Mulder was in shock. He had instinctively reached for his sidearm and found nothing. Instead he jumped up and tried to reach Alyssa through the window but she was just beyond his reach.

"Damn it, you freak, I'll kill you!" he shouted.

Alpha did nothing but smile at him. She stepped closer to Alyssa and shoved her onto her back with her foot. She watched as Alyssa curled up from the pain, gripping her chest, as if trying to keep the blood from exiting her body.

"This was almost too easy, Fox. I thought that I would have had more of a challenge."

"What do you mean?" Mulder asked, desperation making its way into his voice as he tried to stall for time to think of something, anything that would get them out of this.  "Where's Scully?"

Alpha smiled and began to walk away. "I'll be right back. Do be a dear and watch your sister for me."

Mulder could do nothing but watch as Alyssa writhed in pain and blood began to flow from her mouth. It was accompanied by a sickening gurgling noise as Alyssa's lungs began to fill with her own blood. Mulder then turned to the sound of the latch being thrown at the opening of the cellar, and his thoughts went to the last words that had come from his sister's mouth. 'She's got Scully.'

The first thing he saw was Alpha as she poked her head down. She had a crooked smile and a wicked gleam in her eye that caused Mulder's apprehension to rise.

"Got something for you, Fox," she said, glancing at something to the side. "Or should I say someone?"

Alpha dropped the ladder and started down. She stopped halfway to reach for something on the floor above. It was at that moment that time slowed down for Mulder. All he could hear was the pounding of his heart as it grew louder and louder like a crescendo. He felt his body go cold and he lost all sense of where he was. All his focus was on that opening which Alpha reached through. The first thing he saw were a pair of booted feet as she slowly pulled a body from the floor above.

Mulder watched as Alpha pulled the body towards her and down.  Grabbing material, pulling at it, then grabbing some more. Grab. Pull. Grab. Pull. Hand over hand until finally she let go and a limp form fell and crumpled to the floor below. His heart stopped. All he could see was the crumpled form of his partner lying on the floor with her beautiful red hair covering a pale and still face. The world ended for him at that moment. The lifeless image of his partner was forever seared into his memory. He almost didn't hear Alpha's next words.

"Surprise!!" she yelled, hopping down off the ladder. She crouched down next to Scully and grabbed a handful of her hair. "Not very lively is she? At least that wannabe outside writhed in pain. Dana here wasn't as entertaining, though she did put up more of a fight than that 'sister' of yours did. I tell you, Fox, you should have seen the look on Dana's face right before I shot her with her own gun."

Mulder snapped at that moment. Still holding the chain, he lunged at his adversary and the final bolts came free from the wall. He didn't even make it halfway there before a bolt of energy caught him in the chest and threw him back against the wall where he slowly slid down to the floor. The pain he felt was unbearable. He felt as if hundreds of needles were pricking him over every square inch of his body.

"Do I sense some pent up hostility, Fox? Are you having some issues with controlling your anger?" Alpha stepped around Scully then looked down as her foot slid on something wet. "Damn it! Your partner is bleeding all over the floor. Don't worry, though. I can fix that. I can't exactly have her bleed to death before we've had any fun."

Alpha placed her hand over Scully and released a short burst of energy. The bolt struck Scully in the shoulder, causing her whole body to shudder and jolt as her wound cauterized. She awoke with a start and a scream that dwindled into a silent cry of pain as she gripped her left arm and watched as tendrils of smoke came from her shoulder.  Alpha smiled at the pain she had wrought, knowing that this was just the beginning.

"Would you like to feel what she's feeling?" Approaching Mulder, she knelt down in front of him and placed her hands on either side of his head. "Now hold still, this will hurt. A lot."

With a jolt, Mulder was inside his partner's mind. Feeling what she was feeling.  Excruciating pain surged through his body, flowing from his shoulder to the tips of his toes and back again. He could 'hear' her cry out his name. Beg for his help and all that Mulder could do was writhe on the floor in agony until finally the pain became a bit more sufferable as Scully gradually began to lose consciousness.

"Tell me, brother, how did it feel?"

"I'll kill you." He whispered. "If it's the last thing I do, I'll kill you."

"You'll have to catch me first, and I don't think you'll be in a walking mood after I break one of your legs."

Mulder cried out as first his leg, then his shoulder pulsed with agony and his heart broke upon seeing that Scully watched him with tear filled eyes. She had grabbed her right leg with her one good arm, and Mulder knew then that the connection was still in place and that it went both ways.

"Don't ever presume that you can ever beat me," she said. The look on her face was calculated, cold. "And seeing as the chain is now unnecessary, I might as well take it. Wouldn't want you using it in an inappropriate manner. Besides that, I have one more bird to fry. There's a girl out there that needs to learn that I cannot be replace."

Removing the chain, Alpha picked it up and headed for the ladder. As soon as he heard the latch slide into place, Mulder slowly began to drag himself towards his partner. The pain had subsided, meaning that Scully must have passed out again. It took him but a moment to finally reach her, but it felt much longer.  Mulder avoided touching her at first. He was at the point where he felt that the slightest touch from him could bring her more pain and misery. Finally he started to smooth back her hair.

"Scully? Wake up. Come on now. I'm sorry. I never meant for any of this to happen." Scully was still unresponsive. Her clothing was burned into her wound so he made no attempt at clearing it away for fear that he would start its bleeding again.  Instead he removed his belt so that he could strap her arm to her chest in a makeshift sling. Grabbing her right arm, and supporting her back, Mulder carefully pulled Scully onto his chest, supporting her so that he could make the tortuous journey back to the mattress he had first found himself on just a few hours earlier.  The moment he laid her down he heard a cry of anger erupt from the window above.

"Where is she!?" Mulder supported himself on his good leg and peeked through the window. He could see Alpha passing, with barely contained rage, a patch of blood stained grass where he had last seen Alyssa. She was searching her surroundings, then the tree line for any sign that could tell her where Alyssa could have gone, but there was nothing. Then, in the distance, he heard the sound of a motor. In a blind rage, Alpha took off in that direction.  She was around the corner of the house and gone before he could even blink. He hoped to God that Alyssa makes it. At least she would be alive. It would be one less life on his conscience.

It had only been a couple of minutes since Alpha had taken off when he heard the latch above slowly disengage. She couldn't have come back that quickly, could she? he thought.

The hatch was pulled open to meet the floor above with a bang. And for the second time Mulder saw a sight for sore eyes. There was the unflappable Alyssa peeking through the opening strangely enough, not the worst for wear that Mulder would have expected to see.

"Hurry, Mulder. Can you get Scully up the ladder?"

"My leg's broken. It'll hurt like hell, but I'll make it happen."

"Don't worry, it won't hurt at all because your leg's not broken."

"What?" he asked surprised.

"Trust me."

Mulder didn't know why, but he believed her, and when he put his full weight on his leg, there was no pain. He stooped down and carefully picked up Scully. She groaned with pain as her shoulder experienced a slight shift. Mulder steadied and they were both relieved for the moment. The worst would come as he carried her up the ladder. One purpose that their connection seemed to serve was to allow him to know exactly what positions to take so as not to jostle her too much, saving her from any unnecessary pain.

Half way up the ladder, Mulder saw what he hadn't seen before. On closer inspection, he could see the strain on Alyssa's face. She was trying desperately to control it, but the slight quaking of her body was evident to his eyes. Not only that, but she was pale and there was a sheen of perspiration covering her face. She had apparently tried to clean up the blood from her chin but some of it still remained and continued to trickle out of the corner of her mouth and the wound in her chest appeared to maintain a steady flow.  Mulder looked back into her eyes and saw the knowledge that he would like to deny.  Alyssa was dying and she knew it.