Blood Ties 13: Echoes in the Dark
By Dawn


PROLOGUE


I have heard the echoes in the dark 
Dim and distant voices of the past 
And I've seen so far into the night 
And lingered in the land of no light

--Uriah Heep



Georgetown
Saturday
8:47 PM


"I can't stay. Just dropped by to pick up that black sweatshirt you 
borrowed and never returned."

Mulder took an involuntary step backwards as Grey brushed past 
him. His brother strode to the middle of the living room and 
turned, running a hand through his windblown hair.

"Hi, Grey. Gee, what a nice surprise. Come on in." Mulder shut the 
door.

Grey looked around the room. "Dana's not here?"

"We're out of milk." Mulder took in the stiff set of his brother's 
shoulders and the way he clenched and flexed his fingers as he 
roamed restlessly around the room. "We do, however, have beer."

Grey gave him a quick, distracted glance before heading down the 
hallway toward the bedroom. "Is it in the dresser?"

"Bottom left." Mulder trailed behind, leaning in the doorway as 
Grey jerked open the drawer and rifled through its contents. "Soda, 
too."

"Got it!" Grey grabbed the shirt and stood, sliding the drawer shut 
with his foot. "What?"

"A beer? Coke?"

"I told you, I can't stay. I've got a four-hour drive ahead of me, 
and--"

"Wait a minute, wait a minute. _You're driving home?_ Tonight?"

"You're quick. Must be why they pay you the big bucks, huh?" 
Grey squeezed by him and walked back down the hallway.

Mulder reached him just as he was opening the front door. 
Slapping his palm to the wood, he pushed it shut and stepped in 
front, arms folded.

Grey scowled. "What the hell...?"

"You didn't really think I'd let you drop that bomb and walk out of 
here without an explanation, did you?"

"Look, it's been a lousy day, I'm tired, and I've got a long drive. I'll 
give you a call later this week."

Mulder didn't move. "Nice try."

"Damn it, Fox!"

"You drove up here to spend the weekend with Kristen. It's nine 
o'clock Saturday night. It doesn't take a math whiz to figure that 
leaves a good twenty hours before you even need to think about 
heading home. What's going on?"

"You are a pain in the ass."

"Tell me something I don't know. I repeat, what's going on with 
you and Kristen?"

Grey deflated, slumping back against the wall. "What's going on is 
that there is no me and Kristen." He tipped his head back until it 
thumped against the plaster. "It's over, Fox."

Mulder stared at his brother, lips parted, while his brain struggled 
to process the words. "I don't.... _Over_?"

"As in finished. Quits. The fat lady has sung." Grey pushed off the 
wall and wandered into the kitchen. "I'll take that beer now."

Mulder waited until they were both seated at the kitchen table. 
"Give."

"There's not much to say."

"That's bullshit. For over two years you've been hauling your ass 
up here to be with that woman. You love her. I thought--"

Grey looked up sharply. "You thought what?"

Mulder sighed and took a swig from his bottle. "I thought you were 
ready to propose, not split up."

"I was."

"So why didn't you?"

"What makes you think I didn't?"

Mulder snorted. "Well, for one thing, she'd never have said no." 
His brother rolled the bottle between his palms, but said nothing. 
"Grey?"

Grey sighed and for the first time Mulder saw grief, rather than 
anger, etched into the lines of his face. "Leave it alone, Fox."

"That doesn't make any sense. I know she loves you; you'd be 
blind not to see it. 

"As you once told me--it's complicated."

 "I'm a bright guy. Explain it to me."

Grey drained his beer and retrieved a second from the refrigerator 
before answering. "I had the ring in my pocket. I was going to 
surprise her this weekend."

"And?"

"She had a surprise of her own."

"You lost me."

"She'd just gotten word that she's being promoted to section head 
for her department." Grey picked at the label with his thumb. 
"She's very excited."

"I don't see what--" Mulder caught himself and looked at Grey 
through narrowed eyes. "Ah. You assumed she'd chuck her career 
and move to Raleigh to play dutiful wife."

"Fuck you." Grey slammed the bottle onto the table and stalked out 
of the room.

Mulder scrubbed his hands over his face with a soft groan. Shoving 
back his chair, he moved to the doorway and leaned against the 
jamb. Grey was pacing the living room with short, tightly 
controlled steps.

"Grey--"

"My whole life is in Raleigh. My job, family..." He dropped onto 
the couch and buried his head in his hands. "Shit."

Mulder sat beside him. "You never talked about this?"

"It's taken me this long to come to terms with getting married 
again. I hadn't thought past the ceremony."

"Okay, so it's a little more complicated than you'd first thought. 
For god's sake, talk to her! Work it out."

"You think I haven't tried? I've talked till I'm blue in the face. 
We're at an impasse, all right? She's pissed as hell at me right now, 
and to tell you the truth, I'm not too thrilled with her either."

"Fine. Then you both take a deep breath and give it another go. 
You've weathered worse than this. There has to be a solution."

Grey shook his head. "Not this time. She won't consider leaving 
DC, and I can't leave Raleigh. So unless you know a way to 
eliminate about 200 miles worth of highway..." 

"Can't? Or won't?" When Grey looked at him blankly, Mulder 
explained, "You said you can't leave Raleigh."

"That's right."

"Why not?"

"_Why not?_ Kristen's family lives back in Chicago, mine are all 
within a 30 minute drive. Not to mention that I've worked my ass 
off to get to where I am in the department. Then there's the house--
I've got roots there."

Mulder closed his eyes, tucking his chin to his chest. "You didn't 
expect her to live in that house, did you?" When he looked up, 
Grey wouldn't meet his eyes. "Are you out of your mind?"

"That house means a lot to me," Grey replied through clenched 
teeth.

"It means too much. No wonder she was pissed, Grey. Can't you 
see? You're still not ready to move on, and Kristen damn well 
knows it."

His brother finally looked at him with weary eyes. "This from the 
guy who spent twenty-five years obsessing over his missing sister. 
In case you've forgotten, Fox, it's not that easy."

Mulder ached at the obvious defeat. "Maybe Scully can call 
Kristen. Hell, if it'll help, I'll talk to her myself."

"It's too late. Please, just leave it alone."

"All I'm saying is--"

Grey leaned forward and picked up several photos scattered across 
the coffee table. "Is this a case you're working on?"

Mulder glared at his brother for a long moment before giving in 
with a sigh. "Yes."

He grimaced. "Someone really doesn't like women."

"Redheaded women."

Grey flipped back through the photos, swearing under his breath. 
"Are you crazy? If it were me, I wouldn't let Dana anywhere near 
this."

Mulder snatched the pictures and stuffed them into the folder. 
"Thanks for the tip." He went back into the kitchen and reclaimed 
his beer, chugging the rest.

"So...what? You're allowed to point out everything I'm doing 
wrong but I'm supposed to say nothing?"

Mulder rounded on Grey. "When you don't know what you're 
talking about? Yeah, I'd rather you shut the hell up."

Rather than back down, Grey got into his face. "Right. What do I 
know? I'm sure it's no big deal that Dana's hunting this sicko even 
though she's a dead ringer for the victims."

Mulder felt the blood pounding in his head. He shouldered his way 
around Grey. "Of course it's a big deal, you bastard! Do you really 
think for one minute that I _want_ her on this one? If I had my way 
she'd be in California right now, visiting my son-of-a-bitch 
brother-in-law. She won't go!" He chucked the empty bottle into 
the recycle bin. 

The crash of shattering glass defused his anger. Mulder ground the 
heels of his hands into his eyes, the tension of the past two weeks 
slamming into him. He heard a chair scrape across tile, then a sigh.

"Sit down. You look like shit--I don't know how I didn't notice."

He was too tired to argue. Mulder folded into a chair and looked 
across the table at his brother. "It was made very clear to me that 
the continued health of the X-Files division, and my place in it, 
depends on my cooperation in catching this 'sicko.' I didn't have 
any choice, Grey."

"But Dana--"

"Give me a break. When has anyone--least of all me--been able to 
tell Scully what to do?"

As if on cue, the front door opened, and a moment later Scully 
walked into the kitchen. "Hey. I thought you'd be with Kristen." 

When she turned to load milk and a few other perishable items into 
the refrigerator, Grey gave Mulder a sharp shake of his head. 
Aloud, he said, "Some things came up. I have to head back to 
Raleigh tonight."

"It's awfully late to be making that trip." Scully shut the 
refrigerator and joined them at the table, ruffling a hand through 
Mulder's hair. "Maybe you should crash on the couch, get a fresh 
start in the morning."

Grey shook his head. "Thanks, darlin', but I really don't think--"

"It's after ten and you've had two beers. Take the couch." Mulder 
locked eyes with his brother. "We can hash things out in the 
morning."

When Grey still looked reluctant, Scully strode out of the kitchen. 
"You're staying," she called over her shoulder, "I'll get you a 
sheet."

Grey glared at Mulder. "Thanks a lot."

Mulder raised both hands. "You want to argue with her? Be my 
guest."

"If you'd kept your mouth shut, I wouldn't have to."

"I just think you need to slow down and--"

"Sheets are on the couch," Scully said from the doorway. She 
inclined her head toward Mulder. "I'll be in the bedroom. Do _not_ 
bring that case file."

"Scully, I was--"

"Forget it, Mulder. You've been up working on that profile two 
nights running. You need sleep." She turned the frown into a smile. 
"Good night, Grey. Yell if you need anything."

"I'll be fine. Sweet dreams, darlin'."

"Will you?" Mulder asked quietly.

Grey stood. "I need to sleep. And so do you."

Mulder followed him into the living room and watched as he made 
up the couch. "We'll fix this."

Grey stretched out and flung one arm over his eyes. "Go to bed, 
Fox. You look ready to drop."

"Fine. But we'll talk more about this in the morning."

When he turned out the light a few minutes later, his brother 
appeared to be sleeping soundly.

The next morning Grey was gone.


Continued in Chapter 1