Trust Book 2: Trust, Love and Happiness, too. Pt 4
by Nikita
Title: "Trust, Love, and Happiness, too." Chapter 2.
By: Nikita
Series: 4/?
This is a sequel to my first series: "What We Need Now is Trust." Available at Down in the Basement, Slashing Mulder, or at my own website: http://www.koukla.net/nikita_slash
Summary: Oileans, morphs and m/k, oh my!
Spoilers: Season 7.
Disclaimer: I do NOT own the X-Files or any characters, plot lines, etc. They belong to Chris Carter, Fox, and the wonderful actors themselves. This is an unauthorized story for entertainment purposes only. I'm but a poor humble grad student struggling to make ends meet. Writing this stuff and keeping a website actually costs me money. But I do it as a labor of love.
Warnings: Slash. M/M relationship, sex, language. Schmoop, angst, plot, all the good stuff. Mpreg., aliens, etc. etc.
Feedback: Yes, please! nik_cleo@hotmail.com
Authors note: Yes, I know I love wordy titles... This is the sequel of my first Trust series. It continues almost 5 years after we last saw our happy little family...
^ Still means telepathic communication
'' still means internal thoughts
Alex and Mulder LIKE to dangle off of cliffs. Honest.
And now for our feature presentation...
Trust Series Book 2
Trust, Love and Happiness, too.
by Nikita
Part Four
Scully threw her luggage into the trunk of the rental car. She slammed the trunk closed quickly and hopped into the passenger seat. Skinner took off before her door was completely shut. She stifled an angry protest, knowing it would only make the tension between her and Skinner worse.
Skinner drove like a mad man. Racing ten to twenty miles above the limit. She gritted her teeth and kept quiet. This was unusual behavior of a man that was always so strict and law abiding. But she couldn't fault his impatience. Mulder had not been seen in 48 hours. Two policemen had gone to check the woods were the two men had last been seen in and then checked the Krycek house. They had reported nothing unusual, saying the house seemed empty and there was no sign of a break in or struggle. They found a door unlocked in the back and had stated they would check out the interior and then report back.
The two officers were not heard from again.
They were planning to send reinforcements immediately, but Skinner had warned against it. He was taking over the investigation and ordered them to wait until he got there. Which was why they were in such a hurry.
Skinner seemed torn between two theories: the bounty hunters were back or Krycek had shown his true colors and had possibly killed Mulder and two policemen.
The car screeched to a halt and she put her hand to the dashboard in reflex. Skinner was halfway out the door before she recovered enough to unfasten her seatbelt.
Skinner strode through the office. The local sheriff filled them in on recent developments. Namely: none.
Scully scanned the area around her. Through the glass of a nearby door she could see Katerina was sitting in another office with a cookie and milk on the desk before her. She was staring at the desk sadly, unmoving. Scully left Skinner's side and went to the little girl's side.
"Kat, honey, it's your Aunt Dana. Are you okay?" She squatted down next to Kat's chair and patted her back. Kat didn't look up, shrugging her shoulders.
"Kat? Tell me what's wrong?"
Kat finally looked up, her eyes filled with tears. "Daddy's hurt. And Papa..."
Scully tried to stay calm and gentle. "Can you tell me what happened, sweetie?"
A potbellied man in a brown police uniform entered the office in time to hear Scully's question. His balding head and dull gray eyes did nothing to improve his appearance. In loud booming voice he proclaimed, "One of her faggot fathers went after the other. End of story."
Scully stood up and was ready to lash out when Kat sprang off her chair. "My papa didn't hurt Daddy! It was the black stuff!"
Scully turned back to the little girl. "What black stuff, honey?" Kat glared at the man for a minute and turned to her Aunt. "Papa came in from chopping and his eyes were black."
"Chopping?"
"Wood. He chopped wood."
Scully picked Kat up and sat her on the desk. "Then what? He came in and what was wrong with his eyes?"
"They were black. Not at first, but he grabbed Daddy and his eyes went black."
"You saw all this?"
"Yes, I was playing, but I wanted to ask Papa Alex for another mouse. But then I saw his eyes... Daddy yelled for me to run, but I was scared." Kat trembled.
Scully put her arm around her. "What happened then?"
"Daddy Fox got mad when...when the oil man looked at me and he SHOVED him down and grabbed me an' ran all the way to the Jaco'son's." Kat was crying again.
Scully turned to the fat cop with her hand on her hip. "Did anyone ask Kat what happened?" The cop glared back at her. "Lady the kid's too young. She's describing the Tin Man. Oil man." he sneered. Scully decided to ignore him and looked over his shoulder and waved to get Skinner's attention. He glanced up and nodding, he strode into the office.
"What's going on?" he rumbled.
"No one bothered to listen to listen to Kat. She saw what happened. She says that Alex went out to chop wood and when he came back his eyes were black and he grabbed Mulder. She called him the Oil man. Sound familiar?"
Skinner glanced down at the little girl, she looked back up frightened, but curious.
"Anything else?"
Scully turned back to the little girl. "It's okay, Kat. You're helping your daddy and papa by talking to us. Can you tell me what happened after Mul- your daddy ran to the Jacobson's with you?"
Kat nodded vigorously, proud to help her fathers. "Yes. He ran all the way. Fast. I was crying but he kept running. Mrs. Jaco'son opened the door, but Mr. Jaco'son wouldn't let us in. He called daddy and papa a BAD word." She glared at the fat cop to show she knew the 'f' word was bad. The cop averted his eyes, but otherwise didn't respond. Scully nodded. "...and then...Daddy begged them to let me in an' Mr. Jaco'son said no and shut the door, but MRS. Jaco'son took me. And she wanted Daddy to come in, but Daddy said no and closed the door." She started crying again. "I want my daddy! Where's daddy? I want Papa..."
Scully picked her up and patted her back; over her shoulder she looked at Skinner. Skinner was seething. "WHERE is this Mr. Jacobson?" The cop looked startled, another cop behind him shook his head regretfully. "Chris Jacobson said he didn't think the situation was that bad. He thought it was just a lovers' squabble and..."
"I asked WHERE is he?"
Scully caught his eye, "Sir, I don't think now is the time to discuss this. We need to find Mulder and Alex as soon as possible. Skinner ground his teeth but agreed. The men left the office to scramble together as large a force possible to go hunting for the men. Their main target would be the house as the policemen disappeared from there.
Scully remained behind for a moment to soothe Kat before leaving. "Aunt Dana?"
"Yes, honey?"
"Daddy doesn't want you and Mr. Skinner to come yet."
Scully frowned and sat down next to her. "What do you mean? When did you talk to him?"
"Just now. He says to tell you I can hear him, but he can't get through to you. He says that the men that came to the house are dead and to stay away. He says he'll tell me when it's safe to come."
XXX
North Carolina woods.
November 20 2004Mulder lay on the bed, his hands were numb, but that was a blessing since he'd rubbed the skin on his wrists bloody. He stared at the hunter standing before him. He had been in the room for about two days and he'd only been let up for the bathroom so far. The hunter took him there and was also the one who fed him. The oilean seemed content to watch.
He missed his lover dreadfully. Alex still talked to him occasionally, but the effort was exhausting the younger man. Alex's body didn't look good; his skin was pasty and his eyes had dark circles forming. The oilean didn't appear to sleep at all. Mulder wondered how long the oilean could make the body last at this rate. And how long before the ship came?
He sensed Scully and Skinner through his daughter. His link with Kat was fairly strong, but he had avoided contacting her because she was so scared. When he'd sensed that Skinner and Scully would be coming he'd risked it. He had to keep them away. When the two policemen had come to investigate, the aliens had unlocked the door and remained inside. The oilean had killed the men with a flash of radiation. Alex had screamed in his mind. The bloodcurdling mental scream had been brief, but exhausting for Mulder and Alex. The aliens remained unmoved.
If Scully and Skinner or any other humans came they would die horribly. He had to free himself. Alex was trapped and Mulder couldn't think of how to rid his lover of the oil.
Yet.
XXX
The oilean watched the hybrid with interest. The oil was intelligent, but it was a lower form of the colonists. It was only an agent. It had no corporeal body; it was either in its natural liquid state or in a physical host. It currently inhabited a body that had encountered the oil before. The oil enjoyed being in the physical body. It intrigued the oil. The host's mental state was in anguish as its mate was being threatened and its own body was not in its control. The human's emotions made the oil feel emotions...something it couldn't feel in liquid state. The oil had been thrilled by the initial burst of feelings and terror in the host. But as time passed, the host became tired. Drained. It's feelings depressed.
The oil longed to feel the terror again. To feel 'alive' again. So it decided to play. After all, the ship wasn't here, yet.
XXX
Mulder lay back watching the aliens watch him. After days of relative inactivity, the oil being rose from its chair. Alex's voice came out of Alex's mouth, but the voice was dead, no emotion or life in it.
"I wish to experiment."
The bounty hunter looked up, surprised. Their orders were to capture and wait. Not experiment. The alien considered protesting, but the oilean was his superior, he remained silent, unmoving. The oilean ignored the hunter and approached the bed. Mulder stiffened.
Alex's body stalked around the bed to the side that Mulder was tied to. It sat down and leaned forward, wanting to smell the hybrid's scent that so excited the human and morph. It analyzed the smell and noted the unusually strong pheromones, but didn't feel any physiological effects. The host's body did, however. The mental being of the host stirred from its depression.
This excited, but did not satisfy the oilean. Lust was not as interesting as fear. Hate. Terror.
Mulder clenched his numb hands as best he could and steeled himself for whatever the oilean had planned. 'Alex' leaned over and smiled coldly, trailing a hand over Fox's face until it reached his chin. Grabbing it, the oilean raised Mulder's face and kissed him savagely. Biting Fox's lower lip until it bled. Mulder grunted, but said nothing, but his eyes betrayed his fear.
Inside his head Mulder heard his lover shout with renewed strength at the oil. ^God! Stop! Leave him alone! ^
The oilean released Fox's face and smiled again with cold malice. "Your scent is intoxicating to morphs and humans, Hybrid. It grows stronger as your cycle nears. How does it feel to know you are like a bitch in heat?" Mulder paled, but said nothing.
The hunter stirred in his seat at the mention of the hybrid's cycle, but stilled when the oilean turned its head.
Turning back to they hybrid, the oilean reached its fingers up to Fox's T-shirt and slipped a cold clammy hand under it, roughly caressing Mulder abdomen. It watched Mulder's eyes intently, wanting to see the fear reflected in they hybrid's hazel eyes.
Within the corner of his mind, the only space allowed to him, Alex was in a frenzy. The morph continually whispered its plans for his lover. It told him it was interested in 'examining' his hybrid lover. In tasting it's hybrid blood and skin. In stretching out it's legs and rutting between them like a common animal. Alex seethed and screamed, threatening uselessly.
Fox heard it all...the morph's suggestions and his lover's cries. He darted a glance at the bounty hunter sitting in the corner. It stared back at him dispassionately.
After a while, the Oilean's 'voice' ceased as Alex's cries died down. Mulder sagged against the bed frame once more. It was dark outside; the oilean withdrew back to its chair once more.
An hour passed, maybe more. The hunter stood and went downstairs, returning with bread, water, and an apple. Mulder drank gratefully and ate the bread slowly, his eyes focused on the wall ahead of him, avoiding looking at the alien beside him and his lover's possessed body watching him.
As the hunter cut the apple in bite-sized pieces, the oilean stood up, holding his hand out, the hunter promptly handed him the knife. Mulder closed his eyes.
The oilean studied the knife with interest. It leaned down over the hybrid once more and drew the knife's point over Fox's forearm; blood welled and then trailed down his arm in long thin rivulets.
Alex protested weakly, sobbing mentally. Mulder's eyes remained squeezed shut. The oilean continued to make small cuts on his arms, then small nicks in his neck, and finally trailing it to cut into his shirt and digging slightly into his chest.
The oil was disappointed; the host felt fear and anger, but not enough. Not nearly enough. So it decided to return to what HAD elicited the earlier intensity. The oilean grasped one of the jagged tears in the hybrid's shirt and tugged, using the knife, it proceeded to rip the shirt off of Fox's body. The hybrid's eyes flew open and it struggled. The voice within the host's body began to scream in earnest once more. The oil reveled in the violent emotions from its host and even enjoyed the hybrid's fear as well.
The oilean began to cut off the hybrid's jeans and underwear. Not stopping until the hybrid was naked and small cuts over its body were bleeding, staining the white sheets in increasingly larger splotches.
Admiring its handiwork, the oil pressed the knifepoint to the hybrid's thigh and then twisted. The hybrid screamed, thrashing on the bed. The host's mental cry was simultaneous. The oil left the knife embedded in the hybrid's leg and leaned back, enjoying its reward. It wasn't enough, though.
The fear and anger was like a drug, no matter how much it felt...the oil wanted more. It jerked the knife out and tossed it carelessly on the floor. The oilean smeared the blood on the hybrid's leg and with its other hand; it rubbed its host's crotch. The answering swelling horrified the host, but pleased the oil immensely.
The oilean spread the hybrid's legs and knelt between them. The hybrid thrashed and tried to kick it off the bed. It slapped the hybrid in the face with enough force to splatter blood from its torn lip. Returning to its original plans, the oilean reached down to release the host's erection.
So intent was the oilean on its pursuit that it did not notice the bounty hunter's blow. The oilean was flung into the wall beside the bed and slumped to the floor, stunned. The hunter moved quickly, but the oilean recovered with lightning speed and was on its feet before the hunter could attack again.
On the bed, Mulder watched, dazed from the blow to the head and loss of blood. He struggled weakly to close his legs. The hunter fell back at another blow from the oilean. The alien lay stunned and before it could react the oilean leaned forward and the oil seeped out of Alex's face and into the morph's. The hunter tried to morph its features closed, but was too late. Alex's body heaved as it vacated the oil into the prone alien's form. Alex's body then shuddered and collapsed on the floor. The alien remained frozen, the oil still seeping into its orifices.
"Alex! Get up! The hunter! You can kill it!" Mulder shouted hoarsely, frantically trying to free himself once more. Alex twitched and then lurched to its knees, crawling clumsily to Mulder's side. Alex's face was encrusted with oily residue, but he obediently opened the bedside drawer and removed the stiletto. Alex then grasped the bed and pulled himself up weakly. Turning, Alex saw the hunter already rising to its feat.
Alex stumbled, but rushed as quickly as he could. The hunter lashed out, backhanding the human to the floor. Mulder saw the morph's eyes blink and then swirl with oil. Alex lay where he fell, unmoving. The morph turned to look at the hybrid, it reached out a hand, but before it could reach him, Alex surged to his feat once more and plunged the stiletto down with all his might. The hunter froze, the wound bubbling green acid tinged with black oil. Mulder watched in horror as Alex's hands were covered in the vile combination.
Alex jerked back and the body fell to a heap and slowly dissolved into a very dark green puddle on the floor. The room was silent except for their harsh pants. Mulder tore his shocked gaze from the morph to his lover who lay on his side, hands still outstretched before him, covered in the slime.
"Alex?! Are you okay?"
Alex didn't respond. Mulder couldn't tell if his eyes were open or not. He reached out in the link and called to his daughter. ^Kat! Tell Scully and Skinner to come now! It's okay now.^
He heard his daughter relate this to Scully. ^Daddy?^ her 'voice' was scared and soft.
^It's okay, honey. I'm all right and...^ he didn't want to lie. He sent her soothing thoughts as he watched his lover's unmoving form. 'God, Alex. You better not die on me!'
It seemed like days, but less than an hour later Scully and two policemen broke down his bedroom door.
"Jesus, Mulder!" Scully swore at the sight of her partner, naked and bleeding from multiple wounds. She ran over to him, not seeing Alex's form or the green stain on the other side of the bed. "Somebody get a knife and tell the paramedics to come in!" She wadded up the sheet tangled underneath him and pressed it to his thigh wound which continued to seep blood. The immediate danger from the aliens gone, his vision started to gray around the edges. Trying to stay conscious as he felt the ropes being sawed off he croaked, "Alex!"
Scully glanced up and then over at Alex's form, it was being examined by one of the paramedics that had just burst in. The crouching man glanced up, "He's still breathing, but seems to be in shock. Could be serious condition..." a stretcher was brought in and he was gently strapped into it. Another paramedic team came to Mulder's side to help Scully's ministrations. Mulder finally lost his battle as he felt his arms being moved and the flash of pain caused him to lose consciousness.
XXX
Scully sat in the cold hard plastic chair with her paper cup of sludge-like coffee. Sipping at it she wrinkled her nose, but then gulped a large amount down. She desperately needed to sleep, but couldn't until she knew that both men would be okay.
She glanced up at Skinner who was returning with his own cup of sludge and she stood, setting her cup down on the table next to her. "I'm going to go check on their status again." Skinner nodded and sat down.
After consulting with the nurses and the on-call resident, she found that Alex was still unresponsive and his hands, although badly damaged, would most likely heal eventually. She then poked her head in Mulder's room and found him awake. He appeared agitated and trying to rise from his bed despite his I.V.'s, he must have just woken.
"Hey, stop that! Stay still, Mulder." Mulder looked at her frantically.
"Where's Kat? She's sleeping... Where's Alex?"
Scully held her hand out as she walked up to him and then gently pushed him back down. "Lay back and I'll tell you."
"Tell me and I MAY lay back." He countered.
She sighed, "Kat's safe, she's being taken care of. Alex is in the next room." She was evading both questions and Mulder glared at her as he tried to stand once more. He succeeded, but began to sway dangerously. She grabbed his shoulder and forced him to sit on the bed. It hurt his thigh wound and he ground his teeth, wincing.
"Now will you lay down? You shouldn't be up. You lost a lot of blood." He was pale and shaky so he gave in...for now.
"Kat's okay for now. All right? We'll discuss it later. For now. Alex is in a coma-"
Mulder squeezed his eyes shut and turned his head. "I can't hear him..." his voice broke.
Scully pulled the chair up and sat down, grasping his left hand, she ignored the bandage on his forearm. He squeezed her hand hard. "He- he..."
She squeezed him back, "What happened, Mulder? We found evidence of a morph. Was the morph the one that the Jacobson's said was Alex chasing you?"
Mulder shook his head, "No, it was Alex's body, but it was the oil...the morph was with him, though."
Scully frowned, "What happened to the oil?"
"I want to go see Alex." He tried to rise.
"You can't right now, Mulder. He's in the I.C.U. and-"
"I DON'T care!"
"All right. I'll see what I can do. But first, tell me what happened." He dropped his head back on the pillow and forced himself to describe what happened. He left out some of the more horrifying personal images and suggestions made by the oilean, but he let her have the gist of it.
Towards the end she frowned, "But why did the hunter act 'then'? He didn't act when the oilean touched you earlier, and not when he was- when it cut you. Why at that moment?"
Mulder was flushed deep red, he didn't want to discuss it further. He never wanted to talk about it again. He hadn't mentioned his cycle or even his 'smell'. "I don't know. I suppose it figured the oilean went too far. I sensed that this wasn't on their agenda."
Scully didn't buy it completely, but refrained from calling him on it. "All right, why did the oilean jump into the morph, then? Why not kill it with radiation like you said the policemen died of?"
Mulder shook his head, "I don't know...maybe the morphs aren't affected by the radiation? Maybe it didn't want to risk it around me? I don't know...but it was a good thing it did, because Alex- I need to go to him. NOW." Scully jumped to her feet at his tone.
A half hour later, the two men were being kept in the same room. Scully was given a brief visit with Mulder before she had to leave. She crept over to his side and sat down. His eyes were still fixed on Alex's chest that slowly rose and fell. The machines around him beeped and hissed rhythmically. Krycek's face was bloated and puffy with dark purple raccoon eyes. He looked terrible.
Mulder finally broke his gaze and glanced at Scully, "He looked bad before the attack. The oil wouldn't let him sleep..." Scully nodded and kept quiet, letting him talk when he was ready.
"There IS something I need to tell you. But not now. And not here. Later. As far as the oil. Alex was trapped in his own mind again. And the oil...it was hurting me to hurt HIM. He used me to make Alex 'feel' what it wanted him to feel." Mulder's voice was low and hoarse, his eyes filled with tears.
"It isn't your fault, Mulder. What happened after the oil jumped?"
"Alex was down on the ground, and the morph was still being...assimilated, I guess. I yelled for him to get up and kill it." Mulder sobbed, "he did...he was half dead, but he still got up and got the weapon and the morph got up and-and-and HIT Alex hard, knocked him against the wall. And it turned to me and I could SEE the oil in its eyes and it reached for me and Alex killed it." Tears were streaming down Mulder's face; his eyes were focused on Alex once more.
"God...the morph's...blood gushed out at the neck, but more than is usual and it was darker, too. Tinged with black. It was ALL over his hands. His hands... He just fell over and that was it."
Scully squeezed his shoulder. "It'll be okay, Mulder...they say his hands aren't likely to be too badly impaired." He wasn't much comforted by that. 'Once it was an arm. Now it's both hands...'
"But will he wake up?"
Scully looked away. "I don't know, Mulder. No one knows...It's up to him now."
They both watched Alex breathe.
"Scully? Will you check his eyes?"
"Mulder, his eyes have been checked by-"
"Just do it, please?"
She walked over and pried open a puffy eyelid, a dilated eye showed a ring of green around the enlarged pupil. No black oil swirled around it. She glanced over at Mulder and shook his head. He nodded and mouthed 'thank you.' She nodded back and sat down next to him for a moment before she had to leave.
The machines beeped and hissed.
The silence from the man they watched was unbearable.
Continued in Part 5