See disclaimers and notes in Part One.

---------------------------

Seconds
By Tiramisu

Part Eight:

"He seemed to be doing exactly what you wanted him to do - keeping Scully safe." Alex told General McCarniss. "If he's answering to anyone but you, at least it isn't interfering with your plans."

"That's not good enough, Krycek." McCarniss leaned forward on his desk, studying Alex intently. Alex maintained his expression of calm disinterest.

"We've had failures with some of the other clones in the past," the general informed him. "They develop a sense of independence. They begin to do whatever they choose."

Alex shrugged. "They're human," he pointed out. "What do you expect?"

"They're not entirely human, Krycek. They're designed differently. Not all of the wiring works, so to speak."

And just what the hell does that mean, Alex wondered.

"Their emotions are limited," McCarniss continued.

Alex nodded. "I've noticed that," he agreed. "Your pet clone doesn't get all worked up the way Mulder always did. But I think most of the people around him just attribute it to what he's been through."

McCarniss scowled. "It can't feel everything that ordinary humans can. Not for lack of trying to teach it," he told Alex tiredly. "But it has no sense of guilt, no sense of remorse, no sense of right and wrong…"

Holy fuck.

"As long as it answers to us," the general went on, "this is no problem. We simply teach it how to behave. But once it begins to stray from our influence, well, it can't be trusted anymore."

"And?" Alex queried coolly.

"It needs to be eliminated, Krycek. Before it becomes a threat."

Damn.

Alex shook his head automatically. "It's not doing any harm. It's just taking care of Agent Scully, like you wanted it to do."

"You're not understanding, Krycek. We still suspect that Mulder's clone is answering to someone else. We haven't been able to verify it yet, " McCarniss reiterated. "but there's no question that the clone is acting against some of our orders. As long as it is doing that, it can become a threat to the population at large. We cannot assume that it's motives are benevolent."

So you want me to get rid of it for you, Alex thought with a sigh.

"Alright," Alex nodded wearily. "I'll take care of it."

McCarniss said nothing, but that was no surprise; both men knew what Alex was agreeing to do.

Alex rising to leave, paused at the doorway. "Just tell me one thing - who is it you think the clone is reporting to?"

General McCarniss leaned back in the oversized chair and looked Alex up and down, appraising him.

"It would help if I knew," Alex explained easily. "If I have to eliminate a threat…," he let the thought hang in the air between them.

"Yes, I see," McCarniss nodded.

Alex waited patiently as the general again leaned forward on the desk.

"Have you ever heard of a man named Knowle Rohrer?"

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

The parking garage had been quiet since the ambulance pulled away. It had been on Mulder's mind the rest of the afternoon, though.

Skinner's unconscious form had been discovered in that elevator not long after Alex had emerged from it, striding deliberately across the garage. His lover had talked to him and Smith at the time.

"Billy Miles is in there again," he'd warned them, gesturing vaguely toward the main core of the Hoover Building. He led them toward the Lexus. "Come on. You two are going to come with me to Wiekamp. You can wait in the car while I'm in there…"

Smith had rejected the idea, pointing out that Mulder still hadn't spoken with Agent Doggett. Mulder saw the concern in Alex's eyes, knew that the man dreaded leaving him and Smith here while the replicant was around. Knew that Alex's own fear of the replicants was intensifying his apprehension. But he had to agree with Smith.

"Doggett is still in there, isn't he?" Mulder had asked.

"Yeah," Alex told him. "He was talking to Rohrer a little while ago."

"What?" Mulder and Smith glanced at each other, alarmed.

Alex shrugged, shook his head tiredly. "Take it easy. They were only together for a minute, and from what I could see, Rohrer did most of the talking. Anyway, Rohrer could see me through the window. If he felt like killing me, he could have done it then."

He had driven off shortly after, speeding to make his appointment on time. He'd made no mention of Skinner, no mention of anyone being injured.

Mulder had been thinking about it all afternoon, all evening. He knew that Alex hated Skinner, that he blamed the assistant director for Mulder's abduction. But did Alex really hate Skinner enough to have just left him lying there in the elevator?

There was every chance that Billy Miles had hurt Skinner after Alex had left.

But Mulder didn't believe it.

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

Alex drove, his mind a mass of confusion. In the seat beside him sat Rohrer, calmly looking out at the Hoover building's garage.

"You wait here," he told Alex. "I'll just be a few minutes."

"I've already met Crane," Alex reminded him.

"Yeah, but I've got to meet someone else, too. He may not want me to bring company." Rohrer smiled. "Don't worry, pal. I'll let you know what I learn."

Sure you will, Alex thought to himself.

But at least I've learned what I wanted to learn, he thought with satisfaction. Doggett hasn't told Rohrer the truth about Scully's baby.

He watched the replicant cross to the corridor where the elevators were, debating whether or not to follow by stairs. He wanted to know who, besides Crane, Rohrer was going to meet with. And why.

A snap, soft and metallic, alerted Alex. He glanced quickly in his rear-view mirror.

Doggett.

The agent's hand was still on the handle of a car door; he was leaning toward the window, as if talking to someone. Inspecting the car in the mirror, Alex saw the second form.

The clone?

Doggett disappeared from Alex's view, then reappeared off to the side, heading for the south stairwell. Alex turned his gaze back to the clone, watching as it opened a cell phone and began talking.

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

Mulder turned as the Lexus drove into the garage. Alex was at the wheel.

"Who's that with him?" Mulder asked Smith.

Smith shook his head. "I'm not sure. He looks very tall, though. It may be Rohrer."

Rohrer? What was Alex doing bringing Rohrer back to headquarters?

"Come on," Smith whispered. "Agent Doggett is following them."

Smith and Mulder worked their way along the garage, staying in the shadows of vehicles and concrete pillars. They positioned themselves near the far wall, hidden behind one of the pillars, creating a triangle with the two cars in question. Just behind them was the south stairwell. The elevators, and the west stairs, were in front of Alex.

Rohrer let himself out of the Lexus and headed for the elevators.

As soon as Rohrer was out of sight, Doggett stepped out of his automobile, leaning in to say something to the clone. Then he turned and headed for the south stairs, passing within a few yards of Mulder and Smith's hiding place. The door closed with a soft click.

"Follow him," Smith suggested. "I'll stay here and keep an eye on the clone."

Mulder nodded.

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

Mulder hugged the outside wall as he followed Doggett up the stairs, staying two flights behind. Doggett's hand was occasionally visible on the railing as a guide, but even without that, Mulder knew exactly where Doggett was. The agent wasn't making much of an attempt to keep his whereabouts unknown. His feet slamming on the steps echoed down throughout the stairwell.

Doggett stopped on the third floor, opened the door, then continued racing up to the fourth floor.

Mulder waited, listened. Silence. Doggett must have entered the hallway on four.

Strange, though, he thought. Doggett must not know who Rohrer was here to see. Not that there could be many people in the building at this hour.

Mulder reached the fourth-floor landing. Doggett still hadn't stepped back onto the stairwell. As quietly as he could, Mulder pushed open the door and peeked out carefully. Seeing no one, he let himself into the hallway.

Doggett was ahead of him, his back to Mulder, attention drawn to something going on around the corner from him. Mulder listened, but could hear nothing. He inched forward soundlessly.

Doggett crouched low and worked his way around the corner, out of Mulder's sight. Mulder continued forward, listening.

From somewhere ahead of him came the sound of footsteps.

Shit.

Mulder dove across the unlit corridor, pushing open the door of the men's restroom, forcing it closed behind him as Doggett raced past. In the silence that followed the agent's flight, Mulder pulled open the door a crack and peeked out. Doggett was letting himself back onto the stairwell.

Where was Rohrer?

Mulder glanced up and down the dark corridor. Rohrer or Doggett?

He was supposed to be following Doggett. And Doggett had run up the stairs; Mulder had seen that much as the door was closing. But what was he running from? Or to?

Something around that corner had held Doggett's attention.

With a final glance at the stairway door, Mulder turned and continued up the hallway.

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

He couldn't remember the last time he had dreaded something so much.

Crouching along the front seat, Alex quietly let himself out the passenger door. He used the car as a shield to hide him as he watched the clone for another minute, then began soundlessly to make his way across the garage. Beside Doggett's car was a concrete pillar, and he rested against it, bracing himself for what he had to do. Reluctantly he drew his handgun from his pocket and stared at it.

Gotta do it some time, he thought. May as well be now.

In one smooth movement he stepped out from behind the pillar and smashed the passenger's window. The cell phone he snatched from the clone's hand, crushing it angrily on the ground. The gun he trained on the creature who was so much like his own Fox.

"Get out of the car."

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

Damn.

The elevator doors closed as Mulder turned the corner. In the dark of the center hallway, he knew he probably hadn't been seen, but it was still careless of him.

Rohrer had been in that elevator. So had someone else, though Mulder hadn't seen who it was. Someone attached to the bureau, he assumed. Crane, maybe?

He watched the lighted numbers of the elevator register. Rohrer and his companion stopped on the fifth floor.

Well, he figured, at least they're all on the same floor again.

Mulder headed for the stairwell.

His hand was on the door, ready to push it open, when the thud of heavy footsteps met him. Someone was running down the stairs.

The footsteps didn't stop on four, but kept running. Mulder listened until the sounds faded, then let himself back out onto the stairwell. Leaning over the railing, he looked for the runner.

Skinner.

What the hell was going on around here?

Mulder stood on the fourth-floor landing, debating which way to go. He looked again down at Skinner, curious about just where he was heading. But Doggett and Rohrer were both still on five, as far as he knew. He began to climb upward.

He was just about to push open the door to the fifth floor when the first shot reached his ears.

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

That was a gunshot.

Mulder froze on the landing, stunned. He wanted to disbelieve it. A gunshot in the Hoover building in the middle of the night? But his years as an agent had left him well-trained; in his bones, he knew that that was a gunshot.

A second shot echoed through the stairwell.

Alex.

And Mulder turned and bounded down the stairs as if the devil himself were chasing him.

He shoved open the door out onto the garage, forgetting to take care to remain unseen.

But it was Smith who grabbed him.

"Shh," the older man hissed. He dragged Mulder away from the doorway, pulled him into a crouching position beside one of the FBI vans. Mulder tried to pull away, his eyes scanning the garage. Alex wasn't in the Lexus.

"Don't make a sound," Smith warned in a harsh whisper. He clapped his left hand over Mulder's mouth and nodded in the direction of Doggett's car.

Mulder peeked around the corner of the van. At first, all he saw was Skinner's broad back and the profile of the clone. He leaned out a bit further.

And the blood froze in his veins.

Alex.

Mulder struggled violently in Smith's grasp, but the older man was terrifyingly strong. The hand around his mouth tightened, almost closing off his air. Smith's other arm closed around Mulder chest, pinning Mulder's right arm uselessly to his side.

"Stay still," Smith hissed at him.

Mulder twisted his head to see the healer, staring at the man in wide-eyed horror and fighting the iron grip around his mouth and chest.

A third shot rang through the garage.

Oh, God.

Skinner shot him. Skinner shot Alex.

Mulder wrenched free for an instant, but before he could get up, Smith had caught him again. Leaning in close to him, the older man muttered, "Just stay still, for God's sake. Let them leave."

Tears spilled from Mulder's eyes. His legs gave out, and he fell to his knees beside the van. Staring at Smith, he nodded slowly. This man was a healer. He could heal Alex. He had to heal Alex.

From somewhere behind him, Mulder could hear Skinner's voice. "You just go. I'll get him."

As Mulder and Smith sat there on the cold concrete, Skinner strode toward the elevators. The sudden muted roar of an auto engine, the bright twin beams of headlights, and the clone was gone.

The garage was silent.

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

Smith released his grip on Mulder. Mulder pulled loose and stood quickly. His eyes focused on the dark form lying on the garage floor.

God. Oh God.

Mulder didn't remember moving; he was suddenly there, on his knees beside his lover.

The third bullet had struck the head.

The beautiful green eyes were half-open, but they didn't seem to see anything. Mulder rested one hand on Alex's chest. It rose slightly, the faintest breath stirring in the lungs. Mulder looked up at Smith.

"What are you waiting for?" he asked. "You've got to heal him."

Smith lowered himself to his knees, as well. But he didn't reach out to Alex, didn't place his hand on the man at all.

"I can't," Smith said, his blue eyes looking at Mulder unhappily.

Mulder frowned. He couldn't have heard right.

"Heal him," he told Smith. "He's still alive. You've got to heal him."

Smith shook his head. "I can't. I'm sorry." He looked at his friend, lying unconscious and bloody on the cold floor. "I'm sorry."

"You're sorry," Mulder repeated, confused. "What are you talking about? You can heal him. I've seen you heal others."

Smith nodded sadly. "I know." He turned his gaze to Mulder. "But Alex doesn't want me to. He made me promise once never to heal him. Because of the oil."

"No." Mulder shook his head.

He had to make Smith understand.

"He was only talking about his arm," he told him, anguished. "This is his life." Mulder touched Alex's cheek; it was still warm. He ran his hand lightly over his lover's hair.

Smith didn't move.

"You've got to heal him, Smith," Mulder pleaded. "He'd want you to - I know he would." Mulder looked down at his hand running through Alex's hair. The hand was covered with blood.

Fresh tears spilled from Mulder's eyes.

"You have to heal him," he said again, softly. "Please."

"I'm sorry." Smith's voice reflected the sorrow in his eyes.

This can't be real.

God, please don't take him away. I've only just got him back. Don't take him away again.

Mulder lifted Alex's head, cradled the younger man against him. "Alex?" he murmurred. "Alex, please wake up. You have to wake up."

Thick lashes fluttered over green eyes, but Alex made no sound.

"Alex," Mulder spoke, rocking his lover softly. "Please. You have to wake up. You have to tell Smith he can heal you."

Alex stirred slightly.

"Come on, Alex," Mulder went on. "Please? Wake up…"

A soft moan reached his ears. Mulder bent his head forward, brushing his lips across Alex's temple. "Wake up," he murmurred again.

The green eyes opened, squinted against the pain, but focused on Mulder.

"Fox?"

"It's okay," Mulder told him. "You're going to be okay. You just have to tell Smith he can heal you."

Alex trembled in Mulder's embrace. Moaning, he shook of his head. "No," he mumbled. "I can't."

"Damn it, Alex, of course you can!" Mulder cried. "You have to!"

"I don't know…what it…might do," Alex explained weakly. He met Mulder's eyes; the misery in them mirrored Mulder's own. He wasn't going to let Smith heal him.

Alex held Mulder's gaze in spite of the pain. "I'm scared," he whispered.

You can't possibly be more scared than I am right now, Mulder thought.

"I know you're scared, Alex. So am I. But we can get through it, whatever happens. Okay? We'll deal with it together. Just don't leave me again."

Alex tilted his head, let it rest more heavily against Mulder's chest. "I love you, Fox," he murmurred.

"I love you too, Alex," Mulder whispered, stroking Alex's face softly. "Please don't leave me."

There was no answer.

"Alex?"

Alex moved his head once more, a vague nod.

"Okay," he mumbled. He closed his eyes, exhausted. "Okay, Jem. It's okay. Whatever Fox wants…" He drifted off.

Mulder leaned his head forward again, pressing his lips against Alex's tenderly. "It'll be alright," he promised. "Whatever happens, it'll be alright."

Blinking away tears, Mulder raised his eyes to Smith's face. "It's okay now," he said. "You can heal him now."

Smith nodded somberly.

"Yes," he agreed. "It's okay now."

And he placed his hand on Alex's forehead.

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

It was the sunlight more than the motion that woke him. With a yawn, he nuzzled his face against his lover's shoulder, wincing slightly at the soreness in his head.

"How are you feeling?" Fox asked quietly.

"Okay," Alex answered, rubbing his eyes. "Where are we?"

"We just passed York." Smith's voice reached him from the front seat.

"York?" Alex repeated. He drew himself upright, leaning forward and squinting at the road unfolding in front of the Lexus. A wave of dizziness flooded him, but he held on, grabbing the headrest of the seat in front of him. "No. We're going the wrong way," he told the other two men. "We have to head south. They were taking her someplace in Georgia…"

"Later, Alex," Fox murmurred. "We'll work on all of that later. Right now, we're just going to get you home." With a gentle tug, he brought Alex back into his arms.

"We have a lot to do," Alex said, but the motion of the vehicle and the warm strength of Fox's embrace were making him sleepy again. "We have a war to win…"

"We'll win it," Fox promised him.

"You think?"

"Sure," Fox assured him. "What's a planet full of indestructible beings, compared to the three of us?"

Smith chuckled, and Alex smiled into Fox's shoulder. "Right," he mumbled.

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

end

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