"What We Need Now is Trust, Part Five"
by Nikita nik_cleo@hotmail.comSpoilers: All right...there may be a FEW references to season 8, but they are few and far between...season 7 is really all you need to know. Aren't you glad? : )
Summary: No more giving away the story...you'll just have to read it and find out!! : P
Series: 5/?
Pairing: M/K
Disclaimer: I do not own the X-Files or any characters or plot lines associated with it. Chris Carter and the wonderful actors (especially David Duchovny and Nicolas Lea) do. I'm not making any profit off this story or the characters within. Don't bother suing, I'm a full time grad student with lots of student loans...I haven't got a penny.
Warning: Slash, if you don't know what that means chances are you don't wanna know, go watch an x-file repeat and stay safe from my twisted version. Contains m/m hurt/comfort, romance, schmoop, and sex. And mpreg (happy now, I've spoiled the surprise!). If this squicks you go away, go away!
Archive: DitB, Slashing Mulder, Gossamer. All other ask first, please. It's my baby, I'd really like to know where it ends up : )
Author's note:
^ means telepathic communication.If you aren't from St. Louis than you might not know that 'the Hill' is a section of Italian restaurants, delis, bakeries, etc. and homes full of Italians. Kind of like a Chinatown for Italians. The fire hydrants have Italian flag colors painted on them and it's a wonderful place to indulge in the best Italian food. Come visit sometime! : )
I've never been pregnant so I'm a little liberal with it. Just suspend belief if you find the pregnancy facts a little odd...after all this isn't a normal one, anyway. : ) First of all it's a guy, second it's not completely human!
Also, I've decided to make the time September. I don't care what month they say Mulder was abducted in or how long they were on the ships...just note that it is September 2000 now. Okay?
And now...on with the show...
What We Need Right Now is Trust
by Nikita
Part Five9:45 a.m.
42 Hegal Place
Saturday September 9thThey headed over to Mulder's apartment the next morning after breakfast. Carrying cardboard boxes, they let themselves in using Scully's key, which she'd given them the night before.
"So, where do you want to start?" Alex asked, walking through the living room and setting down his stack of folded cardboard boxes.
Mulder set his down and sighed. "Well, the bedroom's the worst, boxes of files and journals..."
Alex raised an eyebrow and went to look for himself. Opening the door he saw a waterbed and night stand and boxes and boxes and . . . boxes of dusty files. A stack of newspapers and a stack of magazines were in a corner. The waterbed itself was not in use, it was drained. There was dust everywhere. Walking back into the living room he eyed his lover sitting on the couch sorting through magazines on the coffee table.
Mulder looked up sheepishly. "Well?"
Alex glared at him. "What? How can you - ?"
Mulder grinned, "It's research. Work. Actually, it's not as bad as it used to be. I used to 'only' have files in there. No bed at all."
Alex frowned further, "Then why is there a waterbed in there?"
" 'That' is the mystery. My own personal X-file. One day I came home and the room was cleared of files and there was a waterbed with leopard sheets and a mirror on the ceiling."
Alex stared at him, the wrinkle above his nose deepening. "Who put that there, then? A girlfriend? Boyfriend. . .?" He was starting to get jealous. Never mind he wasn't with Fox then.
Mulder chuckled, "None that I'M aware of. It was just there. No note, nothing. I was pissed to find my files gone. Until I found them stashed in the basement storage. Then I decided to just enjoy it. . .after I checked it thoroughly for bombs and bugs, of course."
Alex relaxed, "Of course." Who wouldn't check their bed for bombs or bugs? "So, what happened then? It looks like you haven't used it in a long time. And I hate to break it to you, but the files are back."
Mulder sat back and smiled. "I know. Well, one day it sprung a leak and it ruined my floor and the ceiling of the apartment below me. Huge pain in the ass. Landlord told me I couldn't have a waterbed, anyway. So I just went back to the couch." Mulder went back to his organizing. Alex watched him with a wry grin. 'Typical Mulder. Don't go out and get a regular bed, just sleep on the couch again and use the room for more important things like cataloging National Enquirer stories on vampires.'
They spent the rest of the day cleaning and packing. Trying to get it done as quickly as possible. They ordered pizza for lunch. And wings, of course. Mulder munched away, pizza slice in one hand and tapping away at his keyboard with the other as he checked his files. Alex, meanwhile, had swept the place for bugs first thing when they'd come that morning. He hadn't found any. Either there was no one left that cared enough to listen or anyone left thought Mulder was still on the ship or dead.
Even so, he had come to the conclusion that he would have to check out the situation here in D.C. He needed to know if there was anyone left here and if they would be trouble. Mulder's visit to the F.B.I. yesterday would have spread the word that he was back, alive and well. He didn't want to mention it to Mulder, yet. Wait until Scully met with them later that evening and see if there was any bad news. Make sure Mulder was okay. . .and then leave him with Scully to watch his back while Alex checked things out. Scully wasn't quite the same as having his own eye on Mulder, but she was the best one he could think of. She was fiercely loyal, protective, and a damn good shot. She'd just have to do.
Alex looked up from his packing to watch Mulder. He'd moved on to packing up the disks and laptop he wanted to take back with them. So far, except for some clothes, that seemed to be all Mulder wanted to keep. He was glad Mulder was able to leave most of his belongings behind. Packing light was always best for being on the run. And who knew if they might soon be. Depended on what he found out tonight.
X^X^X^X
10:00 p.m.
They collapsed onto the bed too tired to move. They were both fully dressed and on top of the covers. Shoes still on their feet. Alex managed to find the energy to turn on to his side and with his head propped up he looked at Fox.
"Wha - " Mulder yawned.
Alex smiled gently at him. "Nothing. . ."
"Mmmmhhhmmm. . ." Mulder said tiredly, eyes closing.
"You know, Scully's going to be here soon."
"Mmmhmmm."
"Lisa, I need to - " Alex was interrupted by a knock at the door. Damn the woman, she always knew when to interrupt. He got up and with his hand on his gun checked the peephole and then let her in.
Scully gave him a short nod and swept past him and into the room. Alex closed the door, locking and bolting it again.
Mulder sat up on the bed, looking more alert than earlier. He was nervous. "So, what's the verdict, doc?"
Scully dragged a chair over by the bed and sat down. "Well, there are some anomalies in your blood that I just never noticed before. They are so slight and don't mean anything in and of themselves, but when you put them all together it does appear that there is something 'different' about your blood. . . I don't understand how I could have missed it before. . . I've studied your blood before, but. . ." Scully trailed off, looking at her paperwork and becoming absorbed with her findings again. Alex snorted quietly to himself. 'She's more worried about how she could have missed something than if he's okay. . .'
"Aa-hem, so Scully, is he okay, or what? Are these 'anomalies' going to cause him any problems, or - " Alex lifted his eyebrows at her.
Scully glared up at him from her file. "Well, I need to do more tests, obviously, but-"
Mulder decided he'd had enough of them talking about him like he wasn't in the room. "BUT, not now. I'm tired and if you don't see anything wrong. . ." Scully sighed. "Mulder-"
"No. I've had about all the poking around I can stand right now. Later."
Scully pursed her lips, making it plain that she thought that was a foolish decision, but she accepted it. "All right, no blood tests for now. But you do need to be checked up on through the rest of the pregnancy and there are other tests that you'll need." Scully hoped he wouldn't be stubborn about this. . . it was too important.
"I know, Scully. Just no more tests right now." Mulder patted her hand, not wanting her to think he was putting 'her' off.
Alex figured that now was as good as time as any. "Well, I'm sure you two would like to catch up and I have some errands to run. . ." Alex started for the door.
Mulder stood up in shock, "Wait! What errands? Where are you going?"
Alex grimaced; he'd known it wouldn't be that easy. "Fox, I need to check some things out. Make sure it's safe around here. I should have done it sooner, but. . ."
"But you wanted me to have a babysitter, right?" Mulder asked bitterly.
"No, no, don't say that Fox. I just didn't want to leave you all alone and I also figured you'd want some time with Scully. . ." Alex pleaded for understanding with his eyes.
Mulder was still resentful and damned worried, but he took a deep breath and shoved it aside to say, "Okay. I overreacted. But you should have said something sooner."
"I meant to. Sorry." Alex gave him a peck on the cheek. "I've got my cell phone. Call if you need to. I may not answer it right away. . ." Mulder nodded. "I understand. . . go on, but be careful." Alex felt his heart swell a little at that. He'd never had anyone concerned about his safety when dealing with the consortium before. He felt touched. . . and also nervous. He better be careful, for Mulder's sake.
He kissed Fox again, this time on the lips and slid out the door with a meaningful glance at Scully. Scully nodded at him and he was relieved as he walked to the elevator.
Mulder watched him stride down the hall pulling on his leather jacket.
Closing the hotel door and turning back to Scully he tried not to let his worry show too much. He had a feeling he wasn't too successful.
"Don't worry so much, Mulder. He's good at what he does." She managed to say it without scorn far easier than she would have thought she could. Krycek was starting to grow on her. She still wanted to question him about Melissa, though. She knew he wasn't completely innocent.
"Not completely, but he didn't shoot her."
Scully looked at him in surprise. "What?"
Mulder smiled a little and sat next to her once more. "It came back, the telepathy. Not as bad, I have more control over it now. Some of it was the aliens, some of it is my own since I had nothing better to do than to learn how to focus it and block out as much as I could. I'm not always successful, especially when I'm stressed. I didn't mean to eavesdrop. . ."
Scully the skeptic raised an eyebrow, but kept her opinion to herself. 'Could have been a fluke. . .'
"Nope." Mulder was grinning widely now, enjoying being with Scully again for the first time since he'd seen her the last few days.
Scully frowned, "Mulder - "
"All right, Scully. How about we try some of those tests we did with Gibson Praise then. . ."
Mulder spent the next hour proving it to her until finally she conceded that he 'may' have telepathic abilities. . . if such a thing existed. Mulder rolled his eyes and decided that was as good as he was likely to get from her for now. He was starting to remember the intense frustration that came with being her partner sometimes. He appreciated Alex's open mind all the more. He decided he needed to get back to the original subject that Scully seemed to be avoiding discussing with him.
"Scully, he didn't shoot her. You know that Cardinal did." Scully didn't want to get into this with Mulder. It was plain that he saw no fault in Alex Krycek.
"That's not true. He's as flawed as the next person. He did do some pretty dirty work in his time, but he realized his mistake in trusting Spender and when he learned of what was really going on he turned to the rebellion."
"Mulder. . ." Scully ignored the fact that he'd read her mind AGAIN and focused on trying to get through to him, ". . .just because he didn't pull the trigger. . ."
"He was there. He didn't know they were there to assassinate, though. Cardinal was in charge of the mission and he told Alex that they were to get the DAT tape. Nothing more. Then Cardinal just shot the first woman to enter the apartment. He knew then that he'd been lied to and he KNEW it was the wrong woman. He couldn't do anything about it, though. He wasn't all that high up in the organization then. Little more than a hired gun. And he regrets what happened. He had nightmares about it for a long time. He still doesn't forgive himself for it and he knows you have every reason to hate him."
Scully's shoulders slumped. She's wanted to blame Krycek. Truly thought he'd deserved it. And he did, in a way. But she couldn't hate him blindly now or think him a monster. He was a human being. He seemed to genuinely care for Mulder. She didn't trust him. . . not by a long shot. But maybe. . .
Mulder recognized it for the victory it was. "I forgave him for my father, Scully."
Scully looked at him in surprise.
"My father was dirty. In the consortium from the beginning. He knew full well what happened to my sister and he not only knew about the experiments on both Samantha and myself, but he was the one that gave us to them. He fully supported the project. He used his own children as pawns in a game. And he. . .well, he wasn't a good father, all right. He hit Samantha once. . .and me. I tried to keep him from hitting her after that one time and luckily he stopped. Just hit me. My mom was never there to see it. Conveniently. She'd take me to the hospital when I 'fell out of trees' 'fell down the stairs' I was a clumsy kid. Got worse once Samantha was gone. But despite all that. . . I still loved the bastard, he was my father. . .but I understand that it was his own complicity with the consortium that got him killed. Alex was assigned to eliminate him and he did. He did it before dad could tell me anything. . . and Alex knew that he had to kill him before he told me anything useful or he'd be told to kill me next. So really, he saved my life that night. And you saved his by stopping me from killing him that night."
Scully sat quietly listening to Mulder. She'd guessed at the physical abuse by his father. Not that he'd ever told her, but there had been little clues and signs and she'd wondered. As for his mother, she'd never liked Tina Mulder much. Such a cold woman, acting like she knew NOTHING about what her husband had been up to and yet so obviously involved with Spender. And she hadn't shot her partner to save Krycek, she'd done it for Mulder. Still, maybe she could learn to live with Alex in Mulder's life. It probably wouldn't last. He'd leave Mulder soon enough or betray him. . .
Mulder sighed and withdrawing his hand from hers he stood up and paced the room, avoiding her eyes. She didn't believe in telepathy, but. . .
"All right, Mulder. If YOU trust him, I'll trust him. To a point. If he hurts you, though. . ."
Mulder grinned, but continued to pace, "I'll sic you on him."
Scully grinned a little. She was glad to be with Mulder. . .God, she'd been so wrapped up in the whole Krycek, baby thing that it hadn't really dawned on her just how long he'd been missing or how much she missed him. She stood up and went over to him, pulling him out of his pacing rhythm and into a hug. She squeezed him as hard as she could.
"Ugh, Scully, a little air. . ." Mulder was startled, but happy at her exuberance.
"Oh! Sorry, I forgot. . ." she loosened her embrace, mindful of his belly. His belly, he was carrying a child. Something she wasn't any longer. . . "Mulder - "
"What's wrong? Are you okay?" Mulder was suddenly anxious.
"Yes. I'm fine, Mulder. It's just. . .when you- when I went in for tests after I got back from Oregon. . ."
Mulder tightened his grip on her elbows, then guided her to a chair. "Yes?"
"I. . . found out I was pregnant." Scully focused her gaze on her lap.
Mulder glanced down at her flat stomach. "Oh, Scully. . ."
"I lost it a month and half later. They're not really sure, maybe stress and well, they were going to examine the. . .well, the fetus disappeared, and it wasn't a natural pregnancy anyway so there's no way of knowing if I could have held it to term anyway. . ."
Mulder pulled her back into an embrace. "Oh, Scully. I'm so sorry. . ." He wondered if she would be better off if he left. Not burdening her with helping him during his own pregnancy. It had to be difficult to see your partner, a MAN having a baby when you couldn't and when you'd lost your only chance. . .and it was his fault. She'd been abducted in the first place because of him and lost her baby maybe because of the stress of 'his' abduction.
Scully pulled back and looked at Mulder, she knew what he must be thinking, he always felt guilty about things that weren't his fault and he was so protective of her. It was only fair that her own protectiveness was just as strong for him. "Mulder. I don't know who's baby it was. I wasn't involved with anyone. I'm infertile and. . .god knows HOW it got there. Quite frankly it was probably better that it happened the way it did. What if it was another Emily? I don't know. . .and anyway, I've come to terms with it. As for you. I want to make sure you don't have any problems with your own. That's why I'm so worried about you and I want to take more tests-"
"All right, all right, I give! You can have all the tests you want. Just not this second, okay?" Mulder smiled slightly, relieved she seemed okay. He knew she wasn't completely all right, but she was resilient and so strong. Stronger than him, he knew. She'd gone through her ordeal on her own, he had Alex.
"Scully, did your family know?"
"My mom. She was great about it. Actually, I feel worse for her. She was so thrilled about another grandbaby. But I couldn't have made it without her. And Skinner."
"Skinner?"
"Yeah. I told him as soon as I'd found out and when he came back from- he was extremely supportive. Made me take time off when he thought I looked too tired. Even offered to be there for me if I needed him, you know, doctors' visits, whatever. Mulder, he felt horribly guilty for what happened in that night in the forest. . ."
"It wasn't his fault. It was mine. I just. . .it's hazy. I wondered into this. . .light and the other abductees were there and. . .the bounty hunter. His face is the last thing I remember until I woke up on the. . .well it's not important. Skinner had nothing to do with it. I hope he realizes that."
"I don't know. . . He cried. He actually cried when he told me that he had lost you. He didn't do that again in front of me, but there were times. . ."
"What?"
"Well, he was so tired looking at work. Distracted at times. Not too much, but I noticed and I'm sure other did, too. And once. . .he came by to check on me and I thought, maybe I smelt alcohol on him. It just seemed so out of character. . .but lately he's been better. More focused. And I'm sure seeing you are okay helped. He's a strong man. He'll be okay."
Mulder was stunned that Skinner would have been so affected by his abduction. Scully had told him that Skinner admitted to seeing the ship that took him. Mulder knew firsthand how awesome a sight they presented. Skinner had never really believed Mulder about aliens before; he guessed that having his beliefs shattered like that had affected him pretty strongly.
Mulder glanced at the clock and realized Alex had been gone for 3 hours now. He hadn't told him when he'd be back, but surely he wouldn't be much longer. It was after 1 o'clock in the morning. They had both been working hard packing up his apartment.
Scully noticed his glance. "Did he mention when he might be back?"
"No. It's late, Scully, maybe you should go on to bed, I'll be fine."
"Oh, no. Mama Krycek will have my neck. Besides, this isn't late. You've called me at home later than this to talk about cases."
Mulder appreciated her attempts to cheer him up, but it wasn't going to happen until he saw Alex in one piece in front of him. He'd hug him and then shake him. 'Stupid man, making me worry at this time of night. . .'
They waited another hour and a half, talking quietly about less weighty matters. Mulder asked her about her family and Scully asked about what he'd do with the rest of his things at his apartment. Suddenly there was a rapid knocking on the door.
Scully got to it first by chance. Checking the peephole she opened the door and let Alex in.
Alex passed her with a nod and walked over to Fox giving him a peck on the cheek. Mulder glanced over his lover, making sure no body parts were missing again and then growled at him, "where in the HELL have you been?"
"Told ya. Had to check on some things. . ." Alex's words economical. He was panting slightly.
"Alex? Alex, what's wrong?!" Mulder gripped his lover by the edges of his jacket that he noticed his lover had made no attempt in removing. Alex winced.
"Okay, okay, but don't freak out on me, Lisa." He opened his jacket enough to reveal a hole in his shirt and blood seeping around it.
Scully quickly moved Alex onto the bed, motioning for him to remove his jacket and lay down. She grabbed her black bag she'd brought (for Mulder). Mulder helped Alex remove the jacket with minimal movement.
"What happened?!" Mulder demanded.
"Relax, Lisa. Just a little mugging attempt. I handled it."
Scully looked up from her task of cleaning the wound. "HOW did you handle it?"
Alex grimaced at her handling. "Nothing bad. Just tied the fucker up and left him on the police doorstep with his little collection of wallets. He's in one piece. Or he was when I left. . ."
Mulder just gripped Alex's shoulders harder. So relieved his lover was okay. If anything had happened to him. . .he'd kill whomever hurt Alex. He let Alex know this through the link. Alex looked up to him and smiled a little. ^Oh, you would, huh?
^Definitely. Mulder's 'thought' was a growl in Alex's mind.
^Hmmm. You're making me hot. Cut it out until Scully leaves and I can do something about it.
Mulder chuckled and ran his hand through Alex's sweaty hair. Scully looked up a little startled to hear Mulder chuckling and noticed his gesture to Alex. She figured she better finish quickly and go.
"All right. I put a couple of stitches. No big deal. Mulder, you know the drill, I don't have to tell you, do I?"
" 'Course not. Will you be okay getting home?"
"I'm a big girl, Mulder. Goodnight." She left as efficiently as possible, trying not to think about what might happen as soon as left.
Mulder bolted the door after her and sat back down on the bed. "All right. She's gone. Want to tell me what really happened?"
Alex's eyes had been closed, now one clear green eye opened and looked at Mulder. "Damn. I can't get away with anything now, can I? All right. One of my contacts was just a LITTLE upset that I wasn't dead like he thought I was. I was doing fine until he got a little lucky with the knife. But it's over now and I'm fine. Okay?"
"And why the lie?" Mulder didn't really have to ask, just wanted to be sure.
"I knew you would guess I wasn't telling the truth, but I couldn't very well confess to a murder in front of a federal agent, now could I?"
"If it was self-defense. . ."
"Yeah, well, no need for her to have something to look into. She doesn't need to know." Alex closed his eyes again and although he was still a little worried about Mulder's reaction, he couldn't help feeling relieved to be back in their room and with Mulder again.
Mulder sank down next to him on the bed, stretching out and laying his head on Alex's shoulder. "I TOLD you to be careful."
"Mmmmhmmm."
"Rat bastard."
"Mmmhmmm."
"MY rat bastard."
"MMMMhMMM. Can we get some sleep now? If I'm a rat bastard then YOU are a pack rat. I need some rest before we go rooting around in your junk again."
They fell asleep with their clothes on, curled up together and dead to the world.
X*X*X
They woke up late the next day. By 11:00 they finally staggered into Mulder's apartment to get to work. As they let themselves in they heard voices. Alex drew his gun and pushed Mulder back, who glowered, but let him play He-man.
Alex kicked the door open and scared the shit out of three computer geeks and Scully.
"Shit! What the hell-" Alex sputtered.
Scully, recovered from her shock and raised her eyebrow as she folded her hands across her chest. "Well, it's about time you two dragged your sorry butts out of bed, we've been here for hours." She turned back to the kitchen cabinets that she was cleaning out, not that there was much there for her to clean out. She was wearing blue jeans and a t-shirt, bandanna keeping her hair back. The three Gunmen were unplugging Mulder's computer and entertainment system. They resumed their work after a glare from Scully got them going again.
Mulder brushed past his pissed off lover and joined Scully in the kitchen. "You didn't have to do this. . ."
Scully smiled, "We wanted to do SOMETHING for you and I figured you guys could use a little help today. Those three have been pestering me for information so I told them they could interrogate you themselves if they came and helped. Fat lot of help they are, too. Langly's been playing games on your computer and Frohike's been 'dusting' your porn collection. Byers seems to be reluctant to get messy, so I'm doing all the work." Scully went back to her task. Mulder went back into the living room where Alex was glowering at the lone gunmen, who in turn were cowering over their work, flicking panicked looks out the corners of their eyes.
"Relax. This'll get it done faster. We'll be home that much quicker, okay?" Mulder rubbed Alex's shoulders from behind and the Gunmen suddenly found something very interesting about their tasks as they struggled not to stare.
The two men got to work, breaking for a late lunch with the rest of them. The Lone Gunmen happily prattled to Mulder about the conspiracies they'd dug up over the last few months, avoiding UFO talk for once and they all three avoided eye contact with Alex. Scully stayed quiet listening to Mulder and his friends chatter, not knowing what to say to Krycek.
When they were finished for the day, Mulder took the bags he was bringing back home with him and Alex and he returned to the hotel. He'd said his goodbyes to the lone gunmen and Scully. He'd given Scully his address and how to contact him, but it was understood that it was only for emergencies. Mulder also had to promise repeatedly to contact her if anything went wrong with his health. They were going to make plans for the delivery at a future date. Scully, meanwhile, was to set up the equipment and surgeon that she could trust implicitly.
In the meantime, Mulder and Alex would go back to St. Louis for a few weeks and tie things up there, making excuses to family and such. Then they were heading off to a remote beach house that Alex had set up for his retirement. It was isolated and beautiful warm weather. Mulder would stay there for the last few months of pregnancy and the birth. After it was all over they could visit Alex's family with their 'adopted' child.
xxx
St. Louis
2:00 p.m.Back home they enjoyed their time alone together once more. They got back into their routine, swimming, reading together in bed, and going out for a drive at night. Mulder watched sports on TV, rattling off statistics during commercials to an absent minded Krycek who read the newspaper and nodded when Fox paused for a breath. He didn't like watching sports as much and he wasn't much for team sports in general.
"Go! Go! Gogogogogogo!!!" Mulder shouted at the TV as a baseball player rounded the bases. Alex watched disinterestedly and then returned to the article he was reading.
"Yes!! Ha ha ha!" Mulder leaped up and then leaned over and kissed Alex hard on the mouth. Alex noted that the game was over now and decided it was time they participated in a game they BOTH enjoyed.
xxx
October 13, 2000
Friday
St. Louis
8:00 p.m.Alex and Fox let themselves into their apartment. They had gone to Mulder's favorite Italian restaurant on 'the Hill.' Mulder had been content to enjoy their quiet little candlelit dinner until Alex had leaned over and whispered that he had something special planned for dessert back home. After that they'd eaten a little faster and rushed to their car. Now Alex closed the door of their home behind them and reaching out he helped Mulder out of his jacket.
Alex had been restless all evening. He'd wanted to touch Mulder all throughout dinner, but knew he couldn't dare do it in public. Now he had his lover alone and ALL to himself. He decided they'd take it slow tonight. Stripping of the jackets, they kissed as they made their way to the bedroom.
Fumbling with the light so they wouldn't break their necks as they backed into the room, Mulder suddenly stiffened as he saw the bounty hunter in their room. "Alex!"
Alex whipped around to face the alien who backhanded him with lightning speed. Alex went hurtling into a wall and slumped down stunned. Mulder froze for an instant, and then leaped for a weapon in the dresser drawer. The bounty hunter grabbed Mulder from behind before he could reach the handle of the drawer. As he struggled, the bounty hunter growled in his ear, "Naughty, hybrid. Did you think we would let you go? The rebels were fools to let you live. . ." The bounty hunter began to drag Mulder out the door, intent on returning him to the colonist ship hiding nearby.
xxx
Continued in Chapter 6