Mon, 7 Jul 1997
From: CKing828@aol.com
Hodie mihi, cras tibi (1/1)
(my turn today, yours tomorrow)
Classification: S
Rating: R
Spoilers: none
Summary: Mercenaries catch Mulder and Scully. Features Krycek.
Mulder fought with everything he had, but the two men held on.
They
carried him through the warehouse to a small office in back. They
were
surrounded by crates containing various weapons and several
military grade
vehicles sat idle.
The men wrestled him through the door of the office.They
shoved him down into a
wooden chair, then the older of the two slammed a fist into his
face, stunning him. At the
same time the other man pulled his hands behind his back and
handcuffed them through
the slats of the chair back. Both men were built like varsity
linemen. One had a face craggy
enough to make you think he had never worn a helmet during games.
The other had a
shaved head. Mulder kicked out, catching the first man in the
groin. The man doubled
over groaning in pain. Baldie stepped around and struck him
several times in the face and
body.
The man stopped, shaking his hand where he had hit wrong and
hurt himself.
He glared at Mulder, then backed away.
Mulder was aware of two other men carrying in a bound, but
still struggling
Scully. It was obvious from the scratches and marks on the two
men that she had
put up a good fight. These two men were smaller than the others,
but still heavily
muscled. One had thick black hair and looked to be only in his
early twenties, the
other had hair so blond it was white and he wore the insignia of
an army major.
Mulder sighed in relief when he couldn't detect any marks on
Scully
herself.The two men put her down on the floor at Mulder's feet.
She didn't try
to kick at them, knowing it would only incite them now.
The four men glared at the two agents, catching their breath.
All four men
showed the marks of trying to bring these two in alive. They were
a battered and
angry looking group.
The blond officer turned to his soldiers. "Titone, you
and Meldahl get rid of
de body of dat dead fed. Make sure no one can identify his
body." His voice held
an odd cajun accent.
The dark haired youth and Baldie turned and left. The rough
faced soldier
continued to lean against the file cabinets in the room and glare
at Mulder.
Scully started to sit up but the blond man looked over
sharply. "No, petite."
His voice was soft "You stay right where I put you, I will
tell you when you can
move. Do not make de mistake your late friend did. I know dat you
all be FBI,
dat do not change anyt'ing. You see, killing you will not make
dat big a
difference if we are caught , we all hang anyway, no? So, do not
push me."
He took the carry bag that they had taken away from Mulder and
brought it
to the desk. He opened it gingerly and lifted out the contents.
He pulled out an
oval crystal that seemed to be full of an oily like liquid. The
liquid inside the
crystal was a disgusting shade of green, it was the green of
illness, of vegetation
dying, of pus , and it wasn't still,the oily substance flowed and
moved constantly.
The blond mercenary grimaced as he held it,.when he touched the
smooth object
he felt suddenly like there were fingers inside his head,
scratching, twisting,
making the inside of his head itch. He put it quickly down on the
desk.
"Now," he said to the two agents."FBI, you tell
me what you know about dis
t'ing, yes? You tell me what you know, maybe we can work
somet'ing out. You
don't have to die. Once we are gone, you can do us no harm. So,
you tell me
why you came to take dis t'ing from us."
Mulder stared at the other man. "You took it from the
Consortium truck,
didn't you know what you were taking?"
"We know dat it come from dat aircraft dat crashed . We
know dat it is
somet'ing de government wants to keep hidden." He leaned
forward toward
Mulder eagerly, " I believe dat it is a new power source. Is
dat not so FBI? I
t'ink it is somet'ing dat we could sell very dearly to some ot'er
interests. De
geiger counter says it is not radioactive, so it is a clean power
source. Is dat not
true?"
"I don't kow exactly what it is, I didn't get a chance to study it."
"Yet, you hunted us down, you snuck into our camp and
very nearly made off
wi't it , not knowing what you were taking? I find dat hard to
believe."
" Agent Costain was the man who knew about it,"
Mulder said. "I think you
might have a little trouble asking him, though."
"I do not believe you would come here knowing not'ing.
You at least have an
idea what it does."
Mulder shook his head. "You and your men attacked a
heavily armed convoy
to take that crystal. We saw part of the fight. You lost a lot of
men. I can't
believe you risked that not knowing what you were going
after."
The white haired officer growled. "We knew dat what was
in dat truck was
somet'ing of enough value to make it worthwhile. We already have
a buyer lined
up. It is somet'ing of military value. I would like to know
*what* exactly. I also
would like to know how you t'ree were at dat site. How did you
know to be
dere at dat time? What did you expect to see?"
"Agent Costain told us that he had information that there
was going to be a
highjacking of some government trucks. We were just helping him
stop a
felony."
Mulder wasn't about to tell him that actually, Agent Costain
had
convinced him that those trucks were going to be transporting an
alien article
from the crash of an airplane that had been shot done over
southern Loiusiana.
The Government was still investigating what brought down the
small craft, but
certain items had been removed from the scene almost immediately
by a small
group of soldiers. They had been transporting the items in an
armed convoy to
some secure area. Agent Costain had had warning even before the
plane went
down from an informer. He had convinced Mulder with some
difficulty of the
legitimacy of the claim and they had gotten down there just
behind the soldiers.
Agent Costain had assured Scully that he had warned his superiors
about the
possibility of a plane being shot down before they had headed to
the area. They
had watched the soldiers from a small distance, then followed the
trucks as they
were loaded up and left. Unfortunately, no one had planned on the
sudden attack
on the trucks by a band of mercenaries. The mercenaries had
struck so swiftly
and efficiently that no call for help had gone out. After the
mercanaries stripped
away what they wanted in record time, the three agents had
followed the
mercenaries to this hideaway. Through pure bad luck, the three
had gotten
spotted sneaking away with the obvious big prize of the day.
Agent Costain had
panicked and tried to shoot his way out as Mulder and Scully
dived for cover.
The mercenaries had killed Costain within the first minute of the
fight. Luckily,
they had decided to take the other agents alive.
"You take me for a fool! De FBI would not send only t'ree
agents for dat.
And how did you know to come straight for dis crystal? We took a
lot from de
trucks. You didn't go after any of dat." He shook his head.
"And why did you
not just call for de FBI to come and surround dis camp? Why did
you come in on
your own? We took your phones, it is not dat you could not call.
No, you know
somet'ing, you just do not want to cooperate."
The officer's cell phone trilled. He pulled it out.
"LeBrel." He listened for a
moment, " make sure the men are ready." He turned to
the other soldier. "De
Russian will be here in two hours."
He knelt down next to Scully. "You are so pretty,ma
cherie. It will be a
shame to mar dose pretty looks." His hand flashed out before
Scully could move
away and held her chin in an iron grip, squeezing so tight his
fingers were leaving
red marks. Mulder screamed in outrage and tried to pull free. The
huge soldier
moved from the filecabinets and slammed a fist into Mulder's
face, nearly
causing him to black out.
The white haired cajun stared into Scully's eyes. "We
have time, cherie.
Time,before our buyer shows up. I t'ink you two *will* tell me
what I want to
know." He stood up quickly and walked over to the desk. He
hesitated, then
picked up the crystal with it's protective wrap and placed it
back in it's carry
sack. He opened the wall safe and placed it inside, sighing in
relief as he locked it
up.
The white-blond officer decided he really would be glad to get
rid of that thing
after all. He turned back to the other soldier in the room.
"Padgett, I am going to
make sure de ot'ers are ready. We move out in two hours. I would
like to have
dese two fine agents tell me what dey know before de Russian gets
here. See if
you can convince dem."
He looked at Scully with mock sadness. "Ma petite, do not
be *too* stubborn.
Monsieur Padgett can get a little-carried away- at times."
He turned and left the
office, closing the door behind him.
Padgett grinned at Mulder. Then he went to the desk and pulled
out a roll of
duct tape. His grin got nastier as he pulled off a piece and
approached Mulder. "I
wouldn't want you giving in *too* soon. How could I believe what
you say if
you give it away too easy." He pulled the tape tightly over
Mulder's mouth.
Then patted his cheek.
Scully started to move away as he approached with another
piece for her.
"Oh, no," Padgett grinned, "I'm not forgetting
you." He pulled the tape over her
mouth with a little less force than Mulder's, but it was still
tight.
He turned to Mulder, his face now deadly serious. "You
know, FBI. I think
you might have hurt me. I may have trouble with women for awhile.
I think it is
only appropriate that I check it out on your friend here."
He grinnned in delight as Mulder went ballistic. The back of
the chair even
groaned a little as Mulder pulled against the cuffs. Padgett
slammed his fist into
his abdomen hard enough to make it impossible for a moment for
Mulder to
draw a breath. Mulder found himself fighting to not vomit with
his mouth duct
taped shut.
Padgett turned toward Scully just as she had gotten her legs
in position, she
kicked out with all she had. Unfortunately, Padgett turned with
the kick and all
she hit was his thigh. He yelled in pain and stepped back, but he
wasn't down,
not by a long shot. He reared back with his fist cocked and
brought it down with
his weight behind it on her right thigh. Scully cried out in pain
as her leg
suddenly went dead. He had hit precisely on the nerve to that
leg. She was trying
to catch her breath when he slammed his fist into her left thigh
in the same place.
Tears flowed from her eyes as Scully felt the loss of her ability
to move either
leg even an inch.
Padgettt looked back to see Mulder was still struggling with
his handcuffs,
but he wasn't getting far. Padgett figured he should have been
dead a hundred
times over just from the look of pure, undiluted hatred he saw in
those hazel
eyes.
Padgett laughed softly. Then he reached out and grabbed
Scully's skirt. He
yanked it up roughly over her waist, ignoring the muffled sob
from behind the
tape. "This is going to be sweet." Padgett smirked at
her as he tore away her
under pants and spread her legs.
Padgett started undoing his own belt, eager to free his
painful erection.
Suddenly Scully saw him stiffen as the door softly opened. She
couldn't see the
door from where she lay, but Padgett could. "What the
hell--?"
Scully's eyes widened as she saw a wide hole appear between
Padgett's eyes.
There hadn't been a loud gunshot, so she knew someone had used a
silencer.
Padgett quietly slumped backwards onto the floor. She tried, but
couldn't get
her legs to cooperate enough to move around to see the door. So
she looked
over at Mulder.
Mulder was staring at the door. His eyes widened in surprise
as he saw the
other man step fully into the room and quietly close the door.
Alex Krycek
stepped over toward where Padgett lay. He looked over at the man
quickly, then
turned to stare at Scully.
He wore his familiar black leather jacket and tight jeans,
both hands were
covered in black gloves, but he held his left arm stiffly, as if
he were hurt. The
beautiful dark green eyes studied Scully for a minute then turned
toward Mulder.
He shook his head slightly at the agent.
"How *do* you keep getting into these messes?" He
said softly, just barely
over a whisper,a small smile playing across his lips.
Mulder just stared at the rogue agent. His eyes were almost as
angry as they
had been at Padgett. Krycek met his gaze, then shook his head
again slightly. He
looked down at Scully. Her clear blue eyes held distrust, and a
little fear. This
man was capable of anything.
Krycek put his pistol in its crossdraw belt holster. He then
knelt down beside
Scully, still staring into her eyes, his unreadable. It was like
looking into cold,
hard jade, there was no emotion there at all.
There was a sound of furious protest from Mulder as Krycek
reached out his
right hand toward Scully's skirt. His eyes were looking her over,
assessing her as
calmly as a horsebuyer would a prospective mount. His hand
grabbed the edge of
her skirt, and they could both hear Mulder fighting the chair.
Krycek's eyes met Scully's again, and now she saw faint laugh
lines around
the beautiful eyes as he smiled faintly. Then he carefully pulled
her skirt down so
that it covered her thighs again. He smoothed the soft material
briefly. Then his
hand pulled the duct tape from her mouth.
Scully gasped in air. She started to say something, but Krycek
put a gloved
hand over her mouth. "Shhh, don't say anything." His
own voice was a soft
whisper. To make sure she understood, his hand moved from her
mouth to his
gun.
When she didn't try to speak, Krycek smiled approvingly, and
stood up. He
looked over at Mulder and his face was serious again. Every bit
the deadly killer.
He reached over to Padgettt's body and begin searching for
something. Soon he
pulled something out of Padgett's pocket and placed it in his own
pocket.
Mulder stared as Krycek ignored him and went over to the wall
safe. Krycek
pulled a small device from his inner jacket pocket and attached
it to the wall safe.
The device flashed red numbers at Krycek in a rapid succession
for a couple of
minutes, then the safe opened quietly. Krycek put his device back
in its inner
pocket, then pulled the carrysack out of the safe.
Scully could barely see what Krycek was doing from her angle
but she could
see him put the carry strap of the bag over his neck and left
shoulder so it hung
beneath his left hand. Krycek closed and locked the safe, then he
started toward
Scully again.
This time she hardly flinched as he knelt beside her. His eyes
crinkled with
amusement. He carefully pushed against her shoulder, turning her
so he could
reach her hands. He still kept his left arm stiff, Scully
wondered if he was
wounded, but he didn't show any sign of pain. She wasn't
surprised to feel the
handcuffs removed gently from her wrists. Krycek looked at her
calmly.
"I never did thank you for shooting him for me." Was
all he said, still in a soft,
low, intimate voice. His face betrayed nothing.
"I didn't...." Before Scully could continue, he again put his hand to her mouth.
"It doesn't matter why. I owe you my life." He smile
held irony."I always pay my
debts. I still owe you one more."
Mulder's glare had changed to a look of confusion when Krycek
turned back
toward him. This time there was a spark in Krycek's eyes. A faint
smile traced
over his mouth. He stood from Scully and walked over to Mulder.
He crouched
so he was eye to eye with Mulder. He held one finger up in front
of Mulder's
face. "Shhh" he whispered, then he ripped the tape from
Mulder's mouth.
Mulder didn't make a sound, and Krycek smiled in approval. He
laid his hand
briefly against Mulder's cheek, then it was gone before Mulder
could protest.
"There are still a dozen armed men out there," Krycek
told him softly. "They will
kill us all if you make any noise. This isn't exactly the way I
was supposed to
retrieve this thing."
Krycek stepped around behind the cuffed agent. Krycek leaned
down so he
was talking into Mulder's right ear, his breath causing
goosebumps to go down
Mulder's skin. "Do you even know what you and Scully almost
died for?" Still in
that oh, so soft voice.
Mulder jumped as Krycek's tongue quickly flashed out and
licked his ear.
Daring him to make a noise. Krycek grinned as Mulder kept quiet.
"I make it a
point to always know before I go. This," he contined talking
softly into Mulder's
ear. "Was taken from an alien ship. Very much against the
wishes of the original
owners."
This time Krycek kissed the side of Mulder's neck quickly,
causing Mulder to
tense and his breath to quicken. The voice was still soft,
velvety and intimate.
"In fact, there will probably be an uproar about its loss.
Certainly by the
Consortium, but also by...others...in the project." He
laughed softly, "I'm
looking forward to it."
<others?> Mulder turned his head towards Krycek to ask,
Krycek caught him
and kissed him full on the mouth. He licked Mulder's lips
briefly, then pulled
back before Mulder could react.
"Open your hands,Mulder." The soft voice was back at
his other ear. Mulder
unclenched his hands, and felt Krycek press a key into his right
hand. "You'll
need to be careful leaving, I only took care of three or four
guards. There's
plenty left. There's going to be a diversion in six minutes on
the north edge of
the camp. There aren't any guards to the south right now. It
won't last long."
Krycek grinned and headed for the door. He nodded at Scully as
he stepped
over her. She was just starting to get her legs back under her,
regaining the
control. He reached a hand out and helped her to a standing
position. She started
to waver and his hand held her arm in support until she had her
balance back.
She was way to unsteady to jerk away as she wanted to. His eyes
said he knew
what she was thinking and his mouth quirked, trying to hold in
the smile. Then
he moved away.
Scully stared at him mutely. As Krycek held the doorknob,
Mulder spoke
softly. "Krycek..."
Krycek turned toward him. Mulder looked at him, a hundred
questions wanting
to be asked. "Krycek, what *is* that thing?" He kept
his voice quiet, sounding
like a child dying to know what was in a package.
Krycek looked at him solemnly, "Why, Mulder, it's an egg.
A live alien egg.
Shouldn't be too long before it hatches."
With that, Krycek slipped out the door, closing it partway as
he left. Mulder
had his hands undone, and he sat for a moment just staring after
Krycek.
"Mulder," Scully's voice was quiet, but insistent. "We have to get out of here."
Mulder shook his head, then gathered himself. He quickly went
to Scully,
putting his arm around her. "Can you walk?" He asked
quietly.
"I can walk, I don't think I can run, though"
"If we have to , I'll carry you." Mulder put his arm
under hers and helped
support her. They left the office and looked around. No sign of
Krycek. Mulder
half carried Scully as they made their way towards the south end
of the camp.
They didn't even see any guards for several yards. They were
getting ready to
cross an open area towards a parked jeep when there was the loud
WHUMP of
an explosion at the north end of the camp. Followed by the sound
of shouting
men and the sharp barks of automatic weapon fire.
They ran to the waiting jeep and Mulder was relieved to see
the keys in it.
Why would they need to worry about thieves here? As they raced
away from the
camp they saw two armed men in fatigues slumped from tree stands,
their arms
hung limply from the platforms.
They met no resistance as they got onto the road and drove
toward the nearest
town. Scully looked over and saw Mulder's face was tight in
anger.
"Mulder?" She asked quietly.
He looked over at her. He had slowed to a saner speed. But his
knuckles were
still white on the wheel.
"Mulder," she started hesitatingly, " you
didn't really believe Krycek did you?
You know he was lying. He was just pulling your chain, just
playing games."
"Maybe," he said, keeping his gaze on the road,
"but, Scully, whatever that
was, it was important. And we almost had it, then that bastard
took it."
"Yes, he took it. But he also saved our lives, Mulder. I
have no idea why, but
I'm sure he had ulterior motives."
"Yeah," Mulder's voice was thoughtful. "I never
know where he's coming from.
I just know I can never trust him. And this isn't over. He won
today, but
tomorrow it's our turn."
The end.