Aliens in the Architecture by E.Livingstone

Date: Tue, 15 Jul 1997

Aliens in the Architecture (1/5)

Time Line: Takes place after Never Again
and before Gethsemane.

The characters belong to Fox,
Chris Carter, etc..... not me.

Classification: X, A, UST

Spoilers: for Never Again,
Memento Mori and Small Potatoes

Rated: PG

Summery: A trip to the forest brings with it an
uninvited guest and a long overdue conversation.

I would really love some feed back.
Please send to Exduck@llano.net
or Eeees@aol.com

Note: I have put together a picture (JPG) to go
with this story. If you would like to see it either
Visit my X-File Page: www.llano.net/~exduck/x.htm
(look under "Story Pix")
or I would be happy to e-mail you a copy.

Aliens in the Architecture
By E.Livingstone
Part 1
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

She was cold and alone. The one she had trusted...
the one she had depended on, was dead. She knew
it was only a matter of time before she would join
him. This wasn't how it was supposed to end, not
here... not like this.

In the distance she heard a noise, it was getting
louder. Through the cracked window she could see
nothing but darkness, but as a light flashed across the
sky she saw the stranger approaching and knew she
only had one chance left. It was theoretical at best,
but she had nothing left to lose and only one chance to
survive.

Earlier that night
```````````````````````

Dana Scully was drenched from head to toe and
had come to realize she was not going to be getting
warm or dry any time soon. As she made her way
through the dense foliage of the forest that surrounded
her, she pushed the wet hair away from her face and
silently cursed her overzealous partner. The same
partner who had insisted she come out here with him
to chase a lead, then promptly ran off ahead, leaving
her to make her way through the pouring rain alone.

"What am I doing out here? " She spoke aloud, to no
one in particular. "Saturday night...normal people would
be out on a date... dinner... dancing... but am I out on a
date? Noooo... I'm running around in the woods, because
some nut job says he saw little green men. No, sorry...
little gray men. And my partner, who's a bit of a nut job
himself, considers this sort of thing to be a good time!"
She yelled the last to of her tirade into the darkness.
She was pretty sure he and the other man they had come
with were out of ear shot, but somehow yelling
at him made her feel a little better. She flinched slightly
as a bright flash of lightning lit up the sky, followed quickly
by thunder.

"You've got to get yourself a life Dana." She told herself,
as she tried to step over a fallen log, but the slick mud
at her feet caused her to stumble. Catching herself, by
grabbing the nearest tree, she managed to stay on her
feet, but lost her flashlight in the process. As the light
stuck into the mud at her feet, the forest that surrounded
her was cast into darkness.

"Son of a... " She started, as she kneeled down and
groped blindly for her flashlight. Just as she found it
she heard a noise and worked desperately to wipe the
mud off the light so she could see who... or what, it was.

"Loose something?" The voice asked, startling her.

She jumped back, losing her balance and falling
backwards into the mud, still holding the light in
her hand.

"God, Mulder, are you trying to give me a heart
attack? What's wrong, pneumonia not good
enough for you?"

"Is it just me or is there some hostility in your
tone, Scully?"

She just looked up at him, "Hostile... why should
I be hostile? Just because it's the middle of the night,
I'm in the middle of some god forsaken forest and
now I'm covered in mud."

"Well look on the bright side, as soon as you stand
up the rain will wash the mud off."

Even in the small amount of light her flashlight
was giving off she could see the smile on his face
and as much as she wanted to be angry at him she
couldn't. He was like a kid on Halloween.

"You really want more of a life than this Scully?" He
asked as he took a seat on the fallen log she had attempted
to climb over. He held out a hand to help her up.

He had obviously heard her ranting and she cringed
a little as she took his hand.

"This is a life?" She asked, tried wiping the mud from
her clothes.

"Come on Scully... you're not the type that needs all that
wining and dining..."

"Excuse me?" She asked, taking a seat next to him.
"Since when have you ever known what I needed?"

Mulder was silent for a moment before asking,
"Did he know?"

The question hung there. She knew exactly what
and who he was referring, but was still surprised by it.

"Mulder..." She started, breaking the silence

"It's a simple question, Scully... you say I don't
know what you need. I'm just wondering if he did?"

"You want to do this now?" She asked, trying to
not get angry. "It's been over a month since that
night... you haven't brought it up once ... but
here, deep in the forest, in the middle of a rainstorm...
now you want to talk."

He looked down at his feet, "You didn't answer
my question."

"Ok... you want to talk... fine, let's talk. Did he
know what I needed..." She paused for a second,
thinking, " yes... I suppose he did. "

"So he wasn't just another pretty face?" He
joked, trying to lighten the mood, but it wasn't
working. There had been plenty of reasons why
he had not talked about that night... the night
he had busted in his partner's door to find her
in the arms of another man. The fact that the
other man had been his doppleganger didn't matter
much. He didn't know what had happened up to
that point and she had not offered the information.
A part of him wanted to know, the part that was
intrigued... even flattered with the fact that she
thought she was with him, that she would let him
be the one to be touching her. But mostly he was
reminded that she was with another man.... that
man was the one romancing her...the one touching
her.... the one...

Mulder tried to push the images away, the truth
was that he didn't know what did or didn't happen,
but for whatever reason he had to know, here and now.
How far had that man gotten using his identity? But
mostly he had to know how she could have not
know it wasn't him.

"You really thought it was me?"

"You think I would let Eddie VanBlunht...."

"What... let Eddie VanBlunht what?"

"God Mulder, what is this... is it jealousy?"

"I... I don't know what this is Scully..." He
answered honestly, keeping his eyes averted.
"It just seems like after all of this time... all that
we have been through together... how could you
have believed it was me... how could you not
have known?"

"Well, he did have your face, Mulder." She answered,
somewhat defensively, but knowing it wasn't that simple.

"You've been looking at this face for about four
years now Scully. When is the last time we split
a bottle of wine.... listened to soft music in front of a
roaring fire..." He turned, looking into her eyes
and continued softly, "when is the last time I kissed you?"

She broke eye contact, trying to look away, but not
before a flash of lightning illuminated her face, showing
him how his words had affected her.

"Did he kiss you, Scully?" He asked softly, needing
to know. "Did you let him kiss you?"

"Does it matter?" She asked, not really sure why
she just didn't tell him.

"Yes... it matters to me."

"Why... why does it matter? He wasn't you."

"But you thought it was... you've spent four years
with me, as my partner... but one day with
Eddie 'friggen' VanBlunht and your ready to change
everything between us, for him... I mean, me... I mean...
you know what I mean." Getting flustered, he stopped
and stood up, before facing her and continuing.
"Just tell me Scully, why... if we looked so much
alike, why did you see us so differently?"

She looked down at her feet, wishing he hadn't asked
that question... knowing the answer would hurt him.

"You don't want to hear this, Mulder."

"Yes I do..." he urged her, as he knelt down in front
of her, continuing softly, " talk to me, Scully."

"He was... I don't know... attentive."

"That's it... attentive? That was his big move?"

"A girl likes to have a little attention paid to her
once in a while, Mulder."

"I pay attention to you..."

"...once in a while." She finished, with a slight
smile. "But, I do have to admit you've been more
attentive that usual lately." She stood and moved
away from him before adding," It's just too bad it
took a terminal illness to get your attention."

"That's not fair..." He started , as he stood back up.

"No, Mulder.... no, it isn't fair." She interrupted, with
a mixture of anger and sadness in her voice as she
turned to look at him. But one look at the guilt
and sorrow in his eyes softened her. "I'm sorry...."

"Why?'" He asked quietly, "You meant it, didn't you?"

"Yes... but I'm still sorry." She pushed a strand of
wet hair behind her ear and tried to look at him, only
to find she couldn't quite bring herself to look into his
eyes. "The fact is Mulder, that I am dying... and it's
hard enough living with 'what ifs', but to be leaving
this life with regrets... " she paused, hoping she was
making sense to him. " Last month my partner... my
best friend, came over to my apartment for no other
reason than the simple fact that he wanted to be with me...
to talk... to listen, and for the first time in four years
it was just us. I wasn't competing for his attention with
aliens, mutants and God knows what else... he was
really there with me... just me."

She gave him a second to let her words sink in
before continuing.

"I suppose I should have been tipped off when he
started actually looking at me like I was a woman."
She smiled slightly, as she tried to decipher the
expression that crossed his face, " I don't know Mulder,
maybe it was curiosity... a fear of never knowing what
might have been... maybe I saw what I wanted to,
but that night between a bottle of wine and some
soft music, my ' what if ' was staring me in the face.
And in that moment... yes, I was willing to change
the dynamics of our relationship for him... for you."

He stepped up to her, lightly touching her face and
bringing her eyes up to meet his, before asking,
"And now?" He brushed his thumb across her wet
cheek and felt her tense slightly.

"Mulder..." It came out in a raspy tone, "if this is
some kind of competition between..."

"We alone here, Scully...it's just the two of us...
and believe me, you have my complete attention."
He moved closer, their bodies slightly touching.
With his face close enough that she could feel
the warmth of his breath on her cold skin, he
whispered softly, " Let's talk about ' what ifs '. "

Her resolve was weakening fast, as her gaze fell to
his mouth.

But as a voice cut through the darkness calling
their names, urging them to hurry... that he had
found something, Mulder turned away from her
and she could see it was taking everything in him
to not run through the darkness to answer
the man's call.

"Just you and me... huh, Mulder?" She said quietly,
as she stepped away from his touch and picked her
pack up off the fallen tree.

"Scully... I.."

"Go... "

"But..."

"Let's go, Mulder..." She pushed past him as she
spoke. "This is why we're here, right?"

She didn't give him a chance to answer, not that
he had an answer to give her. Grabbing his pack he
hurried to catch her as she made her way to
the voice that was calling their names.

continued in part 2

Aliens in the Architecture
By E.Livingstone
Part 2
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mark Wills was still yelling for the two FBI agents
that he had gone to the forest with that night.
There had been no answer and he was getting restless.
He had found what he had spent the better part
of his life looking for and wasn't about to wait any
longer to investigate it, just because Mulder and Scully
had run off. Deciding to start without them,
he moved cautiously through the jumble of strange
twisted metal that was spread out before him.
Suddenly a bluish light appeared from inside one
of the bigger pieces. The glowing became stronger
and Mark moved to stand beside it, leaning over
to look inside of what looked like a tinted window.
The crack that ran through the window seamed to
be widening, focusing the glow from inside into a
thin band of blue light, escaping from the wreckage.
Fascinated, Mark moved his hand into the light. His
eyes widened, feeling the strange sensation that the
light caused against his palm. But as he tried to
pull his hand back the light became hot and as
much as he tried, he was unable to pull away from
it. Starting to panic he closed his eyes against the
pain and tried to scream for help, but the sound
never made it to his lips. He felt his whole body
becoming slowly paralyzed as the light moved
up his arm and into his chest. He watched in horror,
unable to move or even scream for help, as the crack
widened until the window shattered completely.
The glowing from inside shot out in one blinding
beam of light, enveloping and then lifting him completely
off the ground. He hovered there a few feet above the
wreckage, as the light that surrounded him slowly
pushed its way into his skin. As the look of terror
gradually left his eyes, the light from inside the
wreckage blinked out and he fell face first onto the
twisted metal.

Standing up, he steadied himself, looking at his
hands curiously and then around at his surroundings
with fresh eyes. Leaning over, he reached inside through
the now wide open window and touched an elaborate
set of buttons inside, keying in a code. As a small light
started flashing, he looked over at the form that lay
prone inside and whispered, "I'm sorry... I promise
you... you will be remembered... but not here...
not like this."

Pulling out a component from the console, he stepped
back and away from the wreckage, stumbling over the
foliage and debris, trying to get as far away as possible.

He hadn't got far before meeting up with, Mulder and
Scully rushing in from the other direction.

"Mark... what is it what have you found?" Mulder asked.

"Uhhh, nothing... I thought I saw something, but I
guess I was wrong."

"What? You dragged us out here in the middle of
the night... you were yelling five minutes ago that
you had found it. "

"It was a mistake... sorry." He answered, starting to
panic a little, knowing they were too close to the wreckage.

"I think we'll take a look anyway..." Mulder told him,
as he moved past.

"No." Mark grabbed Mulder, nearly pulling his arm
out of the socket," Let's just go back."

Scully pushed the two of them apart, "What the
hell is wrong with you... we came all this way...
we're going to go look at what ever it is you think
you saw out here." She moved away from the
two men, but only got a few steps before an
explosion rocked the forest. The blast knocking
all of them off there feet.

Mulder pushed himself off the wet ground and
shook his head, trying to think straight. As he
got to his feet he started calling out for his partner.
The fire blazing in the distance, caused enough
light for him to see her several feet away,
struggling to get up. Rushing to her, he dropped
down and tried to help her.

"Don't try to move, Scully."

"I'm fine..." She started weakly.

"I know, I know... your always fine.
Just humor me, ok?"

She complied and sat back so he could get
a better look.

"You've got a pretty deep gash and a good
size bruise forming on your forehead."

"What hit me?"

"Looks like some form of metal."
He answered, seeing bits of it scattered all over
the ground. Turning back to her, he reached
under his coat and ripped a piece of his t-shirt
off, to use to stop the bleeding coming from
her forehead.

"What happened to Mark?" She asked, wincing
as he pressed the cloth in to her wound.

"I'm right here." The voice answered from
behind them.

Mulder helped Scully to her feet, before
asking the man, "What was that... you said
there was nothing to see, Mark. Nothing doesn't
generally explode like that."

"I'll tell you exactly what I saw... but right now I
think we had better get Agent Scully to a doctor,
don't you think?"

Mulder looked at Scully, her eyes starting to droop
and decided that Mark was right, he could grill the
man later, but now she was his priority and they
started back for civilization. Mulder didn't notice
Mark as he took a last look at the burning wreckage or
the lone tear that slipped down his face, before
he turned to follow.

`````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````

Mulder snuck down a hospital corridor,
keeping one eye peeled for an extremely large and
fowl tempered nurse, the same nurse that had
already sent him back to the waiting room three
times. But hoping the fourth time would be the charm,
he made his way to the exam room that held his
partner. He heard her voice in the room ahead and
smiled, but his smile faded as he heard laughter...
her laughter. Confused he stood motionless, trying
to hear what was going on in there.

"Mr. Mulder..." The booming voice came from
behind him, causing him to cringe.

He turned, giving her his best smile, "Hello, Nurse.... "
He paused, getting a better look at her name badge,
" Johnson.... have I told you how lovely you look this morning."

"Nice try." She said simply, as she pointed her
arm out in the direction of the waiting room.

"It's ok, nurse... " A deep voice told her.

Mulder turned to see the voice had come from
the doctor leaving Scully's room, a very young,
handsome doctor, with a big smile on his face.

"Agent Mulder... I'm Dr. Edward Blake."

"How is she?"

"Mild concussion... a few stitches. She'll be fine,
I would like her to stay 24 hours, but she said she
would rather go. Tell me, do you normally have any
luck getting her to do what's best for her?"

Mulder's only response was to laugh and shake
his head.

"Well then, do your best to have her get some
sleep. You'll have to wake her periodically... just
to be on the safe side. I've referred her to another
doctor on staff here for any follow up she might need."

Mulder nodded in understanding, "Can I see her?"

"Yeah sure... go ahead."

Mulder started for her room and then stopped,
looking at the younger man.

"Why don't you want to be her doctor?"

With a wide smile the man replied, " Because
it would be terribly unprofessional for a doctor
to ask his patient out on a date." He patted
Mulder on the shoulder and headed down
the corridor.

Still watching the man walk away, he felt Scully
touch his arm lightly, causing him to glance
sideways at her.

"What's with you and Doogie Houser?"

She smiled, as she started pulling on her jacket,
"This isn't going to be another long discussion about
my needs, is it?"

He lightly touched the bandage on her forehead,
before teasing, "Let me guess, the young doctor
stimulates your mind?"

"Well... " She countered, " it's a good place to start..."

continued in part 3

Aliens in the Architecture
By E.Livingstone
Part 3
`````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````

Mulder paused before knocking on the door
of Scully's motel bathroom. He was intruding
and he knew it, but she had been in there for
a long time and he needed to talk. With a
couple of quick raps on the door he asked her,
"Is everything alright in there, Scully? You
haven't drowned in that tub have you?"

Scully instinctively sunk lower, under the
bubbles of her bath.

"I'm just trying to warm up after our delightful
little trip to the forest, Mulder. How did you get
in here anyway?"

"Picked the lock."

"Figures... so what can I do for you?" She
didn't have to be able to see his face, to
know the sly smile that he wore, at her
question.

"Did you find out what happened to Mark?" She asked.

"No..." He slid down the bathroom door, leaning
his back against it as he continued, "It's like he
just disappeared... it's so strange."

"What's so odd about it? He was obviously up to
something out there." She said loud enough to
be heard through the closed door. "He tried to
destroy the evidence before we could see it."

"He has been pursuing extraterrestrial activity
longer than I have Scully... if he found a downed
ship out there, why would he destroy it?"

"My guess... it wasn't a ship...and he wanted to
continue the hoax by making it almost impossible
to disprove it."

He rested his head against the door, "Well it's a theory..."

"But not yours." She added as she stepped
out of the tub.

"Something else is bugging me about this. The
doctor that examined Mark said that he had a
gash in his side that took fifteen stitches to close.
He never as much as winced during the whole
trip out of the forest and to the hospital."

"Maybe he just has a high threshold for pain?"

"That's just it, I've known this guy for years... he's
a big guy, but he's a wimp. He once got a splinter
and complained about the pain for days. But after
finding, whatever it was he found out there, he...."
He didn't have a chance to finish as the door swung
inward, causing him to fall back onto the linoleum
floor of the bathroom.

Scully was startled by her partner's sudden
appearance. As he fell at her bare feet she
jumped back quickly before he could get an
eyeful from his vantage point. Quickly regaining
her composure she looked down at her partner.

"Mulder...don't think that I don't know what your
thinking... cause I do."

"Huh?" He asked, confused.

"You think something happened to Mark out
there... something... otherworldly." As she spoke,
she moved passed him, making her way to her suitcase.

"I never said that..." He sat up as she walked by.

"But you were thinking it."

"Maybe I was just thinking about what you're
wearing... or aren't wearing, under that robe."

She looked at him with a smile, "Funny, from
most men that would have sounded like a
come on... from you it just sounds like an
excuse." She gathered up some clothes to
sleep in and headed back to the bathroom to
change. He stood up to let her close the door,
once again separating them.

Talking through the door she told him
," Go do what you have to Mulder... search
the woods... find Mark... whatever, but you're
on your own for a while."

"You are always getting mad at me for running
off without you, so why are you all of the sudden
trying to get rid of me, Scully... you got a date later."

She opened the door, dressed in an oversized
t-shirt and flannel shorts. As she passed him
she raised an eyebrow and said, "Well... Dr. Blake
was willing to make a house call..."

"Yeah, I bet he was... " He spoke in a low
sarcastic voice as he watched her crawl into
her bed. "Speaking of the young doctor, he told
me I was suppose to keep an eye on you for
awhile...you know, make sure you don't slip into
a coma or anything."

"I don't think you have to worry."

"But I do." He had attempted to make the statement
causally, but the honesty of it was obvious... to both
of them.

"The key is on the table... go look for Mark, you can
come back later and make sure I'm still breathing."

He quietly walked over to the bed, kneeling down and
taking one of her hands gently in his. " Before I go,
do you need anything?" The words brought back
the memory of their earlier conversation and he
laughed lightly, " I know...I know... if I was a better
man I would have just known what you needed,
without having to ask."

She squeezed his hand lightly, "If it makes you
feel better, I haven't got a clue what you need
either, Mulder."

His mouth opened, and for a brief moment he
was about to tell her, what mattered most to him...
who mattered most to him... what he needed
more than anything in the world, but the words
would not come and he settled for telling her to get
some sleep. Reluctantly, he grabbed the key off the
table and set-off in search of Mark.

`````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````

Dana smiled as she watched the man before
her refill her glass with wine. Looking around the
nearly full restaurant, she watched the couples
talking in hushed tones and dancing around the
big dance floor to the soft music that played.
Turning back to her date she smiled at the
handsome doctor as he reached out and took her hand.

"What's with you and guys named Ed?"

The voice came from beside her and she turned
to see her that partner had come out of nowhere to
invade her perfect evening.

"Go away..." She whispered under her breath.

"I don't trust him." He said, ignoring her.

"Mulder..." She started, talking through
clenched teeth.

"I'm only looking out for your best interest
here, Scully."

"Yeah..well it would be in your best interest
to get out of here, before I'm forced to kill you."
She spoke louder, unconcerned if her date heard or
not, although he seemed oblivious to anything but her.

"Ok... but remember you haven't had the best
judgment as far as men go lately...." With
his last words Mulder vanished, leaving an
empty chair behind.

"So, Dana would you care to dance?" Her date
asked standing up and holding out his hand.

"I'd love to." she replied, happy to be rid of Mulder
and returning her attention to the handsome doctor.

As they swayed to the music she rested her
head on his chest.

"This night feels like a dream."

"Probably cause it is."

Startled at the familiar voice, she looked up
to see that Mulder had reappeared, and was the
one holding her as they danced.

"Mulder... what the hell are you doing? Where's
my date?" She asked trying to get some distance
between them, but not succeeding.

"How should I know what happened to him... this
is your dream Scully. I guess your subconscious
just likes me better than him."

He was smiling down at her and moved his hand
up to rest on the side of her face. As soon as his
fingertips made contact with her skin their
surroundings changed. They were back in the forest,
but unlike before there was no storm... no
rain, it was warm and peaceful.

Still holding her he leaned in, his mouth grazing
her ear, "Lets talk about ' what ifs', Scully."

"It's just a dream." She said softly.

"Yes... it's a dream... which means it can
be anything you want... we... can be anything
you want.." His face hovered above hers and
she closed her eyes as he continued, "We are
alone here Scully... no distractions.. no remorse...
no.... "

Suddenly the pressure from his hand disappeared
and she opened her eyes to see the rest of him
had disappeared as well. She spun around,
searching through the trees, but he was gone.

"Mulder..." she called into the night, "This isn't funny..."

She shivered as the only response she got was a
frigid gust of wind whipping across her face.
The trees felt as if they were closing around her
and she fought the urge to run... away from what,
she didn't know. But as she smelled the familiar sent
of smoke carried along the wind, she knew her
fears were well founded. Turning towards the offending
smell, she saw him standing there, cigarette in
one hand, gun in the other.

"Mulder..." She called out again, in vain.

"He couldn't protect you before... " He said calmly,
taking a drag from his cigarette as he raised his
gun, pointing it at her and beginning to slowly squeeze
the trigger "And he can't save you now..."

"Noooo!" She screamed bolting upright in bed,
only to come face to face with someone sitting
beside her on the bed. "Ahhhhh!" She yelled again,
causing him to fall right off the bed and onto the floor.

Regaining her senses she looked over at Mulder
who was sprawled out on the floor of her motel room.

"God Mulder, you scared the hell out of me."

Pulling himself off the floor, he laughed lightly
at the irony and replied, "Well at least we know
you haven't slipped into a coma."

Trying to get her breathing under control she
watched him stand up and sit back on the edge
of the bed.

"Did you have any luck finding Mark?"

"Maybe. I've got an address of a place he had
been renting. I'm going to check it out as soon
as I leave here."

She swung the covers off of her, moving to get
out of bed.

"I'll go with you."

"No you won't... the doctor said you needed bed rest."

"Mulder, I've got a bump on my head. It's hardly
life threatening." She told him, immediately wishing
she would have phrased it differently.

"Please... just stay here. " She knew all the reasons
behind his request and could see by the look in his eyes
that he didn't want to say them aloud.

"You'll call me if you find anything?"

"I promise. Now go back to sleep." as he spoke he
was already half way to the door and with a quick
wave he headed back out to find Mark.

continued in part 4

Aliens in the Architecture
By E.Livingstone
PART 4
``````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````

Having given up on trying to sleep, Scully
sat at the small table in her motel room typing
a report on her laptop computer. A knock at the
door caused her to look up and smile.

She went to the door and said, "What wrong
Mulder... lose the key?"

Her smile disappeared as she opened the door
to find it wasn't her partner... it was Mark. His skin
was pale and he was clutching his chest, he
tried to speak but couldn't catch his breath long
enough to speak. He pushed past her and managed
to take a few steps before collapsing face first onto
the floor.

Immediately recognizing that he was having a
heart attack, she grabbed the cell-phone off of the
night stand and dialed 911 as she rolled him over and
ripped open his shirt. After completing the call
she began CPR. As she worked on him, she could
feel a strange heat radiating from inside his chest.
The more compressions she gave, the more the heat
intensified, until it became unbearable. She tried to pull
her hands away, but she couldn't move them.
Her eyes widened as she watched a glowing blue
light push through the skin of his chest, surrounding
her hands and slowly moving up her arms, paralyzing
her as it made it's way toward her torso.

Still able to move her head, she looked at Mark's
face and saw him open his eyes. He looked at her
for a long moment and then whispered, "I'm sorry."

As his eyes closed again, the light enveloped her
completely, pushing its way into her skin until it had
completely invaded her body.

`````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````

Mulder knocked on the half open door, calling
Mark's name. There was no reply, so he swung
the door open and stepped inside. After locating the
light, he looked around the small one-room apartment.
Everything seemed to be in order, except the computer
that sat in the corner of the room. It had been
disassembled, but was still operable. Moving closer to
get a better look, he could see that it had been taken
apart and reconfigured somehow. The monitor was blinking
wildly as strings of numbers flashed across the screen.

Pulling out his cell-phone he dialed Scully.

``````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````

She stood in front of the mirror, looking at herself
as she heard a ringing noise break the
silence. After taking a moment to sink in, she
realized that is was the phone and went to pick it up
off of the floor.

"Hello."

"Scully, It's me... I found Mark's apartment, but he's..."

"At the hospital." She broke in.

"He's what?"

"He came here after you left... collapsed on my floor
and they took him to the hospital. I think you should
get over there...to make sure he's ok."

"Yeah, I'm on my way... I'll see you in a little while." He
paused for a second, " Scully?"

"What?"

"Are you ok... you sound...I don't know... distant?"

"I'm fine, Mulder. I'll see you later."

"Yeah...ok, later."

She heard the click of the other line disconnecting and
turned her attention to the laptop computer sitting
on the table.

`````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````

He opened the door after knocking several times.

"Hey, anybody home?"

"Yeah... I'll be right out." Came her voice from
the bathroom.

"Your not going to like the theory I've come up
with on this one. I talked to Mark, he said he has
no memory of what happened. It's amazing he's still
alive, really. Doctors said he had a major coronary.
Oh by the way, Dr. Blake sends his regards. So Scully,
do you want to hear my theory?"

"I know what you think... you think his body was
inhabited by an entity... an entity that came from
the crash site that he discovered out in those woods."

"Well no... but I like that better."

Mulder's eyes wandered across her motel room to
the cannibalized laptop commuter blinking in the corner
and he stopped dead in his tracks.

"He was injured by the explosion... his body was
weakened." As she spoke, she walked by a mirror and
looked at her reflection. She was wearing a silk robe,
her hair damp. She started to speak again, not taking
her eyes off her reflection. "His heart wasn't strong
enough...but this body is stronger. She will get me home."

He felt his body tense hoping what he was thinking
was wrong. But as she turned and looked at him,
he knew. Her eyes focused on him, exploring his
body, she smiled and he felt his face turn hot.

"Who are you? What... what have you done
to her?" He demanded.

"She's here... sort of. I like her better than Mark,
I think being a woman suits me better." She was
moving towards him, running her hand down the folds
of her silk robe as she spoke. Then, looking up
into his eyes she asked, "What do you think?"

Pulling the gun from his holster he pointed it
at her. "Stay back!"

She looked at the gun and laughed.

"What, your gonna shoot me?" She asked, continuing
to move towards him, until the gun was touching
her abdomen, pushing against the edges of her
robe until it was touching bare skin. "Are your going to
shoot her? You can kill me... but not without killing
her....and I know you can't hurt her."

She moved even closer.

He could feel his hand shaking, "We are one
now... I know everything she knows...which
means I know you." She moved her hand up
and ran a finger along his jaw line. " You're a
part of her... as much as I'm a part of her." Her
finger traced along his lower lip, causing his mind to
race. Seeing the effect that she was having on
him, she smiled widely. She was so close to him
that the gun was inside her robe and he could
feel her soft skin against his hand. Abruptly he pulled
back trying to distance himself from her... to try and
think clearly. Her expression clearly showed the anger
she was feeling at his blunt rejection.

"Wrong choice." It was the last words he heard
her say, as her hand grabbed the gun out of his
hand so quickly he barley realized what happened.
But before he had a chance to react she swung
the gun, smashing it upside his head
and dropping him to the ground.

The darkness started to become gray and
gradually the light of the room pushed
at his eyes. He opened them tentatively,
blinking against the brightness of light. As the
room came into focus he watched her from his
supine position on the floor. She was across the
room, wearing jeans and a sweatshirt and working
on the remains of her computer. Then, he saw
the handcuff on his wrist and the other one
connected to the bed frame.

Feeling his eyes on her, she turned, "Your awake."

He said nothing.

"And your angry." As she spoke, she stood and
moved to him, taking a pillow off the bed and dropping it
to the floor, so he would be able to at least prop himself up.

He still said nothing.

"Look... I'm sorry about your head... but this hasn't
exactly been a picnic for me either. I mean look...
I've been through the mother of all crash landings...
my best friend is dead... I'm trapped on this God
forsaken planet and I've been through two human host
bodies in as many days. So I'm sorry if I'm a little pissy,
but I've had a rough couple of days, ok?" She paused,
sitting on the edge of the bed and looking down at him
before continuing, "This isn't about hurting anyone...
I'm just trying to get home."

Mulder didn't know whether to believe her or not.
It was Scully... but at the same time, it wasn't. He just
said simply "I won't let you take her."

"You couldn't save her before... and you can't save her now."

```````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````

As she worked at the computer, he worked
on freeing the handcuff attached to the bed
frame. He had managed to loose the key
somewhere in the woods the night before.
His spare key was at home, so his only
option was to bend metal bed frame enough
so that he could slide the cuff out.

A small circuit that she was working on blew,
causing a quick flash from the circuit board and
a steady stream of curses from her.

"For not being from around here, you certainly
have a firm grasp on the English language."

"I told you... I know everything she knows."
She replied, keeping her back to him.

"Did you get those colorful sayings from her or Mark?"

"Well, she was raised around sailors."

A sudden series of beeps signaled her and she
responded by punching the keys of the
reconfigured machine.

"It won't be long now." She said, turning to
look at him.

He started yanking feverishly against the handcuff,
realizing he was running out of time.

"You never give up do you? She finds it kind of
endearing....but personally, I think your just
wasting your energy.

He looked up into her eyes, trying to find his
partner in there somewhere.... but she wasn't
there. Her body was still with him but her sole
had been taken.

"You could take me..." He said, grasping at
straws, "...let her stay... take me instead."

"That's sweet, but no... the decision has
been made... she's the one."

"Why... why her and not me?" He asked
angrily, yanking at the cuff on his wrist.

"Because you still have a life to be lived, Mulder...
hers is coming to an end."

"It's not your choice to make."

"I didn't make that choice. The men you
chase... your, Cancer Man... he took
her from you when they gave her this
disease." As she spoke she ran her
finger along her forehead down to the bridge
of her nose."

He didn't answer.

"I'm going home, Mulder... what ever it takes,
I'm going home."

"And you don't care that you are taking her
away from her family and friends...all the
people that love her."

"Her cancer is taking her from them... and from
you. You must have prepared yourself for that
eventuality." She eyed him closely as he turned
away from her, "But you haven't... have you? You
really thought you could save her."

"You don't know anything about me."

"But she does, Mulder... everything except
what really matters. You have been facing this
ending for a while now... well here it is. Whether
it's today or six months from now, it's the same
scenario. Your partner is dying and you are
helpless to save her. Granted this way is a bit
more dramatic than her wasting away in a hospital
bed... but the fact remains that you can't save
her, you never could... she understands that. You
have to deal with it... you have to find a way to say
good bye."

"I can't..." He spoke in no more than a whisper.

"You have to."

"Don't tell me what I have to do. And don't
act like your doing her some kind of favor... you
are taking her life... she had time... maybe a little...
maybe more... maybe enough time to find a cure...
and you're taking that from her. I'm begging you...
don't do this... don't take her... please."

"I need her."

"So do I... " He yelled at her, fighting the tears
that threatened to fall.

"Then tell her... tell her, before it's to late."

"She's not here." He replied bitterly.

"But she is... she's right here in front of you." She
kneeled down in front of him.

"I don't believe you..."

She moved over to him sitting on his waist and resting
one hand on the side of his face, her thumb gently
tracing along his cheek. In a hushed tone,
she whispered, "Let's talk about ' what ifs '. "

Her words had the desired effect and she could
see everything he wanted to say in his eyes, but
she could also see his fear of giving up... of letting
her go.

"Can she hear me?" He asked, tentatively. "if I was
to tell her... would she hear me?"

"Yes... she hears you...."

"Is she scared?" He asked quietly, his voice wavering.

"A little... she's worried about leaving behind the people
she loves... afraid to leave you... afraid you've forgotten
how to be alone." Her body was getting closer to him
as she spoke, until she was resting on his chest, her
head buried in the crook of his neck. "She's tired, Mulder...
tired of fighting... tired of trying to be strong."

Instinctively his free hand moved to hold her, resting
on the small of her back. Her sweatshirt had separated
slightly from the waistband of her jeans and he lightly
ran his fingertips along her soft skin.

"Can she feel my touch?" He asked quietly,
whispering into her hair.

She lifted her head, "Yes..." her mouth grazing
his lightly as she moved above him, "yes... she can
feel you..." His eyes closed tightly at the contact.
Reopening them, his eyes locked with hers and in
one swift movement he rolled her underneath his body.

By the time she realized that he shouldn't have
been able to do that, he had already used the hand
cuff that he had freed from the bed frame, to cuff her wrist,
binding the two of them together.

He lifted himself up, pinning her arms above her head
and with a triumphant smile asked, "Could she feel that?"

"What the... " She pushed him off of her and pulled
at the cuff, "What do you think you will accomplish
with this?"

"I told you... I won't let you take her." He stood, causing
her to follow.

"And this will stop me?"

"I will stop you... "

"I don't have time for this... I have to get out to
the crash site."

"Well, you're going to have to go through me,
to take her."

She shook her head and then quickly reached out
grasping his neck and lifting him off of the ground.
His face blue and her point made, she released him
and he fell to the floor with a thud.

"Your going to have to kill me.... to stop me." He
coughed, trying to get back up.

"You are just a huge pain in my ass. And believe
me I have no doubt as to why she has that particular
phrase is in her vocabulary." She looked at him for
a moment, deciding what to do. " Ok Mulder...
looks like you get a little more time with her... but
I'm still not giving you what you want. We are going to the
forest... I'm going to go home and you will say your
good byes."

Without giving him time to argue, she headed for the
door, dragging him behind her.

continued in part 5

Aliens in the Architecture(5/5)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Time Line: Takes place after Never Again
and before Gethsemane.

The characters belong to Fox,
Chris Carter, etc..... not me.

Classification: X, A, UST

Spoilers: for Never Again,
Memento Mori and Small Potatoes

Rated: PG

Summery: A trip to the forest brings with it an
uninvited guest and a long overdue conversation.

I would really love some feed back.
Please send to Exduck@llano.net
or Eeees@aol.com

Aliens in the Architecture
By E.Livingstone
PART 5
````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````

They made it out to the crash site, or what
was left of it. He had spent a good portion of the
trip struggling against her, but it was like fighting
with Arnold Schwarzenegger. Deciding to reserve
some of his strength, he went along, biding his
time and trying to think of a way out of this.

She stood silently looking at the site that
held what was left of her ship and her co-pilot.

"You blew up the ship, didn't you?" He asked.
"That's why you were trying to get us away from
the area."

"I told you this was never about hurting anyone."

"Didn't work out that way did it?" He asked sarcastically,
looking around at the bits of twisted metal " You said
you lost your friend..."

"He died in the crash... I need to go home as
much for him as for myself... to let them know he
died bravely. He was everything to me and I didn't
have the chance to tell him. I never even had the
chance to say good bye... I'm giving that chance
to you Mulder."

"Your forgetting that we are pretty much a package
deal at this point. " He lifted their cuffed wrists to
make his point.

"Yes, but once I break all the bones in your hand,
it should slide out nicely." She took in his startled
expression, "How did you think I was going to
remove the cuff?"

Suddenly she looked upwards, beyond the tree
line and then back to him.

"It's time..."

"Don't do this."

"Tell her good bye... tell her what she needs to
hear... what she needs to know. You're running
out of time Mulder... tell her."

"Please... "

"This is all I can give you, Mulder... don't let her
die never knowing the truth... tell her..."

Suddenly a blinding beam of light surrounded them.

"No... not yet." She yelled up into the light, then
grabbing Mulder's cuffed hand she began to squeeze.

Mulder could feel the light starting to lift him off his
feet so he dropped to the ground, grabbing hold
of small tree with his free hand. He tried to ignore
the pain in his other hand, as she squeezed it tighter,
her feet lifting completely off the ground as the light
slowly pulled her upwards.

He could feel the crack as her grip began to break
the bones in his hand one by one. He tried to shut
out the pain by concentrating on his grip on the tree,
knowing it was his lifeline.

He heard her cry out and looked up to see that her
body had been pulled tight against his arm. As his
eyes connected with hers, he pleaded one more time,
"Please... she's all I have... don't take her from me."

She was hovering above him and he could see the
tears in her eyes as she nodded and let go of his
hand, causing her body to quickly move to the origin
of the light above, only to be abruptly halted by the
cuff that tethered her to him. The force of the motion
caused the cuff to slide part way over his crushed hand.
The force of the light intensified he and felt the cuff
slowly begin to slide upward, over his broken thumb.
His mind screamed from the pain and he quickly wrapped
his fingers around the cold medal cuff, keeping Scully
from being pulled any further upwards towards the light
above. He watched in awe as a bluish light seemed to
be moving out of his partners body, releasing her from
it's hold. As the last of the glowing light left her, she fell,
landing on top of him... unconscious and unmoving.

One hand still gripping the tree, he used
the other to hold her tightly against his body as he
watched the intense glow continue along the white
beam, up to the source above. In an instant the light
blinked out, taking with it their unwelcome visitor as
well as all the remains of the crash site around them.
With the light gone, they were cast into darkness,
the only light coming from a flashlight that had fallen
to the ground during the commotion.

Tentatively he released the tree, moving his hand to
her neck and feeling for a pulse. It was there... strong
as ever, and he dropped his head back to the ground.

Feeling her stir against him he lifted his head back
up, surprised to be looking directly into her confused eyes.

"What's going on... what... what happened." She pushed
herself up, moving off of him and on to the ground beside,
her eyes resting on the handcuff that dangled from her wrist.

"What do you remember?"

"There was an explosion... I hit my head... but we left
here... didn't we?"

"We came back... it's a long story and I will tell you
all about it after we get you to the hospital." He stood,
realizing that he probably needed a doctor more than
she did.

As they made their way out of the forest she looked
at him and said, "We were at the hospital before...
weren't we? I remember a doctor... Dr. Blake..."

"Sure... that you remember..."

Two days later.
`````````````````````
Dana sat in her apartment reading, when a knock
at the door got her attention. Getting up she moved
to the door and opened it to find her partner
standing in the hall, holding a bottle of wine.

"What are up to Mulder?" She asked with a smile,
moving aside to let him in.

"I was at home and I really wanted a glass of
wine... but as you can see," He lifted his arm to
show her the plaster cast covering his hand, "I
could use a little help."

She gave him a slight smile as she took the bottle
from him and went into the kitchen. Returning to the
livingroom, she found him sitting on her couch,
making himself right at home. She couldn't
help but notice that he had turned on some soft music.

She gave him a look as she handed him a glass of
wine and sat down beside him.

"What?" He ask innocently.

She reached out touching his cast lightly,
"How's your hand?"

"The hand you broke?"

"It wasn't me."

"Well she did have your face."

She looked at her wine glass. He had told
her everything... everything she could not
remember, but even with the proof of his broken
hand and bruised face, it still seemed so unreal.

"So tell me Mulder what did the two of you
talk about?"

"Oh no... I'm not telling you a thing until I get my
answers about you and ol' Eddie."

"Which one?"

"Let's start with Vanbunht..."

"What do you want to know?"

"Everything that lead up to what I saw with my
own eyes."

She took a sip of wine, "Well, he came over...
with a bottle of wine. He wanted to know why
we never talk... really talk."

"What did you say?"

"What could I say, he was right... so we talked...
we drank and we talked. I told him embarrassing stories
from my youth and he listened."

"And..."

"He wanted to know if I ever wished things were
different... and then he slowly moved in..." She
deliberately moved into him as she spoke, demonstrating
her words. " His mouth hovering above mine...."

He could feel her breath on his face and swallowed
hard, before managing to say, "then..."

"And then... some crazy man busted in my door."
She sat back, taking another sip of wine. "and, well...
you know the rest of the story."

He looked back at the recently, and often replaced
front door, before asking, " And if I hadn't come to your
rescue... how would have the story ended?"

"You never give up do you, Mulder?"

"She told me you found that trait endearing in me."

"Oh yeah... what other little insights did she give you?"

He paused not knowing whether he wanted to tell
her the truth or not.

"Come on..."

"She said that you knew everything about me...
except what really mattered."

"Is that why you came over here tonight, Mulder?
To tell me what really matters to you."

He reached for her hand, taking it in his.

"I know I'm not very good at being the man you
need me to be, but for what it's worth... I do try."

"I'm not complaining Mulder, you are who you are
and oddly enough I find that part of you kind of
endearing as well."

"So you like it when I'm a selfish bastard?" He asked
with a smile.

"Well, I wouldn't go that far." she answered, returning his
smile. "You know you do have other sides Mulder...
intelligence, compassion, determination... there is a part
of you that is very tender and completely devoted..." As she
spoke the last word his eyes connected with hers and she felt
herself blush slightly, "To... to your work... I mean."

"Yeah well, I can't really take credit for that part of who I am."

"Why?"

"Because that would be the part of me that's you." He
replied honestly.

Her eyes showed the surprise she felt.

"You really didn't know did you?" He asked, almost sadly.
"Scully, you are a huge part of who I am... I need for you to
know that... I'm sorry that you didn't already."

He could see his word had touched her and
gave her a big smile, "And you say we never talk..."

"What am I going to do with you, Mulder?"

"Oooo, Scully... I thought you'd never ask..."

"Mulder..."

"What?" He asked innocently, "I just wanted to hear
some of those embarrassing stories from your youth."
He raised his eyebrows, giving her his best evil
grin, "Why... what did you have in mind?"

She laughed lightly, running her finger across the top
of the wine glass.

"Are you sure you have time for that sort of thing? Don't
you have mutants to chase or something?"

"Not tonight, Scully... tonight I'd just like to spend a
little time with my partner."

She gave him one of her patented skeptical looks.

"No really... my hand to God, tonight it's just
me and you."

She could see that his words where sincere, or at
least that he would like them to be.

"Maybe just this once we could shut out the outside
world..." He continued, " at least for a while...."

A sudden ringing from the cell-phone in his jacket cut
him off and caused both of them to let out frustrated
laughs.

She gave him a knowing grin and he looked at her
apologetically as he reached for his jacket, pulling out
the phone. But her expression turned to surprise, as
he turned off the small phone, before even answering it.
Then looking back to her with a raised eyebrow and a
smile he continued, "Now... let's talk about 'What ifs'."

The End

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
E. Livingstone (Exduck@llano.net)

E's X-Page: www.llano.net/~exduck/x.htm
(X-File Pictures, links and visual story summaries)

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Alternet E-mail addresses:
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Wonbrikshy@aol.com

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