Sent: Monday, July 20, 1998
Subject:Redemption (1/2) by Christina Ortega

Disclaimer~ All X-Files characters do not belong to me. They belong to their
portrayers, Chris Carter, 1013 Productions,
and FOX. Judge Carlson, Don Halloway, Angela Lee, Paul Williamson, Julia,
Marie, Bob Wolf, Cassandra Duncan, Greg
(the gay guy), and Eddie Chang are all mine. Please E-mail me if you wish to
use any of them. John O’Hara and Sean Ryder
are inspired by real people, but I have disguised their names so that those
who don’t know them still won’t know them and
those who do will get a good laugh. I don’t own the people who inspired them,
unfortunately, nor do I own the person that
inspired the character of Ryan Jenkins, but these characters do belong to me
so no stealing. Thank you :)

Rating and Archiving~ PG-13 and please do archive...if you dare.

Content Warning~ Language, Krycektorture, also there is some K/M
*Krycek/Marita* in here so be warned! Also includes
very mild Muldertorture, and mild Maritatorture.

Category~ M/S Friendship, angst, character death

Spoilers~ Pretty large spoilers for all Krycek episodes (especially Patient
“X”/The Red and the Black). Maybe a little for
The End, but, again, this takes place before that episode so if you haven’t
seen it you’ll be fine. Oh, and there may be a few
movie spoilers. I can never tell anymore, but this is NOT a movie flick. As I
said, this follows P “X”/TRATB

Author’s Note~ Hola mi XF familia! Yes, I have decided to try again after Fate
didn’t get a big response and Black Demon,
well, flopped. All right *raises right hand* I swear this is not a crossover
and it won’t be too confusing *lowers hand* thank
you. For all who are waiting for the second part of the Serenia series,
Freedom, I am working on it and it will be coming in a
few weeks to a month. My schedule is hectic and I’ll be lucky to get it done
by then, but that’s my goal. Oh, and if you are a
lawyer or a judge or anyone in the justice system I apologize for my huge
inaccuracies in this story. I never went to law
school, I’m not into the court system, and I don’t watch all those shows like
Law and Order that portray it so I just go by my
own instincts and Judge Judy <g> *that would be an X-File. Why the HELL did
that woman get her own show?*

Time Frame~ After Patient “X”/The Red and the Black but before The End.

Dedication~ To Tara, the sweetest person you could ever know.

Summary~ The day has arrived for Alex Krycek to pay for his sins, but what
payment will be enough for all the things that he
has done?

Redemption
Christina Ortega
Rkacat@aol.com

It was cold. Dark. Quiet. The night sky was black because of the new moon, and
only a few stars could be seen. All wildlife
was surprisingly quiet except for the crickets who seemed to have decided this
was the best night for a solo performance.

On the docks at the White Naval Base FBI Special Agent Fox Mulder scanned the
area, gun aimed in front of him. Though
his exterior showed nothing but determination, his interior was rather
frightened. It was the perfect night for Krycek to strike
again, and Mulder didn’t feel like being his next victim.

Hell, Mulder knew that he had already been a victim to his lies. Mulder had
been partners with Alex Krycek when he had
been working for the smoking bastard. After their last meeting Mulder thought
that maybe Krycek would change his ways
and try to come clean, not that Mulder would ever forgive him. Alex Krycek was
a liar and a murderer. Death was all he
deserved. Now, however, he felt that death wouldn’t be enough.

Krycek was wanted not just by him but by the Washington DC law enforcement and
other police forces. He had killed a
couple walking home through the district and had also injured their nine year
old daughter. She was in critical condition in the
hospital. That was where Scully was, actually. She was one of the people
watching over the little girl to make sure Krycek
didn’t try to complete what he had begun.

In all honesty Mulder couldn’t figure out what Krycek had been thinking.
Random shootings were not his thing, and neither
was leaving plenty of evidence around the crime scene so that he could be
identified. Mulder didn’t understand, not that he
had ever been able to understand Alex Krycek.

Suddenly Mulder was alerted by a loud creaking. Swinging around he pointed his
gun at a group of crates. Nothing. Where
the hell was he? A police officer near by looked at Mulder nervously. He just
shrugged in response, though he was just as
nervous as the policeman. Mulder knew Krycek was there. He could practically
feel the younger man taunting him.

Another creak. Looking everywhere Mulder still couldn’t see anything. At that
moment he started to question his involvement
in this case. Yes, Krycek was his target and always had been, but coming here
put him and everyone else in danger. It was
obvious that Krycek was going to go for him first, and then he would kill
anyone else around him.

This didn’t make any sense, though. A harbor? Why the hell was Krycek at a
harbor, and why was it this easy to find him?
Usually Krycek would find some way to cover his slimy tracks. Mulder
considered him even better than some of the
Consortium at this. Krycek would come and go and no one would notice. Mulder
didn’t like this at all.

That was when the gunshots started. They were far away; near the parking lot
by the harbor. Running with a group of fellow
FBI agents and policemen Mulder saw a few officers fall after being hit, but
just as Mulder began to look around the shooting
stopped and everything was quiet again. What the hell was Krycek doing?

“Officers down!” A few policemen cried in unison, “We need some medics over
here!”

“Call someone down,” Mulder commanded, looking around again. “He’s here. I
know it.” A chill ran down his spine as he
thought of where Krycek was. He was probably watching them squirm with a big
smile on his face.

An FBI agent smirked, “Yeah, I think we know that, Spooky.”

“Keep looking for him,” Mulder said, ignoring him. The ‘Spooky’ comments were
so old that he never paid them any mind
anymore. It wasn’t worth the effort.

A young FBI agent, fresh out of the academy, walked up to Mulder. “Maybe there
are more of them out here. This Krycek
guy wouldn’t have given his position away unless there were more people here
to back him up.”

Mulder nodded, happy that at least one person hadn’t picked up his nickname
yet. “Yeah, I think you’re right, although
Krycek is a guy who is more comfortable working on his own.”

“Even criminals have connections,” The FBI agent told him.

“Krycek’s not a criminal,” Mulder said. “He’s so much more than that.” With
that he walked towards the docks again
leaving the young man to ponder this.

Reaching the docks he walked over to the policeman surveying the area, “Any
sign of him?”

“Nothing yet,” The man responded. “Do you think he could have fired and ran?”

Mulder sighed, “He could have, but I doubt it. Krycek likes to win which means
that he won’t leave until he’s instructed,
caught, or we’re all dead.” Why did he get the feeling that the latter would
be the turnout of that night?

The officer gulped hard before turning back towards the docks and looking
around again. Mulder shook his head, wondering
how he could have been dumb enough to trust Krycek. The man was nothing but
trouble, and he knew that now.

A few more creaks were heard around the dock but, looking around, Mulder still
didn’t sense any danger. Shivering, he
pulled his FBI jacket tighter around himself, wishing that Krycek would either
run, give himself in, or kill him soon because he
was getting really cold.

Beginning to lose focus on the task at hand Mulder was unprepared for the
gunshots he heard or for the officer he had been
standing by to fall over after being hit. Running over to him, Mulder checked
his pulse. He was still alive, but the hole in his
shoulder was bleeding immensely.

Mulder was about to call for help when he heard a ruff voice whisper, “Believe
me, Mulder, this is nothing against you.” With
that he felt a burning sensation go through his skull and he fell to the
ground. In his last moments of consciousness he could
barely make out Alex Krycek leaning down next to him. Then, everything went
black.

***

(The next day)

Mulder awoke in a bright hospital room. The rays of the sun coming through the
clean window hurt his eyes, and he did his
best to turn away from them, noting the harsh pounding in his head. All around
himself he could smell the faint aroma of fresh
flowers in bloom mixed with the awful smell that a hospital always had.

Looking around, Mulder grinned weakly as he saw a flash of red, “I know. This
is where I get the ‘thanks for ditching me’
speech, right?” The tirade was all too familiar to him and he hoped that his
partner would spare him the agony.

“The blow to your head wasn’t hard enough to the point that it would be
critical,” Special Agent Dana Scully told him,
“Krycek didn’t seem to be interested in killing you.” At first she wondered
whether she should come out so bluntly about all
that had happened to Mulder the night before, but she felt that this way was
the best. Knowing Mulder he would be on his
feet and asking her questions before she could even be prepared.

Mulder sighed, “Yep, I guess since we’re best buddies and all--” He silenced,
looking up at the TV monitor positioned
above the bed. There was a shot of policemen swarming around a man who looked
suspiciously like Krycek. He was
stepping into a police car.

“I know what you’re thinking, Mulder. Believe me, I was just as surprised when
I heard the news.” Scully wondered how
Mulder would react to this news. Part of her felt that he would almost jump
for joy and another part of her felt that this would
be bittersweet. Krycek had always been Mulder’s target, and she didn’t know
how he would be able to accept the fact that
he wasn’t the one to catch him.

Mulder’s jaw dropped, “He’s been taken into custody!?” That wasn’t right. That
wasn’t right at all. Krycek arrested? Scully
had to be joking.

“He’ll be there for a long time,” Scully informed him. “This is the first time
they’ve gotten Alex Krycek in prison, and there’s
going to be a lot of things to charge him with.” <Yeah, like your father, the
carrier of that toxic bioweapen that Krycek had
thrown off of Skinner’s balcony, and the couple that he had killed recently.>

Mulder didn’t reply, still in shock. Krycek had been arrested? That made no
sense! Krycek would never let himself be
arrested! Scully nodded, as if reading his thoughts, “It was, surprisingly, a
clean arrest. After knocking you out Krycek made
a small attempt to get away, but he didn’t become violent like he had been
earlier, and he didn’t try to get away from the
police when they restrained him.”

“Krycek knows he’s going to die in prison. The Consortium won’t let him live.”
Mulder faintly remembered hearing about
Luis Cardinal’s death in prison and how the Syndicate had made it look like a
suicide.

Scully shook her head, “He’ll be under constant supervision. All visitors will
be monitored, and all his food and water will be
analyzed to make sure it hasn’t been poisoned.”

Mulder’s eyes, still wide, remained on the TV screen as he spoke, “They’ll
still find a way to kill him.”

“Mulder, I’m not even sure they’ll want to kill him.”

“What do you mean?” Mulder inquired. How would Scully know if they wanted to
kill Krycek or not? There had to be
something that he had done to make him a danger to the Consortium.

“I don’t know Krycek as well as you do, but I do know that the Consortium
would never let him be caught like this. Mulder,
I think he did this on his own.” Scully waited to see how Mulder would respond
to this. She didn’t know Krycek as well as
he did, but she did have ideas about him and this Syndicate that she and
Mulder were just beginning to understand. In her
mind, they didn’t make mistakes.

Mulder shrugged, “No, they wouldn’t, but Krycek wouldn’t let himself be caught
like this, either.” He knew what Scully was
thinking, but he refused to give in to the fact that Krycek just had happened
to be sloppy the night before and had been
arrested because of his mistakes. Krycek was too good for mistakes.

Scully raised an eyebrow, “What are you suggesting? Do you think Krycek was
ordered to be caught?” Seeing her partner
remain quiet Scully sighed, “If he was ordered to be caught then he would have
gotten out of it. Krycek has betrayed
everyone, so why follow orders now?” That didn’t make sense. Krycek was sly.
If he had wanted to get out of the arrest he
would have found some way to.

“What if he couldn’t refuse them?” Mulder speculated, “What if there’s
something Krycek wants that is so important that he
would allow himself to be caught?” This idea was hard for even Mulder to
swallow, but he knew that Krycek wouldn’t have
let himself be caught under his own free will. Someone must have forced him or
the Consortium must have done something to
make sure he was caught, but if that had been the case why hadn’t Krycek
resisted arrest?

“Mulder, Krycek doesn’t care about anyone,” Scully said. “It’s that simple.”
Just the idea of Krycek giving up his freedom
for a wife or a child almost made her sick. It wasn’t like him at all.

Mulder shook his head, “No, I don’t think it is.”

“Well, you get out of here this afternoon. We’ll go see Krycek and you can ask
him yourself.” For a moment she wondered
if she should have said this. Scully was slightly nervous about how Mulder
would respond to Krycek after all this time.
Would he be calm or completely violent...as usual?

***
Subject: NEW: Redemption 2/21

The sun shone brightly through the bars of the prison cell and spred light
throughout the tiny cubicle. As a few cheerful birds
chirped a breeze flowed into the jail and cooled those within its walls.

Alex Krycek lay on the bed of his holding cell alone, quietly looking up at
the dreary ceiling. This place was already giving him the creeps. It was dirty
and officers kept walking by his cell and looking at him strangely. So this
was how Cardinal felt before he died. Nice...real nice.

He didn't want to die, and he didn't know what reason the Consortium had for
killing him, but he knew there must be one. Krycek figured that he would be
dead by the end of the day.

He eyed the door of his cell as it opened and two figures he knew very well
stepped inside. One of them was lanky, had on an ostentatious tie, and had a
bandage on his head. The other was short and was wearing a burgundy suit.
Krycek sighed,
"Well, I guess its time for the interrogation. I'd rather not have a lawyer
present."

"Its not like we would have given you one," Mulder snarled. "You don't deserve
any help." He could already feel the anger that amounted whenever he
approached the younger man mounting within him, and he was using all his power
to bottle it in.

Krycek smiled, "Even the scum of the Earth deserve lawyers." No matter how
much of a burden he had been, Mulder
always had been fun to play with. He was so easily irked and confused. Too bad
everyone else Krycek worked with wasn't
like that. It would make life so much easier for him.

"Why are you in here, Krycek?" Scully asked, ending the small argument between
the two men. Sometimes their constant
fighting got on her nerves. While Mulder always found it necessary to defend
his honor and pride whenever Krycek was
around she felt that they should just get the information and be on with it.

Krycek shrugged, "Because I was arrested."

"Why were you arrested?" Scully could already tell that he was going to be
difficult. Well, it was in his nature, after all. It was
funny, Krycek was kind of like Mulder in a really twisted way. Both men could
be unbelievably stubborn.

"Because I was a bad boy," Krycek muttered, rubbing his eyes. Sitting up, he
leaned against the wall of the cell, shifting
slightly as the cold stone sent chills up his spine.

Mulder sighed, "We know you allowed yourself to be caught. Why?"

"Do you ask all your suspects this?" Krycek inquired jokingly, closing his
eyes for a moment. Opening them, he rubbed the
bridge of his nose, "At least I know that you guys believe that I could have
escaped without being arrested. That really
boosts my ego." Krycek already knew that Mulder and Scully wouldn't believe a
word he said to try and exonerate himself,
so why even try?

"Cut the crap," Mulder growled. He had only been there five minutes and
already he wanted to strangle Krycek until he
could no longer move. "You could have gotten away but you didn't. Who ordered
you to be captured? What are they
holding over your head?"

"They aren't holding a damn thing over my head, Mulder," Krycek spat. "All I
can tell you is that I'm not as crafty as I used
to be." Why couldn't they leave him alone? They had what they wanted to see:
him behind bars. That should be enough for
them.

Mulder shook his head, "That's a bunch of BS and we both know it." Amazing as
it sounded, Mulder felt that he had built
some sort of bond with Krycek. He could almost always tell when he was lying
and when he was telling the truth. Well,
50/50.

Krycek shrugged, "Age catches up with a guy. You don't go as fast as you used
to, Mulder. I proved that theory at the
docks." Seeing the sweet smile on Krycek's face, Mulder used all his strength
to stop his fist from _accidentally_ connecting
with the younger man's head. Smart-ass bastard.

"Anyone could have escaped those policemen," Mulder argued. "Most of the FBI
agents were new and wouldn't have even
drawn their guns to stop you." It was true. The team had been made up of
mostly green agents. They would have been too
caught up with following FBI procedures. The thought of them stopping to think
about what they had been taught as Krycek
ran off into the distance almost made him smirk.

"Thanks for telling me that now," Krycek said. "Not that it matters. They're
going to kill me, and there's nothing any of us
can do."

Scully sighed, "The Consortium isn't going to kill you. They have no reason
to."

Krycek grinned, "Believe me, they have their reasons." Looking at Mulder he
shrugged, "Sorry about that bump I gave you."
<Not that I mean it. Actually, if felt really good to bang him in the head.
He's done it to me about fifty billion times.>

"Why did you knock me out if you were going to let yourself be caught anyway?"

Krycek glared at him, "Look, how many times do I have to tell you? I didn't
let myself be caught."

"Fine," Scully began. "Then tell us why you suddenly took an interest in
killing random couples and injuring nine year old
girls."

Krycek looked at her for a moment before becoming interested in the floor, "I,
um, I thought he was someone that I was
supposed to kill. Believe me, I didn't mean to kill them."

"You're a liar," Mulder said, "Anyone can tell the difference between people
even if it is nighttime."

Krycek sighed, "Maybe I need glasses." <Yeah, Alex, they're really going to
believe that.>

"Look, even if the Consortium doesn't kill you you're going to going to be put
on trial. I suggest that if you want to have any
chance of escaping a life in jail or the death penalty that you begin
talking," Mulder told him. <Not that we'll help you. You
just have to hope that you get a really good lawyer. Exceptionally good,
actually.>

"I don't have anything to say to you," Krycek stated. It was the truth. What
did they want to hear? A confirmation of his
guilt? A plea of innocence?

Scully leaned towards Mulder and touched his arm, "Let's go." It was obvious
Krycek was in no mood to talk. There was
no point in wasting their time with him.

Mulder nodded and turned towards the door, glancing back at Krycek one more
time, "We're coming back tomorrow."
<Maybe I should have gone for the Terminator 'I'll be back' line.>

"Yay," Krycek deadpanned. Scully and Mulder looked at him blankly before
walking out of the cell.

***

(The next morning)

Rubbing his eyes wearily, Mulder stepped into the prison just to find Scully
and their supervisor, Assistant Director Walter
Skinner, already there. Walking over to them Mulder tilted his head as Scully
muttered, "Two weeks."

"Till what?" Mulder inquired, confused.

Skinner sighed, "Till Alex Krycek's trial."

Mulder's eyes widened, "Two weeks!? Why this early!?" Usually it would take
forever to get a suspect into court. You had
to go through all these legal procedures. Silently, Mulder wondered if this
would be some kind of world record.

"Someone else must know how many people want Krycek dead, and they want to get
him to tell the truth before these
people can succeed," Scully explained. This was almost like the thing with
Luis Cardinal only they were using a speedy trial
instead of a quick suicide. It didn't make much sense to her, but she had no
doubt that it was possible. In her mind, if the
Consortium could kidnap her and put a chip in her neck that they could do
anything.

Skinner looked at Mulder cautiously, "There's more than twenty counts of first
degree murder being put over his head,
including your father." His gaze moved to Scully, "and your sister." He
watched them both carefully, curious about how they
would respond to this news.

As Skinner had suspected she would, Scully gasped, "My sister!? Krycek didn't
kill my sister. He didn't pull the trigger and
we have no evidence to prove that he would have." Where had that charge come
from? She had aquired the evidence long
ago that had proven Cardinal's guilt.

"Apparently whoever made up the charges made them well." <Either that, or they
picked out every little detail on Krycek's
life and exploited him for their purposes.>

"Has anyone been to see him?" Mulder asked. <If no one has, I would love to be
the one to give him this news.> Mulder
added mentally.

Scully shook her head, "No, although his appointed lawyer will be here this
afternoon."

"I want to see him," Mulder stated. <Well, I don't want to, but seeing the
look on his face when he hears about the charges
will be priceless. There's no way that I would give up this opportunity.>

Skinner shook his head, "Krycek isn't willing to talk, and even if he were his
counsel has declared that only visitors are to
enter until they arrive." He silently wondered what his most difficult agent
was planning to do with Krycek. It was obvious
from what Mulder and Scully had told thim the day before that the younger man
was not willing to talk to them.

Mulder nodded, "Ok, then it'll be off the record. I won't interrogate him."

"Mulder, this whole deal is putting me in the hotseat. I'm going to be
questioned about not notifying the proper authorities
when he disappeared from his job in the FBI, harboring him in my apartment
when I knew he was a wanted man, and other
points that I can't even imagine. Believe me, I don't want to dig myself an
even greater hole with you."

"Look, I'm going to be the one kissing ass here so I don't end up being
arrested right along with Krycek," Mulder told them.
"One more thing isn't going to worsen this situation."

Skinner glanced at Scully for a second before murmuring, "Ten minutes." <Just
say no, they said. Ha! It doesn't work!>

Mulder nodded and walked down the hallway towards Krycek's cell. Reaching the
cubicle he waited while the guards
unlocked the door before entering and looking down at Krycek who was watching
him while lying on his cot, "Mind if I sit
down?"

Krycek sighed, "Go ahead." While Mulder sat down he rubbed his face with his
hand, "I suppose you've heard."

"More than ten first degree murder charges," Mulder muttered, "That's a hell
of a lot." Oh, he was loving this.

Krycek snarled, "Don't try to make me feel better, Mulder. I know there's more
than twenty charges." He could practically
feel the satisfaction radiating off of Mulder and he did his best to keep his
cool.

Mulder shrugged, "I'm sorry. Twenty, then. Might as well be thirty, right?"

"Go to hell." Krycek knew Mulder was really enjoying himself with this
information. I mean, now he'd get to see his greatest
nemesis getting what he deserved. <Good for him.>

"You'll be getting there a whole lot faster than me," Mulder retorted. When
Krycek closed his eyes and turned away Mulder
sighed, "I know your lawyer has stated that I can't question you before he
arrives but, off the record, I want you to tell me
the truth. Did you kill him?"

"Who?" Krycek questioned, a hint of grogginess in his voice. There had been so
many people that he had murdered that just
to say that it was a male didn't give him any idea who Mulder was talking
about.

"I don't know. My father, the tram operator on Skyland Mountain, that
couple...anyone." Mulder didn't really expect to get
an answer from Krycek, but he thought he would ask anyway.

Krycek sighed, "What the hell does it matter? I'll be found guilty on all
charges." Why did Mulder care anyway? If he said he
didn't kill someone Mulder would just go on believing that he did anyway.

"I don't care," Mulder murmured. "Just tell me who you killed and what's a
lie."

"What makes you think I didn't kill all of them?" Krycek questioned.

Mulder shrugged, "I don't know. It's just a feeling."

Krycek stayed quiet for a moment, running his right hand through his light
brown hair. Mulder was about to pose his question
again when he heard Krycek whisper, "I killed the tram operator."

"Why?"

Krycek shook his head, "It was his time to die. My orders were to try to get
you stuck on that mountain so that you wouldn't
get involved with Scully and Duane Barry, but I wasn't to kill you so I
didn't."

"What about my father?" Mulder asked.

Krycek nodded, "Yes." His voice was smooth and soothing. Too soothing.

"You're a liar," Mulder spat. "Why the hell can't you tell me the truth!?"
Where was this coming from? Mulder believed that
Krycek had killed his father and yet there was a feeling in his gut that
Krycek was lying to him yet again.

"The last time I told you the truth you laughed at me!" Krycek said with the
same amount of venom in his voice. Calming
himself, Krycek sighed, "Besides, now isn't the best time to know the truth."

"Its the only time for me to know the truth and I want to take advantage of
it. Now, did you kill my father?"

Krycek covered his eyes with his right arm, his wooden left arm staying stiff
by his side, "You can't know everything,
Mulder."

Mulder glared at him, "Why the hell not?" This was ridiculous. Why couldn't
Krycek answer one simple question? It wasn't
like Mulder was asking him to explain every gruesome detail of his life.

"A guy has to have his secrets," Krycek stated. For a moment his eyes seemed
to brighten and the familiar gleam of teasing
appeared in his eyes.

Mulder shrugged, "Yeah, I guess so, but most guys choose to keep secrets about
sex and getting a vasectomy. I don't know
many people who consider keeping secrets about killing people a manly secret."

Krycek laughed weakly, "Don't worry, Mulder. I've never gotten a vasectomy,
and I don't intend to anytime soon."

"You aren't going to tell me, are you?" Mulder asked, already knowing the
answer.

Krycek sighed, "Just wait for the trial. You'll get your truth then."

Mulder eyed him with frustration and stood. Rubbing the bridge of his nose, he
let out a deep breath before leaving Krycek's
cell. The younger man watched him go almost morosely and, after Mulder had
gone, he covered his eyes with his good hand
and did his best to sleep.

***

Subject: NEW: Redemption 3/21 by Christina Ortega

Mulder and Scully watched Krycek's counsel speak to him briefly that
afternoon. The meeting was nothing of importance.
All the lawyer did was go over some of the charges and tell Krycek what the
procedures were in court.

After he left, Mulder was going to go see Krycek again, but someone else
arrived instead. Someone he knew very well;
Marita Covarrubias.

"You know her?" Scully asked, somewhat incredulously. The woman looked like a
slut to her. Of course, she could be one
of those people Mulder knew from his twisted sex life. The thought made her
shudder so she decided to let it go.

Mulder nodded, turning back to the monitor. Marita was moving closer to
Krycek's cot. He, sitting down, was watching her
warily, "What are you doing here?"

"Aren't I allowed to see you?" She inquired sweetly.

"No," Krycek spat. "Go away." After what Marita had done to him on the Star of
Russia Krycek had hoped never to see
her again. Stupid Well-Manicured Bastard had to save her life with HIS
vaccine. Damn him, and damn her.

Marita sighed, "Well, I know one person in this room who isn't big on
relationships, although I've known that ever since that
one night on the beach. Don't you remember those warm West Coast nights,
Alex?"

"We don't have a relationship, and those nights don't have anything to do with
now."

"I'm your girlfriend!" Marita exclaimed.

Krycek grimaced, "There are cameras in here." He wasn't sure he liked the idea
of Mulder chuckling over the fact that
Marita was drooling all over him. Then again, knowing Mulder, the FBI agent
was probably getting rather hot right now.
Pervert.

"Who cares?" Marita inquired. She certainly didn't care if the whole world
knew about her _association_ with Krycek now.
It had all been exposed to the Consortium after she had taken the infected boy
from Krycek after their "reunion" and the
Well-Manicured Man had found out about it.

Krycek snorted, "The only reason I'm not kicking you out of here is because I
don't want to be charged with another
death."

Marita grinned, "You think you could kill me?" <He's so cute when he gets into
these aggressive moods. You almost want to
pinch his cheeks like a relative would.>

"Of course," Krycek scoffed. Who did she think she was dealing with? Alex
Krycek could handle anyone, especially easily
seduced women. Plus, he didn't particularly care for the sly look she was
giving him at the moment. Why couldn't she just
leave him in peace!?

Marita laughed wryly and sat down on the cot next to him, touching his fake
arm, "Not with this, you couldn't."

"I'd use it to my benefit," Krycek stated, somewhat unnerved by her hand
resting on his handicap. "Now, get out of my cell."

"Don't tell me you're still upset about my leaving you that one night," Marita
said, her voice whiny, "because I was only
getting back at you for leaving me." That was the one bad thing about having a
relationship with Alex Krycek. He was
notorious for holding grudges.

"I had a reason to," Krycek told her honestly. "If I had stayed they would
have found me."

"If I had stayed he would have found me." She didn't understand why this was
so difficult for him to comprehend. They had
both made mistakes and she wanted to fix them before anything happened that
would make her regret her silence.

Krycek sighed in resignation, "You're right. We're even. Now, go away."

"If I can't come to see you again this week, today will be the last day we're
in a room together," Marita remarked. "Is this
how you want 'us' to end?"

Krycek shook his head, "We ended a long time ago." <We ended when you betrayed
me by taking that boy. You betrayed
me in the moment when I needed, and wanted, you the most.>

Marita watched him for a few moments, pouting as he closed his eyes, "All I
want is to kiss you goodbye. Is that too much to
ask?"

Krycek nodded, "Yes, its too much to ask." He opened his eyes and glanced at
her cautionsly.

To his surprise she had taken off her trenchcoat and was only in a sheer
blouse and a knee-length blue skirt. Marita put a
hand on her breasts and rubbed up and down her body with her hands, "Tell me
you don't want me one more time. Just a
kiss."

Krycek forced himself to turn away from her, closing his eyes again, "T-there
are cameras in here." <Ignore her, Alex.
You're such a pimp. She's a liar,she walked out on you and she gained your
trust and then dropped it. Ignore her!>

"So what?"

Krycek felt his will weakening, but he still refused to look at her, becoming
interested, instead, in the floor. <Ignore
her...ignore her...ignore her...look at the floor...ignore her...ew, what is
that green stuff down there? Is that gum? Yuck!>

Suddenly, Krycek's whole body shook as Marita's cool hands went up his shirt
and began to caress his chest. One of the
hands pulled away and touched his face, forcing him to look at her. "Just a
kiss," Marita murmured seductively, putting the
hand through his dark brown hair.

Losing all defenses Krycek fell like a helpless child into her embrace. Marita
moved her hands onto his back, her cool touch
sending shivers down his spine. <You are pathetic, Alex.>

Pulling her hands away, Marita leaned towards him and kissed him gently. She
sighed contentedly, relishing his familiar taste.
<Now, this was how it was supposed to be. Why did all this have to drive us
apart? We could have been so happy.>

Krycek pulled away from her, his eyes accusing, "You got what you came for.
Now, go away." <Don't hurt what's left of
my pride, please. There isn't much of it left and I need to preserve it for
Mulder.>

"Please tell me that after that you can say more than 'go away'. Be careful or
I might take this personally," Marita spat. What
was wrong with him? One minute ago he had been kissing her tenderly and now he
was telling her to leave!?

Krycek snarled, "I know you're working for the Well-Manicured Bastard."

Marita grinned, "And yet you still kissed me." Krycek flushed but didn't
respond. Marita sighed and stood, "No matter what
my relationship is with the Consortium, I've always loved you."

Seeing that he wasn't going to respond Marita leaned forward and rubbed his
shoulder, "Take care of yourself. I'll come see
you again if I can." With that she turned and walked out.

In the monitoring room Scully turned to Mulder, "What the hell was that
about?" Krycek had been in a relationship...with
THAT woman!?

Mulder shrugged, "I have no idea, but I intend to find out." Could Marita, who
had been giving him information for almost
two years, have been double crossing him with Krycek and the Syndicate?

***

Mulder ran out to meet Marita but she told him nothing. Going to see Krycek
next Mulder found that the younger man was
asleep and, noticing how peaceful he seemed, he had let him rest.

The next day, when Mulder and Scully had requested to talk to Krycek, his
lawyer was also present, saying he wanted to
make sure Krycek didn't say the wrong things.

Entering the cell, the two agents found a man whispering into Krycek's ear. He
was nodding frequently, smiling as he saw
Mulder and Scully come in.

The man next to Krycek stood and extended his hand, "Hi. I'm Don Halloway, and
I'll be representing Alex Krycek in the
court trial two weeks from now."

Mulder grabbed his hand and gave it a firm shake, "I'm Special Agent Fox
Mulder and this is Agent Scully. We're from the
FBI."

Don nodded, "Well, interrogate all you want."

Scully looked at Krycek noting how exhausted he looked. Funny, he hadn't
looked like that yesterday. Writing it off as
stress Scully sighed, "We kind of wanted to know what was going on between you
and Miss Covarrubias. Were you past--"

"I'm sorry," Don interrupted, "but what does this have to do with the case?"

Scully thought about this for a moment, "It doesn't pertain particularly to
this investigation, but it--"

Don smiled falsely, "If it doesn't pertain directly to this investigation then
why are you asking about it?"

Scully looked to Mulder for help, but he merely shrugged in response. She
sighed, "Fine, we'll skip this question."

"No," Don told her. "We'll eradicate this question."

Scully glanced at Krycek finding that he was eyeing her, his expression
unreadable. Where the hell had the court system dug
up this Don Halloway?

Mulder leaned towards Krycek, "How were you able to do it? To shoot those
agents and then knock me out...that's a hell
of a lot of work for one person." He was hoping that Krycek would fall for the
psychological approach. Most suspects
usually did. Then again, this was Alex Krycek. He was somehow always able to
find some slimy way to escape his
questions.

Krycek opened his mouth to respond but Don intervened, "By asking that
question you implicate that my client was
involved."

"Well, he was there," Scully observed. What was he talking about? Was he
actually going to try to state that Krycek wasn't
even at the dock and he just showed up for no reason!? That made absolutely no
sense!

Don shrugged, "A bystander often becomes the scapegoat of crimes."

"Bystander? He wasn't a bystander; the idiot knocked me out!" Mulder
exclaimed. What the hell was this guy trying to pull!?

Don glared at him, "You can see many faces as you fall into
unconsciousness...even those of former partners, Agent
Mulder."

Scully ignored Don, looking instead at Krycek, "If you weren't involved then
what were you doing there?"

"As I said, he was just a bystander," Don explained.

"I'd rather hear it from Krycek," Scully commented. "It seems like you're
putting words in his mouth, Mr. Halloway."
<That's putting it mildly, Dana. Just keep your cool. You can handle this
guy.>

Don glanced at her icily, "Are you suggesting that I am doing all the talking
because I'm afraid that he's guilty!?"

Mulder shrugged, "When the shoe fits..."

Don scowled at him before turning to Krycek, "Say whatever you want to, but
I'd hope that you'd use good judgment when
it comes to your words."

Krycek looked at him, dazed. Turning to Mulder and Scully he buried his head
in his hands, "I don't know what to say."
<This is so embarrassing.>

"There," Don stated, "you've intimidated him. Satisfied?"

"Intimidated!?" Mulder exclaimed. Putting a tough hand on Krycek's arm he
sneered, "Talk, you bastard! If you want any
help in your trial I suggest that you start speaking!"

Don pushed his arm away, "If you can't control yourself I'm going to have to
ask that my client not be permitted to see you
for the rest of these two weeks!"

"Calm down!" Scully shouted. "We all have the same goal, and that is to find
out the truth, and the only one who knows the
truth is Krycek." She looked at the younger man. "Why don't we just start with
your age, Krycek. That's an easy question
that I'm sure your lawyer won't mind us asking."

Krycek sighed and glanced up at her, his hazel eyes shining, "I was born July
16, 1967."

"So you're thirty-one?" Mulder inquired. Krycek merely nodded. "Where did you
grow up?" Mulder continued.

Krycek shrugged, "I moved around a few times, but during my high school years
I lived in California."

"What about before that?"

"Um, I lived in Florida up from kindergarten to fifth grade and then our
family moved to Maryland for sixth through eighth.
Then we moved to California for my Freshman year."

Don leaned forward, "I thought this was going to help us exonerate my client."

"You have to allow us some freedom in this interrogation, Mr. Halloway,"
Scully instructed. "Don't forget that Krycek is being charged with more than
just this latest incident."

Subject: NEW: Redemption 4/21 by Christina Ortega

Mulder looked into Krycek's eyes, staring at him until he could see the
younger man squirm, "Did you go to the beach a lot
while you were in California?"

Krycek laughed heartily, relaxing, "Where the hell did THAT come from,
Mulder?" <For a second I thought he was going to
ask me a serious question. Well, that's Mulder for you.>

"Yes, what is this?" Don questioned.

Mulder dismissed him with a wave of the hand, "Just answer the question,
Krycek."

Krycek sighed and leaned back in his chair, closing his eyes in concentration.
Finally he nodded, "Yeah. Not Freshmen year,
but as a Junior and a Senior we used to go there every weekend."

"Who's 'we'?" Mulder asked.

Krycek shrugged, "Just a couple of friends. You know, a clique, I guess. I
still don't see what this has to do with--"

"So, you were popular?" Mulder questioned, cutting him off.

Krycek grinned with pride, "Why does that surprise you?" What, had Mulder
thought he was an A+ geeky student who was
buried in textbooks everyday? No way.

Mulder frowned, "So, I guess you had girls hanging all over you when you went
to these beach parties."

"I wouldn't put it that way, Mulder, and where the hell are you going with
this?" Why did he feel like Mulder was setting a
trap for him with all this mindless stuff and he was stepping right into it?

Scully leaned towards Mulder, "What's going on?" She was just as confused
about all these weird questions as Krycek was.
Then again, she knew that Mulder's interrogating style was very unique and he
almost always got the information he wanted
using rather unorthodox methods.

Mulder ignored her, keeping his focus on Krycek, "I bet you could have gotten
anyone you wanted. Male or female."

Krycek glared at him, "Are you implying that I'm gay?" Now that was going a
little too far for Krycek. He didn't appreciate
the fact that a lot of guys though he was homosexual or bisexual. In Russia a
lot of guys had tried to make plays for him. He
shuddered at the memories of all the hands that had rubbed him while he was
there.

Mulder shook his head, "No, but you did have a steady girlfriend in high
school, didn't you?"

Krycek nodded, "Yeah, we all did."

Mulder leaned towards him until Krycek could feel his warm breath on his face,
"Was this girlfriend Marita Covarrubias?"
Krycek's eyes widened and he seemed to shrink back just because Mulder
mentioned the name.

"I object to this," Don called out. "Agent Mulder, I do not appreciate you
pushing on the vulnerable parts of my client in
order to get him to give you information."

Krycek rubbed his eyes, "You're right, Mulder." <Damn, how did he do that?>

Don touched his arm, "Alex, I really don't think you should say anything
more--"

"She was my girlfriend," Krycek explained, "but the word to remember here is
'was'. Not 'is'."

Scully glanced at Mulder, shocked, "How the hell did you find that out?"

Mulder sighed, "When Krycek and Marita were talking Marita spoke about a night
on the beach and the West Coast, and,
you have to admit, if you refer to the West Coast you usually mean California.
Then I started looking through some records
last night. Apparently, the Consortium did a good job of taking out any record
of Krycek's existence, but they missed
something...Alex Krycek won the 100 meter dash in a southern California track
meet in 1984. After that he ranked third in a
competition statewide. His trophy brought pride to Falkner High School, where
he was named number one all around on the
track team." Pulling out a big blue book from his briefcase Mulder showed it
to Krycek, "Look familiar?"

"Mulder, you didn't...my senior yearbook..." Krycek groaned.

"The year when you and Marita Covarrubias began your relationship," Mulder
finished triumphantly.

Mulder handed the book to Krycek who pushed it back at him, "I don't want to
see it."

"Really?" Mulder opened the book and turned to a page that he had folded down.
Turning it towards the other three he
grinned, "You were a cute little senior, Krycek." Scully glanced at the photo
of the young Krycek and was amazed by how
good looking he was when he was younger. In the picture, however, he looked
more clean-cut than he did now.

Krycek turned away from the picture before it came into his sight, "Yes,
Mulder, I know it says 'Alex and Marita forever'
underneath my name. You don't have to rub it in my face."

"I'm not rubbing it in your face," Mulder told him. "It just seemed like
yesterday you and Marita were pretty happy to be
reunited."

Krycek smirked, "Happy? What monitor were you watching, Mulder?"

Scully looked at him, "All right, since that's over lets move to something
more important: all these counts of first-degree
murder."

"That's more like it," Don muttered, irritated..

Krycek shrugged, "What do you want me to say?"

"All we want is the truth," Scully said.

Krycek chuckled weakly, rubbing the bridge of his nose, "Haven't you two
learned yet? There is no truth. Everything is too
twisted; too contorted...the truth is like a maze. It can seem so easy to get
through from the outside but once your inside its
nearly impossible to make your way out."

Mulder let out a deep breath, "All right, then tell us your version of
events."

"Fine. I was there that night."

Scully and Mulder stared at him blankly. Finally, Scully leaned towards him,
"And?"

"And what?" Krycek asked. "I just said that I was there. That's my version of
events."

Mulder scowled, "Stop being such an ass and tell us what we want to know. Did
you fire your weapon?" Krycek just
looked at him, his face emotionless.

Annoyed, Scully stood and grabbed Mulder's arm, "He's not going to talk."

Mulder glanced back at Krycek as he stood, his eyes cold, "I'm offering you a
chance, Krycek. You have a chance to save
your life if you just tell us the truth."

Don, apparently upset by this, stood and faced him, "Look, Agent Mulder, I'm
trying to be fair, but these blackmail attempts
are inappropriate. I will not have you treating my client like a common
criminal."

"Oh no," Mulder objected. "I never said he was common." Stealing another angry
glance at Krycek he picked up the
yearbook and walked with Scully out of the cell leaving Krycek and Don alone.

***

Night came slowly for everyone in the prison, but finally the moon appeared in
the black sky. The clock ticked on counting
down the minutes until the new day until it came, although this change was
unnoticed by most because of the fact that they
were sleeping or doing other things.

Mulder yawned and looked at his watch, "It's almost one in the morning, and I
really don't want to sleep here."

Scully smiled, "I don't either. Krycek will be OK, right?"

"I don't really care," Mulder stated. "Krycek's not giving us anything. He
could go to hell and all I would do is laugh."

"Well," Scully said, "let's not get too carried away." She had always found
the rivalry between Krycek and Mulder rather
interesting. They had their reasons for hating each other, and yet when they
did work together they could accomplish a lot as
they had in Tunguska before they had been captured at the gulag. She had heard
about the events that had occured from
Mulder and she couldn't help but think that if Krycek had been a straight FBI
agent who hadn't been working for the CSM
he and Mulder may have found many things in common.

Mulder grinned evilly at her, "I'm not carried away." Scully laughed, and the
two left the prison side by side.

Meanwhile, in Krycek's cell, Don Halloway was still drilling Krycek on the
court procedures, "I suppose they'll give you
something nice to wear that day, and you do have a nicer looking fake arm,
don't you?"

Krycek glared at him, "No, this is the only one I have." His voice was tinged
with grogginess as were his eyes.

"Look, Alex, I'm just trying to make this whole process easier on you."

"It would help if you'd let me sleep," Krycek retorted. "I haven't really been
paying attention to you for an hour so I hope
you didn't say anything of importance." Damn this man and this whole
situation.

Don frowned, "Listen to me carefully, then. I'm not your friend."

"I gathered that," Krycek said. "All right, lets get it over with. Who are you
and who sent you?" He rubbed his eyes and
wished that whoever this person was would leave his cell so that he could
sleep.

"Well, at least you have some intelligence. My name is Don, but I'm not a
lawyer. Not by practice, anyway. I go around
doing odd jobs for whoever wants me," Don explained.

Krycek sighed, "Well, who sent you? The Consortium?"

Don laughed at this, "Not hardly. It may surprise you, but I'm not in their
league."

"Nope, it doesn't surprise me one bit," Krycek muttered. "You don't exactly
seem professional enough to work for them. If
you were a Consortium worker I might have actually believed you were a real
lawyer."

Don mumbled, "I am a real lawyer, but I didn't do well when it came to finding
work. For some reason the law firms didn't
want to hire me because I had a few scratches on my record. Since this is out
in the open, how did you know?"

"There were a few things, actually. A real lawyer wouldn't have allowed Mulder
to do that whole interrogation without telling
him to leave or for me to disregard his questions. Also, a real lawyer would
have known my name before walking in here two
days ago. I mean, if you're representing me you should have a file or
something. Then again, I'm sure you do have a file on
me from somewhere. It just depends on who you're working for."

Don nodded, "Yeah, well, even professionals forget some things."

Krycek chuckled, "Believe me, you'll need to do a lot of work before earning
the title 'professional'." If this matter hadn't
been about his own personal safety Krycek would have found this man to be
quite amusing. It seemed as if he was
pretending to be a big wig so that Krycek would fear his _power_ when really
all he was doing was making himself seem all
the more foolish.

"Of course, I'm not working alone, Alex Krycek," Don said. He looked towards
the door of the cell and smiled slyly when it
opened, "I was hired by an old associate of yours."

Krycek squinted at the opening of the cell and tried to see the person who had
entered. Whoever it was had apparently
dressed for the occasion since they were in all black. After a moment the
light from the moon outside fell on the face of the
newcomer and Krycek recognized him right away, "Eddie Chang. Its so nice of
you to come to this reunion. Well, you're
hiring scum like Don Halloway here to do your work, eh?"

"You owe me a lot, Alex," Eddie growled. "Believe me, our agency does not
smile upon operatives deserting us in a crisis
situation." His skin was Asian and his hair, which was black, shone in the
light of the moon.

Krycek smirked, "Deserting you in a crisis!? Operative!? First of all, I
didn't desert you. This alien oil...well, never mind. Fox
Mulder took me out of Hong Kong, and what is this about a crisis? You were as
well off as me. Plus, since when was I your
operative? I came to you and made you an offer. NOT the other way around." He
shifted in his spot and half of his face was
consumed by the shadows that the trees near his window sent into the room.

"You're a good liar, Alex. It always was a great trait in you. In this case,
however, its a very dangerous trait," Eddie told him.

"I'm not lying!" Krycek exclaimed. "Stop being such a moron. You know I never
lied to you."

Eddie frowned, "Until now. I trusted you." He couldn't believe he had trusted
this pathetic man before him with the secret
project in Hong Kong. It was his fault it had all fallen through. He just had
to leave a week before it was done. The fool. He
was going to pay.

"And you still can. I'm not lying." Why wouldn't anyone believe him!?

Eddie moved towards him and put his hand on Krycek's shoulder, "Oh, Alex, I
really wish you would stop lying." With that
he flung the younger man off of his cot and onto the hard ground.

Krycek winced before turning and facing him again, "All right, Eddie, listen.
You have the advantage here. I can't get into an
all-out brawl with you because of my arm." It was a humiliating thing to say
but he had come to learn that he had a huge
disadvantage if he were on the defensive in a fight. Now that he was on the
ground his chances of winning were even less.
Stupid Russian natives and their idiotic ideas on how to avoid the black
cancer tests.

Eddie glanced at his left _arm_ before laughing, "You have a fake arm!? It
seems like someone else discovered your lies, as
well." He moved forward and bent over Krycek so that the younger man had to
look straight up to see him, "Whatever
happened, you deserved it."

Krycek licked his lips nervously, "Look, Eddie, please. You're probably just a
little fired up right now. Just calm down and
everything will be OK." <Well, it works for Mulder. Sometimes...>

"You aren't a psychologist, Alex," Eddie scoffed. "Don't pretend like you are.
It doesn't suit you." With that, he kicked
Krycek, hitting him in the gut twice.

Krycek rolled away from him and coughed. His lungs burned, protesting to the
action, and he yearned for water, "Eddie,
please."

"Shut up." Eddie kicked at him again, this time angrier than before, "I don't
even know why I'm here. You don't deserve my
company."

"That's funny," Krycek murmured while trying to move away from Eddie's
flailing feet, "because I was thinking the exact
same thing." Being hit a few more times, Krycek did his best to curl up on the
ground and protect his aching body from any
more attack.

Don, who had been silent the whole time, looked at Eddie, "What do you want to
do with him?"

"He'll go through with the trial," Eddie responded quietly. "You are to do
everything in your power to make sure he's found
guilty on all charges and given the death penalty. Got it?"

Don nodded and pulled Krycek to his feet. Ignoring the younger man's moaning
protests, he shoved him at Eddie, "Want to
give the boy a goodnight kiss?" Halloway was almost surprised by how good it
felt to torture this man. He was really
enjoying this!

Eddie nodded, the wily grin on his face making him seem demonic, "Sure, I'll
kiss the bastard." Leaning towards Krycek, he
kissed his cheek softly and lingered for a moment before backing away. After
doing so, he raised his fist and punched him in
the exact same spot, laughing as Krycek's whole body went limp.

Don dropped Krycek carelessly onto his cot before glancing at Eddie who was
now gleaming with sweat, "What about me?
I need an alibi." He sure hoped Eddie wasn't going to leave him to take the
rap for this.

Eddie, who had backed away towards the cell door, shrugged, "I don't know. Say
that you went to the bathroom and when
you came back there was a weird guy in his cell. Tell them that you chased the
guy off. You'll seem like a hero and be able
to keep your job in this position." He gazed at Krycek who was completely out,
"If he knows what's good for him, he'll stay
quiet." Don nodded and watched as he left the room.

Suddenly remembering something, Don looked up at the security camera in the
corner of the cell. Jumping a few times he
was able to get the camera down and, once he had done so, he pulled the tape
out, "I can't have you ruining my chance to
finish a well-paying job." Putting the tape in his coat, Don took his shirt
and used it to wipe off the camera before putting it
down in the corner of the cell. Whistling, Don looked at Krycek's unconcious
form, smiled, and left the room in order to take
a restroom break.

***

Subject: NEW: Redemption 5/21 by Christina Ortega

Mulder awoke with a start at 6:00am when his cell phone rang. Getting up, he
wearily rubbed his eyes and wandered over to
his desk, wondering who would be calling him so early. He picked up his cell
phone, "Mulder."

"Mulder, it's Skinner."

Mulder smiled, "Are you acting as my alarm clock, Sir?" He silently wondered
why Skinner would be calling him this early.
Usually he could wait until Mulder got into work before reprimanding him. <I
guess the guy is getting impatient.>

"Only because our guys down at the prison acted as mine," Skinner told him
without any hint of humor in his voice, "Krycek
was attacked after you and Scully left last night."

Mulder's eyes widened in shock, "Is Krycek alive?" So, the Consortium really
had gone after Krycek. Shit...

"Yes," Skinner replied. "Krycek's injuries are all minor. The guard on duty
was alerted to the attack by Krycek's lawyer."

"Was our friend, Halloway, present when Krycek was battered?" Mulder asked. He
was really beginning to become
suspicious of that guy. Halloway seemed so guarded, and what Mulder wanted to
know was what he was guarding himself
against.

"Halloway's story is that he was taking a bathroom break, and when he got back
this guy was kicking Krycek. He says that
he chased the guy off. If this is true, Don Halloway is a hero."

Mulder smirked, "Don Halloway!? He couldn't chase away a fly. If someone was
able to overpower Krycek then I doubt
Halloway would have been able to stop him."

"Well, he's at the prison with Krycek right now. If you've got a problem with
him I suggest you take it up with him yourself."

Mulder nodded, "I think I will."

He heard his AD sigh on the other end of the phone line, "Fine. I'll meet you
down there."

***

Mulder and Skinner walked into the prison an hour later that morning and
quickly made their way to Alex Krycek's cell.
Neither knew what to expect from Krycek...would he become violent while trying
to defend himself? Was Halloway telling
the truth?

"He deserved it," Mulder observed. "Krycek deserves whatever he gets. If he's
sentenced to death I hope he rots in hell."

Skinner sighed, "Look, I know how you feel Mulder...Fox..." He watched as the
younger man glanced up at him with
curiosity at the use of his first name. "I feel the same way about Krycek as
you do, but even he deserves his rights. You must
admit that in here he is vulnerable. If I were him I wouldn't want to be in
this situation, and, to be honest, I think he's doing a
good job of holding up."

Mulder nodded, "I know, but I can't feel sympathy for a man who killed my
father."

"That was never proven, Mulder."

Mulder sighed, frustrated, "What, you think he's innocent, now?" He couldn't
believe that Walter Skinner, the man Krycek
had attacked in the stairwell of a hospital, was actually subscribing to the
notion that the younger man was innocent! It was
insane!

"There's a reasonable doubt in my mind," Skinner admitted, "but I know,
Mulder. I know you're doubting it, too."

Mulder didn't feel the need to retort. Instead, he looked over towards the
cell where Krycek was being held and saw that
Krycek and Halloway were both in it. Halloway was whispering something to the
younger man who was nodding. Mulder
immediately noticed the painful-looking bruise on Krycek's cheekbone but said
nothing about it.

Halloway looked up as Mulder and Skinner entered, "Excuse me, I'm trying to
talk to my client."

"We need to talk to him about last night," Mulder stated firmly. He could see
what Halloway was trying to do, but he refused
to let him deflect them from the truth.

Halloway glared at him, "Look, Agent Mulder, I know what you're doing. If you
think I'm going to let you pressure my client
by forcing information out of him while he's in an extremely vulnerable state,
then you are mistaken."

"Mr. Halloway, I know you are trying to do your job, and you are doing a good
job of it, but as FBI agents we do have the
authority to look into this matter," Skinner told him with the stern tone of
voice that Mulder had come to know all to well
during his time under Skinner's supervision.

Halloway sighed in resignation, "Fine. Talk to him. I doubt you'll get
anything, though." With that, he stepped out of the cell
and left the three alone.

After Halloway had left, Mulder sat on Krycek's cot next to the younger man
and shrugged, "Well, why don't we begin with
that lovely bruise you have there. Would you like to tell us who gave that to
you?" <I kinda wish I had given it to him,
actually.>

"I don't know," Krycek whispered. "Then again, I don't know anything anymore."
His mind was a whirl and he could barely
think. Something inside him was telling him that he was in shock and that he
shouldn't say in case the wrong information
emerged, but this voice was quickly gone leaving him in his perplexed state.

Skinner looked at him bewilderedly, "Was it someone from the Consortium?"
<Damn those bastards> Skinner thought to
himself <Why can't just let the man live with his misery? Don't they know when
enough is enough?>

Instead of answering the question, Krycek glanced at him fearfully. "Don't
hurt me. I killed them." He shivered as a chill went
down his spine.

Mulder and Skinner looked at each other, confused. "We aren't going to hurt
you," Skinner told him. Was it possible that his
extremely stressful lifestyle had pushed him over the edge?

Mulder nodded. <Well, I won't hurt you for the moment.> "Who did you kill,
Krycek?"

"Atel Tsei, Min-Young Kwan, Misha Qua, Felix Hou...I killed them all. They
want to kill me because I killed them."

Skinner leaned towards Mulder, "I don't remember seeing those names on the
charge list." Krycek seemed really out of it,
though Skinner guessed he was still shaken up from the events of the night
before.

"When did you kill these people, Krycek?" Mulder questioned.

Krycek stared at him, "I killed them...two years ago? Three? Which one,
Mulder?"

Mulder shrugged with puzzlement, "I don't know. I wasn't there." Krycek was
really beginning to scare him. What the hell
was wrong with the younger man?

"You were there," Krycek argued, his voice unusually soft like a child who is
terrified of a monster coming in the night to eat
them. "I remember that you were there. You found me when I was going to go to
Washington D.C. Remember, Mulder?
You hit me in the head with a payphone."

Skinner looked at Mulder with alarm, "You did WHAT!? Why the hell wasn't I
told about this!?"

"There were bigger issues at hand, Sir," Mulder told him hastily. That idiot.
He thought he was going to get away with doing
that, too. It was just like Krycek to get him in trouble for something that
had happened so long ago.

Mulder glanced at Krycek again, "I still don't see what this has to do with
you killing those people."

Krycek sighed and closed his eyes, "Eddie knows. Eddie saw me kill them. Eddie
will tell you."

"Who is Eddie?" Mulder asked. Krycek refused to answer him, putting his right
arm over his eyes instead.

Skinner motioned to Mulder that they should go, which they did. Reaching the
hallway the AD stopped Mulder, "Look, I
think he was just suffering from mental stress."

"Mental stress?" Mulder echoed, turning to face his superior. "Did you hear
him talk about that Eddie person? I think
Krycek is covering for someone. Perhaps it's this Eddie person that came and
attacked him last night."

"Krycek was rambling in there, Mulder," Skinner argued. "It was obvious that
he was still shaken up and its also obvious that
he wasn't in a clear state of mind." He couldn't understand how Mulder could
think anything Krycek had just said was at all
accountable. He was obviously in shock from the events of the night prior and,
therefore, he wasn't thinking straight.

Mulder frowned, "Even if he was rambling, Krycek did keep mentioning an
'Eddie'. I say that we should keep our ears open
for an 'Eddie' because Krycek said this person will give us information."
Skinner just shrugged dubiously and continued
down the hallway. Mulder followed him, glancing back once more towards
Krycek's cell.

That afternoon Mulder had decided to go home early to go over some of Krycek's
file. No matter what Skinner said,
Mulder was sure that this Eddie person that Krycek spoke of had some
connection with the trial and his attack last night. It
seemed like Krycek had been really spooked when he was there...maybe he was
afraid that this Eddie person would do
something worse to him if he told the truth. Truth. Mulder wasn't even sure
Krycek knew the word.

Walking into the prison parking lot, Mulder probed his pockets for his car
keys. Finding them, he looked around having
forgotten where his car was. It was at that point that he saw a young Asian
man gazing at him from the other side of the
parking lot dressed in a black shirt and blue jeans. As soon as the man saw
Mulder looking at him, however, he turned and
ran.

Mulder considered following him but then decided against it because, seeing
how fast the man had run off, he was almost
positive that he wouldn't be able to find him in the dimness of the night.
Finding his car and unlocking it, Mulder determined
that he wouldn't forget the Asian man or the name 'Eddie'.

***

The next morning came quickly for the man that was walking down the prison
hallway towards Alex Krycek's cell. He
smoothed down his gray suit before putting a hand through his white hair that
had been blond in his youth.

The Well-Manicured Man wasn't coming to see Krycek on his own free will. He
had been sent by the Syndicate to relay
some information to their former operative. The Well-Manicured Man had never
been as fond of the boy as his associate,
known to us only as Cancerman, had been. Something about Krycek was too
devious...he was too much like the CSM
which scared him. It was bad enough only having one stone-cold killer in the
group. They didn't need another.

In addition to this, Krycek had been smart-mouthed, nosy, and rebellious.
Still, he had been a good agent when it came to
creating believable lies, meticulously plotting scandals, and using his charm
to be accepted by the unsuspecting enemy. These
were the things that made him such a dangerous foe.

Entering Krycek's cell, the Well-Manicured Man found that he was still
sleeping on his cot. <After all he's done he doesn't
deserve the luxury of sleep. Especially since I wasn't allowed that pleasure
this morning> Moving towards him, the older man
shook his shoulder with disdain, "Wake up, Boy. I'm not going to wait to speak
to you. If I want your audience I'll get it."

Krycek hesitantly opened his eyes and acknowledged him by sitting up and
rubbing them, "And why, may I ask, am I being
blessed by your visit?" His voice dripped with sarcasm and the Well-Manicured
Man had to use all his energy to keep from
attacking him.

"You shouldn't plead guilty. It won't get you a lesser sentence." The Well-
Manicured Man didn't expect him to understand,
though. He seemed like he had given up, and the Well-Manicured Man told
himself that he would do everything he could to
try and show Krycek that he still had a chance.

Krycek sighed, "I'm going to do it anyway. No one will believe me if I claim
that I'm innocent so why try?"

Deciding to get on another topic, the Well-Manicured Man frowned, "We wish you
to know that we weren't responsible for
your attack two nights ago."

"I know," Krycek told him.

The Well-Manicured Man raised his eyebrows, "Oh? So you do know who your
attacker was?"

"I never said that I did," Krycek countered. <Well, I do, but I can't let you
find out.> He had forgotten that meeting with
Skinner and Mulder the day before completely which led him to believe that no
one knew about Eddie and what he had
done.

"I think you do know who it was," The Well-Manicured Man speculated. Krycek
just looked at him silently, his eyes blank.

"Krycek...Alex, you need to tell what you know. Your death will not benefit
anyone but the people you are trying to stop." It
was a shame. The Well-Manicured Man had had such high hopes for the boy.

Krycek scowled at him, "You are the person I'm trying to stop."

The Well-Manicured Man shook his head, "No, Alex, you are trying to stop those
making it possible for the colonists to
land. I'm merely a consultant in the process." <Not a consultant, actually.
I'm more of a closet protester of the project who
is holding in my beliefs until the time when the truth must be known. That
time is coming soon. Too soon.>

"You're a liar," Krycek sneered. "I know you're working with the others to
make the hybrids and aid the Bounty Hunters."

The Well-Manicured Man growled at him, "You've confused me with my associate."
He didn't understand how, after he had
freed Krycek from the Star of Russia and told him what was going on in the
resistence, he could just pretend that the
Well-Manicured Man was just as dirty as anyone else working towards the
colonists' arrival.

Krycek shrugged, "I guess it's because you two are just so alike." He silently
wished for the old geezer just to leave him
alone. Krycek knew the Well-Manicured Man had only come because he had been
forced to. The older man had never
liked him very much. He was always so suspicious of his actions. <With good
reason, too> Krycek reminded himself with a
grin.

The Well-Manicured Man glanced at him angrily before standing and storming out
of the room in a rage. He had been hoping
to make the boy understand his position in the resistence during that meeting
but now he had given up. The younger man had
obviously given up on all other options besides death and that would make him
dangerous if he were to find some way to free
him from this pitiful prison.

Krycek watched him go before sighing heavily and rubbing his left shoulder
with his right hand. The Well-Manicured Man
kept trying to convince him that he was one of the good guys who was trying to
fight the project. Well, fight the future as the
time table showed it would be, but Krycek knew that he was still working with
the others towards colonization. The fool. He
knew they would not be spared because the colonists would have no more use for
them and they would be worthless.

Scully, who had been standing outside and waiting to speak to Krycek, stopped
the old man in the hallway, "Sir?"

Immediately recognizing her, the Well-Manicured Man put his head down, "This
matter doesn't concern you, Miss Scully."

"I'm one of the people who has been assigned to help clear Krycek if there is
a reasonable doubt in my mind that he's
innocent. Sir, I feel that you can help."

The Well-Manicured Man stopped walking at looked at her with a hint of regret,
"You cannot be told what is going on in the
inner circles." Sometimes he wished that he could tell her and Mulder what
went on within the Syndicate, but he knew this
was impossible. The time was not yet right.

"Please, Sir," Scully pleaded. She knew in her heart that this man may be able
to help her. It was obvious this matter was
somehow a deep conspiracy and that they would need help to figure it out.

"The truth is in Krycek's court now," The Well-Manicured Man told her. "I
wasn't able to get anymore out of him than you
were. If I truly wanted information from him I would get it using other
methods."

Scully glanced at him with puzzlement, "Why don't you?"

The Well-Manicured Man sighed, "If I pressure Krycek too hard information may
emerge that shouldn't be exposed."

"What kind of information?" Scully asked.

The Well-Manicured Man shook his head, "You can't know these things, Miss
Scully. All I'll tell you is that there are secrets
that should remain secrets." With that he continued down the hallway without
looking back.

***
Subject: NEW: Redemption 6/21

A week had passed since Scully had confronted the Well-Manicured Man. Mulder
had become more and more assured that
the few claims that Krycek had made about killing the couple and injuring the
girl were an attempt to cover up for another
person or persons.

After going to see Krycek almost every day of the past week Mulder had noticed
how nervous he got whenever being
interrogated. Today would be no different except that Don Halloway would be in
the room while Mulder questioned Krycek.

Don Halloway. Something about him wasn't right to Mulder. Even though he was
Krycek's lawyer he seemed to be working
towards stopping Krycek from saying anything to exonerate himself. Maybe
Halloway was in on the attack? Mulder decided
that he should find out without a doubt before jumping to conclusions.

Entering Krycek's cell, Mulder wasn't surprised to find Halloway already there
talking to his client. He looked up and
frowned, "For one day could you give the interrogating a rest, Agent Mulder?"

"I'm not giving up till I get some information from Krycek," Mulder told him.

Halloway's frown seemed to deepen as he glared at Mulder, "Look, Agent Mulder,
unless you've forgotten what the fifth
amendment in our Constitution states..."

"I haven't forgotten, but I also know that some people want to talk but they
are afraid to because someone has threatened
them or, in this case, attacked them."

Krycek looked up at Mulder, "Look, can you please stop referring to me like
I'm not in the room?"

Mulder sighed, "I was just making a point."

"I don't need your help," Krycek snarled.

Mulder shrugged, "Well, OK. I just figured that since your lawyer seems more
interested in getting you the death penalty than
exonerating you that you would want some assistance in your case."

"This is ludicrous!" Halloway shouted. "Agent Mulder, I will not allow you to
talk to my client if you continue to doubt my
qualifications as a lawyer or my client's will to speak. Ask him something. If
he answers then he wants to talk. If not then he
wants to remain silent. Either way, he has his rights and I'd hope no one,
whether it be you or me, would take them away
from him."

"I'm not taking away his rights," Mulder spat with the same amount of venom.
"What I'm doing is trying to learn the truth
unlike you--"

"Will you both just shut the hell up!?" Krycek hollered, startling the other
men in his cell. "Now, if you two wouldn't mind I
didn't sleep well and all I want right now is to rest. Is that too much to
ask?"

"You know as well as I do that you need a new lawyer, Krycek," Mulder argued.

Krycek sighed, "All I want is for you to just leave me alone for one day." He
glanced up at Halloway, "You, too. All this
legal shit is driving me nuts."

Halloway and Mulder glanced at each other with contempt before leaving
Krycek's cell. Neither returned that day.

***

(The next morning)

For once Krycek's cell was quiet except for the distant chirping of a lone
bird. The sun's rays trickled through the bars of the
cell's window and fell on Krycek's sleeping form. He stirred for a moment
before turning onto his back and covering his eyes
with his right arm.

Krycek faintly heard the sound of his cell door being opened but, thinking
that it was part of a dream, he sighed and explored
different parts of his mind. Visions of himself living a normal life with an
annoying desk job came to mind. He could picture
himself with a wife and kids just like any other family.

He was pulled out of his dreams by a hand on his shoulder that was shaking him
lightly. Reluctantly opening his eyes he found
himself faced with a large cloud of smoke. It burned his eyes and he had to
rub them for a few moments in order to clear
them. That was when he spotted him. The devil. "Well, I figured you'd want to
come relish seeing me in jail. So, are you
going to kill me?"

"You aren't a threat to me in here," Cancerman told him. "I couldn't care less
if you lived or died."

Krycek grinned, "And yet you still came. Then again, since we are such great
buddies and all..."

Cancerman stared at him angrily for a few moments before exclaiming, "I can't
believe you would stoop to this low. You
were the last person I expected to see in this situation."

"I'm flattered by your belief in me," Krycek muttered. "Besides, I'll get
what's coming to me in here."

Cancerman laughed wryly, "You deserve something, Alex Krycek, but it's more
like extensive discipline. Not death."

"You have to have faith in the justice system," Krycek said with a smile.
"I'll get what I deserve."

The CSM scoffed, "You know that's not the case. Our justice system is
corrupt."

Krycek sighed, "You're right...but at least I'll be giving society what it
wants to see."

"What makes you think society wants to see you die?" Cancerman inquired. It
was obvious that he was becoming enraged
by Krycek's flippant attitude.

Krycek shrugged, "Well, it's what you want to see, isn't it?"

That did it. The CSM pushed the younger man against the cell wall, startling
him. He leaned closer and whispered harshly in
his ear, "You have the chance to save your life. I know you want to take it
but you're too afraid that your tough exterior will
be penetrated, but I know what lies inside of you, Alex Krycek. I know that
inside you're desperate for the chance to start a
normal life. This could be your chance if you play your cards right."

Krycek looked at him, his eyes narrowing, "I'm tired of all the games. Either
way I'm going to die. This way, at least, will be
civilized."

Cancerman sighed before moving back towards the door of the cell, "So, you
want a civilized end hoping that it will make
your whole life seem civilized? That's a bunch of crap and you know it." With
that, the older man left the room, leaving
Krycek to ponder what he had said.

***

Night fell over the East Coast and, inside the prison, Mulder rubbed his eyes
with exhaustion. The day had been uneventful.
As expected, Krycek had refused to speak to him, but what worried him was that
he allowed Halloway in. Something about
that man just wasn't right.

Picking up his suit jacket, he draped it over himself and stuck his arms
through the sleeves before walking out into the hallway
towards the parking lot. He was just passing Krycek's cell when he heard a man
whisper, "I need access to the cell."

All of a sudden a warning shiver went down Mulder's back, telling him that he
should see who this person was. He couldn't
explain what had caused the eerie feeling but it was too strong to ignore so
he rounded the corner and leaned back against
the wall so that he could peep towards Krycek's cell and not be spotted.

Mulder looked down the hallway and watched as the Asian man that had been
watching him the week before in the parking
lot unlocked the door to Krycek's cell with his own pair of keys and entered
with a grin on his face. He barely made out the
man saying, "Well, you look more rested than you did during our last meeting,
Alex."

In order to hear more, Mulder inched silently closer to Krycek's cell, doing
his best not to make a sound. "What do you
want?" He heard Krycek murmur.

"I just wanted to congratulate you," Mulder heard the Asian man say. "From
what you did to me I'm surprised you could
keep your mouth shut for so long."

"I'll tell you again: I didn't betray you," Krycek stated. "There was a
situation that forced me to return to the States without
finishing the deal, but I knew you had enough to get what you wanted with the
secrets I had given you."

Mulder heard the Asian man laugh, "Liar, Liar, pants on fire, Alex." So,
Krycek had been attacked by someone from Hong
Kong that was upset because he had taken him out of the country before he
could finish selling those secrets. Interesting...

"Well, it won't matter in a few weeks anyway, Alex," The Asian man continued,
"because you'll be dead."

As Mulder heard the door of Krycek's cell open again he hid around the corner
until he heard the man's footsteps die away.
With that, Mulder chased after him, hoping to get an imprint of his face in
his mind.

When Mulder reached the parking lot he adjusted his eyes to the dimness of the
black night. Doing his best to ignore the
shadows drifting over the pavement, Mulder spotted a figure in black walking
down the street. Cursing silently when the man
didn't turn back, Mulder did his best to try and remember his face from
before. Hopefully his photographic memory would
come through for him.

It did. The man was about 6'1-6'2 with black hair and dark skin. He had an
earring in his left ear and his eyes were a dark
brown that almost resembled black. Mulder knew this meeting wouldn't be enough
to take the blame off Krycek for the
murder of that couple, but he knew it provided reasonable doubt for Krycek's
guilt, and reasonable doubt was good enough
for the moment.

***

Subject: NEW: Redemption 7/21 by Christina Ortega

The next morning Krycek awoke to find Mulder already in his cell with a gaudy
tie and a solemn expression on his face. The
younger man sighed, "Ok, how long have you been in my cell, and why are you
here?" He ran a hand through his short,
brown hair and looked at Mulder inquisitively.

Mulder frowned at him, obviously not appreciating the other man's light mood,
"I want to know who that Asian man was in
your cell last night."

Krycek's smile faded away until his expression was completely blank, "Don't
worry about it, Mulder. It doesn't concern
you."

"Like hell it doesn't," Mulder snarled. "This man was the one that attacked
you, and it seems like he had a motive in killing
that couple to frame you. Could it be that I found you in Hong Kong a little
too soon, Krycek?"

"As I said, it doesn't concern you."

Mulder glared at him, "I want information from you. Now, tell me the truth:
did you kill that couple?" Krycek looked at him,
obviously amused, but not saying anything. This seemed to infuriate the older
man who moved closer to make his point
clearer, "Your lawyer isn't here to protect you now, Krycek. Now, tell me if
you killed them."

"Oh, but I am here," A voice from behind Mulder said. He turned to see Don
Halloway standing in the doorway of Krycek's
cell with an expression of fury on his face, "You, Agent Mulder, had been
warned by me that this kind of conduct would earn
you consequences."

"Really?" Mulder taunted, "What are you going to do to me? I'm doing my job."

"You're trying to force a confession out of my client!"

Mulder smirked, "A confession!? I, personally, believe that your client may
have been falsely accused of murdering that
couple."

"I want you out of here," Halloway muttered harshly. "Guards!" Two men in blue
uniforms appeared in the hallway. "Escort
this man out of this area of the prison. He's been blackmailing and pressuring
my client and I don't want him seeing him."

As the two men grabbed Mulder's arms he turned towards Krycek, "I know the
truth, Krycek. I know it!" With that, he
disappeared from Krycek's sight.

The younger man watched him go. "You only wish you knew, Mulder, but you don't
know the half of it," Krycek whispered
after him. He looked up at Halloway and sighed as his 'lawyer' gave him a
smile filled with deceit and pleasure.

***

"He what!?" Skinner demanded in his office the next day. The AD's expression
showed weariness and anger towards his
most renegade agent.

Mulder sighed, "I've been kicked out of Krycek's cell for the rest of the time
until his trial."

"Was it Halloway?" Scully inquired. Mulder nodded.

Skinner rubbed the bridge of his nose, "What did you do?"

"What did I do!?" Mulder exclaimed. "I'll tell you what I did. I just came in
early to talk to Krycek. Then, Halloway came in
and he made up some messed up story that I had been trying to blackmail
Krycek."

Scully chose that opportunity to jump into the conversation, "I don't know,
Sir. Something about that Halloway guy isn't
right. He doesn't seem really professional."

"Professional or not, we're going to have to deal with him for the rest of the
week and I want any information out of Krycek
that we can get."

"I'll talk to him, Sir," Scully offered. "I don't know. Maybe he'll talk to
me."

Skinner shrugged, "Its worth a shot. After the time that has passed it seems
pretty obvious that Mulder isn't the one he wants
to talk to."

"Krycek would talk to anyone if he thought it would help him," Mulder argued.
"I doubt you'll have much luck, Scully.
Someone, possibly this Eddie that I told you two about, is holding something
over Krycek's head and he doesn't think its
safe to tell anyone the truth."

"Since when did you start backing Krycek up?" Scully asked. "You used to punch
Krycek every time you saw him and now
you're sure that he's completely innocent!?"

Mulder shook his head, "You aren't getting my point. I don't believe that
Krycek is innocent of most of the crimes he was
accused of, but these latest murders don't seem to fit with his personal style
and choice of victim."

Skinner eyed him, entertained by this argument, "So, you know his style?"

"Krycek has always killed people so that he or someone else could benefit from
it. Even the tram operator. Also, why come
out into the open like this if even the Consortium didn't know where he was?
Wouldn't he be doing something to boost up
his position in the higher ups? Why would he resort to killing some random
people?"

"I think it's something worth finding out," Scully said, "and I intend to do
it."

True to her word, the next day she was standing outside of Krycek's cell
waiting for the door to be opened. He watched her
as she entered but said nothing. Halloway, who was also in the cell, glanced
up at her from where he had been sitting on
Krycek's cot, "If you've come to negotiate with me, I have nothing to say."

"I need to talk to your client. Alone."

Halloway sighed and stood to face her. His blond hair shined in the light of
the sun, making him look younger than he was,
"Look, Agent..."

"Scully."

"Agent Scully, I understand that you need to get as much information as you
can before the trial, but I also need time with
Alex to go over our arguments and to make sure I've got the story straight,"
Halloway told her.

"I'll make whatever he tells me off the record," Scully offered.

She watched as Halloway thought about this and slowly nodded, "Fine. I guess
you'll find some way or another to get to
Krycek. I'll go get some fresh air for a few minutes, but remember: this is
off the record." With that, he picked up a few
papers from the floor and trotted out of the cell leaving Krycek and Scully
alone.

Krycek grinned, "Really, Scully, these attempts to get me alone...what do you
think we can do in a few minutes?"

"That man, Halloway, is a liar," Scully said, ignoring Krycek's statement.

Krycek shrugged, "All lawyers have been liars at some point in their lives."

"He's dirty," Scully persisted, "and all he wants is to make you look guilty,
but Mulder doesn't think you are, and I have faith
in his judgment."

Krycek laughed, "You really are cute when you get into these moods. Wow, five
years together and Mulder hasn't made a
play for you?"

"This isn't a joke, Krycek," Scully told him. "You're facing death unless
Agent Mulder and I can clear you. Don't you find
this situation serious?"

Krycek sighed and shook his head, "Serious? All my life I've been
serious...doing what I'm told and running from death. Its
like a game, though in the end I finally learned that death was the prize of
the game. The object for me wasn't to live but to
die. Why mourn during my greatest triumph?"

Scully looked at Krycek, concerned. It seemed, now, that Mulder was right.
Krycek wasn't himself. He would usually do
anything to get out of a jam, but it seemed he had given up. What had caused
this? "Mulder spoke of a man that came to you
recently," Scully told him. "His name was Eddie. What can you tell me about
him?" Krycek just looked at her in silence.
Becoming frustrated, Scully leaned towards him, "Well, why did you kill that
couple? Can you tell me why?"

"Everyone is going to die," Krycek began. His voice was cool and low, as if he
was trying his best to sound convincing.
"Some of us just get to go sooner than others. This couple were two more lost
before their time. I'll be joining them in a few
weeks, but you know what's different between that couple and me?"

"What?" Scully asked, unable to hide her curiosity of his answer.

"I'm dying past the time that I was supposed to." Krycek grinned, although
Scully could tell there was no humor in the
action. Bewildered and upset, Scully stood from where she had been and walked
to the door of the cell.

Reaching the barred door, she turned and faced him, a deep frown on her face,
"Mulder was right."

"Mulder's always right, Scully," Krycek told her. "You'd think after five
years you would know that."

***

(The day before the trial)

Mulder sat in his car outside of the prison completely miserable. He knew
Scully's attempt to get information from Krycek
had failed, and now they only had one more day to find out anything that might
exonerate him.

In all honestly Mulder didn't know why he suddenly thought that Krycek was
innocent when it came to killing the couple and
injuring that girl. Alex Krycek was a liar and a murderer. So what if killing
that couple wasn't his style? He was Alex Krycek,
and Alex Krycek DID kill people.

As if these new thoughts weren't disturbing enough, Mulder was beginning to
doubt if Krycek really had killed his father. In
Hong Kong Krycek had denied killing his father at gunpoint. If he was near
death wouldn't he have told the truth to save his
life, or did he think lying about it would save his life? Mulder didn't
understand Krycek's way of thinking and he was sure he
never would.

Mulder's thoughts ended as the door to the prison opened and none other than
Don Halloway came out. Where the hell was
he going? Glancing down at the digital clock in his car Mulder saw that it was
exactly noon. Lunch.

As Halloway climbed into his car and drove off Mulder realized that this was
the perfect time to see if he could get Krycek to
tell him anything. With Halloway gone he'd have to relent and tell the
truth...wouldn't he?

Getting out of the car, Mulder walked into the prison and quietly strode past
the guards standing outside the cell area. That
was the one good thing about Krycek being in a state prison. Their security
wasn't that good. He easily found Krycek's cell
since he had been there so many times before, and he walked up to the bars.

Krycek noticed him instantly and closed his eyes, "What now? I have one more
day before my trial. Can't you just leave me
alone?"

"Stop whining, Krycek. I know you're innocent." Krycek remained silent,
looking defiantly at Mulder. This made the older
man laugh before continuing, "Give me all the serious looks you want, Krycek.
They won't change the truth."

"You don't know the truth," Krycek whispered harshly.

Mulder nodded, "You're right. I don't, but you can tell me. Remember when you
came to me that one night? I didn't listen to
you then, but now I want to listen. Talk to me, Alex."

Hearing his first name, Krycek's head popped up with surprise. When he saw
Mulder's innocent expression he sighed
somewhat sadly, "I don't feel like repeating myself."

At this, Mulder frowned and nodded understandingly, "I get it, Krycek. You
don't think I'll understand, and I probably
won't. I mean, I'm not the one who enjoys hurting nine year old girls."

"Shut up, Mulder," Krycek grumbled.

"I mean, you probably do it all the time and I didn't find out about it until
now," Mulder continued. "Is that what you do,
Krycek? Do you go out on Saturday nights and kill little girls that are
walking along with their parents. I bet you enjoy their
cries for help. Do they cry when you shoot them?"

Krycek glared at him icily, "Shut up." <Could Mulder know?> Krycek asked
himself. <How could he know?>

Mulder shrugged, "I'm just trying to make sense of it all. Do they bleed,
Krycek? Do you get their innocent blood all over
your hands when you shoot them? Are their parents there? Do their parents beg
you to stop? Maybe you meant to kill this
girl but you didn't have the time. The police were already on their way."

"You're a fucking psycho, Mulder," Krycek growled. He refused to give in to
Mulder's psychology shit. That would prove
vulnerability and Krycek knew that was a luxury he could not afford at the
moment.

"Its like a drug, isn't it, Krycek...Alex? You kill one every week...two times
a week. Maybe they'll be walking home from
school. The little girls will want to tell their parents about how they drew a
great picture in school or how they did well on a
spelling test--"

"Shut up!" By now, his whole body was tense and he was doing his best to hold
his feelings inside. <Don't let him get to you,
Alex. Mulder is just guessing these things. Don't give in to him.>

"They're so unsuspecting," Mulder continued, ignoring Krycek. "You just come
up behind them. Maybe you want to hear
them cry, Alex. Do you like hearing them cry? Do you like hearing them beg for
mercy? They're so much smaller than you.
Do you hit them?"

"SHUT UP!"

Mulder sighed, "I will never understand, Alex. My idea of a good time is not
hitting little girls. I don't go out and kill little girls.
Maybe you could tell me what it was like to hurt this girl. Was it
exhilarating? Did you feel her pulse slow? Did you hear her
cry for her parents after you killed them? Tell me, Alex. Did you beat her?
Did you rape her?"

"I never laid a damn finger on her!" Krycek hollered. By this time his whole
face was red and it seemed like he was close to
tears.

"Well, then, how did she get all those bruises, Alex, or did you do that with
your gun?" Mulder did his best to keep from
smiling. He knew, at that moment, that he had won.

"I didn't shoot her! I probably have never even seen her!" Krycek shouted
before he could stop himself.

Mulder leaned towards the cell interestedly, "Why not? I thought you enjoyed
hurting little girls. I thought my ideas of you
were all wrong before."

Krycek, realizing at that moment all that he had said, curled up on his cot
and laid his head on his knees. Tears began to
slowly fall from his eyes, "I didn't hurt her. My father...my father used to
beat my sister. One night she made him mad, and I
was in the room when he raped her. H-he killed her and then he hit me and made
me promise never to tell anyone what he
had done. After she died he still hit me. One time he beat me so badly that
I...I couldn't go out of the house for two weeks."

"What about your mother?" Mulder asked gently, making sure not to push Krycek
over the edge.

Not looking up at Mulder, Krycek rubbed his eyes, trying to stop the flow of
tears, "My mother left me alone with him when
I was eleven. She said she would send for me. I stayed with him until I was
fourteen. During those three years he would take
out all his frustrations on me and my sister since my mother wasn't there.
After she left he beat us both. She was eight when I
was eleven. I saw him rape her when I was twelve. She was the same age as this
girl they say I hurt."

"Does this Eddie person know about this?" Mulder asked. All of a sudden this
was all falling into place.

Krycek nodded, "He knows. Everyone who's ever seen my personal file knows."
Unexpectedly, he faced Mulder and
stared him down, "Promise me this stays between us."

Mulder's eyes narrowed, "Krycek, you just told me the truth. You didn't hurt
this girl which means you weren't there when
the couple was killed. This could get you a lesser sentence--"

"Forget all this. Please, Mulder. You can't bring this up tomorrow."

"Why the hell not?" Mulder demanded. "Don't you want the truth to be known?"

Krycek buried his head in his right arm and slowly responded, "I can't afford
the truth anymore." He looked up at Mulder
again and did his best to wipe his tears away with his good hand, "Please,
Mulder."

Hearing the pleading tone in his voice Mulder couldn't help but flinch, "You
would get yourself killed just to protect these
people?"

"Either way I die," Krycek told him. "This way is just easier."

Mulder nodded reluctantly, "All right. I'll promise you that I won't tell what
I know, but if the situation gets out of hand then
I'm going to tell them. I am going to tell Scully, though."

Krycek shook his head, "Please, Mulder. Keep it to yourself. If you tell
Scully she will probably tell Skinner and then
everything will be over."

"Fine," Mulder muttered reluctantly, realizing that he was probably right,
"it'll stay with me."

"Thank you," Krycek whispered. He put his right arm over his eyes, "I don't
feel that good."

Taking the hint Mulder began to walk away, but he stopped and turned back to
Krycek, an expression of pity on his face,
"I'm sorry that you had to go through that." Listening to his own words,
Mulder was amazed to realize that he meant it.

Obviously shocked by this, Krycek glanced at Mulder momentarily before
sighing, "Everyone needs to be toughened
somehow. You were toughened by your sister's abduction and this is how I was
toughened." Mulder nodded and continued
down the hall, fascinated by this side of Krycek that he had never seen
before.

***

Subject: NEW: Redemption 8/21 by Christina Ortega

(The first day of the trial)

Mulder entered the courtroom the next day in a gray suit with an almost normal
tie on. His brown hair was extra neat that day
as he remembered Skinner's constant saying "If you look good you make us look
good".

He was surprised to find that Scully was already there in a burgundy suit. Her
hair was also done especially well, and her
face seemed very set and determined. Mulder touched her shoulder and smiled as
she jumped. "I guess Krycek's not the
only one nervous about this trial."

"I guess I never thought this day would come," Scully admitted. "I mean, did
you ever think we'd be sitting in a courtroom
about to be a part of Alex Krycek's trial? Isn't that thought at all amazing
to you because it really, I don't know, scares me."

Mulder nodded slowly and sighed. "Yes, it does amaze me, but it amazes me
because there is something wrong with this
whole thing. The Krycek we used to know would have never allowed this to
happen. He would have found some way to get
out of this. What we are about to see is the trial of a desperate man who's
only option in life is death. This man is thirty-one
years old, Scully, and he's giving up. Why does that seem strange to me?"

"For the same reason that it seems strange to me," Scully remarked. It was
strange. Krycek could have run that one night
two weeks ago and he probably could have escaped. Why didn't he?

She was about to say more when, suddenly, the door at the front of the
courtroom entered and Krycek entered in a navy
blue suit with a blue tie. His hair was neater than usual, and he, all in all,
looked completely normal except for the redness on
his face where the bruise had been.

Mulder shook his head. "What a waste. Too bad these court guys didn't pick out
Krycek's clothes when he was working in
the FBI. That tie looks a lot better than those gaudy red ones he would wear
before."

Scully scoffed at this. "Who are you to talk about gaudy ties?" Mulder merely
smirked at this.

At that moment Halloway entered the courtroom in a light gray suit with a
plain tie. He immediately walked over to Alex and
grabbed his good arm. The two agents watched as they murmured a few words to
each other, and then something
unexpected happened. Halloway pushed Krycek against the wall and began
whispering things to him.

Scully glanced worriedly at Mulder. "That is harassment of a defendant!"

"Either that or Halloway has a real bad case of happy pants and he figured
saying some stimulating words to Krycek would
have to do for now," Mulder muttered. They continued to watch as Halloway
released his hold on Krycek and the two
walked over to their seats as if nothing had happened.

At that moment Skinner entered the courtroom and sat down next to Mulder. He
leaned towards the two agents before
glancing towards the back of the room. "It seems like the whole Consortium
came to see Krycek's trial."

Mulder and Scully looked back and noticed the Well-Manicured Man and Cancerman
sitting side by side with stone cold
expressions on their faces. Marita was also present. She was seated by the
Well-Manicured Man and another old man that
neither agent knew.

"Well," Mulder murmured, "their little boy is all grown up and going to trial.
Its like a parent's dream for them."

"This must be serious if all of them would risk their secrecy just to come see
Krycek's trial," Scully observed.

Skinner nodded. "Well, this is a huge gathering. I guess Krycek has left his
mark on the higher ups."

Mulder sighed. "For his sake, I hope it was a good mark and not a bad mark."

The three tried to listen in as Cancerman and the Well-Manicured Man whispered
things to each other, but the two men
were so quiet that they could not make out anything. At that moment, the guard
called, "All rise for Judge Carlson of the state
of Virginia."

As everyone in the room stood an short old man in a long black robe entered
the room a stern expression on his face. As he
sat down in his place as proudly as a worshipped king sits on his throne he
sighed. "You may be seated."

The guard, an African American man, who looked no older than thirty, handed
him a large manila folder. "This is case
#12499...although, I must say it's slightly peculiar that this wasn't brought
before the Federal Court--"

Judge Carlson cut him off by raising his hand. "I'm well aware of the
situation with Mr. Krycek." As the guard stepped away
the judge motioned towards the prosecution which consisted of two lawyers. One
of them had a bad haircut and dark brown
hair, reminding Mulder of Krycek when he was first in the FBI. The other was a
black-haired Asian woman in a rather
expensive looking black suit. "Would the prosecution please present your
opening statements?"

The man with the bad haircut stood and pointed towards Krycek, a cruel
expression on his face. "This man is a murderer.
Just a few weeks ago the police apprehended this man after shooting federal
officers and, before that, killing a couple and
injuring their nine year old girl. At first we suspected that this was just a
normal murder case, but then new evidence came up
of witnesses who had seen the defendant, Alexander Krycek, shoot and kill
about twenty other people in cold blood!
People, this man is scum who should be locked away for a long time unless you
want him to come after you."

The judge nodded before turning to Halloway. "Do you have your opening
statements, defense?"

"Yes, Your Honor," Halloway said.

As he stood and began a rather pathetic response to the prosecution's claims
Scully leaned towards Mulder. "He's gone.
With Halloway defending him and these top notch lawyers prosecuting him
there's no way Krycek can win."

"I know," Mulder murmured back, "but maybe there is a chance. Scully, I've
been doing a lot of thinking about this
case...about my father's murder, and about everything else Krycek has done.
There is a reasonable doubt."

Skinner, who had been listening in, gaped at him. "You're going to try to make
Krycek seem innocent?"

"As you said yourself, Sir, there is a reasonable doubt," Mulder responded.

***

(A few hours later)

The Asian woman looked down at her notes before scanning the crowd of people.
"The prosecution calls Walter Skinner to
the stand."

Skinner hesitantly stood from where he had been sitting and walked past
Krycek up to the guard who was holding a bible.
The AD put his hand on it and sighed as he heard the guard ask, "Do you swear
to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing
but the truth?"

"Yes," Skinner said slowly before stepping onto the stand by Judge Carlson and
sitting down on the chair that was there.

The Asian woman regarded him carefully before looking down at her notes. "Is
your full name Walter Sergei Skinner?"

"Yes, it is," Skinner responded.

"You are an Assistant Director with the FBI. Am I correct?" The woman
questioned.

"Yes, you are."

The man with the bad haircut glanced down at a paper in front of him before
standing and walking in front of Skinner. "I have
noted here that Alexander Krycek was an FBI agent under your supervision a few
years ago. Is that correct?"

"Yes, Alex Krycek was under my supervision for awhile," Skinner responded
coolly. He already knew where this was
heading and he didn't like that fact one bit.

"Mr. Skinner, can you describe Mr. Krycek's behavior during his time at the
FBI?" The woman questioned, flipping her
black hair over her shoulder.

Skinner sighed. "Well, he seemed like a normal green agent. Alex was obviously
fresh out of Quantico, but he was a
responsible agent."

The man with the bad haircut moved even closer to him until he was almost
touching the witness stand. "Then what
happened, Mr. Skinner? What event occurred that made you lose all faith in
Alex Krycek?"

"He disappeared one morning and disconnected his home phone number. It was
like he vanished without a trace."

"So, Mr. Skinner, what you are saying is that Krycek infiltrated the FBI,
possibly taking computer data and other secret
information with him?" The Asian woman questioned with a smug expression on
her face. She knew they had him. This
woman had never lost a case and she didn't intend to start now.

Skinner shook his head. "Yes, that is what happened, but there was evidence to
prove that Alex Krycek may have been
forced to do these things against his will by someone in a higher level of
power."

"A higher level of power?" The man with the bad haircut smirked. "Are you
implying that Alex Krycek was being used by
someone in our government to steal our own secrets?"

"All I'm saying is that there is a possibility that he wasn't working alone in
this, and that he may have been forced to do these
things."

Changing the subject, the man with the bad haircut lifted up a piece of paper
from the creme folder in his hand. "I have here a
written document from one of your agents, Special Agent Fox Mulder, stating
that Alex Krycek was the murderer of a
suspect in your custody, one Duane Barry. Is this report valid, Mr. Skinner?"
From his seat Mulder groaned as he
remembered that report in which he blamed Krycek for every little detail of
recent cases that had gone wrong for one reason
or another.

"The cause of Duane Barry's death is listed in our official reports as
unknown. What you are holding is a copy of a report
stating ideas that were never proven as fact," Skinner told him calmly.

The Asian woman shook her head. "But there was the possibility that Alex
Krycek killed this man?"

"There is always a possibility. What I'm saying is that there were multiple
possibilities in that case concerning Duane Barry's
death, and that the document you are holding in your hand should not be
regarded as fact."

The man with the bad haircut sighed. "Well, then let's move on to another
incident a few months later when you were
attacked in the stairway of a hospital after chasing down a suspect. You were
assaulted by three men, were you not?"

"Yes, I was."

"One of these men was Alex Krycek. Am I correct?" The man said.

Skinner nodded unemotionally. "Yes, he was one of the men who attacked me."

The Asian woman looked at a piece of paper before glancing at him. "It says
here that Mr. Krycek took a very valuable tape
from you, Mr. Skinner. This tape, it says, could have been holding national
secrets which Mr. Krycek sold to the Hong Kong
government. Does he still have the tape, to the best of your knowledge, Mr.
Skinner?"

"No, I don't believe that he does."

The man with the bad haircut shook his head at Skinner. "I also have it noted
that you harbored this man in your house. Do
you confirm this, Mr. Skinner?"

Skinner glanced at Mulder who had his eyes on him before nodding. "Yes, I
confirm that. He was needed regarding a case."

"Why did you not tell the authorities at that time that you had caught this
man? I'm sure he was wanted even at that time by
the police," the woman said suspiciously.

Skinner sighed. "As I said, he was needed regarding a case."

The woman looked down at her notes before shaking her head. "Well, I have it
noted here that while he was at your
apartment he pushed a man off your balcony."

"That is true," Skinner muttered. Gasps were heard from those sitting beyond
the jury and the two prosecuting lawyers
smiled at each other.

"No further questions," they said in unison.

Judge Carlson shook his head. He had no doubt that this case would be over in
just a matter of days. "Defense, you may
cross-examine the witness."

"The witness may step down," Halloway said.

Caught off guard by this, the judge looked at him with surprise. "Do you wish
to rethink that decision, Defense?"

"No, Sir."

Sighing, Judge Carlson turned to Skinner. "You may step down, then." Skinner
did as told and glared at Halloway before
returning to his seat.

Scully looked at her AD, her eyes wide. "Halloway didn't even cross-examine!"

"This is not good," Skinner breathed. Mulder merely buried his head in his
hands and rubbed his face before glancing at
Krycek, surprised to find that the younger man was watching him. Instead of
seeing the fright that he had expected to see
Mulder noticed that he looked completely at peace. Maybe he did want this
after all. No, there was something along with
that serenity in Krycek's eyes. At that moment Mulder knew what it was.
Vulnerability. Krycek was completely exposed
and he knew it. Mulder also suspected that Krycek knew the truth: this was
going to be his last moment of complete
freedom. There was no way he was going to get out of this.

***

Subject: NEW: Redemption 9/21 by Christina Ortega

(The second day of the trial)

Scully sat nervously on the witness stand early the next morning. She didn't
know exactly what the prosecution was going to
come at her with, but she was almost certain that she didn't have a chance of
helping Krycek in any way.

"Miss Scully, let's get this over with right off the bat," the Asian woman,
whose name, the court had come to learn that
morning, was Angela Lee, said. "Would you please explain to us why you have
stated that Alex Krycek was not responsible
for your sister's murder?"

Relieved by the question, Scully cleared her throat before saying, "Well,
Assistant Director Skinner was shot by a man
whose DNA matched that of my sister's murderer and, knowing what the man
looked like, he knew this person wasn't
Krycek."

"Where is this man now?" Angela asked.

"Luis Cardinal is dead. The official records show that his death was
suicidal."

The man with the bad haircut, whose name was really Paul Williamson, looked at
her. "That is all well and good, but the real
issue here should be what you described yourself as your 'period of missing
time'."

Scully gaped at him for a moment. "I really don't see how my abduction relates
to this matter, Sir," she admitted finally. "I
was taken from my apartment by a man, Duane Barry, who, as was stated
yesterday, was killed by unknown causes."

"Miss Scully, there are reports that state that your address may have been
given to Duane Barry by this man, Alex Krycek,"
Angela told her. "Also, it is a known fact that Alex Krycek did things to
prevent your partner, Agent Mulder, from helping
you on Skyland Mountain by killing a tram operator and almost knocking your
partner off of the tram he was riding and
killing him. Did you find any evidence that Krycek may have been involved in
your abduction?"

"I..." Scully glanced at Mulder and Skinner who were looking at her with
completely dazed expressions on their faces. "I
don't know. During that time I was in an extremely compromised state, and even
now I cannot recall events that occurred
during that time."

Paul nodded and motioned towards Halloway. "You may cross-examine now."

As Halloway stood Mulder leaned towards Skinner. "This is not good at all."

"I thought this was how you wanted it before, Mulder," Skinner said. "Aren't
you glad that Krycek will finally be getting what
he deserves?"

Mulder shook his head before shrugging. "Yes, I will be glad when he gets what
he deserves, but he doesn't deserve this. He
doesn't deserve this fucked up courtroom with a messed up lawyer defending him
and all of the Consortium laughing on his
behalf."

Skinner glanced back at them before sighing. "I don't think they're laughing.
They actually look upset about this."

"Obviously. I mean, they want to kill Krycek themselves. If someone else kills
him it won't be any fun for them."

***

Angela looked down at her notes before glancing at Judge Carlson. "The
prosecution calls Fox Mulder to the stand."

Mulder stood and, after being sworn in, he sat down in the witness stand
before smiling at the court as if he were some kind
of entertainer ready to entertain the crowd. Paul glanced at him warily before
sighing. "Is your full name Fox William
Mulder?"

"Yes, it is, but I prefer Mulder."

Angela rubbed the bridge of her nose, already sensing that this was going to
be a tough one, before saying, "Well, Mr.
Mulder, it seems like you've had a lot of dealings with the defendant."

"I hope you aren't implying anything sexual, Miss," Mulder deadpanned. A few
of the jurors smirked but quickly hardened
their expressions as Judge Carlson glared at them.

"I was referring to professional dealings, Mr. Mulder," Angela told him
sternly. "Now, after reading your very thorough
report after Alex Krycek disappeared from the FBI in 1994 it seemed that you
understood even then how dangerous this
man was."

Mulder shook his head. "Yes, well, I thought a lot of things back then that
weren't true. It turns out Krycek was an errand
boy for some hazy government figures and, well, that was why he had to do all
that rather mean stuff that he did when he was
my partner."

Caught off guard by this, Paul stepped towards him. "Mr. Mulder, this is the
man that shot your father."

"I assumed that he shot my father but there is no clear scientific evidence
that proves he was truly the killer. Krycek's gun
was never tested to see if it was the murder weapon, nor did we find any DNA
evidence on my father's corpse."

Angela pushed back her hair before sighing. "Well, then, you have evidence
that Krycek was selling secrets from a stolen
digital tape to the Hong Kong government. He did attack your superior and take
it."

Mulder nodded slowly. "I suppose you could say that, but in Hong Kong Krycek
was very sick."

"Sick?" Angela looked at him interestedly. "You mean he was mentally ill?"

"No, he was very sick because of a virus inside him known only as the black
cancer that caused him to do what he did. That
was why he gave the DAT tape back to those who wanted it."

Hearing this, Krycek looked at Mulder, his eyes wide with shock. Mulder had
just flat out lied for him! The cancer wasn't in
his system until Mulder was about to take him out of the country! What the
hell was Mulder doing!?

The jury murmured as Mulder spoke, and both Angela and Paul glanced at each
other. Deciding that they still had a shot,
Paul cleared his throat. "Well, Mr. Mulder, you can't deny that Alex Krycek
dragged you to Russia where he had been
working for the Russian government and had you infected with the very disease
you speak of."

"Alex Krycek did not drag me to Russia. I took him there to help me on a case
as AD Skinner told the court earlier. That
was why he harbored Krycek in his apartment. As for Krycek's involvement with
the Russian government, a year ago I
would have said that you were absolutely right, but I have a new theory on
this involvement.

"Yes, I do know that I was infected with the black cancer, but this infection
may have saved my life. Now that I have this
vaccine in my system I cannot be tested on again, and I believe that Krycek
was going to get me out of Russia by using his
popularity in Russia," Mulder explained.

Angela shook her head. "What about this latest meeting between you and Krycek?
He attacked you in your apartment."
Scully looked up at this, not having heard about this meeting.

Mulder narrowed his eyes at Angela before murmuring. "I haven't told anyone of
that meeting. If you know of that then you
must be getting your information from a source that even I don't know about."
The two lawyers looked at each other and
paled considerably. "To answer your question, though, Krycek did what he did
to get me to listen to him. I can't say that I
did, but it was needed."

By now Krycek's jaw was nearly hanging on the floor as he watched the man who
had been one of his greatest enemies
protecting him as if they were best friends. Why the hell had Mulder done
that!?

Angela bit her lip before looking at Halloway. "Um, your witness."

"No further questions," Halloway muttered breathlessly, shocked by all that
had just happened.

As Mulder stepped down Krycek continued to stare at him, still stunned. He
caught the older man's eye and watched as
Mulder smiled faintly at him before returning to his seat next to Skinner and
Scully.

Scully glanced at him with surprise. "That was unexpected, Mulder. I thought
you wanted him to be found guilty."

"I've changed my mind...about a lot of things." Scully merely shrugged and
grabbed his hand, squeezing it before waiting for
them to call the next witness.

From behind them Cancerman looked at the Well-Manicured Man and sighed. "Well,
there goes our secrecy. What did you
have the boy tell Mulder when you sent him to his apartment?"

"Mulder knows about the resistance," the Well-Manicured Man replied. "That's
all you need to know." Both upset and
relieved by this news, Cancerman turned away from his associate and looked at
the man who had once been his errand boy,
watching as Krycek covered his face with his good hand. Maybe Krycek did have
a chance of getting out of this situation
alive.

***

(The third day of the trial)

The third day had been uneventful in the courtroom. All that had occurred was
that more evidence was brought to the
attention of the judge concerning Krycek's guilt. Even though Mulder's
testimony had been a strong influence there still
wasn't enough to prove Krycek's innocence.

Suddenly, the courtroom began to stir as a small girl with blond hair was
wheeled into the courtroom in a wheelchair. Krycek
watched her warily before hearing Angela say, "Thank God that Cassandra Duncan
was well enough to come in today to
testify."

The girl, Cassandra, coughed a few times before nodding, a stern expression on
her face. Judge Carlson looked down at her
and grinned faintly. "Now, you do know that you have to tell the truth when
you are in this courtroom, right, Cassandra?"

"Yes, Sir," she responded in a raspy voice.

Hearing that she was ready to begin, Angela and Paul neared her and both put
on expressions of pity. Angela touched
Cassandra's hand. "I know your parents' death...this tragedy is a hard thing
for you to deal with, and if you feel that you
can't talk about it we will understand." As she nodded, Angela continued,
"We've learned that you saw who shot your
parents and all we need you to do is verify that our suspect is the one who
hurt you, Cassandra. Can you do that?"

Cassandra nodded at Angela, her face still determined. "Yes, I can do that."
While her physical state made her seem weak
her voice was as strong as anyone's in the room. It was obvious that she was
very mature for her age.

Paul motioned towards Krycek. "Is this the man who hurt you and killed your
father, Cassandra? I know looking at him may
be painful, but we need to know the truth."

The little girl glanced at Krycek, her eyes glassy with unshed tears. Krycek
caught her eye and, seeing her handicap, he
turned away and closed his eyes, the memories of his dead sister invading his
mind.

Cassandra watched Krycek for a few minutes and the court waited in silence to
hear her answer to Paul's question. Scully
looked at Mulder only to find that they were both holding their breath.
Finally, Cassandra shook her head. "That isn't the
man who killed my parents."

Her answer caused those in the courtroom to begin murmuring to each other.
Judge Carlson sighed and used his gavel to get
everyone's attention. "Order in this court! I want order in this courtroom or
I will be forced to call recess." Slowly, the
chattering halted as everyone turned their eyes to Paul and Angela.

"Are you sure, Cassandra?" Paul tried again. "Was he wearing a mask or
anything because I know you wouldn't be able to
really identify him then."

Cassandra frowned at him. "The man that hurt me wasn't wearing a mask. That
isn't the man who hurt me and killed my
parents."

"How do you know?" Angela asked, blushing lightly as she realized she sounded
as she had when she was Cassandra's age.

"The man who hurt me...he was taller and he looked older," Cassandra
explained. "Plus, his skin was darker than his, and he
had black hair."

Paul snarled at Krycek before bending down near Cassandra. "I know you are a
smart girl, Cassandra. I've heard that you
are gifted and very mature, and I know you know what is going to happen to
this man if he's found guilty, but you shouldn't
lie to protect him from his fate. If this man hurt you and your parents you
need to tell the truth."

"I am telling the truth!" Cassandra cried. "Why won't you find the man who
killed my parents!? I've never seen that guy
before!"

A nurse who had been leaning against the wall ran over to her wheelchair and
began to pull her away muttering, "All this
excitement...I shouldn't have allowed her to come here today." With that, they
left the courtroom leaving those present to
talk quietly among themselves.

Halloway leaned towards Alex, his expression stern. "I know you're thinking
you have a fair chance, Alex, but you don't.
Just because your old partner and some little girl say that you're innocent
these people aren't stupid. They know you are a
killer and they will find you guilty."

Krycek glanced at him and shrugged casually. "That's supposed to make me
upset? Are you trying to threaten me,
Halloway, because it isn't working." If Halloway wanted to scare him Krycek
figured that he should put a gun to his head or
a knife to his throat. These attempts were pathetic.

"I'm not threatening you, Alex. All I'm doing is telling you the truth."

Krycek smirked before lowering his eyes. "Too bad I knew the truth from the
first day I was put in jail."

***

Subject: NEW: Redemption 10/21 by Christina Ortega

(That night)

Mulder walked around in the parking lot of the courthouse, his face showing
his weariness, his unhappiness, and his
realization of the inevitable. No matter how convincing Cassandra Duncan had
been that day he knew it wouldn't be enough
to show that Krycek was innocent. After she had departed the prosecution had
worked hard on their arguments and had
really influenced the jury. Now they had left for the night to decide Krycek's
fate. Having never been on a jury, Mulder
wondered what it felt like to go into a hotel room knowing that when you left
you would have decided if a person would die
or go free.

Don Halloway was a complete idiot. It couldn't have been more obvious that he
was not on Krycek's side. Mulder was
shocked that the judge, Judge Carlson, hadn't suggested that Krycek get a new
lawyer himself. It was perfectly clear that
Halloway wasn't doing as much as he could to prove Krycek's innocence. In
fact, if he had bothered to cross-examine
Skinner and some of the other witnesses who had been called to the stand
during the trial Mulder was sure that Krycek being
found innocent would have been a real possibility, but not now. Not after the
prosecution had those amazing closing remarks
and Halloway had seemed to try and cover up something during his. Poor Krycek.

<Poor Krycek? Where the hell did that come from? This is the man that killed
your father, attacked Skinner, and almost
killed you on Skyland Mountain, Mulder! How can you be so naive!?> <Maybe I
was looking for a place to put the blame. I
never saw Krycek with a gun to my father's head. As far as I know he could
have shot himself.> <There was no gun at the
scene, moron. Someone shot him.> <Why does that someone have to be Krycek? I
suspected him when I was on LSD and
that belief kind of stuck. What if Krycek didn't do it?> <What if he did?>

Mulder was pulled out of his thoughts when a force drove him to the ground.
His head banged painfully against the pavement
and he looked around in a daze trying to see his attacker. All of a sudden he
heard a foreign laugh assault his ears. "So,
you're Special Agent Fox Mulder...I've heard a lot about you, Fox."

"You obviously don't know me because everyone calls me Mulder. Who are you?"
What was this guy trying to pull? Who
was 'this guy'?

The man laughed again. "I think you know who I am, Agent Mulder, but I don't
know you very well, so lets take this time to
get acquainted, shall we?"

Glancing up at the man above him, he realized with horror that the man above
him was none other than Eddie, the man who
had killed Mr. and Mrs. Duncan, or so Krycek had hinted. "Oh, it's a pleasure
meeting you face to face, Eddie. I've guessed
so much about you. Maybe I'll get some truth now, huh?"

"Perhaps," Eddie said. It was at that point that Mulder realized there was a
gun pointed at him in Eddie's right hand. "Now,
Agent Mulder, I know that my old buddy, Alex Krycek, has been telling you some
pretty nasty stuff about me."

Mulder shrugged. "Yeah, well, it seems like you two had a very beautiful
relationship. I mean, selling secrets and hurting little
girls...you two make quite the couple. Why are you here? Did our mutual
friend, Halloway, tell you about me?"
Halloway...the big double-crosser. Then again, he had been one from the
beginning.

"Halloway is a buffoon. I am not, however. Didn't you think I would notice you
running after me in the prison parking lot
after I had my little meeting with Krycek?" Clicking the safety off on his
gun, Eddie sighed, "Yes, well, this is the fun part of
the game where I tell you the rules and you promise me you will abide by
them."

"You know, that's funny, because Krycek has been telling me death is the
object of the game."

Eddie ran his left hand through his shiny black hair before responding, "Death
is the object of the game for those who think
there is nothing left to play for. I'm sure you have a lot to play for, Agent
Mulder, and I'll let you continue to live after this
game as long as you listen to my rules."

"Please don't pull out a Monopoly board," Mulder deadpanned. This man was
annoying him nearly as much as Halloway
did.

Ignoring him, Eddie continued. "Rule number one: you never tell anyone that I
bopped Ma and Pa Duncan. Rule number two:
if you abide by rule number one then you live. If not, you die. Do you
understand how to play this game?"

Mulder shrugged. "I don't know. Is there any hope of my winning something like
a new car in this game?"

"Your life should be enough of a prize," Eddie told him harshly. This man was
as bad as Alex was. He needed to learn that
death was something to fear, and Eddie was going to make it his duty to make
him realize this truth. "I'm going to let you go
now, but I have my resources, Agent Mulder. If you squeal you will see me
again. If you don't then I'll be out of your life
forever. Do you get it?"

Mulder sighed. "I've got it. Can I get off the ground now? My suit is getting
dirty and I don't feel like being run over if a car
drives in here."

Eddie nodded and slowly put his finger on the trigger of his gun before
beginning to back away. "Get up slowly. If you do
anything funny like trying to pull your gun out I will shoot you. Don't tempt
me, Agent Mulder. Mr. and Mrs. Duncan really
didn't make my trigger finger very happy. I like a challenge."

Standing with his arms in front of him to show that he wasn't going to try
anything, Mulder watched as Eddie gave him one
last warning look before running out of sight. He closed his eyes for a moment
and rubbed the bridge of his nose before
looking around at the dark cars accented by the pale street lights lining the
road. Walking over to his car, Mulder climbed
inside it, sighed, and put his key in the ignition, driving away from the
prison and towards his home in Alexandria.

***

The next morning everyone was already in the courtroom before Mulder even
arrived. When he walked in he noticed how
tense his partner and boss were, and he couldn't blame them. He was nervous,
as well. Scully noticed Mulder and walked
over to him, her eyes shining. "What do you think they decided?" All of a
sudden noticing the scar on his forehead she
gasped. "What the hell happened to you, Mulder?"

"I slipped on a banana peel in the parking lot, Scully. No big deal." Scully
smirked at his attempt at humor before hearing him
say, "They found him guilty. I'm sure they did."

Skinner walked over to them and rubbed his eyes. "All of our Consortium
friends are present."

"They are really nervous about this!" Scully exclaimed. "I mean, we all seem
more anxious about this decision than Krycek
does." The three glanced at the younger man who was sitting in his seat with
his right hand over his eyes. "Well," Scully
corrected, "he's nervous, but not as jumpy as the rest of us are. I mean, look
how calm he seems."

"That's not a good sign," Mulder observed. "Krycek knows that they are going
to find him guilty. What we're seeing is Alex
Krycek even more vulnerable than before. The guy has completely given up hope
that he will be freed."

At that moment the judge entered with the jury. As they sat down Judge Carlson
turned to juror number one. "Have you
reached a verdict?"

"Yes, Your Honor," the young, curvy woman said. "We, the jury, find the
defendant, Alexander Krycek, guilty on all charges
except for the murder of Melissa Scully."

The room exploded into pandemonium as Cancerman and the Well-Manicured Man
stood, for once in their lives speechless.
Marita glanced in horror at Krycek before mouthing 'no' over and over to
herself.

Mulder rubbed his eyes while Skinner gazed at him. "That means they found him
guilty of your father's murder." After the
doubt that Mulder had brought during his his time on the witness stand he had
been sure that the charge of Bill Mulder's
death would have been lifted along with the one saying that Krycek had killed
Mr. and Mrs. Duncan. Cassandra Duncan had
even testified that Krycek was not the one who had killed them. What more did
this jury want!?

"Will the defendant please rise," Judge Carlson murmured, his eyes closed. The
poor guy. He, himself, had thought that the
defendant would have been found innocent on more than just the charge of
Melissa Scully's murder, but now that he had
been found guilty of so many charges he knew he had to follow through with the
punishment that he had planned.

Halloway did his best to hide his smile before standing along with Krycek who
seemed to be both happy and upset at the
same time. The judge sighed. "I have seen some very heart felt testimonies
towards you, Mr. Krycek, and yet the evidence is
too incriminating. May God save your soul. I sentence you to death by
electrocution. You will be held at a state prison until
your sentence can be carried out. Do you understand this punishment, Mr.
Krycek?"

Krycek glanced up at him, before looking at his good hand and noticing,
somewhat with embarrassment, that it was shaking.
"Yes, Your Honor. I understand."

Judge Carlson shook his head and looked at the guards standing in the corner.
"Take him away." The two men walked
towards Krycek, looked at his good hand and his fake hand, glanced at the
cuffs in their hands, and looked at Krycek's fake
hand again.

One of the men turned to the other. "Just hold his damn hand."

"I'm not holding his freaking hand. Unlike you, I respect my manhood," the
other growled.

Krycek sighed. "Look, I'm not going to try to run. There really is no point
since this room is filled with people."

The first cop shrugged. "He's right. Ok, he'll walk in front of you and behind
me. Good?"

"Fine," the second said.

From the back of the room the Well-Manicured Man scoffed. "This trial was
ludicrous!"

Cancerman snarled at Halloway and ran over to him, grabbing his tie and
peering coldly into his eyes. "Watch your back.
We know exactly what you look like now and I doubt your employers will stop us
in time if our trigger fingers get antsy."
With that, he turned away and stormed back over to his associate who was
trying to get Marita to peel her eyes off of
Krycek.

Skinner looked at Krycek and shook his head. "Electrocution? Damn."

"I say he should appeal this decision. His lawyer was completely
unprofessional!" Scully exclaimed.

"He won't appeal," Mulder said softly. "This is what he wants." Damn this
whole ordeal, and damn Krycek for not doing
something more to save himself.

As the two guards led Krycek out of the room Marita ran over to him and put
her arms around his neck. "Why did you let
them do that to you?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Krycek told her in a blank tone of
voice. It tore him to see her like this, but he
knew the truth couldn't be known.

"The hell you don't! Why the hell did you let them do this to you!?" She had
known him long enough to realize when he was
hiding something. Why, for once in his life, couldn't he tell her the truth?

"Ma'am, please back up," the first guard said. "You can see him as soon as
he's in his cell."

"Fuck you!" Marita screamed. "He'll be behind one of those damn plastic
windows!"

The Well-Manicured Man grabbed her arm and pulled her away from Krycek
allowing them to leave the room. She sobbed
and leaned against him. He touched her head softly and whispered, "You need to
let him go. He's gone." <Alex Krycek is
completely gone. His life, his personality, his sanity...everything is gone.>

***