Gildan's Note: Wowww I'm sorry this is...months...late. I've been very inspired lately to continue this though, so here's hoping I keep this up! And don't worry, Chapter 4 is coming soon :')
Chapter Three: Close Call
Krycek had been right, it was the second best night of sleep he had had in years. He didn't even hear Mulder get up and shower, he stayed peacefully in bed until he felt a hand on his shoulder.
He opened his eyes to find a serious-faced Mulder looking at him, "You need to hide."
Krycek shot up and nearly stood right on the bed as he went into alert mode.
"What's going on?" he asked.
"There's a suspicious person outside the door, he's been knocking for a while." Mulder informed.
"Okay – but where do I hide? The bed frame goes to the floor." Krycek got off the bed.
Mulder lifted up the mattress to reveal openings in the bed's wooden frame. "Get in and I'll put the mattress back on."
In that moment Krycek wasn't sure if he could trust Mulder, was it smart to get "locked" in a bed by someone he had tried to kill and vice versa? How did he even know the man at the door was after him? Why would Mulder even want to protect him?
"Look just trust me alright. It's beneficial to me on my mission that I don't get involved in your shit." Mulder said, essentially answering Krycek's unasked question.
Krycek hopped in and lowered himself till he was on the floor. Mulder put the mattress back on and everything went dark beneath the bed. Krycek stared at nothing as he focused on listening.
Mulder opened the door. "Yes?"
"Are you Fox Mulder?"
Krycek strained to hear, but did not recognize the voice.
"It's not 12, I don't have to pay for an extra day." Said Mulder.
"That's not what I was inquiring about. You work with the FBI." Said the man.
"Can I ask who you are?"
"We're both interested in the apprehension of the same man, I'm sure." The man continued, fishing out a blurry candid photo of Krycek.
"Alex Krycek." Mulder said.
"Yes, have you seen him around recently?"
"You have reason to believe he's around here?"
"We've been tracking him, or attempting to."
Mulder looked at the photo. "I haven't seen him in months, to be honest with you. I thought maybe he was dead."
The man looked past Mulder and into the hotel room. He brushed past Mulder. Krycek held his breath as he heard the man step into the room.
"Hey – what are you doing?"
The man drew a gun and pointed it at Mulder, who raised his hands.
"I'm just going to take a look around." He said.
"Whatever." Replied Mulder.
The man looked around the room and knelt down, but after seeing the bed frame went to the floor, stood up and walked to the bathroom. When he got closer he began to approach slowly; to him this was the only true hiding place. He walked into the bathroom, but after finding it empty, soon retreated. He put away his weapon and walked towards Mulder, but didn't say anything until he was out the door.
"Perhaps we will see each other again."
Mulder put his hand on the door knob. "Yeah – perhaps."
He watched from behind the curtain of the window as the man got into a car and drove off. He lifted the mattress up.
"A friend of yours?" he asked Krycek.
Krycek sat up and pulled himself out of the frame. "I assume so; the man who attacked me on the train didn't talk, so I don't know if it was him or another one of them."
"You're a popular guy."
"A little too popular." Said Krycek, stepping out of the frame and stretching.
"Well, as far as I know, he drove off. So either we stay here for the rest of our natural lives, or we leave now."
Krycek grabbed the rest of his clothes. "I'm fine with that."
The two got in the car and left the motel behind them, Krycek wondered where Mulder's mission was going to take him next, and if the man had turned around and staked them out.
Mulder drove past the Alabama welcome sign at approximately 4:00 pm. He pulled off the highway and drove until he was on more back roads. Krycek began to grow more curious about the mission, why was it leading Mulder to no man's land? About a silent, half hour later they pulled into what looked like another alien themed tourist trap, but with an added restaurant and motel.
"What the hell is this?" asked Krycek.
"It's 'The UFO Zone'." Said Mulder a little too nonchalantly.
"What are we doing here?"
"That's my business. So unless you'd rather be on your own running from who knows who, stop asking so many questions."
Krycek and Mulder walked inside. An energetic woman greeted them.
"Hello there! Welcome to The UFO Zone! What can we do for you?"
"Hey there, I'm Fox. I'd like to rent a room, and also if we could have a table for two at the restaurant, that would be great."
The woman smiled and pulled out a guest book. "No problem! I'll take you two to your room after dinner. Follow me to the dining room."
The woman, whose name was Christine, led them to a small booth and handed them menus. "Can I get you anything to drink to start?"
The boys perused the menu, which featured tea such as "Earl Grey Alien". Mulder let out a chuckle and Krycek looked up and stared at him for a moment, amazed at how much of a nerd Special Agent Fox Mulder really was. He gave an unseen side smile.
"I'll just take a soda." Said Mulder.
"Tea for me." Said Krycek.
"What kind of tea?"
"Uh. Earl Grey."
"We don't serve Earl Grey here, sweetie." Said Christine, winking at Mulder.
"earlgreyalien." He muttered.
"Earl Grey what?"
"Alien!" Krycek gave an embarrassed laugh.
"I see your boyfriend doesn't like to play around." Christine laughed and left to get their drinks.
"What did she just say." said Mulder, almost too serious.
"Um. I don't know I didn't hear her." Krycek tried not to turn red – she thought they were a couple?
The dinner went on fine, they didn't talk much, and Krycek savored each bite. This shabby little rest stop had given him the best meal he had eaten in ages.
"Jesus you can eat." Said Mulder, and Krycek realized that he hadn't been eating as gracefully as he thought.
"I've been on the run for months; you don't get to stop to really eat a good meal." Krycek replied defensively.
"Well, order more if you need it."
Krycek looked down at his empty plate. "Are you sure?"
"Yeah – but I'm keeping tabs on your expenditures, and you're gonna pay me back whether the money is acquired legally or not."
Krycek felt this was Mulder's attempt at a joke. But all in all it was hard to joke about the reality of their lives. Speaking of which, Mulder seemed pretty lackadaisical for someone on a "mission".
After Krycek ordered more food (and after Mulder couldn't resist the alien themed desserts) he decided it was time to pry once more, and asked him about the mission.
"It's personal. I can't tell you. I can't trust you with the details." Said Mulder coolly.
"Come on Mulder, I'm not going to tell anyone." Said Krycek in a hushed voice as their second helping of food arrived.
"Sorry, but I just can't say." Said Mulder, smiling at the alien cookies on top of his UFO cake.
Krycek dropped it and began to eat again, and his thoughts drifted to sleeping. He almost got excited to go to bed; it was strange knowing it was –sort of- safe to sleep with both eyes closed.
Christine arrived with the check.
"I'll pay since this one never does." Mulder joked. Christine laughed, and after dinner she led them outside to the strip of building that held their room.
"All our rooms are occupied except this one – but I think you'll find it's the one you two would have picked."
Krycek and Mulder looked at each other apprehensively. Krycek mouthed "What the hell does that mean?" but Mulder didn't understand. He did, however, understand the look associated with the movements of his mouth, which roughly translated to "What the hell kind of room is this gonna be."
Mulder hoped she meant it was the super deluxe alien-themed room.