Send in the Clones

“Fuckgoddammittofuckinghell!” Alex rapidly cursed, in several languages. Walter lost count after eight.

“Alex, who was that on the phone?” Walter asked as he watched Alex slam down the phone then go very pale. A myriad of emotions crossed Alex’s face as he made his decision.

“I have to go,” Alex said with determination, walking out of the ranch house toward the chicken coop.

“Not without me, you don’t!” Walter shouted as he quickly followed his stubborn Rat.

“Out of the question,” Alex replied curtly, scattering angry hens as he rummaged through the coop.

“I am going with you even if I have to handcuff myself to you.” Walter could be as stubborn as a bear going after honey. “Tell me what I need to pack and what the fuck are you looking for in there?” the Bear growled.

Alex finally came out of the coop smelling a little like ripe chicken with straw stuck in his dark hair. In his hand was a small waterproof pouch. He handed the pouch over to Walter.

“What kind of weapons are these?” Walter asked as he carefully handled the pouch’s contents.

“Undetectable ones. Walter, please stay here,” Alex pleaded. Walter zipped up the pouch then laid it on the chicken coop step. He took the younger man in his arms.

“Not this time, Alexi. I can’t bear to let you go alone.”

“And I can’t do my job if I’m worrying about you.”

“I did all right before I met you, been handling guns before you were out of diapers. You let me worry about me. I’ll watch your back so you can do your job. I won’t be any trouble. And I’ll sleep a lot better being at your side rather than on the other side of the globe.”

“I doubt if we’ll get any sleep,” Alex said with resignation. His Bear was more mule than anything else. “All right, pack light, we’re not going that far. A small plane will be landing out in the field in about an hour. If you pack, I’ll saddle up the horses.”

“Will dopplegangers take our place?”

“Yes,” was all that Alex would admit to as he threw down some chicken feed then strode into the barn.

 

*****
 

“Wyoming?” Walter asked incredulously.

“Yes.”

“There’s a lab in Wyoming?”

“Yes,” Alex repeated as he watched the clouds from the plane’s small window. “Walter, have you ever seen a tank lab?”

“No,” Walter managed to say without choking on the word.

“It’s not pretty. Not very clean either. The supposed scientists that were recruited for the project didn’t join for humanitarian reasons. They were the scientific world’s rejects. Bought and paid for and each one of them a Doctor Mengele. They were cruel, Walter. They all deserved to be sent to the grave.” Walter didn’t ask if Alex was the one who sent them there.

They remained quiet for the rest of the flight.

 

*****
 

“Where are we going?” Walter asked as Alex drove the rented Jeep across unfamiliar terrain with only moonlight to guide them.

“Devil’s Tower.” Walter began to hum the theme song to “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” until Alex stilled him with a glare.

With a handheld GPS unit, Alex drove them through the Ponderosa Forest getting them as close to the monolith as possible. He parked just under a large thick pine that hid the dark green Jeep then turned off the engine.

“Now what?” Walter asked.

“Now you stay here while I go inside.” Alex withdrew his backpack from the back seat and slung it over his shoulder as he slipped out of the Jeep.

“Oh no, where you go, I go. I have my cuffs and I’m not afraid to use them.”

Alex muttered curses. “Walter, this is not going to be a nice neat FBI caper. Everything in this lab has to be destroyed.”

“But what if there’s someone alive in there?”

“There’s nothing alive in there. It’s just trash and I’m the sanitation man. Skinner, you do as I say. You do not pull rank on me. We get in, sanitize the place then get out. Do you understand me?”

“Yes, Alex, I understand. But what if we need back up?”

“They’re already here.”

“They?”

“The Kurts. Let’s move, we have a lot to do before daylight brings tourists and rock climbers.”

Walter nodded. Taking the other pack, Walter carefully shut his door of the Jeep then followed his lover toward the monument.

 

*****

Alex studied the rock face for a few minutes, checking and rechecking his GPS unit. They were standing at the steepest section of the base of the tower. After a while, Alex trailed his hand along one section of the base. He closed his eyes for a moment then appeared to press at some pebbly outcrops. Walter was astonished as an opening appeared when a small section of rock slid back by some unseen mechanism. As they stepped inside, the mechanism automatically closed the hidden door. Dim lights began to come on one by one lighting their way as they slowly walked down the sole hallway that led deep into the tower. The air was stale and carried the scent of death.

“How the hell did you know where to look?” Walter asked as he walked next to Alex.

“I was given the coordinates which was why I used the GPS device and then I...”

“What?” Walter asked as he moved closer to his lover. Alex was distressed and not just because of the mission they were on.

“I can feel them,” Alex whispered. Just then a great sadness came upon Alex as he realized that his old life would never really leave him alone. He would always be tainted by his mistakes and that his life with Walter could never be normal or free.

“Don’t,” Walter growled as he stopped to take Alex into his arms. Alex felt Walter’s thick muscular arms enfold him. He looked into the chocolate brown eyes that Alex found comforting as well as loving. “You cannot take the blame for this. You didn’t order the experiments. This is not your fault! And now you have no choice but to end what was started before it falls into the wrong hands.”

“Don’t you see, Walter? Because of me, you’ll never lead a normal life! Our existence on the ranch is a sham; it’s a joke. You can have so much better. You deserve so much better than me.”

“God, Alex. I don’t want anyone but you,” Walter exclaimed as he peppered kisses all over Alex’s face. “I won’t lose you; you’re mine. Besides, I wouldn’t know normal if it bit me on the ass.”

Walter kept Alex close until he felt the younger man collect himself, until the cold calculating assassin was back in control. When he was, Krycek gently pushed himself away from Walter and began walking.

“Alex, our life is no joke. We’ve both paid the price for our past indiscretions.”

“I’m not sure if wrestling with ornery chickens on a daily basis is penance enough for the disasters I’ve wrought.”

“Can we debate this after we get home? This place is giving me the willies.”

“The willies?” Alex asked. He couldn’t help the corners of his mouth from turning up. In the midst of the probable horror they could be up against, Walter managed to make Alex feel good. “We’re almost there,” Alex said as he picked up the pace, leading them to the first door.

“Are you ready?” Alex asked with his hand on the door knob. “This should be the control room. We should have enough power for the monitors so we can scan each lab. It’ll be quicker than checking out each one,” Alex explained as he opened the door. A motion sensor turned on a light as Alex crossed the room to a set of computer monitors.

“This lab must not have been in use for a long time. These monitors look old,” Walter remarked about the big chunky monitors that took up most of the room.

“Yes, it’s at least thirty years old. State of the art at the time, maybe ahead of their time. But the lab was in use about ten years ago. They never felt the need to upgrade. The equipment was good enough for their purposes. Look, the Kurts are here,” Alex said, pointing to one of the screens. A set of the Kurt clones were methodically going through a file room searching for any usable or pertinent data.

“What are they doing?”

“Setting incendiary charges. We’ll torch each room then seal this place up. If the lab is ever found, it will be unidentifiable.”

Walter nodded as he scanned each screen. He inadvertently gasped when his gaze was met by three sets of cold eyes that were focused on the camera.

“What is it?” Alex quickly asked when he heard Walter. “Ah. They do take a bit of getting used to. Most of the time they keep themselves isolated. The Kurts still have a problem with human interactions.”

“Don’t we all,” Walter muttered then shivered at the Kurts’ icy gaze. “What are they staring at?”

“Us, they’re in a tank room. They want us.”

Alex hurried from the control room with Walter on his heels. Walter stopped short, nearly banging into Alex when Alex stopped just outside the lab.

“Walter, do you understand what I have to do?” Walter silently nodded as he followed Alex into the lab.

“Augh! What is that smell? It reminds me of embalming fluid,” Walter griped as his hand covered his nose.

Alex’s nose twitched but that was all the reaction he would allow himself as he began to explain part of the cloning process to Walter. “As the clones develop, the fluid nourishes them until they’re ready to be freed and trained.”

“Does it always smell this bad?” Walter was talking funny, not daring to breathe through his nose.

“No. When the lab was abandoned, an automatic shut down was initiated. The nutrients are turned into a poison and yes, sometimes it does act like embalming fluid.”

“So these poor devils are dead.” Walter looked at the six tanks that held floating bodies in various stages of development. They were all males. “Didn’t they believe in female clones?”

“Samantha Mulder and we know how that turned out,” Alex said without further explanation.

“Al-lex,” the three Kurt clones said in unison as they stood next to the last tank, pointing.

“What?” Alex grumbled, traversing the lab to the tank in question. “Fuckgoddammittofuckinghell!”

Walter quickly joined them. “That’s not who I think it is?” Walter asked when he was able to get his mouth to work. “I thought you said all the tanks went into shut down mode.”

“That’s what we thought. I’ve never come across a live one like this before. This tank must have gone into stasis mode by mistake.”

“He’s alive? How can you tell?”

“The color of the fluid and look at the texture of the skin.” The dead clones looked almost mummified in their tanks. The clone in the tank before them looked peacefully asleep, his skin supple.

“Al-lex, we must turn off the tank,” the Kurts declared. Alex nodded his head as he reached for the control panel.

“Wait!” Walter shouted. “He’s a child, you can’t kill a child.” The boy in the tank looked to be about ten, certainly no more than twelve although it was difficult to determine his exact age. The curve of the glass and the fluid somewhat distorted the child’s appearance. But it was evident that the boy was prepubescent.

“What do you expect me to do? We came here to do a job, Walter. You promised me you wouldn’t interfere.”

“That’s before we found a live clone. You can’t kill him and you certainly can’t keep him here when you blow the lab!”

“Al-lex, we must go. The sun will rise soon. We have all the records. There are no others.” The Kurts stood waiting expectantly for Alex’s next move.

“Walter, you don’t understand. It’s just a shell. We don’t even know if it developed a brain. For all we know it could be a weapon full of disease or plague.”

“No, Al-lex. This one is good,” the Kurts said.

“How do you know?” Walter asked the Kurts.

“Can feel him and have records.”

“What are they talking about?” Walter demanded to know. “What the fuck do they mean they can feel him? And what’s in those records?”

“Walter, I’ll explain it all to you but not now. We have to go,” Alex said to Walter. “Free him. Get the remaining charges ready. I’m going to check the main frame one more time before we go. We’re gone in thirty minutes,” ordered Alex to the Kurts.

“What can I do?” Walter asked softly.

“Pray,” Alex replied as he left the lab to go to the main computer terminal.

 

*****
 

The only indication of an explosion was a slight vibration of the ground and a few dust clouds that were kicked up by stones rumbling down the rock face.

“It just looks like a small rock slide,” Walter commented as they slowly drove past the Devil’s Tower heading for the main rode. The secret door had been sealed by the explosion as well. “Where have the Kurts gone?”

“I don’t know but they’ll meet us at the ranch. We should get a larger vehicle. You can’t be comfortable back there,” Alex said as he glanced at Walter via the rearview mirror.

“I’m fine. Besides, it might look suspicious if we trade in this Jeep for a larger one. That fluid may have nutrients but he weighs as light as a feather.”

“He’s been weightless for nearly a decade. He had no need for muscle mass.” Walter nodded in agreement. Alex’s explanation sounded plausible, as plausible as it could be when one was discussing clones.

“When will he wake up?”

“Not until we get home.”

“How can you know for sure?”

“I just do,” Alex said. Walter didn’t push.

“Alex, is he...?”

“Yes.”

 

*****
 

“I could sleep for a week,” Walter moaned as he crawled into bed and snuggled next to Alex. They had taken their time carefully driving home, taking turns with the driving and holding the boy. After bathing the child and setting him up in the guest room, Walter and Alex took turns taking their own showers. They didn’t want to take the chance of the boy waking up without one of them nearby.

“When will the Kurts get here?”

“Soon. They’re taking the back roads. Walter, you must be prepared; he may wake up and be a total deviant.”

“What do you mean?”

“Genetic tampering beyond the obvious. Or he may not survive the wakening. He might have to be terminated.”

“Terminated, as in killed.”

“Not all the clones can reconcile themselves as duplicates. They go mad, in a way.”

“So, they’re put down like rabid dogs?”

“Yes.”

“Jeez-us.”

“Walter, he should sleep for another day or two. We’ll need all our strength for if and when he does wake up. Let’s go to sleep.”

“I want to make love to you, Alexi, but...”

“The spirit is willing?”

“Yes, but the body weak. Rain check?” Walter asked as he kissed Alex.

“Rain check,” Alex confirmed. He kissed his big ole Bear then snuggled into Walter’s arms and fell asleep.

 

*****

“Al-lex, we are ready.”

Six Kurts had arrived at the ranch, ready to do whatever they needed to do. The boy was still ‘asleep’ in his bed. Two of the Kurts patrolled the perimeter of the ranch. The ranch was off the beaten path, quite a way from town. There was very little chance of anyone showing up unannounced, but the Kurts and Alex were taking no chances. The four remaining Kurts plus Alex were standing around the child’s bed. Walter was permitted to stand just inside the bedroom door.

They stood very quiet, two Kurts at each side of the bed with Alex at the foot. Their hands were held out, palm side down just about six inches over the boy. It reminded Walter of when the Kurts ‘healed’ his lover of the injuries sustained from Alex’s last mission. Walter thought he could see a white light glowing from each hand, including Alex’s. The light then flowed toward the child.

“Child. Boy. We have to come up with a name. We can’t keep referring to him as the child,” Walter murmured to himself.

“It is done,” the Kurts declared as they visibly relaxed then turned their icy gaze toward Alex. Walter wished he had a gun on him.

“Why me? Why not one of you?” Alex asked receiving no verbal answer. He sighed loudly as his shoulders slumped. “Fine! But if he wakes up with a gun in his hand it’ll be your fault not mine,” Alex griped as he went to the head of the bed.

Alex gently patted the boy’s shoulders then took the child’s head into his hands. The Kurts gathered closer to Alex. The white light that emanated from Alex was almost blinding. All his energy was focused at the boy’s head. After what seemed like an eternity, Alex relaxed as did the Kurts.

The boy began to move.

 

*****
 

“How do we explain him?” Walter asked as the boy cantered around the corral on a small grey horse.

“As an oops?” Mulder deadpanned, as he cracked open a sunflower seed shell then popped the tiny seed into his mouth. Mulder, Scully and Alex watched as Sergei and William trotted their mounts.

“Very helpful, Mulder,” Walter growled sarcastically.

“Sir, Mulder does have a point,” Scully added. “It’s not inconceivable for Alex to have ‘fathered’ a child in his travels, no pun intended.” Scully smiled apologetically at Alex. Alex merely shrugged his shoulders as he watched both boys handle their horses.

“The Gunmen will come up with the appropriate documents,” Mulder said as another seed passed his lips.

“They seem to be getting along well,” Walter commented. The boys laughed together at their own jokes and silliness as young men do.

“They’re kindred spirits; they can sense each other,” Mulder said.

“You don’t have to answer but is William a clone?” Walter asked gently, knowing Scully’s history of infertility.

“It’s all right, Sir,” Scully responded. Both she and Mulder addressed Walter as “Sir” out of habit. Mulder placed his arm around his wife’s petite shoulder for support. “William has some of my DNA but he is more Mulder. I still don’t understand the process but with the information Alex found in that lab, we may eventually.”

Walter nodded. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to know any more than what he already knew. They were all retired but sometimes they had no choice getting involved in things from their past.

“The Gunmen have the research and a couple of science Kurts. They’re working on it,” was all that Mulder admitted.

“Otec, my mozhem poyehat' v oblast'?” Sergei asked Alex permission to ride into the open field.

“Da, moj syn, no byt' ostorozhnym.” Alex opened the corral gate to let the boys ride off into the surrounding fields with his warning to be careful. The boys quickly took off, galloping at full speed. The adults all turned toward Alex awaiting an explanation.

“They wanted to ride out that way,” Alex motioned toward the open field with his hand. “They’re bored riding around in circles.”

“Don’t you think you should have asked us first?” Scully scowled at her former enemy.

“Lighten up, Scully, what trouble can they get into out there?” Alex asked with a smirk.

“Alex, you have a young Mulder and Krycek on horseback all alone without parental guidance. What trouble don’t you think they can get into?” Walter growled menacingly.

“Fuckgoddammittofuckinghell!” Alex cursed loudly as he ran into the barn for his own horse then galloped toward the field after the boys.

"I lost count after eight," Mulder mumbled to no one in particular. Walter nodded.

“Will they be all right?” Scully asked when the dust settled.

“Who, the boys or Krycek?” Walter asked.

“I’m not sure,” Dana replied.

“Don’t worry,” Mulder said in that monotoned way of his, cracking open another sunflower seed shell. “The boys will be fine, and as for Alex...” Mulder paused to pop the unshelled seed into his mouth. “He’s just cloning around.”

Walter and Dana groaned as they walked back into the ranch leaving Mulder out in the dust.

-konec?(end?)-
 

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