"Michael?" Maria cried.

Scully's flashlight reignited and when Maria saw Michael she threw herself into his arms. He held her so tightly she couldn't breathe but she didn't care. His hands moved up and down her back in a comforting motion. Slowly he pulled back and framed her face between her hands. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I think so, but. . ." her eyes fell to River Dog who lay sightless and unmoving on the floor.

Scully leaned over River Dog. She checked his pulse and then gently closed his eyes.

"Is he. . ." Michael let the sentence hang. He knew the answer, it was there in Scully's grave expression before she ever nodded.

Easing around River Dog's body, Scully did an initial inspection looking for a cause of death. Then she saw it, a silver handprint. . .the same silver handprint that had brought her to Roswell in the beginning.

Michael stiffened. His breathing became shallow and he put Maria away from him. Suddenly he ran from the cave.

"Michael, no!" Maria called after him.

"Stay back, Maria," he yelled over his shoulder. "Stay where it's safe."

"Where you go, I go," she vowed. She skidded on rocks as they emerged from the cave.

"Nasedo!" Michael yelled. "Where are you?"

Maria saw a figure in the moonlight and pointed up the rock face. "There!"

Michael took off running. The path was steep and dangerous. His foot hit a pebble that ricocheted over the edge of the cliff and clattered against the rocks below. Straining to see in the darkness he looked for the figure he was pursuing but. . .nothing. Michael stopped. He looked around him. Where was Nasedo?

Somewhere in the darkness Maria screamed.

Suddenly Michael felt a jolt of pain in his chest and he instinctively knew what it was--Fear. Pure, raw, sickening fear. "Maria!"

* * * Maria had been caught from behind, an arm snaking around her chest and pulling her back. She lost her footing and fell hard against him.

"Nasedo" Maria gasped.

Her only answer was the hot, burning sensation of his hand against her chest. Oh my God, she thought. He's going to kill me, just like he killed the others.

She screamed, but his other hand covered her mouth. She bit him. Hard. And bucked against him. She wasn't going to go without a fight.

Unprepared for her counter attack they slipped and fell against the rock face. Feeling his grip lessen she stomped on his foot then turned to knee him in the groin.

No reaction.

Jeez, that didn't work on shape shifters, she realized with an odd sense of shock just before he backhanded her.

She fell to her knees, the rocks cutting into her palms and scratching her legs. Seeing him charging for her she propelled herself forward, tackling him below the knees and throwing Nasedo to the ground. She started to crawl away, but he caught her ankle.

He was implacable. His strength impossible as he held her. She couldn't shake him. He pulled her back and crawled over her. Rearing back she threw a hard right punch. Again he didn't react but pulled her to her feet with preternatural strength and dragged her to the edge of the cliff.

"Nasedo!" Michael yelled.

Nasedo, still wearing Pierce's face, stared back.

Oh God, not again, Maria thought. Don't force Michael to do this again. It nearly killed him the first time.

"Let Maria go," Michael commanded.

Nasedo continued dragging her toward the cliff.

"I said, let her go!" Michael yelled.

Nasedo looked over his shoulder with contempt. "I heard what you said," he answered expressionlessly. "But that doesn't change my course of action."

"I command--"

"You command me?" Nasedo asked in outrage, momentarily forgetting his purpose. "Inferior creatures do not command. Whoever you once were does not matter now. You have been contaminated. There is the stench of the human about you. No further corruption can be allowed." He moved relentlessly toward the cliff.

"Step away from the edge," another voice commanded.

Michael looked down the path to see Agent Scully steadily training her gun on Nasedo. "Let the girl go," she said forcefully.

"Or what?" Nasedo asked. "You'll shoot? As long as I hold the girl you won't shoot."

"And you won't push her off a cliff," Scully pointed out. "Because if you do, I'll have a clear shot and I'll kill you."

"Kill me?" Nasedo laughed, then looked at Michael and repeated with amusement, "She'll kill me."

A sick sense of dread filled Michael. Nasedo didn't fear a gunshot. It wouldn't kill him. He saw Nasedo take another step toward the edge. How could you reason with a being who didn't see killing a human as murder? Michael had wondered that when they had been in the morgue of the Eagle Rock Military base. Nasedo had threatened to kill one of the FBI agents if Michael didn't master one of his other worldly skills. With such motivation, Michael had been a quick learner, but Nasedo had killed the FBI agent anyway. Just as Nasedo would kill Maria.

Maria cautiously moved up the pathway. "You don't want to do this," she said to Nasedo.

"It wasn't my initial plan," Nasedo confessed. "Actually, I came here to kill you."

Scully cocked her head to the side. "Why?"

"Because of that, that THING you carry inside you."

Scully blanched. "What does my baby have to do with this?"

Michael did a double take. "Baby? What baby?"

Nasedo's gaze didn't waver from Scully's. "If you kill me there will be others to see that this does not happen."

"I'll protect my child with my life."

"So you both will die."

Scully swallowed, but any other signs that Nasedo's words effected her were hidden. "So why take the girl?"

"If a mistake happened once, it can happen again. I won't take that chance."

"What mistake?" Michael asked. "What the hell is going on?"

Maria chose that moment to take advantage of Nasedo's distraction. She dropped like dead weight. Thrown off balance Nasedo staggered and Maria hit the ground and rolled away.

Nasedo yelled and dove for her. He hit her. . .and she went over the edge of the cliff.

"No!" Michael screamed.

Maria's hands gripped the edge of the cliff, her feet pushed ineffectively against the rock as Michael dove for her and caught her wrists.

Nasedo with a homicidal look in his eyes stalked toward them. Michael lifted his left hand and felt a surge of heat and power emerge from him. . . just as Scully pulled the trigger of her gun.

Nasedo's stunned eyes met Michaels. "Traitor," he said as he dropped off the side of the cliff.

Michael turned and dragged Maria to safety. He enveloped her in his arms, rocking her as she cried against him. Unlike the incident with Pierce, this time all he felt was relief. There had been no choice. He couldn't live if Maria died.

He felt her fingers clutch at the back of his neck. She was against him. She was next to him. In his arms, in his heart, and in his life. For the first time in months he could breathe.

Pulling back slightly he looked at her. Their gazes held and a world of words, thoughts, and emotions passed between them without a single sound. Slowly he lowered his mouth to hers. Soft, firm and full of love the kiss communicated all they could not say.

Scully walked to the edge of the cliff and looked down at the crumpled body on the rocks below but her tension didn't ease. This wasn't over. It was never over. She had found her killer, but her questions remained. Her quest remained. She looked over at the young lovers embracing and felt a pang. Then her gaze lifted to the moon as it rose to its imposing position in the cloudless sky.

This wasn't over and it wouldn't be until she had found Mulder, and they found the answers together.

Maria laid her head on Michael's shoulder and sighed. "I love you," she whispered. "Tomorrow morning when you decide to push me away again for my own good, remember that, okay. As long as I'm around, you aren't alone. I love you."

Michael's pressed a kiss to her temple, breathing in the soft night jasmine scent of her shampoo. "Well as long as I'm around, you're around. You seem to be stubborn that way."