Double Indemnity
Round 3 Part 2
Aqualegia

...never a heavy sleeper, Mulder came awake as Alex moved around the room gathering his clothes. At first he started to get angry that Alex should be sneaking off in the middle of the night, then he heard the sobs coming from the guest bedroom and just 'knew' that Alex was putting on some armour before he confronted his doppleganger, because it was something he would have done himself. Yet he felt a frisson of unease, so as soon as Alex was out of sight, Mulder quickly donned the minimal amount of clothes and drifted along in his lover's wake.

Peering round the door of the guest bedroom, he was just in time to see Alex climb out of the window; of Anson there was no sign. Dashing back to the sleeping area, he hurriedly put on his shoes, then followed Alex down the fire escape, but by the time he reached ground level his car was already leaving the garage. With a shout of rage he chased after it, and could see the anguished face of Alex staring back at him. Lack of breath, and the growing gap, finally forced him into giving up the unequal contest. Slowly he returned to the apartment the way he had left, closing the window behind him, considering his options. Would it be better if he were to leave now, or should he wait to see Alex when... if he returned.

He sighed, whatever he did his first priority was to get dressed properly, facing the future rumpled and smelling of sex was definitely not the way the go. Stripping off again, he went into the bathroom, but any pleasure he might have felt using Alex's soap and shaver was quashed by worrying about what might be happening with that crazy man, Anson, stealing his car and driving off with a half-dressed Alex beside him.

Drying himself off he went back to the bedroom. When he was dressed again, he stood in the middle of the living area, wondering what to do next... not quite sure whether he should stay or go... would Alex and Anson be coming back, he hated not knowing what was going on...

Eventually, he decided to wait a while and, for want of something... anything to do, he made himself some coffee and toast for breakfast.

By the time Alex phoned, Mulder had drunk one cup of coffee, but the toast still lay untouched on the plate. After hearing what his lover had to say, Mulder at least *tried* to eat one of the slices, but he was still uneasy about the fact that Alex had had to cut their conversation short because of trouble nearby... he hoped that whatever it was, would not involve Alex.

Just as he had convinced himself that everything was all right after all, his phone rang again and found that his worst nightmare had come true...

-oo0oo-

His first thought after talking to Skinner was to get to Alex as soon as possible; he even went as far as to call the cab company... then changed his mind as he fought down the panic that had risen inside him. The major part of him still wanted to rush to Alex's bedside, but he knew that he had some things to do before he could start proving Alex's innocence... the most important of which was get the blood samples analyzed by someone he could trust.

With Scully tied up at the hospital, there was no way that she was going to be able to do the bloodwork for him, that only left asking the Lone Gunmen for help. With that in mind, he hit the speed dial which would connect him to their offices.

After telling Frohike to turn off the tape, he quickly explained that because they had felt so tired, none of them had fancied the five hour drive to the safe house, so they had stayed in DC instead; that he urgently needed some tests done on two samples of blood, and asked if they knew anyone who would be able to help him. There was a pause, and a mumbled conversation, then Frohike came back on the line.

"Yeah, Mulder," he said, "We do know someone who could help. If you bring the samples straight here, we'll do the rest."

"Er.. just a slight problem, I don't have my car at the moment, so I'll have to get a cab from where we stayed last night."

"Where are you?"

Without a pause Mulder gave the address of the nearby motel he'd noticed the evening before.

"We'll pick you up from there in the van. What room number are you in?"

"I'll wait for you outside."

"Okay, It will take us about thirty to forty minutes to get there, depending on the traffic."

"Thanks." Mulder put the phone back in his pocket and prepared to leave. Taking the vials from the fridge, he put each of the samples into a plastic bag and secured the top, then put them both into a third bag with some ice cubes to keep them cool before overwrapping them with a brown grocery bag which would hide what he was carrying from curious eyes.

If he wanted to reset the alarms before he left, he would need to find the keys. He'd been careless with his car keys, leaving them on the counter, and Anson had taken them with him. What had Alex done with the keys that had gained them entrance to his secret home. He closed his eyes and brought the memory to mind, the keys Alex had used, their hiding places, and the codes he'd punched in to disable the alarms, allowing them to pass. He went to the bank of Computers and monitors and checked each one, going over what Alex had told him as he did so.

When he was sure he knew what to do to reset everything, he went to the bedroom to collect his wallet from the bedside table, and stopped short at the sight of the dishevelled bed. A wave of misery swept over him, as he remembered the way Alex had looked impaled on his cock - illuminated by the flickering candles - driving them both towards completion.... His throat tightened and tears threatened to spill down his cheeks...

Would he be able to prove Alex's innocence?

Would Alex even want him again after this was all over?

Was this the only time they would be together?

His sense of misery was so deep that he was unable to keep the tears at bay any longer, his face crumpled, water streaming from his eyes.... fear and self-doubt overwhelming him as he thought about their history together, the betrayal, the beatings and the taunts... almost everything about their past seeming to be more fuel to the fire of certainty that their relationship was doomed.

Just as he felt ready to give up completely, he recalled what Alex had said to him about meeting in the bar, "Our date reassures me that you are still alive and kicking."

Any doubt that Alex loved him fled from his thoughts, and he dashed a hand across his eyes to wipe the moisture away. Now was not the time to fall apart, he needed to be strong for Alex's sake... and for Anson's as well - that poor, damaged man needed some serious help.

With renewed determination, he stripped the soiled sheets from the bed, and stuffed them in the washing machine so that they would be clean be the time Alex returned to his loft. He remade the bed, and tidied the one that Anson had slept in before looking round to make sure he hadn't left anything behind. Then setting the alarm he left the apartment for the short walk to the pick-up point.

He looked at his watch when he reached the entrance to the motel, even after all he had done it was still less than 30 minutes since he had spoken to Frohike. He sat on the wall which divided the car park from the sidewalk, and waited.

Perhaps fortunately for his peace of mind, he didn't have long to wait, for less than ten minutes later he was in the van with the gunmen.

As soon as Langly had driven away from the curb, Mulder said, "Thanks for picking me up, guys, I appreciate it. These are the samples I need testing." He handed the paper sack to Byers. "Also, can you drop me off somewhere I can get a cab, please."

Frohike was surprised. "You're not going to come with us to see the samples compared?"

Mulder shook his head. "No, Skinner wants to see me as soon as possible. However, if you wouldn't mind, there is one more thing you can do for me. I want you to see if you can find a pair of twins. Their first names are Anson and Alex, or maybe Alexander, born in the mid-60s."

"What's their surname?"

Mulder tossed up in his mind whether to say any more about them, then decided that in the current situation he needed all the information he could find to get Skinner off Alex's back. So, taking a deep breath he said, "Their current names are Anson Greene and Alex Krycek." He held up a hand to silence any protests. "This is ultra-secret guys. The Consortium interfered in their lives at a very early age... before they were five. I want to find out who they really are. To give you a further clue, Anson is said to have shot his mother and step-father, Elizabeth and Morgan Greene, when he was eight. To complicate things, while Anson remembers Alex and his childhood quite well, Alex doesn't remember anything about it at all. Which is why the blood samples... though I have to admit they look so much alike that it would be hard to believe that they are not related."

"How soon do you want to know?"

"Yesterday would have been good... then I might have been prepared for an Alex pout in stereo." Mulder tried hard to make light of the situation, not wanting the Gunmen to realize that he had deep feelings for Alex. "Seriously guys, as soon as you find anything on them give me a ring. At the moment, none of us are quite sure what to make of the other... if you see what I mean."

"Yeah, man," Langly told him, looking over his shoulder. "I mean, I'd be seriously freaked if I suddenly found I had a twin." A blaring horn made him face front again.

Frohike frowned. "This changes things slightly," he stated. Then, looking directly at Byres, he went on. "Should we split up do you think?"

Byers nodded. "Yes. When we stop to let Mulder off I'll switch places with Langly, and drop you both back home before taking the samples to be analyzed."

The van suddenly swerved and came to a halt. "The taxi rank is just along the block. It would be better if no-one saw us with you, Mulder." Langly said as he switched places with Byers.

Mulder nodded, their paranoia almost matched his own. "See you later guys. If I learn anything more which might help, I'll let you know." He got out of the van and strode along the sidewalk without a backward glance. Once ensconced in the back of a taxi, he pulled out his phone and hit the speed dial for Scully. The phone rang and rang, then just as he was starting to get worried about what might have happened to his partner, Scully's voice answered it.

"Scully, it's me."

"Mulder, where are you. Skinner is getting pissed."

"I'm in a taxi on my way to the hospital. Why has your voice got an echo, Scully?"

"I've got my phone on vibrate, and when I saw your caller ID I excused myself and came into the ladies bathroom for some privacy."

"Good thinking. Is Skinner still asserting that it's Krycek he saw attack Cancerman?"

"Yes, although I think Detective Smith is having doubts now that he knows that Krycek only has one arm, since he has witnesses who have described the attacker using both hands to hit out at the men who had chased after him."

"Hmm. Has he said anything about why he lied to us about identifying Krycek to the cops?"

"No, he hasn't... and I still can't figure out his attitude, he's not normally this... this... intransigent...."

"I know, Scully... it's not at all like him. However, I'll be arriving at the hospital soon, and as soon as we are alone we'll have to talk about this... I also have some very interesting information I think you would like to hear... but I'm loath to share it with Skinner until I can work out just what is going on with him."

"Okay. I won't tell him that you phoned... it's better that we get our thoughts straightened out before we say anything... because I have some interesting things to share with you, too. See you later."

"See you in a few minutes then," Mulder replied, just before Scully cut the connection. Stuffing the phone back in his pocket, he glanced at the meter and pulled some bills out his wallet to cover the charge and provide a tip. As soon as the cab came to a halt he handed over the money and barrelled towards the entrance, eager to check on Alex's condition for himself, and to have a quiet talk with Scully.

However, when he reached Alex's room it was Skinner that he saw first, and the AD was wearing a very sour expression.

"What took you so long, Mulder?"

"Good morning to you too, Sir." Mulder deadpanned. Then, deciding that attack was the best defence, he went on, "Do you have any idea how difficult it is to get a cab at this time in the morning?"

"No, I can't say that I do."

"Then don't ask me why I'm late."

Skinner's expression didn't change, but he did drop the subject. "Now that you *are* here, I want you and Agent Scully to keep guard over Krycek. The hospital has provided us with a list of their employees who are authorized to be on this floor. There is also still quite a large police department presence, as you will probably have noticed when you came in. This is because Spender's death is still being investigated. As Agent Scully may have told you, he was actually murdered here and not, as I thought, at the time of the attack. That being so, they have taken charge of the floor security, so you will only have to deal with those who actually come into this room." He looked at his watch. "I'd better get going. The Director wants to see me this morning, though heaven alone knows why. I should be back before lunch, but I'll call you and let you know when to expect me.... We need to talk about what we are going to do with Krycek now that we have him." He glared at Mulder as if daring him to raise an objection.

"Yes, sir." Mulder replied, eager to see the back of his boss so that he could talk to Scully.

"See you later, sir," Scully chimed in as Skinner turned and hurried away.

Mulder looked around the room studying its layout. The private bathroom was immediately to his right, then the room opened out behind that to the bed area, beyond which was a table with two arm chairs set in front of the window.

Standing at the foot of the bed, staring at the bandage-wrapped, unconscious man, he asked, "What's his condition?"

"Not good," Scully replied with a grimace, as Mulder turned towards her. "He's been shot in the left shoulder and fell hard... the fact that he was wearing a prosthesis didn't help matters as if caused further injuries in the fall. He was bleeding heavily when the paramedics got there and they had problems stabilizing him." She looked down at the still unconscious man in the bed. "They had still more problems while they were operating on him... maybe it would have been better to just... well... let him go."

"NO!" Mulder exclaimed loudly, then shot a glance at the bed to make sure that he hadn't disturbed Alex.

Scully turned to face him. "Are you, like Skinner, so set on getting revenge that you'd put him through hell."

"No... you don't understand." Mulder spoke softer now, almost pleading with her. "I... we... need you to understand. Krycek... Alex has been feeding us information for months now, he's the one who passed me the tip about Weikamp all those months ago... and gave me back my faith in myself. We need him to survive, Scully."

"Krycek! Are you mad! Why didn't you tell me!"

"Your reaction is precisely why I haven't said anything before. When I first started meeting with him, I was sure you would have me locked up. Then, when all the leads he was giving me panned out, there never seemed a right time to say anything."

"Wait, you said you were meeting with your informant when Spender was first attacked... Then Krycek couldn't have done it. Yet Skinner was so sure."

"Which is why I said that I knew Alex hadn't done it when I saw you at the office, proving it to Skinner's satisfaction, however, is going to be more difficult... and talking of Skinner I still want to know why he was meeting with Spender at the time of the incident. I'm not sure that I buy his explanation about Spender wanting to talk to him about me. Why meet such a long way away from their usual haunts?"

Scully sighed. "I don't know. I went to have a look at the crime scene and I have to admit I couldn't see why they would be meeting there either. It's a totally featureless street, and with nothing that could be used as a point of reference, I had trouble locating the exact spot where the attack occurred.... Talking of attacks, the police have more or less established that the second attack took place while you were en route to the office, that being so, Krycek couldn't have been involved in that either as there wouldn't have been enough time from when you left him. In any case the description that the police have of the primary suspect is of a large man in a janitor's uniform whom none of the administration staff have been able to identify.

Since I spoke to you on the phone, I straightened out things with Detective Smith, explaining the interest we have in the case, and now that I have assured him that we have a watching brief and have no intention of taking the case out of his hands, he has been kind enough to let me borrow some of the crime scene photographs for you to study... He's getting another set done, so that we each have our own copies. After I had filled him in on our interest, I provided his people with the sample of blood and a copy of the reports we had done the last time that Spender was reported to have been shot and killed in his apartment." She paused and gave Mulder a wry smile. "We will also have to find some way to tell Smith that, although the description is close, there is no way that Krycek could have been the original attacker either... that it's a case of mistaken identity."

Mulder lips twisted into a very sour expression. "A case of mistaken identity which could potentially leave us with a rather large problem."

"Problem?"

"Yes a problem. If it really is Spender who died there are bound to be some changes, and now that Alex is out of commission, we have no way of knowing which way the Consortium are going to jump."

"You would trust him to tell you what was going on?"

"Yes, I would. It's taken me a long time to realize it, but we really are on the same side."

"In that case you'd better come take a look at these photographs and see if we can help Detective. Smith find the real killer."

Mulder followed her across to the table set under the window, and seated himself in one of the two chairs. Scully took the other seat and pushed a folder across the table towards him.

He glanced the street photos, but since he already knew what had really taken place there he pushed them aside to take a look at the ones taken inside the hospital. There were a few from the crime scene and a couple of prints of the unidentified intruder taken from the hospital's security video.

"I did think, from the description, that it might be our old friend the Alien Bounty Hunter, but if it is he's taken on a completely new disguise."

"The person in these photos certainly seems to be taller and bulkier. It can't be Krycek because, he's the wrong build and as we've already established he was with you only a short time previously, it's not Skinner because he was with me - it could be the ABH using a different disguise, or some new player who's just shown his hand. In short we are no further forward.

"The forensics team has taken fibre samples from both the scenes, and of course from Krycek. The initial result should be available soon... but as we know a full analysis takes time... and as Krycek and the description of the attacker are so similar there could be quite a few similarities in the genetic markers...."

Mulder grimaced, wondering how close the markers would be in identical twins. "What about clones, Scully? We know they exist as we've seen them."

Scully scrunched up her nose in distaste, and shook her head. "I've no idea, Mulder. The more I think about the "what if's" that abound in this case, the more my head aches... and if you try to run that one past Detective Smith *HE* will have you committed."

Mulder lifted one shoulder in a dismissive shrug, not promising to drop the subject, just indicating that he wasn't going to argue about it with her. "Just so long as we keep it in mind, Scully."

She looked at him quizzically for a moment, then nodded. "I guess you're right."

Mulder leafed through the folder of information provided by Smith. He read the eyewitness accounts, and took note of the differences between Skinner's account and those of the other witnesses. Skinner's description was more like Alex, while the other descriptions were much more like Anson. Even so, while most had commented on the dark hair, green eyes and stocky build, none of them had actually described Anson's clothes properly. He then turned his attention to the crime scene photographs, trying to see if he could visualize what he had read, and what he had been told about the attack and fit it to what he could see in the pictures, but the fact that he already knew the identity of the first attacker didn't help his concentration, and the only thing that kept swirling around in his mind was the fact that Alex was lying just a few feet away, seriously injured.

He shut the file and slumped back in the chair. To Keep his mind occupied, he said, "As far as I can see there were two odd things that happened last night: One, as we've said is the meeting between Skinner and Spender; the other is how did the second attacker know Spender was here so quickly. Did he actually see the first attack occur? Did any of the witnesses see him... or was he even one of the witnesses?"

Scully gave him an odd look. "I'll ask Smith." She took out her cell phone and a business card and dialled the number on it. Once it was answered, she relayed Mulder's speculations and the questions he had asked.

After she'd put the phone away again, Scully said, "Judging by Smith's silence when I'd finished asking your questions, no one else had thought to ask them... I'll admit that it was something that I hadn't thought of either... Anyway, Smith is going to get back to us. In the meantime he will be sending Sergeant Swenson up here with the preliminary results of the blood tests. She is going to take me to see Dr Margoles who will be conducting the autopsy. Shall I bring you a cup of coffee on my way back?"

"Mmmm. Please... and could you bring me a bagel as well, I haven't had any breakfast yet."

"In that case I'll get something sent up as there's no telling what time I will be back."

"Thanks, Scully." Mulder replied with a tired grin, thankful for a little bit of normality.

Scully returned the grin, then went to answer a knock on the door. She let a policewoman into the room and introduced her as Sergeant Swenson. Mulder stood and shook hands with the newcomer, making the usual polite comments about the weather, then they both fell silent while Scully read the reports that Smith had sent her.

When she had red the last page, she looked up at Mulder. "The blood sample we provided and that taken from the dead man are from the same person. The initial forensics results about the attacker are less straightforward. The samples are almost, but not quite, identical. They're going to rerun the tests. In the mean time, I have an invitation to attend the autopsy." She collected her coat and purse. "See you later."

Mulder nodded, deep in thought. If the samples were almost identical, then it looked as if Anson's story could be true. He stared at the man in the bed, trying to imagine the young Alex standing up to the smoker...

A short time later, Sergeant Swenson came back bearing a large cup of coffee and a couple of bagels. "Agent Scully asked if I would drop these off for you as you hadn't had time to get any breakfast."

Mulder smiled. "Thanks, I appreciate it," he said, opening the bag eagerly.

"You're welcome," she said over her shoulder as she left him alone again.

He had almost finished his meal, when Frohike rang him.

"Mulder, I think we've found your twins. Alexander Michael and Anson Charles; and get this... their surname really is Krycek... except that it's spelt K-R-A-J-I-C-E-K. Father Peter, was born in Prague and came to the US when he was ten. He worked as a fireman, and was killed in the line of duty when the twins were almost five years old. Their mother, according to the birth certificate, was Elizabeth Geraldine Batholomew. We haven't been able to find a birth record for her yet.

"She married Morgan Greene within months of her first husband's death, and by the time Anson goes to school, "Alex, the elder twin, seems to have disappeared, but, as far as we can see, there doesn't seems to have been any type of investigation into his disappearance. "

Mulder's expression had turned grim. "Thanks for the information."

"Do you want us to see if we can find out any more?"

"Yes, please."

"'K. Catch you later."

He went to sit in the chair by the bed and carefully took hold of Alex's hand. "It seems as if you do have a twin after all, Alex." he murmured quietly, stroking his thumb across the backs of the fingers which had curled round his. "I wish there was something positive I could do to make you better, make you whole again." He smiled at his own whimsy. "Where is an alien healer when you want one?"

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