Title: Ghosts From the Past Author: Cheryl Shifflette Email: KrycekCutie@yahoo.com Rating: PG-13 Category: Mulder/Krycek based story Summary: Mulder & Sully have a new partner and she has a very interesting connection to someone they know. Some conpiracy involved. Author's note: This is only chapter 1, I'm already on Chapter 3, I have a whole little book thing going with this one. It's on the long side too, so you might want to read off line. Chapter One The basement-parking garage of the FBI building was dark and dreary regardless of the time of the day, though at night the place seemed extra eerie to Special Agent Seraphina Stuart. She had just received her new appointment earlier that week working on the controversial X-Files. She felt honored considering she had only been with the Bureau about a year and a half. She didn't like staying late, but that was part of game, or at least that's what Agent Fox Mulder had told her this evening. It was clear he did not like her intrusion on his "life work" as he had said to his partner Dana Scully, that he got bad vibes off her. Seraphina thought that silly considering there was nothing out of the ordinary about her. Her thoughts were disrupted by the sound of screeching tires and the sight of an approaching black sedan. She fell to ground trying to avoid from being hit. Then some men came out of the car, she assumed to see if she was all right. To her dismay though they grabbed her by the arms and hauled her off kicking and screaming. They were speaking some kind of foreign language; it sounded so familiar to her. Then it dawned on her it was Russian! Russians were kidnapping her; this was not good. The burly men shoved Seraphina into the black sedan and handcuffed and gagged her once she was in the car, which sped off into the night taking her to God knows where. ************** "Scully have you seen our new associate?" Mulder asked flipping through some files on his desk. "No, she's usually here bright and early. Why are you calling her an associate and not a partner?" Scully asked puzzled as she stood behind Mulder's chair. "A partner is someone you want to work with, while an associate is someone you rather not." Mulder answered dryly. "Mulder, Scully I'm glad you're both here, we've got some major problems." Assistant Director Skinner said. "What's wrong?" Scully asked seeing how serious this might be judging by Skinner's demeanor. "Agent Stuart was kidnapped last night in the parking garage. Apparently the only witness was a young intern who remembered seeing a black car with Virginia license plates and that they were speaking a foreign language." Skinner said. "Told you Scully, she wasn't going to stay with the X-Files too long." Mulder said with a crooked grin on his face. "Mulder, this is serious!" Skinner boomed. "Sorry, sir, Mulder just didn't care for Agent Stuart involvement too much. Do you want us to investigate?" Scully asked. "Of course, she was working with you. Oh, and one other thing the language of the kidnappers was Russian, so heaven only knows where she could be now." Skinner said as he handed Scully the file. "Russian? How did she figure that out?" Mulder asked suspiciously. "Well Agent Mulder the intern said she understood one word and that was 'nient', which almost everyone knows is the Russian word for no. Anything else?" Skinner said on his way out the door. "No, sir, we will get right on this." Scully said as Skinner nodded his head and left the office. "Hmm…interesting being kidnapped by Russians, ranks up there with strange to say the least. Why would they want her?" Mulder pondered aloud. "We should check all the past cases she's worked on to see if anyone of them could be tied to her kidnapping. You never can tell." Scully said knowing Mulder was developing some far-fetched reason for Agent Stuart's kidnapping. "Okay you get the files and I'll read them over with you to see what we can find." Mulder said. ********* Seraphina woke up in what appeared to be a root cellar of some sort. She could see where some light filtered through a high window to make out her scant surroundings, which appeared to be no more than some crates and some rusty gardening implements. It was freezing wherever she was that she was sure of, that and the fact she was sore. Seraphina heard a door open and saw some people come down the stairs. They had a lantern and she noticed it was the same men who kidnapped her last night. They were talking to her, but she barely understood a word of it. This was frustrating; the only words she had bothered to learn were the curse words and some simple phrases. Boy did she wish she'd learned some more. The one man pulled her up and began yelling at her and all she could say in very broken Russian was that she didn't understand him. He then proceeded to slap her back-handed across the face which sent her reeling to the dirt floor. He grabbed her and pulled her up and shook her while he continued to yell at her and she couldn't do a thing about it. Seraphina was too cold and exhausted to do anything but take the tongue lashing along with the physical abuse. Seraphina was about ready to pass out when she thought she heard a familiar voice from her past yelling at the men in Russian. The next thing she felt was someone cradling her in their arms and telling her everything was going to be all right and that she wouldn't be hurt ever again, but she thought that she was delirious from the whole episode so she drifted off to sleep. ******* "There's nothing in any of these files that point to any foreign association that she has had Mulder. I just don't understand what they wanted with her." "Well according to this file we do have a partial license plate number and a description of the car. I'm going to have this run through the computer to see who the car belongs too, and where it might be for that matter as well." Mulder said. "It's a start and it's all we have sadly enough. The thing that bothers me is there's no motive for this." Scully said rubbing her eyes as she put down a file. "I can almost bet it has something to do with her having that CD-ROM." Mulder said with an annoyed tone of voice. "What CD-ROM, Mulder?" Scully asked mystified. "The one with ALL of the X-Files on it, Skinner had one made for her, so she could review them at home, she has it at her apartment. Do you know how many people would like to get a hold of that Scully? They could use to hurt some innocent and the not so innocent depending which side you're working on. Or even worse they could doctor the files to there pleasing once they find out what's in them." Mulder said. "Are you suggesting that she could've been carrying it with her?" Scully asked. "Maybe, either that they'll make her go get it for them. Call someone to set up a surveillance operation at her apartment to make sure no one goes in or out." Mulder ordered Scully. "Then once we found out where the car originated from, then we can start looking for her." Scully added as she dialed her cell phone. ********** Seraphina woke up in a warm bed with the afternoon sunlight streaming through the lace curtains of the stark bedroom she was in. The room had simple furniture, it reminded her of country farmhouse, but what would she being doing in a place like that. She tried to get out of bed, but she felt a bit dizzy and very stiff. Then everything began to come back to her. She remembered the episode of her beating at the hands of those Russian kidnappers and how she remembered someone stopping them and then everything after that was a blur. She did manage to steady herself and proceeded to go over to the window to see where exactly she was. For as far as she could see were the surrounding mountains and how breathe taking the fall was from wherever she was at. She must be in a farmhouse after all she thought to herself. "What are you doing out of bed?" Seraphina recognized the voice instantly, naturally, who else would save her but him. "Alex! Are you the one that saved me? I thought I heard your voice when I was in that cellar, I thought I was daft when I heard you, especially since I haven't seen you in years." She said happily. She couldn't remember the last time she saw him, he was looking a bit scruffier than usual, but he was still handsome as ever. "It was me, Phina. How are you feeling?" Alex Krycek asked as he went over to her side. "I've never been better, how do you think I feel Alex? I feel like hell." She said as she cracked a smile at him. She winced when she smiled and put her hand to her cheek and winced again. "They gave you a good slap before I got to you. It'll be all right, it's going to hurt for a few days though." Alex said. "Would you like to tell me what exactly is going on here?" she asked. "It's a long story. The short version is you have something they want and they wanted it bad enough to kidnap you. They say you received a special CD-ROM with some sensitive files on it and they need those files to find out who double crossed them." Alex said as he helped Seraphina back into bed. "Who are these people exactly and what does it have to do with you? I know you've been working various covert operations. I would assume that's why I haven't been able to contact you in the past few years." "You assumed correctly, it's part of my mission. Though I'm in way over my head these days to say the least. And those men, they're from the KGB. I worked with them for some time. So, tell me what do you have that they want?" Alex asked as he sat on the edge of the bed putting the covers around his friend. "The only thing I have is the X-File database on CD-ROM in my apartment." She said. "THE X-FILES! You've been assigned the X-Files?" Alex asked shocked. "Yes, I'm working with Agents Mulder and Scully. Actually I just started this week." She said noticing how upset Alex looked all of sudden. "The CD is at your apartment? I know they don't know where you live, so that's good. We have to get out of here without anyone finding out." Alex said. "If you work with them, why are you so worried all of a sudden?" she asked concerned. "I'm the one that betrayed them and once they find that out, I'm dead. It's all in the X-Files. I worked on them for a while when I was planted in the FBI, Phina I can't risk being caught by them." Alex said as he got up from the bed and began pacing around the room. "I'm sure you'll get us out of here, if anyone can it's you Alex." She said trying to reassure him. ******* Alex Krycek and Seraphina Stuart went way back. They had met when they were children. Seraphina had jut moved to the neighborhood one summer w hen she was eight and he was eleven. Alex's new puppy had gotten loose and ran into her yard where she was playing by herself with her Barbie dolls and he jumped on to her and began licking her. Seraphina was scared though; she never liked animals and screamed. Alex came running to get his Husky off of her. "Pierce get off the girl!" Alex shouted as he tugged gently on the puppy's collar. "Oh, he doesn't bite does he?" Seraphina asked a bit frightened. "No, Pierce is just overly friendly. You must be the new girl, I'm Alex from next door." He said warmly smiling at her. "I am, we just moved in last week. I'm Seraphina." She said glad that she finally found someone to talk to. "That's a different sort of name, but it's really pretty. Do you want to come and see my tree house?" Alex asked. "Sure let's go. First let me tell my mother where I'll be." Seraphina said rushing into her house shouting that she was going next door to play. They hit it off from the start and were inseparable from that time forward. They spent hours together playing. They had a lot in common even with their age difference. Sadly enough they shared the same dark secrets as well. Their home lives were less than rosy; both their fathers were heavy drinkers and were prone to violent outbursts whether they were sober or drunk. They became each other's crutch growing up. When Alex's father would punish him Seraphina would comfort him and when Seraphina was berated for whatever irked him she would run to Alex for solace. You would think that they would not flourish in those sorts of conditions, but they managed to turn out very intelligent despite everything that occurred around them. Seraphina knew that Alex would get them out this present situation and see that no further harm came to her. If there was anybody who would do anything for her, it was him. She recalled an incident that occurred when she was sixteen, she had graduated high school early and was spending her last summer with Alex who had just come back from college. She was going to study medicine and Alex was proud of her. Her father on the other hand did not really care, actually he thought all that education wasn't good for a woman. One afternoon Seraphina decided to confront her father about his drinking and how it would lead to an early death because it would in fact destroy his liver. He became very angry with her and in a fit of rage punched her and she fell to the floor, he then stormed out of the room. That wasn't the last of the problems that incident caused. She had promised Alex they would spend the afternoon on the beach and she had to go. She figured if she wore her cat-eye sunglasses he wouldn't see the bruise her father left. After all she didn't want to trouble him this was his vacation. Once at the beach Alex laughed at her for wearing her "movie star shades" and playfully tackled her to get them off and saw the bruise. He demanded to know where it came from and she had no choice but to tell him. The next morning when her father was leaving for work Alex confronted her father and they exchanged some words and in a fit of anger Alex decked her father. Seraphina witnessed that and was totally amazed at how far he would actually go to protect her. After that Alex never was allowed back in the Stuart house and her father barely spoke to her. He thought Seraphina got her "commie" friend; he often called Alex that because his parents were Russian immigrants; to beat him up because she wasn't woman enough to take the beating she deserved for interfering with his life. Needless to say Seraphina always knew she could count on Alex for anything. He was going to find a way to get them out both alive no matter what it took. ****** "Will you look at this Scully." Mulder said holding up the license plates check in front of her. "Find out where the car is from?" She asked. "You bet, it's a rented car. I contacted the rental agency and they even now the supposed destination of the car." Mulder said smiling. Scully knew when Mulder sniffed out something suspicious. He always got this look of a child getting what he always wanted. She thought after all this time of working on the X-Files he wouldn't be so enthusiastic about new cases, but he always was. "Skyland Mountain Scully! The place where Duane Barry went when he thought the aliens were going to take him away. I have a private plane that's going to take us to the nearest local airport and then we're going to scour the area for her and the car." Mulder said as he grabbed his black overcoat. Scully did not say a word, but followed Mulder out the door of their office. She knew there was nothing she could do once Mulder got one of those ideas in his head. So, she mine as well go along for the ride and try to keep him out of trouble. The private plane landed at a small airport in Waynesboro, Virginia and then they picked up a rented car and drove up to area by Skyland Mountain. Mulder remembered all to well what it was like the last time he was here. Duane Barry and his ranting and raving about how Scully was abducted by 'them' instead of him. He also remembered his harrowing experience of hanging off the tram on top of the mountain courtesy of his then partner Alex Krycek. Krycek, Mulder thought, he hadn't seen him in a long time and wondered what exactly he was up to. Anytime you didn't see him for a while he was surely planning something eventful and devious. Then again maybe it was better that he hadn't seen him. Mulder could not be held responsible for anything he did to that man. ****** Alex had found out some more from his KGB partners about what they were going to do. Since he was the only person who could communicate with her he told them her CD-ROM was at her office and that she only knew how to get access to the FBI building. So, they were going to drive back to Washington D.C. with her. He said that would go with the driver to make sure nothing went wrong. They agreed to that and said that they would leave within the hour. "I'm going to have to handcuff you, but I'm going to give you enough slack in the cuffs so you can take them off when you need to. I'll take care of the driver once we get on the road and then you can go back to Washington." He said as Seraphina put on her jacket. "Are you going to take me all the way back to DC or am I on my own once you get rid of the driver?" she asked walking up to him. "You know I would never leave you alone in a dangerous situation." Alex said as he tilted her chin up and looked deeply into her eyes. "I didn't think you would, but I wouldn't want you to risk your life or job just for me." She said looking up at him. "Don't worry, I have everything planned out, things will go well. We have to get moving. I don't want them to suspect that I know you or they'll get suspicious of us, so pretend you don't know me." Alex said as he walked over to the bedroom door and opened it. Seraphina followed Alex out the door and saw the black sedan that drove her to this place and the driver handed Alex the handcuffs and he put them on and opened the back door and shoved her in to make everything look convincing. Alex sat in the front next to the driver and then they drove off down the dirt road that eventually went to a main road that was on top of the mountain. The road was narrow and she hoped whatever Alex had planned wouldn't get them killed on this curvy road. ******* Mulder had been driving for a couple of hours when Scully asked Mulder to pull over at this lodging area so they could get something to eat and stretch a bit. Mulder protested saying that the trail would run cold if they stopped, but he eventually gave in to Scully's pouty look. They stopped at a place near the top of the mountain called Skyland Lodge. It was a rustic wood structure that had that homey feel about it. The place was pretty much deserted. Most of the tourists probably only came here in the summer months, once the chilly winds of autumn came blowing in only the local hunters were brave enough to stay up in the Smoky Mountains. "Mulder you know you really shouldn't be eating that." Scully said pointing to Mulder's plate of chicken fried steak dripping with milk gravy. "Now, what kind of person passes up a chance to eat good ol' Southern cooking Scully? And besides you're the one who wanted to stop in the first place. So if my arteries clog tonight it's all in your hands." Mulder said as he smiled mischievously at her. "Naturally everything is always my fault somehow." She said sarcastically as she picked at her salad. "Waitress!" Mulder shouted across the empty dining room. The waitress looked over and hustled over to the table and asked, "What can I do for you?" "I was wondering if you had seen any strange people around here lately. I certainly don't want you to include any local characters " Mulder asked. "Strange, can't say I have. Though we did have some foreigners here earlier today. They didn't speak a lick of English so it was hard for me to figure out what they wanted." She answered. "They weren't speaking Russian by chance were they?" Mulder asked sensing a link. "Mulder." Scully said glaring at him with her steely blue eyes. "I couldn't tell you, for all I know they could've been speaking just 'bout anything. You're not a police officer are you?" she asked apprehensively. "No, we're with the FBI." Mulder said as he pulled his badge out for her to see. "I'll be feds in our back yard. Hope there's nothing hairy going on around here." "No, we just think a kidnap victim may be in the area. If you see this woman, contact us and make note of who's with her and what kind of car she was travelling in." Scully said holding up a color photo of Seraphina. "I've seen her, she was here this morning. She was with these two men in a black car. Looked to me they were heading down the mountain." She answered. "You're sure it was this woman?" Mulder asked. "Yes, I'm sure. She didn't look like she was afraid though. But come to think of it, she had a welt of some sort on her cheek." The waitress said. "Remember anything else?" Scully asked. "They left here about nine. The woman went into the restroom and the one man got some sandwiches and sodas to go." "He spoke English then? What about the men you mentioned before they didn't speak English?" Mulder asked confusing the woman. "The men that didn't speak English left here about a half hour before you came in. The other man who ordered the food spoke fine. He didn't have an accent or nothing. Actually he was kind of cute." She said as she smiled shyly. "Both these groups headed down the mountain?" Scully asked. "Yes ma'am they did. I'm sure the first group has made down already, you might be able to catch the ones that just left. They couldn't get down that fast." "Thank you, you've been very helpful miss." Mulder said as he began to get up. "If you see them here again call the local police and have them hold them if you can." Scully said. "Here." Mulder said handing the woman money for the food. "I'll get you your change." She said. "Keep the change." Mulder said winking at her as he made his way to the door. "I can't believe it Scully we might be able to catch up to them." "And to think you didn't even want to stop here." she said as she smiled wickedly at him. ****** Earlier that morning Alex waited about ten miles before he decided to take action on disabling the driver. Though things didn't go exactly as he planned. He asked the driver to pull over to the shoulder of the road and he refused. So, Alex had to take more drastic and perilous action to get rid of the driver. He grabbed the driver and the car began to swerve on the curvy road and Alex hit the driver hard, but the driver just drove off the road totally and hit a tree instead and the car came to a crashing halt. The driver was trying to pull out his gun and shot Alex, but lucky for him Seraphina whacked the driver with her handcuffs and knocked him out. "Damn, Seraphina you are something else!" Alex said looking at the bleeding driver. "Well, we always did work well together." She said smiling crookedly. "You're right. Let's get him out of the car." Alex said as he opened the car door. Alex pulled the driver out of the to the side of the road and Seraphina was trying her best to start the car to no avail. "We've got problems, the car won't start." She said exasperated. "I'll check under the hood." He said as he went around to the front of the car. Alex checked everything out for a few minutes and then went over to Seraphina's window and said, "We're not going anywhere with this car, the radiator is shot from the accident." "Great, now what do we do?" she asked. "We're going to have to walk." He said. "Walk! All the way down the mountain are you out of your mind Alex?" she shouted getting out of the car. "Yes I'm serious, there's not much traffic around here. We're going to walk along the edge of the woods so no one sees us and so we don't get lost." He said. "I guess I don't really have much of choice. Let's get started before it gets too dark." She said a tad bit annoyed. ****** Mulder and Scully were driving down the mountainous road keeping their eyes open for anything out of the ordinary. Scully noticed a car on the shoulder of the road. "Mulder, look, there's a black car." She said pointing. Mulder pulled off the road and got out of the car with Scully chasing after him. "Damn it! They were here; this is the car with the license plates and everything. It had an accident, maybe the medics were here and took the passengers to the nearest hospital." Mulder said assessing the damage of the car. "Mulder I don't think so, come over here and look at this." Scully said bent over something. "What is it Scully?" Mulder asked as he walked over to the other side of the car. "I think it could be someone from the car." She said checking for a pulse. "Is he dead?" Mulder asked bending down to get a closer look. "No, his pulse is weak, but he's still alive. It looks like he received a severe blow to his head. He could be hemorrhaging. I think he got out the car and passed out over here from the accident." Scully said. "Nope, look Scully the leaves here have been dragged away, it looks like some pulled him out of the car and left him here. Though the question is who and was he the one that was with Agent Stuart." Mulder said trying to figure out what had transpired here. "Mulder what about the other man the waitress mentioned. She said Agent Stuart was with two men, what happened to the other one and to her?" She asked getting out her cell phone. "Well, the waitress said the one man was good looking, this guy certainly isn't what I call good looking, he's down right ugly Scully. So who ever she's with he speaks English, maybe they got in another car, the foreigners that were up at the lodge might have come down to pick them up." Mulder said rambling trying to make sense of what might have happened here. "Well, I'm calling the local police so this man receives the proper medical attention he needs." She said dialing some numbers. While Scully was talking on the phone Mulder looked around some more and noticed that some of the bushes were parted and decided to investigate further. He looked and upon close inspection he saw how the bushes branches were broken off to make a path into the dense forest. He also made note that the branches were still seeping sap, which meant that this happened only recently. "Mulder what is it?" Scully asked knowing that Mulder had found something important. "Why would Agent Stuart go into the woods when she had to know people would be looking for her?" Mulder asked. "Maybe she didn't want her kidnappers to find her again." Scully said trying to rationalize Mulder's ideas. "No, Scully I think she went into the woods with one of the kidnappers." Mulder said as he walked into the woods. "Mulder wait! You can't be serious, why in God's would he do that?" Scully said running into the woods to keep up with Mulder. "I don't know Scully, but we don't know anything about her or about these people that kidnapped her. You can't trust anyone you know that." Mulder said looking around on the floor of the forest for tracks of some sort. "I don’t see how we're going to find them in here." She said pushing away some low branches. "See, you can tell someone's been walking through here recently. I can see the tracks in the dirt and leaves have been moved. It looks like they're heading down the mountain. Let's get back to the car and drive some more and then go into the woods and look for them." Mulder said turning around. Scully followed suit and went back to the car. Mulder started it and continued down the mountain for about five or six miles. Figuring that no one could walk more than that in a few hours in the woods. They pulled the car over to the side of the road where there was a lookout and began searching the woods. Sure enough Mulder found the tracks that were still heading down the mountain and followed them with Scully trailing behind. ***** "Alex, I hate to bring this up, but we're going to have to sleep in the woods tonight, you do know that, don't you?" she asked as she walked next to Alex. "I know, I was hoping to get out here before night time, but I don't think that's possible." Alex said as he stopped walking. "I might've taken my survival class and all but I'm a bit worried about the wild animals. You know animals scare me." Seraphina said looking up at Alex. "Don't worry, I took the driver's gun, I'll shoot anything that comes too close. I see some things never change. You think you would've grown out of that by now." Alex said as he began walking again. "Well, let's just say there's some things you never grow out of, namely friendship." She said as she smiled up at him. Alex wrapped his arm around Seraphina's waist and pulled her in closer in a sideways hug and said, "I'm glad that some things never change and I'm glad you're one of them." They kept walking even though the dusk was setting over the mountain. Alex wasn't sure how much further they would have to go to make it all the way down, but he figured hopefully by tomorrow afternoon they would be off the mountain. "I think we should rest for the evening." Seraphina said as she sat down on a fallen tree. "I guess that would be a good idea, you look tired. Here, have something to eat." Alex said pulling some sandwiches out of his backpack. They proceeded to eat the sandwiches they had picked up earlier when they heard some voices off in the distance. "Did you hear that?" Alex asked in a husky whisper. "I did, you don't think those are the Russians?" she whispered back. "Shh…let's listen." He said in a hushed tone. They listened intently for the voices they had heard moments before. "Mulder it's too dark to go searching for someone. Let's get back to the car before we get lost." Scully said. "No, not yet, I think we're getting closer." Mulder said turning on his flashlight. "Damn it!" Alex muttered. "Isn't that Agents Mulder and Scully? Why don't you want them to find us, they can help us." Seraphina asked. "I can't get into to now, but Mulder would like to see me dead." Alex said as he noticed a flashlight glaring in their general direction and he ducked behind a fallen tree. "Alex?" Seraphina whispered. Mulder heard the hushed voices and noise in the woods a few feet to his right and ran to the spot where Seraphina was standing with Scully right behind him. "Agent Stuart are you all right?" Scully asked peering through the darkness to see if she was injured in some way. "Who's with you and where is he?" Mulder asked. There was some rustling a couple of feet away and Mulder pulled out his gun and pointed it in that direction and approached the area very carefully. Alex decided he could probably make a run for it and began to run from the scene, but Mulder saw a figure move and began chasing after Alex. Mulder wasn't going to give up, he wanted to know who wanted that CD-ROM and why. He almost lost his balance a few times, but managed to keep up with Alex. Though unfortunately for Alex he turned around to check to see how close Mulder was getting and didn't see the small decline there was in the forest and fell down hard. This gave Mulder the opportunity to catch up to Alex and grab him and he then shined his flashlight on him to see who he caught. "Krycek! And to think I was just thinking about you today too and here you are. Get up!" Mulder shouted as he pulled Alex up roughly. Mulder marched a limping Alex Krycek with a gun to his back to where Scully and Seraphina were. "Look what I caught, a rat Scully." Mulder said as Alex limped into view. Scully said nothing but noticed the look of horror on Seraphina's face and knew there was much more to this situation than met the eye. "Alex, what happened?" Seraphina asked running to his side to give him some support. "What's this you fell in love with your captor? I thought that was only something that happened in stale spy novels." Mulder said dryly keeping his gun pointed at Alex. "No, Agent Mulder, Alex is my friend he saved me." Seraphina said assessing Alex's ankle. "What? Friend, I didn't know you had any Krycek, she must be taking you on as a charity case." Mulder said wryly. "You'd never understand even if I told you Mulder." Krycek said nastily. "He twisted his ankle." Seraphina said assessing Alex's condition. "Mulder can I talk to you in private please." Scully said tugging on Mulder's arm. "Sure, but don't think about moving Krycek or I'll shoot and I shoot to kill rats like you." Mulder said gesturing with his gun. "Mulder it's clear that Agent Stuart is close to Krycek. She must've have known him before. Did you ever consider that he did help her? How else could you explain how she got away, with his help Mulder." She said in a pleading tone. "I don't care about her relationship with Krycek. I'm taking him in and if she doesn't cooperate with us fully to what she knows, she'll face disciplinary action from the Bureau." Mulder said angrily. "Mulder I don't think you understand the whole situation. I think Krycek knows about the people who kidnapped Agent Stuart and he also helped her get away from them. She told me how Krycek wanted to get her back to Washington safely." Scully said glancing over at Seraphina and Alex. "Scully, he's a killer and a liar. Why would he even want to help her?" Mulder asked. "Look at them Mulder, it's very clear they seem to have a very deep bond of some sort." Scully said looking in there direction. Mulder looked over at them and saw Seraphina rubbing Alex's ankle while he was talking to her. They looked like they were the only two people in the woods, totally engrossed in each other that they didn't hear the footsteps that were coming up behind them. "Look out!" Mulder shouted as he saw two men come up stealthily behind them. Alex snapped his head around, as did Seraphina. Alex grabbed hold of Seraphina's arm and pulled her out of the way and started running towards Mulder and Scully. Mulder fired some shots and missed and Scully pulled out her gun and missed as well. The two attackers opened fire as well and a barrage of bullets ripped apart the surrounding woods. All four of them were seeking cover in various places to avoid getting hit. Seraphina and Scully were crouched down behind a large rock, but soon were under fire and tried to get out of the way. Scully urged Seraphina to go on ahead towards better cover while she covered her. Scully began to fire and Seraphina ran for it. Scully then had Mulder cover her and she made a run for it, but two more attackers who came out of the woods trapped both Seraphina and Scully. Cornered they had no place to go and were in a hopeless situation. Scully dropped her gun and scanned the area for Mulder and saw him lurking behind a tree waiting to pick off the first set of attackers, which he did successfully. Though the second group of attackers now had their guns to the heads of Seraphina and Scully and uttered some words in Russian. Alex was lurking behind some fallen shrubbery and understood what they had said. Which were the men were going to shoot them both if the rest of them didn't surrender. He couldn't let anything happen to Seraphina, so he sprung into action to save them both. Alex came out from behind his cover and jumped one of the men and was struggling on the ground with him wrestling to get the gun away from him. Mulder got one lucky shot in when he hit the other attacker just when he was going to shoot Alex. Mulder walked up to where Alex and the attacker were wrestling, but he couldn't get a clear shot in without shooting Alex by accident. Seraphina and Scully just watched in horror. There was a sudden gunshot and Alex cried out in pain. The attacker pushed him away and tried to get away, but Scully shot at him and managed to get him in the arm. It was enough to slow him down so Mulder could grab him. Seraphina ran over to Alex, as did Scully to assess his condition. "Where was he shot?" Scully asked looking at him. "Alex, say something to me." Seraphina pleaded as she found the bullet wound when she got blood all over her hand. "Are you okay?" Alex asked looking up into her eyes. "Yes, of course." She answered. It was clear that Alex was in a great deal of pain because he groaned and sounded as though he was having some trouble breathing. "I think the bullet may have punctured his lung. He needs to get to a hospital immediately. Mulder! Do you have your cell phone?" Scully shouted. "Yeah, you bet I do. You want to call a hospital?" he asked. "Yes, he might die if we don't get him to one." Scully said. Mulder walked closer and saw Seraphina riffling through the backpack that had some supplies in it as Scully grabbed the phone. "You looking for something?" he asked. "Yes, I need a knife and some hose like pump. I can keep him alive till the medics get here." Seraphina said. "I've got the knife, I'll help you find the other stuff you need." Mulder said as he began helping Seraphina. While this was going on Scully was on the phone calling 911. "This is Special Agent Dana Scully with the FBI. I need a medivac helicopter at mile marker 583 on the Blue Ridge Parkway. There's an agent down and his life depends on you getting here as fast as you can." Scully instructed the dispatcher. She might've lied about Krycek being an agent, but the man did save her life back there just moments ago, she owed him that much. "Here you go, I found this tubing for you to use. Need anything else?" Mulder asked. "Sterilize the knife." Seraphina ordered. "What are you doing Agent Stuart?" Scully asked puzzled. "I'm trying to save his life and I could use some help here." She snapped. Mulder handed Seraphina the sterilized knife and said, "Agent Mulder could you hold Alex down, he's going to be in a lot of pain. Agent Scully tape the hose to the water bottle and make sure it's airtight as possible." "You've got it." Scully said as she sprang into action and did what she was told. Seraphina then took the knife and began making a rounded incision that was about three-quarters of an inch thick. Alex tried to move, but Mulder was able to restrain him. Scully then handed the water bottle with the hose attached and Seraphina put the one end of the hose in the incision and blood began flowing through the hose out into the water bottle. "That should hold him till the medics get here." Seraphina said as Scully checked Alex's pulse. "That was very impressive Agent Stuart. I had no idea your medical training was so extensive." Mulder said in awe of her. "My medical school mentor was an Army doctor and he told me about how you can use any and all resources around you when you have nothing else to save a life." Seraphina said as she heard a helicopter coming nearer. "We have to send someone out to the main road to get the medics to get him to the chopper." Scully said a bit uncomfortably noticing how impressed Mulder was with Seraphina's skills. "I'll go." Mulder said as he began to jog away towards the main road. end of Chapter 1 0227_krycekcutie-yahoo-com_ghostsfromthepast.txt