Prompt- write an alternate history of the Migration of Homo erectus out of Ethiopia with the anti-hero Krycek. Word count: 1560

Ever have those days you woke up and wish you hadn't? Well today was one of those days, seeing as how I'm dead and everything. Now some might think that isn't so bad, I mean, what's the worst that can happen when one is dead? Here it is in a nutshell, I haven't moved beyond the veil and remain somewhere beyond the continuum of time. I have discovered many things in such a state: first, time is irrelevant for me. People come and go, buildings crumble and rebuild from the bottom up, but- and this is a big but- there are things that remain the same regardless of how much time has changed. Strange things, which can't be explained by the simplest of minds, but continue to happen regardless. Secondly, I can interact with the living, don't ask me how as I'm not really sure of how it works myself. I believe it has something to do with rifts of time, let's call them black holes shall we? These little hiccups suck in the vast nothingness and spit them out on the other side. Most of the time humans go on unaware, though some are more perceptive and might see it as déjà vu. I have experienced this phenomenon firsthand when I help Mulder escape from a bad situation. And lastly, and most importantly, I'm more of a legend than The Smokey Man.

~

"Krycek, we need you to go back in time," an agent told him, staring at him in half awe.

He didn't know his name and didn't care to find out. Heck, he didn't even care to find out what time they were in. It didn't really matter; they all died in the end.

"Krycek, did you hear me?"

"Sure, you want me to go save the world... Again."

"This is important, Krycek. People aren't simply vanishing; they never existed in the first place. Whole lives are being erased. It's as if the world is going backwards in time."

"Right, and where am I supposed to go to- what time?" Alex asked as he looked at the man before him, wondering if he had looked that way to Mulder on his first day; full of eagerness.

"There's a theory that all the interactions you had with the living had caused a ripple in time. One that has escalated. You need to try to find where that ripple starts and put an end to it"

"Got it, boss," he winked. "Time to go play superhero," he said as he started to vanish in front of the man standing in the room.

"Do you think he's going to help?"

Alex heard someone said, though couldn't put a face to it, as the hole started to suck him through.

"He doesn't have a choice, even though he knows that he'll no longer exist as a ghost if he doesn't."

The hole closed up and he was left in nothingness. Particles of himself scattered about, floating among other particles that have yet, nor were they ever likely, be identified.

Just find the ripple, he says. Sure, no problem... 

He looked around him, trying to see where the so-called ripples were, and only saw more of the same; a vast sea of particles. Realizing it would be like trying to find a needle in a haystack, only a lot worse, he closed his eyes and stopped trying to see. Instead of focusing on what was around him, he looked inwards and felt something push against him. It was slight at first, so minute that at first he didn't think it was happening, but there it was- a brush of particles against his own. He edged over towards the push and felt it vibrated against him.

Working his way against the current, he had to fight to keep his whole self intact as he headed towards the source. It felt like forever though there was really no way of knowing how long he had been moving, of knowing what was happening in the time he had just visited. How much time did he have left before he vanished- for good?

Though maybe that wouldn't be such a bad thing- he was dead after all. There was a reason why the dead stayed dead, even though he didn't know what it was. However, he was getting tired of it all, or perhaps he was just getting tired of fighting against the current. He wasn't one to pick a side, why start now?

He pushed himself out of the rift, glad to be back in the dimension of the living, and looked around.

"Looks like I'm going to meet the Wicked Witch of the West," he muttered to himself as he took in the ape-like humans. "And it looks like she's got the Wizard of Oz with her," he said in awe as he took in the ship that landed down in a clearing near the creatures. But then he stopped talking when he saw something he hadn't  expected, fear.

Now, Alex wasn't stupid. He knew that one day those things, gauging from the size of them that they were Homo erectus, would evolve into humans, however, right now they were more primal than human. And, even more importantly than the fear he saw on their face was that they were running in his direction.

"Shit." Alex took off, racing blindly through the tall trees as he didn't know where he was going so long as he was out of their way. He hadn't expected this kind of behavior out of them; a wild, blind, panic as they thrashed through the underbrush and trees, trampling anything in their path. Some fell in their stampede, one of which gave off a bloodcurdling sound that could very well have been classified as a scream. Against his better judgment, Alex turned to look back and stopped.

Staring at the alien that overshadowed the Homo erectus, he started to see similarities between the two species. "No way," he breathed out before realizing the smart idea of speaking out loud. The alien turned towards him.

Others came at him from all around, more than he had first guessed was there, as a bright light beamed down on him. They looked puzzled as they stared at him. The one towering over the Homo erectus turned its attention back to it, shooting with a syringe of some sorts. The Homo erectus was still for a few moments as the alien watched, with what could only be described as an almost satisfied look on its face, until the Homo erectus began withering in pain. The cries of torture made Alex wished he could cover his ears and tune out the sound, but being a ghost, it would've done little good.

"Stop it!" Alex yelled out, seeing as he had already been spotted. "You're torturing him!"

They didn't respond to him, and instead, another alien further along shot another Homo erectus. A child by the looks of it with the same result as the last one. Their bodies were left twitching and spasming until they were dead.

"You need to stop," Alex repeated. "You're torturing and killing them! You're killing us!"

They continued to stand there, unblinking, and remained quiet as they gazed at the Homo erectus. He didn't have a clue what they were doing nor did he know how he was going to make them listen. This wasn't exactly what he thought he was going to find when he got here, then again, he didn't know what he thought he was going to find.

"Krycek?"

"Mulder?" Alex questioned, not believing that this could get any weirder than it was now. "What are you doing?"

"It's fine, Krycek," Mulder said, sounding completely calm. "They are only working out the kinks in their serum."

"Mulder, there isn't anything about this that is fine."

"It's fascinating, isn't?" Mulder asked as he watched them. "They don't speak, but you can tell that they are communicating by the slight gestures of their heads."

"Mulder, I don't know what you're on- but you need to get them to stop," Alex said, briefly wondering whatever happened to Dorothy because Mulder would most definitely be Toto with the puppy look in his eyes. "Whatever it is that they are doing to them is killing the humans."

"It's okay, everything is fine. It will all work out."

"What about Scully?" There was a hint of recognition that swept across his face, almost seemed like he was lifting out of the trance he was in. "That's right, what about Scully," Alex pushed. "Don't you think she wouldn't like this? It will also mean her death!"

"Don't worry, it will all be fine," Mulder repeated. Though this time, Alex was more intended to believe him as he saw that look on his face that had once upon a time driven him insane. "Trust me."

The ship overhead had landed and the aliens surrounding Alex left. Mulder gave him a nod before leaving with the aliens.

"It couldn't have been this easy, could it?" he asked, watching the spacecraft take off before disappearing. "Guess I need to get back to Kansa to find out." He shook his head, still not believing what he'd seen, even though he had seen a lot of crazy things in his time, this was by far the most bizarre one of all.