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The Four Corners Cycle Feedback- Cherished and answered: Spookey247@msn.com Summary - Truths lurk in a dark place. Our friends descend and delve. Summary - Truths lurk in a dark place. Our friends descend and delve. Notes and Acknowledgments at the beginning of 1/9 More notes and thank-yous at the end of 9/9. Yekaterina slams the steel door as hard as she can, pausing for the barest instant to fling her lantern to the floor nearby. The soles of her boots make harsh slapping sounds on the stone as she follows the narrow hallway toward the musty rooms where she has slept most nights for as long as she can remember. Papa's waiting for her there. Just like always, with his clinging fingers and his pinched, desperate expression, always begging for her company, for her attention, for her body. Begging for her love like a dirty, starving dog. She knows he would do anything to keep her near him. She knows Birch wouldn't do anything without orders from the top. There's no doubt the boy was telling the truth. Wallace confirmed the story, after she marched out of the kid's room and slammed him up against the wall. Birch made up the lie, Wallace said, while they were on the trail from Desert View. He hadn't wanted Yekaterina to turn against him. The orders weren't his fault, Birch had said. He wasn't going to take the blame. Wallace invented the part about that kid being Stephen's murderer. He said he made it up to piss her off. Watching her rough that kid up would be damned entertaining. He swore he didn't know she'd get mad enough to kill. But she did. She is. She will be. Yekaterina stops at the door to the quarters she shares with her father, fingers wrapped around the handle, thumb poised on the latch. Her body is trembling. You've got to stay perfectly calm, she tells herself. If you don't he'll take your rage and use it against you. Before it's over, she's going to make him confess everything. She forces herself to think about mundane, trivial things, like what she'd like for dinner, or when her next shift in the lab is scheduled. She imagines herself bathing the women in room three, runs a mental washcloth over red-brown faces, swollen chests and bellies. She brushes dark hair, cleans crisp white teeth, sings lullabies to unborn babies. When her breathing slows, she bends, pulling a long scalpel out of her boot and putting it in her jacket pocket. She lets the door swing open. "Katya. Where have you been?" He sits in the armchair, twisting painfully to look at her as she paces into the room. "Baby, there's good news. We're almost there. The sample we needed is on the way." "Really. Who's bringing it? Birch is already here." "The sample is bringing itself." He grasps the arms of the chair and pulls himself to his feet. His face looks bright, happier than she's seen it in years. "Come here, babe. Give your daddy a kiss." Yekaterina glides toward him. She allows him to clutch at her waist. She closes her eyes as his lips press against hers, trying hard not to hear his soft moan, paying no attention to his useless, habitual mind. She tries to focus instead on the reassuring weight of the scalpel hidden in her jacket, thinks about what part of his body she'd most enjoy cutting first. He runs his tongue along the inside of her front teeth, starts to push her jacket off her shoulders. He whispers into her mouth. "It's been days, Katya, baby. Let's go to bed early." Yekaterina feels like she's made of hot lead. She reaches into her pocket. The scalpel feels smooth and cold. Keeping her voice even, she manages a thin smile. "I'm sorry for the way I acted this afternoon. It was stupid of me to be so upset." He runs his bony fingers through her hair. "I'm glad to hear you say that. I forgive you." "I don't know what I was thinking. Being so rude to you when you love me so much." He pecks at her lips again, hard, brittle kisses. "I know that boy was fun to fuck, but he wasn't right for you, babe. He never could have made you happy..." She wraps her arm around his waist, forcing herself to flatten her hand against his buttocks. "You didn't mind me fucking him, though, did you? I know you don't want me to be lonely, Papa." He moves his hands to her back and begins stroking weakly. "No, of course not." He tries to cover her mouth with his own. She pulls back, mocking him softly. "Listen, I've been thinking, I want to ask you something." "All right." "Now that Stephen's gone, I thought I might branch out, you know, broaden my horizons." She reaches for the bulge in the front of his pants. "You can share me, just a little, can't you?" His hands brush over her back: up, then down again. "Of course I can," he breathes, his voice smooth and oily. "All I want is for you to be happy." Up, and down. Up, and down. His face lights up. "That boy in the lab might be a fun lay. I'll give him to you, if you want." "Actually, I was thinking I'd like to fuck Birch." His hands quit moving. Yekaterina smiles cruelly. The lie slips through her lips like a fish through water. "He's already told me he wants to." His voice cracks. "God, he's so ugly. How could you stand to look at him?" "What difference does that make, Papa? You're ugly, and I fuck you all the time." He pulls away from her, rapt expression fading to a blank stare. His black eyes glitter. Yekaterina takes a step toward him. Her voice rises. "Hear me out before you get offended. I've been thinking and thinking, and my logic is flawless. If I only fuck really ugly men I won't fall in love with anyone. Wouldn't that make you happy, Papa?" He doesn't answer. His lip curls. "That way I won't have anything outside of what you choose for me. I won't have any life at all. That's what you want, isn't it?" "I only want what's best for you," he whispers. "Really." She pulls his bony form tightly against her own, thrusting against his now-flaccid organ, rotating her pubis on the soft, pliant flesh. "Is *this* good for me?" She pumps against him roughly, letting him feel the full force of her superior strength. "Do you think this is what I need?" His eyes are wounded, wary. "Katya..." She wraps her hands around his ass and grinds herself against him. "Is it? Or is it just good for *you*?" "Katya, stop it. Stop it right now." He tries to pull away, but she just holds onto him more tightly. "It'll be good for Birch, won't it?" "What?" "Fucking me will make him live forever, won't it, Papa?" "I don't know what you mean..." She reaches up with her right hand and wraps her fingers around his neck. "What if I decide to fuck Birch instead of you? Would he become the director of the Project, then? Whoever fucks Katya and lives forever gets to control the bodies of the women in the lab, right?" "Katya, it's not..." She shoves him back into the armchair, hand locked around his throat. She plants a knee in his solar plexus and leans close to his face. "You might as well tell me the truth because I know it already. You fuck me to keep from dying. You had Stephen killed to keep me with you." "Katya," he chokes. "Katya, baby." His eyes bug out. His face glows with arousal. She could kill him right now but then she'd have to remember that expression forever. She whips the scalpel from her pocket and puts it to his throat. "Explain it to me, Papa. What makes me so special? " "That's not something you want to know." She moves the scalpel lower. She presses it against his balls. "You'd better start talking, old man." The pain makes him grimace. She squeezes his throat. "You can start with how I'm able to heal you." "It was an accidental discovery. I don't understand it myself." The scalpel digs deeper. "Tell me about my mother." He gasps. "It's like I've told you. She died when you were a baby." "Was she special, like me? Could she see into people's minds?" "Katya, I can't breathe. You're choking me, baby." "Papa, what did you do with Dana?" Yekaterina's voice rises out of control. "Where did you take her?" His face is turning bright red. "I...didn't...know...she...was...gone...." "God, you're disgusting. Why can't you quit lying?" Yekaterina tightens her grip on his throat, watching his face fade from pink to white. She can't stop herself from choking him. She doesn't even want to. She wonders if she can live without knowing the truth. ~~~~ "No lock. I can't believe it." "Maybe they're expecting us." The steel door emits a high-pitched squeak as it opens. Dim light floods over them as they slip cautiously into the hallway. Mulder eases the door shut behind them. "Where, now?" Dana whispers. Her heart is racing like a jet engine. Mulder starts down the hall, walking slowly, quietly. The ancient, carved stone is lined with steel doors. The doors are inscribed with numbers. "I bet the people who built this place never meant it to be used like this," Mulder mutters. Suddenly, he stops. "What?" Ben asks. "Listen." A little further down the hall they can hear muffled voices, arguing. They follow the noise until they arrive at a door that amplifies the heated words that fly behind it. Mulder puts his ear to the door. "I know her voice..." he murmurs. "God, who is she? Shit, they're coming." He cautiously tries the next door in the row. It is unlocked, leading to a darkened room. They slip inside, leaving the door slightly ajar, as two figures burst into the hallway: the young woman and a man with steel-gray hair, who stands with his back to them. "Katya, you've got to understand. I'm trying to protect you." Dana leans toward the doorway. Mulder moves aside so they can peer through the crack together. "Protect me? God, you're such a liar." "Please, come back inside. I need you, babe." She gives a sharp, painful laugh, rolling hher eyes toward the ceiling. "You're fucking unbelievable." She takes a step closer and stabs at the man's chest with her finger. "Let me clear something up, Papa. We're through, understand? There'll be nothing more between us until you come clean. And by that I mean I want the truth, not your usual bullshit." "Katya, there are some truths that need to stay buried." Her eyes burn. She reaches out and lays her hand on his cheek. "You're going to die very slowly without me, Alex, and I'm going to enjoy every minute of it." She spins on her heel and stalks away. The man shouts after her. "You hate Birch. You won't go to him. I know you, Yekaterina." As he rubs his throat and turns to reach for the door handle, the man's face whirls into view. Dana suppresses a gasp. "Oh my god, it's really him." "I told you he was still alive," Mulder whispers grimly. Before Dana knows what's happening, Mulder has readied his rifle and is pushing the door of their hiding place open. Alex Krycek freezes when he feels the gun against the side of his head. "Keep facing the door," Mulder orders. "Put your hands where I can see them." Krycek lifts his hands slowly into the air. "Take two steps back." Krycek complies. Mulder swings around him, moving the barrel of the rifle so that it points at the back of his head. "Nice to see you again, Krycek," he says, smoothly. "How about taking me to my son?" "Mulder. Good to see you, old friend. Why are you so angry?" Krycek twists a little, turning Mulder's way. "Face the door." "Why? Let me look at you. I've heard you're aging gracefully." "You heard me. Do it." "I knew you were coming. Is Scully with you?" "We're going for a walk, now, Krycek, to wherever it is you're keeping my son." "Your son? What makes you think I've got your son?" "I don't have time for this," Mulder mutters, jamming the barrel of the rifle forcefully against Krycek's back. "I'm assuming you're not any more interested in dying than you were thirty-five years ago." Krycek sighs. "We're going to need a light. There's one in my room, if you'll let me get it. Or we could all go in and sit down for a few minutes. There are lots of things to talk about. It could be very interesting." The shadow of a smile drifts over Mulder's features. "Glad to see you still have a sense of humor. Somebody go in there and find a better light..." "Back in a sec," Ben says, pushing past Krycek and disappearing into his room. "Is that Ben? *Maia's* Ben?" Krycek's voice takes on a mocking lightness. "Well this *is* a trip down memory lane." Mulder's body tightens noticeably. He shakes his head slowly. "No," he whispers. "No. I'm not taking the bait, asshole. Forget it." "Here, this should help," Ben says, coming back through the door with a powerful battery-operated flashlight in his hand. "Let's go, Krycek." They follow the hallway back to the central chamber. Krycek leads the way, urged on by Mulder's rifle. Ben walks near them, holding the light. The intensity of the flashlight makes the enormous room much easier to see. It appears to be circular, and the path on which they're walking seems to be some kind of ledge. Dana can make out an elaborately carved and decorated wall to their left. To their right looms the silhouette of a huge statue, sitting on a massive pedestal, which appears to rise out of the middle of some kind of pit. "It's amazing you managed to come through this room in the dark without falling to your deaths," Krycek says, sounding a bit like a tour guide. "There's an open crypt in the center of the room. The drop is about fifty feet." Mulder doesn't answer. He shoves Krycek forward with his gun. Krycek raises his hands higher and keeps walking. "Ben!" he says, "Maia's friend. You probably don't remember me." Ben's brow creases in confusion. "We met, briefly, about sixteen years ago. Perhaps you remember a night that you gave your friend, Maia, a ride to Riverbend. I was standing in the driveway with Solomon when you came to pick her up at the end of the evening." Mulder's jaw works. He digs his gun into Krycek's back. "You are so full of shit," he hisses. "You can shut up now." Dana turns toward Ben. His eyes are perfectly round. Krycek slows his pace. "How's the little girl, Mulder? What did you name her...um, Kaya, was it?" Mulder's face goes dead. "Okay, stop right there." Krycek stops. "Face forward, you bastard. I know what you're trying to do. It's not going to work." "We've been keeping an eye on her, you know. Ever since the day she was born. We haven't actually examined her since she was very small, but then, there wasn't any reason to." "What the hell are you talking about, Krycek?" Mulder levels the gun, the tremor in his voice almost imperceptible. "It was originally Parenti's idea. He had stored the fertilized eggs very carefully. Fields and I were skeptical, I mean, they were Scully's eggs, and she hadn't been able to become pregnant with them. Imagine our surprise when the IVF with the surrogate turned out to be a success." "The surrogate?" Dana takes a few steps forward. Suddenly she feels an overwhelming need to look Alex Krycek in the face. "Scully. You *are* here. Welcome back." Mulder's lip twitches. His eyes grow dark. Krycek continues: "The experiment was a total disappointment. Nine months of trouble and expense, and, of course, the birth was successful, but the child, what a shame. She turned out to be perfectly normal. We were praying she would be something special, like her sister." "Oh my god..." Dana's heart races. She leans against the wall. Mulder tightens his grip on his rifle. "Scully, take it easy. Krycek, I don't know what kind of sick lie you're cooking up..." "Oh, it's no lie, Mulder. Not at all. You should have kept a lower profile, you know. Our intelligence about that alien lab was weak - we were never able to find it, then we heard it had been abandoned. We had given up hope of finding you, but then you...god, you're such a fucking overachiever. It's disgusting. You raised a woman from the dead, remember that? When Solomon's daughter got interested in your work and became your disciple, she tipped her father about your exact location. That was about sixteen years ago, wasn't it? It was so incredibly lucky. There you were, like a sitting duck, married to that Native woman, and she had borne two of your children already...we were amazed. Your wife was really something special, brother. We learned so much from studying her genetic profile. She was beautiful. Just beautiful. It was a shame how she died." Mulder is nonplused. "Give me one good reason why I should believe any of this." "Simply because you know it's true. You never believed Kaya was yours. At least that's what Maia told us, when she brought her to be examined. Now you can be happy, brother," he croons, softly. "Kaya is your daughter, after all. She's Scully's daughter, too." Dana's chest rises and falls, faster and faster. She doesn't want to think about what Krycek is saying. She can barely process the words, much less their meaning. She lifts herself away from the wall, trying to concentrate, to keep a clear head. "You're lying," she tells him, voice rising. "That's completely impossible." Krycek stands perfectly still. "Is it? Did you analyze the fertilized eggs that Parenti's office returned to you? Were all of them, in fact, yours?" Dana struggles to breathe. Mulder casts a glance over his shoulder. "Scully, don't listen to him. He's doing this to you on purpose." It's all a game, Dana thinks. "Shut up, Krycek," she snaps weakly. "You need proof what I'm saying is true? Ask your friend there, Mulder. Ask Ben. He brought Maia to Riverbend, the first time she helped us." Mulder's body crumples slightly, as if an invisible fist has just tapped him in the gut. "Ben?" Ben's face is terrible, pale and hollow in the bright yellow light. He draws one short, painful breath and barks, "He's lying, Will." Krycek lowers his hands. His voice remains calm. "I'm being rude, though, Scully, aren't I? You came all this way and I haven't told you about your first-born daughter." Dana can't help herself. She moves toward him, swiftly. "Where is she? Is she here?" Mulder lunges forward. "Scully, get back." Krycek's voice rises cruelly. "Make him take that gun out of my back and we'll talk about it, Dana." "Tell me where she is," Dana pleads. "Get behind me, Scully..." Mulder warns, trying to block her path. Krycek spins toward them, grinning wildly. "Your daughter's amazing in bed, Dana. I've enjoyed her *so much*." Dana charges toward him, roaring like a wounded animal. Mulder lunges. "Scully, no!" Krycek grabs the gun, twisting hard. Mulder loses his balance as Dana flings herself on Krycek. All three bodies fall to the floor. Krycek struggles to pull the rifle free. "Get her, Ben!" Mulder shouts. Ben throws the flashlight down and pulls Dana free of the fight. As soon as she is clear, Mulder rolls, pinning Krycek, pressing his heaving body to the floor with every ounce of his strength. Krycek clings to the rifle. Mulder fights to keep him from raising it. "Ben, help me get hold of him, he's stronger than he looks." Dana runs for the flashlight, tears streaming down her face. Ben takes hold of one of Krycek's arms, smashing it against the stone below. The rifle clatters to the floor. "You're mine now, Mulder," Krycek wails. "This round is mine..." His fingers latch on to a loose stone from the floor. Dana screams a warning. The stone slams against Mulder's head. Dazed, Mulder slumps to one side. Krycek reaches up swiftly, seizing Ben by the shirt, pulling him headlong onto the floor. Within moments he extricates himself from the tangle of bodies, snaring the rifle and clutching it like a trophy. His face twisted in rage, he aims at Dana, swinging wildly towards Ben when he struggles up from the floor. Mulder remains slumped over on his knees, stirring almost imperceptibly. Dana takes several steps toward Krycek, who backs away from them, toward the shadowy rim of the crypt. His voice is shrill. "Anybody who moves, dies. You people are nothing to me." Dana tries to soothe him, desperately. "Krycek, put down the gun. All we want is Mulder's son. We'll leave, okay?" "You must think I've gone completely senile," Krycek snaps. "Think I'm letting any of you leave here?" Mulder lifts himself silently off the floor, blood streaming down his face. Krycek continues, red-faced, brandishing the rifle. "God, Scully, you have no idea how many times I've fantasized about killing you. Your fucking womb's no good and you caused so much trouble in the lab...damn, if Katya hadn't liked to bruush that stinking red hair of yours so much I would have dumped your body in the river years ago..." Mulder launches himself at Krycek. Ben lunges toward Dana, grabbing her by the waist and throwing her to the floor as the rifle goes off. The flashlight crashes to the ground, plunging the room into blackness. The shot echoes through the massive space. Debris from the ceiling showers onto their heads. "Mulder!" Ben lifts himself away and Dana rolls over, crawling around and feeling for the flashlight in the dark. "Ben!" "I'm right here. Where did they go?" "Mulder!" "Will! Are you all right? Answer me, man!" "God, Ben, where did they go?" Dana finds Ben in the darkness and latches on to his arm. "Oh my god, Dana...I think...oh my god." "Ben, do you think they..." "Shit. Oh, shit." A door bangs open on the near side of the room. A powerful light pours into the chamber, illuminating a squat figure, framed in the door. Half-dressed and shoeless, Gary Birch points his gun at them. Another man stands behind him, aiming an electric light in their direction. "Whoever you are, don't move or I'll shoot," Birch calls. "Identify yourselves right now." End 6 of 9
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