Scully slowly came to. Her shoulder hurt like hell, but it felt more bearable than it had before. She opened her eyes just as Mulder reached the top of the ladder and began to ease her to the floor. As soon as she saw Alyssa she jerked up, much to both her regret, and she noticed, Mulder's.  Putting all thoughts of pain to the side for a moment, Scully forced herself to concentrate. It was difficult though; she kept getting these waves of guilt and worry from Mulder and sensing her thoughts he forced them aside for the moment. Turning her attention back to Alyssa, she saw the extent of her wound. At that moment the doctor in her took over and she totally disregarded any pain or discomfort that she had been feeling. She moved to examine Alyssa and knew that the wound was a fatal one. Alyssa shouldn't even be conscious. She seemed to be operating on sheer will alone.

"Mulder, grab that towel on the chair. We need to stop the bleeding.  Alyssa, how are you holding up?"

"I've seen better days," she replied with a slight smile.

Spotting the towel, Mulder retrieved it. Alyssa sat still, trying desperately to stay sitting up, while Mulder folded the towel and began to open the front of Alyssa's jumper so that he could carefully position the towel before covering her back up. 

"Alyssa' huh?" he asked, trying to distract her.  "What happened to 'Fox'?"

"It wasn't working," she replied with a slight smile as Mulder fixed the last button of her jumper in place.

Mulder returned her smile with a pained one.  As much as he wanted to let loose about the injustice of what was happening, Mulder was determined to hold himself together even though his hands shook with every move he made; it was more for Alyssa and Scully than for himself. It saddened Scully to know that she wasn't even able to provide him with the slightest bit of hope that this sister, at least, would make it.

Once Alyssa was taken care of, Scully quickly looked to herself. There was nothing that she could do about her shoulder, but she could walk. Indicating Alyssa to Mulder, Scully pulled herself up off the floor. Unsteady at first, she quickly got her feet back and walked to the window to see if things were clear.

Meanwhile Mulder had managed to carefully pick up Alyssa and join Scully at the door. Alyssa had no delusions about her condition.

"Mulder put me down."

"What?"

"Put me down. I'm staying here. Someone needs to stay behind and keep Samantha…Alpha occupied, and you two do not qualify. She may be more powerful than I am, but I have enough power of my own to give her a run for her money and you time to escape."

"That is not an option Alyssa."

"I don't have time to argue with you, Mulder. You should know I can make you leave but I'd rather conserve the energy."

"Alyssa, you're going with us," said Scully.

"Look, I'm not oblivious to my situation, and I know I won't make it. If this is going to be resolved, it has to be now, so go." With that, Alyssa began to push their minds. The link that Mulder and Scully now shared actually made it easier for her; it amplified the effect like reflecting light between two mirrors.

Alyssa was left supporting herself at the door as they hurried off towards Scully's jeep. She wasn't looking forward to dying. It wasn't as if she had a choice in the matter. Her only option was to choose how she was going to go out, and that involved taking Alpha out with her. There was too much at stake for Mulder to die now and he would need Scully if he were ever to achieve his ultimate goal: finding the truth, the answer to everything that he had been searching for his whole life.

Her only regret was not having been more involved in Mulder's life. She knew involvement would have endangered him, but deep down she believed that there could have been a way.  Regrets aside, Alyssa began to concentrate on amplifying her presence in an attempt to keep Alpha's attention focused on her. After she had been shot and left for dead, Alyssa realized that she wouldn't have much time before she would become too weak to stop Alpha. Focusing her mind, she began the tedious process of convincing her body that it was not injured, at the same time she gradually worked at Alpha's most vulnerable spot, her ego.

By boosting her ego, it was Alyssa's hope to make Alpha drop her guard, making her overconfident. Just enough so that her actions would go unnoticed. She had also counted on Alpha being too angry at having lost her to focus on her location and realize that the boat was just a decoy. A decoy that involved her powering up the boat by remote, so that it would speed towards the lodge. 

Now the time of reckoning was upon her and Alyssa found her hands trembling. Her heart began to race as she heard the roar of an approaching speedboat. She had seen the look on Alpha's face when she had run towards the small dock and hopped into the speedboat to pursue the decoy. It had been one of pure rage. As scary as the thought was, she hoped that Alpha still maintain that rage. It would make her more predictable, more controllable, and easier to outmaneuver; and in her current condition, she would need all the advantages she could get.