TITLE: Angel II: Pendrell Gets a Partner AUTHOR: mary ADDRESS: migley@greenapple.com SPOILERS: Season 4 CLASSIFICATION: S, some H RATING: PG, maybe PG-13 CONTENT: some violence (believe it or not!), no *real* bad words Please archive AUTHOR'S NOTES: My second fanfic, and it's a sequel to my first. I'm still not very good at this. I hope this is an improvement over my last, but I think all the faults in the first Angel story are here, too. Someday I'll revise it. It's not as cute as the first one either. And there's no MSR. You don't have to read the first one to understand this. Thanks to all who wrote to me! I really appreciated it. DISCLAIMER: You've seen this before. I don't own them, and you know that. Everyone in here you recognize belongs to CC. SUMMARY: Pendrell gets a partner. Angel II: Pendrell Gets a Partner by mary (1/3) ~~~~~~~ After a few months, Pendrell became used to the idea of being an angel. He even began to like helping people with their problems. And as corny as it may seem, it actually gave him a warm feeling inside. Of course, they weren't allowed to help everyone because God had His own plans for some people. But Pendrell was surprised to find that the angels prevented around 85 percent of the world's problem. He prided himself on the fact that he was an angel. And after those few months, Pendrell was actually getting the hang of how things worked around up there in heaven. He needed to ask Henry questions less and less often. He knew what to do and how to do it without anybody's help. And that was when Henry came to him. "Hello, Pendrell," Henry greeted. "How's afterlife treating you?" Pendrell smiled lightly. "What brings you here?" "You pretty much know you're way around here, don't you?" The older angel asked. Pendrell nodded. "Well, then you're ready for something new." Pendrell became curious. "What?" "There's a new angel here who needs to be shown how things work around here, and well, you're the least busy." "Me? I'm still new here. I don't know what to do!" Pendrell exclaimed. "You'll do fine," Henry assured him. "You'll just have to be careful. He's a good guy, but he sure doesn't show it. He's done a few bad things in his life, but his soul itself isn't bad. He's killed a few, but he's saved more lives than he ended." "If he's killed some people, then what's he doing here? Shouldn't he at least be doing penance or something?" "This is his punishment." "What is?" "Being an angel, helping others instead of themselves." "This is punishment? What did I do wrong?" Pendrell skimmed over his life, trying to find something that he did to deserve this. There was that one time in sixth grade when he dyed a cat purple, but that was for science. And he *did* test on mice in the lab which may have not been too nice. Why, there was one mouse that grew almost a quarter of a ton before it practically exploded... "Nothing, really. But we're way undermanned here," Henry told him, breaking Pendrell out of his memories. "Plus, you're used to helping others." Pendrell thought about it for a moment. "This sounds complicated. I don't think I can handle teaching someone else." "You can do it, don't worry." "Don't be so sure about that." "Why don't you meet him first? Hey, new guy! Get over here!" Henry called into the air. Suddenly, a young man appeared beside them, looking dazed. Pendrell looked him over. His new wings were still bright and shiny, just like Pendrell's had been before they became ruffled and worn after months of use. The man's gaze settled on Pendrell after he had looked around at his new environment. "Meet Pendrell," Henry introduced. He then added under his breath, "He doesn't seem to have a first name." Louder he said, "And Pendrell, meet Alex...um..." he trailed off, trying to remember the new angel's name. "Krycek. Alex Krycek," the new guy told Pendrell. [Krycek?] Pendrell wondered. [That names seems awfully familiar...Oh!] His mouth dropped open. - Pendrell felt lost as he tried to explain things to the new angel. Especially since the angel just happened to be one of Mulder's greatest enemies. At least Pendrell and Krycek didn't know each other. In fact, Krycek didn't even know that Pendrell had worked with Mulder and Scully. "Okay, Alex," Pendrell started. "You have a mission today. Think you can handle it?" "Of course," Krycek said confidently. Pendrell felt strange teaching someone else what to do. "Um, good. That's good. Okay, well, there's a little girl about five years old, and uh, she looses her neighbor's brooch. This brooch is really expensive, you see, and so the neighbor gets really mad. She then complains to the mother and forces the mother to pay for it which is about oh, eight or nine thousand dollars." "Whoa..." Krycek whistled. "Yeah, well it's loaded with precious gems and it's really old, too. Anyway, the mother is single and doesn't have much money, and so when finally she gathers enough money to pay for it, she practically becomes bankrupt with all the loans and stuff like that. Then her older daughter is unable to get into college because they can't afford it, and she can't get a good job. So she ends up poor for the rest of her life, too. And so they don't quite live happily ever after." Krycek shook his head in disbelief. "All this because of a single pin?" "It's weird how things sorta snowball." Pendrell remarked. "But all you have to do is keep the girl from losing the brooch or at least find it afterwards." "No problem," Krycek replied. Pendrell smiled, and then went on to show Alex how to get from one place to another and the different "powers" they had. Krycek nodded, letting the information sink in. Krycek was a fast learner. Once Pendrell was finished with the lesson, Alex began his mission. Once he was gone, Pendrell began pacing around up above the clouds. He hoped everything worked out with the new angel. He was too anxious to do anything but wait. Even though there was no time in heaven, it seemed like forever for Alex to return. "Hey, how did it go?" Pendrell asked once Krycek appeared. "Well, um, not too great," Krycek replied. "The pin is at the bottom of a well." "A well? I didn't even know those things were still around. Why didn't you go down and get it?" "Because I don't like small, dark places. Anyway, how am I supposed to get out?" Krycek asked. "You see, this is where wings come in useful," Pendrell pointed out to him. "But I still don't know how the Kentucky to use those things," Krycek said. He paused. "Why did I say Kentucky?" "We don't like to mention that...other place around here, so we just use Kentucky instead," Pendrell explained. "Hey, I grew up in Kentucky," Krycek told him defensively. "So, can you do it? I'll do the next one." Pendrell sighed. "Oh, fine. Yeah, I'll do it." The next instant, he was standing in front of a well. A little girl was standing across from him, peering down into the dark abyss. "Uh-oh," she said. She looked all around her and ran away. Pendrell watched her go and then approached the well. Leaning over the edge, he tried to see the bottom. The well was dark and long, but being an angel, Pendrell could see just fine. "Yuck," he muttered, rubbing the gunk from the edge of the well off his hands. Taking a deep breath, he jumped down into the hole. The drop seemed a lot longer than it looked. Finally, he reached ground. "Eeerruggghhh..." he groaned. He found himself standing in knee-deep watery sludge. He spotted the valuable pin right away, although it was now covered in mud. Pendrell picked it up and wiped it clean. Gazing up, the sky seemed far away, just a lone circle of light in the darkness. "Now I see why Alex didn't want to do this." Extending his wings as far as he could in the narrow well, he began on his way up. He gained speed as he went up, and soon he was shooting out of the well. Taking a deep breath of the fresh air, he placed the small piece of jewelry on the ground in plain sight. He wiped his hands off, his mission accomplished. Then he went back to his new home. - "Hey, we have a small problem..." Henry began once Pendrell returned. "What?" Pendrell asked, looking around for Alex. "The new kid seems to have disappeared." "What do you mean?" "He's gone. As in, he's not here anymore," Henry told him. "But you know where he is, don't you." It was more of a statement than a question. Henry always seems to know. Henry nodded. "Sure do. But can you get him? He seems to be up to no good." Pendrell let out a sigh. "I suppose I have no choice. Okay, fine, I will." Henry smiled. "Thank you. Hey, guess what. You get to go back to Washington!" Pendrell groaned, having an idea as to what Alex Krycek was up to. "I bet he's with Mulder and Scully, too." Henry nodded. "Well, here goes nothing. Wish me luck." "You're going to need more than that," was the last thing Pendrell heard before he left. - Pendrell found Alex right away. He couldn't believe he trusted him. Of all people, Pendrell had to be in charge of *him*. He'd never met him before (only rumors) so he had no idea what to expect at first. But Mulder was right, this guy couldn't be trusted. Alex was following Dana Scully as she walked into her office she shared with Mulder. Pendrell noticed that her red hair was all ruffled and messy. Mulder must have also noticed her hair. "Get stuck in a tornado?" "Not exactly. I just walked right into a strong gust of wind," Scully replied. Pendrell looked at Krycek, who was grinning. Krycek winked at him, and Pendrell knew that the gust of wind came from him. "What are you doing here?" Pendrell hissed at him. "Why are you whispering? They can't hear you," Krycek told him loudly. "Anyway, I was just having a little fun while I tried some things out. You don't have to worry about me. These are just some people I know. I want to play a few tricks on them since they weren't too kind to me while I was alive." "I know these people, too," Pendrell informed him. "Well, that does make sense. The only way they could still be alive today would be with the help of a few dozen angels along the way." "Well, I did help them a few times, but that's not wh-" Pendrell was cut off by Krycek. "I won't do any harm to them, so why don't you just go back and help someone who needs helped?" "Because I don't trust you" didn't seem like the right thing to say and he didn't have any other excuse, so Pendrell decided to do what Krycek said. "Well, o-okay. I'll, uh, check on you later," Pendrell said to him. He hesitated for a moment, and then left. Once he got back to heaven, Pendrell realized that he made the wrong choice. Quickly, he went back to Krycek. About five minutes had passed since he left, and Pendrell wondered what he missed. A surprised look crossed Krycek's face when he spotted Pendrell. Just then, Scully walked to the door where Pendrell was standing. Startled, he felt her pass right through him and went out into the hall. He spun around and watch her continue down the hallway. He noticed that her hips were swaying more than usual and her top blouse button was unbuttoned. "What happened? Where's she going?" Pendrell asked urgently. "Where are you going?" Mulder called after her. Krycek chuckled. "Let's go and watch, shall we?" He led Pendrell down the hallway. They found Scully standing in front of Skinner's office door. Pendrell watched in anticipation, wondering what Scully was about to do. Taking a deep breath, Dana swung upon the door and strutted into Skinner's office. The door swung shut, almost hitting the two angels as they followed Scully in. Skinner looked up in surprise as the agent strode up to his desk. Scully rested her hands on his desktop and leaned forward. "Hello, Skinner," Scully said in a throaty voice Pendrell had never heard before. She twirled his tie in her fingers. "Or can I call you Walt?" "Snap your fingers!" Pendrell told Krycek. "Why? I want to see this." "Have I ever told you that I..." "Just snap them!" Pendrell shouted. Shrugging, Krycek complied. Instantly, Scully snapped out of her daze. "Agent Scully?" Skinner asked. "Are you all right?" "Wh-wha...uh, yes. I'm fine," Scully stuttered, trying to recover. She dropped his tie from her hand and stood straight up. "I, uh...Did you need me for anything?" "No, Scully." "Oh, well, I'll just...I'll just go then." Her face burning, Scully turned and exited his office. Pendrell turned to Krycek. "What were you thinking?!" he exclaimed. "She could have lost her job!" "Cheese and rice, why don't you just lighten up?" Krycek shouted defensively. He didn't like getting yelled at. He froze. "Cheese and rice?" "We don't like to use Him as a swear word, and cheese and rice comes pretty close to sounding like it." "Oh." Alex thought for awhile. "But it's not really a swear word, is it? But okay, I'll stop bothering these people, if it means so much to you. I'll be in heaven if you need me." And with that, he disappeared. "Wow, that was pretty easy," Pendrell said to himself. [A little too easy...] he automatically thought. Then he disappeared after Krycek. - END 1/3 From migley@greenapple.com Tue Apr 29 06:13:56 1997 Subject: Angel II: Pendrell Gets a Partner (2/3) From: migley@greenapple.com -------- Angel II: Pendrell Gets a Partner by mary (2/3) ~~~~~~~ "Hey, where's Alex?" Pendrell asked, not able to find the newer angel. "He's not here, he's there. Back on earth where you just came from," Henry answered. "But-but he said that he was coming here!" Pendrell protested. "Well, he didn't." Sighing, Pendrell went to find Krycek. - This time, Krycek was with Mulder. They were both on the roof, and Mulder was peering down over the edge. Pendrell got there in time to see Krycek take a deep breath and blow Mulder off the side of the building. "Hey!" Pendrell shouted in horror, watching Mulder loose his balance and topple off the roof. Beating his wings as fast as he could, Pendrell zoomed after Mulder. Screaming, Mulder fell story after story, the ground racing up to meet him. Pendrell wasn't too far behind. Just in time, Pendrell grabbed a hold of his shirt, stopping Mulder just inches above the ground. "Huh?" Mulder gasped, trying to get his breath. He found himself staring at the ground about five inches below him. For a few moments, he hung there suspended in air. Tentatively, Mulder placed one palm and then the other flat on the ground. What was happening? What was holding him up? Meanwhile, Pendrell struggled to keep his grip on the back of Mulder's shirt. Seeing that he was close enough to the ground to not get hurt if he fell, Pendrell let go. Mulder was able to brace his fall, although a five-inch drop wasn't bound to cause much harm anyway. "Oof," he grunted, picking himself up. He looked around, wondering if anyone saw what just happened. [Just wait till Scully hears about this!] Then he paused. [Hears about what?] he asked himself. For some reason, he couldn't remember what he was thinking. In fact, he couldn't remember the last five minutes. [Did I just experience missing time? Oh, boy!] "No," Pendrell told him firmly. "It's not missing time." [No, it's not missing time,] Mulder told himself. He shrugged, putting what just happened out of his mind. - "Krycek!" Pendrell screamed. They were standing in a deserted hallway inside the FBI building. "No! Don't do that anymore! Why did you try to kill him? You do not go around killing people!" "Look, you don't know these people!" Krycek told him, feeling anger rise in him. "You don't what they're like!" "What?!" Pendrell shouted in frustration. He stormed down the hall, and Krycek figured that he was supposed to follow. They went passed many rooms, and finally Pendrell stopped at a closed door. Looking down for a brief second, Pendrell summoned up courage and swung open the door, going inside. "What is this?" Krycek asked. Pendrell remained quiet, looking around at his own tiny room. He had never ventured inside since he stopped living. All of his things were gone and the office felt so empty. Apparently, they hadn't found anyone to fill it yet. Krycek wandered to the small, empty desk, the only piece of furniture left. "What happened? Someone get fired?" "Not exactly..." "Someone died?" Krycek asked. Pendrell nodded silently. "You? This is, er, was your office?" Pendrell nodded again. "Oh, man, I'm sorry...No, wait. I died, too, you know." "Uh, yeah, I pretty much figured that you had," Pendrell shot back, "You know, with you being an angel and all." "Yeah, well...So you worked with them?" Krycek asked sympathetically. Pendrell nodded. "Oh, man, I'm sorry. I know what it's like working around here." "Oh, I didn't mind..." Pendrell shrugged. Krycek was silent for a moment. "It's really not so bad, being dead, is it? I kinda like it," Krycek told him. Pendrell smiled. "Yeah, me too." "Shall we go back?" Krycek suggested. Pendrell agreed, and the two angels went home. - A few days later, Pendrell was pondering about a puzzling picture he saw in Pittsburgh yesterday while on a small mission. Not paying any attention to where he was going, he ran right smack into some bars. "Huh?" He exclaimed. He looked around and saw that he was trapped inside a golden cage. [What in the world...?] There was no door or opening. It seemed to have just appeared around him. He began shaking the cage, trying to free himself. He continued trying to free himself with no luck. "Oh, great. How did I get in here anyway?" He figured Krycek must have somehow put him there for some reason or another. However he got there, he was pretty sure someone was up to no good. - Scully hated Mulder. She couldn't believe how strong her hate for the man was. All she knew was that she hated him and that she would have to get rid of him. And she had a perfect plan for it, too. - "Hey!" Pendrell shouted. "Someone! Get me out of here!" he shook the cage, causing the bars to rattle. "Anybody? Help!" He was about to let out another shout when Henry appeared before him. "What's the matter, kid? What's with the cage?" "Someone put me in here! Or put it around me. But it just out of nowhere," Pendrell told him. "And now I can't get out!" "Do you know who made it?" "I think it was the new guy, Krycek. How do I get out?" "Pretty nice-looking cage for a beginner, don't you think?" "Yes, yes, very nice," Pendrell replied hurriedly. "Get me out!" "Just look at those fancy corners..." Henry said, inspecting the cage. "GET ME OUTTA-" "I wonder if he used his imagination or if he saw something like this somewhere before..." "Who cares?! I WANT OUT!" Henry looked at him. "Well then, get out. What are you waiting for?" "How? There's no door!" Henry looked at him. "Remember how you get from one place to another...?" "Uh, yeah..." "Well...?" "I guess I can get out of here by myself, huh?" Henry nodded. "Well, I'll just get on out now..." "Okay." "Okay..." Feeling rather sheepish, Pendrell disappeared from inside the cage and instantly reappeared outside. The cage started to shimmer and fade away. "How did he make one of those anyway? Is there something I don't know about?" "Well, it's just common sense, really," Henry told him, shrugging. "You just picture it, and poof! There it is." "Really?" This was all new to him. In his mind, he pictured a frosty mug of root beer. "Wow! Neat-o!" Then he remembered something. "Oh! I have to get Krycek before he tries something!" And with a quick nod of his head, Pendrell disappeared. - He found Krycek hanging around Mulder in his apartment. Krycek looked up at him in surprise. "What are you doing here?" "Oh, I escaped my little cage, thank you very much," Pendrell replied. "And since I didn't have anything else to do, I decided I better check up on you." Krycek just shrugged. "Where's Scully?" Pendrell asked him. "Gee, maybe she's at her own apartment," Krycek suggested. Pendrell didn't know if he should believe him or not but figured it be better if he stayed with Krycek. Mulder continued watching the television, oblivious to the two angels. - Scully wasn't at her apartment. She was at an old, abandoned house. She giggled and began humming as she poured an oily-type substance all over a second-story balcony. - Pendrell suddenly got a bad feeling about something. Just then, the phone rang and Mulder reached over to pick it up. "Mulder." He paused. "Really? Great...Okay, I'll be right over." He jumped off the sofa and left his apartment, Krycek smirking behind him. Pendrell decided he had better check on Scully. He found Scully standing on a balcony of some house. She was off to the side, and he noticed the oil that covered the floor of the balcony. He then saw that a section of the rotting wood railing was sawed off. While it was still in place, it looked like it would fall off at the slightest touch. Realizing what Scully was up to, he went over to her to tell her not to go along with her plan. But three feet away from her Pendrell banged into something. He tried to move forward, but it was like walking into wall. He tried to get to her from another approach, but that didn't work either. It was as if she was surrounded by some sort of force field. "Oh, wonderful..." he muttered to himself. Krycek must have done this, although Pendrell didn't even know that was possible. [Wow, he *is* a fast learner. He knows more than me!] He knew that he would have to stop her from killing Mulder some other way. He walked over to the edge of the balcony and looked down. It was a long drop. Once Mulder arrived at the house, Scully would somehow get him to come racing to balcony, slip on the puddle of oil, grab on to the broken rail, and then fall to his death. "Oh, boy..." Thinking fast, Pendrell flew down to the ground. - Scully heard the door open and shut and knew that Mulder had arrived. Trying to stop herself from smiling, she began to scream. "AAAUUUGHHHH! Mulder! Help!" she cried, continuing to scream. Then she leaned against the railing waiting for Mulder. She heard his footsteps pound up the stairs, taking two steps at a time. She heard him come closer and closer to the room that adjoined the balcony, running quickly. Then he was at the entrance of the door, still running. He sprinted out onto the balcony. He looked at Scully in confusion when he saw her standing calmly to the side. He tried to stop, but he couldn't. He lost his footing on the slippery floor and began skidding forward towards the rail. He grabbed onto the wood railing for support but it broke off at his touch and fell below. Mulder fell after it. "AAAUUUUGGGHHHhhhh...*thunk*" Scully heard as he dropped from sight. She giggled and anxiously leaned over to see the results. "Dang it!" she cried. She then began banging her head against the railing in frustration. "Hey, Scully!" Mulder shouted from below. "Pretty lucky there was this big pile of mattresses here to break my fall, huh? Boy, that was close." - Pendrell sighed in relief as he saw Mulder pick himself up from the mattresses Pendrell had laid there. He wasn't able to break his fall himself like the last time because of that barrier Krycek had put between him and the two agents. But the mattresses worked well enough. "Yeah, well, I saved him plenty of times before," Krycek remarked. Pendrell turned to look at him. "But he never even noticed. I practically broke my neck saving his. In fact, that's why I died - saving his life - and does he notice? Noooooo!" "Is that why you're trying to kill him?" Pendrell asked. "Nah, I don't really care about that," Krycek replied lightly, shrugging. "Then why?" "I'll tell you why," Krycek began, suddenly becoming angry. "After I died, I left him my dog. I trusted him with my dog. It was the least he could do. And then I find that just two days later, *BAM* he runs over him! Killed him instantly." Krycek became sad. "Poor Sparky," he sniffed. "On purpose?" Krycek shrugged. "Does it matter? My dog is dead because of his carelessness." Suddenly, he became brighter. "Well, see you around!" "Huh?" Pendrell asked, startled. Suddenly Krycek disappeared from sight. - For some reason, it took Pendrell a lot longer to find Krycek, Scully, or Mulder again. Usually he just knew, but not then. He couldn't seem to concentrate. It wasn't until later that night did he find Mulder and Scully. They were both outside near a large lake. Mulder was leaning heavily on Scully's shoulder, apparently drunk. He looked like he was about to pass out at any moment. Scully lead him to a car facing the water and stuck him in the driver's seat. The car's engines were already running and all Scully had to do was place Mulder's foot on the accelerator and jump back. The car instantly shot forward and headed straight for the lake. It slid down the bank and into the water. For a moment, it floated but then started to slowly sink. Scully didn't even wait for the car to hit the water before she took off. Pendrell glanced from Mulder's sinking car to Scully speeding off in her own car. Pendrell rolled his eyes towards the sky and then made his way to the lake. Because he still wasn't able to get within three feet of Mulder, Pendrell had to find some other way to keep Mulder from drowning. The car had sunk so far that the water was now level with the middle of the windshield. Doing the only thing he could think of doing, Pendrell went to the front of the car and began to push it back to the shore. The car was heavy and the water made it even more difficult. He was stronger as an angel than a person, but not that much stronger. And the fact that he had to hover above the water while pushing it didn't help either. He was huffing and puffing within five minutes, and angels didn't even need to breath. He made little progress but knew he couldn't give up. Just then, Henry appeared beside him, hovering in the air. "Whatcha doin'?" he asked innocently. "What does it look like I'm doing?" Pendrell replied between grunts. "I mean, why are you trying to push the car manually?" "What do you mean?" "Why aren't you doing it the other way?" Henry asked. "Like this." All of the sudden, the car began moving towards the shore by itself. Pendrell threw up his hands as the car began moving away from him. "How'd you do that?" "Just concentrate." Pendrell decided to give it a try and to his surprise, he found the car continue to push forward through the water. [Gee, it would have been nice if I knew about this shortcut before hand.] he thought dryly. It would have been really helpful with the mattresses he had to drag before, too. "See how easy it is?" Henry asked him. Pendrell nodded. "It sure is taking me along time to get used to this angel business." "Aw, you'll get the hang of it," Henry told him. "Well, I'll let you continue on. See you later." "Wait a minute. How's come we can make people hate each other, but we can't get them to love each other?" "Because it's a lot easier to hate than to love." It didn't seem that way at all to Pendrell. "Oh, okay. Well, good-bye then." "See you later," Henry told him. "Oh, and kid?" "Yeah?" "May the force be with you," Henry said in his best Yoda impression, laughing. He then disappeared into the night as Pendrell turned to look at the vehicle he had pulled out of the water using only his mind. - END 2/3 From migley@greenapple.com Tue Apr 29 06:15:22 1997 Subject: Angel II: Pendrell Gets a Partner (3/3) From: migley@greenapple.com -------- Angell II: Pendrell Gets a Partner by mary 3/3 ~~~~~~~ Mulder found himself sitting a soaked car near the edge of a lake. His head was pounding. He didn't particularly like this hangover. Not knowing what else to do, he tried to start the car. To his surprise, it worked. It seemed to be early morning. After going to his apartment to change, Mulder headed to work. He was rubbing his head when he walked into his office. Scully looked up in surprise. "Mulder! What..." she trailed off, not wanting to give herself away. "Er, um, you're a little late." Mulder cringed. "Don't talk so loud. I don't know what happened. I can't remember anything from last night," he told her, shaking his head. "But now I have a huge headache." Scully nodded, trying to look sympathetic while at the same time thinking of a way to kill him. [Maybe I should just shoot him.] Meanwhile, Pendrell floated in the corner, watching Mulder and Scully. Krycek was nowhere to be found. But he didn't need to be around because Scully still felt like she should kill her partner. Pendrell waited anxiously, wondering what will happen next. He still couldn't get within three feet of them, and therefore was unable to say anything to them. Plus, only Krycek was able to tell Scully to stop disliking Mulder. Should he stay here with Scully and Mulder? Or should he find Krycek and make him to change Scully back into the agent who wasn't plotting her partner's death? He decided to stay because Krycek would have to show up eventually and he didn't trust Scully alone with Mulder. Plus, Scully was a lot more beautiful than Krycek. But it didn't seem that Scully and Mulder needed watching. They just worked quietly. Bored, Pendrell started counting the number of sunflower seeds Mulder was eating. He got up to 107 when Alex finally appeared. "So, what did I miss?" Krycek asked. Pendrell glared at him. Here was the guy who was trying to get rid of Mulder, and he acted like everything was normal. "Oh, gosh, a whole lot," Pendrell told him. "Where were you?" Pendrell felt like smacking himself. He wanted to say a whole lot more and maybe wring Krycek's neck, but he could never say the things he wanted to say. "Oh, I got bored here, so I busied myself with other things," Krycek replied, shrugging. Then he yawned. "You're bored?" Pendrell asked, incredulous. "Then why don't you just forget about all this?" Krycek shrugged. "I have to avenge my dog's death," he replied matter-of-factly. "I don't think angels are supposed to, um, kill people," Pendrell told him. "But why are you making Scully do it?" "Because it makes it a lot more interesting, don't you think?" Krycek answered. Pendrell sighed. How was he going to stop this? Is he going to spend the rest of eternity preventing Krycek from killing Mulder? Suddenly, Scully's eyes lit up and Pendrell groaned. [Wonder what she has planned...] She jumped up from her chair and Mulder looked up in surprise. "I'll, uh, I'll be right back," Scully hastily said. She half walked, half sprinted to the door. Krycek grinned. Pendrell groaned again and went to follow Scully, leaving Krycek in the room. He followed her down the hall and into a lab area. "Oh, wow..." Pendrell gasped, looking around at the lab. The place had sure changed a lot since he left. Scully walked to a spot, and since Pendrell couldn't get close to her, he couldn't see what she was doing. Suddenly she lifted a jar into the air triumphantly. Inside, Pendrell could see a bee buzzing around. "King?" Pendrell asked out loud. "What's she doing with King?" She turned and skipped out of the room, and Pendrell followed her. Once she got to the room Mulder was still in, she knelt to the floor. She took the lid off the jar and let the bee crawl into the room through the crack under the door. "Hee, hee, hee," she giggled. "That'll get rid off him...The little bee is mighty deadly!" "What? King isn't deadly. What are you talking about?" Pendrell asked Scully, even though she couldn't hear him. "He's just my pet!" - Hearing a strange sound, Mulder looked up. He saw a little insect flying around, making a buzzing sound. "Eek!" Mudler cried. "Get away from me!" If he hadn't been screaming, he would have heard giggling coming from behind the door. He swat at the bee. The bee just ignored him and landed on top of Scully's computer. Mulder picked up a magazine and swung at the bee. "Take that!" "Bzzzzzt," buzzed the bee. The bee fluttered over to a stack of papers, and Mulder tried to hit him again. Missing it, the stack of papers crashed to the floor. - Scully pressed her ear up to the door. Loud crashes came from the room. "Well, he should have the small pox by now!" she said triumphantly to herself after a few minutes. She began humming as she threw open the door. Her smile suddenly disappeared when she saw Mulder standing there, looking sheepish. "I was just about to call the exterminator," he told her. Her mouth dropped open. "I, I, I...that wasn't...you don't have to do that," Scully replied, flustered. [Why isn't he dead yet?!] "What happened?" [Why didn't he sting you?! I thought they were supposed to be aggressive!] "Are you all right?" [*Why* are you all right?!] "Some bee flew in here," Mulder told her. "I don't like bees. But it didn't sting me. In fact, right now it's on your desk." Scully crept to her desk slowly. "Oh..." she said, slightly grossed out. The bee was no longer a bee. It was now a small mess. "KING!" Pendrell cried out, distressed. He noticed Krycek floating quietly in the corner, shaking his head. "Man, oh man. They can't get anything right!" Krycek exclaimed, frustrated. Pendrell flew over to him. "Why do you have to do this? This is taking a lot of energy from me saving them from each other," Pendrell told him wearily. "Just quit it." Krycek shrugged. "Okay." "Huh?" Pendrell gaped. "I said, okay," Krycek repeated. "Fine. I'll stop it." "Look, don't lie-" "I'm not lying," Krycek stated. "I'm getting tired of this too. So I'll quit it. Sparky will just have to avenge his death himself. Here, watch." He went over to Scully and snapped his fingers. A look of confusion passed over her face briefly before she regained her composure. "Oh, okay. Great," Pendrell stuttered in disbelief. [That's it? That's *it*?!] This was too easy. Just to make sure, Pendrell flew over to Scully. Instead of running into a barrier, he was able to go right up next to her. [Well, everything looks fine...] Pendrell felt a little cheated because he didn't get to play hero. Krycek stopped himself, just like that. "Well, let's go back," Krycek suggested, yawning. He disappeared a moment later. Taking one last look at the beautiful Agent Dana Scully, Pendrell followed. - Back in heaven, Henry approached the two angels. "Well, Alex Krycek, I have some bad news." He paused and they waited for him to continue. "God is well aware of the stunts you tried to pull, and has decided to punish you." "How? Am I going to have to spend the rest of eternity doing this? Forever clean out the heavenly toilets? Drive that bus that transports the souls to heaven? What?" Henry shook his head in pity. "No, I'm afraid. He's going to send you back." "Back where?" "To the living." "What?!" Krycek cried, becoming afraid. "NO! Don't send me back! Anything but that! Please!" "I'm terribly sorry, kid." And with that, Pendrell watched as Henry snapped his fingers and Krycek disappeared. - Emergency Room Cook County General A few days ago "Time of death, 9:22," a doctor stated drearily. The nurses tugged off their white gloves and left the operating room. The doctor followed and was halfway out the door when he heard something. "Oh, jeez, what a headache," the man on the gurney complained. He was sitting up in his bed, rubbing his head. The doctor's mouth dropped open. "Man, that was some dream..." Krycek said to himself. "Welcome back to the land of the living, Mr. Krycek," the doctor greeted calmly, even though his eyes were wide open and his face was white. He peered out onto the hallway. "Um, nurse...?" ~THE END~ Angel II: Pendrell Gets a Partner by mary You made it to the end! Congratulations! Comments, please! Tell me what's wrong, what's right, what's good, what's bad...Heck, just tell me anything! Write to Please? Please? Please?