*Sixteen*
"Excuse me?" I tried to sort through the chaos of his thoughts. Panic. Rage. Anxiety. And some kind of need. But he wasn't serious with the gun. That was a plus. What's he asking for? How does he know about me? Who is this man?
"Now. Do it. Come on, however you do this – I have to get out of here alive."
Then I understood. "Alive? Oh no ... I can't help you there," I told him with a wicked smile.
"Fucking vampire humour," he muttered. "Are you gonna do it or not?"
"Of course not, I don't even know your name yet. Why don't you come in? Would you like some tea?" I escorted him into the living room and poured him some tea. "My name is Darren Hayes. Lemon?"
"Yeah. Please." He eyed me suspiciously, but put down his gun. "I'm Alex Krycek." I peered into his thoughts at the mention of his name – great way to learn about a person, you know. Mindreading can be like falling off a cliff if the person's not thinking about anything in particular. You kind of trip into them. But often, as it was with Alex, it's like diving into a swimming pool. I can't explain much better than that. Anyway, I immediately saw that Krycek was not his real name, but there wasn't much chance of my learning what his real name was. I saw several ranks and titles around him. Comrade ... Officer, perhaps ... Agent. Agent Krycek.
"Are you with the FBI?" I asked.
His eyes widened. "What ... what are you doing? How did you know?"
Half-smile.
"I was. I used to be." Blink.
"Are you a friend of Agent Mulder's?"
"Uh." He genuinely didn't know. What is a friend anyway?
"Sorry. Really. You know him, though."
"Yes. Did you ... I have to ask, did you do something to him?"
"Did I do something to him? Hard to say. Something was done, at any rate."
"What? What happened?"
"He and Agent Scully were here investigating the terribly unfortunate murder of a married couple here recently. I thought they should wait for the rain to let up before they went anywhere. Then ... I couldn't let them go." I sipped the tea I'd poured for myself while I was speaking. It was almost cold. Yech. I concentrated on the teacups for a minute, and they began to steam. That's better. "If you're thinking I turned them into vampires, you should know I did not. But that is what you'd like me to do, isn't it. To you." Sip. "To everyone." He nodded slowly in agreement, and drank his tea. I glanced at his hands for some reason, and noticed that one of them was artificial. I briefly attempted to hack into the file that contained the memory of losing his arm, but it was like trying to crack a safe. A great deal of his memories appeared locked, off limits, or somehow ... as if they'd been planted there in place of ones removed. It was unlike any mind I'd encountered. Full of skeletons. A ghost-filled machine that had been programmed and reprogrammed with very specific orders – what to feel, what not to feel. And something in it was wearing out. Getting sore and tired from not feeling enough, or feeling too much. Even just to look in his eyes was to stare into a hopeless, unreadable green void, an abyss which could be gazed into only if it could gaze also.
"Do you know the potential you hold? The power that's just running through you in your blood?" he asked, a little shaky.
"We are fully aware of what we can do. What we will do." Sip. "When Mulder comes back."
"How do you know he's coming back?"
I raised an eyebrow. "Well, you told him to."
Krycek was obviously at a bit of a loss for words. My talents seem to have that effect on people. I've met some very openminded individuals in my time, but no one – not even Agent Mulder – could seem to entirely believe me, or Daniel. So here was someone who clearly considered himself quite the bad guy, electrified at the thought of power, and yet in witness of my ability, he was ... spooked. It amused me.
At that time there came another knock on the door, and I excused myself ever so politely to answer it. Krycek stood, which seemed a gesture of respect, but which was probably more of a reflex in order to keep an eye on me. I opened the door, and indeed it was our guest of honour, Agent Mulder.
"Tell me what you know," he growled.
let's have it