnificently. He was the man who'd snatched her from the cemetery.

Briefly, he wondered if he should have left the man for Skinner. The man might not enjoy killing, but this was one guy who he'd love to get his hands on.

A cry from outside. The two dead guards had been found. The cavalry would be here soon.

The door wasn't even locked.

Anna wasn't asleep. After a day of being stuck in this godforsaken room with no word, nothing but her own fears for company, she couldn't even begin to try. She might miss her chance to escape.

Towards dawn, she heard a slight commotion outside the door. A grunt, then what sounded suspiciously like a body hitting the floor.

Heart thudding in her throat, she stood, wishing for the umpteenth time that she had something to use as a weapon, wondering who was coming to her rescue. Or to kill her.

She hoped for option number one.

When the door opened, it was a face she didn't recognize, his eyes glittering with adrenaline and probably a little madness. Those crazy eyes settled on her.

She managed to look frightened and curious all at the same time, especially when she caught sight of the obviously dead guard right behind him, sprawled on the floor. At this point, she'd take all the help she could get.

He slammed the door. "Help me push the desk up against it."

Anna hesitated only a moment before she complied, huffing and puffing as the heavy object slid across the floor. "Seems a little dumb, don't you think? Locking yourself in?"

"We won't be in for long," he said, holstering his weapon, studying the books on the shelf on the far wall.

"But . . . there's not another way out."

"Who says?"

Anna could hear the yells, the clambering up the stairs, the exclamations. "Who are you?"

"Let's just say I'm your temporary guardian angel." He chuckled to himself as if there was an inside joke there somewhere.

Pounding on the door. Anna whipped her head around, then turned back towards this mystery man. "No offense, but you better do something. Now!"

For the first time, she noticed his left arm was a prosthetic.

Her mind whirled, a nugget of information she gleaned somewhere along the way surfacing in her mind as the yelling grew louder on the stairway outside.

"Krychek. Alex Krychek." She almost choked on the name.

Krychek didn't seem surprised she knew who he was as he perused the titles like the man of the house choosing a novel to read before the fire. "My reputation precedes me."

She couldn't quite get her words to form, her fear at being caught in the crossfire and her anger at this man standing right in front of her colliding in her breast. "Y-you're the one. You tried . . . to kill him."

Krychek still didn't look perturbed. "It's all part of the game, sweetheart. Ah ha!" He reached for a book, pulling it part of the way off the shelf.

A noise, creaking. Groaning. As Anna watched in disbelief, part of the bookshelves swung back revealing a dark passageway only large enough for one person to squeeze through.

Krychek motioned. "After you, my dear."

Her mind whirled as someone started banging on the door, unable to open it against the desk. Fearfully, she turned, watched the desk move just slightly.

He read her mind. "I'm not asking you to trust me. I'm asking you to get in the damn passageway."

Anna took a split second to study him. This man who she'd spent time hating as Walter struggled for his life in the hospital. The man she feared, knew could bring the nanotechnology back to life whenever he pleased. The man who haunted Walter, reduced him to a pawn in game he didn't want to play.

Krychek grinned a little manically. "Hard to decide against a new enemy," he motioned towards the men banging on the door, "and an old one, isn't it?"

When they started shooting at the door, splintering the thick wood, Anna made her decision, launching herself into the musty stairwell.

The noises in the room behind them faded to nothing as Krychek shut the staircase behind them, leaving them in darkness. Anna held her breath, her blood pulsing in her ears, until he flicked on a flashlight. "Go straight ahead. It will fork. Go left." He motioned with the light.

All Anna could do was follow his instructions, ignoring the fear that she was going from the frying pan into the fire as she tried to breathe in the musty air.

It didn't take long to get the task force together, trained men and women who were with several different agencies. What took so long was finding a way to get up to the house undetected. With one way in and one way out, they decided surprise was the best way.

Skinner hoped they weren't too late. They could move her again, somewhere out of range of even Langley's knowledge of computer hacking.

Or, they could just kill her.

No telling what they'd done to her at this point.

He could hear Scully and Mulder whispering between themselves, only occasionally shooting him a glance. They knew, too, that what they found might not be favorable.

To their credit, neither one made any move to talk about it. And that was fine with him.

Her family knew something was up, that they had a likely lead that could pan out. They were told they would be informed of how it turned out. Her mother demanded to go along, but that was not feasible, especially in this remote area.

Skinner might get Anna killed, but he'd be damned if he got her entire family wiped out.

They hit the ground running, the bumpy, one-lane dirt road ending at the house. The SWAT team went first. Only a few shots were fired, and security was surprisingly light. Skinner wasn't far behind, gun drawn. He sensed Mulder and Scully right behind him.

"Looks like someone got here before we did," Mulder commented, using his foot to roll over a very dead guard, armed with a very mean-looking machine gun.

Skinner didn't even want to think about that. His eyes scanned the area, the SWAT team going through the house. There was another dead guard, the rest of them being detained on the ground, hands behind their backs.

The radio in his pocket crackled with static. "All clear. No one alive in the house."

He looked at Scully, her eyes seeming to ask the same questions.

What happened?

Resolutely, he marched towards the front door, giving his eyes a moment to adjust to the darkness.

One of the SWAT members made his way to him. "Assistant Director? There's something I think you should see."

Skinner followed the man through the house, all rooms empty, papers askew, and up a small stair case.

There was another dead man at the top of the stairs.

Grimly, Skinner stepped over him, his mind whirling with a thousand questions.

First and foremost, where was Anna?

It looked like a library, and by the presence of the guard outside, this was probably where they kept her.

And half of the bookcase was blown away, revealing a dark passageway strewn with shot-up books and other flotsam.

"It appears they took her out this way."

"I know what it appears like, Lieutenant!" Skinner growled. But, what about the dead guards? That didn't fit in this picture. They wouldn't kill their own and remove her from the property just because they spotted them coming. "Where does it come out?"

"We're not sure yet, sir, but . . ." The man's radio squawked, and he picked it up.

"We questioned a guard, Abel One. They don't have her. An unknown assailant made his way up the stairs and took her. Those still alive chased them into the woods."

Skinner didn't hang around to hear the rest. She was still alive. Running for her life.

Scully was already barking orders when he stormed out the door. "She's with an unknown male. Consider him armed and dangerous."

They fanned out into the woods as a federal helicopter roared by overhead.

Anna would have sworn she heard a helicopter, but the woods were too dense to see through the trees. Plus, it could have been her imagination, the pounding of blood in her ears echoing the slapping of her sneakers through the brush.

Krychek was right behind her. She didn't stop to look back as she barreled through the bushes, but she could hear him.

Voices. Angry voices. They, too, reached her ears as she kept running.

A gun shot.

An 'oomph' from behind her.

Like a scared deer, she veered into another direction, risking only a fearful glance behind her.

Krychek was gone.

Granted, he was just as evil as whoever had kidnapped her in the first place, but now she was alone. It was nice to have the company in her panicked flight.

The branches whipped past her head, reaching out like bony fingers to pull at her clothes and her hair, scratching her exposed flesh.

Her frightened mind kept thinking she could hear someone else crashing through the brush near her and once she even thought she heard her name.

She didn't know where she was or even which direction she was going. All she knew was she had to keep moving. That's what she kept repeating to herself.

Run or die.

It was difficult to try and figure what to do. Calling her name might get her attention, but it would also get the attention of the assholes out here looking for her. And her mystery rescuer.

His radio squawked as one of the kidnappers chasing Anna was caught. It happened well away from Skinner, but he found himself on a slight incline overlooking the forest, only a break in the trees affording him a view from down below, and he peered down, catching sight of one other FBI agent.

A flash of yellow.

Yellow.

Anna had worn her light yellow windbreaker to the cemetery.

His heart sped up, and he squinted his eyes, wanting to make sure that was what he saw. Make sure it wasn't just wishful thinking.

Another break in the trees. Another flash of yellow.

For one brief second, she came into view at the bottom of the hill as she ran for all she was worth into a small clearing.

And someone was right behind her. Someone who was not wearing the obligatory FBI jacket. And someone he did not recognize.

Anna saw the clearing, knew she should probably veer around it. But by now, she was certain someone was right behind her, and it was hard for her to reason with her heart in her throat, fear right at her heels.

Whoever it was certainly wasn't Krychek, that much she knew. Funny that she'd rather see him at this point than any of these other goons who'd kidnapped her in the first place.

She launched herself into the clearing, picking up speed without any roots or branches in her path.

Skinner couldn't get to her in time. If he called out her name, it could confuse her even more, and it could give the bastard chasing her time to snatch her.

Or shoot her.

It was the way the man ran. With a purpose. His eyes never leaving her back. He knew it wasn't her rescuer. He knew this guy was after her, trying to catch her to prevent her escape.

Hell, he could be wrong, but at this point, he'd shoot her unknown rescuer, too, if he could just get her back.

Skinner stopped his crazy descent down the hill, slipping and sliding on leaves and other forest debris, catching himself on branches and rocks on the way down.

Visions floated through his mind from his dream, and he shook his head impatiently to clear them away.

She was not going to die. Not today.

He was too far away to discharge his weapon, the range was too great.

But, this was as good as it got. The best he could hope for was it would startle the man, giving her time to get away.

Breathing heavily, he slid to a stop, still a good 50 yards away. They were running parallel to him, neither one noticing him as he aimed his weapon carefully at her assailant.

He'd never felt so helpless in his life as he squeezed the trigger, remembering to aim high due to the long distance.

Anna heard the gun shot behind her, and automatically, she hit the ground, rolling through the weeds just feet from the woods and safety. Practically sobbing, she crawled the rest of the way into the forest, not daring to turn around and see if anyone was behind her.

She paused for just a moment, gasping for breath, but she didn't hear the pounding of feet that were so close just moments before.

Immediately, she charged through the brush once again, her lungs burning with exertion, her mind screaming at her to keep going.

Her life depended on it.

He couldn't believe it! He hit the man, grazed him on the shoulder it looked like. It slowed him down enough that one of the SWAT members caught up to him and tackled him.

Skinner resumed his chase. He saw her disappear in the reeds, then pop back up again on the edge of the woods.

The clinical part of his mind applauded her actions. She'd heard his shot and made herself a smaller target, despite the man behind her.

And the emotional part of his mind screamed in frustration. There was no telling how many more of them were out there, ready to get their hands on her.

But, she was alone. There was no one else with her.

So, who freed her from her second story prison?