CHAPTER 19

The entrance to the cave was pitch black, which Will had neglected to prepare for, the only flashlight between the three of them in Mulder's pocket. Glancing back out into the openness of the gorge, Will inhaled deeply, crouching through the tunnel further into the darkness ahead of him. He was greatly surprised as his foot kicked a loose pebble, sending it crashing down a concealed ladder, landing on each rung of it with a distinctive ting. Will froze, both excited and frightened as he wondered if his carelessness in the dark had caused his location to be spotted by anyone inside who cared.

After a moment of silence in response to the noise he caused, Will felt the ground with his hands, trying to decipher the beginning of the ladder. He winced, the dirt stinging his skin from magnetite fragments he could't see. His insides still felt as if they were being suctioned out torturously, waves of pain rippling through every fiber of his being. Carefully, he began to descend down the ladder, shocked at what he was faced with.

A light glowed at the end of the corridor he stood in; Will was entirely confused with the possibility of light existing in such a way underground. He had imagined Cara in a less refined situation, perhaps a large cave like he had first entered with primitive surroundings. This, on the other hand, was pristine, constructed and unnatural by all definitions. Whatever this building was, it was woven deep under the very magnetite-laden rock that was slowly killing him.

Will stepped slowly toward the opening, remembering his father's previous point of how to kill an alien bounty hunter. His hand reached for Cara's knife, still nestled in his wet pocket, and he released the blade as softly as possible, listening for any indicating sounds that he was close to where he needed to be.

As he rounded the corner carefully, his eyes went wide with relief as he saw a person standing before him. "Cara!" he exclaimed.

"SHIT!" Mulder said, standing on the bridge he finally reached as Scully stood behind him.

"What is it?" Scully asked, looking at the planks in front of them.

"William's gone," Mulder yelled, gesturing toward where they had left him.

Scully gasped. "Oh my God, Mulder! Did he-" Her voice shook, fearing the absolute worst.

"I don't know. Come on, we've got to get across and get Doggett and Reyes down here."

"Will!"

Cara ran to Will, embracing him. He kissed the top of her head, his free hand weaving itself in her hair. "Cara! Are you alright?"

Cara nodded. "I think so."

"Let's get you out of here." Will's hand held her head tenderly, his fingers falling to the base of her neck. His intention was to taste her lips, for what he wasn't sure if it was the last time. He leaned into her, revealing in the touch of her skin under his fingers- What the hell is that? Will thought suddenly, his finger brushing over raised protrusions on the back of Cara's neck. His heart raced as his mind went wild with information. With only a second's hesitation, Will grabbed Cara into a choke-hold, peeling away her hair to reveal the marked lumps Doggett had warned him about that was unique to alien bounty hunters. With swift force, he pushed Cara's knife deep into the alien bounty hunter who had just masqueraded himself as her, watching as the green acid flowed from the puncture. He tossed the bounty hunter's body on the ground, catching the remnants of life in the alien as his face shifted to that of the man from the hospital before he dissolved into a puddle of bubbling, toxic goo.

Will's heart pounded wildly out of his chest, seeing how easily he was fooled. Picking up the knife, Will suddenly realized just how dangerous this game was that he was playing. It was chess on steroids, and he had almost just allowed his King to be checked.

Outside, Mulder and Scully raced through the thick vegetation through the even denser haze settling over the gorge, each silent with fear over what had become of their son. Mulder paused momentarily to call Doggett, letting him know of where they found the entrance. "Doggett and Reyes are scoping the eastern end to see if there's another entrance," Mulder said after hanging up with them on his cell.

"Mulder, we don't have much time," Scully reminded with urgency.

Silently, they resumed jogging toward the part of the gorge where Will had last been seen, praying his body hadn't dissolved into the giant rock formations below.

Cara's head had already been pounding with violent pain, but now it felt light at the same time as she watched the blood from her own body being whisked away through tubes that were connected to her. It wasn't the sight of her blood that made her ill, but rather the rapid pace at which the blood was leaving her.

It was unsettling for her to see the way in which she would potentially die. She would be drained of blood. They would take every ounce of blood with the hopes of replication. After all, it's all she was good for to them anyway. In the privacy of her mind, she had hoped her death would be a heroic one, or at least one as peaceful as passing in slumber. To watch helplessly as your very life-source was drained from your bound body wasn't on her list of preferred ways to go.

She wasn't quite sure if she had given up hope for Will's arrival. She knew he would try, but even his best attempts would be overshadowed by the walls that surrounded her. It was the only thing in the world that could kill him, and in order to save her, he would have to willingly enter, as well as survive. The possibility of him arriving seemed small; he, too, she thought, would suffer from a slow death of life being drained from him.

Cara hadn't fully realized the seriousness of it all until this moment, as she watched her blood slowly climb into the bag hanging on the medical pole next to her. Perhaps in her mind, she had tried to lighten the gloom and doom that was coming, trying to fit it all inside a box she could handle. This reality - who or what these things were and what they were capable of - was something that couldn't be programmed, categorized or easily referenced. All she had left were the infinite possibilities, science or reason nowhere to be found amidst shape-shifting figures with blood designed to kill. This was everything Will's father fought for, and ultimately against - answers as scarce as people who could be convinced to believe. The same men that had once surrounded a table to view the new biological weapon that they had created in her very being were the same men who made bargains with the aliens, the aliens who now desired to kill the only person she cared about. Yet, all she could do was watch as he, and herself, would soon be destroyed.

Her teeth still buried in the wet fabric in her mouth, Cara closed her eyes and did the only thing she could think to do. She prayed.

Will wove himself further down the well-lit corridor, fighting the rapidly increasing pain in his body as he desperately searched for the real Cara. But how will I know her when I see her? he thought, knowing more tricks were bound to be played on him. His body was breaking down, though his clothing was still considerably wet. Will figured the water had sustained his life within a fraction of an inch, the only diamagnetic power it contained now beginning to be outdone by the surrounding rock he was winding through.

The corridor itself seemed endless, though Will assumed most of that feeling was attributed to his desperation to find Cara. She had to be here - didn't she? It was at that moment of doubt that Will heard the low mumbling of voices coming from nearby, to his right around the next bend in the hall. He paused, crouching as he listened to the voices. Men's voices, discussing their options with the blood they were collecting from ...

"Cara," he breathed, heading toward the noise with renewed determination.

"There's no sign of him, Mulder!" Scully exclaimed as her fingers traced the rock they last saw Will standing near. "Would there be?" she added with soft hesitation.

"I'm not sure," Mulder replied, examining the area nearest to the mouth of the cave. "We've got to get inside."

Though they had been out of practice, Scully was impressed with the relative ease that Mulder scaled the rock under the cave, his large hands lifting himself to stand at the top. Chewing her bottom lip, Scully followed, gripping the slick rocks as she held on to a hope and a prayer. Mulder grabbed Scully's hand at the top of the gorge, and she gratefully took the help, standing to her feet beside him.

"Just like old times," Mulder said with a weak smile.

"Does this mean I'll have to save you at some point?" Scully quipped, a smile spreading on her face.

"I recall saving you quite a bit."

Perhaps it was the prospect of death for their son, who they had just been reunited with after so many years, that allowed them the hesitant freedom to take the moment for themselves, preserving the bit of happiness they could muster as memories flooded them of many dark places they had gone through together.

As Mulder pulled the Maglite from his jeans pocket, he waggled his eyebrows at Scully. "Don't worry, I'm still happy to see you."

"I am a bit disappointed by the let-on," Scully smirked.

"So size does matter to you, Agent Scully? I could've sworn you were more than satisfied with the current model." Mulder paused, clicking on his flashlight. "I'm sorry, that was self-righteous and narcissistic of me to say, wasn't it?"

"Just a bit. But maybe you'll get lucky and it will rain sleeping bags after this is over."

The light from Mulder's flashlight shone into the entryway, illuminating the same location Will had descended into shortly before. Taking a rock from the ground, Mulder tossed it inside to test for depth, hearing the same ting Will had as the rock fell against the metal ladder. Scully's eyebrow arched. "A ladder?" she questioned.

"It's a fancy cave," Mulder joked. "Going down?" Mulder asked, imitating that of an elevator attendant, bowing toward Scully.

"Guess so," Scully muttered, following Mulder into the darkness of the cave.