The Return (10/12) by charvill Email: charityharvill@yahoo.com Genre: MSR Spoilers: Post-IWTB Summary: There are some things you just can't escape. Through my telephoto lens, I watch the two disappear through the polished entrance of Skinner's apartment building. My physical transformation didn't erase the awe and disgust I am overcome with when I watch him touch her -- like she is his and his alone. I shake my head to dispel the image and refocus on the job at hand. The bugs I placed on Skinner's windows are strong enough to allow me to hear everything inside as clearly as if I were a fly on the wall. This moment is one my group has been working towards for six long years. The fallout of the Millenium group and the moronic alien cults -- natural selection at it's finest - had raised some questions among my group, "The New Reborn". When Mulder was resurrected, I was at a complete and utter loss. Everything that I had worked so hard to achieve against the Consortium was thrown in my face by people like him and Billy Miles. One had been in the transformation process, but was now living with the alien makeup still inside of him - lying dormant. The other had been completely reborn, but lost that which had made him a person: his soul. I was saved by one such as him. After Skinner killed me - that's right, I was dead, too -- one of the original Reborn came over to me and used its healing ability to repair any damage, internal and external, the bullet had caused. It took me several months before the process was complete but, unlike my savior, I still had my soul. The belief behind this is that I wasn't directly injected -- and I wasn't saved by a Rebel. TNR believe that it is through this second-hand contact that we were physically transformed while leaving our souls and personalities intact. I couldn't believe how many people like myself were out there...but, once I did, my old need to congregate and find a cause to fight for (or against) was strengthened. It was Josepho's cult's failed kidnapping of Scully's son that alerted us to a new belief system. As sickened by the revelation as I was, I also was fascinated and yearned to believe. It made perfect sense. Why the Consortium had failed when the odds were always in their favor. Why Mulder had done what only one other in history proclaimed to do. Why Scully could conceive without her ova... Mulder, Scully, and William held the key. Not separately, no...but together. They were our last chance to prevent colonization and defeat the ShapeShifters. The return of Scully's cancer was shocking to us, having watched her maintain her health since she removed the chip (that was helping the Rebels track her) several years before. But it was the catalyst that we had been waiting for... a reason for Mulder to bring William back into the fold. It wasn't even a question of if, but how long before he would accept his return and bring himself to tell Scully. Part of me had secretly hoped the drama behind bringing William back would cause distress between the pair...but then I remembered why I had laid it in Skinner's hands. Doing that circumvented any betrayal Scully might initially feel when Mulder showed up with their son. And from watching Mulder as long as I had, and the way he all but worshipped Scully, I knew he would never allow someone like myself to talk him into bringing William back. So, tonight will be the first time in over eight years that they will all be there...in the same room. A chill races down my spine at the thought. Will they feel the change in the atmosphere? Will she feel the tumor growing inside her cease its abnormal growth rate, dissolving into her blood stream only to be fought into oblivion by the white cells there? Will *I* feel it? Or will it be like the first time they were all together - however briefly - when the extent of William's abnormal characteristics had not yet been realized? I shudder to think of what might lay in store for Earth if Jeffrey Spender had been successful in his attempt to neutralize the boy. My head jerks at the sound of a gasp, and I try to find the boy in the ill-lit room. Instead, my lens finds Scully's radiant silhouette, her hands over her mouth, her knees shaking. I watch the boy take three long, confident strides towards her...wrapping her up and holding on for what feels like an eternity before a shadow crosses their light. Mulder is moving in to the room now and I wait. My own hands are shaking in anticipation, but the earth around me is still. There is no bolt of lightning or things falling from the sky. It is just...calm. Mulder smiles at the mother of his child and pats William on the shoulder. There are no words exchanged, and I wonder if this is due to their knowledge of William's ability. Before I can further develop the theory, though, the boy turns suddenly and I nearly fall backwards from my perch on the balcony across the way. "It's the man..." he tries to get out without panicking. "Who?" Scully asks. "The man Walter told me about." His breath is coming faster now and I gather my things as rapidly as I can, while still listening in. "Krycek." A female gasp sounds before Skinner exclaims "Son of a...!" Mulder speaks softly. "William, listen to me. Can you find him with your...?" I pause as I wrap up my cords - no longer able to listen to their conversation - wondering why he cut himself off. And, it hits me: he hasn't told Scully about what their son can do. My mind is racing with this new information, even as I pack everything into my bag and head for the door. Sprinting down the stairs, I slam into the back door that also serves as the fire exit, not paying any attention to the alarm that sounds. I can see my car at the edge of the dark alley, less than a hundred feet away, and I get within four strides when a familiar figure emerges around the brick wall. His stance is eerily casual, hands deep in the pockets of his black leather jacket. It is too dark to see the look on his face, but somehow I know he is smirking. "Well, well...," he begins in a voice that confirms my suspicions about his expression. "I didn't know rats had nine lives, too." "It must be true. I seem to recall seeing your obituary not so long ago," I laugh, surprised at how easy it is to fall into our old repartee. He steps even closer, a move that surprises me considering the firepower I know he no longer possesses, and his hands come out of their hiding place - clenched and ready to reign down blows. "Mulder..." "I just came to see for myself, Krycek." I nod, waiting for him to continue as he looks me up and down. "And to give you fair warning." "Warning?" The chuckle dies in my throat as his mouth suddenly stretches wide in a full blown grin. "I know why you're here. And I know you can't touch us." I can feel my nostrils flare as I grit my teeth. The hunger to snap his neck has never been so fierce as it is at this moment. Smug asshole. But, he's right. "Is that all?" "No," he replies, glancing down at the pavement before returning his eyes to mine. "I know about the Reborn." I feel my jaw go slack for half a second and quickly snap it shut. Of course, I am well aware of the fact that he has spent his time in isolation studying up on things such as this, but...to hear him acknowledge what I *am...* "And I know what you believe me to be...what you think my son is..." - his eyes close and he swallows loudly - "what Scully still possesses." He takes one more step towards me, lowering his voice to a harsh whisper. "But you're wrong." Despite the turbulence his words stir in me, I give him a wry grin. "It's good to know some things never change, Mulder." He turns then, and I am struggling to come up with something...anything with which to debate him. "You're still as full of shit now as you were then!" He casts one final glance my direction before vanishing into the night. I look down at my shoes, willing them to move. But I am left paralyzed in the dark alley with an eerie hollowness. And nothing left to hope for. END PART 10/?