In the years leading up to the war against the alien replicants and under a government subcontract, the Department of Defense had authorized building the facility as a military storage site. Known only to a very few, his benefactor had added a row of underground rooms in the fashion of cold war bomb shelters and had used them to hide during the first wave of colonization. The little visited building is still used for storage by the military and the rooms were sealed off until recently, when Alexi had been given the access code.
"Where have you taken Marita? Neither of us are a threat to you, why are you doing this? You know they'll be looking for us, please, what is it that you want?" There is a hint of fear in Miya's voice, but she is calm and when he pulls her blindfold off, she looks him straight in the eye.
"I told you, I wouldn't hurt you or your friend. Don't make me change my mind." He looks at her intently. She is perhaps thirty, a slim woman with a fair complexion and black hair that is pulled back into a ponytail. He's unable to detect an accent even though the background information he has on her says she was born in Tokyo.
"I have questions." Alexi is uncomfortable saying these words.
They study each other carefully. There is an awkward moment as she looks for the right words. "I think you need to find your human side. I know it exists. When you do, it will free you from the emptiness you're feeling."
Alexi's eyes flash with anger. "How can you say these things to me? You don't know me. You don't know what I feel." He says defiantly, grabbing her arms hard enough to make her gasp.
Miya trembles but refuses to be intimidated by her captor. "You're wrong. I do know what you feel, and I do know who you are."
Will takes another drink of soda that Doggett found in the refrigerator. He's starting to come around as the sugar and caffeine kick in.
"I don't remember anything after he came into the shed and stuck that needle in my neck, except, he told me he was sorry. What time is it anyway? They'll be looking for me, I skipped out of class this morning."
"Skippin' school is the least of your worries." Doggett hesitates for just a moment. "Will, do you know where Petie is?"
Looking up at him he sees the concern in his eyes. "Why? What about Petie, she's back on campus… right?"
"I gotta call, telling me to go to an alley outside of town and warning me that if someone was hurt, it was on my shoulders. When I got there, she was okay but that bastard had Petie." Doggett hates himself for telling the truth when he sees the look come over Will's face, but he knows, keeping this information from him ultimately won't protect him.
"Why? I don't understand." Will sounds like a frightened kid, even with all he's gone through, he can't escape who he is.
"Look, I don't know what's going on, but if he wanted to kill… hurt us, he had his chance." Doggett's words are far from it but he tries to sound reassuring.
"Mr. Doggett, why is this happening? Do you know what's going on? If you do, I think I have a right to know."
"Yeah, you're right, you do have a right to know. It's a long and involved, I'll tell you what I know, but you have to remember, there's more than one side to every story."
In 2010 Walter Skinner left his post as an Assistant Director with the FBI to become a consultant for the government resistance movement against alien colonization. Marita had convinced Skinner that his efforts would be more effective with the resistance and he had taken her advice. Along with Mulder and Scully, he had finally found a meaningful avenue for his knowledge and insight, and with Marita, a meaningful and fulfilling relationship.
The years of following bureaucratic protocol have taken its toll on him and he doesn't try to hide it. At the time he departed the FBI, he also left his patience behind with his post.
"Agent Nelson, I was appointed an A.D. when you were still in high school, so don't bullshit me. What else? All of it matters, every detail." Skinner glares at the Special Agent.
Monica hangs back and watches Skinner grill the FBI agent. She observes his mannerisms and body language. "Agent, please bear with us, we just need to hear it again. Are you sure there isn't something else?
"Ma'm, like I said, I drove into the parking garage, parked, exited and locked the vehicle and turned to walk toward the elevator. The next thing I know I'm being stabbed in the neck with a needle… I swear, I never saw the perp." The FBI agent face is shiny with perspiration and his hands fidget around his face.
"Sir, with all due respect, why the hell do you think I'd fuck around with you? You think I'm stupid enough to try and hide something?"
Skinner gives him an icy look and Monica thinks his balls would freeze off if he had any. "What happened after they knocked you out?"
"I don't know how long I was out. When I woke up, my wrists and ankles were zip tied and a couple of Baltimore P.D. were standing over me asking me if I'm okay."
"Baltimore? You mean Boulder Police, right?" Monica says without a hint of suspicion in her voice.
"Yeah -- right, Boulder." Nelson stutters and looks confused. "Unless you have a reason to detain me… Mr. Skinner, Ms. Reyes, is there anything else?"
Skinner abruptly dismisses him with a nod and Agent Nelson backs out of the room.
"He's lying."
"That he is Assistant Director. What now?"
"Agent Reyes, let's tail him and see what he's hiding or if he's just a twitchy son of a bitch."
"It's bullshit! Gibson, he was a liar and a traitor and would have sold his own mother out to get what he wanted. Besides, it's not him. I was there when he died. I saw it with my own eyes."
"Mulder, listen to this. I found evidence that two scientists from the former Soviet Union, a married couple were imprisoned by the State Department in the mid-nineties. They were being held as spies and accused of genetic espionage. I find it strange that they were abruptly released and deported back to Kazakhstan when it was determined they were not a threat. The paper trail is convoluted but a Dr. Dale Gayheart came forward and vouched for their credibility as doctors looking for a legitimate cures for a series of genetic diseases."
"Why is that name familiar?" Scully asks. She's been uncharacteristically reserved and both Mulder and Gibson are reminded she is an important part of this investigation.
"Jesus Scully, Dale Gayheart was one of the Gregor series of clones." The wheels in Mulder's head turn as he digests the information.
"Dana, I believe the Russian Scientists were working on the cloning project that included Samantha Mulder and Kurt Crawford. I also believe they were Alex Krycek's parents. The man who appeared on the security tape at FBI Headquarters looked liked Alex Krycek because he was a clone."
"What? Where has he been and why has he suddenly turned up. It doesn't make any sense." Scully says.
"There are a lot of missing pieces to this story, but the NSA/FBI/DOJ cross referenced database popped this out. Somehow there's a connection and I have a couple of agents searching for what it is exactly, but between his stint as Secretary of Defense and the White House, our favorite Vice President was appointed guardian to a fourteen-year old boy. The paperwork is signed off by a Dr. Harvey Buchanan…"
"…who was also a clone from the Gregor series." Mulder breaks in. Gibson what else have you found?"
"The boy was listed as parents deceased. Anya and Oleg Cryczech. Not very sophisticated, but it worked and Alexi Cryczech was sent overseas as an employee of the VP's oil conglomerate."
Mulder stands abruptly and the chair he was in skids across the floor. "Christ, that Bastard VP's still trying to screw with us."
"I know them well. They both worked with my husband at the FBI."
Petie looks impressed. She is eating a protein bar and the color in her face has come back.
"Ms. Reyes was an Agent with the FBI? That explains it. I know a lot of the faculty carry weapons, but she's the only one I've seen that wears one in the back of her waistband. Her boyfriend was an FBI agent too? I mean he is her boyfriend, right?" Petie asks, her face is animated as she chews.
Marita is charmed by this girl and wonders how she has managed to stay unsullied in this post colonization world. "Yes, they have been friends for a very long time. I believe when two people work together closely and the work is dangerous, they develop a particularly strong bond. Monica and John are no exception"
"But I don't understand why she came here to become a teacher. Seems like that would be boring." Her inquisitive look is replaced with concern. "And what does Mr. Doggett… John, I mean what does he have to do with this? Why did that man take us?"
The teenager wads up and tosses the wrapper of her protein bar at the small trashcan near the counter and misses. She goes to pick it up and replace it in the receptacle, when she turns to Marita with more questions.
"Why are you here? What happened to your friend? What aren't you telling me?"
"I'm not trying to keep anything from you, but I don't want to explain away this situation without knowing all the facts." Marita sighs. She smoothes back her hair and replaces the clip. "Petie, it is complicated."
Petie tries her best not to show an attitude but she's not willing to let this go. "Marita, that's exactly what the social worker said to me when they picked me up from my grandma's house after she died. It's complicated. What you're trying to say is you think I'm too much of a baby to hear the truth."
"I… you're right. It's wrong of me to patronize you. What I'm going to tell you will bring up more questions than answers. This all begins before you were born. Promise me you'll hear me out before you start asking questions."
Petie looks at her with cautious eyes. "I promise."