See Part I for disclaimer, etc.



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Alaethea (2/2)
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"WHHOOOOOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! YEAH!" Krycek was ecstatic. Jake was a little nervous with the way the man was driving, but he was even more nervous about the fact that Mulder had seen them. Krycek was treating this like sweet victory, when it was really only supposed to be a job. The man was taking it way too seriously, as if his whole life had been revolving around those two moments that had taken place today, and he was getting reckless in his glee.

He glanced down at the woman, who had been bound and gagged by then. She was still out cold, curled up on a pile of blankets and pillows that were serving as a makeshift bed until they got her to the labs. His eyes travelled across her pretty face and down her body. When they swept over the swell of her abdomen, he felt a stirring of pity and guilt in his heart, but quickly squelched it before he could think too much about it. His gaze drifted back to her face, where he met her cold, steady one, much to his surprise. She stared at him with such intense hatred and raging anger that he was forced to look away after a moment.

They traveled on in silence. It would take two or three days to get where they were going.

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Skinner sat hunched over his desk, cradling his head in his hands. Mulder and Frohike had lost sight of the van ten minutes ago, and things were looking hopeless. He had immediately sent as many FBI agents and cops after them as he could spare; after all, regardless of what Scully meant to him as a friend, she was a federal agent, and when people messed with feds, there was always trouble for them. Now all he could do was wait for someone to call in with news. Mulder and Frohike were on their way back to wait it out with him, but he knew that Mulder would get antsy and chase down any new lead that came in. Skinner couldn't blame him this time.

Ten minutes later, Mulder came storming in, with Frohike doing his best to keep up.

Skinner stood up to greet them, but sat down again quickly when he saw Mulder's face. "Mulder...try to relax. We'll find them and get Scully back here safely."
*nothing I can do about it*!" He punctuated this by slamming his fist into the wall so hard that it left a cracked dent in the plaster.

The ringing of the phone stopped his fist in mid-air, just as he raised it for another crack at the wall. Skinner looked up and lifted the receiver to his ear, and Mulder went to stand in front of the desk, waiting impatiently and almost desperately for any news that Skinner might be listening to.

"Yes, thank you...Goodbye." As soon as the receiver was back in it's cradle, Mulder was leaning over the desk, waiting for Skinner to tell him what was going on.

"Well? What did they say?"

"Mulder, try to relax. Please. Working yourself up is not going to help you find Scully. That was the hospital. The smoking man disappeared from his room shortly after Scully was kidnapped." He tried to say it as gently as possible, but even still, Mulder began to fume.

"I knew it! I knew that that rotten bastard was only after something for himself! Goddammit...!" He turned and raised his bruised fist again.

"Mulder, would you wait a minute? Please? Now stop this bullshit. That's your gun had you're mangling, and God knows you might need it later. Now sit down and listen to me. They said he must have just gotten up and walked out of the room. A nurse had gone in to check his vitals, and realized she forgot something. She came back less than two minutes later, and he was gone. They don't know where he went, or why he left when he's still not in great condition."

During this whole scene, Frohike stood silent in the doorway. He realized that this was partly his fault, and it hurt to think that Scully and the baby were missing, despite all the precautions that had been taken. He felt that he somehow hadn't done his job. Byers and Langley, both on their way over, felt the same way about themselves at the moment. What had they overlooked? His mind kept turning the question over and over, knowing that he and the boys had looked over every single inch of everything...there was no way some device could be planted anywhere...

He was startled out of his thoughts by the sharp ring of his cell phone. Mulder, who had not sat down, but had kept himself quiet, stopped pacing and Skinner looked up from his desk. *Who could be calling me now?* He gave the other two men a questioning look and answered his phone.

"Hello?"

"Melvin Frohike."

He recognized the voice immediately. "What the hell do you want?" He made a smoking gesture with his free hand so that the other two would know who he was talking to. Mulder looked as if he was about to come and rip the phone out of Frohike's hand, but he controlled himself and tried to stay patient.

"Despite all those warnings, all those precautions, she's gone, isn't she?"

"And what do *you* have to do with all this?" He was finding it hard to control his voice.

"I am nothing but your informant this time. And you can tell my impatient boy that my only concern is for Scully and the child. Now listen carefully..."

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She lay on the pile of blankets and pillows, bound and gagged again. They had removed her restraints when they stopped for a bathroom and food at an isolated truck stop on some vague highway, threatening her into silence and submission. As soon as they got back into the van, though, they tied her back up. It was dark now, and she couldn't tell what direction they were going anymore. She only knew that she felt tired, dirty, and sore from laying there with her arms and legs tied in one position for so long. Regardless of her discomforts, her main concern was for the baby's safety. So far, everything seemed okay, but she was far more worried about what lay ahead. Would they take the baby right away, before she was even ready to be born? Or would they be patient and wait? She didn't know, and it scared her to have to worry and wonder. She curled herself up into a tiny ball, drawing her knees up. At least her arms were tied in front of her this time. She wrapped them tightly around her middle and sighed deeply. Where was Mulder? Prayers flashed rapidly through her mind in hopes that he would come and save them in the nick of time, like always. But somehow, she wasn't sure that that would be the case this time.

A loud snore erupted from the far corner. The man named Karl was sprawled out underneath a blanket, fast asleep. Krycek, that bastard, was driving, and the man named Jake was supposed to be keeping an eye on her as well as on the computer, but was instead leafing through a magazine. She nearly snorted at the fact that Krycek thought it necessary to have someone constantly keep watch over her. As if she were going anywhere. The thought brought tears to her eyes. She sniffled slightly as one went rolling down her cheek, but stopped herself from a full-blown squall of sobbing. She didn't want to draw any unnecessary attention to herself, but even that small sniffle had been enough. Jake glanced up, and must have caught sight of the tears, because he grabbed a handful of Kleenex and went to crouch down next to her. He stared at her for a moment, then reached around to untie the gag from her mouth.

She immediately recoiled, eyes going wide as she backed into the corner as far as she could. He put a finger to his lips so that she would be quiet, and undid the gag anyway, not caring that she was terrified of him. He helped her sit up, then silently handed her a tissue. She swiped at her eyes and sat back, still nervous about Jake and his intentions.

Eyeing him warily, she whispered "Thank you."

He gave her a small smile. "It's the very least I can do, under the circumstances."

She waited a few moments, trying to feel him out. "You're Jake, right?"

"Right."

"Where are we going, Jake?"

He closed his eyes for a moment, not sure, exactly, of what he was doing. "I don't know the exact place, but it's somewhere near Death Valley."

She shuddered. "Why am I being taken there?"

"I thought you knew the reason already?"

"I do, but I was hoping you could shed a little more light on it."

He sighed. He was trying to stay indifferent to this whole situation, but it was getting more and more difficult. He had a wife and kids at home, so he could only imagine what Fox Mulder was going through right now. "They need your child," he stated simply.

"God..." She put her hands over her face and sighed, trying to hold back the new tears that were quickly welling up. Jake looked away, feeling more guilty than ever. The money for this job was good, but it wasn't that good. If Eileen knew what he was doing, she'd leave him faster than he could blink his eye. There was only one way for him to remedy the situation. But was he willing to risk his life to save her's? He handed her a bottle of water, helped her lay down again, and went to sit down so that he could think everything over.

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Mulder boarded the plane with the Gunmen and Skinner, sat back in his seat, and tried not to let his impatience or panic take over his rational thought. Thank god that it wasn't a commercial flight; Skinner had made sure that they would have a private jet at their disposal, this time with no complaints from any superiors. They all realized that an agent's life was at stake, and were taking no chances. Mulder thought grimly that no one wanted to be even partially responsible for the death of a pregnant FBI agent and her unborn child. He tried to get some sleep as the plane took off. If what the smoking man had said proved to be true, then he would need all the rest he could get before they landed.

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She awoke abruptly as the van slowed to a stop. It was still dark, so she figured they were stopping for food again. Suddenly, she heard Jake's voice, slightly raised, as he pleaded with Krycek to let her keep the restraints off.

"You remember what they said...nothing that would make her uncomfortable, stressed, or upset in any way...she's definitely not comfortable with those things on, and it can't be good for her baby..."

"Yeah? Well, they failed to take into consideration that she's FBI...I was one of those, too...I know how they work...it's all about survival. We can't take any chances of her escaping."

"Look, I'll personally keep a close watch on her. She won't get two feet from me without me knowing it. Besides, she wouldn't do anything stupid...she doesn't want to hurt the baby."

"Fine. I'm sick of arguing about it. I trust you, Jake...you have real potential. But one mishap and it's on your head, got it?"

"Got it."

"I gotta grab something to eat, and Karl here needs the bathroom, so you get those restraints off of her and wait here until we get back. Then you can go do whatever you need to do, and take her to do the same."

"Okay."

The two men left him then. This was the exact opportunity he had been waiting for. He went to undo Scully's restraints, sat her up, and told her to hang on tight.

"Why? What's going on?"

"We're getting out of here, that's what! Now, hold on really tight...I have to book it out of here before they get back."

"This is crazy! They'll start shooting at us!"

"Nope," he said as he climbed behind the wheel. "They left everything in here, including the keys. Stupid bastards..." he muttered. He started the engine and ripped out of the parking lot at as high a speed as the van would go. They finally made it back onto the highway, and when the van straightened out, Scully slowly made her way to the passenger seat and buckled up. They were still well above the speed limit.

"Oh my God..." she breathed. "Why are you helping me like this? You're only risking everything..."

"Agent Scully, I have a wife and kids at home. Not only would Eileen hate me forever if she ever knew what I did, but I can only imagine what you husband is going through right now. I hate myself right about now, and this is the best way I can think of to try and fix the terrible wrong I did you and your family."

She stared at him blankly for a moment. "Thank you, Jake. Thank you so much...you have no idea how scared I've been." She took a deep breath, as much to calm herself as it was a breath of relief. "We still have problems, though. Once Krycek gets a hold of a phone or whatever else he needs, he's going to send people after us, your family, my family, anyone he can to make us come back. He's vengeful like that."

"Well, if you can get in contact with anyone, I think your cell phone is still in your purse over there..." He hooked his thumb toward the table where the computer sat. "I'm going to drive as far away from this area as possible, and then go a completely new direction."

She offered up a silent prayer of thanks, unbuckled herself, and carefully made her way to the chair in front of the desk. She reached inside her purse, clasped her hand around the familiar curve of her phone, and nearly cried with joy. She immediately turned it on and hit number one on her speed dial.

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Mulder woke with a start as a shrill ring broke into his uneasy sleep. He reached for his cell phone out of habit, not even bothering to double check if it was his that was ringing, and answered.

"Mulder..."

"Mulder, it's me..."

He sat straight up in his seat. "Scully?! Where are you?"

"I'm still in the van, but there's been an interesting turn of events..." Her voice was shaky with relief and emotion as she related the details of her escape to him.

"Good god...are you okay?"

"Yes, I think I'm alright...how about you?"

"I'm better than fine now...oh god I was so scared..."

"Me too. Where are you now?"

"In a plane, with Skinner and the Gunmen, on our way to the labs where they were taking you."

She smiled as the first tears slipped down her cheeks. "I knew you'd do that."

"I couldn't do anything else, you know..."

"God, I love you."

"I love you, too. How's the baby?"

"Perfect."

He sighed. Relief was ripping his chest apart as he fought back tears that threatened to spill over. "All right. We have to do something to fix this once and for all, or else we'll be putting ourselves in unnecessary danger for a long time..."

"What can we do? Jake's family is in just as much danger now, and we have no idea where to go until you get back..."

"Okay. First, ask Jake if there's a place for his wife and kids to disappear to for a little while, and have him send them there in whatever way he can. We're still going to land near the labs and arrest those bastards for hired kidnapping of an FBI agent, and we're going to try and tack on attempted murder times two, if we can, but we won't know about that until later. I want you to figure out how to get to the labs. We'll get there before you will, and when you get close enough, we'll meet up. It shouldn't take you more than a day now. Would you feel safer with a police escort until a certain point?"

"I would, but let me make sure if that's okay with Jake, first..."

She relayed all of Mulder's message to Jake, who agreed to go along with everything. "The only thing I'm worried about, though, is at what point do we get rid of the escort? I'm sure those labs have lookouts every so often along the way."

Scully turned back to her phone. "What about lookouts along the way?"

"Byers is checking now to see where they start."

"Okay."

"According to his computer, you can lose the escort at the very edge of the desert. The first lookout post is about twenty miles from there. We can meet you there in a different car and all go in the van together. The local FBI offices out there, as well as officers from several police stations will be there to help us out."

"Okay, that sounds like a good plan. I'm going to have Jake call his wife now, and then we'll have to figure out where we are, exactly. How did you know where we were going, anyway?"

"Surprisingly, the smoking man left the hospital and called Frohike. We don't know where he is right now, as usual, but he said he'd be in contact."

"I still don't like the fact that he's involved in this at all, even if he has been helpful..."

"I know what you mean. I'm still not sure whether or not to trust him about all this. Okay, so, figure out exactly where you are, and then call me back so I can get that escort for you."

"Okay. I love you, Mulder."

"I love you too, Scully. Never forget how much."

She smiled. "I won't."

They hung up, and Scully handed the phone over to Jake so he could call his family. While he was on the phone, she went to the computer to try and pinpoint their location. As soon as she did, she waited for Jake to finish up on the phone, then she called Mulder back, and things were soon under way.

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