Chapter Sixteen
“Sir,
no one’s found them yet.”
Hayden
rubbed the back of his neck which was sore with tension, “What about the hit men?”
The man shook his head, “Alright. Watch the airport, hotels and let’s see if we
can’t get someone to watch the subways.”
The
man nodded and skittered away to do his job, leaving Hayden to think over the
situation, again. He couldn’t think of anybody who wanted Sandra Ames dead but
he did know about a billion people who wanted Alex Krycek dead. So maybe this
had nothing to do with her…
“Sir?” A police woman approached him, under the impression
that Hayden was an FBI agent. “The table was set for two, in the man’s
apartment. We’re running the finger prints now.”
Hayden
waved his hand at her, “Don’t worry about it, I’ll get someone on my team on
it.” Hayden waved one of his men over, “This is agent Mallin, he’ll assist you.”
Hayden
took another walk around the apartment, he knew the hit men had used explosives
to open the door and then they had shot the hell out of the place. Hayden ran
his hand over the door frame of the bedroom, where the wood had splintered
when, he guessed, Krycek and
If
this had been Krycek’s escape route, Hayden didn’t see a way out. There was no
fire escape, no other door except the way in, so that meant there was a secret
door or something, they just hadn’t found it yet.
“Excuse
me,” A police man tapped his shoulder. “But it seems that we have a night stand
that’s glued to the wall and we can’t move it.
Hayden
walked quickly over to the furniture in question, “Shit,” he silently cursed,
they would be long gone by now. “Get this off and find out where the tunnel
leads to, now!”
They’d
been so close and now Hayden had to start all over.
************************************************************
“Do you think anyone followed
us?” Sandra asked, taking the key ring out of her pocket.
“If
anybody managed to follow us, I’d gladly give myself up out of pure
admiration.”
Sandra
took a deep breath before putting one of the keys in the apartment’s lock. Out
of the three keys that her parents had left her, it took three tries before she
finally found the one that fit into the lock.
She
let Alex enter first, his gun by his side, ready just in case but they were
only welcomed to a dark, empty apartment.
As soon
as she entered it, she could almost feel her parent’s presence, the furniture,
the style, even the Smooshed walls, with a different
color in every room. The entrance, which was only a small hallway, was done in
a soft light green, with an antique desk, sitting across from the mirrored
closet.
To
the left there was a kitchen, which was done in black, very dramatic but in
there it seemed to enhance the rest of the room. The kitchen was modernly done,
with counter tops done in a dark and light splashed blue. A small table stood
on the opposite side of the room, with a black metal frame and glass top.
“You’re
parents were big fans of “Trading Spaces”, weren’t they?”
Out
the other kitchen door, to the left, was the dining room, done in dark red. Her
parent’s had once told her that red increases appetite and stimulates
conversation. An oak table, which could sit eight sat in the middle of the
room, with a china cabinet on the wall next to the kitchen.
The
dining room then opened up to the living room, done in the same color but was
trimmed with an aqua border. Like Alex’s apartment, the couch and two chairs
were black leather, with the tables and entertainment center done in black as
well.
“This
is not a bad place,” Alex commented, walking back to the entrance.
Sandra
couldn’t even begin to describe how at home she felt, this place was so much
like the house she had shared with her parent’s years before. Sandra’s dad had
worked at the
Now
as she walked around, she knew this was now her home.
“I
think I’m going to go get some sleep,” Sandra told Alex, going upstairs.
He
nodded at her, opting to stay down in the main floor bedroom, the farther away
from Sandra, the better. Instead of going to bed though, Alex sat on the
stairs, his gun sitting in his lap, staring at the front door. He wasn’t really
expecting anyone to come through it but he felt safer being there.
It
bothered him a lot that someone had found his apartment, his one safe haven. It
had been the only place that he could be himself, the only place he didn’t have
to hide from everything. It was a place where he could be totally cut off from
his amazingly screwed up life, he only realized now
how much it mattered to him.
He
had no idea how long he had been sitting there when he heard a wrangled scream
come from upstairs. Alex practically flew up the stairs, gun ready, to the
landing. Four doors challenged him but after some debate, he heard soft crying
coming from the farthest left door. Not pausing, he threw the door open to find
Sandra sitting on the bed, under the blankets, her body leaned into her knees
and her hands over her face.
She
turned her tear-stained face when she heard Alex burst in, embarrassment
flooded her eyes.
“Are
you okay?”
“Sorry,
I just had a nightmare, I didn’t mean to wake you.” She
said weakly, her dream had been so disturbingly real.
Alex
shifted his weight from one foot to the other, “Oh. Do you want to talk about
it?”
“No,
I’m okay,” she could tell that this was making him uncomfortable. “I’ll be
fine.” She really didn’t want him to leave but she’d never ask him to stay.
“Okay…I’m
just going to be next door, if you need me.” Alex figured he probably should
get some sleep, he couldn’t stare at the front door
all night.
Sandra
forced a smile, “Okay, ‘night’.”
Alex
stood for several seconds, pondering whether he should ask her if she wanted
him to stay, though he knew that could be a dangerous idea. He could tell she
was scared, that whatever she’d seen in her dream had really gotten to her. He
remembered when his sister Ana started having terrible nightmares right after
their father had been killed. He didn’t want his mother to know, since she had
been so upset, so Alex would sit up with his younger sister until she fell
asleep. Sandra was definitely quite a bit older but he still sensed the same
raw fear.
“You
don’t want, um…do you want me to, ah hell. I’m gonna
sit here awhile, okay?”
Sandra
stared queerly at him but she wasn’t about to argue since she really wanted him
to stay.
Alex
moved to the other side on the bed and sat, leaving a large space between them,
as he leaned back against the head board.
Sandra
turned her back to him and laid down, “Good-night.”
“Good-night.”
[A/N: Smooshing is a
painting effect where you paint the wall and then put on a glaze, then put a
plastic drop sheet on the wall and wrinkle and rub the sheet. It’s a very cool
effect but a lot of work!]
Chapter Seventeen
“So I
got the steak but I couldn’t find the red wine I wanted so we’ll have to make
do.” Alex put his shopping bag up on the counter. “What are you doing?”
Sandra
was bent over a mixing bowl, spatula in one hand, cookbook in the other,
“Making dessert.”
Alex
leaned over her, looking into the bowl, whatever it was, it looked a little
strange. “Is it supposed to look like that?”
Sandra
shooed him away, “I turned on the barbeque for you, go cook something on it.”
She turned back to her creation.
It
had been almost two weeks since Sandra had, had her strange nightmare and Alex
had slept in her room. He had stayed in his room since then, not knowing that
her nightmares had persisted. They were getting worse,
enough so that she tried to stay awake most nights. She’d finished three novels
in the past week, in her pursuit to stay awake. She wasn’t sure if Alex noticed
or not, since she did a pretty good job on her under-eye makeup and she always
went to bed before him, keeping the light low in her room.
As
she stared into the depths of the bowl, she tried to remember how many eggs
she’d put in but her fatigued brain hadn’t even processed that information. She
cursed when she realized that she’d put way too much milk in and wondered even
if there was a point in trying to salvage it.
She
was tired of not pulling her weight in the cooking department, every night Alex
made dinner and all she could do was stand a watch. Although she had learned a
lot, she still lacked the talent Alex had, which was blaringly obvious now.
“How’s
it going?”
It
was question Sandra had been dreading since she’d taken her concoction out of
the oven minutes ago. Alex had already put the steaks on the grill and made the
salad, he was now popping some baked potatoes into the stove.
“Um,
well…Jesus Christ I suck at this.” Sandra threw her hands up in the air.
Alex
laughed and handed her a glass of red wine, “It doesn’t look so bad,” To distract
her away from her disaster, it really was scary, Alex
tilted his glass to the patio just outside the kitchen. “I think we should eat
outside.”
Sandra
gave one last glance at her failed attempt to regain her cooking pride before
being led out into the beautiful night.
They
ate dinner, making causal conversation, which had been getting old after the
first week but it was the still the effort that counted. They kept to current
topics, not mentioning anything about their past or anything personal but since
all they did was stay in the apartment all day, they really didn’t have
anything to talk about. In fact Sandra was starting to get a major case of
cabin fever which was only amplified by her lack of sleep. It was a wonder that
she wasn’t raging around the place with a murderous case of PMS.
Later
that night, sitting on the couch watching the movie, Alex noticed Sandra
starting to nod off. It hadn’t missed his attention that she hadn’t been
sleeping, though he had no idea how bad it really was. He lifted her up into
his arms without waking her, carrying her up the stairs to her room and laying
her down on the bed. She gently curled around him when he laid
down next to her.
He
knew he should probably leave but he couldn’t bring himself to pull away, she
seemed so fragile in his arms. Even without noticing, he moved his face so it
was right next to her, breathing in her scent. He’d been careful these last few
weeks not to make any physical contact, to ignore the sexual pull to her. It
wasn’t even just that though, he didn’t just want to sleep with her, he truly just wanted to hold her, to feel her body against
his. Still, he was enjoying all this time he got to spend with her, especially
since he knew that it wouldn’t last very long.
He
finally pulled away, slowly and carefully sliding off her socks and jeans, and
slipping her under the covers. As he headed to the door, he heard her moan
softly to stay. He ran his hand over her cheek and slid into a chair next to
the bed, grabbing the blanket off the bottom of her bed.
He
had just slipped into sleep when he heard Sandra moan and when he opened his
eyes he saw the blankets knotted around her and she was shifting back and forth
frantically. Before Alex could get to her, she shot up and looked around.
She
saw Alex moving towards the bed, “What are you doing here?”
Alex
ignored the question, moving to sit beside, “How long have these nightmares
been going on?”
Sandra
suddenly became very interested in her bedspread. “Since we
got here.”
Alex
let out a fierce groan, “Why didn’t you tell me?”
Even
though the images from her dream were still floating in her brain, she
concentrated on Alex, which gave her a strange amount of comfort.
An
image from her dream flooded her head and she felt tears spring in her eyes.
Alex gently pulled her to him, rubbing his hand over her hair and softly told
her that everything would be alright when she started to sob.
At
the sound of her crying his heart seemed to break in two, it was the worst
sound in the whole world and he wanted so badly to make her stop. But he
wouldn’t, she needed to get it out because she was holding something inside her
and that was probably what was causing the dreams.
When
she stopped, Alex held her face in his hands, tilting her head to his, “Tell me
about them.”
Sandra
shook her head, she was afraid that if she did, they might come true. “I
can’t.”
Alex
gently kissed her forehead, “You need to talk about them otherwise they won’t
go away.”
Sandra
shut her eyes, trying to bring back the images. “It starts off in this room and
it’s really dark but I can see this light coming from this crack in the wall,
the light’s red. There’s also this fog, it’s really heavy and it makes it hard to
breath. And I can feel someone else in the room but I can’t see them. And then
I can’t open my eyes, I can’t see anything and I feel this cold wind, rush over
me. Then it’s gone and I open my eyes and I see you.” Sandra turned her head
away from him not wanting to continue.
“Then
I kill you.”
Chapter Eighteen
“Who
the hell is trying to kill me?”
Hayden
looked up from his desk into the eyes of Alex Krycek, “Why hello Krycek, how
are you?” He said sarcastically.
Krycek
glared back, “Cut the shit Hayden, who’s trying to kill me?”
Hayden
mirrored his expression, “Why don’t you tell me where Sandra Ames is.”
Krycek
sat in the chair, crossing his ankle over the opposite knee, a look of
disinterested settled on his face, “I have no idea.”
“Really?” Hayden barely kept his eyes from rolling in their
sockets, “Did you enjoy your cozy little dinner for two a couple of weeks ago?”
He changed his tone from sarcastic to serious, “Krycek, you have a
responsibility to The Resistance-“
“So
you thought offing me would be proper punishment?” Alex interrupted.
Hayden
could feel his temper start to rise but he kept his voice calm, “Whoever is
trying to kill you, wants Sandra Ames dead as well, and you and I both know
that if she dies, the world is over.” Hayden paused for a minute, leaning
forwards in his chair, “Don’t be an idiot Alex, bring her in and I promise we’ll protect her.”
Krycek
stood up but simply stared at a spot above Hayden’s head, his mind deep in
thought. He turned to leave and Hayden called out, “Every single day that
passes, is a step against humanities survival.”
Hayden
watched Krycek leave, not sure if had been successful or not but just in
case…He lifted his suit jacket off his chair and followed Krycek out.
***********************************************
Sandra
wasn’t sure how long Alex was going to be gone but she knew an opportunity when
she saw it. The closest she’d been to outside for the last two weeks was her
patio.
As
she walked along the crowded streets of
She
indulged and bought a few useless items including a book and a DVD she’d wanted
to see. Then she walked a few blocks to a coffee shop, ordered a flavored
coffee, took a seat on the patio and watched the people scurry around.
There
were women carrying mounds of shopping bags, looking mad for no apparent
reason, business men, entranced in their cell phone conversation and people
just walking with no purpose, just like she had been doing moments before.
Every
once in a while she’d see a couple holding hands, giving quick, passionate
kisses and Sandra couldn’t help but feel envious towards them. Although she’d
never admit it, Sandra was a romantic. She believed that there is one person
out there for everyone who will love you through anything and everything. It
was a naïve hope in this day and age where most relationships consisted of a
one night stand. She wasn’t stupid, but she still held on to that wild notion,
despite her experiences in the past.
She’d
met
After
a month of draining all the money she got from her minimum wage waitressing job, Sandra had found
It
had taken her a while and more than a few romance novels, to remind her, that
she’d just met the wrong guy, a really, really, wrong guy. Still though, trust
was hard to earn from her, which was why she questioned whether or not she was
in love with Alex.
Could
you be in love with someone you don’t trust?
She
remembered how he had held her until she had fallen asleep after she’d had that
nightmare last night. How he’d run his hand gently over her hair, kissing her
forehead and whispering that everything was going to be alright.
Did
she trust him, then?
As if
to answer her, Alex Krycek walked out of the building across the street. He
looked mad and Sandra was about to go after him when she saw someone else
exiting the building, James Hayden.
Alex
had betrayed her.
Hayden
must have realized that letting her go had been a mistake and now he’d re-hired
Krycek to kill her. That’s how those men had found her in
Sandra
ran for a cab, hoping to make it back to her apartment before Krycek and grab
what she needed. As her mind rambled out incoherent though, doubts started to
cast over her as she rode back, if Krycek was planning on killing her, why wait
so long? And what about him getting shot in
All
the questions that were lolling around in her brain were starting to make her
dizzy and a little nauseous, so she concentrated on the road ahead. As she
walked into her apartment building, she tried to hide her panic as she smiled
at the doorman. She ran up the stairs, nearing the top when she heard the door
at the bottom of the stairs opened. Not bothering to look, she ran to her door,
opened it and ran to her bedroom.
Throwing
off the painting above the bed, she turned the combination into the lock and
took out her backpack. Before she could make it to her door, she heard the
front door open.
Running
to the window, she realized the only way out was through the bedroom across the
hall, which had a fire escape.
She
was crossing the hallway when she heard Krycek yell her name, ignoring him, she
kept moving. She was just about to reach the door when she felt Krycek’s arm’s
grab her around the waist.
“Don’t
run,“ he ordered, pressing her against the wall.
She
tried to kick and punch her way out, but he wouldn’t let go despite the
beating, “You bastard! I won’t let you kill me.”
“Sandra
listen to me, please,” he yelled, looking into her
eyes but she elbowed him in the stomach.
Lunging
for the door, Sandra got it half-way closed when Krycek threw himself into it.
Catching Sandra’s arm, he pulled her to him, locking her arms in front of her
and tripping her so she was lying on her back.
“Sandra,
I’m not going to hurt you if you listen to me.”
She
was completely immobile, Krycek was sitting on her legs and he had her arms pinned
to the floor. “Go to hell.”
Alex sighed, he’d seen her back on the street just outside of The
Resistance’s headquarters. Judging from her expression he figured she must have
seen Hayden, who was indiscreetly following Alex.
“There
are things that are going on that you don’t understand but I’ll explain them if
you just calm down.”
Sandra
glared at him, “I understand, I’m a threat to the world right, or is it that
you want my money? Tell me Krycek, why did you stab me in the back?”
The use
of his last name, it’s cold delivery, stabbed at his
heart but he ignored it, “Sandra, I didn’t mean to hurt you, you have to
believe me.” He brought his head down to hers, hoping to convey his emotions to
her.
Instead
of understanding him, she butted her head into his, kicking him off her and
bolting for the window. She was inches away, when she heard a bang. Turning,
she saw James Hayden holding what looked like a tranquillizer gun and then
everything went black.
Chapter Nineteen
“Sandra?”
Of
all the sights she expected to see, she got the only one she didn’t want, “Go
away Krycek.”
Alex
smiled at her, “You’re mad at me.”
Sandra
sat up but a blinding pain in her head had her lying back down, “Jeez you’re
observant,” she said sarcastically. Her face grew serious, “What do you want
from me?”
Alex
was sitting in a chair next to the bed, he studied the
floor below his feet. “We need your help.”
Sandra
nodded and sat up, careful not to let the tears of betrayal enter her eyes, she would not let him think she was weak. She could see
though, that she had no choice but to go along with them. “For
what?”
Alex
sighed, “I want to leave that for later. First I want you to understand this
had nothing to do with betrayal.” For most of his career he’d done things that
looked like he was double-crossing someone, but he never cared if the person
knew it was for the best. That what Alex was doing for them, no matter how bad
it looked, benefited them in the end. He never explained himself, he didn’t
care if people believed him but he wanted Sandra to believe him more than
anything.
“Don’t
bother.” She stood up and walked across the room that looked like a hotel room
without windows. “I don’t know who you are.”
Alex
stood quickly, moving over to her, he grabbed her arms, gently turning her to
him, “Yes you do. You are the only one who knows me, all of me. The good and the bad.”
Sandra
tore her eyes from the floor to look him in the eye, trying to retain her
glare, “I don’t know anything about you except that you’ll put money and power
above all else.”
Alex
let her arms go, struggling to think of what to say, “Before I met you…that was
true but since then, I’ve found something else that I want more than anything
else,” he paused for a long time, “You.”
Sandra
was about to protest, but Alex held his hand up, “There’s something I have to
tell you. Right after I thought you died, I started working with The
Resistance. The Consortium was ending and they offered me a job. They hired me
to be your bodyguard, so to speak.”
Sandra
let it all sink in, “Well, then why’d you leave me in
“I
turned the job down. When it comes to you, I don’t trust anyone. And I knew if
I found you, then The Resistance would bring you in and I wasn’t sure what was
going to happen. That’s why I’ve been hiding you from them for the last few
weeks but now I realize that hiding you, helps no one.”
“So
you’ve decided to take the job?”
Alex
had to smile, he knew she hated the idea of having him
watch over her, “Yeah.”
Sandra
brushed past him, moving to the other side of the room, “Well no thank you. I
can take care of myself.”
“Sandra,”
his tone warned.
“I’m
not a baby Krycek, I don’t need a baby-sitter.” Her voice was cold.
Alex
groaned, “You are the most difficult women! Fine. You
deal with this on your own, see how long that lasts.” he said before storming
out.
Sandra
glared after him, now what was she supposed to do, she
was stuck in this cell with no apparent exit. She went to the adjoining
bathroom and found a sewing kit among the other hotel paraphernalia. Taking two
pins like she’d seen on TV, she put then into the door and wiggled them around,
trying to pick the lock.
Sandra
had been at it for more than ten minutes when the door opened and slammed into
her head.
“You
know the door’s open,” James Hayden told her as he helped her up.
“Oh
look, it’s the guy who shot me.”
Hayden
rolled his eyes at her, “It was with a horse tranquilizer.”
Sandra
stared at him in disgust, “Don’t those kill people?”
Hayden
laughed, “We needed something that would knock you out for more than five seconds.”
Sandra
sneered at him, “So you could do what, operate on me?”
“You
can leave Miss Ames if you want. But I would hope for the sake of mankind
you’ll follow me.”
Sandra
weighed her options as Hayden left the room, she could run and hide or she
could find out what she was running from. Curiosity won out.
“This
better be good.”
***************************************************
“Sandra
Ames, I’d like you to meet The Resistance,” James Hayden introduced her as she
sat around a large wood table.
She
was about to make a remark about how they were the ones that had ordered her to
be killed but she decided to keep her smart ass mouth shut. She instead managed
a nod and a weak smile.
Surrounding
her, around the table, were five women and seven men, including Alex Krycek and
James Hayden. An older man sitting at the head of the table stood up and began
to speak, “My name is Joseph Neller and I co-founded The Resistance ten years
ago. My colleague and I used to work with The Consortium. Are you familiar with
them?”
Sandra
nodded her head.
“They
started out with good intentions but towards the end they were more interested
in preserving themselves than earth. Some would argue it was their own
selfishness that did them in,” To explain himself further he threw a picture
across the table at her. It was of a warehouse, its floor covered in piles of
soot.
Hayden
stood, picking up the conversation, “Those piles of ash are what used to be
human bodies, the bodies of the Consortium members and their families. They were
burned by The Rebels for working with the aliens.”
Sandra
stared in shock at the pictures, this was all a lot more serious then she
originally thought.
“Our
plan,” Hayden continued, “As I explained to you before, is to find an alien
weakness and exploit it.”
“And
since I’m half-alien, you want to test on me,” Sandra said bitterly.
“Frankly,
yes,” Neller answered.
Sandra
stared at the table, completely at a loss for words. She desperately wished for
this all to be a dream, to go back to before she had learned about aliens,
before she met Krycek.
Neller
continued, “Mr. Krycek will be acting as your bodyguard from this point on. You
will report here every day under the alias of Sandra Ashby. To everyone else,
this building houses a Medical manufacturing company, if anyone asks, you work as a lab assistant.
Before
he could continue further, Sandra interrupted him, “As much as I appreciate you
taking complete control of my life,” she said sarcastically. “I can take care
of myself. That is, if I decided to
do this.” Sandra stood.
Following
her, the rest of the people around the table stood, “Of course you can take a
few days to think about it but Miss Ames, I must press
upon you the urgency of the situation. Mr. Krycek will stay with you at all
times.” Neller reiterated.
Sandra
was starting to lose her temper, “I told you, I can take care of myself,” she
said firmly.
Neller
stared back at her with equal determination, “This is not a point I’m willing
to negotiate.”
Sandra
stifled a huff, “Fine.” She then left the room without another word. She could
leave with Alex Krycek but she wasn’t guaranteeing that she’d come back with
him alive.
