As the narcotic slowly dissolves and seeps into his bloodstream, it sooths away the pain and urges the receptors in his brain to embrace the numbing euphoria. Sitting on the floor and slouching against the wall, with his arm out of his leather jacket and a syringe and needle stuck in his forearm, Alexi looks like a well-dressed junkie who has found his fix.
He picks up his cell phone with one hand and uses his thumb to press the numbers. As it starts to ring, he realizes it's becoming harder to separate the jumble of thoughts overlapping in his head.
"They are unharmed, but you should come now. There are many others and they are in danger." Alexi mutters and presses the end button.
The glow from the emergency illuminators cast a gray pallor on him. Only a few moments before, the lights in the room flickered and went dark and he heard the pounding of doors being forced open. He smiles to himself, the two men a generation apart in age, have been resourceful and found their way out. He knew it could be done and he purposely defied his orders to eliminate them. They will find the women, and if they are as smart as he thinks, they will survive.
He brings his head up and rests it against the wall behind him and thinks of Miya and her offer of friendship and help. Strangely, it made him feel more alone than ever. He understands that being raised in isolation until adolescence, and then shipped overseas where he was surrounded by a culture that embraced a God that had nothing to do with his creation, led him to forsake his human side. He was taught to believe his loyalty would always be with his Benefactor and those who opposed his ideas were the enemy. He has damned human emotions, believing they served no purpose but to perpetuate weakness and vulnerability. What happened?
In the fifteen years prior to alien colonization his benefactor became more distant, although Alexi's loyalty never wavered, he began to understand his motives were purely selfish. By the time the Super Soldiers began their rampage, the world he only observed and never felt a part of began to disintegrate in front of him. He felt apathetic at first, thinking it was only more of humans slaughtering other humans in the name if their God, but as the fragility of humankind became more pronounced and as their existence seemed threatened, he began to understand and respect their resilience and determination. He began his own research on what led to his creation, and the more he learned, the more he began to feel a connection to his human side. Still, he remained loyal to his Benefactor.
Then one fateful day after the U.S. and Canada had successfully driven the Aliens from their countries, he returned to West Virginia where his origins began. He found little evidence of the laboratory where he spent his first years in and instead discovered an outdated facility, privately funded and woefully ignored. No one from his original project was left and he was viewed with suspicion as he insisted on searching the records. They allowed him access once they verified he was a clone that survived the last twenty-five years.
The story behind his origins both exhilarated him and disturbed him and the realization that he was only a tool in his Benefactor's deceptive world angered him.
Knowing The Original asked for his life, as atonement for his own, has become a driving force in him. It took him years to reconcile what it all meant or why it even mattered, but now it all makes sense. Even an alien hybrid life must have a purpose, and that purpose is what provides a reason to live, or to die. If the faith that millions believe in really exists, maybe Alex Krycek, will somehow know he hasn't failed.
"How did you get out?" Petie asks in wonderment.
"A shoelace, the rivets out of a sink stopper and Will's belt buckle. We McGyvered our way out." Doggett says with a snicker.
The teenagers look blank as Marita and Doggett exchange a knowing look.
"We can't stay here, we have to go." Miya says with urgency. "We're in danger."
"She's right, we need to find a way out. It's better if we split up. Marita, take the kids and count to two hundred before following us. Can you do that?" Doggett asks.
Marita nods.
Doggett takes Miya by the hand and leads her down the dark corridor and around the corner. They find a flight of stairs and they climb them carefully with one hand tracing the wall for guidance. At the landing, there is another flight going up and a door with an EXIT sign glowing above it.
"John, this way, I remember coming this way." Miya whispers. She leads him through the door and he leaves it ajar as they hurry down another hallway. They can barely hear the others following behind them.
Their eyes have become accustomed to the dim light as they creep toward a set of double doors.
"Any of this look familiar?" Doggett asks.
"Yes… through those doors is a ramp that leads up into in a warehouse of some sorts. Should we wait for the others?"
Doggett weighs the odds in his head. "No. We're like sitting ducks if we stick together. Let's go."
With their backs to the wall they head toward the doorway and Doggett pushes it open. The bright lights from overhead assault their vision and they stagger back blinded.
"It wasn't supposed to be like this. We had no intention of involving any of you, but this began to evolve into something that we couldn't control."
Skinner's eyes flash with anger. "You couldn't have trusted us? If anything, I mean anything happens to Marita or the others, I swear I'll….."
"Sir, please." Monica looks at the others with a cold stare. "It's time to go."
Nestled amongst the foliage is Mulder and Scully's rental car. They have abandoned their vehicle and are making their way by foot. Mulder carefully leads the unlikely group up the road toward the industrial looking building. They crouch between two forklifts and survey the property, a light from one lone security light shines on the loading area.
"What are we looking at?" Nick whispers.
"Sshhh" Mulder replies as his eyes focus on the building. "Scully? You see that car? I think it's Doggett's rental. Do you have your panel, can you do a trace?"
"I don't have to, I recognize it as his. Mulder, what is this place?"
"I hear a car… get down!" Jamal interjects.
The four of them hide between the machinery as the sound of crunching gravel grows louder and a dark sedan pulls up. The vehicle comes to a stop and the passengers step out of the car.
Scully looks startled and gasps, but Mulder's expression silences her. He looks at the two boys and presses his finger to his lips making sure they understand to keep still.
"Well SAC Aimee, what do you say? Good to go?" One of the Men in Black says with a hint of sarcasm.
"I don't know about you, but I got a take a leak." The driver of the car says. His colleague uses his head to motion him toward the trees that surround the storage facility.
"Be right back." He saunters away as the other two men snicker at him.
"Why don't you stay here and keep an eye out. I wouldn't be surprised if we don't have some of those boneheads show up." The one man says to the other.
"You give them too much credit. Hopefully that Jackass Nelson has them on their way to Montana by now."
"Don't underestimate any of them" Paulson says. "They all have nine lives and a reputation for surviving behind everyone of them. Let's go, get this over with and out of here. I'll take care of it, but I want some back up, just in case."
The man nods and they walk toward the loading dock, Paulson pushes an entry code on the door and it buzzes open. They walk in and the door clanks shut behind them.
Scully tugs on Mulder's sleeve and he turns to look at her as she points to the two boys who have managed to quietly sneak off into the woods. Mulder grimaces and swears to himself. He takes Scully's hand and traces letters on her palm and she nods at him affirmatively. Taking a deep breath, she stands up and steps out behind the forklift.
"Excuse me. Sir, can you help me, I think I'm lost." Scully says in her most convincing tone.
The man looks up at her startled by the sudden intrusion and reaches into his jacket for his weapon, but before he can follow through, Mulder stands and with his gun speaking for him says. "Put your hands up now you son of a bitch before I blow them off."
Scully watches him raise his hands and she quickly goes for the gun hidden inside his coat, she pulls it out and points it at him while slowly taking a step back. "Get down on the ground!" she commands. "Spread eagle!" He tentatively drops to the ground and she kicks at his feet to get them apart. She reaches into his pants pocket and pulls his I.D. out.
"Jesus Christ Mulder, State Department…"
Mulder looks at her and then at the man lying on the ground.
"Man, you guys never give up, do you? Not only are you traitors but you're murderers! I should just kill you now before…"
"Hey now, don't talk that way in front of the children!" Jamal says as he and Nick emerge from the woods, the man with the bladder control problem is in front of them. His hands are tied behind his back with his necktie, his feet are bare, his ankles are tethered with his belt and his handkerchief is stuffed into his mouth.
Nick looks very nervous as he holds his gun in both hands, his finger on the trigger. Jamal shoves the man to his knees and pushes him down into a prone position.
"Agent Jamal, why don't you tie up his friend, so they can share the love." Mulder says with a chuckle.
"Two down, two to go…" Jamal says as Nick points the gun at the man's head while Jamal pulls off his necktie. The boys work swiftly.
"It's not over…" the man mumbles as Jamal stuffs his handkerchief into his mouth.
"You're right, it's not over." Scully says.
"Petie, Will.. this way, they went this way." Marita says speaking just above a whisper. The two teenagers followed the woman through the halls of the underground bunker and up a flight of stairs.
"Look, they must have gone through the door, why else would it be open?" Petie says excitedly. "It's a clue right?"
"Petie, wait. I'm sure they went through this door, but maybe that's too predictable."
"I agree." Will says. "John said to spread out, let's go up and see where it leads."
The three of them scramble up the stairs and stand in the dark on the landing the only egress is the door.
"Okay, let's do it. Will, no matter what happens, stick with Petie and make sure she gets out, okay?" Marita says in a worried tone.
"No, we stay together. Marita, I won't leave you." There's a hint of panic in the young girl's voice as her eyes well up with tears.
"She's right, we don't leave each other." Will opens the door, and motions for the two women to go through. He grabs their hands and they race down the hall.