Sorry it's been a while since the last update - been working a lot and had real life stuff to sort, so to apologise, there's two chapters today. Enjoy! :-)
CHAPTER 5
SKINNER'S APARTMENT
VIVA TOWER, CRYSTAL CITY
ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA
10:56pm
'Managed to work your way back in then, huh?' said Krycek as he watched them both climb out of Mulder's car. He had been sitting on the curbside, back propped against a street light, his eyes closed as he drew deeply on a cigarette. But now he stood to face them, flicking the butt away. If Mulder was right, thought Scully, and Krycek was genuinely in need of their help, he was showing no signs of anxiety about it now. That didn't bode well for evidence of his integrity.
'Cut it, Krycek. You've been warned. You also ought to know about a few conditions concerning our help that we discussed on the way over,' said Mulder.
'Conditions?'
'Yeah. The small print. Firstly, we keep the device. If it really is what controls Skinner's illness, then it's our insurance that he won't come to further harm.'
He gave him a few seconds to think about that. Krycek raised an eyebrow and sighed. 'Sure. Just as long as you understand that if you open it or use it, it becomes traceable.'
'I won't be doing either of those things, and by keeping hold of it, neither will you.'
Krycek shrugged.
'As for the other condition, I don't think it will come as too much of a surprise that we don't trust you, and we're still not convinced you're not taking us for a ride. So...' Mulder jabbed a fist so quickly into Krycek's face that he could never have seen it coming. As he reeled, Mulder grabbed him and threw him forward across the hood, then twisted his arm up high behind his back and held it there while Scully searched him and took a snub-nosed Browning from an ankle strap, a Russian-made MP-443 Grach from a shoulder holster, plus two clips and a switchblade from his pockets.
'For fuck's sake!' he screamed, his face purple as Mulder pressed it against the metal. 'What the hell is wrong with you?'
Mulder ignored him. 'That all, Scully?'
She nodded as she passed a set of handcuffs to Mulder who snapped one of them around Krycek's wrist.
'How is thing secured, Krycek?' asked Mulder, searching along his prosthetic arm to try to find where it was joined to his shoulder.
'What? What the fuck are you doing, you sick bastard?'
'Ah…straps. Good, then these will hold you just fine,' Mulder said, ignoring him as he secured the other cuff.
'Have you finally lost it, you stupid, crazy son-of-a-bitch?!'
Mulder stood back to let him up, which turned out to be a mistake. Krycek spun around and kicked out sideways at him, hoping to send him flying through the windshield, but Mulder saw it coming, grabbed his ankle and pulled. He lost his balance and fell hard, his shoulder taking the impact, his breath exploding from him as he hit the curb.
'I'm gonna rip your goddamned throat out with my bare hands,' he gasped, trying to haul himself to his feet. 'I'll gut your fucking carcass like a - '
'Hand, jackass. You only have the one now.' Mulder punched him again across the jaw. He couldn't save himself with his arms restrained, hit the trunk, rolled off and landed on his back on the sidewalk. Winded, he tried to get to his knees, but Mulder was already beside him. He grabbed his hair and yanked back his head as he crouched beside him.
'That was for my father, you son of a bitch, and there are still a whole lot of people I owe you for. You are our prisoner. Not our friend. That clear?'
'Fuck you,' Krycek gasped. Pure hatred burned in his eyes as he tried to wriggle free, but Mulder gripped his hair harder.
'Now we're going in there and you're going to tell Skinner exactly what you told us and if he feels like kicking the shit out of you too, you're going to sit there nice and quiet while he does. And when he's finished, seeing as it's his life in danger, we're going to do whatever he decides. You got that?'
Krycek tried to rear up again, but failed. Mulder kept him down with a firm hand on his shoulder. 'Did I tell you that you could get up?'
'Poshel na khui, suka, blyad!' Krycek screamed again, trying to twist away, but Mulder punched him again. And again. And again. Blood spattered the rear fender and when Krycek fell, his forehead caught the tailpipe.
'Mulder! Stop it! That's enough!'
'Ya oobyooh vas…ublyudok,' Krycek groaned. He rolled over onto his side and tried to twist himself back up onto his knees, but he didn't have the strength. He spat blood onto the sidewalk, groaned in defeat, then finally gave up the struggle and laid down where he had fallen, breathless.
'Get up, you pathetic excuse for a human being,' said Mulder, hauling him back to his feet and pushing him on ahead. He watched as Krycek stumbled up the steps and towards the lobby.
'Are you satisfied now?' he asked Scully.
'Satisfied? For God's sake, what the hell is wrong with you? He was unarmed and restrained, he was not a threat anymore. Don't you dare try to assign culpability for that assault to me. I asked you to cuff him. That's all.'
'What's with the holier-than-thou attitude all of a sudden? Have you forgotten what he's done?'
'Just lay off it a little, alright? You're angry, I understand, but you're better than this. Better than him.'
Krycek was waiting for them by the door buzzers at the lobby. He had a deep gash to his forehead that was oozing blood into his swollen eye and more blood was trickling from his nose and the corner of his mouth. He was pale, slick with perspiration, and his breathing seemed troubled and shallow. Scully felt a flicker of clinical concern and wondered if Mulder had caused some internal injury. He'd gone far beyond his own reserve line, and even though Krycek probably had deserved it, she was still disappointed at Mulder's lack of control.
But she was a doctor. She had taken an oath. Krycek wasn't going to turn her into a monster too.
'Are you okay?'
'Fine,' he spat.
'Can I take a look?'
'I said I'm fine.'
'At least let me try to stop the bleeding.'
'I'm not a fucking child, I don't need your damned help. Leave me the hell alone.'
She clicked her tongue and sighed, sorry she'd bothered. She should have just let him bleed to death and saved everyone a lot of trouble.
'Yes?' Skinner's unmistakable somber, stiff tone over the intercom.
'Sir, it's Agents Mulder and Scully. We need to speak to you on a matter of some urgency. Could we come up, please?'
A pause, then, 'It's almost eleven, Agent.'
'I realize that, sir, and I apologize for the late hour but we wouldn't have come to your home unless it was important.'
They waited, but the voice didn't return. Instead, the door popped open. They went to the elevator and rode up to the seventeenth floor in silence. Skinner's apartment was halfway along the hallway on the right side. Mulder tapped on the door.
Walter Skinner answered almost immediately. Surprisingly, given the time, he still wore his suit and his only attempt at relaxation had been to loosen his tie. His toned muscles were perceptible under his close-fitting shirt as he raised a hand to his collar to unbutton it.
'Were you working late, sir?' asked Scully.
'I was. I just got home and was about to go to bed.' His voice was edgy, his eyes hidden beneath a frown. 'What's this about?'
'We've brought someone who has some important information for you,' said Mulder as he pulled Krycek into view of the door.
Skinner's anger was palpable. Scully saw his eyes glaze over even under his glasses and the muscles in his jaw and neck tensed like steel cables.
'Get that bastard the hell out of my home.'
'I think it may be within your interests to listen to him, sir. It concerns the reason why you were sick.'
He met Krycek's eyes and his face changed to register perturbation for a moment before his gaze returned to Mulder.
'I know all I need to know about that, Agent Mulder. If that's all you came to say, I'd appreciate it if you'd let me get some sleep.'
'I don't think we should be discussing this out here. Maybe we could step inside,' Scully prompted.
Skinner sighed, then stood aside. 'Be my guest.'
The lounge was spartan and functional. Few personal touches adorned the fireplace or the walls, save for two photographs – one on top of the television of Skinner shaking hands with the then Director of the FBI, William Webster, taken at what must have been Skinner's graduation from the academy. The other was of his ex-wife, Sharon, taken on their wedding day.
He moved some newspapers from a recliner chair to his coffee table and sat down. Mulder and Scully took the sofa, leaving Krycek to stand.
He appeared to be unsure about his course of action now that he was in front of the man whose life he had held in his hands. Until Mulder prompted him by twisting the chain between the cuffs and enticing a sharp yelp of pain from Krycek as he kicked at the back of his legs, forcing him to his knees.
'What...made you sick…the Nanites in your blood…they're a technology that was designed, manufactured and given to us. It's alien, built by the race who plan to colonize the planet. It was originally devised for medical usage, for use on their own species in the event of any problems resulting from the hybridization process, but its purpose was modified in the light of actions by certain individuals to encapsulate a method of control that was employed on you. I think you know why.'
Skinner nodded, his face as characteristically unreadable and expressionless as always. He blinked, and turned to Mulder.
'This man is insane. I suggest you throw him back under whichever stone you found him and go home.' He moved to stand up, but Scully stopped him.
'Please sir, just give us a few more minutes.'
'You astound and disappoint me with your readiness to accept this bullshit, Agent Scully. I expected more from you. I want you all to leave right now.'
Mulder took out the controller and popped it open for the Assistant Director to see.
'What is that?'
'This, sir, is what controls the Nanites within your bloodstream. At the moment, they're dormant, but with just a few commands issued from this handset, they will very swiftly ensure that you never get the value from your Redskins season ticket.'
The small, yet tellingly dramatic demonstration had a better effect than Mulder had hoped for, but he had no idea just how deep that effect went. Skinner lowered himself back into the chair and stared at the little metal case as if it were the Holy Grail.
'It issues signals that instruct the Nanites to build chemical barriers and blockages within your arteries, veins and lymphatic system. In effect, a cruel and unusual punishment. As you bore witness to, sir.'
He just stared at it, lost in his own thoughts. But he didn't seem surprised. Mulder began to wonder if anything he was saying was actually coming as a revelation to his superior. He wore a look of regret and cold realization; of acceptance rather than shock. Even so, he continued to shake his head.
'We don't have the technology to even attempt anything like that. If you had that from him, then it's probably nothing but an electronic organizer programmed with hieroglyphics.'
'Sir, you know that I have no reason in the world to trust this man. But I have my reasons now for believing what he says. I also remember what happened to you and who put their asses on the line to save you. Those same people are here right now, sir, asking you to trust them.'
Skinner lowered his head and removed his glasses to rub at his eyes. Sighing, he put them back on, his gaze flickering over Mulder's concerned face before settling on Krycek.
'Alright, Krycek. Talk.'
'We don't have the technology at present because it was given to us by the same race that killed everyone at El Rico Air Base. It was part of a complicated arrangement that ultimately would ensure our survival as a species. The faceless aliens were of the same genus as the race the Syndicate tried to deal with. But their goals were different. They didn't want any slave race. They wanted every living thing terminated. They saw no point in all the abductions and tests, and justifiably wanted to stop us trying to develop a vaccine to their viruses. They still plan to colonize, but have demanded the return of all technology, biological samples and files given to us by their predecessors. This is the real world here, Skinner. They're not going to just come and blast everything to ashes and fallout. These people fight quiet wars with silent weapons, and whoever has the strongest science wins. They will release biological contaminants that will destroy us. The apocalypse is unstoppable and it's coming. We had to negotiate to survive. To secure our immunity and the release of all currently held subjects, we have to return to them what they want and agree to subscribe to their methods. To work with them.
'Unfortunately for us, Cancer Man told them that I had stolen the device and that they had no idea where I was. They needed time to find me. They also told them that you were the last remaining test subject in which the Nanites were still operational. In essence, Skinner, they want the device, the Nanites and us. Dead. And they are coming. I'm talking hours. The invasion is imminent and they don't want us getting in the way.'
Skinner's mind must have been spinning, thought Scully. She could hardly believe what Krycek was saying herself. To be told such a story was unimaginable, especially for Skinner whose experience had been mostly limited to reading their reports and hospital visitations after the fact. His struggle to reconcile the things he'd been told was evident, yet still he managed to retain his cold dignity. Nevertheless, beads of perspiration had peppered his brow.
'But I'm not sick anymore.'
'They are dormant. Not dead,' answered Krycek. 'They can be reactivated at any time. As I warned you.'
'Did you steal it, Krycek?'
'No. They gave it to me, but they didn't want the invaders to know that.'
'So why warn me about this? What's in this for you?'
'We have a common enemy. I guess I figured there was safety in numbers.'
Skinner shifted uncomfortably in his chair and strangely, refused to meet Mulder's eyes. Finally, he stood and began to pace back and forth in front of the balcony doors. His color rose, the muscles in his jaw tightened again. He sighed, ran his hands over his head and let them rest entwined behind his neck.
'I'm afraid I don't share your views, Krycek,' said Skinner. 'I don't need you or your help. If you had this information to offer, why not just tell Mulder and Scully? Why involve me at all?'
Krycek grinned. 'I guess it's just because I'm so damned fond of you.'
Mulder chopped him sharply in the ribs, but he bore it well, biting his lip and shuddering as he inhaled.
'Because they are after me, too, okay? I'm alone. I don't have anyone else to turn to,' he said breathily. He closed his eyes, exhaled sharply in pain, and slowly straightened up. 'If I help you, then I help me. And I'm still kind of fond of me.'
'Sir, look, I think the priority right now is to get out of here,' said Mulder.
'Where do you suggest we go? We don't even know who is looking for me, or even if they really are. All we have is Krycek's word for it.'
'Hey, I'm standing right here. What do you want from me? What more will it take, huh? For them to break in here and put a bullet in your brain? They arecoming! We've already wasted too much time!'
'Alright, Krycek, that's it. I've just about had it up to here with you,' said Mulder, grabbing him by the collar. 'I won't bother to fasten the cuffs when I throw you off the goddamned balcony this time.'
'Mulder, wait!' said Scully tersely. 'Listen.'
He stopped, but kept hold of Krycek's collar. 'I don't hear anything.'
'Quiet,' she whispered, moving to the window overlooking the street and parting the slats of Skinner's blinds. 'Sir, come look at this.'
Skinner joined her and looked out across the starry lights of the city skyline. A black, unmarked helicopter was passing over the downtown buildings. As it drew closer, its searchlight was switched on, a new moon that began to sweep towards them.
Its milky light crawled across the block opposite, and as they continued to watch its course, Scully caught a glimpse of movement below. It was difficult to tell the make and model of the car that had just pulled up, but the four men who got out of it were clear enough. They were entering Skinner's building.
'How did they open the door?' Scully asked.
'I don't know.' He let the blinds fall closed and took Scully's elbow to pull her away from the window. 'Alright, we need to get out. Right now.'
Mulder twisted Krycek's collar. 'If this is a set up, you are a dead man.'
Raw, unadulterated hate burned deep in Krycek's eyes as he shook off Mulder's grip.
'You've made your goddamned point, Mulder,' he seethed, his reserve cracking as Scully feared it would. 'Touch me again, and I'll kill you.'
'Is there any other way out of here, sir?' Scully felt time slipping away from her with increasing velocity, each thumping heartbeat a countdown as the men downstairs drew closer.
'Yes. There's a fire escape at the far end of the hall.'
Skinner grabbed his jacket, wallet, Sig Sauer and spare clip, then followed the others outside. The elevator light signaled that it was on its way up as they followed him to the exit. The bell of the arriving elevator sounded just as the door closed behind them.
Scully could hear Skinner's footfalls echoing behind her in the narrow concrete stairwell, but her heart stopped when she heard the door opening above them. She daren't stop and look up. Whether the danger was real or not, the perceived threat had already set adrenaline coursing through her veins and instinct rather than fear controlled her now.
'They're down here!' echoed a male voice from above them.
Then a multitude of footsteps, like an approaching army. A gunshot, clanging as it ricocheted off the metal handrail just inches from Skinner's hand. The next came even closer, hitting the flight of steps above Scully's head and exploding in a shower of dust and cement chips.
Whether or not Krycek really was telling the truth, the men following them and the bullets they were firing were real enough.
'We'll take my car, sir. It's just down the block,' said Mulder as they reached the exit and the fire alarm began to scream. Mulder stopped to pull a mini-Dumpster across the door to slow down their pursuers.
Skinner threw Krycek in the back of the car while Scully sat in front only seconds ahead of Mulder who had the key in the ignition before he had even closed his door. The engine turned over once. Died. He tried again, tramping down impatiently on the gas. And again. It stubbornly refused to start. The door was starting to shake as the men tried to break through.
'Son of a bitch!' Mulder yelled, slamming his palms against the steering wheel.
The back windshield exploded, sending a barrage of gummy, tempered glass cubes hurtling like missiles through the car. The bullet ripped through the side of the driver's seat, narrowly missing Mulder before slamming into the dashboard. The smell of gunpowder and burnt wood choked the air.
He cursed. Adrenalin dried his throat and slicked his palms making it difficult to get a good grip on the key. The fifth time, the engine fired. Mulder threw the car into drive, stamped on the accelerator and released the hand brake, burning out the back wheels as the car tore away from the sidewalk.
Skinner looked over his shoulder and saw five men racing around the back of his building, guns drawn, heading towards their car. He saw them fire off two more rounds that, incredibly, careened off the roof and side before the car screeched from the curb and started after them.
'They're following us, Mulder,' Skinner said with a forced calmness he didn't feel.
'I know, I know.'
He raced down the street and waited until the last possible second before tapping the brakes and pulling the wheel hard to the left, cutting across two lanes of traffic and just missing the curb as the car tail-ended a dumpster before righting itself and bouncing the wrong way down a one-way street. Checking the mirror, he saw the other car shoot past the opening, then reverse sharply to pull in behind them.
'Shit,' he muttered. 'What's up here, sir?'
Nothing but garbage cans, fire escapes, and brick walls with no visible turn offs lay in front of them for at least another two hundred meters.
'This opens onto another side street. Hang a right from there. I've never approached it from this direction though. You'll have to cross four lanes of traffic, Agent, and they won't be prepared to see you coming out from here. Be careful.'
The exit raced closer and closer, as did the car behind them. Mulder was pretty sure they would have tried to blow their tires out if the alley had been any wider. Orange sparks were thrown off as they scraped and bumped along from one wall to the next like a pinball at speeds pushing sixty.
'They're gaining, Mulder,' said Scully.
'Alright,' he said, 'I hope you're all wearing seat belts.'
He revved up to gain a little extra momentum and silently prayed that whichever god was listening would allow a gap in the traffic that would let them through. It didn't look promising. Cars were streaking masses of color across the intersection.
The car shot out of the alley like a bullet. It took every ounce of strength Mulder possessed to haul the steering wheel around. Brakes squealed. Horns blared. They turned, screaming, veering across the road. It took all Mulder's concentration and physical effort to control the car, trying to stop it fishtailing. Seconds passed like centuries as the whole scene took on a surreal quality and blurred into a smudged mass of colors and alien sounds. Suddenly, out of the fog, one of the smears of color consolidated into a red Ford pick-up truck. It bore down on them relentlessly and even though the driver appeared to be trying to slow down, he had seen them too late. Reacted too slowly.
'Mulder!'
Scully's scream sent a dagger through his heart, but it was out of his hands now. The truck slammed into the wing on Scully's side. The car spun wildly left, doing several complete turns before righting itself. Mulder tramped hard on the accelerator and sped away, leaving the Ford driver dazed, but otherwise unhurt. At least it seemed that way. He had enough strength to get out of his truck and yell a string of expletives after them.
'Jesus, Mulder, what the hell are you trying to do?!' yelled Krycek from the backseat, but his voice was lost among the cacophony of engines and horns and sirens.
The car following them wasn't nearly so lucky. Skinner turned around and pulled away the sagging rubber seal and remnants of the back window to see a transit van broad-siding what he could now see was a dark navy Sedan. It slammed into the car, pushing it eastwards towards them, even after the van's own brakes had stopped itself. Momentum continued on the car as it slid sideways before eventually flipping again and again in a surreal symphony of tortured metal that was audible even from a distance. It eventually came to rest in a manufactured silence of smoke, upside down, crushed into an almost unrecognizable mass of twisted metal and broken glass. No one tried to leave, and petrol started to leak from the ruptured tank. Seconds later, it exploded in a mushroom of thick, acrid black smoke with flashes of dirty orange flames, incinerating whoever was chasing them along with any hopes they may have had of identified them or their motives.
Skinner relaxed back in his seat, satisfied, for now, that the immediate danger seemed to have been brought to an abrupt, if over-violent, end.
'Scully, are you okay?' asked Mulder.
'I...I, er...I'm not sure,' she murmured. She raised a hand to her face and when she pulled it away, her fingertips were slick with blood. A grey haze descended over her field of vision, and an annoying ringing began in her ears. She guessed she might be concussed. She wouldn't really know until she could get out of the damn car and get some air. Each bump in the road activated ever-increasing waves of nausea and her head throbbed with her racing heartbeat. She wanted to close her eyes…just for a few seconds.
Mulder heard Skinner shifting in his seat.
'She's passed out, Mulder. We need to stop.' Skinner lowered her seat back, supporting her lolling head with his hand. 'She's bleeding. We have to stop now.'
Mulder took his eyes from the road for a moment to glance at her. Blood was beginning to cake in a jagged line across the bridge of her nose. More blood formed the centre of a starflower crack in the window glass. Suddenly, the car was airless.
'Dana? Open your eyes. Dana!'
She didn't move. Even though Mulder's heart continued to beat in his throat, even thought concern for her was choking him, he couldn't stop, not just yet. All their lives may be in danger if he did. He glanced again in the mirror. They were now well out of sight of the mini war zone they had created, but no doubt even as they spoke, witnesses were giving descriptions of their car to the police. If they were really lucky, maybe they had been caught on a security monitor somewhere. He knew he could explain, but he doubted he had the time to spare and could ill afford the attention. One threat may have been eliminated for now, but he knew that these people rarely gave up so easily. And where had that chopper gone?
'Sir, have you seen the helicopter since we left your apartment?'
'No,' Skinner bristled. 'What the hell does that matter now? You need to stop!'
They were approaching the city limits, and signs for the I66 and Washington were beginning to spring up regularly along the road. Mulder pulled off Main and headed into a residential area where he hoped there might be less chance of being seen at this time of night. The street was wide and tree lined, most of the lights were out in the houses, obscuring a clear view of their car from ground level as well as from above, just in case the helicopter was still circling. He pulled up outside an empty stucco and brick dwelling with a 'For Lease' sign posted outside. It had been so for a while. The place looked pretty run-down with peeling paint, overgrown bushes, shrubs and unkempt topiary displays that had long since lost any resemblance to anything of this earth.
He turned to his partner. A dark swelling that he hoped was just a bruise began to materialize along her cheekbone and eye socket. The bleeding was slowing now, coming from a deep cut just above her eye.
'Dana?' He unclipped his seatbelt and moved closer, stroking her hair back away from the cut. 'Dana, can you hear me?'
She groaned and pushed his hand away. Her eyelids twitched slightly then opened. Her brow creased as her eyes tried to focus. 'Mulder?'
'Yeah,' he smiled, caressing her cheek. 'Are you okay?'
'I...I think…God, my head hurts. What happened?'
'Mulder was a goddamned idiot. As usual. And, as usual, someone got hurt.'
'Just shut up, Krycek. Unless you want to move one step closer to a ruptured spleen,' Skinner told him.
Krycek rolled his eyes and turned his attention to the dilapidated house instead.
'I need to get out of this car…get some air…I feel sick,' she said.
'We'll stop somewhere soon. As soon as it's safe. Are you going to be okay for a little while?' asked Mulder.
'Suppose I'll have to be.' She was beginning to look more like herself, her color had returned and her eyes were clearing.
'You stil nauseous?'
'I'll…be okay. I just want to get out of here.''
'Great. Scully's fine, and I'm fine too, by the way, other than whiplash which I'm sure you're heartbroken about. Could we get a move on and decide what we're supposed to do now?' said Krycek. 'Because these damn cuffs are starting to send my fingers to sleep.'
'Look on the bright side,' said Mulder, 'at least you only have the five to worry about now.'
'For Christ's sake,' Scully muttered.
'Well, my apartment certainly isn't safe anymore, thanks to you, so maybe you ought to suggest something,' said Skinner.
'Yeah, I have a suggestion. How about you all go fuck yourselves.'
'There's a biotechnology lab in Richmond,' Scully suggested, before anyone exploded again. 'They're doing extensive research into biomechanical prosthetics, artificial organ replacements and so on. I think they are most likely the best equipped to analyze the type of technology that we're talking about.'
'How can you be so sure they will help?' asked Skinner.
'I know one of the senior researchers there. He taught a semester when I was in med school. He's a good man. Trustworthy.'
'Okay. Then I guess we're heading for Virginia. We can't take this car though. It's damaged and we can do without getting pulled over. The labs won't even be open until Monday. Neither will car rental, and we should try and get some rest. I suggest we look for a motel,' said Mulder.
'Sounds reasonable enough,' said Skinner.
'Okay. I know a place,' Mulder replied as he pulled off and headed towards the I95 taking them south into Virginia.
