Part 8/9 ***** El Creyente - Interrogation Room One Doggett was lead into a small room by two of the guards and felt his body nearly wilt with relief when he saw his fellow 'commandos' already there. The Gunmen were all seated; Frohike had his elbows on his knees and his head in his hands, Langly sat with one ankle on his opposite knee and his foot bobbing restlessly, while Byers sat stiffly with both feet planted firmly on the floor and his arms crossed over his chest. They all looked up at his entrance, including the fiery red-head pacing in the back of the room. His escort left, but two guards stood stoically at the door, watching him with wary eyes. Dana rushed over to him, oblivious to the guards. "Where have you been?" "I ran into an old friend," he told her, lowering both his head and his voice. She blinked once, then asked, "Where is this 'old friend' now?" "We parted company when we left the 'basement'." He had no idea if all these metaphors where necessary, but better to be safe than sorry. Dana took a deep breath and stepped back. "He probably went after Will and the children." "I guess," Doggett said with a shrug. He didn't ask where Mulder was going after they left the lower levels. The man had simply told him to go ahead with the plan, which Doggett had done. He had hidden his shot-gun, dumped his shoulder bag, and had wandered around until two MPs had picked him up and brought him here. For a secret base, it sure wasn't heavily manned. "Has anyone spoken to you guys yet?" "Yeah," Dana told him. "The General himself was just here." "General?" "The Big Kahuna," Langly interjected. "The head alien honcho." Doggett gave him a smirk. "You mean to tell me you all met an alien?" "Well, he didn't look like an alien," Langly told him. "But we could tell he wasn't human just by the look in his eye." Doggett snorted his disbelief. "What did he say?" "Not much, really," Frohike said. "He kinda got interrupted." "What do you mean?" "He left kind of suddenly," Frohike continued. "We figure he realized William was here," Byers added. "Hmmm..." Doggett nodded, glancing at the guards once more. They were obviously listening, but they were not reacting. "So now what? Do we just wait around here?" He looked at Dana. She was about to shrug in response when she suddenly stopped, her eyes becoming unfocused. A small smile appeared on her face. "Kaboom," she whispered. "What?" Doggett asked, suddenly fearing for his former partners sanity. "Kaboom," Dana repeated. "What the hell does that mean?" Doggett asked. "It means the word has been given," she told him, smiling broadly now. "By whom?" "Mulder." "Mulder just talked to you?" Dana nodded, then turned to the guys. "It's now or never." Frohike grinned back at her. "We're ready, Cutie Pie." Dana stiffened, then she began to advance menacingly on Frohike. "If you call me Cutie Pie one more time, Short Stuff--" "Hey!" the hacker cried, standing from his seated position. "Who are *you* calling *short*, Tinker Bell?!" "You little twirp!" Dana yelled back, shoving him back into his chair. "Who do you think you are?" "Hey!" One of the guards finally reacted to the commotion and moved forward to stand next to Doggett, who stood in shock as he watched the proceedings in front of him. "What?!" both Dana and Frohike shouted, turning to face the guard. "Chill out," the guard said with a smirk, proving he was human inside and out. Doggett's brain finally caught up with the action surrounding him. Without another thought, he reached for the guard's rifle, pulling it out of the shocked man's hands and tossing it to Dana. He then grabbed the pistol, which the guard had just pulled from his holster, as well. He pointed it at the soldier. "Sorry, pal." "Not as sorry as you'll be," said the other guard, his rifle up and pointed at Dana, who was aiming her newly acquired weapon back at him. Dana lowered her rifle, narrowing her eyes at the other MP. "Where are you from, soldier?" The guard just smirked. "That's what I thought," Dana said with a smile. Her right hand, which was blocked from the guard's view by her lowered weapon, was slowly reaching into her hip pocket. "I think it's time you go home, don't you?" The man inched forward, never taking his eyes off Dana. She never took her eyes off him. He was so intent on her, he didn't see her pull the cylindrical object out of her pocket. But he heard the hiss as she pressed the button to release the stiletto. He smiled. "That can't kill me." "I know," she said calmly. "But what I put on the blade can." Before she had even finished uttering the words, she shoved the blade forward, ducking under the man's raised rifle, and impaled it in the man's thigh. The guard fell back, and his companion rushed forward to help him. Doggett cocked the pistol in his hands and the young man stopped in his tracks, watching helplessly as his fellow soldier dropped his rifle in pain and fell back against the wall by the door. Dana immediately grabbed up the other rifle, then backed away from the man flailing in front of her, obviously in more pain than a stab wound to the thigh would cause. His skin turned pale. Moisture appeared on his upper lip. His body began to convulse. His flesh turned silver, then black, and right there, before their eyes, he disintegrated. Even the remaining soldier stood in shocked silence. "Well, I guess we know it works," Dana said quietly. "You put snake oil on the stiletto," Doggett said. She sighed. "Yep." "Whoa," Langly whispered. Dana turned to Frohike. "Well?" The little man propped a booted foot on one of the chairs, pulled up his pant leg, and pulled out a remote. He showed it to Dana. "Well?" he repeated. "Do it." Frohike nodded, flipped a switch on the remote, then took a deep breath and pressed three buttons, one after the other. He looked at Dana once more, an evil glint in his eye. "Kaboom!" ***** El Creyente Base - Main Cafeteria Mulder had just entered the cafeteria when he felt the first explosion. The bombs had all been set to go off at different intervals, some only seconds after the remote was activated, some with a delayed time of up to ten minutes. It had taken longer than he had expected after he had 'told' Scully to start, but he figured she, Frohike and the others had had to work around their guards. Mulder hadn't asked how they planned to do this; he long ago learned to trust Scully's judgment when it came situations like this. 'As if we've ever been in a situation like this,' he thought to himself, then continued through the door to the cafeteria. The floor shook slightly and the glass that enclosed the coolers off to the side of the dining area rattled. The few soldiers that hadn't gone back to their posts after William's arrival and the General's departure jumped to attention immediately, their faces full of worry and confusion. "What is that?" Mulder heard one of them ask. "An earthquake?" "Daddy!" William's shout drew everyone's attention to the boy. He stood from where he had been sitting on the floor with the other children and ran toward him. Mulder felt his heart leap in glorious anticipation; he was about to hold his son for the first time in more than a year. Suddenly, the lights dimmed and alarms began sounding. The replicants that had been guarding the children rushed toward them, and the human soldiers raced past Mulder and out the door. William stopped in his tracks as Billy Miles stepped in front of him, preventing him from reaching his father. "What's going on?" Gibson shouted above the noise. "The base in under attack," Billy told him. The floor shook again as another explosion occurred beneath them. Billy cast an angry look at Mulder. "We must protect the children." "I agree," Mulder told him vehemently. He looked over toward a table set towards the back of the room. Monica and Skinner sat there, guarded by three heavily armed MPs, trying desperately to appear as if they weren't afraid. Skinner frowned at him, and Mulder realized his old boss and friend wasn't sure if he could be trusted. Mulder couldn't blame the man for feeling that way, but it still hurt. "I want you to take the children out of here," he told Billy, still looking at Skinner. "We'll use the old bunker door," Billy told him. "No!" Mulder turned toward the replicant. Leaving via the bunker door, the same door Scully and the others had used to get in, would take them right into the inferno he knew was now burning beneath them. "You'll get them out through the main entrance." To get to the main entrance they would need to pass through the main lobby... exactly where Mulder wanted them to be. "Take them with you," he said, pointing at Skinner and Reyes. Billy looked as if he wanted to object, but then he nodded. He and the three replicants with him gathered the children, Monica and Skinner and headed for the door. "Daddy?" William obviously didn't want to go with them. "Go on, Will," Mulder said. "I'll be right behind you." Mulder could tell his son knew he was lying. "You're going to find mom?" he asked. Mulder simply nodded, not trusting his emotions enough to lie to his son again. Marita suddenly rushed into the room. She cast a panicked look at Mulder, then hurried over to take her daughter from the arms of one of the replicants. She looked at Mulder again, her eyes questioning. "Go with them," he told her. "Susan?" she asked. "I'll find her," Mulder said. While he had not told his comrades what the plan was, he had promised them he would get them out with their children. Monica suddenly shoved herself away from her guard. "I'll go with you." She moved toward Mulder. "No." Billy said firmly. "I can help Mulder," Monica argued. "You are a prisoner, and you'll start acting like one." "I am not a prisoner!" Monica argued. "I brought Mulder, and you, William. I came here to help." Though she was telling the absolute truth, she somehow made it sound as if she was on the side of the Grays. "Monica!" Skinner said in a hard voice. She ignored him, her eyes pleading with Mulder's. Mulder had no idea why she wanted to come with him; it wasn't a part of the original plan. She was supposed to stay with the children. But with Marita here, Skinner had help, and Mulder was almost positive Gibson was truly on their side as well. "She can come," Mulder said softly. Billy still heard him over the sound of the alarms. Though the replicant frowned, he didn't argue. Monica walked forward to stand next to Mulder. "Go," Mulder told the group of children, replicants and humans. "Get the hell out of here." ***** Scully sat as still as possible, watching from her hiding place on the balcony as soldiers ran about in the courtyard of the lobby beneath her. Some were evacuating, some where trying to figure out what they were supposed to be doing. They were disorganized and frightened, and there was nothing the General could do to calm them. The grey haired man had appeared only a short time ago, slightly distraught and confused looking. She knew that William's arrival had done that to him, and she was pleased that it would benefit them, even if it hadn't been a part of the plan. One of the soldiers said something to him, and he began to panic. Scully wouldn't have believed it if she hadn't seen it for herself. He turned suddenly as a large group of people entered the lobby: the children and their escorts. "Where are you going?!" he demanded. Gibson stepped forward. "Mulder told us to evacuate the children. The base is under attack." "I know that!" the General yelled. Many of the soldiers and even a few of the replicants looked shocked, never having seen their commander out of control like this. "Where is Mulder?" he demanded. "He went to look for Dr. Donahue," Billy told him, giving no indication that the woman he was speaking of so formally used to be his wife...in another life. A large explosion caused the room to shake wildly, and Scully looked across the way to where Doggett was hiding; the balcony made a half circle around the courtyard, and she, Doggett and the Gunmen where all re-armed and ready to cover the entire lobby. His ice blue eyes met hers. That explosion had been too close. Apparently, the General thought so too. "Go! Get them out of here." He turned on his heel and headed for the hall that lead back to the cafeteria. Still holding Doggett's gaze, Scully stood from her hiding place on the balcony and aimed her shotgun down. ***** William sensed his mother's presence only moments before the shooting started. He had no idea what the 'plan' was, but he knew from her thought patterns what he needed to do. *Everyone! Get down!* he shouted. Gibson and the children immediately dropped down to lay flat on the floor. Little Rebecca even managed to pull her mother down with her as she dived out of Marita's arms toward the floor. William saw R.J. grab Uncle Walter's hand and drag him down. Both adults were confused but obeyed the children's unspoken demands. The replicants, still standing, watched them in bafflement. Five shooters. Four replicants. It was over in seconds. William stood first, then Walter. Both stood in astonishment, staring down at the quickly disintegrating bodies of their former guards. A half dozen soldiers standing near the front doors raised their rifles toward the assassins on the balcony. William knew the men were going to shoot his mother and the others. He couldn't let that happen. "No!" he shouted. He envisioned himself pulling the weapons out of the hands of the soldiers, but he was not nearly that strong. Not alone, anyway. The other children had sensed his vision, and they understood it. The armed men shouted out in startled voices as their weapons were pulled violently from their hands, all six rifles sailing through the air, landing at Uncle Walter's and Marita's feet. Neither of the adults hesitated, grabbing up a weapon and pointing it at the guards. When they were assured the shocked men had surrendered, Walter turned startled brown eyes on William. "Did you do that?" "We all did," William said softly. He looked up at the balcony where his mother stood. He felt her awe, her fear, and her pride. She turned toward the balcony stairs. "Langly, Frohike, Byers. Go with the children. Get them away from here." "What about the guards?" Byers asked. "Take their pistols away and let them go," she told him. It was what they had done with the human guard after Scully made her first 'kill.' She reached the bottom of the stairs, grabbing the rail once as the building gave another violent shudder. "I though we were supposed to be safe from the explosions up here," Langly said nervously. "So did I," Scully told him. She walked toward the children. "William, where's your father?" "He went to find Wes' mom." Even though he had just met the boy, William felt he knew him and the others as if they had been friends for all their lives. Scully reached her son and kneeled down to hug him. "Why are you here?" She looked at Walter as she asked this. "I told them Daddy told me to come." Will's voice was subdued and his eyes were downcast. "You mean he didn't?" Walter asked, his eyes narrowing. Will shook his head. Scully sighed. "What you did here, with the children," she paused, and William looked at her intently. "You promise you won't..." "Don't worry, Mama," he whispered. "We'll be careful." Tears formed in her eyes, and she smiled slightly. "I have to find your father." "I know." She hugged him again, then picked up her shotgun off the floor where she had set it and stood. Taking a deep breath, she turned and trotted out of the lobby, shotgun in hand, another one strapped across her back. Will turned pleading eyes to John. The agent didn't have to be psychic to know what the boy was asking. With a nod, he turned and followed Scully out of the lobby. William looked at Walter. "Let's go away from here. I don't want to be here anymore." ***** Mulder had made it to the medical wing when he started to realize his plan wasn't going exactly as it should, and it had nothing to do with William's presence. It had to do with the force of the explosions underneath him; explosions that should have been confined to the underground network of the base and should not affect the upper levels. However, the last huge ground tremor had caused part of the ceiling to fall into his and Monica's path and the emergency lights to dim. He tried to ignore the hint of anxious fear that swept through him and continued on towards Susan's office. The woman had been his only real, trusted friend since this whole El Creyente thing began, and he wasn't about to leave her behind. Mulder reached her office door and pulled it open, only to cast startled eyes on the sight of the General leaning over Susan who lay on her back on her desk, his hand tight about her throat. Her bulging eyes turned toward him, pleading for help. Without hesitation, Mulder pulled the stiletto he always carried out of the back pocket of his jeans. The General saw him coming and straightened, but he was too late. After a quick jab to the back of the alien's neck, Mulder pulled it away from Susan and shoved the screaming creature back towards the wall. Ignoring the sounds of death coming from his former 'boss,' Mulder turned his attention toward his friend. "Wes?" Susan whispered in a broken voice. Mulder knew instantly that her trachea had been damaged. She couldn't breath in enough oxygen. "He's with the children. Skinner and Marita are getting them out of here." "Skin--," she tried to say his name. "Here?" Her eyes were drawn to Monica, who had moved up behind him, keeping a wary eye on the bubbling green pool of goo next to the wall. "Yeah," Mulder said with a nod. "They're all here." He frowned. "Why was he--?" Susan coughed. "He thought it was me." Her voice was strong for a moment, but then she started coughing again. Mulder knew that the General had been suspicious of all the human players in this game. It appeared he had decided Susan was the real traitor. "He still wanted to believe in you." Her voice was weak again. "Mulder?" Monica's voice was full of fear behind him. "We gotta go." He nodded without looking at her, then reached down to pick up Susan. She met his eyes with her own. "No." "Yeah, right," he responded sarcastically. As if he was going to leave her here to die. He turned and headed out the door, Monica close behind him. The floor shook once more, and some more tiles fell from the ceiling, nearly knocking him in the head. "Hey, Reyes?" "Yeah?" "Why the hell did you want to come with me?" She hesitated for a moment. "I thought you might need help." "Right," Mulder said with a grimace. "You do know Doggett was going to be a part of the ambush, right? That he wasn't going to be back here?" She was silent for a moment. "I didn't come with you to find him. He can take care of himself." Mulder knew she was lying. He may not be able to clearly read her mind, but he knew she was lying. He had been thinking long and hard about why she had demanded to come with him, and the only thing he could think of was Doggett. When he had told Will he was going to find Scully, Monica had obviously thought Doggett would be with her and they were in trouble, completely forgetting about the planned ambush in the lobby. "You know, you're about as subtle as Scully used to be." "What's that supposed to mean?" she demanded. But Mulder didn't hear her. He stopped suddenly as he looked at the dark corridor in front of him. Something was wrong. "Mulder?" He felt the heat a split second before the flames came roaring around the corner. "Shit!" he yelled. "Guess we can't get out that way." Shifting the load in his arms, he turned back the way they had come, his back aching but his mind determined. "What now?" Monica asked. "There's more than one way out," he told her, his mind quickly searching through his options. Obviously, he had miscalculated the power of the explosives he had asked the Gunmen to acquire. The fire was hotter and larger than expected, and it would take the whole base, not just the lower levels. Which would have been fine with him... if he, Monica and Susan hadn't still been inside. "The hangars," he said out loud. There was nothing but solid ground underneath the hangars, which were attached to the main base by a tunnel that ran just slightly below ground level. If they could make it to the tunnel... He looked at Susan. "What do you think?" She didn't respond. Casting a harried glance at the encroaching fire behind him, Mulder set the woman down. Monica kneeled beside her, carefully feeling for a pulse. After several long seconds, she shook her head. Mulder bowed his head, not even trying to stop the tears. "I promised her I'd get her out of this." "You got her son out," Monica said softly. "I think that that is all she really cared about." Mulder nodded, then felt the heat increasing at his back. The fire was coming. The last of the bombs had exploded, but they were a long way from safe. ***** "I don't believe this!" Scully ignored her complaining companion as she ran through the halls, desperately trying to find not only her husband, but a way out. The fire behind them would soon either catch them as they ran, or would cause the whole building to collapse around them. Now was not the time to start bemoaning the fact that the plan had gone awry. But that's all Doggett wanted to do. That and run. "If I get my hands on him--!" "It's not as if he expected us to still be in here," she yelled over her shoulder, trying to reason with him. "Going back in for him wasn't part of the plan either." "Nor was Monica being with him, dammit," Doggett groused. Despite their circumstances, Scully had to smile. "You have to admit, everything up to this point worked as it was supposed to. Even William's arrival turned out to be a good thing." Scully would never forget the awe she had felt watching six rifles fly though the air as if of their own volition because thirteen little children had wanted them to. "Something had to go wrong at some point." "Yeah, well if this whole building collapses around us and it turns out that the fucking virus wasn't even touched, it won't matter that everything else worked as it was supposed to." Scully turned to glare at him. "Let's show a little optimism here, okay?" Doggett's eyes flashed to something beyond her and he reached up to grab Scully's arm, halting her. She turned around to see what he was looking at. Four MP's stood in their path, eyes unafraid, weapons ready. Replicants. "Run," Scully whispered. "Where?" Doggett whispered back. "At this point, I don't think that really matters." They both turned and rushed back toward the fire, turning sharply when they reached another corridor. They could hear the footfalls of the four 'men' behind them. "If Monica and Mulder were trapped in here like we are, where would they go?" Doggett asked as they rounded another corridor. Scully thought quickly. "They can't go down," she said. "They would try to stay... the hangars!" Doggett nodded in agreement, and he picked up the pace. Scully knew his mind was running through the memory of the blue prints Mulder had sent them. He stopped at a bisection. "Which way?" Scully thought a moment. Left was east. Wasn't it? "That way," she said, nodding toward the right. "You sure?" "No." "Okay. We go right." Doggett turned and started jogging down the hallway. Glancing behind her, Scully started to follow, but something in the hall behind her made her stop short. "John!" No answer. He had already run too far ahead. Nervously, she turned and ran down to the body she saw lying in the hall, only feet from the encroaching fire. Susan Donahue, her throat bruised, lay still on the floor. Scully kneeled and checked for a pulse, already knowing there would be none. Swallowing tightly, she rose and ran back up the hall after Doggett. She heard the sounds of her pursuers echoing behind her and she had no idea how close they were. She began to panic and picked up speed. Suddenly, an arm grabbed her around the waist and pulled her into a doorway. She opened her mouth to scream, but a hand instantly covered it. She began to struggle, but then she noticed the replicants appearing from around the corner. She stilled and allowed her captor to pull her further into the dark doorway. *Geez, you'd think that after all we've been through, you'd recognize your own husband.* Scully felt herself wilt against Mulder, ignoring the press of the extra shotgun strapped to her back, and he let his hand drop from her mouth, even as the replicants passed them at a steady trot. When they were gone, she tried to pull away. He refused to let go of her. "Deja vu," he whispered in her ear, and Scully was once again back in the Wonderland, dancing sensuously with her partner of so many years and so many ways. "What the hell are you doing here, Scully?" Though his voice was still soft and seductive, the words were filled with anger. "Looking for you," she told him. "Was that John that ran by before you?" Startled, Scully pulled out of Mulder's embrace and turned to face Monica. "Yes, it was. He'll probably double back when he realizes I'm not right behind him. They'll catch him." "Not if we catch them first," Mulder said, he voice deadly. Scully swung the extra shotgun off her back and handed it to him. She saw the anger he felt in his eyes as he moved closer to the door and the dim light of the hall, and she remembered the body she had found. "Susan?" "The General decided to blame the attack on her. We got there too late." He didn't have to tell her that the General no longer existed. "Come on, let's go." Monica had no interest in their discussion; she wanted to find John. Scully nodded. "Let's go." ***** End of part 8/9