Pier 13

6:00 PM

"It's been an hour, Mulder. Are you sure she'll show?"

"She'll show." Mulder glanced at his watch also as he slowly paced in front of the car. He had been anxious ever since they had left the Holiday Inn. He had only the name and the passage from the bible, vague enough to pass as coincidence but just enough for him to question. He had gone over and over this with Scully. She had argued the former, that it was just coincidence. Mulder had suspected though that it was mostly so he wouldn't get his hopes up. She had finally said as much when they left their hotel. Now they were here at pier 13, 5 minutes past the hour, and still no closer to figuring out what was going on.

**

She woke up with a start. Her head hurt and her throat was dry. She made to get up but found that she had been restrained. Her wrists and ankles were pinned down with what felt like metal clamps. Across her forehead, shoulders and waist she felt straps made of leather. She couldn't get much leverage to look around, but she could tell that she was alone in a room, the size of which she could not determine. The only illumination came from below her. The light extended for a few feet then stopped, unable to penetrate the darkness beyond. She didn't have to guess to know where she was. The memories of being in the same position before were not pleasant to say the least.

They had her back.

She didn't know how they had taken her. She must have been gassed. The last thing she remembered was getting off the phone with the FBI agent and preparing to leave. She had started to feel dizzy, then woke up here. She knew that getting caught was a possibility but her ego made her careless. She thought she was better than the Syndicate. Better than the 'Cancer Man', for that is how she saw him. He was a cancer in need of removal for the betterment of those he touched. How could she have been so damn careless?

An electronic click sounded to her right. A shaft of light appeared and grew larger as a door swung open and there he stood. The light from behind him mage her squint. He stepped in and the door swung shut. A moment later the lights came on and there he stood by her side.

"I expected more from you, Vesper." He put his cigarette to his lips and inhaled deeply, blowing the smoke in her face. Standing a moment he began to circle the table. He never took his eyes off her face. He could see the rage in her eyes. The tension in her arms as her muscles flexed and her hands made tighter fists.

"I'll kill you for what you did to my family," she hissed.

"Your family?" Cancer Man smiled, "Well, I guess I should inform you, they were never your family. Didn't you ever wonder why we didn't come after you sooner? Why after five years, we suddenly appear without warning? At the very moment you are about to reach the peak of happiness."

"Shut up, you son-of-a-bitch," she whispers.

"Why? You want the truth, don't you? The need for truth is the one annoying habit that you received from your donor." He had paused at this, having said it mostly to himself. Pulling himself from his thoughts, he continued. "You've been with us your whole life. Our first successfully engineered hybrid. You know what we can do. What we're capable of. We instigated your whole escape. I set up the program to gradually influence you towards escape. We made you think that it was all your idea. Of course, you would have tried to escape eventually, but you know how I like to be in charge."

He continued to circle the table. "My plan was perfect. You never even suspected the guard with the so-called 'drinking problem.' My dear, once he was in position, the rest of it fell into place. After all, I was the one who oversaw your training. Your 'death' was a nice touch on your part by the way."

"And my family?" she said mournfully.

" . . . Worked for us. An agent and a drone. Both expendable."

"Why did you do this?" Vesper struggled to keep the hurt at bay.

Cancer Man stopped at the foot of the table and took another puff from his Morley. "There's nothing like an emotional trauma to bring out the best in us."

They did this to enhance my power? They ripped my life apart to enhance my power? The anger burning through her was hot. I'll show them power. With that thought she was off the table in a flash and at Cancer Man's throat, pinning him to the wall. He had no time to react.

"Know that you will pay dearly for what you've done," she hissed through her teeth.

Cancer Man began to get dizzy from the pressure on his neck. His eyes closed once. Twice. Then the pressure was gone and he could breath once more.

He opened his eyes to see that Vesper was still secured to the table in front of him. His own hands coming away from his throat. She was breathing hard and looked extremely fatigued.

"A . . .new talent," he gasped weakly. "Most . . .impressive. The slight morphing ability acquired from your alien DNA was a plus, but psychic projection? Very useful." With that, he walked to the door and was buzzed out rubbing his sore throat. All the while he was thinking that he should see about getting the genetic engineers a bonus. He also had to see about upping the sedative dosage.

"Wait," no matter what the cost she needed to know the answer to one question. "You mentioned my donor. Who is it?"

"My dear, I'm surprised that you didn't recognize him the moment you two met." With that he was gone.

She was left with her anger, her pain, and the smoking Morley that had fallen to the floor. She had thought that she had taken control of her own life just to find out it was all an illusion. Was the baby an illusion too? She got her answer when she began to feel the familiar cramp in her side that usually proceeded her cycle. She began to cry. She had wanted so badly to believe.