Chapter Six:

Mulder

Cook County General
8:30 p.m.


I must have called Scully half a dozen times this evening, but she wasn't answering. No one at the field office had heard from her since five. I checked with Skinner, too. Nothing. Absolutely nothing. I tried her cell one more time as I walked through the hospital.

"Answer the damn phone Scully. C'mon, just pick it up," I muttered.

I made a beeline for Adderley's room, the last place I knew she was. A nurse stopped me from entering.

"Where are you going," she said, grabbing my arm.

I fished in my coat for my ID, flipping it open. "I'm Special Agent Mulder of the FBI. What happened to the man that was in here?"

"Jeremiah Adderley? He was discharged this afternoon," she replied, eyes scanning my badge.

"Can I look around?" I asked, nudging past her. I didn't have time for this.

It was stripped clean already. The room was empty. Nothing. I turned around, surveying its sparse furnishing as a sinking feeling crept over me.

Something was terribly wrong. What the hell happened to her? Who else knew where she was?

The blood samples. Shit. She was working on isolating that virus. I suspected she had gotten too close for comfort. Too close to his secret? But how would he know she what she was doing?

Adderley. Figures. If Scully told Adderley what she suspected, he'd tell Peter. Who would...

"Are you Agent Mulder?" asked a young woman, tugging at my arm.

I spun around, jerking out of her grasp. "Yeah, what?"

She looked up at me. She was shorter than Scully. Had to be some intern. Young with large eyes and straight brown hair. She pressed her lips together, standing firm as I stared her down.

"I'm Lucy Knight. Agent Scully was working in our lab upstairs and she left her coat," she said, handing the black trench to me.

"What?" I asked, grabbing it frantically from her. I felt in the pockets. Sure enough, her cell phone was nestled in the breast pocket. Along with her FBI ID. Shit.

"We have the rest of her stuff at the desk, we didn't know what to do with it," she said, motioning to the nurses station.

"Did you see her go? Do you have any idea where she went?" I demanded, clutching her arm.

"No," she replied, shaking her head. "They needed to use the lab and noticed her stuff laid out. We waited a few hours, then packed it up."

"There must be security tapes, something. An FBI agent doesn't just disappear," I said, releasing her.

But she does disappear, doesn't she? Time and time again. Slipping through my hands.

"I can check with Jerry," Lucy said, stepping away. "On the tapes. I'll be right back."

My eyes wandered all over the busy hallway. Expecting that red-haired head of hers to appear out of nowhere. But it didn't.

Goddamn it.

I made a fist with my hand, clenching and unclenching it. I slammed it against the wall. That Lucy girl looked over at me from where she was talking to a tall guy behind the counter.

Goddamn it.

I could feel anger rising within me. I had no time to wait for the fucking tape. Besides, I already knew who was responsible.

****

Ayebourne Apartment
9:00 p.m.


I drove as fast as humanly possible to that brownstone again. Funny how unassuming it looked on the outside. There was some kind of greenhouse up top, I could see the flowers and the greenery from below. It looked so goddamned idyllic.

Nothing was ever what it appears to be.

I charged up the stairs to the top apartment, clearing two or three with every step as I ascended.

I should have trusted my instincts on this. I knew what the hell he was, I knew he had something to do with the kidnappings.

I pounded on the door. "Federal Agent! Open this door!"

I pressed my ear to it. No sounds from inside.

"Aylebourne! I know you're in there," I said, pounding some more. "This is Agent Mulder. Open this door!"

If I had to break down this fucking door, I would. I braced my shoulder against it, to force it open, but it gave way and I caught my footing.

"We heard you the first time, Agent Mulder," said Jessica Aylebourne, holding the door open for me. She looked troubled. Or was it guilt?

"Where is he?" I demanded, shoving past her and into the flat.

He was lying on the sofa, a compress fell of his head as he stood up defensively. "This is becoming a habit, isn't it? Barging into my apartment..."

"Where is she, Aylebourne?" I asked, trying hard not to throw him across the room. "Where the hell is she?"

"Who?" he asked, narrowing his eyes at me.

"Scully," I said, breathing her name. "What the hell have you done with her? Did she get too close to your secret? Discovering the scientific explanation for what you are?"

He just stared back at me, then exchanged a glance with Jessica.

"Answer me, goddamn it!"


****

Peter

Aylebourne Apartment
9:02 p.m.


"Answer me, goddamn it!"

Dread had begun to course through me when Agent Mulder had announced what had happened. Agent Scully was missing. And Agent Mulder was certain I knew who had taken her, if he didn't already suspect me.

"I don't know where she is," I answered weakly.

"Where is she?!" he snarled, storming forward until I found myself nose to nose with him. "Where the hell is she?! You know where she is! You know something and you'd better tell me, you blood sucking son of a bitch!"

Anger flared through me and I found myself shouting at him. "How dare you!" I snapped. "How dare you come bursting in here and accusing me of something I know nothing about!"

"Dammit, I want answers!"

"Hold it! Hold it!"

A new voice entered the argument as Jessie literally forced her way between us, pushing us apart until she held us both at arm's length.

"You!" she snapped, pointing at Agent Mulder. "Back off!" She spun around and glared up at me. "And you!" she growled, pointing at me. "Calm down!" After a few moments, she turned back to Agent Mulder. "Now, Fox," she said, her voice considerably more gentle. "Would you please calm down and tell us what happened? You're more likely to get answers if you explain rather than accuse."

We both watched as he made a visible effort to control his temper by closing his eyes and taking a deep breath. When he spoke, it was slowly and deliberately.

"Agent Scully is gone. She was investigating one of the links between all of the kidnap victims, a viral agent in their bloodstream. She disappeared after obtaining a sample from your friend, Jeremiah Adderley."

I shook my head. "Jeremiah was discharged earlier today. He called us when he got home."

"What time was that?"

"About three o'clock."

"And the sun had just set around five," he murmured. His eyes turned back to us, once again accusing. "That was enough time for her to be taken and to make it back here."

Jessie's voice cut in. "We haven't left here all day, Fox."

"Of course not," he snapped. "The sun is bad for your kind."

Instantly, my defenses were up. "Our kind, Agent Mulder?"

"I'll tell you what I told your wife last night. I know what you are. I've seen it before."

I frowned. Jessie had told me about the conversation she'd had with Agent Mulder, about how she suspected he knew what we were. But I hadn't expected him to be blunt about it. I decided ignorance was our best bet.

"What in the world are you talking about?"

"Goddamn it!" he shouted. "Don't play games with me!" He suddenly reached into his coat pocket and pulled something out. "If you're not what I think you are, then explain this!" His hand shot out as he threw something at me. It hit me in the chest and bounced off. I caught it before it hit the floor.

It was a folded piece of paper. I frowned and glanced at Jessie. Her large eyes peered up at me, filled with worry. It gave me comfort that she would worry about me.

Giving her a reassuring smile, I unfolded the paper.

Gazing at the image in my hands, I felt all the color drain from my face. Unable to stand, I let my body slowly sink to the sofa. The image blurred before my eyes as tears sprang up.

It was a computer print out of a painting, specifically, a portrait. The last portrait ever painted of the Aylebourne family. I was gazing at faces I hadn't seen in centuries. The last face I had seen was that of my older brother-when he died at the age of 78. He had been only 23 when the image I held had been painted.

"Peter?" I heard Jessie's voice ask. "What is it?"

I couldn't speak. Instead, I handed her the paper.

"Oh," I heard her whisper. I knew she understood.

I buried my face in my hands. "I haven't seen those faces in so long," I whispered. "I never knew how my mother or my sisters died. My father refused to even speak my name. He said that since my soul was dead, my body might as well follow."

"I don't care about your past, however far back it goes!" snapped Agent Mulder. "I know what you are! I know you have something to do with all of this! And I want to know where Agent Scully is! NOW!"

Suddenly, I was so angry I wanted to pick him up and throw him out the window.  Leaping to my feet, I shouted, "I DON'T KNOW WHERE AGENT SCULLY IS!"

The burst of anger caused both of them to jump and, as always, left me drained. I flopped back down on to the sofa and buried my face in my hands again.

Why did it seem like my past was steamrolling over both me and the ones I loved all at once?

Next to me, I could feel Jessie shifting from one foot to the other, uncertain of what to do. Then, quite suddenly, she seemed to come to a decision. I heard her footsteps hurry away from me. Finally, her voice rang out.

"All right, if you're such a great FBI agent that you can figure out ways to torture a man with his own past, perhaps you can do something with this."

I raised my head in time to see something fly past me to hit Agent Mulder in the chest and fall to the floor. He stooped down and picked it up to study it. I recognized the delivery envelope the parchment had come in.

"Peter received that today," she said coldly to him. "In it was something rather disturbing to both of us. I won't get into what it was, but if you'll take a look at the airbill, you'll notice there's a credit card number there. I'd suggest you use that cell phone I see in your hand and figure out who that number belongs to. It might give you some idea as to who has Agent Scully."

To my surprise, he actually seemed to consider her suggestion. For several moments, he stared at the envelope before turning away to flip open his cell phone and start dialing.

I heard him murmuring into the phone as Jessie sat down next to me. She reached out and took my hand in both of hers. I was comforted by her touch.

"Everything will be all right," she said softly.

"Are you sure?" I whispered.

"Yes," she answered. "I have to be. I can't let myself believe anything else. Because if I do, I'll lose hope. And right now, that's the one thing I'm holding on to with both hands."

"I'm sorry to put you through this, Jessie."

She shook her head. "There's nothing to forgive, Peter." A tender smile touched her lips. "You know there's nothing I wouldn't endure for you."

For a moment, I couldn't speak because of the lump that had risen in my throat. Every declaration of love Jessie gave me still stunned me. So instead of speaking, I kissed her.

The momentary bliss was shattered by Agent Mulder's voice.

"I hate to interrupt, but I was able to find out whose credit card number this is."

We stared at him expectantly.

There was a sudden movement as he tossed the envelope back at me. I didn't bother to try and catch it, simply letting it fall into my lap.

"It's yours," he said flatly.

We stared at him.

"You want to explain that one to me?"

I barely heard him. "Dear Lord," I whispered. "He has our credit card number? What else does he have?"

"Look," snapped Agent Mulder. "I'm sick and tired of these games. I don't know what you hope to accomplish with all of this, but-"

"That's right, Agent Mulder," snarled Jessie as she leaped to her feet. "You don't know what-if anything-we're trying to accomplish here. How do you even know we're up to anything? Does that come with your vast, and pretty damn inaccurate knowledge of what we are?"

"Jessie..." I said in a warning tone.

She continued as though she hadn't heard me. "Do you really believe we would be so stupid as to kidnap your partner and then hand you evidence showing you we did it? Give us at least a little credit, Fox." She shook her head in exasperation. "Just because we're," her voice changed to a silly Bela Lugosi-type of accent, "children of the night." The accent immediately fell away. "Doesn't mean the lack of sunlight had affected our intelligence levels."

"I want answers!" he shouted.

"We need to know the questions, Fox!" she snapped at him, turning away to step back towards the sofa.

"Where's Scully? What do you know about it? And what the hell are you?!" He reached out and grabbed Jessie's arm, yanking her back towards him.

Big mistake.

For an instant, she turned away from him, as though anticipating a blow from him. Half a second later, it seemed as though the entire apartment was filled with a low keening wail.

Then, in an explosion of movement and sound, she spun around to face him. Her voice had risen up into a shriek, her eyes were wide, wild, and catlike, and her blood teeth were fully extended. She had completely shifted and she looked absolutely terrifying. The whole thing had the desired effect.

"JESUS!" shouted Agent Mulder, leaping away from her.

I leaped to my feet, feeling anger flare up in me. After everything I had taught her, this was what she was reducing it to? Parlor tricks?

"Jessie!" I snapped. "Stop that! That was very childish!"

The startled look on her wild face was quickly replaced with sheepishness.

"You're right," she said softly. "I'm sorry."

I wasn't sure if she was saying it to me or to Agent Mulder.

Closing her eyes, she shifted back from vampire mode, her body relaxing from its tense stance. I noticed Agent Mulder watched with wide-eyed wonder as Jessie slid her blood teeth back into place.

"I'm sorry," she growfed. "But he has this wonderful talent for pissing me off."

I sighed. "I know, Jessie. Believe me, I know."

"Is that voluntary?" he asked, all the hostility completely vanishing from his voice to be replaced with pure curiosity. "Your teeth, I mean."

We stared at him a moment before Jessie finally answered, "Yeah, they are." She turned back to me, an eyebrow raised. I knew what she was thinking. In the midst of all of this, he was suddenly wondering about our teeth?

I was about to ask him about it when the phone rang. Automatically, I picked it up.

Hullo?"

Silence at the other end.

"Hullo?" I asked a bit more forcefully. "Who is this?"

A whisper answered me. A whisper that spoke of nothing but pure evil.

"I have her."

"What?" I asked. "What are you talking about? Who is this?"

"I have your Tigerlily, Peter. And she is a tasty little thing."

A block of ice settled in the pit of my stomach. Suddenly I knew who was at the other end of the phone.

"If you want her back, meet me at the Riley Observatory at 4:30 this coming morning."

"Cyrus!" I shouted into the phone. "Don't do this-!"

But I was talking to a dead line.

Now I knew exactly where Agent Scully was.

I turned back to Jessie and Agent Mulder. Jessie's eyes were wide with fear, while Agent Mulder's peered at me in confusion.

"He has her," I whispered. "He has Agent Scully."

Fear flickered across Agent Mulder's face for a brief moment before his expression reverted back to a carefully controlled neutral.

The fear in Jessie's eyes was suddenly joined by something else. Realization. Her eyes widened in horror as she reached up and touched her own auburn hair. Her terrified whisper was filled with dread as three words escaped her lips.

"Oh my God..."

****

Scully

Somewhere


It was dark, all around me. Was I somewhere in a waking dream? Conscious, but not aware. My mind fought hard to rationalize, but it was unable to grasp onto anything. Just darkness.

I lingered there...for a second? For hours? I couldn't tell. Time meant nothing here.

I felt something soft, brushing on my shoulder. A presence, perhaps. I was leaning back against someone, into their body. They were tilting my head to the side, sweeping my hair away.

Fingers caressed my skin, so intimate a gesture. What is he saying? I can hear words, but I can't understand them.

My heart pounded in my head. So loudly, I'm sure he heard it. Faster and louder with each beat. The sound of something running too. The sound of my life, running through me. That's what is was.

Surrender? Will I give my life to him? Is that what he's asking? Haven't I already? Time and time again?

"Yes," I breathed, but not hearing the words from my mouth.

Random numbers flew through my head. Number twenty-five? Forty-one? Which one are we up to? Why can't I remember?

"I want to feel you..." he whispered in my ear, as his lips caressed my right ear. "Screaming."

I opened my mouth, yet no sounds come out. I reached my hand, snaking it through his hair. But it didn't feel right. But who else would hold me like this?

His arm is around my shoulders, pressing me to him from behind. Lips traced the line of my neck, breath against the sensitive skin. But it didn't arouse me, like it normally does. Instead, it felt cold.

I tried to struggle again him, to turn and see his face, but I was frozen. Only the sound of my heart beating loudly kept me from falling back into the darkness.

"I shall enjoy this," he said slowly, teeth grazing my neck.

I felt a sudden sharp pain in that spot. Pulling me. Taking my life from me. I tried to fight against it, but I couldn't. I opened my mouth again.

This time, I could hear my screams.

****

"Wake up, Sleeping Beauty," called a voice I didn't recognize.

My head hurt as I lifted it up. Eyes trying to focus on the voice.

"I would have thought you'd be used to it," he said, coldly. "What with Peter feeding on you."

Peter? He meant Aylebourne. Where the hell am I?

"You need to wake up," he said again. My eyes focused on a man, dressed in dark colors. He had brown hair brushed off his temples and pale skin. I wasn't restrained in any way, but my whole body felt limp and heavy. Had I been drugged?

"Who are you?" I asked weakly, struggling to sit up. I was aware of a sharp pain in my neck, I rubbed the spot.

Who am I?" Now, isn't that funny question? I'm so surprised Peter has never mentioned me? We used to be...so close," he said, in a mocking tone. He spread his arms in front of him and bowed to me. "But I see he has other things to keep him busy. I am Cyrus."

I felt instinctively for my gun, but it wasn't there. Neither was my ID. I vaguely remembered being in the hospital...I was looking for Adderley...

"Come, come now," Cyrus said, clapping his hands. "You shouldn't be this unresponsive! It's because I'm not Peter, isn't it?"

"I'm not..." I struggled to say, but he rushed to my side. Cyrus kneeled beside me, brushing the hair out of my eyes.

"Your hair, you've cut your hair," he said thoughtfully. But then his tone turned harsh. "I thought Peter liked it long. Tigerlily, isn't that what he calls you? I noticed how he ran his hands through it the night I saw you two on that rooftop garden. Screwing each other. What a happy couple you do make. Or dancing the other night at the Mesh."

He tugged at my hair forcefully before letting me go. He thought I was Jessica.

"Adderley," I whispered, fearing he took him too. He wasn't in the room.

"Oh, your flamboyant friend?" he sneered. "Gone. I was just as surprised as you were that he was gone. I had wanted to have some more fun with him. C'est la vie!"

"Where am I?"

He stood up and gestured grandly to me. "My humble abode, an underground haven of sorts. The city of Chicago has a very interesting subculture beneath the streets. Don't worry, he won't find you anytime soon. Besides, we will be meeting with him soon enough. You can say your farewells there. But first, I have to get you ready."

Cyrus walked over to a table and began mixing something together. The room was lit by candles all around, their waxy fragrance hung in the air.

"He never told me about you," I said, under my breath. If he thinks I'm Jessica, then I'll be Jessica for now. To buy time.

He stopped and placed his hand over his heart in exaggerated gesture. "You don't know how much it pains me to hear that! Ah! How ungrateful Peter is for all I taught him. He would never have survived without me. Osiris' Ghosts will return for the new millennium."

"Osiris' Ghosts?" I repeated. What the hell was he talking about?

"Those were the good old days! All over Europe, we had such fun terrorizing people! Hearing them scream in fear. Deciding which village to torture next. The world was such a simpler place then," he carried on. Cyrus picked up a brush and began twirling it in the bowl. "Peter had such a knack for it. He was my best disciple. So ruthless and cruel when he wanted to be. But one day, he betrayed me and left. And he promised he wouldn't do that. Peter makes good on his promises..."

He must be delusional. He was the one who kidnapped Adderley and the others.

"Why did you kidnap those people?" I asked.

"Haven't you been paying attention? Oh, you mortals. How the hell does he stand it?" Cyrus said, giving me a dirty look. "I was just warming up. Seeing how the modern world would handle it. They seem to downplay everything. Murder is common, people disappear everyday. No one believes anymore. The perfect time to return."

"And you were looking for Peter," I finished.

"Yes, how upset I was to find him living a normal life. Married, nonetheless! To a mere mortal like you. We are bred for finer things than that," he said. Cyrus walked towards me, holding the bowl and brush. He smiled cruelly. "Ready for me?"

I leaned back against the wall, but my body was still heavy. What the hell had he done to me?

"But first, I do need a bit of a snack. And you are a very sweet little thing," he said, sitting beside me again. "How does Peter do it?"

What? What is he talking about? I wondered. I stared at him coldly, watching every move.

"Tell me Tigerlily, how does Peter do it? Is he gentle? Forceful?" Cyrus asked. In the bowl was the henna dye. He loaded the brush up with the paint. "Does he bite you the same moment he's screwing you? Do you feel his teeth break through your skin the moment you come?"

His eyes were blue, clear blue like mine. But they began to darken into something else.

"There's something so intensely erotic about biting someone, or even better, being bitten, while screwing them. Don't you think so, Tigerlily?" he continued, reaching for my left arm.

Cyrus voice grew deeper, almost a growl. My heart was beating harder, I couldn't move. I couldn't get away from him. What was he going to do? He was smiling again, and his canine teeth were unusually long.

I stared back at him, afraid to say anything else. He grabbed my arm and eased the fabric back to expose my left wrist. His eyes looked down and then back up at me...

Flaring yellow.

"What the hell is this?" he screamed, grabbing my wrist so hard I could feel my bones starting to crush. I cried out at the pain. "Just what the HELL IS THIS?"

Cyrus twisted my arm in front of my face. It was the markings Mulder made...faded, but still visible was the ankh. He threw the bowl at the wall behind me, it shattered into pieces under the force.

"Is your husband trying to MOCK me?" Cyrus screamed, standing up. "Oh, this will not do. This will NOT do."

I lowered my wrist back into my lap and rubbed it gently. I tried to keep calm, but the fear inside was mounting. He was insane.

Cyrus turned away from me. "Well, lucky for me I can find out what game Peter is playing soon enough. Unlucky for you...Tigerlily."

He laughed, it's sound echoing off the walls until it turned into something else. A low growl. Cyrus flung back around, his eyes yellow and non-human...

"So Tigerlily, it begins," he said, laughing again. He drew back his lips to reveal his teeth...vampire teeth....

I was looking at a vampire...


****

Jessie

Aylebourne Apartment
9:30 p.m.


I was trembling. It had become hard to breathe.

This wasn't right. Agent Scully was an innocent. She shouldn't have been roped into this. But she was, all because she and I shared the same hair color.

Suddenly, I understood Peter's anguish the night we found Jeremiah all too well.

Peter must have seen and understood the expression on my face, because he suddenly reached out and grasped my shoulders, forcing me to look into his eyes.

"Jessie," he said urgently. "This isn't your fault. This isn't because of you."

"Yes, it is!" I yelped at him.

"What is it?" Agent Mulder's voice rang out, startling us both. "What's going on with Scully? Who has her?"

I watched as Peter took a deep breath. "An old enemy, Agent Mulder. A very old enemy. He wants vengeance on me and he means to take it by destroying everything I love. Including my wife."

"So he's taken Scully." He fell silent, as if the very thought hit him in the gut. I found his silence to be far more annoying then anything he could say.

"Don't you see?" I nearly shouted at him, hoping jar him out whatever reverie he'd fallen into. "He never meant to take Agent Scully! He meant to take me!" I ran my fingers through my own hair, lifting it up for him to get a good look at its color. "She was never his intended victim!"

His eyes suddenly widened as the realization hit home.

"Who has Scully, Aylebourne?" he said softly.

"As I said," Peter whispered. "An old enemy."

"That's not good enough!" he snapped. "I need more to go on. Why is he doing this? What are his motives? How is he your enemy? What does he have against you?"

It took only a moment for me to realize what he was doing. That same professional front I had seen at the club the night before had suddenly fallen into place. The FBI profiler was doing his job.

For a brief moment, Peter looked as though he was going to snarl some fierce answer. But he closed his eyes and carefully let himself calm down. When he spoke, it was with a low intensity that could be felt all throughout the apartment.

"It was long time ago, Agent Mulder. Much longer than you could imagine. Cyrus believes I broke a promise to him. And now he wants me to make good on that promise. Because he knows that I have never in my life, ever broken a promise to anyone."

"Except for that one time."

"Except for that one time," Peter confirmed.

"And he's taken Scully, thinking she's Jessica, to ensure you keep that promise."

"Exactly."

"What happens if he founds out she's not Jessica?" he asked, although I could see he wasn't sure he wanted to know the answer.

"She becomes something else to him."

"What?"

"Food, Agent Mulder. She becomes food to him. And if I know Cyrus-and even after centuries apart, I believe I still know him-he'll drain her dry."

I watched as the color drained from Agent Mulder's face.

"I have to get her back," he whispered.

"Correction, Agent Mulder," Peter said firmly. "We have to get her back."

The look on his face was ferocious. "And why should I trust you?! If this person is after you, then you're the reason Scully was taken in the first place!"

"Fox!" I yelped at him. "That's completely unfair!"

"Perhaps," answered Peter quietly. "But it is accurate. However, Agent Mulder really has no choice but to let us help him."

"And why is that?" growled Agent Mulder.

"Tell me this," answered Peter. "How well do you know Cyrus?"

"I can draw some conclusions from his actions and from what I've heard from you."

"Yes, but how well do you know him?"

He fell silent.

"See?" Peter said quietly. "You don't know what he's capable of. I do. Unfortunately, I know quite well."

"Do you know where she's being held?"

"Yes, I do."

"Tell me."

"No."

"Dammit, Aylebourne-!"

"How do you think," said Peter, cutting him off. "Cyrus will react when you come walking in rather than me? I'm the one he's expecting and he's holding your partner hostage. Think about that."

Again, Agent Mulder fell silent.

"Besides," Peter said simply. "You can't do this alone. Not against Cyrus."

The fierce look on Agent Mulder's face said much more than any words he could have spoken.

"Face it, Agent Mulder," Peter said softly. "Eventually you're going to have to trust us."

"Fox," I said gently. "We know how much getting her back means to you. And not just because you're partners."

"How would you know?" he said softly. "How would you have any idea of what we've gone through for each other, any idea of what she means to me?"

"Then let me guess," I answered. "Let me take a wild guess. One simple reason, right?" I stepped forward, until I was nearly touching him. "She's the reason you breathe, isn't she, Fox? Without her, oxygen is irrelevant."

The stunned expression on his face told me I had hit the mark. Yet he remained stubbornly silent, anger flashing in his eyes.

"I have no doubt you'd go to the ends of the Earth for her, Fox," I said quietly.

"I have," he whispered.

"Then let us help you," I said. "Take that same chance you took when you went to the ends of the Earth for her. Take a chance and trust us and let us help you get her back."

He hesitated a moment.

Then he turned away to start pacing the room, talking as he went. "Once we get to where ever she's being held," He gave Peter a short glare as he said this. "We need to separate them, get Scully away from this Cyrus person."

"Well then," I said simply. "I think Agent Scully and I are going to have to trade places."


****


Continued in Chapter Seven