Title: Strike a Deal

Author: spookycc

Rating: R - for violence and language.

Classification: V A

Timeline: Yeah, like 1013 even *worries* about a timeline. 
This story takes place immediately after "Three Words".
           
Summary: Krycek offers Agent Doggett a deal. Told first in Krycek POV. And
NO, it's not slash.   Closes with a different POV.

Spoilers: "DeadAlive", "Three Words". To be safe, for S8 so far.

Disclaimer: No characters, human or canine, are mine. And no dogs were
harmed in the making of this fanfic. Honest!

OK, who's gonna start the DTA site? :)

Feedback welcomed at spookycc@earthlink.net

Dedication: As ever, to Doggett's Bitch (f/k/a "Fox's Vixen" :). My
soulmate, always. And the main reason my Doggettfic even exists.

And for girlassassin, most loyal fan, and supportive friend. :)~

No beta-reader was used. All typos are my own.


***

I watch the meeting take place across the park. Agent Doggett. AD Skinner. A
tall man in a hooded sweatshirt.

I know the man. One might say we used to travel in the same circles. He
still has connections, very high up, and an agenda no less selfish than my
own. Oh, and he's not quite human.

I'm waiting for the meeting to end, sitting on a bench near the parking
area. When the meeting comes to a close, my eyes follow Skinner and Doggett,
as they approach. Good. They didn't arrive together for their little meeting
with Knowle. They talk for a few minutes, and Skinner leaves while Doggett
is getting into his fleet sedan. God, I couldn't have planned this better.

Before Doggett can back out, I walk calmly over and stand behind his car. I
see his eyes flash to the outside mirror, and I can tell he's made me.

I walk to the driver's side door and Doggett flips the power window down.

"What the hell do you want?"

I hold my hands up in mock surrender. "I just wanna talk."

He fixes me with a steely gaze.

"You've got the car this time," I add. Then, more seriously. "We need to
talk." He's not convinced. "About Agent Scully."

I knew that would get his undivided attention. Jeez, this guy is as readable
as Mulder. Scully must have some knack for making the men around her over-
protective to the point of being actually stupid.

"Let's walk," I suggest. As he kills the ignition, I reach slowly into my
jacket pocket and pull a gun, place the barrel to his temple. His hand stops
and his eyes shift in my direction.

"Gimme your gun. Then unlock the doors."

He does both. Slowly, deliberately, looking for any sign of weakness on my
part - any opening. I give him none. I slip into the back seat behind him
and close the door. My gun is now behind his head. "Agent Scully's baby is
in danger," I begin.

"Yeah, from *you*, or so I've heard."

I shake my head, though he can't see it. "You don't know the whole story,
Agent Doggett."

"I'm sure you're willin' to enlighten me."

"Not until dark. Gimme the keys." I see a look of confusion in the rearview
mirror, but he does as I've asked. "Now, we're just gonna wait until the
park is a little less... busy." I know he has a million questions. To his
credit, he asks none.

He's not stupid enough to try to catch the attention of any passers-by,
either. He's been in this situation, or one like it, before, I suspect. I
can pull the trigger a lot more quickly than he can get any kind of
assistance here.

The sun slips low behind the DC skyline. It's time. "Get out of the car.
Slowly."

He doesn't move for a moment, and I see his right hand reach down, in the
shadows. "Hey - no tricks, Doggett."

He shrugs his shoulders. "Just unfastenin' the seat belt."

I almost laugh. I guess that *would* help. I thought maybe he carried an
extra weapon. I know Mulder did. We slip out of the car at the same time,
and he awaits my instructions.

"Hands against the car. Legs apart." Doggett complies, and I quickly frisk
him with my "bad" hand. It's not the perfect appliance, to be sure, but I
could feel the bulk of a weapon, if there was another one on him. There
isn't. 

I back off for a moment, and he relaxes, just a bit. Until I reach inside
the back of his belt and pull off his cuffs. He reacts instinctively, then,
in what might be his last chance to do so. He's halfway turned around when I
throw a knee into his lower back, and his body folds to the ground with a
soft grunt.

Shit. I hope I didn't get him too good. It's hard to make deals with
unconscious men.

Those fears disappear instantly when he hits my midsection with a blind
tackle, head still lowered. I bring my gun down on the back of his head, and
we hit the ground, his body limp atop my own.

I shrug the dead weight off of me, and get to my feet, watching him warily.
He's not gonna take me by surprise *twice*. I must be getting rusty.

He's coming around, and within minutes, he's on his feet. I hand him his
cuffs. "Put one on your wrist."

He stands motionless.

"*Do* it, Doggett. Now." I cock the gun and aim it at his head.

Well, he's no Fox Mulder, but he isn't street-stupid. He does as I've
instructed. I have him attach the other cuff to the car door handle behind
him. He stands expectantly, shifting his weight a little. I bet his back
still hurts like hell.

"You know the deal I made with Skinner." I'm not really asking, just
confirming. He nods slowly.

"I'm prepared to revise that deal and offer it to you."

He laughs, just a bit. He's got balls, I'll give him that. "For *what*,
Krycek? We don't need the vaccine anymore. Mulder's fine."

"Is he?" I hope to create doubt. "Are you willing to bet his life on that?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I am. Before I'll believe anything *you* tell me."

Sonofabitch - I launch a prosthetic left hook that catches him on the right
cheek, but doesn't really back him off much. The car catches his weight and
he remains standing. The wound he got when Absalom was gunned down beside
him reopens, but if Doggett notices, he doesn't give any indication.

"Well, friend, I have a *new* deal."

"I'm listenin'." He isn't *really* listening, but I continue anyway.

"You make sure Scully's baby doesn't come to term. In return I give you
*your* life."

A slow, very *un*-humorous smile appears on his face. "No, sir."

Doesn't he realize the stakes? I mean, I know Scully makes men stupid, but
not *this* stupid, for crissakes! "Maybe you didn't hear me right."

He thinks I'm bluffing. "I heard you fine. No deal."

Before I even know I've done it, my gun discharges, and I see Doggett go
down - I catch a grimace of pain on his face before he hardens his
expression once more. And I look more closely at the man half-kneeling on
the ground in front of me.

No harm done. I hit him in the shoulder. Mulder's gotten worse than this
from *Scully*.

"You know," I watch him, wanting to gauge his reaction to my next comment.
"It'd be a damn shame if something happened to Agent Scully. Not just her
baby, but *her*."

His eyes darken almost imperceptably.

"If you had to *choose* which one would live..." I pause, enjoying the
expressions playing across his face right now. "...Which would it be?"

He lunges as close to me as he is able. I land a kick to his ribs that sends
him back to his knees, gasping for air.

One more well-placed kick and I see his breath expelled in a little puff of
night air. He's unconscious before he hits the ground. I feel a smile pull
at the corners of my mouth. Doggett is always so cocky, so self-assured. Ex-
Marine, ex-NYPD and I can still take him down with only one good arm.

I lean back against a tree and wait for him to wake up so we can continue
our negotiations...

Suddenly the area is lit by floodlights. What the hell?

I wheel around. No, not floodlights. *Headlights*. A half dozen squad cars,
no sirens, and an unmarked sedan. From which I catch a glimpse of red. Fuck.

"You sonofabitch!" I scream at Doggett. Like he can even still *hear* me.
How the fuck did they know what was going on?

I resist the impulse to kill the man right here and now. He might still
prove useful, down the road. And escape is more important. I sprint into the
woods and hop on the motorcycle I stashed there. There's no way cars will be
able to follow. At least one part of this fuckin' plan will work...


***


I can hardly keep up with Scully, as she races to Doggett's car. She
shouldn't be exerting herself like this, not now. She was nervous as hell
all the way here. I'm glad I can drive again, otherwise she might have
wrapped the car around a tree.

The DC police take off, some in vehicles, others on foot. They'll never
catch Krycek.

We reach Doggett at the same time. I hold his weight while Scully unlocks
his cuffs. I hear Scully saying his name softly. It sounds different -
almost foreign - to me. For a fleeting moment I wonder why her keys worked
on his cuffs. Then I remember. They're partners.

No time now for the feelings that realization brings up. I'll deal with them
later. I let Doggett's weight down slowly, and lay him gently on the soft
ground. Scully is already on her knees, assessing his injuries. She called
an EMS unit from the car, but it hasn't shown up yet.

I've always marvelled at Scully when she goes into "Doctor" mode. Well, I
can't *always* marvel at it, since so many times I'm on the receiving end of
her medical ministrations. But now I'm almost detached from the goings-on.
Like I'm not even here. I'm not going to ponder the implications of *that*
feeling right now, either.

I kneel quietly beside her, in case she needs my help. She checks his pulse,
apparently satisfied, and balls her coat under his head. I slip my own
jacket off and put it around her shoulders without conscious thought.

She talks to herself as much as to me. I know that's her way of cataloging
injuries and their severity. Gunshot wound to the left shoulder seems to be
the most serious of his injuries, at least to me. Been there, done that, got
the exit wound scar.

Scully turns to me for the first time since we reached Doggett. "Mulder, can
you keep a hand on that for me, please?" I press a hand against his
shoulder. Keeping pressure on it, I know the drill. Trying to staunch the
blood flow. The sight of his blood as it pulses between my fingers is almost
hypnotic.

Scully palpates his ribs gently, and doesn't like what she feels. I can tell
by her grimace. She checks his abdomen, and he moans a little. I can almost
see his pain in her face, as he starts to come around.

"Agent Doggett, it's me. Scully." His eyes are barely open, just the
narrowest slits of steel blue visible in the headlights' glare. "Can you
hear me?" He nods a bit, and pain contorts his features again. "I've got an
ambulance on the way. You're gonna be fine. Just relax, ok?"

Another nod, slower this time. "Not- goin' anywhere." His eyes slip shut
once more.

I see tears bright in Scully's eyes. She knows why this happened. Doggett
left his cell phone open in the car after hitting her speed dial on it. We
heard everything. Frohike and the guys were able to use cell tower
connections to get a fix on Doggett's location. It only took a short while.
We were still *almost* too late.

I watch detachedly as the ambulance arrives. I'm pushed aside, no longer
needed, as they put a pressure bandage on Doggett's shoulder and prep him
for transport. Scully hovers while they load Agent Doggett into the back. I
follow her numbly to my car, to follow the EMS unit to the hospital.

We've talked about Agent Doggett a lot. A lot a lot a lot. Initially
despising the man and what I believed him to be, I was unprepared for the
truth, even though it's always been what I've sought.

This man searched for *me*. Even when Scully was suffering pregnancy
complications and couldn't help him. He gave her his word he'd find me. And
he did. From what she's told me, he was almost as fucked up as she was when
he found me - dead.

I haven't quite resolved all of *that* circumstance in my head, either. But
I know this man saved her life on more than one occasion, risking his own in
the process. If I'm being honest with myself, I couldn't have picked a
better man to watch over Scully and protect her until I could be found. His
concern has *always* been for her, since his assignment to the basement.

But now... now I'm *back*.

What happens now?

 
~fini~