Title: "Alex?"
Rating: R for Disturbing scenes and sex.
Spoilers: Existence. Lazarus, vague one for Emily, and all Krycek episodes.
Keywords: Character death. K/Ma, M/S (Mildly)
Disclaimer, Not mine, no profit. They belong to Fox, Chris Carter and 1013.
Summary- Skinner has some unwelcome visits; Marita and Alex try to cheat death.
Authors note. Revised March 2 2002

Alex?

The gun fires. The bullet hits its target. Krycek falls. He walks up to the body to confirm he's dead, and kneels down over the corpse.

Its eyes open.

"Murderer."

The hand reaches up and grabs his throat. He can't breathe.

Gasping for air, he sat up in his bed. Sweat dripped down his forehead. He closed his eyes, and took several breaths. When he opened them, he saw Krycek sitting on the end of his bed, smiling. Blood was dripping from the hole in his forehead.

"Payback's a bitch."

Skinner scrambled to turn on the lamp. With the click of the light, Krycek vanished.

He slept with the light on the rest of the night.

Marita moaned in her sleep. Lately, she'd been spending a lot of time in bed. At least when she was sleeping, he wasn't gone.

His lips were on her neck. His hands were all over her. He had both in her dreams. The left was about to pleasure her further, when it disappeared. She looked at him. He'd changed. He was covered in blood, and there was a bullet wound in head.

"Help me Marita."

Her screams woke her up.

Her hands shook, as she picked up the clock by her bed. It was already afternoon. No point in going back to bed now that her pleasure in it had been taken. She thought about Skinner.

Murderer.

She was still trembling when she entered the shower. Hot water poured over her while she stood, staring into space. The water started to turn cold, snapping her back to reality. She washed quickly, and got out.

She opened the medicine cabinet, and took out her lotion. Why she bothered, she didn't know. This day would be like all the others. She'd sit, staring into nowhere, for hours, crying for several of them. She thought about ending it. Now that Alex was dead, they'd be coming for her. It would be better if she weren't alive when they came. Or maybe they just forgot about her. It wouldn't be the first time.

She shut the cabinet door. The bottle of lotion crashed on the floor.

There was a message in the fogged mirror.

Gleason Motel
Room 119

She backed up to the tub, and sat on the edge. Her eyes darted about the room.

"A-Alex?"

The next night, as Skinner got ready for bed, he paused before turning off the light.

This is ridiculous, he thought, but so were a lot of things he had seen, since taking a more active role with the X-files. He shook his head, and turned off the lamp. Several hours later, the nightmares began again.

"Murderer."

The hand reached up, and grabbed his throat. He woke up gasping.

Again, Krycek sat on the edge of his bed, looking like he did the moment he died.

"Murderer."

Krycek's hand reached out, and grabbed his neck. He couldn't breathe. His hand reached for the lamp. His fingers barely touched the switch. He struggled to get closer. His fingers managed to tip the lamp in his direction. He caught it, and was able to turn it on.

He was alone. No one else was in the room. He sat there rubbing his neck, trying to figure out what just happened.

Marita rang the bell, and waited for the attendant to come. She knew this was crazy, but what else did she have to do? Finally, a small wiry man with glasses came to the desk.

"Would you like a room?"

"Yes. Actually, I would like a specific room, number 119."

"I have that one reserved."

"Would it be possible to move them to another room? The room has fond memories for me, with someone who is no longer around."

"Divorced?"

"No, murdered." She lowered her head. "I'm hoping to get some closure." She glanced up at the man, and smiled.

"Well I suppose it won't do any harm."

"Thank you so much." She purred, as he handed her the key.

Once inside the room, she began searching. It wasn't a pleasant experience. It was a one star motel, at best. She looked under the bed, in all the drawers, under the dresser. As she ran her hand under the desk, she found a key taped underneath.

It was for a safety deposit box, but she had no idea what bank.

"Great Alex, now what?"

No one answered.

She went to the bathroom, and shut the door. Had she finally gone crazy? Months of torture and captivity with the tests, and still she survived, yet kill her Alex, and she goes nuts?

"Okay Marita." She told herself. "You came this far, it won't hurt to try."

She turned on the hot water, and waited for steam to fill up the room.

"Alex, I need to know what the key is for."

Nothing.

She turned off the water. The tap burned her hand. She thought she heard laughter.

"Fine, Alex. I came here to help! If you want to play games, go find someone else."

Words began to appear on the mirror.

Great Eastern Bank, #59. Dodd

"Oh my god Alex? Is it really you?"

Two more words appeared.

Help me.

Mulder answered the door, holding the baby. It was Skinner. He looked terrible. Huge bags hung under his eyes.

"Hey, what's wrong?"

"I- I need to talk to you. Can I come in?"

Will started to cry.

"Yeah sure come in."

As soon as Mulder shut the door, Will started to scream. He cradled the child, and rocked him. It didn't work.

Skinner looked at the baby. "Maybe this isn't a good time, I'll come back."

"What, because of the crying?" Mulder laughed. "There is no off time for that. In fact you look as tired as I feel."

Suddenly, the child stopped.

"There, all better, probably gas. What's up?"

Skinner looked down. "I need to talk to you about that night in the garage."

Mulder frowned. "Look, if it's playing on your conscience, don't let it. Krycek was going to kill me. As far as I'm concerned, you did the right thing. It was self defense."

"You and I both know it wasn't self defense. He was unarmed when I shot him. I keep telling myself that in the bigger picture it was the right thing to do, but-"

"You did what you felt you had to. You're a good man, Walter. You've demonstrated that to me enough times for me to know that you did what you felt was right."

"That's not it. I've been experiencing-" he stood there with his mouth open for a moment. "What do you know about ghosts?"

"You think Krycek's spirit is-" Mulder looked down at Will. "If that is the case then you shouldn't be here. I'll get all the information I have and come by your place after Scully gets back. Okay?"

Skinner nodded. "It's probably nothing, but whatever help you can give me, I'd appreciate it."

"I'll see you tonight."

"Yes Miss, can I help you?"

"Mrs. actually." Marita replied. "I would like to access my safety deposit box please."

"Certainly Mrs., uh-"

"Dodd."

"Mrs. Dodd, right this way."

She signed in, and went to the vault.

Let me know when you are finished, Mrs. Dodd."

"Thank you."

Marita opened the box. There were several stacks of thousand dollar bills.

She looked up. "You'd haunt me forever if I just took this and ran, wouldn't you?"

Ever since the motel, she was talking more and more to him. She didn't know if he was with her or not, but she found it comforting.

She took the bills, and placed them in her briefcase. Underneath them was the device.

"You want me to kill him? Should I do it now?"

The box slammed shut.

"Okay, not now. I'd prefer to be there when it happens anyway."

Marita opened the box again, and placed the device in her suitcase. She left the bank smiling. It was the first genuine one she had in weeks.

Skinner opened his door, and let Mulder in.

Mulder took a seat on the couch.

"Did you find out anything?" Skinner asked.

"Can you first tell me why you think Krycek's spirit is haunting you?"

Skinner sat down in the chair next to the sofa. He rested his head in his hands.

Mulder continued. "I know it's hard for you to accept these things, but if you want my help I need to know what's going on."

Skinner told him about the nightmares and the visions.

"The last one, he attacked me when I was awake. I could feel his hands around my neck. I haven't been able to sleep since. It doesn't make any sense."

"Unfortunately it does. The literature I've read says some, especially those who lead darker lives, don't move on after they die, either because they don't want to, or because they can't. Another factor is if they die violently. The spirit stays until they get some kind of closure or justice. Krycek would match both descriptions."

"How do I get rid of him?"

"Well, that's the good news. There are people who specialize in this type of thing. A lot of them are scam artists, but I know of one who is well respected. I already phoned him, and he can make it up here tomorrow night. Can you wait that long?"

Skinner nodded.

"Do you want me to stay here with you tonight?"

"No, I should be okay." He gave a dry laugh." As long as I sleep with the light on."

"Are you sure?"

Skinner nodded, again. He walked Mulder to the door.

"If anything happens, call me, okay?"

"Yeah I will. Oh, and Mulder?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks."

"Hey, no problem. I needed a hobby now that I'm jobless."

"No offense, but I'm hoping this hobby is short lived." Skinner said as he shut the door.

Marita watched Mulder leave the building.

She went up to Skinner's apartment, device in hand, and picked the lock.

"Remember when you taught me this?" She whispered.

She picked up the device, and turned it up one third. She heard the scream of pain, and entered the door.

Skinner was clutching his chest. Trying to make it to the phone. As he pushed the on button, Marita turned it to the halfway mark. The phone dropped.

"Murderer!" She hissed.

Skinner was on the floor, his back propped up by the couch. She could see his veins pulsing.

"You think you're better? You think you had the right to kill him? I know your type. You're no better than the other men I've worked for." She turned it up another notch. He screamed. She lowered it a little.

"Everything's so black and white with your type isn't it. A man is either good or bad, useful or not. Better alive or better dead. It's all the same bullshit, no shades of gray."

"Pl-please, don't do this." He gasped.

"Did you think no one would care? Are you that closed minded to think there was no one who would miss him, no one who would grieve?" She was yelling now. Tears were streaming down her face. She didn't hear the sound of the phone being dialed or the operator at the end on the line.

"Alex took orders. It was either obey them or die. You should know how that feels. You had no right to kill him!" She turned it up as high as it would go and watched him convulse.

Finally, he was still. She heard the sirens. They were very close. She wiped the tears off her face, and left the building before anyone got there.

The Paramedics raced into the apartment

"He's not breathing, no pulse."

Within seconds, they had the defibrillator ready.

"One, two, three."

"Nothing!"

"Again, one, two, three."

"Still nothing!"

"Come on buddy, one, two, three."

"I got a pulse!"

Marita sat on the bed in room 119, waiting for Alex to give her another sign. When he didn't come to her at her place, she thought here would work, but there was nothing. She filled the bathroom with steam until the tank ran out of hot water, but no message.

She could go anywhere now. She had all the money she found in the safety deposit box, but she waited. One more day, she told herself. That was three days ago. She should have been happy for Alex. If he wasn't here, then perhaps he found peace, but the finality of it made her weep.

The door opened. Marita gasped. It was Skinner.

"What are you doing here? You're dead!"

He smiled at her. "I know I'm a lot uglier now, but I would think you missed me enough to give me a better welcome."

"Alex?"

Part 2

Parts 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6
Home
View entire story