Skinner put down his brief case and pulled out his keys. When he turned them he didn't hear an answering click of it unlocking.

All instincts went up and on full alert. He carefully pulled out his gun and toed open the door. With silent, practiced ease he moved deeper into the apartment, scanning for something out of place.

The sound of water flowing came from the bathroom. As Skinner approached he saw shoes, pants, and a shirt scattered on the floor. For a brief moment hope flooded through Skinner, thinking that maybe Mulder came back to him. When he noticed that there was no underwear that faint hope died.

Only one man he knew didn't wear underwear. Krycek. Rage built up in him.

He stalked towards the bathroom and grabbed the curtain, throwing it aside screaming, "What the hell do you..." The words died on his lips as he took in Krycek's appearance.

The man was frozen, starring at the wall. Every now and then shivers would pass through him. Bruises marred the usually perfect flesh. Bright bite marks glowed on the pale skin. He could even see semen and blood streaking down Krycek's thighs.

"Alex, are you all right?" Skinner asked. Krycek didn't move or answer him. He just stood impassively with one arm held out like it had held a soap bar once.

Skinner reached down to the taps to turn them off. The hot water was turned all the way while the cold knob wasn't turned an inch. However the bathroom was icy, with not even a trace of heat.

"Alex, talk to me." Skinner reached out one hand to touch Krycek's shoulder lightly. At the contact Skinner saw a bolt of static electricity arch from his fingertips to the nearest patch of skin. Krycek started, slamming himself against the wall.

Eyes watched Skinner uncomprehending for a few moments. It looked like Krycek was going to panic until Skinner laid a gently hand on his arm. Instantly Krycek recognized him then threw himself into Skinner's embrace.

Skinner felt Krycek tremble in his arms. Fear filled Skinner's stomach. Only one possible answer came to mind.

Krycek had been raped.

"Alex, what happened?" He stroked the dry hair. He dreaded what he would hear but somehow he needed it to be said aloud.

"I don't know. I was talking to him one minute then every thing went crazy. He... he touched me and I couldn't help it. I wanted him to touch me again but I shouldn't have let him but I couldn't fight him or the others and I didn't know what to do." Krycek mumbled into his shoulder.

"Alex. Alex, calm down," Skinner ran a soothing hand up and down his back. The hair on the back of his hand stood up and tingled like he was touching a static field. "You're not making much sense. Why don't you start at the beginning."

"I met a guy at a bar and we started talking. He...he hit on me and I said no and I tried to go but every thing went funny. He took...he took...took me to his place and I couldn't do anything and then he started touching me. I couldn't stop him or anything. He just kept on touching me...and then....and then...the others...they...."

"Alex, calm down. Its ok." Skinner held the man closer as suspicions of what exactly had happened came to mind. He pulled the younger man out of the bathtub and led him into the bedroom.

It took several tries to get the young man to sit down. Every time Skinner got up to get him clothes to wear Krycek would follow.

"Alex, just calm down." He told the trembling man as he laid a steadying hand on him. "I need to take you to the hospital but you can't go like that. Let me get you some clothes."

"Why do I need to go to the hospital?" Krycek asked as he curled up. His heels rested on the edge of the bed as he wrapped his arms around his knees. Tears started running down his cheeks. "I want to take a shower."

"I'm sorry, Alex, but you can't." Skinner said calmly as he rested a comforting hand on Krycek's shoulder. The young man looked around like he had just noticed his surroundings. Watching him, Skinner realized that Krycek's eyes were extremely dilated. The suspicion that Krycek had been drugged grew.

Slowly Skinner dressed the younger man. He didn't exactly co-operate with Skinner's direction. He had to physically touch the younger man to get him to move enough so that the sweat pants and T-shirt could go on.

"Alex," Skinner said calm and reasonable. He needed the younger man to understand what was going on, give him some security in his surroundings. "I'm going to take you to a hospital now."

"Why?"

"You've been hurt. The doctors would be able to help you."

"I've been hurt?" Krycek asked as he lifted tear-stained cheeks to Skinner.

"Yes. Something bad happened and you're in shock. I want to take you to the hospital. Will you go with me?"

"O. K." Krycek said as he took Skinner's hand. He held it in a fierce grip as they went out of the building to Skinner's car.

On the car ride over, Krycek curled up in the passenger seat. Skinner wanted to say something, anything but didn't know what to do. The whole situation was something he was not prepared for.

Skinner parked the car then led Krycek through the emergency room doors.

"I want to go home, Walter." Krycek said in a lost little boy's voice. When Skinner looked over he could see his eyes scanning the room nervously. His breathing started to get erratic and the hand that Skinner was holding was getting sweaty.

Skinner wanted to take the young man in his arms and hold him until the shivers past. He looked so scared and unsure what was going on. He was shocked to feel himself caring for the younger man. Skinner loved Mulder and regretted that they had parted on such bad terms. He had resigned himself to loneliness. He never thought that anyone else would get past his defenses.

"Alex, I told you, you've been hurt. The doctors need to take a look at you."

* * *

Mulder's Apartment
10:48 a.m. Saturday

Skinner sat silently on the couch. His eyes were riveted to the huge dildo and other items placed on Mulder's coffee table. He had searched Mulder's place thoroughly, finding things he wished to never see. Black leather mask with a blow job hole lay next to nipple clamps. Parachute ball restraights with an entire set of weights were set next to cock sheaths. Chains, leather collars, spiked restraints, three way handcuffs, leg restraights, and other pieces of equipment glittered in the lamp light, making them look dangerous and ominous. Next to these were magazines with articles well worn and different equipment circled on the advertising pages.

What infuriated him the most was the mettle tipped cat-o-nine tails and the riding crop. He inspected them carefully and found the brown edge of old blood. His anger bubbled and stirred in him until it was almost a conquest of will to keep himself from reaching over to grab the instrument to use on Mulder.

All these items were dominance things, things used to pleasure another if used properly. If what the doctor said was true, Mulder wasn't using them right. Skinner knew Mulder had hurt Krycek. He knew their history. He was one of the few to see the drastic changes in their relationship. Mulder claimed to love Krycek but what happened to the younger man didn't say anything about love, it spoke of vengeance, of twisted hatred.

What had gone on, what had truly happen in the world with the consortium was no more. Cancerman had proven to be the true villain of their little drama. Alex Krycek had been cleared of all charges, proven innocent in light of facts once buried. Time for living in the past, of letting what had gone before haunt them was over but apparently Mulder had not forgotten. Mulder was taking vengeance into his own hands and subsequently destroying a life rebuilt.

Skinner heard the key in the door. In only a few moments he would be facing an agent who had stepped over the line.

* * *

Death Row
6:15 p.m. Thursday

"You did something to him," Scully said matter of factly as she sat down across from Cancerman. His slow, serpentine smile slid over his face.

"Scully, imagine seeing you here. Why, Mulder doesn't even come to brood." Cancerman lounged back in his chair looking like he owned the world. Somehow the old man still looked calm and sophisticated in his one-piece jumper. The slightly faded red setting off the bright black of his prison numbers on his breast pocket.

"You messed with his DNA, with both their DNA."

Cancerman didn't affirm her statement. By just being silent she knew her words were true.

"What did you do to him?" She slapped her hand down on the table to bring him out of the calm exhale he held himself in.

"Give me one reason why I should help you, Dana."

Her eyes narrowed into little slits as she faced off her nemesis. "You protected your son from us once, why not help us protect him."

There was a little quake to his fingers as he brought his empty hand to his mouth. He was surprised to see that his hand was empty. "What happened?"

"Alex was drugged and..." raped, she said in her mind. Somehow saying those foul words in his presence made it feel dirtier, slimier.

"And he couldn't control himself." Cancerman finished for her. She held in her surprise at the statement.

"What do you know?"

Cancerman studied her cautiously. Even though he was on death row for his crimes he still didn't want to confess all his sins. His life seemed like it had no impact on the world if only he didn't say the words.

"We used DNA provided to us."

"What did the alien DNA do to them?"

"Alien DNA is not the only kind we used. Our system, our world is inhabited by more creatures then the aliens."

"You didn't use alien DNA on Alex then."

"No."

Scully could see his fingers twitch as if he was holding a Morley. In some ways she thought this would be easier if the man could smoke. The Morley's seemed to be a deeper part of him. It was disturbing to see him without them.

"Alex and Nadia are identical twins."

"That's impossible," Scully said. As the words left her lips she knew that it was not. Krycek and Nadia were not ordinary twins, they were created. It would be a simple matter of changing one of the children's DNA from the X to the Y chromosome. "Damn," she swore softly to herself at the realization on just how deeply Cancerman meddled with his children's DNA.

He continued without any prompting from her. "We used DNA provided to us through a different source. It had unanticipated results."

"Such as Nadia's inability to talk, Alex's metabolism..."

"Their ability to locate anyplace after being there just once, their heightened strength and agility, their ability to mimic the movements and actions of others."

"You know..." Scully said in disbelief. She was still astounded herself on Krycek's ability to mimic the biorhythms of anyone he last touched.

"We were ready to abandon them as failures before Bill Mulder's discovery of their full potential."

"Just how involved was Bill Mulder with the Wardcraft twins?"

Cancerman leaned back in his chair. Thoughts of yesteryears going through his mind. His friend Bill Mulder was a very duteous in his work. Without Bill Mulder half the things the consortium accomplished in the years would not have been possible. "'If you're going to buy something, make sure you get your money's worth.' Bill Mulder once said that. He saw potential in the twins. He tested their abilities, discovered hidden talents we were not looking for."

"What did he discover?"

"Alex and Nadia are very dependent on the environment around them. Food, drugs, air, people, and things around them would change them. Alex was especially sensitive to people, food, and drugs. Nadia is highly effected by air and pollutants around her. Have you ever wondered why she keeps herself in such seclusion? It's not just because of her speech disabilities."

"I thought she was deaf?"

Cancerman raised an eyebrow. Very few people knew the extent of her hearing and speech disabilities. Her hearing was extra sensitive which was why it was puzzling that she listened to loud music all the time.

"Nothing is as it appears to be."

"Just how much do you know of their abilities?"

"Ah, now there's the rub. Should I tip my chair, show you what few cards I still have in my hands?"

"Alex is in the hospital. He's there because you put him there."

Cancerman snapped to attention. Despite what has gone on with the young man, despite the animosity there was still a deep part of him that cared for what happened to his children.

"How?"

"Alex was drugged at a bar, somebody slipped him rohipnal."

"And they were able to get past his defenses. Yes," Cancerman nodded as he considered the possibilities.

"How deeply does Alex's connection to people go? Is he some sort of telepath?"

At this Cancerman snorted in disbelief. "The only existing, working telepath is Gibson Praise. He is a natural phenomenon if you are wondering. Yes, we did develop telepaths but that is not what Alex is."

"What is he then?"

"An empath, I believe. We were not sure just what to label his ability. I do know he bonds somehow with the people he has prolonged exposure to."

"When I mentioned that Alex had been drugged, you said that he could not control himself. Has Alex had similar experiences in the past? Does drugs effect an empath negatively?"

"As I said, we were not sure what to label Alex. We only knew the results of the tests Bill Mulder did." The Cancerman paused in his dialogue as he inhaled deeply. "One of the most remarkable things revealed in the experiments was that Alex could perform tasks quickly and efficiently. When asked to assemble a puzzle he was able to do so within 20 minutes. However, if no observer was in the room with him it could take nearly 3 hours for him to complete the puzzle. This all depended on how close another person was to him."

Realization hit Scully. Mulder had reported that several times after coming home from a case, Krycek would be in the exact same spot he left him in. Mulder had commented it was like he turned off the young man when he left and turned him back on again when he came home.

"Without human contact, Alex shuts down, turns off."

Cancerman tilted his head at Scully's words. From what he knew of Krycek the young man would seek out companionship in whatever form if left alone. Krycek could not go without human contact over a day. When left by himself like that the young man would go crazy, barley contained until he reestablished contact.

"Alex is dependent on human contact. I had to make sure to assign him to responsible men because he would pick up their traits, their actions over time."

"Is that why you sabotaged Alex's assignment to Mulder?"

"Alex was just supposed to get Mulder to trust him enough to reveal his source. Within days the young man was displaying that whatever link he formed with Mulder had been established. We could not handle another Mulder on our hands at that time."

"So you destroyed his life instead."

Cancerman's hands balled up into fists. He was not responsible for what happened next. The decision to frame Krycek for Bill Mulder's death was because the rest of the consortium felt that Krycek would continue in both the father's and son's foot steps.

"That was not my decision."

"You didn't protect your son. You were going to let those men, men who had created him, destroy him."

"You messed with their DNA and destroyed their lives." Cold venom of contempt dripped from her words. Cancerman's actions, using strange DNA on his children, creating some type of monster were the lowest action imaginable for her.

"We equipped them with weapons that would be useful in the up coming invasion." Cancerman screamed at her. Never had he been questioned in his actions like this. What he did was not for her to question, not for her to judge. He used the tools around him to the best of their abilities.

"What did you do to them?" Her words rhetorical. She didn't really expect an answer. She already knew what Cancerman did to them, already knew how he had poisoned his kids.