KEY TO THE KINGDOM
by Penny Evans

RATING: R - some violent imagery and strong language.

CATEGORY: MULDER ANGST/MT/MSR

SPOILERS: THE TRUTH / EXISTENCE/ TUGUSKA / BIOGENESIS/
THE END / WITHIN / WITHOUT / CLOSURE / TRUST NO 1 /
REQUIEM / DEADALIVE / ASCENSION / TALITHA CUMI /
CONDUIT / WILLIAM / DREAMLAND / THE ERLENMEYER FLASK/
PATIENT X / THREE WORDS...and probably more, but these are 
the ones that come to mind.

SUMMARY: Post - The Truth. Mulder discovers the truth about
himself and the outcome for mankind is held in the balance.

ARCHIVE: Please contact me at:- 
peapods42@hotmail.com <mailto:peapods42@hotmail.com> 

FEEDBACK: Very welcomed :-)

DISCLAIMER: All X File character's belong to CC,1013 & Fox, 
but have been lovingly borrowed for a while.
No profit was made and no copyright infringement
intended.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is my second story but first attempt at 
trying to sum things up with The X Files and bring it to a 
conclusion. NOT an easy task! <g> This took me just over a
year to write. Thank you to Debbie (Waddles) for her 
editing and suggestions of how to improve upon the tale eg: 
less UK wording and more USA! <g> Plus other issues she 
pointed out, all of which were very helpful. :-) 
NB: This is my spare time hobby. I'm a singer and if you'd 
like to hear my version of Bree Sharp's 'David Duchovny' 
along with 10 other song samples (cover and original) you 
are welcome to visit my website: - 
<http://pennys-from-evan.co.uk> 

These wounds won't seem to heal 
This pain is just too real 
There's just too much that time cannot erase 
When you cried I'd wipe away all of your tears 
When you'd scream I'd fight away all of your fears 
I held your hand through all of these years 
But you still have all of me 
I've tried so hard to tell myself that you're gone 
But though you're still with me 
I've been alone all along 
Evanesence - My Immortal 

KEY TO THE KINGDOM
by Penny Evans
                         
The words played over and over again in her head, until 
Agent Dana Katherine Scully could stand it no longer. Her 
hands trembled over the keyboard as she continued to type 
on her computer. If she had known back then what she knew 
now, she would never have accepted the assignment...to 
debunk Agent Fox Mulder's work. To prove to the outside 
world that the paranormal was just some high faluting 
fantasy created in the minds of those desperate enough to 
wish to escape from a mundane reality. God how she wished 
her scientific approach towards the answers had been the 
truth. But the cruel hard facts of the 'Truth' had been 
something she could never have prepared herself for. Most 
of the people in the world would continue with their 
everyday life, never knowing that they had been moments 
away from oblivion! Yet, the cost to herself and her 
partner for this truth, would haunt her for the rest of 
her days! End of journal.

********************
  
Scully awoke with a start. 

"Jesus!"

She felt beads of sweat on her soft skin, and realized her 
long, auburn hair was now sticking to her face, and she was 
in complete darkness. There was movement beside her, as an 
arm reached up to turn on the bedside lamp, and a
dishevelled mop of brown hair appeared from under the quilt, 
followed by a handsome chiseled profile and rather concerned
hazel eyes. "S-Scully, are you ok?" 

" I'm fine. Go back to sleep." 

Mulder sat upright. "You don't sound fine." 

"It was just a stupid nightmare, Mulder." 

"About what?" He leaned across and put an arm around her 
shoulders. 

Scully nuzzled closer and sighed. "About the situation we're 
in." 

"Oh, that." 

It was said rather flippantly he realized, but Mulder didn't 
wish to delve into the subject too deeply. Not yet, not when 
he'd just been wakened after having a rather peaceful night's 
sleep. Okay, unusual for him, but boy had he needed it! "Did 
it involve running from black helicopters, while Anasazi 
ruins were blowing up all around us? Or me confessing my 
sins?" he joked softly. 

"What sins?" Scully asked puzzled. 

"That I'd failed...in every respect." Before she could say 
anything he quickly added, "but still you believe I won't 
give up the fight?" 

"I know you won't," she replied firmly. "No, it wasn't about 
any of that. Okay, it involved me at my computer, typing up 
something about how the world was saved." 

"Hey, maybe it was a vision...and so we can all rest easy? 
We won!" 

The grin was false, and she knew it. " We lost," she said 
quietly. "I mean you and I did." 

"Bummer!" Mulder kissed her gently on the forehead then 
looked across at the glowing green flourescent numbers of a 
travel clock on the side table beside the bed. "You do 
realize it's only 3am? So, you've plenty more time to dream 
up a happy ending." 

"Okay," Scully replied absent mindedly, snuggling back under 
the quilt beside him. Gently she took his hand in hers, 
whispering "Mulder? Where do we go from here?" 

"Let's talk about it in a couple of hours, alright?" He 
squeezed her hand, and closed his eyes. 

Who the hell knew where they were heading now? One thing was 
for sure. It had to be far away from the United States. Here, 
he was now an escaped prisoner, with military men after his 
hide, for a crime he didn't commit. The so-called 'murder' 
of a military man, that had been carefully devised by 
certain government officials, some of whom were alien life 
forms, secretly planning with their race to repossess the 
earth, which once belonged to them. The 'Mickey Mouse' trial 
he'd undergone was so far fetched it was like some fucking 
B-Movie script! Finally, the verdict had been death by 
lethal injection. He hadn't expected anything less. Then his 
former boss in the FBI, AD Skinner along with Agent John 
Doggett had done their dog and pony act of breaking him out 
of the prison. Now, that was laughable! How they'd managed 
to succeed was beyond reason. 'Oh stop analyzing, Mulder' he 
thought. 'Least right now I'm in a comfy motel room with the 
woman I love. Scully. When did that happen?. Enough! Go to
sleep.' He drew the now sleeping beauty towards him and held 
her gently. "We'll catch a plane out of here. I'll make 
arrangements tomorrow." Tenderly he brushed a lock of hair 
that had fallen across her face. "Love you," he whispered 
softly. 

"Hmmn", she said. That made him smile. 

<Ding dong the witch is dead> The song replayed continuously, 
as his mind projected flames burning around the wizened, 
blackened corpse. He thought of the man who had caused him 
so much pain, yet had played the father figure as well, who 
told him bedtime stories, while he dug the knife deep into 
his heart. CGB Spender! May the smoking bastard rot in hell! 
Mulder turned over, away from Scully, as reality converged 
with imagination and continued to play out the dramatic 
scenario. Helicopters. Explosions. The Anasazi ruins...
in even more ruins. A jet black bomb flying through the air, 
straight into his arch nemesis. Watching the skin melt away 
into a pile of bones, all the while it's skull, grinning. 
He was the devil himself. 

Suddenly there was an almightly crash and splintering of 
wood, which jolted Mulder from his dream. He'd remembered
to turn off the light in the motel room so why were his 
eyes now being blinded by bright white beams..? Flashlights?
He only had enough time to make out silhouettes of men, 
before he felt rough, strong arms grab him, wrenching him up 
out of the bed. "What the hell..?" 

"Mulder!" a voice shouted. It was Scully. She'd been woken 
abruptly, to discover her partner was being...abducted.
Someone held her down, and she struggled violently. She 
stopped this futile action when she felt the cold steel 
barrel of a pistol at her forehead. 

" Shut-up! Okay, no sounds, or you're dead. Understand?"
The voice sounded meanacing, but she glared at whoever it 
was anyway. 

"Don't hurt her!" Mulder hollered, the anger mixed with 
fear quite clearly sounding in his voice. He struggled
against his captors, but to no avail. 

"No one's going to get hurt Mr. Mulder. As long as you come 
with us." 

"Where to?" he demanded to know. Who the hell were these 
people? *Miltiary*, was his first thought. Well he had been 
in their custody. So now they were going to haul his ass 
back to prison? Well, not without a fight they weren't. A 
sudden sharp blow to his jaw refrained him from thinking any 
further about overpowering these guys. 

"All in good time, Mulder" was the only answer he received, 
as he was forced out of the room. 

Scully watched the whole scene, unable to help in any way. 
"Where are you taking him?" 

The man with the gun smiled at her. "He wants answers, and 
we know someone who can provide them." 

Scully was perplexed by this weird statement. "Answers to 
what?"
 
"To the truth."
 
"What..?" 

Before she could continue, he jumped in with, " No word of 
this to anyone, okay? Or he'll be eliminated." 

Scully nodded fearfully. "And if I stay silent?" 

"You'll see him again...soon. And you'll have the truth." 

This was insane, but what exactly could she do? Who could she 
talk to? How had these men found them? Only Skinner knew the 
location. Had he been compromised and had to spill the beans? 
For Mulder's sake all she could do was sit tight, and hope
that eventually something would make some sense. 

The man handed her a piece of paper. "Here. This has the 
whereabouts of where we are taking him. Come alone in several 
hours, and you'll see what all this is about." 

She realized it was a letter, written to her, explaining about 
a rendezvous which was going to be arranged, and how it was 
important that Mulder be in attendance, how he would finally 
be given the proof he'd been searching for after all these 
years. She was warned that she must cooperate, or things 
could get uneasy for the both of them. Was it just a
pathetic hoax, or something definite? Who knew? But these men 
had guns and meant business, so trying to defend herself and 
her partner probably wasn't a great idea right at this moment 
in time. "Okay, I'll cooperate, so long as Mulder's not harmed." 

"You have our word." The man moved across to the doorway; the 
door itself was now hanging off it's hinges where his consorts 
had made their 'graceful' entrance. 

"One more thing", she called. "Why couldn't you have just asked 
Mulder to go to this so-called important rendezvous, instead of 
forcing him?" 

"Where's the fun in that?" 

One thing was for certain. He was damn near freezing standing 
outside in just a tee shirt and cotton pants. Couldn't they have 
at least have let him get dressed before taking him to...wherever
the hell they were taking him? He noticed the man who'd had the 
gun, leaving the motel room. "Is Scully..?" 

"She's fine. She knows the deal." 

"Which is?" 

"There's someone who wants to meet you. Apparently he has answers
for you." 

Mulder frowned. "What the hell are you talking about?" 

A large helicopter landed in the field beside the motel, drowning 
out the man's replies. "You'll see. Just get on board." 

"Or what?" he yelled defensively. 

"Or we shoot you!" 

Okay, that was an abrupt enough answer. Mulder decided to obey
and climbed into the machine with his friendly captors. Now that
he could see them clearly, he realized they weren't military. No, 
they were dressed rather smartly in suits. Aliens maybe? He 
shuddered. Not more fucking experimenting on him, please? Nah. 
Aliens wouldn't arrive in a helicopter...they'd beam him up to 
their space ship. Best stay calm and try and go with it...for now. 
The helicopter took off, and Mulder silently prayed that hopefully 
the rest of the day wouldn't get any more bizzare than this? 
Surely? 

It hadn't seemed all that long, before the pilot had landed 
on a heli-pad, on top of a hospital building, in a city...
somewhere. Mulder was led to a private cubicle in one of the 
wards. He noticed it was in Intensive Care. So this 'someone'
who he'd been brought to meet obviously wasn't very healthy.
"Now what?" 

"This is where we part company", one of the suits replied. 

"Oh gee, and I was just getting to know you guys", Mulder 
said, sarcastically. 

Another man opened the door to the IC unit. "Go inside." 

Mulder shrugged, and stepped into the room, as one of the guys 
closed the door behind him. He was just about to let some 
wisecrack about being shut in with some phsyco, slip from his 
mouth. When he saw just who the man in the hospital room was. 
The shock he received nearly knocked him off his feet. In the
bed, looking like something from a Hammer Horror movie, was the 
old 'fossil' himself. The cigarette smoking man! "I--I.," he 
stammered. "No! You are dead!" 

"It won't be long now," the old man faltered. 

"I watched the whole frickin' Anasazi place blow sky high!" 
Mulder exclaimed. "There's no way you could have survived that!" 
And believe me you died in the best way I could think of in my 
mind, in a fucking great fireball, you son-of-a-bitch!* he 
thought, angrily. 

CGB Spender smiled, showing blackened, broken teeth. "Calm 
down Mulder." 

"Calm down?!"
 
Mulder started to back towards the door. "I don't fucking 
believe this!" He took a deep breath and glared at the 'corpse' 
in the bed. "So, it's you that had your goons drag me out of a 
nice, warm motel room in the middle of the night, to come to
your bed side?" He stopped pacing. "Sorry, I didn't bring any 
flowers," he added angrily. 

The man wasn't listening. "Mulder, I have something to tell 
you," he said, his voice cracking. "I am dying..." 

"My heart bleeds!" Mulder cut him off abruptly.
 
CGB Spender's voice tightened a little. "This is important." 

"What? What is so goddammed important!" He began pacing again. 
"We all know the date is set for 2012. Our planet will be 
invaded by the aliens, and there's not a damn thing we can do 
about it. So, what else is so fucking important?" 

"Sit down, and I will tell you," the smoking man demanded, 
his voice straining into a garbled croak. Slowly a smile began 
to form on his cracked lips...or was it a sneer? " You have 
to hear this, because you are 'the' most important part of 
this whole equation." 

Feeling overwhelmed with anger, as well as morbid curiosity 
by what the man had just said, Mulder sat himself down. 
Obviously, this wasn't going to be good news.

******************** 
                        
Dana Scully arrived at the memorial hospital in Roswell,
immediatley demanding a nurse to tell her where a gentleman 
by the name of Fox Mulder was? The poor woman explained that 
no one by that name had been admitted that night. Scully looked 
at the piece of paper again. It revealed the address of this 
hospital clearly written in black ink. He had to be here. Those 
men had promised her she'd see him again. She began walking up 
the corridor, feeling very agitated and more than a little
worried. Just then someone stepped out of a nearby door
and almost ran into her. 

"Mulder?" she gasped. There was no reply from her partner. She 
then noticed how his face had gone rather pale, and his eyes 
were glazed over. "Mulder, what's wrong?" 

No reply. 

"Why did those men bring you here?" Concerned by his absent 
expression, she gathered him into a hug. "Jeeze, Mulder...
you're freezing!" 

She quickly realized he was in shock. But what on earth had 
caused it? She felt him shudder and then begin to shake quite 
violently as tears started to trickle down his cheeks. 
Carefully she manouvered him to a seat, and lowered him into 
it. "What's happened?" she asked gently, sitting down beside 
him. 

Mulder's breathing was laboured as he tried choking back
his sobs. "I-I can't..." he stammered, the words trailing off. 

Suddenly, several medical staff rushed past them and through 
the ICU doors. Scully heard the low tone sounding out from an 
ECG monitor inside, and knew instinctively what that meant. 
She looked at her partner, and took his hand. "Who's in there?" 
she whispered. 

Mulder took a deep breath and replied shakily, "H-He wanted 
m-me to know the real t-truth." 

Scully looked puzzled. "Who did?" 

"The s-smoking bastard!" His words were filled with bitterness 
and resentment, as well as pain. 

Scully couldn't believe what she was hearing. "I thought he 
was dead, for real this time?" 

"He is...now," Mulder replied. 

"Did you kill him?" She had to ask the question, even though 
she knew it may cause him stress. 

"No." The reply was firm and abrupt. "He was here because he 
was severly injured...and he was dying." 

Scully backtracked her thoughts. "He arranged for you to be 
brought here?" 

"Yes", he said quietly. 

"Because he wanted you to know, what?" 

Mulder shuddered. "He wanted me to know about something...
something he never told me until now." He spat the words out 
as if they were poison. 

Scully squeezed his hand. "Mulder...what?" 

He shuddered.. "I guess he wanted me to know the real story 
behind the conspiracy, the aliens, everything." 

"Because he was dying?" 

"No." 

"Then...why?" 

Mulder looked straight into her eyes. "No. It was because he 
wanted to see me broken...defeated." The tears began to well 
up again, and he couldn't stop them.

For the first time ever, Scully was afraid for him. She'd never 
seen him look so totally helpless. "What on earth did he tell 
you?" she asked gently. 

Mulder closed his eyes, and turned away, cradling his head in 
both hands. 

"W-what..?" 

He cut her off, his voice trembling. "He told me all about my 
'true' family."

******************** 
                        
Try as she might, Scully hadn't been able to get him to say 
another word. So she'd maneuvered him to the rental car and 
drove back to the motel. The hospital was a public building, 
and she didn't want to bring too much attention to them; not 
that anyone seemed to know, or indeed care who they were. All 
the same, she wanted them both back in the motel room, away
from prying eyes. Dana also felt that perhaps Mulder would 
open up to her once she got him back. No such luck so far so 
she insisted he at least get some sleep - doctor's orders. It 
was around 5.00pm when he finally surfaced, so she'd helped 
him get dressed and insisted he eat something, after ordering 
take-out. His movements were almost mechanical,doll-like, and 
she was growing more and more concerned. But how could she
help him if he didn't speak to her? She also felt a little 
annoyed, and angry at herself for feeling this way. Why didn't 
he tell her this news he'd discovered? She was his confidant, 
his touchstone, his true companion... and now lover. So, why 
the heck couldn't he tell her what was upsetting him so? The 
sound of the toilet flushing in the bathroom cubicle snapped 
her out of her reverie. He entered, crossed over to a chair 
by a table and fell into it, as if it was the last bit of 
strength he had left. 

"Mulder..please talk to me." 

Scully walked over to him, and seated herself opposite. 

"I've just been sick," he mumbled. 

Not really what she wanted to hear, but at least it was 
something. "Maybe pizza wasn't such a good idea?" she joked, 
softly. 

But Mulder didn't acknowledge the tender jibe. He remained 
cut off, lost in some dark little world of his own. A world 
Scully intended to conqueror. 

She rose from the chair and went over to him. "Come here". 
She led him over and gently eased him onto the bed, then sat 
beside him. He let her, and it felt like she was being a 
puppeteer. She leaned in and kissed him softly. 

He felt her arms go around him, and responded half-heartedly. 
At least being with Scully allowed him to have 'some' sanity 
in his life. He felt her push him very lightly down beside 
her, then something clicked in his mind. Here was a woman who 
truly loved him, and would do anything for him. Maybe if he 
opened up and explained his painful secret, she would understand. 
The smoking man's words re-played in his head like a loop tape, 
and he shuddered. He felt nauseous again, and realised he 
couldn't deal with this revelation all alone. It was far too 
much for one man to handle. On the other hand, what if he told 
Scully everything, and she couldn't cope with the news? If 
he lost her, he'd lose all meaning of existence. She was the 
only thing keeping him going, especially after being given 
news like that. No. He couldn't lose her! He felt those damn 
tears welling up again and swallowed hard.
 
"S-Scully..?" 

"Yes?" 

"I-I'm afraid to t-tell you." 

She pulled him closer. "Mulder, you needn't be.You know how 
I feel about you?" 

"Y-Yes," he stammered. 

"Then you shouldn't be afraid to tell me anything." 

He sighed deeply. "I-I know. But...I don't think you'll 
understand." 

"Try me," she replied, gently. 

Mulder stared into her eyes, his own now red and filled with 
tears. "I-I don't want to lose you Scully. I wouldn't be able 
to carry on." 

Scully looked puzzled, and deeply concerned. "You won't ever 
lose me Mulder. No matter what you have to say." 

"P-Promise me," he stammered weakly. 

"I promise." 

Then Scully remembered what he'd said at the hospital. "You 
said it's about your true family?" 

He had to tell her. He had to share this devastating news 
with someone or he'd end up having a nervous break down. 
*Please god make her understand*, he thought. Then he took 
a deep breath and started to explain, slowly. "You know the 
smoking bastard had an affair with my mother?" 

"Yes?" she replied, quietly, aware this was a delicate subject. 
"I know he was your real father." 

"There was a reason he was so close to her," Mulder added, his 
voice sounding strained. "She was an important part of the 
whole thing." 

"What do you mean?" Scully felt him shudder in her arms. 

"He arranged for her to be...abducted." His voice was hardly a 
whisper. 

Scully frowned. "He...what?" 

Mulder hesitated, but continued. "Many times. She was their 
test subject." The words he spoke made him want to throw up 
again, but he swallowed instead. "They just picked her out at 
random." 

"W-Who did?" Scully wasn't sure she wanted to hear the answer. 

"Who do you think?" Mulder spat the words out. "The aliens." 

It had to be alien related didn't it? It couldn't be anything 
else? "Why?" was all she could say. 

*Don't tell her...she won't understand! She won't understand!* 
The words screamed out in his mind. Mulder felt so sick inside, 
and leaned in closer, burying his head into her shoulder. 
"They wanted a human woman for their genetic experiments," he 
whispered bitterly. He lifted his head. "You know they were 
trying to create a new species from a combination of human and 
alien DNA?"
 
"Yes." Scully sighed, now rather worried about what her partner 
might say next. 

"T-They succeeded, Scully." His words had taken on an edge of 
definate fear. 

"What do you mean, succeeded? We know the secret government was 
trying to create a vaccine from hybrid cells, against the black 
oil," she said warily. 

"Yeah, and the aliens gave them a fetus of their kind so they 
could secretly continue the experiments, with the intentions 
of creating a slave race. Then, there's the hybrids the aliens 
created who re-created themselves. I think their plan was to
maybe overthrow the greys as a new species? Just where humans
would fit into all of this, who knows?" Mulder realized he'd 
spouted the words out in one lengthy monotone, and wasn't even 
sure his partner was following what he was saying? But it had 
to be said, if only to try and clarify things in his own mind. 
" But there's another extremely secret agenda which has been 
brought to my attention, Scully. All thanks to the smoking 
bastard!" He'd almost yelled that last sentence out, so took 
a deep breath trying to compose himself. 

"Which is..?" Scully was almost afraid to ask. 

"I mean...," he stammered. "That bastard got her pregnant...
and they..." *Please god don't let me carry on*, his mind 
begged. But he couldn't stop now. He had to tell the woman he 
loved, he had to. "T-They impregnated the fetus...with alien 
DNA." 

*Oh my god...no, please don't be saying what I think you're 
saying*, Scully thought. But all she could say was, 
"You mean...you...you're a..?" 

Mulder finished her sentence, feeling as if his whole life had 
come to an abrupt end. "I'm an alien-human hybrid, Scully. 
They created me...for this whole damn project!" He noticed the 
stunned expression on her face, and felt so alone right at that 
moment. "I'm...I'm s-sorry," he stammered, helplessly. 

Scully began shaking her head. "N-no," she said softly. The 
sudden revelation had hit her like a painful slap in the face! 
This changed everything, everything in her life...and Mulder's. 
She stopped thinking about herself and immediately focused on 
the man beside her. The man whose life had suddenly been 
violently turned upside down. 

"I-I'm not who you thought I was. I-I never have been," he 
whimpered. 

"Mulder...none of this..." Scully paused, not really knowing 
quite how to react. "None of this is your fault" she said, 
lamely. She received no reply from the stricken man. 

Her mind started to flash back to the time when her partner 
had suffered from a strange anomaly that had given him the 
power to read people's thoughts. Just like the child chess 
prodigy, Gibson Praise...who was also part alien. Strange 
how she was never able to put two and two together when the 
mind reading ability surfaced in Mulder. Perhaps it was due to 
denial on her part? For many years she had believed it had 
occurred due to him being subjected to the alien retro virus, 
when he'd been a prisoner in Tunguska; forced into being a 
test subject when the Russians were trying to develop an 
antidote. But now..? Now he was telling her he'd had this 
virus within him since he was conceived, just lying dormant, 
waiting to strike. How and for what morbid reason? 
"The disease you had...your mind..?" 

"Is part of it," he said swallowing hard. Even though he felt 
so sick inside, there was a small bout of relief in seeing 
how Scully was coping with the news. At least she hadn't 
run screaming from the room or called him a freak. But then 
she had recently discovered aliens 'do' exist and was now much 
more 'open minded' to the extreme possibilities. He took a deep 
breath, "Scully....there's more." 

"M...more?" she asked, her voice stammering a little. 

"Th..the reason why they did this." 

"Which is?" She paused, her mind conjuring up visions of the 
not so distant past. " Billy Miles? Has it anything to do with 
him and super soldiers?" 

"They were the gray's latest creations, so they could form a 
new alien army from the human abductees." Briefly, he closed 
his eyes and a lump caught in his throat. "According to the 
cigarette smoking piece of shit...they have much grander plans 
in store for me." Mulder's thoughts were also in rewind mode,
and the moment in the FBI's parking lot when Skinner arrived 
on the scene, just in time to prevent Alex Krycek from shooting 
him, came to mind. *But didn't he hesitate - why?* he thought.
" I...I think he knew." 

This statment threw Scully completely. "Who...knew what, 
Mulder?" 

"Krycek...he knew what I was. Why they abducted me he must 
have known." *But didn't his phantom self try and help me 
escape from that military facility?* he pondered. 

Scully took his shaking hand. "What are you saying?" 

Mulder was still lost in thought. *Why would Krycek help me 
from beyond the grave?* 

Then again, had he really been there? Maybe Krycek, X , the 
Lone Gunmen, all of them...maybe they'd just been imaginary 
allies, phantoms he had created in his own desperate attempt 
to find a solution; a way out?... So, how had X managed to 
give him that piece of paper with Maurita's whereabouts 
printed on it? Too many questions! 

Scully could see he wasn't listening to her, so she tried 
again. "Mulder! What do you mean Krycek knew?" 

Mulder looked into her blue eyes, his own still glistening 
with moisture. "It was something he said, before Skinner 
shot him. It didn't make sense at the time." He shifted 
uneasily on the bed. "But..but now it does." 

As far as Dana Scully was concerned, nothing made sense. 
"What did Krycek say?" 

Mulder's breathing quickened. "He said it to Skinner. He 
said, 'It's gonna take more bullets than you could ever 
fire to win this game... but one bullet...and I can give 
you a thousand lives.' "Then..." Mulder shivered. 

"Then?" 

"Then...he told Skinner to shoot me." 

"But he shot Krycek." Scully replied, firmly. 
"He didn't know then, what I know now," Mulder said, his voice 
no more than a whisper. 

"Which is..?" Scully already knew the answer. Mulder had just 
told her the answer, but she just didn't want to speak it. She 
didn't want to believe it. 

"That I'm the threat...because of what those extra terrestrial 
bastards did to me." The tears flowed afresh. "It's what CGB 
Spender told me Scully. That I'll be the cause of the 
destruction of mankind." 

"I don't understand H...how can you..?" 

Mulder cut her off mid sentence. "I was abducted so that they 
could trigger the 'alien' part of me." He swallowed hard, "He 
said it was my chosen destiny...and that there's no escape." 

She'd been lost in a whirlpool of information that was pulling 
her under into a realm of terror. Suddenly, she came to her 
senses. "But Mulder, after we revived you, and I admistered 
the course of anti virals, you recovered...with a clean bill
of health. You don't have the alien retro virus anymore!"

********************

He could hear the erratic tone in her voice. Oh, how he 
desperately wanted to believe the anti virals had cured 
him, but he knew the answer was far from the truth. He'd 
been told that much by Old Smokey. Quietly, he replied 
"Scully...it's part of me." 

"W...what do you mean? Mulder?" she asked, stammering.
 
"My DNA...it's part alien. It creates the virus in me...
and will do it again." 

Scully wasn't going to accept this, not one little bit. 
Not now, not when she'd miraculously had Mulder returned 
to her. All right, he'd had to hide for a year in the 
desert. But now he was here. And nothing was going to 
tear them apart again, nothing! She had to have an answer, 
she had to. 

"So, we inject you with liquid magnatite...like Jeffrey 
Spender did for our son. It cured him, and now he's fully 
human." Tears came to her eyes, as she remembered the day 
Fox's half-brother had intervened in rescuing William 
from an alien fate. In reality, it had tragically resulted 
in her having to give him away to a foster family, so he 
would be safe. 

Mulder sighed, his voice cracking. "Scully, William only 
had the virus in his system, not in his DNA makeup. Maybe 
because of you being totally human...I don't know?" He 
didn't want to say anymore, but it was only fair to 
explain it to her, the woman he loved more than life 
itself. "Magnatite won't help me." 

She wouldn't give up, no matter what he said. "But we 
have proved that anti virals postpone it at least." 
Scully showed clear determination in her voice, even 
though her world had taken one massive turn into oblivion. 
"Then I'll keep administering them to you, as long as it 
takes." 

Mulder drew her closer and held on tightly. She was trying 
so hard to rationalise everything; desperately trying to 
solve the problem. But the smoking bastard had told him all 
about his so-called destiny, and Mulder knew the sickening 
outcome to the whole scenario. "I very much doubt they are 
going to let me be cured. I'm far too important to them. 
They need me." 

"For...what?" she asked, letting fear once again creep in. 

He pulled away from her comforting arms, breathing heavily. 
He was going to tell her the final part of the story. The 
final part that would reveal to her as well as himself, 
that he was a condemned man/alien...whatever! He wanted to 
scream! 

"Scully? The alien DNA...part of me...It will take me over." 
His words came out disjointed. It felt like someone else 
was speaking them. "I'll be one of them...incredibly strong
...fearless...powerful. No more Mulder...I won't be the 
least part human anymore." He swallowed hard. " I'll be 
their...their key. Key to man's destruction!" 

Scully couldn't stand any more of what she was hearing. 
"T...this c...can't be happening. It just can't be happening," 
she said stubbornly, refusing to believe, as she pulled him 
into her embrace. 

Mulder stroked her hair softly, and kissed her gently, tears 
still very much in evidence. 

"Oh S...Scully, he whimpered." 

He held her as if his very life depended on it, and maybe it 
did. How he wished they could both just disappear into a warm, 
safe nothingness far away from the horror which they faced. 
He hadn't even mentioned to her about how the transformation 
would occur, because the smoking son of a bitch hadn't been 
clear on that. It would either be another abduction, or the 
fucking alien DNA would strike at random, or? He couldn't let 
Mulder know exactly how his demise would occur (his human 
side that is.) No, the bastard had to die in his hospital bed, 
before that was revealed to him. As he held Scully tighter, 
feeling her shudder a little in his arms, his parents came to 
mind. They'd also known the truth about him, but obviously 
hadn't been allowed to give the game away, or..? They were 
murdered, the both of them, because they had almost revealed 
the truth to him. The black-lunged son of a bitch had told him 
that the conspiracy had given his mother the horrible, 
disfiguring cancer, and promised no cure. So, she'd killed 
herself, because she couldn't take it anymore, could no longer 
live with what they'd done to her son. Since birth he had been 
observed by the aliens, while they waited for the moment when 
he would be 'ripe' and ready for the picking. 

Then there was Samantha? He'd forgotten about his sister. She 
was another experiment; another hybrid. Rather than being the 
'chosen one' (which was strictly Mulder's role in their game 
plan), she had been expendable, just an early test subject, 
to inflict tourture upon until they were done with her. Only 
the walk-ins had stepped in and saved her soul, transforming 
her essence into starlight. She had been set free. 

*Thank god!* he thought, as he held onto his beloved Scully. 
*Thank god she was saved.* His body convulsed, as he felt 
he was losing control. Then the tears flooded from his 
hazel eyes! He'd believed not so long ago, that maybe 
there was hope? But now? Now he felt like he was staring 
into a terrifying, dark abyss. Game over Mulder! 

********************

A sharp knock brought him out of his dark reverie. Scully also 
jumped, and reached for her gun. 

"What the hell happened here?" John Doggett entered the room, 
pushing at the broken door. He spotted Scully, weapon pointed 
at him. "Whoa! It's just me." 

"Sorry", she replied, still reeling from Mulder's 
terrifying revelation. "Can't be too careful these days." 

Two more familiar faces appeared behind him, namely Walter 
Skinner and Monica Reyes. 

"Erm...hope we're not interupting anything" Skinner said 
promptly, when he noticed his two favourite agents were sitting 
on the bed together. When he saw Mulder's pale complexion and 
glazed expression; and the fact the door had clearly been broken 
off its hinges, he became concerned. "What has happened?" 

Scully placed her weapon back onto the side table. "We were paid 
a visit by the smoking man's henchmen." 

All three looked a little stunned, Skinner more so. "What? But 
he's dead, right?" 

"Oh he's dead...but not before he had Mulder dragged to his 
hospital bedside, so he could tell him the 'truth'," she said 
bitterly. 

"What truth?" Monica asked, also aware that Mulder was 
looking extremely upset about something. 

Scully immediately noticed a look of dread come over her 
partner's face, so decided to change the subject. It would 
have to be discussed, but not right at this moment. "So...why 
are you guys here?" 

"We got kicked out the FBI!" Doggett said firmly. "Obviously 
we weren't pulling our weight", he teased, but his voice was 
solemn. 

"I was called into Assistant Director Kersh's office," 
Skinner added. "Only to quickly discover I no longer had my 
position in the Bureau." 

"And they've closed the X Files, permanently", Monica said, 
her tone matching her partner's. 

"So, you decided under the circumstances to get the hell 
away from there?" Mulder asked, his voice sounding strained. 

"Circumstances?" Doggett asked. 

"Before they turned you all into alien army recruits," 
Mulder replied. " You know too much to be safe from them 
now." 

Defensively, Doggett jumped in. "We know most of the FBI 
are in on this super soldier program with the military. 
It's pretty clear they don't want us on the team anymore 
because we know their dirty little secret." 

Mulder sighed heavily. "Whatever." He was in no mood to 
start an argument about who was really in charge. He knew 
the answer. It had been shoved into his face by the smoking 
bastard. Right now, he'd prefer Doggett's explanation, as 
the truth. If only? 

"You've not mentioned Kersh, or Gibson," Scully spoke up. 
"Are they ok?" 

"I arranged for Gibson to get safe passage out of Washington 
DC. Then we followed suit," Skinner said. "I still had some 
pull with people higher up the ladder, who I knew could be 
trusted." 

"Sure about that?" Mulder asked, quietly. He received no 
reply. 

"I don't know what happened to AD Kersh. All I know is 
Gibson is safe in the New Mexico desert. It was confirmed 
to me via one of the Navaho tribesmen he's residing with." 
Skinner's face darkened, as he remembered the scene that 
had gone down outside Kersh's office. 

After being given the heave ho, he was then asked to give 
the 'powers that be' the whereabouts of Mulder and Scully. 
This, of course he'd refused. Angrily, they left the room 
and he followed. They then confronted Gibson, who had been 
waiting outside the office, along with Doggett and Reyes. 
They'd been extremely concerned about the assistant director. 
One of the alien replacements (the one he'd pointed out at 
Mulder's trial) had grabbed the young boy, staring into his 
eyes, forcing Gibson to reveal his thoughts to him. He had 
been so afraid. 

"They tried to read Gibson's mind to find out where you both 
were," Skinner told his two former agents."That's how they 
knew you were at those Anasazi ruins in the desert." 

"And,..and now they know we're here, in Roswell?" Scully 
asked, worried. 

"No," Skinner replied calmly. "Gibson somehow managed to 
convince them you were hiding out in Canada. I mean that's 
where we'd told you to head in the first place." 

"H...how..?" Scully began. 

"I guess he's getting good at training his thoughts. Making 
other mind readers believe a lie," Mulder replied. *Three 
cheers for Gibson.* echoed in his mind. 

"So if they think you're in Canada..." Monica began, but 
was interrupted by Scully. 

"Then we can't go there." 

"So, where do we head, chief?" Doggett asked. Most of what 
Skinner and Mulder had said about Gibson had gone over his 
head. He just couldn't bring himself to believe in all this 
E.S.P mind reading nonsense...or aliens come to that. But he 
did realise they were in some sort of danger. That was very 
clear. 

"I think we need to get off this continent as soon as we can. 
I can arrange transportation. I still have some pull with 
authorities," Skinner smiled. "I can get us flown out of here 
by private jet." 

"Adios America," Monica said softly. "I've never been 
anywhere but across the States." 

"It'll be an adventure." Doggett replied. 

The three of them were so engrossed in discussing the journey 
that lay ahead, they'd almost forgotten their other two 
friends, until Mulder spoke up. "So where exactly are we 
going?" he asked. 

Scully could tell he was sounding a little tense, but the 
other's hadn't noticed. 

"England is our best bet." Skinner replied. 

"Right," Mulder said, the tension building. "Of course, the 
aliens won't think to look for me...us there!" A thinly veiled 
line of sarcasm poured from his lips. 

*Oh not aliens again!* Doggett thought. 

Skinner had heard the slip in Mulder's outburst, and became 
concerned. "What do you mean 'look for you'?" he asked. 

Mulder breathed heavily and turned away. "Nothing," he said 
in a whisper. 

Scully looked at him, then at her former collegues. She felt 
torn between staying silent about what Mulder had said to her 
about his true self, but at the same time, she felt that the 
others should know. It would all come out eventually anyway. 
How could you keep something this major a big secret? Also, 
it wouldn't be fair to keep her friends in the dark not when 
they were doing everything they could to help. 

Gently she touched Mulder's arm. "I think we should tell them. 
They'll understand." 

Fear darted through him like he'd been hit by lightening.
"No!" he said firmly, pulling away. The last thing he 
wanted was to have to explain the nightmare situation all 
over again. "I...can't tell them," he stammered. 

"Can't tell us what?" Monica asked, gently. 

"P...Please...," Mulder began. 

Scully interrupted. "Mulder," she said softly. "I'll tell
them." 

********************
                        
The two ex-FBI agents and former assistant director sat 
motionless, as their former colleague, Dana Scully, tried to 
explain the whole story and what she now knew about Fox Mulder 
and his kidnapping, which led to the confrontation with the 
dying cigarette smoking man. She noticed tears begin to well 
up in her partner's eyes as she spoke, and squeezed his hand 
gently. He pulled from her grasp, stood up sharply and walked 
over to the window. He remained in complete silence, his back 
towards them, as Scully came to the end of her speech. 

"So, what you're telling us is...Mulder's an alien now?" The 
words had come out wrong, but Doggett just couldn't get his 
head around this one at all. 

Walter Skinner was also trying to process this alarming 
discovery in his mind, but wasn't sure exactly what to say. 
"Oh God," was all he could manage. He had been made very much 
aware of the existence of alien life, but never in his entire 
life could he have forseen something like this. 

Monica too was stunned. She'd seen a spacecraft, alien super 
soldiers, and like the ex-assistant director, she had no 
choice but to believe in the impossible. "How can we help 
him?" she asked feebly. 

Mulder finally turned and faced them, letting out a heavy 
sigh. "You can't", he whispered quietly. 

Scully could see he was shaking and walked over to where he 
was standing. She gently put her arms around him, holding 
his body closely against her own. "Mulder..." she said, 
softly. 

He closed his eyes, allowing a few tears to course down his 
cheeks, then gently pushed her away. He looked towards the 
others in the room. Skinner showed concern in his eyes. 
Monica was giving him a look of sympathy...and Doggett was 
displaying total confusion but in fairness, his gaze had 
softened somewhat. 

Now the news was out in the open, and Mulder realized that 
he would have to reveal the whole truth. He looked back at 
Scully, noticing there was moisture in her eyes, but she 
gave him a faint smile. "I-I have something to tell you," 
he stammered. He walked over and seated himself down at the 
table. Once again looking at each friend in turn he added, 
"All of you." 

Scully frowned slightly. There couldn't possibly be even 
more to explain. She'd believed he'd told her everything. 
"What is it Mulder?" 

"You all know what I am. You might as well know 'why' I am". 

Then Scully remembered what he'd said to her not so long ago. 
"Mulder, you said that you would be a threat to mankind." 
He nodded, gazing down at the floor. "I couldn't take it in 
at the time..." 

Skinner interrupted her. "A threat?" he asked nervously. 
"Why did you tell Scully that?" 

Doggett's eyes widened on hearing that. "A threat to us?" 
he asked. 

"To everyone...on this earth", Mulder replied. He felt bile 
rising in his throat and swallowed hard. 

"How can that be?" Monica asked, shaking her head. 

He looked over at his former boss, Walter Skinner. "For 
years I was considered a lost cause with the Bureau; a joke 
to my peers. Agent Mulder, the guy who runs around chasing 
little green men from out of space." He forced a chuckle. 
"Who would ever have thought I'd turn out to be the most 
important piece of the puzzle in this whole charade?" 

"Important piece?" Skinner asked, confused. "How?" 

Mulder took a deep irregular breath. "I was chosen...to be a
new type of species. The smoking bastard; my dear father
..." He emphasized the word 'dear' as if it was poison on
his tongue. "He explained it all to me. The true plan of
the grays was to create the perfect hybrid who would mutate
to an alien in human form becoming a highly developed
intelligent creature who would rule the workers, or drones,
of the slave hybrid race...with an army of super soldiers to
back me." he said, bitterly. "In other words I'll eventually
become so powerful that I will lead the alien race to victory
against mankind." His voice weakened. "It's all been foretold.
It's a destiny I can't escape." 

"Holy shit!" Doggett blurted out. "This sounds like a great
idea for a movie script." 

All eyes turned on him. 

"Well, come on! Do you really expect me to believe this? 
Do you believe this?" 

Mulder's eyes flashed angrily at him. "Why in God's name do
you think I would make any of this up, Doggett?" 

"I have no idea" 

"Then be quiet," Skinner cut in sharply. He turned to his
former agent. "Mulder, I believe you. I wish in all earnesty
that I didn't, but I do." He took a deep breath. "Now, how
are we supposed to stop this?" he asked, rather pathetically. 

"Like I told Monica," Mulder replied helplessly. "You can't
stop this." 

Scully had heard enough of what had been said. She felt both 
scared and deeply concerned for her partner. "I won't let you 
quit on me...on us. Not now, not ever." She took Mulder's 
hand, and felt him shudder. "There has to be a way." 

"If I have faith?" he asked her, lamely. 

She didn't answer. 

Skinner had been pondering a solution, at least something
that was a positive move in the right direction. Though it
was harder to think straight after Mulder's little 
announcment. "We have got to get away from here,"he suggested.
 
"You mean leave for England?" Monica asked, equally confused. 

Skinner picked up his cell phone. "Remember those connections 
I still have?" 

Scully nodded. 

"I'm going to try and arrange a flight out of Roswell." He
headed for the doorway. "I'll get us out of this place, by
tonight if I can." Then he left the motel room. 

John Doggett felt like everyone had completely lost their 
minds. At the same time, something was niggling in the back 
of his own. Why would Mulder make up such an elaborate story? 
"So, if this is true and that's a mighty big 'if', the plan 
is to run away and what? Hide Mulder from these so-called 
aliens?" 

"Skinner's right," Monica piped up. "I think we should 
leave." 

"And where do you think it's going to be safe?" Mulder said,
quietly. 

Scully squeezed his hand. "If we stay here, we definitely 
won't be." 

"What about this destiny thing?" Doggett asked. 

"What do you mean?" Scully replied.
 
"I mean," Doggett began, "if we are to try and believe this 
is all true are we in fact safe?" He could see the confusion 
in both Monica and Scully's faces, but the stare Mulder was 
giving him told Doggett he was on the right track. 

"You mean from me," Mulder stated. 

"What?" Scully began. 

Doggett cut her off. "He said himself that he'll become this 
powerful threat to the human race. So, let's say we do 
everything we can to protect him, and it's not enough? 
Then what?" 

"Then I turn on you and rip your throat out!" Mulder's 
words choked him. "Is that what you're afraid of?" 

"I'm not afraid," Doggett replied. However, he knew his 
statement didn't fully ring true. 

"Or maybe slice your head off with a flick of the wrist....
like Billy Miles?" 

"Mulder," Scully interjected. "Please don't do this to 
yourself." She turned towards Doggett. "John, he's no 
threat to anyone." 

"Not as long as we keep him from these aliens right?" 
Monica asked. 

"I believe so," Scully replied, looking at Mulder for an 
answer. She saw the tears welling up in his eyes again. 

"Problem solved," he said, but the words rang falsely in 
his ears. 

Just then Walter Skinner entered the room, a look of 
triumph on his face. 

"What?" Monica asked, hopefully. 

"I've just got us a private plane as far as Wyoming. It'll 
be arriving in a few hours, and we'll be landing near 
Devil's Tower." he announced. 

"Wyoming?" Doggett said, glancing over at Mulder. "I 
thought we had to get away from the States, otherwise 
the aliens will find us eventually?" 

"I thought you didn't believe in aliens?" Monica said 
softly. 

John Doggett wasn't listening. "Oh and Devil's Tower as 
well. Maybe we can remake Spielberg's movie 'Close 
Encounters Of The Third Kind.' Wouldn't that be fun?" he 
said in a sarcastic tone. 

Both Scully and Monica ignored the remark and Skinner 
carried on with what he'd been trying to say. 

"When we get there, they'll be another plane waiting 
to take us to England." 

Mulder, who hadn't been concentrating on much of the 
conversation at all, turned away and looked out of the 
window and up at the sky, which was now turning into a 
glorious sunset over the mountains in the distance. He 
didn't see the beautiful oranges and reds blending together, 
just the cold glint of a metallic surface hovering above. 
His imagination projected the spaceship clearly in his mind 
and he shuddered. How could he ever be free no matter where 
they ran to?

********************
                        
The plane touched down on an abandoned airstrip in the heart 
of a stretch of grassland in the early hours of the morning.
 
During the several hours of flight from Roswell, Mulder had 
sat quietly in a window seat, gazing out at the night sky; 
Scully curled up asleep beside him. He wasn't sure why it 
should be, considering the frightening circumstances he was 
in, but the bright pinpricks of light twinkling in all that 
blackness had offered him some comfort. *Starlight*, he'd 
thought *that special place where Samantha traveled...where 
she's safe.* 

Monica Reyes had also managed to let herself drift off to 
sleep, having chosen a seat to herself opposite Mulder and 
Scully. Both Doggett and Skinner, seated behind them, had 
remained firmly awake throughout the trip. Every now and 
then Skinner would glance over at Mulder, but received no 
response. 

*Jeeze, how am I supposed to protect him?* he asked himself. 

John Doggett on the other hand had been thinking about a 
completely different scenerio. *Just how are we supposed to 
protect ourselves...in this confined space? If Mulder 'changes'
...* He wasn't sure how else to put it. *Then we don't stand 
a chance in hell of survival!* 

To his relief this altercation had never happened, but he 
still wouldn't feel comfortable, until his feet touched
terra firma.

******************** 

Five figures alighted onto the runway, but there was no one 
there to greet them. The place was deserted. 

"So where's this other plane?" Doggett asked. 

Skinner's brow furrowed. "I don't understand?" he stated. He 
walked over to the pilot of the little Cessna they'd arrived 
in. "Have you any idea where our connection is?" he asked.

"Sorry sir," the pilot replied. "All I had were instructions 
to fly you here." He paused then added, "Sir, I do have to 
return to the base. I can't wait..." 

"Okay," Skinner interrupted. "I understand." 

"What's going on?" Scully asked, concerned. 

"It's not coming is it?" Mulder said, stating the fact more 
than asking a question. Visions of an alien spacecraft 
arriving on the scene instead couldn't help but permeate his 
thoughts. He scanned the sky nervously, but there were no 
bright lights; only the stars. 

Skinner took his cell phone out of his jacket and began 
pressing numbers. 

"Are you certain we are in the right place?" Monica asked 
him. It seemed to her that they were in the middle of 
nowhere. 

"Yes!" Skinner replied, sharply, making her jump a little. 
"I'm sorry Ms. Reyes." Frustration showed clearly on his
face. 

"What is it?" Doggett asked. 

"There's no answer...nothing!" 

"Who are you calling?" Scully wanted to know. 

"Friends involved with British Intelligence", Skinner 
replied, agitated. "They arranged our transport out of 
the US." 

Mulder sighed heavily. "Looks like someone got to them." 

"You mean the aliens?" Doggett asked him. His tone of voice
was firm, although he hadn't meant to sound so condecending. 

Mulder flashed him a 'look' and said nothing. 

Monica decided to change the subject. "You know, it's the
middle of the night. Don't you think we'd better try and
find somewhere to crash?" 

Scully looked around the area, but couldn't see a sign of
life anywhere. "And just where are we supposed to do that?" 

"Sir." The pilot referred to Walter Skinner. "I do know
there's a motel, about a mile or so from here, over that 
hill." He pointed in a westerly direction. "You could all 
stay there until you get things sorted out."

*Sorted out* Skinner thought. *What if their plans to get to 
the UK had been thwarted by the alien conspiracy? Then that 
would mean they knew where they were. *Best not say anything. 
I don't wish to panic anyone, least of all Mulder.* 
"Thanks," he replied. 

"No problem, sir." The pilot smiled, then added, "I'd best 
be going." 

The five watched the little plane take off down the runway 
and disappear into the night. 

"We'd better make a move ourselves," Skinner suggested. 
"It's getting colder by the minute." 

The others nodded, and started to make headway towards the 
hill the pilot had pointed out to them. As they walked, 
Skinner lead the way while Doggett, Reyes and Scully were 
not far behind. 

Mulder sidled up alongside his former boss. "I know what 
you're thinking," he said quietly.

Skinner gave him a puzzled, if slightly alarmed look. 

"No, I've not read your mind," Mulder assured him. "That 
alien ability seems to have diminished." His voice sounded 
bitter. *And I hope to God it never returns.* he thought. 
Chances were probably likely it would, and then some. But 
he didn't wish to explore that avenue of possibilities 
right now. 

"What am I thinking?" Skinner asked him, realizing his 
former FBI agent wasn't someone who you could keep in the 
dark about most things. His mind had always been one step 
ahead of everyone else in the Bureau. It was uncanny. 
Sadly, now he knew why Mulder had possessed this unique 
ability. It was all thanks to an alien race set on 
repossessing the earth and using him as their...their 
what? Weapon of destruction? He shuddered a little.
 
Mulder placed a hand on his shoulder. "You think they 
might come looking for us? He faltered slightly and added, 
"They probably know where we are." 

The others had heard this conversation and became alarmed. 
"If that's true, then we're like sitting ducks out here," 
Scully stated. 

Doggett had a question for Mulder. "But if they are so 
hell bent on taking you again, wouldn't they be here now, 
buzzing over this area?" Before anyone could reply, he 
turned to Monica. "You said that the ship you claim you 
saw was huge. If it was here, we'd see it right?" 

"Without a doubt," Monica answered. Tentively she gazed 
above her head.

"So they can't know where we are then, can they?" Doggett 
asked. "Sorry, Mulder but I think you're obviously scared 
and are jumping to conclusions." 

Mulder stopped walking and faced him. But Scully positioned 
herself between the two men.

"Let's just get to the motel," she suggested. She looked at 
Mulder. "Please?" Placing her arm around his waist, she 
squeezed him gently. "There's no one here but us, and I'm 
cold." 

In response Mulder put an arm across her shoulders and held 
her closer to him as the team continued to walk towards the 
hill. Every now and then he would glance up, then look out 
across the expanse of land. *Of course it could always be 
cloaked* he thought, and felt a knot in the pit of his 
stomach. But everything remained the same during their 
short journey to the motel. 

After checking themselves in, they bid each other goodnight 
and headed to their rooms. They discovered there was hardly 
anybody else staying in this particular motel, so Doggett 
and Skinner decided to share, while Monica suggested she 
stay in the adjoining room. Both Mulder and Scully chose the 
one next to hers. 

"I'm afraid it's single beds only," Scully teased gently, 
trying to alleviate some of the tension. 

Mulder didn't seem to be listening. 

"Should be plenty of room for us in one of these though...
Mulder?" 

"Huh?" he said, absent mindedly. 

She took a hold of his hand and led him over to one of the 
beds. "Sit," she commanded lightly.

He obeyed. 

"Oh Mulder...honey...,she added tentively, then became lost 
for words. What could she say? *Oh how I wish none of this 
were true and you weren't some alien experiment destined to 
face a cruel fate.* What the hell good would that do? She 
couldn't even say that everything was going to be all right. 
So, she just wrapped her arms around him tightly and held him 
close. 

He couldn't register Scully's touching words there and then, 
the anguish he had locked inside was overwhelming him. 
Mulder was so grateful to have her beside him though and 
clung to her as if his very life depended on it. Somehow his 
tears had managed to stay hidden during the entire trip from 
Roswell. But once behind closed doors he discovered he could 
hold back no longer. 

Scully felt his body shudder and then heard him crying
softly. *We'll get through this* she thought,  *Even if I 
have to kill every single one of those aliens. They are 
not having him!*

******************** 
                       
As swirling mists parted, all that could be seen was a 
piercing light which seemed to penetrate his very soul. 
A flash of cold steel then the pain followed, slicing into 
his flesh, his world turning a crimson red. Fox Mulder heard 
himself screaming over and over, begging for someone to hear 
his cries for help. But no one came. The grays were grouped 
all around, leaning over his prone body, which was pinned 
to the chair, with metal spikes that had been driven through 
both bone and tissue into both wrists and ankles. Their black 
almond shaped eyes staring down at him, no expression displayed 
upon their small faces. He heard a screeching, tearing sound, 
forcing himself to look up. Coming out of the light was a metal 
arm with what looked like a spinning saw on the end. It was 
getting closer and closer and with a certain horror he realized 
it was going to slice into his chest! 

"Oh dear God!" he screamed. "Please help me! HELP ME!" 

Mulder's eyes darted open as he heard himself yell out in fear. 
It took several shaky seconds before he realized he was in a 
bed in a motel room. Fragments of the nightmare were now 
receding and he felt himself gradually begin to grow calmer, 
although his body was now bathed in sweat, and his head was 
starting to ache. Slowly he turned to one side to see that 
Scully was snuggled up beside him. She must have been really 
exhausted, as his scream hadn't disturbed her sleep. Taking 
care not to wake her, he slowly swung his legs out of bed and 
gingerly walked over to a window. The room was cold and he 
shivered a little, wrapping his arms tightly around himself to 
try and keep warm. He looked out and could see twinkling stars 
in a sky that was starting to grow a little lighter, so it 
was obviously just before dawn. He realized he needed to get 
out of the now clammy underclothes he had worn the night before. 
He took a fresh pair out of his overnight bag. The only items 
both he and his partner had managed to bring with them were a 
few changes of underwear and toiletries which they'd had in 
their possession since the escape to the motel in Roswell. 
He quickly dressed, glancing back at her every now and then 
to make sure she was still asleep. Right now he needed to be 
alone. As he pulled on his shirt, his hand brushed against the 
deep scar which ran down the centre of his chest, and he 
shivered. The nightmarish visions aboard the alien spaceship 
returned but he forced them to the back of his mind. 

"No," he whispered painfully. He could shut out the physical 
torture they had inflicted upon him but trying to prevent 
himself from thinking about just what they had planned for 
him in the near future seemed an impossible task. 

*There really is no way out of this Mulder* his mind kept 
repeating. "Oh give me a break", he moaned. Taking a deep 
breath, he crossed over to the motel door and unlocked it. 
Giving one more glance toward the redhead sleeping soundly, 
he stepped out of the room, quietly closing the door behind
him. 

********************
                         
Outside the air was chilly but fresh and he took several 
deep breaths hoping this would help to lessen the throbbing 
pain behind his temples. He noticed a light coming from one 
of the buildings and began walking toward it. When he reached 
the place he realized it was the motel's reception area, which 
also had a little cafe that was open. He noticed there were 
only a few people inside so decided even though he would 
rather be alone, he would also prefer to be warmer. He entered 
and seated himself at a table near the door, wishing to keep 
his distance from the other clientele. Once inside he noticed 
there were only four more people occupying the cafe. A young 
couple was chatting to each other over steaming hot cups of 
coffee across from him. The aroma was tempting Mulder, so 
when the waitress came over he ordered a cup. He watched her 
move behind the counter and could see she was quite attractive, 
if a little too tall for his liking. Long brunette curls 
sweeping down her shoulders and eyes the colour of jade, hiding 
behind very thickly laid on makeup. He was pondering why some 
women chose to wear so much eye shadow and mascara when it was 
really so unnecessary when he noticed the third person in the 
cafe. A young girl, probably in her early twenties, was seated 
at the table directly opposite him. She seemed of average height, 
with wavy dark blonde hair reaching to the nape of her neck. 
He also couldn't help noticing she was very curvaceous. 

She looked up from her coffee and smiled in his direction, which 
made him blush slightly. This unfortunately always happened when 
a pretty member of the opposite sex showed any acknowledgement 
to his existence. It was a habit he wished he could break. Also 
the fact she had those same crystal blue eyes as his partner, 
didn't help either. 

The waitress returning with his cup of coffee made him 
temporarily break eye contact with the girl as he smiled his 
thanks. She left and he took a sip of the beverage before him.
Mmmn. It tasted rich in flavor and he was grateful for the 
warmth he felt from it. He realized the headache seemed to be 
fading now. *So that's all I needed,..a dose of caffeine?* he 
mused. Taking a larger sip, he looked up and met the young 
lady's gaze once more and returned a belated smile in her 
direction. He noticed she was dressed in black jeans and tee 
shirt to match. It was then that he saw she was wearing a 
button and took a sharp intake of breath when he realized that 
the emblem was an alien head in gold, with almond shaped eyes. 

"You like it?" she asked, in an amused tone.
 
"Pardon?" Mulder stumbled out, realizing he must have been 
staring for a good while. 

"I couldn't help but notice you were staring at my button," 
she replied. "It's an extra-terrestrial." 

"I can see that," he said. "Very pretty," he added, his 
demeanor showing he was far from pleased upon seeing it. 

The girl smiled again. "Do you believe in them?" 

This completely threw him for a loop. "W-What?" 

"Aliens. Do you believe they exist?" she asked, lightly. 

"Do you?" He aimed the question directly at her, both curious 
and also unnerved by this pretty young stranger. 

"Yeah." Her reply was firm. "Oh yeah." She paused briefly then 
added in a whisper, "I've seen them." 

Okay. This could all just be a ploy to get him to talk to her? 
Perhaps she was using it as a chat up line or just needed the 
company. Still, her voice had sounded rather convincing. He 
was going to take the bait, but tread very carefully. 

"You have?" 

"May I join you?" she asked in an innocent tone. 

*Polite, but rather abrupt* Mulder thought. "Sure." 

The young lady got up and seated herself opposite him. "Hi," 
she said, extending a hand. "My name's Angelina." 

He shook it and smiled. "Mulder." 

"Hi," she repeated, rather unsure as to how she should address 
him. 

"Actually it's Fox Mulder...but I'd prefer you just call me 
Mulder." 

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Mulder," she replied sweetly. "So, are 
you interested?" 

"Excuse me?" For a second he thought she was offering herself 
to him. *You've been watching far too many porn movies* he 
decided. 

"In my story...where I've witnessed these aliens for 
real?" she replied. "I mean, do you believe in the
existence of extra-terrestrials?" 

It was as if she had quoted directly from him. A memory 
surfaced where he had been asking Dana Scully those exact 
words back when she had first introduced herself down in
his office hidden in the bowels of the F.B.I. headquarters 
in Washington D.C. Little had they known then just where 
their investigations would take them. Now here in front of 
him was possibly a fellow kindred spirit in Angelina. She 
seemed innocent enough, but still he would remain wary. 
After all, he had no idea who this woman was, and why she 
should start asking him  questions like this? It was almost 
like she had known it had been his passionate obsession for 
many years. Only now Mulder knew it was his curse.
 
"So where did you see them?" He had meant to say it 
matter-of-factly, but it had come out far too over the top. 
An actor he could never be! 

"You really are interested aren't you?" Angelina stated. 
"I had a feeling you would be." 

Mulder frowned. "How could you possibly think that?" 

She smiled. "I've always been a fairly good judge of people." 
Before he could reply she added. "Also, the way you were 
staring at the button was pretty much a dead give away. I 
mean you could have just been staring at my chest, like most 
men do." Noticing his face turning a crimson red, she 
continued. "It's okay. I could see you were far more 
interested in the alien head." 

That was Agent Fox William Mulder all right. All his passion 
aimed at 'little green men' instead of a full-blooded, sexy 
young lady. Until something, somewhere in his mind clicked, 
finally enabling him to register his partner, Dana Scully, 
as such a woman. Call it fate or what you will, but they were 
now a couple, whatever that meant to him now. Who was he 
kidding? It meant the whole world to have her fighting beside 
him, whatever evil they faced. 

"It was out by the abandoned airfield," Angelina said, her 
voice now sounding in awe. "I saw this huge metallic ship. 
It was glowing...and hovering above the ground. I was so 
afraid, and ducked down behind some undergrowth...and I just 
remained as still as I could." She took a breath and pointed 
at her button. "Then I saw two of these thin, gray 
creatures..." 

Mulder interupted her. "Were you abducted?" he asked quietly. 

"No," she answered abruptly, "They never saw me, thank God." 
She had noticed him shudder when he asked the question. 
"Why?...Were you?" 

He swallowed hard. "Yes." 

"I'm so sorry," she replied, softly. "I have heard about other 
people who have undergone such terrible tests aboard these 
alien ships. It's barbaric what they do!" 

Mulder took a deep breath, briefly closing his eyes. He could 
feel the tears starting to form and blinked a few times. 
"It...It was." Then he pulled himself up short. "How do you 
know about this?" 

"My father," she replied. "He's been abducted many times." 
She paused slightly. "He's formed an organization." 

"Why?" 

"He knows what these extra-terrestrial's intentions are." 

"Which is?" He really didn't want to hear what he already 
knew himself but he feared he was about to.
 
"They want to reclaim this earth. They believe it's 
rightfully theirs, because they were the original occupants." 

"My God," he breathed. 

"You didn't know?" she asked, almost surprised. 

"Yeah," he replied, sadly. "I did know."
 
"Maybe we can help," she offered gently. Before he could 
answer, she continued, "Our organization is...well I guess 
you could say we are a sort of resistance group." 

"Against the aliens?" Mulder asked. So, there were people out 
there who felt the same way as he did, and planned to do 
something about it, no matter how futile. "How many are 
you?" 

"Not many...about 30, maybe 40 so far. But we're seeking 
new recruits all the time." She grinned at him. "Like 
yourself for instance?" 

Curiosity was definitely getting the better of him. He was 
just about to give the young lady a reply when the door to the
cafe opened and a petite redhead breezed in looking rather 
concerned. 

She spied him instantly. "Mulder!" Scully hastened across 
the room and quickly seated herself beside him. "I woke and 
you were gone. I was worried," she added. 

"God, I'm sorry Scully. It was another nightmare. I needed 
some air. You were asleep and I didn't want to disturb you." 

"It's ok", she replied. "I'm just glad you're all right." 
Then she glanced across at the rather attractive blonde 
seated opposite her partner. She raised an eyebrow at him, 
"Mulder, who is this?" 

"Angelina meet Dana Scully. My partner."
 
The girl offered a slightly reluctant hand out. "Hi" 

"Mulder, what's going on?" Scully interjected. 

Feeling now like maybe there was a spark of hope in his 
world, he smiled at her. "Scully, we might have found some 
folks who are on the same wavelength." 

********************
                        
From the moment the ex-FBI team had been introduced to 
Angelina's father and his resistance group of renegades, 
they were immediately made very welcome in their hideout 
in the mountains and offered food and shelter. However, 
even though this group had openly shown that they thought 
the same way about the up and coming alien invasion, and 
were grateful for any newcomers to offer assistance, Walter 
Skinner had questioned his former colleagues as to whether 
or not they should fully trust these people. Mulder had 
felt they should be given the benefit of the doubt. If this 
group of renegades were indeed here to try and thwart an 
alien invasion then he and his friends would be far better 
off staying with them than trying to battle on their own. 
After a debate the others had come to an agreement that 
they would go along with this group, but remain cautious 
at all times. 

A few weeks had passed by and nothing untoward had 
occurred, which had allowed them to relax a little. 
Their only frustration now was attending yet another 
group meeting to discuss the alien situation in hand. 

"It seems like they've penetrated many government agencies 
all over the States, for control," one of the members told 
Mulder and the others. 

"So do you have a plan?" Skinner asked the group as a whole, 
silently praying for a constructive answer. 

"As I explained before we are trying to gather as many 
people as we can who are willing and able to fight back," 
an older man explained. He had first introduced himself as 
Jack Wilkinson, an ex-colonel from the United States Army 
who had formed the group, and who was the father of Angelina 
Wilkinson. 

"But how exactly are you going to fight back?" Mulder asked. 
"Military weapons are not going to stop them, I can assure 
you of that." He was wishing the colonel would get to the 
point. Truth be known he really wasn't in the mood for this 
repeat discussion. He'd awakened that morning with a mother 
of all headaches. The pain of which had eased off, but right 
now he would have preferred to be lying down than in this 
meeting. 

"We know the Russians were trying to develop a vaccine 
against the Black Oil." Another one piped in. 

"Why can't we just nuke the bastards!" Doggett offered. 
"Whatever they are?" 

"You mean detonate the ships?" one of the female members 
asked. "But you'd have to get close to them to plant the 
bombs. And just how many spaceships do they have?" 

"Plus they always cloak them so you don't know their exact 
location when they are on the ground," Monica added. 

"People, there is an answer. There is always an answer." 
Jack said abruptly. "The human race will not be made 
extinct by these creatures from hell." 

Mulder was continuing to wonder whether these guys, even 
though they meant well, were just clutching at straws when 
he noticed the sheer defiance in this ex-colonel's eyes. 
This guy obviously meant business. At the same time, he
became aware of a slight ringing in his ears. Almost 
immediately he discovered he could hear voices permeating 
his mind. *Oh please, not that crap again!* he lamented 
inside, realizing he could hear the thoughts coming from 
people in the room. Fear was overlapped with a sudden 
realization that maybe this could prove useful. 

"Do you have the answer?" he asked, realizing one of the 
mind's speaking was Jack's. The only problem was his thoughts 
were not discernible, nobody's were...well not yet anyway. He 
shook his head slightly. *Yeah that'll help clarify them* he 
said sarcastically to himself. 

The man stared at him, and Mulder flinched a little. 

"Possibly," he replied. 

Mulder, are you ok?" Scully asked, concerned. She had noticed 
a flicker of distress in his eyes.
 
He was just about to reply, when without any warning the 
headache returned in full force, and a searing pain shot 
through him. Mulder screamed and clutching his head with 
both hands, fell to the ground. 

"Mulder!" Scully yelled, and dashed to his side, quickly 
followed by the rest of the ex-FBI team. She hurriedly 
checked for a pulse. "He's out cold!" 

"He has the virus." It was more like a statement than a 
question. Jack crossed over to them and put a hand on 
Mulder's forehead. "His temperature is rising." 

"Yes, he needs a course of anti-virals," Scully blurted out. 
"It prevents the virus from spreading. But..." she hesitated. 
"It's never made him have black-outs before!" Her voice was 
panicking now. 

"We have to get him to the nearest hospital," Skinner said. 

There had been a lot of murmurs coming from the rest of the 
resistance party, but no one offered any assistance. Suddenly 
they all turned to look at Jack with growing concern etched 
on their faces. 

"What? What is it?" Doggett asked.
 
"It's too far away. By the time we get there the virus may 
have already broken down too many human DNA cells," Jack said 
firmly. 

Skinner faced him. "You know all about this don't you?" 

"It's affected some of our members since their abductions. 
The aliens are trying to create a new race of human 
hybrids," Jack told them. "A sickening process that spreads 
an extra terrestrial-type cancer through the human body, 
breaking down DNA cells and replacing them with their own." 

"We already know this!" Scully said, agitated. "So rather 
than discuss the symptoms, can we please concentrate on 
helping Mulder? She was cradling him gently in her arms, and 
noticed the sweat on his fevered brow. "He's burning up!" 

Jack pointed to several of his members. "Take him to the 
dormitory", he ordered. 

"W..wait a moment," Scully said, concerned. 

Jack faced her. "Do you want to help him or not?" 

Angelina took her hand and looked at the other ex-agents in 
turn. "My father can help," she said quietly. 

"He has a cure?" Skinner asked. 

"Please..," Scully began. "He needs the anti-virals." 

"We have something similar," Angelina explained. The other 
members who had been chosen began to lift Mulder and carry 
him out of the room. "Trust us. We want to help him." 

"I'm coming with you," Scully said abruptly. But a firm 
grasp stopped her from moving. "What..?" 

"Not yet." Jack's words were firm. 

"Look just what the hell is going on?" Doggett asked.
 
Jack smiled and released Scully's arm. "Just let us take care 
of him. You can visit him later." 

"Who are you?" Scully asked, a little alarmed by his action. 

"A friend. Believe me I'm a friend." 

Skinner came forward and faced him. "So you've healed other 
abductees?" he questioned. 

"Not healed as such," Jack said. "But we can slow the process 
down." 

Scully was confused as ever. "With what?" 

Jack looked at each ex-agent and began to explain. "While I 
was still a colonel in the army I was involved in a top secret 
project. We captured an alien spacecraft and experimented on 
one of their species. From this, we created a toxin that can 
counteract with the alien virus. It can mimick cells in the 
body and recreate a DNA pattern but it's temporary. However, 
we believe the aliens can reverse the virus completely. But 
in order to do this ourselves we'd need the full alien 
technology that only they possess." 

"How in God's name are you going to get that?" Skinner
asked, impatiently. 

"We're working on it." Jack replied. 

"So, what you're saying is you can postpone the virus, like 
the anti-virals seemed to do?" Scully asked. 

"Yes." Jack took her hand gently. "Dana, we can administer 
this to your partner every time he has a seizure." Before 
anyone could answer he added, "They are going to get worse, 
but this toxin will prevent things from getting too severe."
 
"Too severe?" Monica asked. She'd been listening intently to 
the conversations and had to admit it was begining to sound 
like a confabulation of the truth. Still this Jack Wilkinson 
did seem to be showing concern. 

"You don't know do you?" Anglina asked. 

"Know what?" Scully asked with concern. 

The girl turned to her father, who took a deep intake of 
breath. "This virus not only destroys human DNA, but it 
leaves the human soul intact. Trapped forever in eternity 
inside an alien vessel of tissue and organs." 

"Oh God!" Scully exclaimed. Sudden fears of her beloved Fox's 
beautiful mind living in a never-ending torment inside an 
alien creature were starting to terrify her. 

Skinner, though highly concerned for his fellow collegue, 
had other things on his mind. "Just how on earth do you know 
all this information? And while we're at it, how did you end 
up with this toxin on your possession? Did you steal it?" 

"Yes, that's why I'm now on the run like you. "That's why I 
formed this resistance group and why I intend to do everything 
in my power to help victims such as your friend." Jack smiled 
again. "All the information was gathered when I was working 
as a colonel...at Area 51." 

"So what happened to these other abductees in your resistance 
group who were taken over with the alien virus?" Skinner 
asked. 

"Like I said the toxin only temporarily prevents the human 
DNA from altering to alien. We ran out of supplies, and there 
was nothing we could do to stop the virus from mutating. We 
had to burn the bodies, or they would have been a threat to 
the rest of the humans in the group," Jack explained. 
"So you found fresh supplies from where?" Monica asked. 
"I have contacts in the army. They were able to send me 
another batch but sadly not in time to save these abductees," 
Jack answered with no hesitation. 

John Doggett shook his head. "I'm sorry, but this all sounds 
a little too far fetched to me." 

"For someone who doesn't even believe aliens exist, how can 
that sound far fetched," Monica teased gently, under her 
breath. However she was begining to have her own doubts 
about this colonel's story. 

"Look I understand your concern," Jack said gently. "But this 
is the truth. Take it or leave it? All I'm interested in is 
keeping our fellow human beings from suffering a horrific 
future." 

Just then the door opened and one of the male members of the 
group entered. All eyes immediately turned on him. " Mr 
Mulder's fever has gone down. He's sleeping, but you are 
welcome to go see him now." 

Scully needed no encouragement. Giving a brief smile to her 
fellow colleagues, she headed towards the door. Just before 
she left she turned to Jack. "Thank you," she said quietly 
then followed the man out. 

Angelina watched the redheaded woman leave then faced the 
remaining ex-FBI agents. "I told you my father would help 
him," she said softly. 

"I guess I owe you an apology," Doggett said. 

"No need," Jack replied. "Now that you can see I really am 
trying to help the human race, that's all that matters." 

********************
                       
Swirling mists covered his body as he fought to tear himself 
free from their icy tendrils. Then a bright irredescent light 
appeared. It was so intense he had to shield his eyes from 
it's inhumane glare. The ship shimmered above him, all the 
colors of the rainbow. It was beautiful but deadly as it 
hovered silently. Suddenly, a beam of light shot out, 
enveloping him in it's radiant prison. He couldn't move a 
muscle as he felt himself being lifted up into the air. 
Terrified with what horrors he knew lay ahead inside the 
alien craft, his eyes caught sight of figures beyond the 
mist. They were standing on the ground in a circle, looking 
up at him with eager expressions. He realized they were human
...not only that but they were the members of the resistance 
group. Then he realized they were chanting. He could only 
hear fragments of sentences, but what he heard made him 
shudder even more. 

"He is...salvation...praise...oh revered one...the
sacrifice...complete...suffering no more...our freedom...oh 
praise be." 

Mulder awoke with a start! 

"Hey, it's ok," a gentle voice spoke softly beside him. 

Gazing up into her blue eyes he realized it was Scully. 
"What happened?" he asked, nervously. The dream fragments 
were diminishing, and he was becoming more aware that it had 
all just been another nightmare. "It started again...the 
ringing in my ears...my head pounding...and the voices. I 
couldn't make out what was being said. Then..?" 

"You had some sort of seizure," Scully stated calmly. "Mulder, 
they are going to get worse but Jack has a toxin that can act 
like the anti-virals. It will slow down the virus." 

Mulder sighed heavily. "I don't know if I trust him now, 
Scully." 

She squeezed his hand gently. "I'm not sure I do either. He's 
been explaining to us about this top secret project he worked 
on at Area 51. Mulder, he says he's prevented the virus from 
completely taking you over, and will continue to do so."
 
Mulder snorted. "With this miracle elixir he's discovered?"
 
Scully sighed soflty. "He told us exactly what the alien 
virus does to a human being." 

"Which is what?" Mulder asked, anxiety creeping in. 

"It replaces human DNA, but leaves the human soul trapped 
forever in the alien body," she told him, gently. "This 
toxin supposedly stops this...temporarily." 

He swallowed hard and cut in abruptly. "Temporarily?" 

"He says you'll have more seizures but each time you'll be 
given more of the toxin. He has supplies sent to him." 

"So there's no cure?" Mulder asked alarmed. 

"He says he's working on that," Scully said. 

"How exactly?" Mulder was getting more and more frustrated by 
the minute. 

"I have no idea," Scully replied. "All I know is that 
according to him, Jack Wilkinson wishes to save humanity from 
this vile alien race." 

Without any warning the chant began to form in his mind, the 
one he'd had in this most recent nightmare. <<He is...
salvation...praise...oh revered one...the sacrifice...
complete...suffering no more...our freedom...oh praise 
be.>> 

Mulder shuddered. 

"What?" Scully asked concerned. 

"I had a nightmare. I was being taken aboard an alien craft." 
Before she could say anything he added. "Yeah, text book 
abductee dream. Only this time it was different, Scully. 
This resistance group was there...standing all around, 
watching me being taken. And they were chanting...something 
about me being a savior...a sacrifice for the human race." 

"Mulder", she said gently. "You fear being taken again, and 
the fact we're now mixed up with this resistance group intent 
on saving the human race? It most likely caused a dream like 
that to manifest." 

"Except this wouldn't be saving the human race...the dream I 
mean." Scully looked puzzled, and he continued. "Don't you 
remember, the aliens want me as their savior. Returning me 
to them would sacrifice all human beings on this planet, not 
save them." 

"You've just recovered from a painful seizure, and it's 
probably sparked off all kinds of terrifiying things, which 
you formed into that nightmare." She frowned, wondering why 
she was trying to convince herself that Mulder's dream was 
nothing more than that? Perhaps she didn't want to face 
the consequences that it could have a prophetic deeper 
meaning. That would be just too frightening to comprehend 
right now. 

"Maybe...maybe not," Mulder replied quietly. 

Scully kissed him gently on the lips. "Honey, I suggest 
you try and get your strength back up by getting some 
rest." 

It was the answer she always came up with, whenever he 
seemed stressed by anything. Maybe it was only a cotton 
wool comfort zone she offered, but it always calmed him, 
made him start to see the positive aspects of a situation. 
So, perhaps this Jack Wilkinson really was a great guy who
turned against military secrets in order to help his fellow 
humans. He couldn't deny he also liked her endearing words 
towards him. "Honey?" he chuckled softly. "That's not like 
you to go all sappy on me, Scully?" 

She blushed furiously. "We've come a long way Mulder. If I 
want to start showing how much I care, then who are you to 
stop me?" 

"Hey! Don't shoot!" he replied, holding his hands up in 
resignation. "Anyway, I kinda liked it," he teased, a 
twinkle in his eye. That got him a smile. 

"Rest," she commanded gently, pushing him down, allowing 
his head to fall onto the pillow. 

Mulder closed his eyes. "Ok...baby", he mummered. This time 
he slept peacefully. 

Back inside the main headquarters of the alien resistance 
group Jack was suggesting everyone retire for the night. 
Scully returned to the building and suggested the men be as 
quiet as they possibly could when they entered their 
dormitory since Mulder was sleeping and she didn't want him 
to be disturbed. Then, one by one, the group headed off to 
their prospective sleeping compartments. 

********************

For the next several days Skinner, Scully, Doggett and Reyes 
were given more insight into the group's determination to 
overcome the alien race, through the various meetings formed 
by Jack Wilkinson. They decided to follow their fellow ex-FBI 
agents' original advice and had started to become less wary 
and a little more comfortable with these people as time passed 
by. Fox Mulder on the other hand now found himself suffering 
from frequent painful seziures. Luckily, Jack's toxin was 
always on hand, and once in his bloodstream it quickly got to 
work and helped ease the suffering he was going through. Still, 
after his ninth bout of seizures with only several hours in 
between each one, he was ready to quit. Jack had explained that 
it was the next stage of the virus and how lucky they were to 
have found him so he could give the toxin to Mulder. But the 
ex-FBI agent, however grateful for this temporary cure, was 
still wishing the world would swallow him up whole. On quite a 
few occasions he'd broken down in Scully's arms and just sobbed 
until he was so sapped of strength he'd ended up crying himself 
to sleep against her shoulder. "P...please S...Scully," he'd 
moaned, his voice sounding hoarse. "I c...can't take this 
anymore!" 

In return all she could do was hold him trying to offer soothing 
words of comfort until his trembling subsided. But she was 
hating this constant routine as well, and kept on praying that 
at one of these endless meetings they would finally reach some 
kind of result? There had been no definite answers as of yet, 
which was causing a tiny bout of suspicion to set in. But then 
Jack had shown concern and had arranged for both her and Mulder 
to sleep in a spare room in the main building. A few beds had 
been brought in from the dorms, so she could stay with him 
through these torturous nights. Now here they were, going 
through the same painful routine yet again. 

Scully gently bathed Mulder's brow with a cold wet cloth, 
while he groaned softly. "Shhh, my love. I'm here darling." 
The words of affection were now tripping off her tongue, 
without any hesitation, and, she had to admit, it felt good 
to have finally released them. 

Moisture glistened in his eyes yet again. "Oh God, when is 
this going to end?" he lamented. 

"I don't know my love...I just don't know," she replied.
 
Right at that moment she knew he was referring to these 
painful attacks; seizures that seemed to be increasing in 
intensity with each bout he suffered. But overall, Scully 
thought - *just when is this whole nightmare we are caught up 
in going to reach a conclusion, and hopefully a positive 
outcome?* She shuddered and held Mulder tighter. The prospects
did not look reassuring at all. 

Scully shook herself, allowing her thoughts to dissipate. All 
she could think about right now was offering the man she loved 
what little comfort she could. Softly, she smoothed his fevered 
brow with a delicate hand. Hearing his faint whimpers, she 
squeezed him tighter to her chest. "Hush darling. Try and get 
some sleep. You need to concentrate on healing." The words 
sounded hollow in her ears, but she had to say something to 
stop him from sinking any deeper into despair. She rocked him 
gently, stroking his back tenderly. "Shhh honey. Shhh. It's 
going to be ok. Shhh, everything is going to be all right." 
Just who did she think she was kidding? 

Mulder held onto her, breathing shallow breaths, trying to 
block out the pain in his head. Right at that moment her words 
seemed meaningless. But at least her presence was beginning to 
soothe him, somewhat. "S...Scully, I love you," he whispered 
softly, before allowing himself to slip into the luxury of 
sleep at last. 

"Oh Mulder, I love you too, so much," Scully replied, 
continuing to rock him gently. After a few minutes she realized 
he'd finally managed to fall asleep, and was glad that he would 
now rest, something he greatly needed in her opinion. Carefully 
she lay him down with his head on the pillow and pulled the 
covers over him. Leaning forward she kissed him softly on his 
lips. "Sleep my love." 

Feeling rather exhausted herself, Scully crossed over to the 
other bed and started to undress. Without warning there was a 
faint rap at the door. Hurriedly, she retrieved her shirt then 
went over and gingerly turned the door handle. Realizing it was 
the ex-colonel's daughter Angelina, she let her enter after 
putting a finger to her lips, indicating that Mulder was asleep 
now. 

"I'm so sorry to disturb you, but it's a matter of urgency," 
Angelina whispered. "You are a doctor are you not?" 

"Yes, I am," Scully replied. "Why? What's the matter?" 

"It's one of the women here. I think she's very sick and I 
don't know what to do. I thought you might be able to help," 
she replied, her voice raising slightly. 

Scully could see the woman was genuinely concerned. "What 
exactly are her symptoms?" she asked, lowering her voice, 
fearing that this person could be yet another victim of the 
alien virus. 

"Well..," Angelina began, stammering. "S...She's got a 
fever...I m...mean I felt her forehead...and it was very 
hot. She's s...shaking, and keeps vomiting." 

"Is she having seziures?" Scully glanced briefly over at her 
partner, who thankfully seemed to be sleeping peacefully for 
the moment. 

"N...No." 

Dana Scully could hear the anguish in the young woman's voice. 
"Okay. I'll come and look. Just give me a second." Crossing 
over to Mulder, she leaned down and kissed him tenderly on 
his forehead. "I'll be back soon," she whispered softly. Then 
exited the room along with Angelina, closing the door very 
gently behind her. Fox Mulder didn't stir. 

She followed the woman to the ladies dormitory, hoping this 
wouldn't take too long. She hadn't wanted to leave Mulder 
alone, as he was vulnerable right now. Scully couldn't put 
her finger on it, but something was making her feel slightly 
uneasy since she'd left his side. However, at the same time if 
someone was sick then she wanted to heal them. It was almost a 
built in duty she had to obey. Her deepest wish was to cure the 
man she respected and loved above all else. A tiny part of her 
believed she would find the answer, no matter what, but right 
now there was a woman possibly in need of medical attention who 
needed her assistance. Still, she decided she'd be as quick as 
she could, then return to her partner. 

Dana followed Angelina over to one of the beds, where she 
discovered the woman exactly as the young lady had described. 
The poor woman was throwing up in a metal basin beside her. 
Scully waited, then gently laid her back down, feeling her 
forehead as she did so. She realized this person was hot to 
the touch but thankfully, not burning up. Deciding a check up 
was in order she began to feel her pulse. It was racing. 
Turning to Angelina with growing concern she said, "I think 
this woman has been poisoned!" 

********************
          
Mulder stirred from his slumber. At first he wasn't sure 
exactly where he was then he slowly became aware of the sound 
of voices speaking very faintly - male voices. Something about 
an alien resistance group? Ah, yes. He and his fellow 
companions had been invited to join such a group and they had 
been staying at their makeshift headquarters. Groggily, he 
opened his eyes to witness the head of this band of 
renegades, ex-colonel Jack Wilkinson looming over him. 

" How are you feeling Mr Mulder?" the man asked, his voice 
sounding more authorative than concerned for the ex-FBI agent 
in the bed. 

"Oh, peachy," Mulder replied, with more than a hint of sarcasm. 
The headache had returned and he really could have done with 
several more hours of uninterrupted sleep. Letting his eyes 
adjust more to the light that someone had kindly switched on 
obviously without a thought in his direction, he turned his 
head. There had been other voices in this room so who were 
they? He noticed a younger man also standing beside the bed. 
At that moment a memory came to the surface. Somehow his face 
seemed very familiar. "I...I know you don't I?" he questioned. 
It took only a few seconds as his eidetic memory came into 
play, allowing him to flashback to a plane traveling to Wyoming 
with him as one of the passengers. "You...You're the pilot who 
flew us here," he said shakily. "You were the one who 
recommended we stay at that motel when our connecting flight 
never showed up." Suddenly the suspicions he had buried within 
came floating to the surface. His meeting with the young woman 
in the cafe which lead to discovering this resistance group. 
How neatly all that now fell into place. "I was meant to meet 
Angelina. Wasn't that your plan?" he asked, anger aimed at Jack.
 
The ex-colonel nodded and smiling down at him said, "Yes, Mr 
Mulder. I know a lot about you and your past involvement with 
the FBI and the X Files." 

"Gee, another fan," Mulder replied with a sardonic smile. 
"Didn't realize I was such a popular guy. So, why the pretense? 
Why didn't you just approach me honestly and ask me and my 
friends to join you? What was this setting me up with your 
daughter in the cafe all about?"
 
"It wasn't a set up as such," Jack replied. "I arranged for 
Angelina to meet you discreetly. You can't be too careful. I 
mean, you never know who could be listening? We need to keep 
our existence a secret. Surely you can understand that?" 

"Okay," Mulder answered, not completely convinced. "So, what 
do you want with me?" 

"You stand for what we believe in, someone firmly against the 
gray alien race. We thought you could help us." 

Mulder was just about to explain how relying on him for an 
answer wouldn't be of much help when someone else spoke. The 
sound was coming from the far side of the room, out of the 
periphery of his vision. 

"We must hurry! You will be given the technology you require 
when we meet at the rendezvous point." 

The booming voice did nothing to alleviate Mulder's distress. 

"Can you assure me this will reverse the multiplication of 
alien cells in these hybrids?" Jack asked. 

"You have my word. We renegades no longer believe in what our 
race wishes...to eliminate the human race." 

Mulder tried to put two and two together, although the 
increasing pressure in his head certainly wasn't helping 
matters. So, this group had an alien working alongside them 
it seemed. The first recollection he had of such a thing 
occurring before was when a race of alien rebels set out to 
destroy their competitors, the grays, and didn't mind wiping 
out humans at the same time by setting them on fire. These 
strange beings had mutilated their eyes, noses and mouths, 
to stop the infection of the black oil. They had also been 
responsible for killing the Consortium, which the black-
lunged son-of-a-bitch had arranged. So these faceless men 
weren't likely to aid human rebels were they? But then there 
was Jeremiah Smith. The one who had planned to help him and 
the other abductees after they had been taken from Belfleur, 
Oregon, then returned after the experiments. Maybe this 
ex-colonel from Area 51 and Jeremiah had teamed up and formed 
this resistance group. And now they needed his help. But how 
exactly? Raising himself up slowly, he looked across the room 
trying to determine who this third person was. As he did so, 
the figure approached him.
 
Mulder saw the large frame of the 'man's' physique, the hard 
square lined jaw, the piercing dark eyes...and froze. "Y...
You!" he stammered. Realizing, to his horror, that this was 
an alien bounty hunter clone, he now knew what it had told 
Jack had all been a pack of lies, and desperately needed to 
make him see that this was a trap. This thing was certainly 
no ally for the resistance group. 

Suddenly, he felt a cold cloth being pressed over his face 
and was aware of a strong medical smell invading his nostrils. 
Panicking, he tried to struggle, but someone pushed him back 
down and held him firmly. Jack Wilkinson felt the ex-FBI agent's 
body go limp and removed the cloth. "Did it have to be this 
way?" he asked the alien bounty hunter. 

"Agent Fox Mulder has always been important to our cause, but 
sadly he fails to see this. I promise you he will not be 
harmed. In return you will have your technology to help save 
your race." 

"Yeah, I know you explained to me about Mulder's alien 
connections, and how valued he is among your renegades as a 
leader. But did we have to chloroform him? Couldn't we have
just talked?" Jack asked, a little concerned. 

"As I said, he will be safe with us. He will come to realize 
just how crucial his alien inheritance will be for our survival 
- as well as for the human race. 'He' is the key to our 
existence."

******************** 
                         
There was nothing more she could do, Scully decided. She had 
bathed the sick woman with a cold flannel until the fever had 
subsided, and had held her until the stomach ache had eased. 
Now she was tucking a clean blanket around her to keep her 
warm while she slept. "It looks like it was food poisoning," 
she told the young girl who had stayed and helped. "Thankfully, 
it's not alien related...just something she ate." 

"Thank God," Angelina sighed. She'd been silently praying 
there wouldn't be another addition to the hybrid program. 
They'd already lost several other members that way. Sadly it 
now looked like the handsome ex-FBI agent was following the 
same fate unless her father could help. She had felt tiny 
flutters of the heart the moment she'd set eyes on Mulder in 
the cafe. Secretly heartbroken on discovering he had this 
beautiful redheaded doctor as his companion, Angelina still 
had a fondness for Fox Mulder. She certainly didn't want any 
harm to come to him.

Although the young lady hadn't spoken about her feelings, 
Scully was thinking along the same lines. Moreso about this 
alien virus affecting him and how it was getting worse. "She's 
resting now," Scully said, referring to the sleeping woman in 
the bed. "I have to get back to him." 

"Fox...I mean Mulder?" Angelina asked.
 
"Yes," Scully replied. "He's very sick," she added, her heart 
sinking fast. 

"My father said that the alien virus is mutating in him," the 
woman said sadly. "That's why we have the toxin." 

"It's only a temporary cure, and I'm probably going to need 
much more of the stuff," Scully told her. She was worrying 
just exactly how much more her partner would require to keep 
the retro virus from doing it's worse. 

Angelina gave no reply but deep down inside she believed her 
father would come up with an answer and possibly 'the' cure. 

Quietly, they left the women's dormitory and crossed over to 
the main building where both Mulder and Scully had been 
given a room so she could tend to him. When she entered, to 
her complete surprise and shock Scully noticed the bed he'd 
been sleeping in was empty; the covers strewn all over the 
floor. "Angelina!" she cried. "Mulder's gone!" 

Panic setting in, she ran out of the room followed by the 
young woman who was fast becoming her shadow it seemed, and 
headed for the male dormitory to seek her colleagues out - 
well two of them at least. As she reached her destination she 
noticed many of the men were leaving the building. Scully 
whirled around and grabbed the arm of one of the men, demanding 
to know where they were going? All she received was a blank 
stare so let him go. 

Ex-FBI agent John Doggett and former AD Walter Skinner were 
also very much awake and came out of the door, almost running 
into her. 

"What the hell is going on?" Skinner asked her. It was a 
rhetorical question since he pretty much knew she wouldn't 
have an answer. 

"Mulder's disappeared!" Scully blurted out. "I went to check 
on a sick woman. When I got back he was gone! Angelina asked 
me to..." She stopped and faced her. "You told me she needed 
my help. Was that so someone could get to Mulder?" she asked 
angrily, gripping the younger woman's arm. "Was it?" she 
demanded. 

Angelina shook her head fiercley. "N...No!" she stammered, 
a little afraid by this sudden turn of events. "It...It's 
not like that." 

"Then what is it like?" Skinner asked, harshly. "Look at 
these people, your so-called members! It's as if they are in 
some kind of trance!" 

It was true they realized, as they watched the men, and now 
women walking past them, all with vacant expressions on their 
faces. 

Realizing that perhaps he should never have lowered his guard 
with these people, Skinner added, "It's like your father is 
running some sort of cult. What's he got, some sort of 
religious fixation? Are these people his congregation who 
have to bow down and fucking worship him?"
 
"Please!" Angelina cried, pulling from Scully's grasp. "Let 
me explain!" 

"Yeah! I'd love an explanation as well," Monica Reyes said 
hurriedly, as she ran over to join them. "There I was 
sleeping peacefully when I was jolted awake by all the women 
leaving the ladies dorm. "What exactly is going on?" 

"Well, whatever it is, Mulder's involved. He's gone," Doggett 
said, addressing his former FBI partner. 

"Look, he's probably with my father," Angelina replied, 
sounding a little calmer now, which unnerved the others even 
more. 

"And this is a good thing because why?" Scully asked 
impatiently. She was getting tired of Angelina's attitude. If 
she didn't get a reasonable answer soon she was going to slap 
the woman hard, over and over until she was given a good 
enough reason to stop.

"My father's plan is only to help us!" Angelina spoke 
defiantly. "It was an agreement he came to...with some aliens," 
she added, quietly. 

"He's working with the aliens!" Skinner boomed, angrily. 

"Renegade!" Angelina stated, firmly. "They also want to stop 
the hybrid program and prevent the creation of this new 
species, the super soldiers and other types. They don't want 
any humans to be harmed," she added, quickly. 

"So, these renegades are another form of resistance group 
against the grays?" Skinner asked, not fully believing what 
she was saying. However, in the past he had been made aware of 
a certain race of extra terrestrials, when he'd been working 
at the Bureau. Mulder had tried to tell him about a group of 
faceless alien rebels, who had no regard for human life. He 
hadn't really been able to come to terms with that, either.
 
"Why didn't you think to tell us this before when we joined 
you?" Scully asked, knowing what Skinner was referring to. 
She'd been an unwilling participant who'd wittnessed these 
faceless men burning people alive, and had no wish for a 
repeat performance. "Do they have faces?" she added, 
fearfully. 

"Yes," Angelina replied, puzzled by what the redhead had 
asked her. "And the reason I didn't tell any of you was 
because it had to be kept from the others." 

"What did?" Doggett asked. Both he and Monica had remained 
silent, as neither understood what Skinner and Scully were 
obviously concerned about. 

"My father bargained with these renegade aliens. They were 
going to give him their technology, so that the process could 
be reversed," Angelina replied. 

"What process?" Monica asked, curiously.
 
"The DNA," Angelina said. "They can completely destroy the 
alien DNA cells in the human bodies and vice versa." 

"So, where's Mulder?" Doggett questioned. Once again all this 
talk of renegade aliens and their DNA was giving him a major 
headache. 

"What was the bargain your father made with them?" Scully 
asked, fearing the worst.
 
"I don't know," she replied. "But I do believe that what he 
is doing is right. I know he would have explained himself when 
the time was right." 

"Where does Mulder fit into all of this?" Skinner asked, his 
level of anger rising again. 

"I don't know. Really I don't." Angelina replied. Tears were 
starting to form in the corners of her eyes. 

It seemed to Scully that this young woman was telling the 
truth, what she knew of it anyway. But there were other things 
that had occurred that clearly didn't put this ex-colonel in a 
good light. "I'm sorry, Angelina," she began. "But that woman 
I treated had been poisoned. I hate to say this but your father 
may have administered it to her. It would have been a perfect 
decoy to get me out of the main building so Mulder could be 
taken." 

"No!" Angelina said, abruptly. "I remember now. We are all 
supposed to meet at a certain rendezvous point outside. It's 
not far from here." 

"That's where everyone is heading?" Monica asked.
 
"Yes, and maybe Mulder has already gone with my father." 

"But was that willingly, or not?" Skinner questioned, harshly. 

"He wouldn't leave without telling me," Scully said.
 
Angelina cowered a little from the larger man and faced the 
red head. "I'm sure once we get to this place everything will 
become clear to you...all of you. Mulder will be there waiting. 
Then you'll see you've no reason to doubt my father."
 
Scully secretly hoped those words would prove correct and her 
fears would be quelled, but deep down she still felt something 
was wrong about the whole situation. However, it seemed the 
best thing to do right then was follow Angelina to this so-
called rendezvous point. 

*This could, of course, be one elaborate trap* Skinner thought. 
At least they were armed if the need arose. He addressed his 
former FBI colleagues. "Okay, let's go along with this." The 
words * for now* echoing in his mind. "Angelina, please lead 
the way", he added, offering her a gracious wave of the hand.
 
She could see his gesture was false, and that they didn't fully 
trust her explanations, but she knew her father was a good man 
who only wanted to help his fellow humans. When these people got 
to the rendezvous point they would realize this. They would see 
there was nothing to fear...and above all, Fox Mulder would 
indeed be discovered, safe and sound. 

********************
                        
The little group left the compound rather reluctantly, 
following Angelina and the other members down from the mountain, 
across rubble and dry grasses, which eventually led them to a 
clearing. This patch of land was devoid of any plant life, as 
if someone had decided to have one very large bonfire. The 
burnt area was almost in the shape of a complete circle. 

"I don't like this," Scully said in Skinner's direction, but 
in earshot of the others. She had seen the ground like this 
before. Noticing a forest of trees was growing around part of 
the circumference of the sparse ground, she checked them out, 
and realized part of each one had been scorched. It confirmed 
her suspicions. "A UFO has been here." 

"How do you know?" he asked her, immediately receiving the 
other's attention. 

"Mulder showed me certain things to look for in the past. 
See?" She pointed to the trees. "See how only the tops are 
burnt? Then there's the large circular pattern on the ground." 

They looked at what she was indicating and sure enough it was 
like some kind of extreme heat had caused severe scorching. 

"Either that, or there's been a huge forest fire," Doggett 
stated. 

"Or, perhaps a ritual sacrifice of some kind?" Moncia 
suggested, nervously. 

Since being recruited into the FBI, this subject had become 
her forte. Her mind automatically dealt with and understood 
horrific events, demonic or otherwise. She'd never actually 
witnessed the raising of a devil as such but she'd seen 
'demons' in the metaphorical sense of the word as human 
beings capable of inflicting such pain and suffering on 
others that death was all too often an outcome. The subject 
matter had both sickened and fascinated her at the same time. 
However, she'd never fully allowed herself to believe in the 
paranormal monsters until she was asked to join agents John 
Doggett and Dana Scully with their search for Fox Mulder. 
After seeing her very first spaceship, her beliefs were 
fully confirmed. This in turn had led her to becoming part 
of the X Files division. 

"Yes," Angelina replied, looking across at Scully. "A 
spacecraft has landed here. This is where we formed our 
alliance." As she spoke, the resistance group of men and 
women began to gather in a semi-circle and join hands with 
each other. "Come," she said, taking hold of Scully's.
"Join us." 

"Ok, this is weird," Doggett said, taking a hold of Monica's 
hand while holding Scully's other one. "What are we going to 
do now? The Hokey Pokey...or hold a seance?" The tone in his 
voice was far from amused. 

As one of the other male members of the group took his hand, 
Skinner reluctantly sidled in between Angelina and another
of the females. His eyes darted around everyone, and then he 
realized certain people were missing. "Where's your father
...and Mulder?" he hissed into Angelina's ear. 

"They'll be here," she replied. "Don't worry." 

This failed to reassure him. "You had better be telling me 
the truth!" he warned. 

While standing beside the young woman and John Doggett, 
Dana Scully began to feel more and more uneasy. No one was 
chanting, but this was reminding her of the nightmare Mulder 
had several nights before he disappeared. He'd mentioned how 
he'd heard the group reciting while standing in a circle. 
Something about a revered one...a sacrifice, and salvation? 
*It 'was' a prophetic dream.* As she pondered on those 
disturbing thoughts, she heard a loud rumbling sound 
approaching and looked up into the sky above. 

Almost at the same time, everyone else raised their heads to 
see a beam of light coming straight towards them.
 
"Oh dear God!" Moncia exclaimed, her heart rate increasing 
rapidly. 

Doggett squeezed her hand reassuringly. "It's an engine...
rotary blades," he informed the others. "Probably military 
aircraft. That's all." 

"It's my father!" Angelina cried out, relieved. 

They watched as a black, unmarked helicopter flew over their 
heads before coming to land just outside of the clearing. The 
doors opened and a man stepped down, followed by the ex-
colonel. 

Scully noticed the pilot, and immediately realized who he was. 
"It's the man who brought us to Wyoming!" she announced above 
the engine noise to her astonished former colleagues. 

"So that's why there was no other plane!" Doggett yelled, also 
trying to be heard above the whirring blades. "They wanted us 
here!" 

Another passenger alighted from the machine, and Scully 
realized in horror it was the one her partner had referred to 
as an alien bounty hunter. At that precise moment Jack 
Wilkinson leaned into the helicopter, dragging out a very 
unconcious Mulder, who he hoisted over his shoulder. 

"Mulder!" Scully screamed. 

"Oh God!" Monica added in unison. 

"Jesus!" Skinner yelled, breaking free from the human chain. 
"Let him go!" he bellowed, starting toward the helicopter. 
Reaching for his weapon as he ran, he unfortunately 
discovered he wasn't quick enough. 

The ex-colonel also pulled out a pistol with his free hand 
and aimed it straight at the former assistant director. "Stay 
where you are Mr. Skinner!" he threatened. 

"Dad!" Angelina cried, not believing her own eyes. "What the 
hell are you doing?" 

"They need him," Jack replied, earnestly. "In return we get 
the cure." 

"So this was the fucking bargain you made?" Skinner yelled 
angrily, stopping in his tracks. "To return Mulder to them? 
You bastards!"
 
"Please don't do this!" Scully yelled in fear. "He isn't a 
renegade alien against the grays," she added, referring to 
the silent figure standing ominously beside the ex-colonel 
and Mulder. "He's an alien bounty hunter!" 

"Our enemy, you stupid fools!" Skinner spat out the words. 
Why had he not listened to that inner voice warning him all 
along? Too late now! "This 'is' a fucking trap!" he yelled.
 
During all the commotion John Doggett had quietly been 
planning a way of escape. No one was even looking at him, 
which was hopefully going to prove an advantage. Leaning 
down, he quickly retrieved a hidden pistol from his ankle 
holster, aimed it at the man he'd heard Scully call a bounty 
hunter and fired into his chest. A thick, green acidic liquid 
began to ooze from the wound. He fired again, which temporarily 
threw the alien off balance. As the second shot rang out, every 
member of the resistance group suddenly screamed in unison. 

Seconds later Jack howled in pain. Dropping Mulder to the ground, 
he began clutching at his face. "Aggh! It burns!" The pilot 
followed suit shortly afterwards and both men collapsed, 
writhing in agony. 

"Dad...nooo!" Angelina screamed, suddenly terrified. 

John Doggett gave a firm nod in Skinner's direction. The former 
AD knew he only had seconds to spare, but he owed this to 
Mulder. Besides he had once bravely fought in the Vietnam war, 
and found himself in many situations that were far too close 
for comfort. He also knew the ex-FBI agents would cover him. 
Indeed, as he ran over to Mulder's inert form lying on the 
ground and dragged him out of harms way, both Scully and Reyes 
fired their weapons repeatedly at the bounty hunter. This 
knocked him back, stunning him long enough to give Skinner 
enough time to carry Mulder away from the present danger. 

Suddenly, without any warning whatsoever, an alien space 
craft uncloaked itself right in the middle of the clearing. 
The members of Jack's resistance group remained as still as 
statues. 

"Run!" Skinner yelled to his former colleagues, who showed 
no hesitation in obeying. As they began to flee the scene, 
Doggett and Scully continued to turn and fire at the alien 
bounty hunter. 

"M...My father?" Angelina whimpered, helplessly. 

"There's nothing we can do," Monica replied, sadly. "Come 
on!" 

Grasping hold of the young woman's hand, she began pulling 
her along with them.

Looking back, all they could see of the pilot and ex-colonel 
were two bodies lying motionless on the ground beside the 
helicopter. 

Angelina pulled from Monica's grasp. "No! I have to help him!" 

She started to run back towards the clearing and the ship but 
Scully grabbed her, whirling her around to face her. "He's 
dead! Their blood is like acid to us. We have to get out of 
here!" 

"Nooooo!" Angelina screamed aloud, tears flowing down her face 
as the redhead led her away from the terrible scene. 

John Doggett reloaded his gun and continued firing one bullet 
after another. His whole take on reality had just come crashing 
down all around him but his professional instincts told him to 
keep shooting at this creature that was now trying to follow 
them. He fired another shot into it's thigh. "Shoot the fucking 
thing in the other leg!" he yelled to Monica. "'I'm running 
out of ammo!" 

She aimed and fired, hitting the alien in the calf. The green 
blood poured from many bullet holes, as it stumbled and fell 
with a heavy thud. "He's down!" 

********************

Just then the door to the spaceship opened with a resounding 
metallic clang, and clones of the alien bounty hunter emerged, 
one after another in single file. They started toward the 
human resistance group who were still in their trance-like 
state. As they reached their intended victims, the air started 
to shimmer. Suddenly the ship, the aliens and the people 
disappeared completely. It was like a curtain of invisibility 
had closed all around them. 

"It's the shield," Skinner said. "They're inside!" He remembered 
that fateful night when Mulder had stepped into such a force 
field. He hadn't been able to see the agent or the ship from 
where he was standing on the outside. Hadn't even been aware 
it was there at the time. 

"They were set up," Scully exclaimed, "Like lambs to the 
slaughter!" 

"Yeah, and we had better keep running, you guys," Doggett piped 
up. "That bounty hunter creep is still on our tail." 

During the cloaking of the ship, which had trapped the 
unfortunate members of the resistance group inside, the alien 
bounty hunter picked himself up and headed toward them at a 
frightening pace. Doggett fired his pistol again. "Doesn't 
this thing ever die?" 

"He's like a super soldier," Monica added, frustration growing 
in her voice, as she fired another couple of rounds. 

"You can kill him with an alien stiletto weapon," Scully 
stated. 

"Pity we don't have one of those," Doggett replied, 
sarcastically. 

Walter Skinner felt his former agent begin to struggle then 
heard a muffled groan coming from over his shoulder. "Unnngh!"
 
"Guys, I think Mulder's waking up!" He held onto him tighter, 
trying to reassure him. "It's okay. Hang in there, Mulder." 
However, the bounty hunter was gaining speed and right now he 
had no clue as to where they could run. 

"The helicopter!" Doggett hollered. "Double back and head for 
the helicopter!" 

The team turned and began running in the opposite direction. 
This seemed insane, as the alien was coming straight for them 
but it was clear to everyone that there was nowhere safe to go 
on foot. Their only hope was to fly out. 

*********************

Both Scully and Monica reloaded their weapons and opened 
fire, riddling the bounty hunter with more bullet holes. He 
was starting to look like a colander! They all charged past 
him as the girls' bullets forced the creature backwards. They 
ran as if the hounds of hell were on their heels. A frightened 
Angelina clung to Scully for all she was worth. Skinner was 
ahead hanging onto a very woozy Mulder. Doggett followed 
behind them pulling Monica alongside. Dana was trying to catch 
up, but Angelina just couldn't run as fast as the former 
agents had been trained to do at Quantico. As she ran past, 
the bounty hunter suddenly swerved on his heel, his hand 
flying out with alarming strength toward the two women. As it 
reached its target, the hand flattened, cutting through the 
air at a frightening speed, instantly slicing off Angelina's 
head! 

Scully was still running when she felt the young woman stagger 
and fall. The weight of the body forced her to stop and turn 
around. "Oh my God!" she screamed, dropping the now lifeless 
hand she had been holding. "She's dead!" Scully was stunned 
by that sick revelation only for a moment. Doggett had 
retraced his steps and was firing his final round into the 
alien bounty hunter just as the creature took another vicious 
swipe in Scully's direction. It hit him in the left eye making 
him automatically shield his face. Doggett took the opportunity 
and grabbed the red head firmly by her arm. 

"Scully, come on!" he yelled, pulling her along behind him. 

Green ooze poured in between the fingers as the alien clutched 
one hand to his face, staggering over Angelina's corpse, 
causing it to lose it's balance. The ex-FBI team and former AD 
kept running until they finally reached their destination. 

"Everyone inside, quick!" Skinner ordered. 

Both Monica and Scully piled into the helicopter, at the same 
time helping Skinner lift a dazed Mulder into the machine. 

"So, I take it one of us knows how to fly this thing? Moncia 
asked. 

"Well, I've put in some time in a simulator," Doggett offered. 

"You'd better learn how to pilot a helicopter fast then," 
Scully said. "That damn bounty hunter is on the chase again!" 

"No problem!" Doggett replied, leaping into the cockpit. 

Skinner followed suit and seated himself on the passenger side. 
"Okay, lets get this thing off the ground," he barked. "Now!" 

The alien made a speedy recovery from it's facial wound and was 
now almost within easy reach of the helicopter. 

"We'll never make it!" Monica screamed. 

"Oh yes, we damn well will!" Doggett replied, starting up the 
engines. 

The rotary blades began to turn, getting faster and faster 
but the alien bounty hunter was gaining speed as well. 

"Jeeze! Hurry!" Scully yelled. 

The helicopter began to lift off the ground, and she prayed 
they'd be able to get away in time. She'd managed to prop 
Mulder up in a seat against the wall of the machine, close to 
the doorway. Suddenly she felt him jerk beside her. With a 
certain horror she realized the bounty hunter had caught up 
with them and was trying to pull him out of the helicopter. 
"Monica, help me!" she yelled, grabbing hold of her partner. 
Her fellow FBI colleague responded instantly; leaning over 
and pulling on his arm. 

Fox Mulder was by now a lot more lucid since the drug, which 
Jack had injected into his system had almost worn off. "Get 
the fuck off me!" he yelled, kicking out at the alien. That 
seemed to do the trick as the creature lost his hold. Mulder 
pulled back, falling across Scully's lap as he did so. 

Without the bounty hunter holding on, Doggett was finally 
able to get the helicopter to ascend and the 'bird' took off 
as fast as he could get her to go. "We did it," he said, 
glancing over at the former AD. 

"Yeah...only just," Skinner replied, breathing a sigh of 
relief. Deep down he was still angry for letting himself 
believe that the alien resistance group had their best 
interests at heart. 

In the back of the helicopter, Mulder lifted himself up off 
his partner's lap. "What in God's name just happened?" he 
asked, alarmed. Scully proceeded to explain what they had 
just witnessed as they continued to fly away from the whole 
terrifying ordeal. 

He listened intently, realizing just how close he had been 
to being returned to the grays. Letting out a shuddering 
breath, he closed his eyes, allowing the woman he loved to 
hold him in her arms, while she related how they had managed 
to escape. When Scully reached the part where Angelina's 
cruel fate was sealed, he opened his eyes, which were now 
filled with tears. "She didn't have to die," he said, sadly. 

Scully held him tighter. "She had no idea of her father's 
real intentions involving you. She just trusted and loved 
him unconditionally." 

"None of them knew the truth," Monica said. "And they all 
died because of it." 

"They aren't dead." Mulder spoke very softly, remembering 
his ordeal aboard the alien spacecraft once more. "They'll 
be more recruits, super soldiers for the grays," he added, 
solemly. 

"Human souls trapped forever in extra terrestrial bodies," 
Scully said, letting Jack Wilkinson's words play over in 
her mind. 

"Yet he gets to escape that eternal suffering. Doesn't 
seem fair." Monica added. 

"None of this is fair," Mulder said, a melancholy tone in 
his voice. "None of this whole goddamn situation is fair." 

From the cockpit of the helicopter, Doggett turned toward 
the former AD. "So, where to now chief?" he asked quietly.
 
Walter Skinner had no idea exactly what plan of action to 
take. But right at this moment he decided the further away 
they could get the better. "Just get us out of this place." 

John Doggett was still trying to get a handle on what he 
had just witnessed, but found his only explanation involved 
something he had firmly disbelieved in all his life...up 
until this point. "T...They are real aren't they; the 
spaceships, the aliens? It's all fucking true?" 

"Yes," Skinner replied. "It's real." 

"So, Mulder's been right all along?" he asked, incredulously. 

"Yeah." That one word summed up his feelings about the way 
events had turned out for him. Ever since Fox Mulder had 
opened the X Files, Walter Skinner had refused to believe in 
the paranormal, writing it off as fantasy; allowing his agent 
to pursue these far-fetched notions of his, while keeping him 
on a tight rein. But somewhere deep inside in his subconcious 
he must have kept an open mind? When he witnessed the ship 
that abducted his favourite agent, he'd then been forced to 
see that everything Mulder had tried to justify to the FBI 
and to his boss had been the truth all along. He'd been too 
late to help the agent at that time, cursing himself for being 
such a fool but now he intended to assist Mulder in any way he 
could. These damned aliens had to be stopped! If he could now 
believe in the paranormal, something he had thought impossible, 
then why not believe that they could and would eventually 
escape from this up and coming alien invasion? After all, it 
seemed just as equally impossible. 

********************
                         
Several weeks had passed since the ex-agents and former 
assistant director of the Bureau had escaped from the alien 
bounty hunters, who had brought an end to the resistance 
group run by an ex-colonel. Fox Mulder sighed deeply as he 
looked out of a window at barren land with cold gray mountains 
in the distance. At least his former AD had found them an 
abandoned wooden shack, a good few hundred miles from the now 
deserted headquarters. There was no way they could have 
remained there, since the grays knew all about that location 
thanks to Jack Wilkinson. He just hoped his friends were safe, 
for now. As for himself? The outcome was looking more and more 
ominous. There was still a fear that he might turn on his 
former colleagues should they be unable to stop the retro 
virus from completely taking him over. That prospect was 
looking highly possible. On arrival, another seizure had hit 
him hard. However the fearful prospect of losing his soul to 
an alien hell was thwarted when Scully revealed she managed 
to salvage some of the miracle toxin, and had kept it on her 
person. She had only been able to hide several vials in the 
inside pockets on her jacket. Soon there would be none left, 
and no way of knowing how to manufacture or find any more 
of the substance. 

Mulder shivered, pulling his arms around himself. Without 
the temporary cure he certainly had no hope of stopping the 
alien DNA from taking over his body. Letting forth a deep 
shuddering breath, he crossed over to a bed and seated 
himself on the edge. His eidetic mind flashed back to when 
his real father, the cigarette smoking man, had revealed all 
about his family tree. Mulder was glad the evil bastard was 
dead, but secretly wished he'd pulled the trigger when he'd 
had opportunities in the past. *No point crying over spilt 
milk* he thought, the age old saying bringing a forced 
smile to his lips. 

His reminiscing was brought to an end when Scully entered 
the room. "The others have gone to bed," she stated, 
receiving a half-hearted nod from her partner. *Mulder, 
what's wrong?* seemed the most ridiculous thing to say. So 
she seated herself next to him and without a word, pulled 
him close to her. 

For a good while they remained in each other's arms, just 
feeling their warmth enveloping each other. Mulder tried 
to stay contented, *but it's only temporary comfort* he 
told himself. *Like everything else in my life.* "You're 
running out of toxin," he said, quietly. 

His eyes locked with her own and she saw and felt the 
hidden pain there. "We'll find some more even if I have to 
march into Area 51 itself," Scully suggested, knowing her 
words sounded so futile. 

"If anyone can raid that place, you can," he said, a 
flicker of a smile crossing his lips. He'd always admired 
the sheer determination this wonderful woman had, no matter
what they had faced in the past but he knew the obstacles 
they were up against now were the most powerful they had 
ever encountered in their entire lives. Most likely the 
infamous Area 51 was now closed for business. On top of that, 
the grays must know of its existence. 

"Doggett thinks he and Skinner should go back to the compound 
where we met the resistance party," Scully told him. 

Mulder shrugged that idea off. "It's too dangerous Scully. 
Those fucking aliens know about the place. They'll most 
likely be waiting in case we do return. I can't let either 
of them risk their lives for me," he said, in a whisper. 
"Besides, the helicopter has run out of fuel." 

As he spoke those words a searing pain shot through his body. 
Screaming in agony, Mulder collapsed onto the bed, shaking 
violently. 

"Jesus! God! Not again!" Scully lamented. Hurriedly she 
reached for her jacket and took out a vial then transferred 
the liquid to a syringe she'd found in the medi-kit on board 
the helicopter. Rolling up his sleeve, she found a vein in 
Mulder's arm and gave him the shot. After a short while he 
began to relax. His breathing slowed down, and he slept.
 
Scully couldn't stop the tears from falling down her cheeks. 
Resting her head on his chest she murmured to herself, 
"There're only three vials left." Taking hold of her partner's 
hand she started to utter a prayer. "Please God, help me to 
find some more - please," she begged to the deity she firmly 
believed in. Surley He would help her find an answer. 
Otherwise, there would be nothing more anyone could do for 
this man. "Please, don't take him away from me...not again," 
she sobbed. 

********************
 
Fox Mulder awoke in bed to yet another pounding headache
and groaned inwardly. He noticed Scully, dressed only in 
her underwear, had slipped under the sheets. His head now 
rested in her lap and she was stroking his hair. 

"You had another..." she began. 

He cut her off immediately. "Don't," he whispered, 
plaintively. "Please don't tell me." Slowly he raised 
himself up and leant against the headboard. 

Straight away Scully made him lean forward and placed a 
pillow behind his head, then gently lay him back down, 
stroking back a few strands of hair that had fallen over 
his eyes. 

"Yeah, I need a haircut," he joked half-heartedly. 

Realizing he was suffering from one of those damned 
headaches which always occurred after a seizure, all she 
could do was offer useless words of comfort. "Mulder, I'm 
sorry, my love," she confessed. "I don't know what else I 
can do." 

"Got any asprin?" He managed a smile then winced. Right at 
that moment he could easily have downed a whole bottle. But 
it wouldn't have had any effect whatsoever, as this had been 
attempted in the past. It seemed the alien retro virus wasn't 
going to let a few pain killers relieve his suffering. "How 
many...how many are left?"
 
She knew he was referring to the vials of toxin and sighed 
heavily. "Three." 

"So, three more seizures to go...and then?" He couldn't 
finish the sentence. 

Dana Scully discovered she couldn't take this any more, that 
complete feeling of helplessness so decided to pull herself 
out of it. There had to be an answer...a light at the end of 
this very dark tunnel, and she was damn well going to find 
it! "We're going to get through this, okay?" she told him, 
allowing that spark of determination to ignite once more. 
Entwining her fingers with his she added, "Mulder, you have 
my hand...and you have my strength." Realizing she was 
getting no response from her gesture, she squeezed his hand 
gently. "Mulder, talk to me. Tell me exactly how you're 
feeling?" 

"How I'm feeling?" he replied, curtly. "That's a good one 
Scully. How about...I feel like crap?" 

"Don't hide behind that witty sarcastic self, not now," she 
pleaded softly. 

"Okay," Mulder said. "You want to know how I'm feeling deep 
down in my gut? I'll tell you," he stated firmly. "I'm feeling 
like..," A brief hesitation, then he continued. "Like I want 
this all to be over. I don't want to become what they want me 
to be. But I am, or I will be their fucking savior, 'the' 
fucking super hybrid of them all once they get their slimy 
hands on me...or the virus takes it's final hold!" The anger 
he'd been keeping at bay suddenly erupted inside him. "Oh 
fuck!" he yelled. Fear was gripping him now and wouldn't let 
go. What if this was the next part of the progression into 
becoming an alien? What if this meant he would soon turn on 
his friends at any given moment? Did this mean Scully could 
be in danger? 

"We won't let that happen, and we certainly won't let them 
take you back," she told him, determination building once 
more. 

Mulder swallowed hard. "Scully, I..I don't think you should 
be here...with me." 

"Why?" she queried. 

"Because I'm...I'm worried it might...'I' might hurt you," 
he said, his voice sounding weak. 

Scully realized where his train of thought was leading, and 
tried to reassure him. "Mulder...you won't hurt me," she said 
softly. Looking deep into his eyes she added. "I just know 
you won't." How she'd managed to convince herself of that, 
she had no idea. She just believed at that precise moment he 
could never harm her in any way, no matter what happened.
 
"You know it hurts to know your life has been one big fat 
lie," Mulder blurted out, changing the subject. Scully's 
reply had been said with such strong conviction, that he 
decided he should go with it, and refrain from thinking 
about the 'what ifs' for now. "That's what my world has 
been...a complete fabrication," he added, mornfully. 

Remembering she had been trying to get him to discuss his 
inner feelings, she replied, "Apart from when you met me?"
 
"We were never a lie," Mulder said, looking up at her. 
Turning his head away, he added, " It's what happened to us
...that led us up the proverbial garden path. Your abduction, 
your cancer from the experiments, finally choosing you as my 
mate like some fucking zoo animal so we'd create William." 
*Thank God that plan of the aliens had failed and our child 
is now a normal human being * he thought. "Then there was my 
abduction, those experiments so they could kick start their 
ultimate goal...make me their fucking leader." He took a 
sharp breath contemplating what he'd just said. "And they 
knew. My mother and the man I thought was my father knew 
all along what I was." 

"They were afraid to say anything," Scully started to say.
 
Mulder finished off her sentence. "Because they feared for 
their lives. So he murdered them because they were going 
to tell me the 'truth'!" He felt his cheeks redden from 
the anguish within himself. "That son-of-a-bitch smoking 
bastard father of mine sure put a stop to that didn't 
he."    
         
Seeing him suffering this way made Scully ever more 
determined. "Your parents were murdered because they loved 
you and stood up to them, and we have to fight these aliens
for all it's worth!" she announced.

"With only the five of us?" Mulder replied incredulously. 
"Can't get any help from that resistance group anymore," he 
said, sharply. "Now, we have no one to turn to. It's just us 
against the alien race. We are on our own." 

"So what, we just give up?" Scully asked. "Is that what you 
think we should do? Just calmly give in?" Gently she placed 
her hands on his shoulders, making him look at her. "I can't 
believe there's no point in trying anymore...I won't believe 
it, Mulder." 

Returning a sorrowful gaze, he replied. "I...I'm tired of 
fighting, Scully...and I'm tired of being the victim...yet 
also the hero. I never wanted to be a hero, certainly not 
for them. I was quite happy in my office in the basement of 
the FBI building pursuing my X Files, my unsolved mysteries. 
But no...I had to be thrust into the limelight. Had to be 
'the' one. The truth had to be 'me'!" Pulling back, away 
from her, he fell against the pillow with a soft thud.
 
"Mulder, what are you saying?" Scully asked, trying to 
understand his confused ramblings. Noticing he wouldn't 
look at her, she tried again. "Mulder...please." 

"That there's only one way out of this," he replied solemnly. 
The words poured out of his mouth before he'd really 
considered why he was saying them. 

Scully was surprised. "But I was under the impression you'd 
decided we had nothing to fight for?" 

"There's always a way out." He spoke very quietly, still 
refusing to look at her. "Just not necessarily a pot of gold 
at the end of the rainbow for all concerned," he told her 
profoundly. He knew he was referring to himself and suddenly 
realized why he'd mentioned that he had a way out. 
Subconciously he must have decided this means of escape days 
ago but had forgotten to let his conscious mind in on the 
secret, until now. 

"Mulder, I'm not following you," Scully said, confused. 
"What are you getting at?" She didn't like the way he had 
gone from anger to displaying an eerie calmness. 

He wasn't ready to explain the whole deal to the woman he 
loved, not yet. "If this works then they'll have to go back 
to the proverbial drawing board. Years of planning down the 
drain." 

"If what works?" she asked, totally perplexed. 

"I take away the key...which in this case is yours truly," 
Mulder replied. 

This time he faced her but she couldn't read anything from 
his expression. It was like he was looking straight through 
her and she didn't like it. "That's what we've been trying 
to do, to hide you from them. *Speaking of hiding?* she 
thought. 

"You can only physically hide me for so long. Eventually 
they will find me." *Then again they might not need to 
abduct me, not if the virus 'changes' me anyway* he thought, 
miserably. 

"So we'll never stay in one place. We'll just keep on 
moving so they can't pinpoint our location," Scully 
suggested, a plan forming in her mind. "Then we can 
carry on with our lives...together." 

She was being ever the rational one once again, and he used 
to admire that greatly in this woman but life had thrown him 
a curve ball that now made him pretty sure he wasn't going 
to win this game. "What life?" he asked her, but didn't wait 
for a reply. "Scully, remember when you told me how you wanted 
to get out of the car and settle down? How you wanted the 
normal life with a husband, the 2.4 kids, little house with 
a white picket fence...maybe a rose garden?" He realized his 
tone had turned sarcastic and maybe it wasn't fair of him to 
bring all this up. But he had, without thinking, and was now 
forced to continue. 

"I don't remember it quite like that, Mulder," Scully 
stated, nervously. She did not appreciate why he'd gone off 
onto this tangent. "But..?" she began. 

He cut her off abruptly. "Normality!" It was almost a yell, 
but he kept it under control. 

Scully stared at him, and felt his hand tremble a little 
beneath her own. She started to protest, wanting to understand 
what on earth he was trying to say. But he refused to let her 
in. 

"I think by now we've established you will never have that with 
me?" It came out as a question, but sure didn't feel like one. 
"Because I'm not even a human being. I'm part of a plan that 
doesn't include the little house with the white picket fence, 
rose garden and 2.4 kids," he said bitterly. "If you want that 
with me, you've got the wrong...guy." He stumbled over the 
last word, an ache from within piercing him deeply, almost 
causing him to lose the false bravado he had tried to portray 
earlier. 

But Scully had noticed a chink in that armor plated exterior. 
*You are hiding something, Mulder.* she thought. *And I intend 
to find out what it is.* Reluctantly she half-heartedly agreed 
with his last statement. "So we may never have that. The main 
thing is that we have each other. That's the strength we have 
here, Mulder, you and me." 

He took a deep breath whilst shaking his head. "That's what 
I've been trying to tell you. I don't have any strength left, 
Scully." 

Mulder's words had sounded so wounded, making her tread 
carefully. "Yet you said you've thought of a way out?" she 
replied, softly. "Please explain to me what you meant by 
that?" 

"Well it's not the truth, that's for certain. The truth will 
not help now. It never could. And you know why?" he asked, 
not waiting for an answer. "Because the truth is I'm an 
alien-human hybrid experiment created by them to help take 
over the human race, with an alien army to back me. That's 
the fucking truth, Scully!" One hand clenched into a fist 
and he slammed it onto the quilt cover.

Scully hadn't expected this sudden reaction, and it made her 
jump. Grabbing him by the wrist she yelled, "Mulder! That's 
their truth. Ours is to fight this and win!" 

He looked straight at her, his eyes not giving anything away. 
"Yeah, and like I said, I know a way out." 

"Which is? she demanded. 

Mulder's tone changed dramatically to almost a whisper. 
"It's a way out for you, for Skinner, Monica and Doggett, 
maybe even a way out for the human race. So it could be a 
great answer for humanity." 

"What could? What is this answer you seem to have?" Scully 
asked, impatiently. She was getting even more concerned now. 
Why was he holding back? Whatever he had to say didn't he 
realize she'd understand? 

Heaving a heavy sigh he once again turned away from her and 
began to try and explain but the words came out mumbled and 
disjointed. "The truth is that," he began. His mouth 
suddenly felt dry and he swallowed hard. "That I'm tired...
and I don't think," His eyes started to sting and he blinked, 
refusing to let any tears form. "I feel completely lost, 
Scully. I really don't know if...if I can cope anymore."
 
The look of worry was now clearly etched on Scully's 
face. "Mulder, you're scaring me," she admitted. "Of course 
you can cope. You've got me honey. I'm here for you, and I 
won't let you feel defeated," she said, gently squeezing his 
hand. 

She was rushing to his rescue like she always did, her 
forever gallant knight persona fighting to save his pathetic 
damsel in distress routine. In the past he'd secretly relished 
those moments where he could feel safe and secure because she 
was beside him but it was different now, and there would be 
no galloping up on a pure white horse to save the day. 
"Scully, I know you're here and I know you're trying to help, 
and I appreciate it, I really do." God this was sounding so 
lame. " The fact of the matter is we can't win by endlessly 
running away to some safety zone because it doesn't exist. 
No matter how much we want it, we can never ever win this 
way." 

Scully was so wishing he'd come to the point, as this 
attitude he was displaying was starting to drive her crazy. 
"So what way can we win? You seem to have an answer, yet 
refuse to tell me, like you refused to tell me about the 
date of the final invasion during your phony trial. Mulder, 
don't you trust me?" 

"How can you say that?" Her words had cut into him deeply, 
and it hurt. "I trust you above all else, Scully but this is 
not an answer you'll approve of." Before she could utter any 
sort of reply, he added. "They've broken me, Scully. They 
have ripped me apart and reduced me to... "His voice faltered 
and he couldn't continue. 

His reaction caused her to soften somewhat. "That's why I'm 
here, and always will be," she said, pulling him into an 
embrace. "Whatever this 'way out' is, you know I'll back you 
all the way." 

"I doubt that," he replied. His words were hardly discernible.
 
She felt him shudder in her arms. "Please just explain, 
that's all I ask." 

"All right," he whispered. Resigned now to the fact that he 
was going to have to tell her exactly what was on his mind 
he continued, but with trepidation. "All right...The way out 
is..." Once again he faltered on his words. 

"Is...what?" she asked. 

"Is for me to commit suicide." 

********************

This was something she was certainly not prepared for. Feeling 
as if she'd been suddenly doused in ice cold water, she pulled 
back with a start. "What?!" 

"I told you, you wouldn't approve," he replied, half-heartedly. 

Scully was shocked. "Mulder! This is no joke!" 

"Who's joking?" he stated, firmly. Leaning back against the 
headboard, he closed his eyes. 

She wasn't going to let him get away from that announcement. 
"Mulder, you can't be serious? Listen to me..." 

He sat up sharply and faced her, hazel eyes glistening with 
moisture. "No, you listen!" he yelled. The protective walls 
he'd built around himself were crumbling now, and he could do 
nothing to prevent them from collapsing. "I don't think I can 
carry on, no matter what you or anyone else says. But the 
point is they need me to carry on don't they? So I can be 
their fucking savior! But without me, then they'll have to 
grow another specimen from scratch. Without me, they lose 
this battle and humans go free, at least in our lifetime." 

She didn't want to let her pent up anger out on discovering 
her partner's intentions, but felt right now she had no choice. 
"So, you kill yourself and all our prayers are answered?" she 
blurted out, frustrated. 

Without thinking, Mulder took hold of her hand. "Scully, you 
said yourself we have to try and stop them." 

She pulled from his grasp like she'd been stung. "And the only 
way to do this is for you to die? What, you want to be some 
kind of martyr? Like Jesus Christ on the cross? I'm not buying 
that, Mulder." 

"Scully, I don't want to be anything", he said, voice 
trembling. "I don't want to be a martyr. I don't want to be a 
God. I just want to be left alone." He swallowed hard, his 
breathing quickening. "But they'll never leave me alone, 
Scully. They've already hurt me beyond reason. I'm so screwed 
up inside...I don't think I'll ever function normally again," 
he said bitterly, allowing the anguish to take a hold. 

This time she took his hand and held it tight. "Baby, please..,"
she began, making him acknowledge her. "If you let me, I can
help you get over the nightmare you suffered on that ship." 

He shook his head, as his hand gripped hers. "No!" he exclaimed. 
"You can't help me, Scully. I won't ever wake up from that!" 

"Mulder, please stop this! Please don't just give up on 
yourself," she pleaded. She felt the blood circulation was 
being cut off in her fingers. 

His reply was abrupt. "I'm not giving up. I'm providing an 
answer." 

*Some answer* she thought. *He's not even thinking rationally 
anymore.* "So your outcome will be that everyone on this planet 
will be saved, except you?" she asked. 

"No, that's where you're wrong, Scully." He relaxed his grip a 
little. "I will be saved. I'll be out of this hell." He paused 
then added, "I'd be free, like..Samantha. Sh...she escaped," 
he stammered, mositure glistening in his hazel eyes. 

Scully's clinical approach came into play. "She's dead, 
Mulder," she said, firmly. She hadn't meant to sound so abrupt. 
But facts were facts, and his sister's case had been closed 
long ago. Hell, he'd even signed the documents to prove it.
 
A tear slowly traced its way down his cheek, and he gently 
pulled his hand from hers and wiped it away. "I know her spirit 
is free," he said, calmly. "That's all that matters." 

"You told me she was content in the starlight or whatever? So, 
you think you'll receive the same fate if you end it all? She 
was now starting to understand where his thoughts were heading, 
and certainly didn't approve. "Oh, God, Mulder. You think 
you'll be reunited with your sister?" 

"I can but hope," he answered, voice starting to crack. 

Gingerly she put an arm around him, and felt his body 
trembling slightly. "Honey, you can't just give your life in 
the vain hope that you'll be reunited with Samantha. I mean 
do you honestly think there will be some glorious heaven 
waiting for you?" 

He couldn't believe she'd just said that, and it pulled him out 
of his emotional state. "So, now you're denying you're own 
religious beliefs? Don't give me that crap." Refusing to let 
her reply he continued with, "So why can't I have my own idea 
of Heaven...my idea of finding some damn peace at last?" 

"Because it isn't based on reality," she replied, gently. 

"Oh, and your heaven is?" he asked, surprised. 

Touche! 

"All right, but I firmly believe that suicide is not the answer. 
Taking your own life can only lead your soul in one direction, 
and that certainly isn't Heaven," Scully told him, realizing 
she was now sounding like her own priest in a confessional. 

Mulder let out a sigh of remorse. "Can it be any worse than 
the hell I've been living in lately? Or the eternal damnation 
I'll be sent to when those grays have completed the process?" 
he said, bitterly. "Living as a fucking alien with my human 
soul imprisoned till the end of time?" He shivered at the 
mere thought of it. "Fuck that! I'd rather be dead!" 

"Can you do it?" she challenged him. "Pick up a gun and end 
this life?" 

Mulder hesitated before replying, "Not with a gun." 

"Well, with what then?" Scully was starting to question 
whether he could actually go through with this.
 
He looked straight into her eyes. "You're a doctor?" 

"Yes." she stated. *And why are you asking me something you 
already know?* she thought, worried now about where this might 
be leading. 

"Then you know about lethal injections," he said, abruptly. 

She just couldn't believe what she was hearing. "So you think 
I'll get hold of some morphine or some such thing and give you 
an overdose?" she asked, now angry with him for even suggesting 
this. "Forget it, Mulder! There's no way on God's earth I'll 
help you kill yourself." 

"Well, I've proven myself right about one thing. I said you 
wouldn't be able to help me," he said, sharply. 

Dana felt like knocking some sense into him, literally. 
"Mulder, that is not fair!" She turned away, unable to look at 
him right at that moment. " I can't believe you even suggested 
this. It's completely insane!" If he didn't stop this madness 
right now she was going to leave the room, and he could sleep 
alone for the night. Of course she realized she could not 
actually do this. But she was also getting highly agitated 
with his self-destructive attitude. 

He continued to stare at her, but she was refusing to 
acknowledge him. Letting out a heavy sigh Mulder leaned back 
and rested his head on the pillow, hands behind his head, 
staring up at the ceiling. "Maybe I want to die, Scully," 
he said in a melancholy tone. "Have you thought that perhaps 
I want this? That maybe I want out of this sorry excuse for 
an existence?" 

"After all we've been through together, you just want to 
throw in the towel?" Her words were little more than a whisper. 
"So that's it? Adios and goodbye?" The tears were starting to 
invade her own eyes now. "It's not the way out." 

"So what the fucking hell is the way out then?" he asked, the 
tension rising once more as he tried unsuccessfully to ignore 
it. 

Dana Scully was still trying to get a handle on this latest 
turn of events. "I told you," she said. "We should just keep 
on the run." 

*Yeah, that's just the perfect solution,* he thought to 
himself. "Forever?" he exclaimed. "Till we die of old age? 
Well we won't get there, I can assure you of that!" he 
said, frustratedly. *Especially if I attack you and kill 
you all!* He shuddered at the thought. 

"Mulder..?" she began but he cut her off instantly. 

"Scully, when they eventually find me they won't hesitate to 
kill you, Skinner, Monica and Doggett. Hell, they most likely 
will make me do it after my rebirth. Yeah, wouldn't that be 
icing on the cake for those little gray bastards!" Feeling 
the anger rising, he took a deep breath and let it out slowly.
 
Scully had, had just about enough. "Okay!" she yelled, throwing 
her hands up in desperation. "You die and..?" 

"They lose. The human race is saved and everybody lives happily 
ever after," he replied, matter-of-factly. 

"Except you and me, because you'll be dead," Scully stated, 
firmly. 

"Yeah, there is that drawback." He knew that must have sounded 
to her as if he was past the point of caring but the truth was 
he was trying to keep himself under control. Another burst of 
rage from him would surely result in a nervous breakdown...or 
at the very least he'd have another one of those damn seizures, 
which might then lead to his final transformation. 

"Drawback?" she said, incredulously. "Mulder, why are you 
behaving like this? Why are you being so flippant? I can see 
this is all an act, you know?" She reached out and cupped a 
hand under his chin, making him turn his head towards her. 
She stared into his eyes, trying to read behind that false 
exterior he was blatantly now displaying. "Look at me and 
tell me honestly...do you really want to die?" 

He couldn't avert his gaze from those deep pools of blue, so 
remained transfixed. Then he felt his bottom lip begin to 
tremble, and unable to stop the tears from stinging his eyes 
he blurted out, "I've just had enough, Scully. I've reached 
the proverbial end of my rope, and if this is the only way I 
can hopefully save humanity, then so be it. I'll have done 
something worthwhile, and then I'll be free." 

"You said 'hopefully', so you don't actually know if killing 
yourself will save mankind? And what makes you think you 
haven't done important things with your life?" Before he could 
answer, she added, "And we're back to claiming your freedom 
again." 

"Well, let's see?" he began. "Okay, I finally convinced you 
and others that extra terrestrial beings exist. Big deal!" he 
said, harshly. "Look, without me they lose their key specimen. 
They need form...leadership, or they cannot function as a 
whole." 

"So, you think that by committing suicide it will ruin the 
gray's plans and maybe bring them to an end? That's a big 
'maybe', Mulder. Then what? Your reward will be to reunite 
with your sister in the afterlife? Starlight? Whatever?" 
Scully was getting more and more frustrated. "Mulder, what 
if there isn't anything there? What if you find when you're 
dead, that's it?" 

"Scully, you believe in God. So you believe in a Heaven," he 
stated, firmly. 

She felt like they were going around in circles with this 
conversation, and it was doing nothing to convince her partner 
from being so adamant about killing himself. Scully was going 
to have to try a different approach. "I 'believe'..," she 
emphasized, "That I can't go on without you." Had she really 
just admitted to that? 

Mulder pulled her into an embrace, so she was resting her head 
on his chest. "Ah, the truth is finally out," he whispered, 
swallowing back the tears that were threatening to fall. 
"Scully, you will. Because this world will be saved and you 
and everyone else will carry on." 

Raising herself up slowly, she let out a long sigh. "You 
'hope', Mulder." He was acting like a needle stuck in the 
groove of an old record, endlessly repeating the same refrain 
for all eternity. "So what do I do with you gone? Find 
another man and settle down in my little house with the 
picket fence and rose garden, with him and my 2.4 kids?" 

"Yes," he replied. "I'd want you to be happy." 

"Happy?" she said, astonished. Pulling herself up straight, 
she once again made him look at her. She'd had enough of this. 
"Mulder, why don't you try being honest with yourself, and 
stop talking complete bullshit! You're imagining me in some 
perfect fantasy life. Plus, you now seem to be using this 
'saving the human race' crap as an excuse." Grabbing him 
firmly by the shoulders, eyes blazing into his, she added, 
"Tell me the damn truth! DO YOU WANT TO DIE?" 

Her outburst had taken him completely by surprise, piercing 
through what had already become a very fragile outer layer of 
his psyche. It had been offering him protection, but now those 
walls came crashing down all around him. "They tortured me, 
Scully. Mentally and physically abused me. The seizures are 
much worse. I'm running out of toxin...and...? He hesitated, 
feeling hot tears starting to fall down his cheeks. "I...I'm
...so a-f-r-a-i-d." 

Gathering him into her arms, she held him tightly, feeling 
him tremble against her. "Oh, Mulder, suicide is a cowards 
way out," she said, soflty, stroking his hair. 

"So..? I'm...a...coward," he replied, in between sobs. 

"Like hell you are, baby," she said, defiantely. "You're one 
of the strongest people I've ever known." 

"I...I, don't want to die, Scully", he admitted. As soon as 
he'd uttered those words, a tiny bout of relief flowed through
 him. Suddenly all the tension that had built up since he'd 
begun this conversation with her, spilled out of him in big, 
wet, tear drops of complete exhaustion. 

*Finally, the truth,* she thought to herself as he convulsed 
in her arms, body shaking violently. She rocked him gently. 
"You go ahead my love. Get it all out of your system. You 
need to cry." 

"Why did they do this to me, Scully?" he wept, bitterly. 
"Why?" 

Both of them knew the answers to that question, but Scully 
felt she had to give him some sort of a reply. "They 'chose' 
you," she said, gritting her teeth in anger. 

"I...I don't know what to do anymore. I just don't know what 
to do," he stammered, helplessly. 

She had no answers for him right at that moment. "Just hold 
onto me, Mulder," she said, tightening her arms around him, 
as he continued to cry. "Shhh, my love. Shhh," she soothed 
as best she could. 

"I wish someone could help me," he whimpered. "I mean if 
God really exists then why can't he help me? Why won't he 
listen to me?" he demanded, tears choking him. 

"It doesn't work that way, baby," Scully replied, softly. 
"All we can do is have faith." Where had that come from? 
She realized what she'd said was true though. If you lost 
your faith then you had nothing. It's what she'd been brought 
up believing and it's what had kept her going throughout her 
whole life. 

"Wonderful!" Mulder said, sarcasm dripping from his lips. 
"'Fraid that's not my resolution, Scully." He knew he had 
lost all faith, and hope. Completely resigned to the fact 
that there was nothing to face now but this alien destiny 
in hell, his despair increased in intensity. 

For a good long while all she could do was hold him, stroking 
his hair gently, as racking sobs shook his grief stricken 
body. A tear fell down her cheek, and she prayed.
 
*Dear God, please get us through this,* she begged deep 
inside. 

Time seemed to pass by slowly and for Scully, became the 
worst minutes of her life. Till eventually Mulder's sobbing 
began to subside, for which she was greatly relieved. As she 
listened to his faint whimpering, a solution started to form. 
She had been remembering the talk they'd had about the 
starlight. Without questioning why this had come into her 
mind, she whispered softly into his ear. "Mulder?" 

He stirred a little but wasn't responding, so she tried 
again. "Mulder?" 

"Y..yes?" he replied, his voice now hoarse from crying. 

"Maybe you should try calling her?" 

"W...Who?," he asked puzzled. "C...Call who?" 

"Samantha," Scully suggested. "Your sister." Before he 
could say anything she added, "She came to you in this 
starlight once before. Maybe she'll come back. You and 
she obviously have a strong connection, alien related or 
not. Perhaps you can use this bond to reach out to her?" 

Slowly he released himself from her protective embrace, 
and gave her a very confused look, his eyes now red from 
crying. "But I...I thought you didn't believe in all 
this starlight intervention stuff?" he questioned, 
shakily. 

Tenderly she wiped his tear stained face with her fingertips. 
"It doesn't matter what I do or don't believe in. You 
believe...so call her. But not with your voice, with your 
heart." She had no idea exactly what had possessed her to 
speak this way; however, if it could shine a tiny beam of 
light into the shroud of darkness he'd been engulfed in, 
(and something was telling her it could) then it needed 
to be said. 

What had he to lose? Not so long ago he'd felt there was 
nothing left to turn to. So, why not try and call his sister? 
Sitting upright, he closed his eyes and began to concentrate 
on an image of Sam. Almost immediately his eidetic mind took 
him back to the moment he'd found himself surrounded by the 
spirits of the little children. Then, when he'd called out 
her name in complete bewilderment, she'd come running into 
his arms, a smile on her face. Letting him know she was 
safe. *Samantha, come back to me,* he heard himself say. 
*Please come back.* 

Opening his eyes, he realized nothing had changed, and it 
was still just him and Scully in the bed. He shrugged his 
shoulders. "Got any more bright ideas?" he asked her, 
forlornly. 

She was disappointed that nothing had happened, but at the 
same time not really surprised. *What was I thinking?* Not 
wanting to show him how annoyed she was with herself, she 
opted for a practical response. "Yeah, it's late and we
need to get some sleep." 

Once again your answer to everything." A tiny flicker of 
a smile appeared then it was gone. 

"I'm sorry, Mulder," she said, quietly. 

"It's okay. I know you were just trying to help. But you 
never expected it to work, not really?" he said, sadly.
 
"I don't know. I guess..." Scully discovered she couldn't 
answer the question, and felt confused. She'd desperately 
wanted to help him, and had succeeded in coming up with a 
completely crazy idea...and yet? 

"Scully? It's alright," he said, quietly. "You tried." 
Letting out a melancholy sigh he added, "Maybe we should get 
some sleep." 

Mulder settled himself down, head resting against the pillow, 
and closed his eyes. She snuggled next to him, pulling the 
quilt up over them both, and stroked his hair softly. "Please 
tell me all that stuff about killing yourself and saving 
mankind is finished with now?" she asked, hopefully.
 
"It's finished," he replied in a whisper.
 
Leaning over him, she kissed him gently on his lips, and was 
glad to feel him respond to her touch. "I love you, Mulder," 
she said, softly.
 
The heavy sword of doom still loomed over his head. But 
tonight he'd discovered that at least there was one thing 
keeping him from the executioner's fatal blow, this 
beautiful, intelligent woman lying beside him, Scully. She 
was his light in the darkness and always would be, no matter 
what he believed would happen in the future. "I love you 
too. Goodnight, Scully." 

"Goodnight, my darling. Try and have sweet dreams." He let out 
a tiny sigh, hardly noticeable, but she heard it. Gently she 
coaxed him into her warm embrace and rocked him gently. "I'll 
hold you to till you're asleep, my love," she soothed. 

********************

He stirred, then slowly opened his eyes, immediately becoming 
aware of a dazzling bright light in the room, which made him 
blink a few times. His breathing quickened as a sudden fear 
darted through him. *Oh dear God* Mulder thought. *They've 
found us* His limbs felt heavy and he realized he was so 
terrified he couldn't move. He could only lie there on his 
back, waiting for the grays to abduct his now tired and 
exhausted body. He felt a hand upon his own, but there was 
no threatening movement, just a gentle touch. Slowly he 
turned his head, and came face to face with his long lost 
sister. "Sam? Samantha?" he stammered in complete surprise 
and shock. "I...I thought it was..." 

"Shh, Fox," she soothed. "It's all right, there are no 
aliens, no spaceships. You are quite safe dear brother." 

He allowed himself to calm down and take in this new 
phenomenon. Her small figure, the fact she was still only 
fourteen years old, with long ebony hair cascading down over 
her shoulders. Exactly the same as when he had come across 
her with those other 'spirit' children, after searching for 
a missing girl...with Scully. Turning the opposite way he 
realized his partner was sleeping soundly beside him and 
didn't have the heart to wake her. Feeling a lump in his 
throat he faced his sister once more. "Th...This isn't a 
dream?"
 
She smiled at him with those big brown eyes of hers. "That 
depends on how you define the word 'dream'," she replied, 
sweetly. 

"I mean...you're not real," he said, confused. 

Samantha smiled again. "I'm real to you Fox. That's all 
that matters." 

"So you're a spirit?" he asked, trying to justify this latest 
strange occurrence.

"Fox, don't try to find explanations for everything." She 
laid a hand on his chest. "Just feel...with your heart." 

Taking her hand in his, he squeezed it softly, discovering it 
was warm to the touch. Feeling the pinpricks of tears at the 
corners of his eyes, he swallowed hard. "Sam, why are you 
here?" 

"You called for me," she replied, softly. " Fox you were so 
lost and needed me...so I came." 

The words *It worked, Scully* entered his mind, filling him 
with a sense of relief mixed with bewilderment, and a tear 
slowly trickled down his cheek. "I spent every hour of every 
day looking for you, Sam," he lamented. "The only reason I 
got caught up with investigating the paranormal was because 
I wanted to have you back in my life. It became my quest, 
my obsession, nothing else mattered to me." Another tear fell, 
and he wiped it away with the back of his hand. 

"Please, don't cry," she said, gently. "You had to discover 
about the starlight before a link could be made between us." 

"A link?" he said, puzzled. "What, you mean a connection...
or a doorway? A portal to another existence?" he queried. 

"Oh, Fox," she chuckled, lightly. "Let go of those terms. 
They are not important." 

"Okay," he said, taking a deep breath. "Do you know why I 
called for you?" 

"You had lost all hope, had nothing left to turn to. You were 
suffering so much pain," Samantha replied, in a melancholy 
tone. A brief pause then she added, "It was the starlight that 
sent me to you brother." 

"Starlight?" Mulder frowned. "Why? So you could help me...
how?" His head was so full of questions. 

She looked into his confused hazel eyes. "Listen, Fox." 
Placing a finger to his lips, she kissed him softly on the 
cheek. "Listen to your heart...not your mind." 

Mulder closed his eyes and took deep breaths, trying to still 
his racing thoughts. He heard the beating of his heart and 
concentrated on its gentle rhythm. As he did so, he felt a 
warm sensation wash over him, and colors started to dance 
behind his eyelids. After a few moments had passed, he 
opened them. Becoming aware that he was a lot more focused, 
he said, "You're...you're here to set me free." 

A pained expression came over her face. "I remember the 
suffering too. They inflicted more and more upon me. They 
made me cry as well. Then..." 

He completed her sentence. "The starlight rescued you...and 
can do the same for me." 

"As it did for Mom and Dad," she told him. 

Mulder flinched a little. "Dad?" he questioned, nervously. 

"Bill Mulder," she replied. "He and mom are together and 
happy now." 

He couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. For one 
horrible moment he thought that the cigarette-smoking bastard, 
C. G. B. Spender was the one she'd been referring to, but that 
man had been the cause of such terrible suffering in the Mulder 
family, especially to his sister, Sam, and to him...his own 
flesh and blood. There was only one place he had been destined 
to go after he shuffled off this mortal coil, where his soul 
would burn in hell for all of eternity. The man didn't deserve 
peace. Mulder pondered on those thoughts, then had to ask. 
"Sam, are you dead?" However, before she could reply, he 
answered his own question. "It depends on how you define the 
word right?" 

"You're catching on, Fox," she smiled, displaying that cute 
grin he'd always loved seeing when they were growing up 
together. 

His eidetic memory began to take control and he was back 
with the psychic who had been searching for his son. The 
man was telling him all about the starlight phenomenon. "I 
thought it was children's lost souls?" he asked his sister. 
"That because a terrible fate was going to befall them they 
were saved, and their matter was transformed into starlight?" 
He noticed her eyes widen as he spoke, her eyebrows raised. 
"Sorry, I'm trying to rationalize again aren't I?" he said, 
sheepishly.
 
"Fox," she said, and paused briefly before continuing. "I'm 
here to take you home. To reunite you with our family." She 
leaned towards him and whispered, "The secret wish you've 
always wanted." 

It was true. Buried deep inside he had carried with him what 
he'd believed to be a hopeless dream, to be part of a loving 
and caring family with his mother and the father he was 
raised with, along with his sweet sister, Samantha. It was 
a far cry from the childhood he had been blessed with in 
reality. Could it now become the truth? "Home?" he asked, 
his voice trembling slightly. 

Lifting his hand, she placed it over her heart. "Home," 
Samantha replied, softly. 

Mulder felt someone move beside him and heard a small sigh. 
"Scully," he whispered, turning to see the woman he loved 
lying curled up beside him. His eyes began to moisten once 
more as he watched her continue to sleep. Then he looked 
over at his sister. "I...I can't leave her," he stammered. 
"She is my family." 

Samantha smiled again. "You won't be lost to her," she told 
him. 

"But..." Mulder began, becoming concerned. "If I leave and 
go with you into this starlight, and Scully remains here...
how can we be..?" He paused unable to go on. 

"Together?" Samantha asked. 

"Yes," he replied, hoping for a solid answer, not a 
metaphysical one. 

"Fox, she has your heart as you have hers. What better 
connection is there?" 

*Didn't think I'd get a straight answer* he thought, 
sadly. "Connection?" he said, repeating her word. "You 
said you and I can connect because I know about the 
starlight? Well, Scully is also aware. She doesn't believe
...least I don't think she does." He was rambling now but 
couldn't refrain from doing so. "But she knows about it. So 
we'll have that kind of connection?" He was trying to 
convince himself that he could understand what his sister 
was trying to explain, and failing miserably. 

"Fox..." she said, gently. 

"I...I know, I'm being rational again. But..." He stopped, 
and glanced back at the redhead sleeping soundly, snuggled 
up to him. Tears started to well up in his eyes, and he 
swallowed hard, trying to hold them back. "But...I can't 
say goodbye," he admitted. Reaching across, to brush a strand 
of auburn hair that had fallen across Scully's face he added,
"I...I just can't." 

"Fox?" Samantha asked, her expression one of concern. 

He turned around to face her. "Yes?" 

"The choice is yours." 

Her words held no bitterness or sadness in them, and he 
realized she would not push him to go with her, or make him 
feel guilty if he stayed with the woman he loved. The choice 
really was his to make. He remembered the conversation he'd 
had with his beloved Scully not so long ago. How he'd almost 
chosen suicide over being with her, telling her she'd find 
someone else she could have a future with. He now knew that 
had been incredibly selfish, but he'd been at his wit's end 
and hadn't been able to see a way of escape, except death. 
Then there had been his moral reasons for suggesting he take 
his life so that the alien race would hopefully be defeated. 
Without him as their 'key' it could lead to their 
destruction, the human race would survive...and most of 
all, Scully would be saved. "The aliens?" he began. 

"Yes," Samantha replied. "They will lose their key to the 
kingdom of Earth and it will be their downfall," she 
added, triumphantly. 

"How did you know I was thinking about that?" Mulder asked 
her, curiously. 

"I just did," she replied, softly. "Besides, it's been a 
heavy burden for you to carry for such a long time, Fox." 

He sighed heavily. "So, I can continue to let it weigh me 
down? I can try and battle against an alien race, with no 
real hope of winning" he said, wistfully. "Or, I can free 
human civilization, and Scully...and myself?"
 
Samantha's reply was a gentle nod of her head. 

Mulder swallowed back more tears that were trying to 
surface. "Th...Then I have to do this," he whispered. 

Feeling as if his heart was going to shatter into a million 
pieces, he let go of his sister's hand and faced Scully once 
more. He wasn't going to be able to stop himself from holding 
back the emotional torrent that had been threatening to be 
released. Sure enough his bottom lip begin to tremble, and 
the tears followed. One fell onto Scully's cheek as he leant 
down and kissed her softly on the lips. Discovering he 
couldn't find any words to say, he remained silent. With one 
hand stroking her auburn hair, he rested his head upon her 
chest so he could hear her heartbeat close to his own. For 
a few minutes he laid there, eyes closed, just feeling the 
rise and fall of her gentle breathing as he cried softly. 
All the while, Scully remained asleep, unaware of the 
choice he was about to make. Mulder knew she would be 
devastated when she finally awoke and discovered he was gone,
and that tore him apart inside. But it wouldn't be forever. 
*It's for the best* he thought. *It's for the best* Giving 
her one last kiss, he then sat upright and climbed out of 
the bed. "Okay," was all he could bring himself to say, in 
a broken whisper. 

********************

Dressed only in boxer shorts, he was starting to feel the 
cold until his sister took her hand in his and that pleasant 
warmth began to flow through him once more. 

"Fox?" she said, aware of the painful decision he had just 
made. "It will be fine. You'll see." 

Giving her a brief nod, he abruptly wiped away the tears that 
were still in evidence. "So what happens now? Do we wait for 
Scottie to beam us up?" he chuckled half-heartedly. 

Samantha smiled. "You and your science fiction," she teased 
gently. "I never could understand all that until..." 

"Until it became our reality," he answered, squeezing her 
hand. 

Suddenly Mulder started to become very light headed. It felt 
similar to those social nights in a bar when he'd consumed 
far too much alcohol, although those times had been few and 
far between. Then his whole body began to go numb. It was 
like experiencing that moment when you are on the verge of 
sleep but not quite there yet. 

"Just let yourself go," Samantha told him aware that he had 
tightened his hold of her hand. "You're quite safe." 

He knew his sister was right there beside him, but now her 
voice seemed to echo all around. Then the room started to 
fade, as a swirling luminescence began to engulf their bodies. 
It reminded Mulder of a galaxy full of stars. *It...it's 
beautiful* he heard himself say, although he hadn't actually 
spoken the words out loud. 

"I know," Samantha replied. 

********************

Dana Scully stirred then woke with a start. The vision she was 
met with held her transfixed, as she witnessed a whirlwind of 
twinkling lights at the foot of the bed. What on earth was 
happening? Then she noticed the outlines of two figures in 
the center of this maelstrom, and immediately recognized them 
as Fox Mulder and Samantha! Her eyes widened in shock on seeing 
this revelation, but she discovered she couldn't move. She was 
rooted to the spot. Suddenly the swirling luminescence began to 
fade, taking the man she loved and his sister with it. "Mulder!" 
she screamed, as the light disappeared completely, plunging her 
into darkness. 

Leaping out of the bed she hurriedly threw on a skirt and 
sweater. Then still in bare feet, ran from the room. Without 
knocking she barged into the adjoining one, where both men had 
retired for the night. John Doggett awoke with a start and 
reached for his gun, then realized he still had no ammo Walter 
Skinnner grunted roughly and opened his eyes, annoyed that he 
had been disturbed. Both men quickly became aware of a very 
disheveled Scully. 

"What's wrong?" Doggett asked, concerned. The woman seemed to 
be in a state of shock. 

Just then Monica Reyes entered. There had been only two 
bedrooms in this little shack. One had revealed a double bed 
(which was allocated to Mulder and Scully), and the other had 
two singles, which would be right for Doggett and Skinner, so 
she'd opted for the couch in the living area. "What's up?" 
she asked sleepily, trying to take in the situation at hand. 

"I...It's Mulder," Scully stammered, weakly. 

"Not those fucking aliens!" Skinner retorted, starting to climb 
out of the bed. 

"N...No!" she replied, abruptly. Then without another word she 
ran out of the room. 

The remaining ex-FBI team watched for a few seconds, unable 
to understand just why the redheaded doctor was in such a 
state. Then both Skinner and Doggett began hurriedly pulling 
on their pants. Monica had already thown on an overcoat she'd 
found hanging on the kitchen door, and the three followed Dana 
out of the living room door which led to the outside. They 
noticed she had now stopped, and was staring up at the sky.
 
Monica hadn't heard the altercation in the 'boys' room. 
"Please, tell me this doesn't involve spaceships, and while 
we're at it, where is Mulder?" 

"H...He's gone!" Scully stated, eyes brimming with tears. 

"They took him?" Monica asked, nervously. 

"No, she said it wasn't aliens," Skinner replied. Walking up 
to his former agent he placed an arm around her shoulders, to 
discover she was shaking. "Scully...tell me what happened. 
Where is Mulder?" 

Dana jerked her head, indicating he should also look up above 
him. "Lost souls..," she began, solemnly. "Lost souls 
searching for new homes." Her eyes were begining to sting then 
a solitary tear fell down her cheek. "Well he'd damn well 
better find one...somewhere where he'll be safe." 

It dawned on Skinner just exactly what Scully was referring 
to now. He remembered she'd explained to him about this very 
subject during the time when Fox Mulder had been abducted. 
"Starlight," he said quietly, not really registering what 
he'd just said. Then he faced her. "He's in the starlight?" 
he questioned.
 
She nodded her head briefly, turned, and fell into the ex-
assistant director's arms crying bitterly. "It's my fault!" 
she said, helplessly. "I told him to try and contact her. 
He was suffering so much, I just couldn't bear it any 
longer!" she sobbed. 

Doggett glanced up at the night sky, seeing billions and 
billions of stars reaching into infinity. "Mulder's in the 
starlight?" he queried, a little puzzled by this statement. 

"What exactly do you mean by that?" Monica asked, also 
gazing at the tiny pinpricks of light. 

Scully looked over at them both, her eyes now red from crying. 
"His sister, Samantha...he found out she had been rescued by 
the walk-ins, the old souls searching for new homes...new 
beginnings." Realizing she was receiving yet more puzzling 
looks from both her friends, she added, "Samantha was going 
to suffer a terrible fate in this life. So...so her matter 
was transported by starlight so she could be saved," Scully 
blurted out, returning her gaze to the heavens.
 
"Her essence was transformed into energy?" Monica asked, 
amazed. 

"So...she's dead?" Doggett spoke calmly, not wishing to upset 
anyone, but he wanted to understand this new revelation. *Is 
this what Scully was trying to say has happened to Mulder* 
he thought. 

Scully whirled around and faced him. "No!" she stated firmly. 
"He's' not dead!" 

Skinner held her closer. "It's okay, Scully," he soothed. 
Turning to Doggett he added, "He's in a better place."
 
*Isn't that the same thing?* Doggett thought, but decided 
to stay quiet. 

"At least he's not suffering anymore," Monica spoke, gently. 
She had been a witness to many of Mulder's seizures and along 
with the others, had wished she could have made the pain 
stop. 

"No, he's not," Scully replied. She had to believe in what 
she'd just said. "He's with his sister...and..," She took a 
deep breath, "and...he's free." 

Doggett had been forced to become open minded about 
infinite possibilities on this latest journey. Due to this 
unfound knowledge he was now starting to put the pieces 
together, slowly but surely. "So are we." He realized all 
eyes were upon him. "Well aren't we?" he asked, not waiting 
for a reply. "Didn't Mulder say that without him the alien 
race would not be able to carry on...or some such thing?"
 
"He said, he hoped it would ruin their plans for 
colonization," Scully replied, sorrowfully. "He was their 
'key'." Things were now starting to fall into place, though 
she didn't welcome this revelation. "So without him they 
hopefully wouldn't be able to unlock the kingdom." 

"Kingdom?" Monica asked. 

"Earth," Scully replied.

"You mean they'd have to go back to the proverbial drawing 
board and start all over again?" Skinner queried. 

"Yes." Thoughts were still jumbled in her head and she was 
trying to rationalize them. *But surely he would never have 
made such a drastic decision like that, only with the hope 
that humans would be saved?* Scully thought to herself. 
Turning to her friends she explained what had come to mind. 
"I believe Samantha knew the outcome. She must have told him 
that mankind would be free." 

John Doggett noticed his former partner and friend had 
mositure glistening in her eyes, and gently placed an arm 
around Monica's shoulders. Looking up at the stars, he gave a 
nod then a wink. "Thank you, Mulder," he said wistfully. 

Monica felt a lump forming in her throat and swallowed back 
the tears. "Thanks," she said, softly then allowed Doggett 
to lead her back inside the little shack. 

Walter Skinner rested his former agents head on his shoulder.
"Are you okay?" The words came out of his mouth before he 
realized it was a pretty dumb thing to ask but truth be known 
he was also extremely saddened by this unexpected turn of 
events. However, he did not wish to convey those feelings 
to Scully. She was suffering enough and he did not wish to 
add to her burden. 

"No." Her reply was soft but abrupt. "But I...I understand..." 
Her words trailed off and she gave a shuddering breath as 
another tear threatened to fall. 

The former AD gazed up into the starlit sky. "He was a 
wonderful man. A pain in the ass sometimes, but a caring 
soul." He nodded thoughtfully, remembering how for all those 
years in the FBI his favorite agent had been a joke to his 
peers, a crazy person off in his own little world chasing 
invisible aliens. Oh, how wrong they had all been! "The whole 
world will thank you now Fox William Mulder."
 
"'Is' a wonderful man," Scully corrected him. Gently pulling 
away from Skinner's embrace she added, "The whole world will 
never know the sacrifice he made, and it must stay that way. 
I don't want everyone to know about the starlight and lost 
souls being saved. There will be investigations into it, 
people searching for an explanation." She faced him her eyes, 
still full of tears, were now showing sheer determination. 
"Please, let's keep it an unexplained mystery," she pleaded.
 
"You got it Scully," Skinner said, firmly. Taking hold of her 
arm he added gently, "Come on, let's go." 

Dana Scully glanced up at the night sky one more time and blew 
a kiss at one of the twinkling lights. "I'll never stop loving
you," she whispered softly, allowing a tear to fall down her 
cheek. Then she let Skinner guide her back inside the building. 

********************

EPILOGUE
 
Most of the people in the world would never know that they 
had been moments away from oblivion! Yet the cost to myself 
and my partner for this truth will continue to haunt me for 
the rest of my life! 
                        
Dana Scully reached the end of her personal journal and 
stopped typing. A year had passed since that fateful day 
when her beloved Fox had made the ultimate sacrifice and 
in doing so saved the world from an alien invasion. Now, 
life had pretty much returned to normal and she was carrying 
on as usual, but deep inside, her heart still ached from 
losing him. She had found a job working as a medical doctor. 
Now, she was working in a laboratory for human diseases. 
Although nothing would ever compare to the alien retro virus 
she had been privy to, when she'd tried desperately to cure 
Mulder after he had been thought dead, then miraculously 
resurrected. Scully remembered how through her knowledge of 
science she had discovered how mere anti-viral drugs acted 
as a temporary shield against the virus. She probably would 
have received a Nobel Prize for such a discovery, had it 
been made public. However, she had never spoken of it since
the grays had made their retreat. 

All of the ships seemed to have just vanished from Earth as 
silently as they'd arrived. The humans that had survived 
the encounters and had fled from the impending doom by 
going into hiding, had returned to their homes. Scully had 
rented a new apartment in Georgetown and had been living 
there for several months. She remained alone, not wishing 
to date anyone. Occasionally she'd received visits and phone 
calls from her mother, and the friends she held dear, Walter 
Skinner, John Doggett and Monica Reyes. The four of them had 
been through so much together and had a bond that could 
never be broken. Her former assistant director of the Bureau 
had been allocated a top position as deputy chief of the FBI, 
ever since the alien recruits had made their exit. Doggett 
and Reyes had returned as special agents only in the crime 
division. It had been Scully's wish not to return to the FBI, 
and to make sure The X Files would never be re-opened. Skinner 
had respected her decision and it had been carried out, since 
he now had the power and authority to do this. 

Dana preferred to be alone in her apartment most of the time. 
She had once bought a tank and filled it with rainbow fish, 
hoping their shimmering colors would soothe her, but all it 
managed to do was bring back memories of Mulder, since he had 
kept fish in his apartment, at Hegal Place in Alexandria, 
Virginia, and many times she had found herself feeding his 
pets, especially when he'd gone and ditched her during their 
X File assignments. That all seemed like a lifetime ago. Her 
life had taken so many twists and turns since she'd first 
set eyes on Fox Mulder down in the basement of the Bureau. 
Some unbelievable events had taken place and she had been 
center stage along with her friends and FBI agents. Briefly 
scanning the final passage she had typed, she leaned forward, 
switched off her computer then proceeded towards the bedroom.
 
Once settled under the sheets she closed her eyes knowing 
that she would dream of him again. Scully could always find 
him there, and it comforted her somewhat. As she slipped 
into unconciousness, she immediately felt his presence. He 
was right beside her, those soft hazel eyes checking out 
her every move with that cheeky grin he'd always displayed 
whenever they were together on their supernatural cases. She 
felt that same tender touch as he reached out and took her 
hand, entwining his fingers around hers, protectively. As 
the dream faded she thought she could still feel his gentle
caress. Allowing her eyes to adjust to the darkness of the 
room, she suddenly found herself staring straight into his 
loving gaze. 

Dana blinked several times. She must still be asleep? The 
reason for assuming this was because Mulder now stood 
beside her bed! *That's impossible!* she thought, but it 
was brief. Denying her clinical explanation, she turned 
to the paranormal. Her discovery had been rather a shock, 
but the most important realization was the man she loved 
and would continue to love was right here in her room. 
"D...Did the starlight bring you to me?" she asked, feeling 
tears prick at the corners of her eyes. The rational part 
of her mind still had to ask a question. "Or is this all 
just a beautiful dream?" 

Fox Mulder smiled down at her. "It's whatever you wish it 
to be Scully," he told her, squeezing her hand gently. 

"But I...I don't understand," she stammered, slightly. 
"Mulder, are you...are you dead?" Now she was letting 
confusion get the better of her. 

"I know you never really understood or even believed in 
the starlight intervention, my love," he said, softly. 
"But I came to realize it's not something you have to 
clarify or rationalize...just accept." 

"Accept what?" Scully asked, eyes now brimming with tears. 
One started to fall down her cheek.
 
Mulder leant down and kissed it away. "That I'm here for you
...and always will be. All you have to do is believe." 

Scully felt his arms go around her as his lips touched hers 
and she closed her eyes, wanting only to be surrounded in his 
warmth and protection. 

A sudden gust of wind blew open the bedroom window making 
Scully jump with a start. Her eyes flew open and she realized 
she was alone. The room was empty but no longer dark, as a 
crescent moon shone outside, casting a beam of light onto her 
quilt cover. Letting out a melancholy sigh, she climbed out of 
bed and walked slowly over to her window. Looking up into the 
sky she could only just make out the pinpoints of twinkling 
lights trying to shine above the neon streetlights and 
silhouettes of the buildings on her street. As she continued 
to gaze, a shooting star streaked across the velvet night, 
leaving a diamond trail behind. Scully touched her lips with 
her fingertips, remembering Mulder's gentle kiss. A tear 
formed, catching a moonbeam causing it to sparkle like starlight, 
as it fell down her cheek. She watched until the shooting star 
had disappeared from sight, then smiled to herself.
 
"I believe, Mulder."
                          
THE END

We have walked together where angels go
And we found a place inside us that only we could know
So I still walk on
Through the night and through the rain
I would give it all 
Just to be with you again
It's a lonely road
And my heart is still in chains
But I live my life 
Just to be with you again
Lionel Ritchie - Just To Be With You Again 

********************