Fandom: XF (M/K)

Rated NC-17 m/m sexual situations

Summary: This Green Eyed Monster interlude is another prequel, picking up
right after Alex's Journal. If you recall, at the end of that story, the
boys decided to get a house together. This is their search. Though I didn't
mean for there to be *any*, a teeny bit of angst found its way into the
beginning of this. After that, though, it's all fun.

Disclaimer: Mulder, Krycek, Scully, and the Lone Gunmen belong to
you-know-who. The rest are mine.

Eternal thanks to Nic and Ori for wonderful beta. Any remaining screw-ups
are all my own.

Feedback keeps my wheels greased.
You can reach me at MMCUSN@aol.com

********************

Move-In Condition
by Aries

Alex sat on the floor between the sofa and the coffee table, newspaper
spread out before him, his red marker rhythmically tapping his forehead. Fox
stretched out behind him on the sofa, reading the sports page.

"What the hell does this mean?"

The older man folded the paper down and peered over it at his lover. "Hmm?"

"BW."

"What?"

"That's what it says. I got the rest of these abbreviations...two bedroom,
one and a half baths...eat-in kitchen, finished basement...but this bw
thing..."

"You got me. Are you interested in seeing it?"

"Not really. I was just curious about that abbreviation."

Mulder nodded and returned his attention to the basketball scores.

"But this sounds interesting. Listen...suburbs..nice, quiet neighborhood,
large, fenced-in yard...seven rooms. Wanna see it?"

"Sure."

Alex glanced over at Fox and frowned. "You could look a little more
interested, you know. I mean, this *was* your idea..."

"I know," Fox sighed.

Apparently, there was just a little too much exasperation in that two-word
statement for Alex's liking. He tossed the marker down and wiggled away from
the table. He jumped to his feet, and started toward the kitchen.

"Shit." Fox dropped the paper over his face, lay quietly for all of ten
seconds, then snatched it away and followed Alex into the kitchen. He
entered to find the younger man pulling items out of the freezer and
cupboards, and slamming them down onto the counter. He gritted his teeth and
cautiously approached. "Alex..."

Slam. "*What*?"

"Come on, don't be so sensitive. I just meant that I'm tired, you know?
We've looked at how many houses? After a while they all start to look alike,
don't you think?"

"No..."

//This is going well.//

"...not if you're really interested..."

//Oh yeah, just peachy.//

"...which you obviously *aren't*..."

//Do something...//

Fox took another few steps toward Alex. "Baby, come on. I'm interested, you
know I am..."

The younger man kept his back to him.

"It's just that we've seen so many houses, and none of them was right for
us...I'm just...I'm just a little weary, that's all."

Alex continued preparing for dinner, making no attempt to respond to what
Fox had said.

"Lexei..." Fox stroked one hand across his lover's shoulders, feeling the
muscles tense under his touch. "I promise I'll take a more active part,
okay?"

"Please, you don't have to pacify me, Fox. I don't want you to do anything
you don't really want to do."

Fox let his hand drop away from Alex's shoulder. "God, you can be a fucking
royal pain, you know it? I'm *trying* to smooth things over here, and all
you want to do argue. Cut me some slack, would you?"

Alex dropped the spinach he'd begun washing into the sink and spun around to
face Fox. "Okay, I'll cut you some slack. I'll cut you a lot of slack." He
blew past the other man and entered the living room.

Mulder followed him and stood watching as the younger man snatched his
jacket from the closet. "Alex, where are you...baby, don't leave."

Completely ignoring Fox's request, Alex snatched up his keys and walked out,
slamming the door behind him.

"Fuck!" Fox stomped into the living room, threw himself down onto the sofa,
and kicked the newspaper off of the coffee table. He sat brooding for about
twenty minutes then reached down, gathering the papers from the floor. He
shuffled them into some sort of order, picked up the marker, and headed into
the kitchen.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Alex drove around for three hours with no destination in mind. As his anger
began to seep away, thoughts of home and the warmth of Fox's arms began to
infiltrate his brain. He cursed on a soft breath, took the next exit, and
headed back to the apartment.

It had been approximately four months since they had actively begun
searching for a house...a home of their own. It started out as fun. An
adventure of sorts, but after the first couple of months, it had become more
of a chore, especially for Fox. The man worked all day, sometimes very long
hours, and then when he came home, his few remaining waking hours were
occupied with house hunting. It seemed as if it was all they ever did any
more. They rarely went out, hardly had a conversation that didn't include
the phrases 'square footage' or 'closet space', and most nights when they
finally fell into bed, Fox would fall asleep almost immediately. Good sense
told Alex that he was very tired, but to go from making love at least five
times a week to five minutes on Saturday night...it wasn't an exaggeration
to say that Alex was becoming frustrated. And in one of his weaker moments,
of which he seemed to be having many, he'd begun to think that Fox's
disinterest not only pertained to the house hunting, but to him as well. He
thought about it now as he drove...wondered if this wasn't all a big mistake
and if maybe Fox would be happier, even relieved, if he went back and called
it all off.

//Are you out of your fucking mind? How can you conjure all of this crap up
out of a stupid argument? He loves you, you shithead. He's not the type of
man who would continue with something if his heart wasn't in it...especially
when someone else's feelings were concerned. He doesn't play those types of
games. He doesn't even know how. And yet you go and blow up at him over
something as simple as him using what *you* perceived to be the wrong
tone...//

"Damn prick." Alex muttered to himself as he drove, wondering how upset Fox
would be when he returned.

He turned into the parking garage less than half an hour later and took the
elevator up to the fourth floor. Slowly, he walked to the end of the hall
and inserted his key into the lock. He swung the door open and looked around
the quiet apartment. Fox was nowhere in sight, but there were smells coming
from the kitchen. The aromas led him into the room to the left, where he
found Fox, just putting a casserole dish into the oven. The older man looked
up at him through a curtain of lashes, then pulled the dish back out,
setting it on the counter.

"I was going to keep it warm," Fox said softly. "You want to eat now?"

Alex chewed at his lower lip before answering in an equally soft tone.
"Yeah, okay." He sat at the table, searching for something to say while Fox
got his dinner. Before he could speak, the older man placed his plate in
front of him, along with a folded sheet of paper.

Fox hovered by the table for a moment, then backed away. "I hope you like
it. I tried to follow all the instructions in the cookbook."

Alex stared up at him, feeling more and more like a heel. Mulder lowered his
gaze and eased out of the room, leaving him alone. He picked up his fork and
attempted to eat the casserole...not because he was hungry...guilt had taken
care of his appetite, but because even after he'd stormed out like a child,
Fox had gone and made him dinner.

A few bites later, he grimaced, put the fork down, and focused his attention
on the lined paper that lay folded in two beside the plate. He picked up the
paper and found four addresses with descriptions of the houses, and
appointment times and dates next to each. Alex closed his eyes and inhaled
deeply. He held the breath for a few seconds, then let it out, opened his
eyes, and left the kitchen. He found Fox in the living room, sitting on the
sofa, staring blankly at the television. Quietly he moved over to the older
man and kneeled in front of him. "Baby," he began on a whisper, "I'm sorry I
was such an asshole. I know how busy you are, and I know house hunting in
every minute of your spare time can't be much fun for you. I just...I just
wanted so much for this to be *our* experience, you know? I'm sorry I got
mad at you."

Tired, hazel eyes rose to meet Alex's gaze. "I'm sorry too. I love you,
Lexei, and I really do want for us to find a place *together*...I didn't
mean to blow up at you."

"I deserved it. I was being a complete shit."

Fox raised a hand to his lover's face. "Yeah, you were..."

Alex suppressed a smile.

"...but it was justified. I've been brushing all the work off on you."

"It's okay. I've got much more time than you do."

"Not for the next two weeks you don't."

"What do you mean?"

"I did one more thing while you were gone."

Alex waited for him to continue.

"I called in two weeks of my vacation time."

Alex's eyes sparkled in the light of the t.v. "You did?"

"Yeah. So...for two weeks, I'm all yours. We can look for houses from sun up
to sun down, okay?"

The younger man smiled softly. "I love you."

"Glad to hear it. You had me a little scared the way you tore out of here
earlier."

Alex lay his head on Fox's lap. "I'm sorry. You know I'd never leave you. I
just needed to blow off some steam. Forgive me?"

Fox ran his fingers through Alex's hair, then leaned over to brush his lips
against the younger man's ear. "Let's forget all about it, okay? It was a
stupid misunderstanding, and now it's over. What do you say we just get to
the good part, huh?"

Alex grinned up at him. "The good part?"

"Yeah." Fox licked the curve of his ear, then teased the sensitive interior.
"The makeup sex."

"Ohhhhh," Alex chuckled, "*that* good part..."

Fox slid onto his back, at the same time pulling Alex up to lie on top of
him. "I've missed making love to you," he moaned, pressing Alex's head
against his shoulder and wrapping his arms tightly around him.

Alex snuggled against his lover, soaking in the warmth, allowing himself to
rediscover all that he'd begun to think was lost. "It's my fault," he
confessed softly into Fox's shoulder. "You're tired and I just keep pushing
you. I promise I'll turn the heat down, okay?"

"Okay, but...not right now, huh?" Fox drew one hand down Alex's back and let
it rest on the curve of his ass. His voice crackled with restrained lust.
"Right now I want you to crank it up as high as it can go."

Alex smiled and turned his face into the curve of Fox's shoulder then bit
gently into the muscle, pulling a soft moan from the man beneath him. His
teeth sank deeper until Fox's moans took on the desired edge, then released
his hold, leaving damp indentations in his lover's shirt.

"Lex..."

The rest of Alex's name was cut off as his mouth came down over Fox's,
feeding on its softness. As they kissed, his hands moved down to Fox's
shirt, unbuttoning the material and shoving it aside. His hands met bare
skin, and Fox sighed into his mouth, encouraging him to caress the heated
flesh, which he did most happily. It had been so long since they were
together like this; unhurried, wanting to touch and be touched. Alex pulled
gently away from the older man's mouth, encountering sounds of frustrated
protest, but he quickly diverted Fox's attention as his tongue began licking
a path down the long column of his throat, to his chest.

"Mmmm....that's good, baby..." Fox ran his fingers again and again through
Alex's hair as the younger man lazily bathed the entire surface of his
chest, paying special attention to each nipple.

Alex's tongue danced around one hard peak, moistening it, then he blew
gently, delighting in his partner's faint laughing moan and the slight
shudder of his body. He pulled the nipple into his mouth, grazing the tip
with his tongue as he held it trapped between his teeth.

Fox whimpered softly as the pressure Alex applied to his nipple kept him
teetering on just this side of pain. His cock throbbed within the confines
of his jeans, reacting to the sensation. His whimpers turned to a sharp gasp
as Alex gave a little tug, and his cock felt as though it was trying to
punch a hole through the denim. "God," he panted, "you're killin' me."

Alex released his nipple, but not before he gave it a tiny nip.

"Shit!"

The younger man grinned up at his lover, his eyes sparkling with demonic
pleasure. "Don't die yet, baby. I got more for you."

Fox chuckled through his agony. "Yeah? Whatcha got?"

Alex slid up to Fox's chest, zeroing in on a new target. He swooped down,
clamping onto his lover's lower lip. A low growl sounded deep in his chest
as he pulled and shook the pouty flesh. He released his prize slowly,
letting his teeth drag along the skin, then said, "I got everything you
want." He reached down, unzipping his jeans, then pulled himself up and
stripped them off, along with his underwear and shoes. He kneeled over his
spellbound lover and slowly undid his shirt while his cock bobbed, seemingly
reaching toward Fox's mouth. He let the shirt slide from his shoulders, down
his arms, and off, then ran one hand over his chest, teasing his own nipples
to hardness while his other hand crept down to his cock and began to fondle
it gently. He inched closer, letting the tip brush Fox's lips. "I got
everything you need," he whispered, pinching one nipple. His eyes dropped
shut, and a small gasp left his lips. His hand unconsciously tightened
around his cock, and he gritted his teeth, silently commanding himself to
take it easy. He took a deep breath, and as his eyes drifted open, he looked
down at the man beneath him and moaned softly. The raw lust he saw in Fox's
eyes snapped his control. He reached down, yanking the older man's shirt
from his body, throwing it to the floor, and the rest of Fox's clothing soon
followed.

Fox lay writhing uncontrollably beneath his lover, whimpering and pleading.

"Lexei...please...don't make me wait anymore. I need you, baby..."

"Where do you want me?"

"I don't...my mouth...then my ass."

Alex laughed softly. "How did I know?"

Fox gave him a pained smile. "Because I'm an insatiable slut?"

Alex stroked his lover's hair. "Yes, you are. Sit up a little more."

Fox pushed himself back and up, giving himself better access to Alex's cock.
The younger man moved forward and let him suck the rigid shaft into his
mouth. They moaned in unison as Fox's tongue swirled around the head, then
sucked Alex in deeper. He gripped Alex's ass and urged him to move, sighing
happily when he complied.

Alex slowly fucked his lover's mouth, feeling the pressure build with every
stroke. A few more thrusts and he could have easily come down Fox's throat,
but Fox wanted him in his ass, and he'd be damned if he wasn't going to give
his man exactly what he wanted. "Baby," he whispered, gently pulling away.
"It's now or never. Come on...let me go."

Alex's words penetrated the thick fog of lust that swirled around Fox's
brain, and he let his hands fall away from the younger man's ass. He slid
down onto his back and pulled Alex on top of him. "Fuck me," he demanded
through gritted teeth, leaving Alex no choice but to obey.

He quickly wiggled out of his lover's grip and went over to the desk,
pulling the top right-hand drawer open. Withdrawing a long white tube, he
moved back to the sofa, unscrewing the cap, and squeezing a good amount of
lube onto his fingers. He swiftly slicked up his cock and grasped Fox's
hips, pulling the older man forward and into position. Slowly, he worked
himself into the tight opening, trying his best not to let the assortment of
groans and whimpers get to him. When he was completely buried, he grasped
Fox's hips and initiated an easy rhythm, intent on making the moment last.
Fox, of course, had other ideas.

"Mmmm....Lexei..." Fox squirmed and whined, pushing forward to meet each of
his lover's thrusts. "God, you're so good....harder, baby. Fuck me
harder..."

Again, Alex obeyed, increasing the speed and strength of his movements. His
eyes squeezed shut as his Fox's cries reached his ears, and he felt the
inevitable approach of his orgasm.

"Oh, Jesus, oh....*harder*....*shit*! Yeah...yeah...that's
it....*harder*..."

Alex gritted his teeth and began to ram into Fox as hard as he possibly
could. It was right there. He could feel it. All he needed was a few more
thrusts and he'd be home...

Fox grasped his own cock and began to jerk it in time to Alex's frantic
movements. He was so far gone it only took a few pulls to set off the
explosion, and when it came, it pulled him inside out. A gurgling scream
ripped from his throat, joining with Alex's own roars of satisfaction, then
the criess died away, leaving the room devoid of any sound.

Alex collapsed onto Fox's chest and lay motionless, unable to speak or
breathe. The older man lay beneath him, every bit as drained. Long minutes
passed before the sable head lifted, and Alex watched as a bead of
perspiration made its way down Fox's temple and over his cheek, disappearing
under his chin. He kissed the damp, swollen lips, licking away the salty
moisture. Fox moaned at the contact and opened his eyes. Alex kissed him
again, then propped his head in his hand and smiled down at him. "You're one
damn sexy beast, you know that?"

Fox's lips twitched up into a half-smile. "You're just figuring that out?"

Alex shook with silent laughter.

"Actually," Fox began, running a hand up and down his lover's slick back, "I
always saw *you* as the sexy one."

"Me?"

Fox nodded. "Aside from being damn gorgeous, you've got this...air about
you...this attitude. It just screams sex."

Alex broke into giggles. "Oh, yeah?"

"Yeah. You know exactly who you are and what you want...you walk into a room
and the air vibrates. The temperature goes up...you can't tell me that you
haven't noticed."

"Nope."

"I don't believe it. As conceited as you are?"

Alex shrugged and gave him a sly grin. "I don't usually carry a thermometer
around with me..."

Fox smacked the younger man's forehead. "I'm serious. I watch people's
reactions to you. They either get the hell out of your path or go out of
their way to be in it. Don't tell me you've never noticed."

Alex leaned down, placing a long, tender kiss on the other man's lips.
"You're in that room too."

Fox frowned up at him.

"You have no idea, do you? You're noticing that people are reacting to me,
but you get just as much notice. People see your brilliance and try to hold
intelligent conversations with you, trying to impress you, but all they
really want to do is rip your clothes off."

Fox broke into soft giggles.

"Don't laugh, I'm serious. I can see it. A lot of that heat you talked about
is yours. People *want* you, baby." Alex lowered his head and closed his
teeth over his lover's exposed throat. He growled softly as Fox arched into
his mouth, offering him more. He closed his mouth, sucking hungrily at
vulnerable skin. The combination of Fox's soft sighs and the rush of power
that his lover's submission gave him began to stiffen Alex's cock again. He
pulled away from Fox's throat, kissing the reddened area. "But they can't
have you," he rumbled in the older man's ear. "You're mine."

Fox closed his fingers in Alex's hair and nodded silently.

Alex kissed a path from Fox's ear over to his mouth, settling in to play,
licking and nibbling at his lips.

"Hey," Fox mumbled around nipping teeth and a questing tongue.

"Hmm?"

"Do those houses I listed look interesting to you? We can cancel if there's
anything there you don't want to see..."

Alex sucked Fox's lower lip into his mouth, then released it. "No, I saw
those in the paper, and they all looked interesting to me."

"Good." Fox hugged Alex to him. "I got a feeling, Lexei, that one of these
houses might actually be the one."

"I hope so," Alex laughed softly against Fox's mouth. "The making up is
great, but I really didn't much like going through what we did to *get* to
the making up."

"I know." Fox dropped a tiny kiss on Alex's lips. "No more fighting. Let's
just try to make this as enjoyable as we can, okay?"

"Okay...now...I'm feeling *really* sticky and kinda hungry. How about a
shower?"

"Sure...wait...didn't you finish your casserole?"

"Uh......no."

"Why not? Wasn't it good?"

Alex grinned down at his lover. "Well...uh...since you asked...no. It
actually sorta sucked."

Fox glared at him.

Alex began to laugh and kissed the older man's chin. "I love you for trying,
though."

"No, you don't."

"No, I don't what?"

"Love me."

"Fox..."

One corner of Fox's mouth twitched. "If you loved me, you would have eaten
it all and told me it was good." He looked up at Alex out of the corner of
his eye, then began to laugh.

Alex slapped his lover's thigh. "Yeah, you're a funny guy. Come on, *up*. If
we stay this way much longer, we're gonna get stuck together." He pulled
himself to his feet, grasping Fox's hand and hauling him up as well, then
headed into the bathroom for a warm shower.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Two days later they had their first appointment to see a place not all that
far from Fox's apartment. They hadn't been really sure that they'd want
someplace still in that area, but the description interested them and the
price was right, so they decided to give it a look.

"What number did you say it was?"

"Three-twelve."

"Are you sure? I could swear you said *six*-twelve."

"Do three-twelve and six-twelve sound anything alike?"

"The twelve part does."

Alex shook his head and continued down the quiet street. A few minutes
later, they drove up to a gray Gambrel which loomed in the middle of a nice
little block in the west-end of town. Alex pulled up to the curb and peered
up at the house, noting the two quarter-round windows positioned on either
side of the chimney.

"Daaaamn. You know what the first thing is that I think when I look at this
house? Amityville Horror."

Fox smirked at him. "Is that a good thing or a bad thing?"

"It doesn't thrill me." He threw a sneer in the direction of his lover, who
had begun to laugh.

"Don't tell me that big, bad Alex Krycek is afraid of a house because of the
way it looks."

"Did *you* read that book? Did you see the movie?"

"Got the file on it. Walked through the house."

"And you're gonna tell me that wasn't some freaky shit?"

"Yeah, it was definitely odd, but I hardly see where the slight resemblance
of this house to that one is such a big deal."

"There's more than just a *slight* resemblance, but okay, we'll go in...you
go first."

Fox grinned and stepped down out of the truck. When Alex had joined him on
the sidewalk, the two moved toward the small, thin woman who stood stiffly
by her car.

"Good afternoon, gentlemen," she rattled, "You are..." She looked from one
man to the other, waiting for assistance.

Fox spoke up, introducing them. "I'm Mr. Mulder, this is Mr. Krycek."

"Thank you," she gave them a quick smile. "I remembered the names, but I had
no idea which name belonged to whom. Well..." She looked up at the house in
dread...or at least it looked that way to Alex. "...let's go in." The three
walked up to the front door and the woman wrestled the key into the lock.
She swung the door open, and the men stepped into the house, glancing at
their surroundings.

"Forgive me, I'm Emma Sanders," the woman finally introduced herself.

Alex threw an absent nod in her direction, his eyes never ceasing their wary
perusal of the place. Fox acknowledged her verbally.

"Very nice to meet you. Well, Ms. Sanders, can you tell me how long the
house has been for sale?"

A flash of something crossed the woman's face that Alex immediately
categorized as nervousness. His eyes narrowed, and he inched closer to his
lover.

"Uh...the...the house has been on the market for about five years."

Fox's eyebrows arched. "Five years? Why so long?"

The woman shrugged a bit too quickly. "Just one of those things," she
answered, trying a little too hard to sound matter-of-fact. There just
always seems to be something about it that isn't right for the people who've
seen it. Too big, too much afternoon shade..."

"Too haunted..." Alex whispered in Fox's ear, receiving a bump from the
other man's hip.

Fox motioned to the woman and smiled. "Well, let's see it." He pushed Alex
ahead, and the two followed the realtor through her whirlwind tour of the
first floor rooms.

Alex listened to the woman prattle on about the house's history, its most
recent renovations, and the sturdiness of its structure, and all the while
he was looking around, noting the one too many dark corners and cold spots
that even Fox didn't seem to notice.

"Get *out*..."

He practically jumped out of his skin and whirled around to find Fox
giggling hysterically. He punched the other man's upper arm, growling
through gritted teeth, "That wasn't funny."

They followed the realtor as she tip-toed up the stairs to the second floor.
Once there, the woman took an unsteady breath and began her spiel. Alex
followed along, not objecting a bit at her haste. Every time Fox lagged
behind to further inspect a room, Alex would grab him by the front of his
jacket and pull him along.

"Now, as you can see," Ms. Sanders pointed out as she moved along briskly,
"there are three large bedrooms, two baths, a sewing room...."

"What's in here?" Fox asked, interrupting the realtor in mid-ramble.

Ms. Sanders glanced at the boarded-up door to which he was pointing. "It was
used as a study at one time."

"At one time?" Fox stepped up to the door, running his fingers over the
boards. "Why is it sealed off?"

"Umm...well...."

"What happened?" Alex asked, not entirely sure he wanted to know.

"Well...the uh...back in nineteen eighty three, there was an incident."

"An *incident*."

"Yes."

"What *kind* of incident?"

"The old man who owned the house was found dead. Suicide, apparently."

Fox turned to her. "And that was reason to board up the room?"

The realtor fidgeted. "Not right away. It seems that the previous family
started having some uh...problems..."

Fox's eyes lit up. "Really?"

Alex clapped his hands together, drawing the attention of the others.

"Well, thank you very much, Ms. Sanders. We'll be in touch. Let's go, Fox."

Fox waved him off. "Hang on, I want to hear the story."

Alex hooked an arm through his lover's and began to pull him away. "No, you
don't. Ms. Sanders, thank you. Like I said, we'll be in touch."

"No, you won't," the woman answered as she rushed out with them, practically
knocking the two over in her rush to leave, "and I can't say that I blame
you."

"If you feel that way," Fox prodded her as they moved back to the sidewalk,
"why are you showing the house?"

"It's my job," the woman breathed once they were out of the yard, "and if I
can actually get someone to buy it, I won't *have* to show it anymore."

"Well, I'm sorry. I actually find it rather interesting, but my partner," he
nodded toward the man who was climbing up into the truck, "obviously, is not
the least bit enticed."

The realtor glanced at the truck, then back to Fox. "Smart man. Good luck
with your search, Mr. Mulder."

Fox gave her an amused grin. "Thank you, Ms. Sanders." He stood watching as
the woman climbed into her car and sped away. The tooting horn captured his
attention, and he turned toward the truck.

"I *told* you," were the first words that greeted Fox as he closed the
passenger's side door.

"Alex, there was nothing there that even resembled proof of a haunting."

"You mean to tell me you didn't notice those cold spots? .....*Spooky*?"

Fox rolled his eyes. "The yard is very shady..."

"You didn't get any weird feelings about the place?"

"Nope. I *would* like to have heard about what made the previous owners feel
they had to board the room up, though." Fox looked up at the house as Alex
pulled away. "If it *was* anything paranormal, I wonder why I'd never heard
of it..."

"Gee, I don't know," Alex snorted. "I thought every weird happening from
here to China was run across your desk..."

"Shut up."

Alex grinned and reached across the seat, caressing the other man's thigh.
"Just kidding."

The left corner of Fox's mouth slanted into a grimace, and he stared quietly
at the road.

"Fox..."

The same corner of Fox's mouth twitched as the hand on his thigh inched
higher. He cut his eyes in Alex's direction.

"What are you doing?"

"If after all this time, you gotta ask..."

"I just mean that...shit, Alex, don't do that....what the hell was I saying?
Oh, yeah. We got another appointment in two hours."

"Two hours is plenty of time."

"But it's lunchtime. I'm hungry."

A wicked green stare flicked from the road to Fox and back again. "We can
find someplace with long tablecloths. You can eat while I jerk you off."

"Now how the hell can I eat while you're doing that?"

"You gotta learn to multitask, baby. I keep telling you that."

"I can multitask just fine, thank you. Just not when you're touching me."

"Hmm." Alex's brow furrowed in deep thought.

"Hmm, what?"

The corner of his mouth twitched up into a smile. "Nothing."

"Alex..."

Completely ignoring his lover's warning tone, Alex made a right turn and
drove on. "How about Cecily's for lunch?"

Hazel eyes regarded him warily. "Yeah, okay."

Five minutes later, they pulled into the rear parking lot of the restaurant.

"Alex, there are a ton of parking spaces that are closer to the door than
this one, why'd..." His voice trailed off and ended on a soft groan as
Alex's hand found its way back to his crotch.

"You won't let me jerk you off inside, so..."

"Come on," Fox protested weakly. "We're not gonna have time to go back home
so I can change."

"Don't worry, you won't need to." Alex opened up the glove compartment and
pulled a stack of neatly folded napkins out. He draped a few over Fox's
thighs, then deftly undid his pants.

Fox looked around a bit nervously. "Alex...don't..."

"Oh, yeah, *that* was convincing."

Gentle fingers stroked Fox through his underwear, and his head fell back
against the seat. "Lexei...I really, *really* don't think...ahh...*shit*.
Bastard."

"That's me," Alex cooed into his lover's ear as he gently squeezed the rigid
shaft through the black silk. "Lucky you." His hand slipped in past the slit
and stroked the hard warmth. "Close your eyes."

Fox's lids dropped then rose only seconds later. "I can't. I..."

"Yes, you can. You know I won't let anything happen. Come on, now."

Slowly, Fox's eyes closed again, and he let himself relax.

"That's it," Alex purred, his hand now moving in firm stokes. "Yeah....feel
good baby?" The barest hint of a nod was all the answer he received. He
continued at the slightly faster pace until Fox began to pant, then he
slowed down a bit.

"Nooo."

"What is it, baby?"

"Faster."

"You close?"

Another nod.

Before Alex could respond, he noticed a couple of women heading in their
general direction.

//Shit.//

His dilemma. Continue and hope they won't notice, or...

Ah, screw it. Alex Krycek was never one for playing it safe.

As luck would have it, the women's car was the one that was parked three
spaces away, and though they could not see exactly what he was doing at that
distance, his lover's reactions would give them more than just a tiny clue
as to what was happening.

With one eye on the approaching females, he continued to work his lover's
cock and give soft verbal encouragement.

Fox began to squirm in his seat, and his soft sounds of pleasure grew
louder.

The sounds drifting through the partially open window attracted the
attention of one of the women as she moved to the door of her car.

//Ah, shit! Well, maybe she'll just be really disgusted and leave quickly.//

Not a chance.

The woman stared curiously for a moment, then her eyes grew wide as she
realized what was happening in the truck to her left. Alex watched her
motion to her friend, and the other woman peered over the roof of the car to
see. The two began to smile and giggle into their hands.

//So you're enjoying the show, huh? Perverts.//

Alex grinned at the two, and held his free hand up to his mouth, indicating
that they should be silent. Then, never missing a stroke, he motioned to
them, beckoning them closer. As the women moved as close as they dared, Alex
slid closer to Fox and pressed up against his side. "You're so pretty when
you're turned on," he said just loud enough to heard by their audience.
"You're even prettier when I'm fucking you..."

Fox gasped, still too immersed in pleasure to realize that they had company.

"I can't wait to get you home later." Alex licked the line of his lover's
jaw. "I'm going to bend you over the nearest chair and pound the hell out of
your ass."

The other man whimpered audibly.

"Would you like that, baby?"

Fox nodded.

"Tell me. Say yes."

"*Yes*. Alex....please..."

"Please, what?"

"Harder...I need...I...."

"You need to what? To come?"

"Yes."

Alex winked at the entranced women and increased the speed of his strokes.
"Okay, baby. Come for me. Nice and loud, now...come on...."

Fox's back arched and his mouth fell open on a resounding scream of pleasure
as thick, opaque fluid flowed all over Alex's hand and the napkins in his
lap.

When the cries had died, and Fox sat panting softly, Alex carefully removed
the napkins, then, smirking at the frozen women, brought his hand up to his
mouth and licked away some of the evidence of his lover's orgasm. One woman
brought a hand up to her chest as if to calm her pounding heart, and the
other covered her mouth as he then brought the same hand to Fox's lips, and
his lover automatically began to lick it. Alex joined him, tongues lapping
at the same area of skin and each other and finally tangled together in a
deep, hard kiss. He tucked Fox back into his underwear and zipped his pants
as they kissed, then pulled away to mumble against his mouth.

"We're being watched, you know."

It took a minute for the words to reach Fox's brain through the haze that
surrounded it, but when it did...

"What?"

"Uh huh. Couple of women."

"Where?"

"Right outside your door."

Fox pulled away to look, unable to believe what Alex was saying, and, there,
right where he said they were, stood two women gawking at them. They smiled
and waved, then walked away, squealing all the way to their car. Fox turned
back to Alex, eyes wide with shock.

"You *knew* they were there?"

"Yeah."

"You shit! I can't believe you did that! You said you wouldn't let anything
happen!"

"Nothing *did* happen. They just wanted to watch, and now they're gone."

Fox covered his eyes with one hand. "Oh, God. Oh, my God..."

"Breathe, Fox, breathe. Come on, no harm was done. They got their jollies,
you got off uninterrupted...hell, the way *I* see it, the only one who comes
out of this a little worse for wear is *me*."

"*You*?"

"Yeah. Have you any idea how hard I am right now? I'm gonna have to suffer
through lunch and another house tour before I can go home and bend you over
that chair..."

Fox gave him a harsh laugh. "Think again, you prick. I'm not bending over a
damn *thing* for you. Alex, I can't *believe* you did that!"

"Aww, knock it off with the poor victimized Fox crap already, would ya?
Admit that deep inside you're turned on by it."

"I am not..."

"Yes, you are. I can see it. Your eyes don't hide a thing, baby." Alex
leaned in and swiped his tongue across Fox's lips. "They loved you, you
know."

"Jesus..."

"I'm serious. One day, I'm gonna tape us so you can see what it is I
see...and what those women saw. You're so, so beautiful when your eyes are
closed and you're gasping for breath..."

As hard as he tried, Fox could not stop his heart from pounding.

"...And you start to twist and squirm, and you beg me to finish you..."

A soft whimper escaped Fox's throat.

"...And God, when you come. Baby, it's enough to make a grown man cry. How
could I deprive those two nice ladies of something so beautiful?"

"You really are a fucking prick."

"Yeah, and you love me."

Fox threaded his fingers through the other man's hair and yanked him down
for a long kiss. When he finally released his now panting lover, Fox pushed
him away. "God help me, I do. Now let's go have some damn lunch before we
gotta look at that other house."

Twenty minutes later, they were eating and discussing the house they were
going to see. During a brief lull, Alex smirked at Fox. The other man put
his sandwich down and squinted at his lover.

"What?"

"You gonna admit it?"

"Admit...oh. No, I'm not."

"Come on, Fox. You like the idea of being watched."

"How can you tell me what I like?"

"I know you. That's how."

"Obviously, Mr. know-it-all, you aren't as astute as you imagine."

Alex rested one elbow on the table and propped his head up in his hand. "Uh
huh..."

"Okay, fine. You don't have to believe me."

"I don't."

"You're so goddamn smug, you know that?"

"Uh huh. And..."

"I know, I know. I love you."

"You said it."

Fox grimaced and turned his attention back to his sandwich, but before the
food could reach his mouth, Alex's hand was on his arm. Fox looked up into
glittering, dark pools.

"And I love you, baby."

Fox's lips turned up into a soft smile. "Maybe I'll bend over that chair for
you after all."

Alex grinned and checked his watch. "Come on, let's finish up. We got about
ten minutes before we gotta get out of here."

They ate the rest of their lunch quietly, Alex paid the tab, and they were
on their way to the next prospect.

********************

"He said three o'clock, right?"

"Yeah."

"It's three-ten."

"He probably just got hung up at another house. I'm sure he'll be here
soon."

Alex paced slowly, and Fox's eyes followed as he stood leaning against the
truck. He was in the middle of contemplating the consequences for tripping
the other man when a low rumble attracted his attention.

A shiny red BMW pulled up behind them, and a man stepped out wearing a black
cashmere coat, sunglasses, and an expensive, hand-cut, Italian suit. His
slick blonde hair moved not an inch in the slight breeze. Alex hated him on
sight.

The man approached, talking into his cell phone.

"Yeah, doll. That's right, you tell 'em they gotta come up at least ten thou
before my clients will even *think* about entertaining an offer. Uh
huh...yeah...okay. Hey, thanks a lot, babe. Stay sweet."

The man pushed the antenna down and slapped the phone against his chest,
folding it in two. "Hey, guys, how ya doin'?"

Fox smirked and nodded. "Good."

"I'm Skeet McCall." He shook Fox's hand, then extended the same hand to
Alex, who just stood glaring at him. He cleared his throat and withdrew the
offer. "I'll be showing you this little charmer here. Now, uh...a Mr. Muldar
called and arranged for this. I assume that's one of you?"

"Me. And that's *Mulder*."

"Oh. Sorry, guy. New secretary in the office. Kinda not all there, if ya
know what I mean."

"Right."

"So...last names are so formal, dontcha think? I prefer first names, myself.
Call me Skeet. What's your name?"

"Fox."

"*Fox*? You kiddin' me?"

"'Fraid not. It's the name I was born with."

The man looked at Alex. "What about you, guy?"

"What *about* me?"

"Your name! What's your name?"

"Krycek. First name, Mr."

The man stared at Alex for a moment, studying him. "Okay, then..." he spun
away, deciding to let it be. "Let's get on with it."

The two men scanned the outside of the huge old Colonial, taking note of its
impeccable condition and meticulously kept yard. They stepped into the
cavernous foyer, marveling at the height of the ceilings.

"Is this a house or is this a house?"

"Yeah, it's a house," Alex answered. "You're a pretty sharp guy, Scoot."

"Uh...that's Skeet. No, what I mean is, isn't it a great-looking house?"

"Yeah, it's great-looking," Fox responded and again looked up at the
ceiling. "Must be a bitch to heat, though. What is the bill like in say,
January and February?"

"Not sure, I'll have to look it up. Hey, how about that living room, huh?"
He nudged Fox and winked. "You can have some killer parties in there, am I
right?"

"Uh huh," Fox answered absently, watching Alex wander from the room. Skeet
took the opportunity to inquire about him.

"Hey, guy, what's with your buddy?"

"What do you mean?"

"He's so...hostile. I mean, it's your business who you hang with, but I hope
you don't let him dissuade you from giving this place some serious thought."

Before Fox could respond, Alex returned, glancing back at the room from
which he'd just come. "Big kitchen, but lousy counter space."

Skeet looked at Fox. "You married?"

Fox glanced at Alex and smiled. "No..."

"Do you cook?"

This time, he got a laugh. "Not really."

"Then who the hell needs counter space?"

Alex stepped up beside Fox and leveled a stony gaze on the man. "*I* do."

Fox's head swiveled from his lover's direction to the realtor's. "We'll both
be living here."

"Oh." Skeet lifted both hands in a defensive gesture. "Hey, guy, no problem.
You want counters, there's plenty of space to build some in there." He waved
them on. "Let's see the rest."

Alex grasped Fox's upper arm and held him back. "If he calls me guy one more
time," he whispered through gritted teeth, "I'm gonna shoot him."

Fox's eyes widened. "You're armed?"

"Aren't *you*?"

"*Yeah*, but my job requires that I carry a gun."

"Details, details."

"Alex...just leave the nice realtor alone, okay?"

But he's fucking *irritating*."

"I know. A few more minutes, though, and we'll never have to see him
again...unless you really like this house."

"It's nice. I'm not in love with it, though. You?"

"Nah."

"So let's get outta here."

"We can't do that; it wouldn't be polite."

"What the hell have we got to be polite for?"

"Come on, Alex. Let the man do his job."

Alex heaved a long sigh and trudged along behind Fox.

They moved along to the second floor, and Skeet showed them each room,
gushing over the huge walk-in closets, and pristine, hardwood floors.

"Now," the realtor stopped in front of the last door, glancing from one man
to the other, "the master bedroom." With a flourish, he swung the door open
and allowed his prospective buyers to enter first. He stood grinning as they
walked around the room, then raised his eyebrows at Alex. "You *gotta* love
this room."

Alex tossed him a bored look.

"Oh, come *on*, guy!"

Fortunately, Fox was close enough to clamp a hand around Alex's right arm.
"It's a very nice bedroom."

"Well, your friend here doesn't seem very impressed, so I guess he wouldn't
object to you having it, huh?"

Alex's head snapped around, and he turned a narrow stare on the man. Fox
rolled his eyes, knowing what was coming.

"Oh, no, Skank..."

"Skeet."

"Whatever. You don't seem to understand. If we *were* going to buy this
house...which we're not..." He moved to Fox's side and slipped an arm around
his waist. "...we'd be *sharing* this room."

Skeet looked from Alex to Fox, who merely smiled and nodded.

"Ohhhhh. Hey. Hey, hey, hey. That's no problemo, guys. I'm cool with that. I
mean, you know, it's no business of mine what your sleeping arrangements
are." He laughed nervously. "I gotta say, though, I'm a little surprised."
He directed his next sentence at Alex. "You're so...you look..."

One sable eyebrow arched, and Alex waited.

"Hey, don't take this the wrong way, guy, but you just look too tough to be
a...you know."

Fox felt Alex tense, and he decided that now might be a good time to bring
the tour to a close.

"Skeet...thank you for your time, but as nice as this house is, I really
don't think it's for us."

"No, well, I suppose not," the other man answered. "It's kind of a family
house, and unless modern science had come up with something new, you two
won't be having any kids, now, will ya?" The glare he received was enough to
knock him back a few steps.

"C'mon, babe," Fox called softly to Alex, grasping the younger man's hand
and pulling him gently along. Once outside, Fox thanked Skeet again for his
time.

The realtor watched the two men get into their vehicle, then with a quick
shrug, whipped his sunglasses out, balancing them on the tip of his nose,
and reached for his cell phone.

"Hey, babe, it's Skeet. Yeah...whatcha got for me?"

********************

Alex walked in first, throwing his keys onto the table. "I'm telling you,
Fox, the man was a *freak*."

"He's a businessman. A lot of businessmen talk like that..."

"The guy pushes real estate. He doesn't work on Wall Street, for Christ's
sake. And even if he did...those guys are annoying, too."

"I know. Well, forget about it. We won't have to deal with him
again...unless, maybe, we find another house being shown by the same
agency."

"God, bite your tongue."

Fox chuckled softly and approached his lover. "Anyway..." He began to undo
the buttons of his shirt. "...which chair?"

Alex watched him intently, lust already beginning to weigh down his eyelids.
"Hmm?"

Fox pulled the shirt out of the waistband of his jeans and undid the
remaining three buttons. "*Chair*, Alex. Which chair?"

"Mmmmm....uh...." Alex pointed to the one opposite the couch. "Finish
undressing, then kneel in front of it."

A lascivious smirk crossed Fox's face. "What, no foreplay?"

Alex stepped forward and laid a long, hard kiss on his lover's mouth.
"There," he said pulling away. "There's your foreplay."

"You must think I'm pretty damn easy," Fox growled, peeling his jeans off.

Alex smiled down at his lover's crotch. His boxer shorts stood away from his
body, looking very much like a black, silk tent. He nodded and looked up
into Fox's face while he began to undress himself. "You know, baby, I gotta
say, yeah. I think you're pretty damn easy." He motioned to the chair. "Now,
if you don't mind?"

Fox finished removing his clothing and kneeled in front of the chair,
draping his body over the seat cushion. He closed his eyes and wiggled his
ass slowly. "Come and get it, big boy."

"Patience..."

Fox waited quietly for a few minutes longer, then began to perform a
seductive bump and grind against the front of the chair. "Please, baby," he
moaned into the cushion, "I need it now..."

Alex's voice moved closer. "*You* need it now? You *got* some earlier. I'm
the one who's been suffering ever since."

"Hey, you did it to yourself." He moaned softly as a gentle hand caressed
his ass.

"No, you did it to me."

"*I* did? You wanna tell me how?"

"That pout. That fucking irresistible pout of yours..."

"When did I pout? Oh, *shit*." Fox's breathing deepened as Alex let one
slick finger slip between his cheeks and brush over the puckered opening.

"After we saw the Amityville house, and I was giving you shit about all the
freaky cases you take."

"I was pouting?"

"Uh huh. You know I can't resist it when you do that. You've got the sexiest
damn pout I've ever seen."

Fox's laugh ended on a small whimper as the finger worked its way inside and
stroked briefly over his prostate. "Oh, God."

"That good?"

"Yeah."

Alex withdrew his finger and added a second. Smirking at his lover's low
grunt, he gently slid his fingers in and out of the tight canal, teasing and
preparing him.

Fox bit his lip, trying to hold back the increasingly loud moans, but to no
avail. The feel of his lover's fingers repeatedly stroking over his prostate
was driving him up the walls. "Lexei," he whimpered, "please..."

"Please, what?" Alex growled and added yet another finger.

Fox's muscles tightened and his head snapped back as he cried out. "Fuck me.
I can't stand it...please..."

Alex withdrew his fingers, incurring a loud moan as he did. He leaned over
Fox's back and chuckled softly in his ear. "You got yours earlier. This
one's mine."

"Yeah? Bullshit. You're not gonna get me all worked up then not take care of
it, that's for *damn* sure."

"Oh, you don't think so, huh?"

"No, I don't *think* so. Now shut the hell up and fuck me, dammit."

Alex bit down on his lover's earlobe and gave it a sharp tug. "You got it,
babe." Quickly, he lubed his cock and pushed none-too-gently into his lover.

Fox grasped the arms of the chair and groaned loudly into the cushion.

"Problem baby?" Alex asked on a shaky laugh as he began to plunge steadily
into his lover.

"Sonofabitch," Fox gasped, his voice partially muffled by the cushion he was
face down on. He thrust backward to meet Alex's every lunge, and beads of
sweat broke out over his skin.

Alex's tongue slithered out, licking some of the moisture from Fox's
shoulder as he increased the strength of his thrusts, pushing Fox again and
again up against the front of the chair. As the other man's cries became
louder and more desperate, he realized what was happening. He was pushing
the other's cock against the chair, and as he knew his darling Fox well, he
was sure that this would be more than enough to take him over the edge.

//Oh, no, you don't.//

He pulled Fox back away from the chair, much to his rather vocal protests,
shackled his lover's wrists to the arms of the chair with his own hands, and
continued to drive into him.

Fox screamed obscenities of every variety at the man behind him. He
struggled ineffectually against his lover's restraining hands, begging to be
released, but he knew it was pointless. When Alex was in the mood to be
sadistic, very little could dissuade him. He took the brutal strokes,
whimpering softly as his cock throbbed in time to each thrust. He felt
Alex's hands tighten around his wrists and felt the desperation in his
increasingly erratic movements. Any second now, it would over. And the
bastard was going to collapse to the floor and leave him like this...

//Not on your fucking life, baby.//

Alex thrashed against Fox, whining and growling, and as he exploded, his
head fell back and a long, choking sob broke past his lips. He continued to
fuck the other man until he had emptied every last drop into him, and at
last, when he was through, he sank to the floor, assuming an exhausted
sprawl there on the hardwood.

Fox pulled himself up from the chair and looked down at his lover laid out
before him for all of ten seconds before he got up and stormed into the
bedroom. When he returned just a moment later, Alex was lying in the same
spot, looking very much like he was asleep. Without a word of warning, Fox
roughly turned him over and stuffed a pillow under his hips. He hastily
applied some lube to his cock and dropped down over Alex's back, pinning the
winded man beneath him.

Alex grunted in response and lifted his head. "Hey...come on..."

"I told you, you weren't going to leave me hanging," Fox warned.

"Fox, cut it out. I'm beat."

"Yeah, and?" Fox guided his cock between the muscular cheeks of his lover's
ass, then drove into him, drawing a surprised yelp. "It's okay, baby. I
don't mind if you don't participate." He grasped a handful of sable hair in
one hand, placed the other at Alex's hip, and began to mercilessly pound
into him.

Alex lay almost motionless, moaning pitifully beneath Fox as his lover
fucked him hard and fast. Before his cock could even decide whether it had
enough strength to rally, Fox was shuddering and moaning above him, and he
felt himself being flooded with wet warmth. Seconds later, the other man
collapsed onto his back, and he lay crushed between Fox and the floor.

"Fox...shit....Fox..."

"Hmph."

"Fox, get off. This is *not* very comfortable."

Fox lifted his head and turned a weary gaze down to his lover. "No? Well,
you wouldn't *be* in this position if you'd just given me what I needed in
the first place, now, would you?"

Alex half-laughed, half-whimpered. "Okay, okay. You paid me back. Now get
off, would you?"

Fox snuggled on top of the other man's back. "I don't know. I kinda like it
here."

"Fox...."

"What?"

"I'm gonna kick your ass."

"A little hard to do in this position, wouldn't you say?"

"I'll do it later."

"You'll be too busy fucking it later."

"Oh, you think?"

Fox rolled off of Alex and drew him into his arms. "Yeah, I think."

"That's your problem, Fox, you know, you just think too damn much
sometimes."

"Tell me I'm wrong."

"You're wrong." Alex broke into a grin and then began to laugh softly. "And
I'm a fucking liar."

Fox nodded then laid a long, sweet kiss on the other's lips. He pulled Alex
to his feet and led the way into the bathroom.

********************

House number three.

An older Greek Revival, but seemingly well maintained. Both men seemed taken
with the character of the place, noting the wonderful attention to detail
and large, cheerfully lit rooms. The house also boasted plenty of closet
space, two nice-sized bathrooms, a large but manageable yard...

Then they visited the basement.

The realtor led the way, followed by Alex, then Fox.

"Now, the heating system is a little old..."

"*Old*?" Alex repeated, dismayed.

The realtor stood silently as both men cautiously approached the furnace
which was situated in a pit in the middle of the floor. They circled the
railing which surrounded the ancient structure and looked down the five
steep steps that they would have to descend to service the monstrosity. Alex
cast an apprehensive glance at Fox.

"Looks like something we'd have to offer sacrifices to."

Fox nodded in stunned agreement and turned to the realtor. He blinked at
her, then looked up at the pipes running up into the ceiling. "This is the
*original* system, isn't it?"

"Uh...yes...but it works," the woman offered reassuringly. "I mean, it's a
little pricey to run, but we think that fact reflects quite well in the
reasonable price of the house."

Alex stared at her, shaking his head then looked back to Fox. "I don't care
*how* reasonable the price is...do you have any idea what it'd cost to
replace this thing?"

"No, I don't, and I don't think I want to," Fox answered, placing his hand
at his lover's back and steering him toward the stairs. "Mrs. Irving, thanks
but no thanks."

They left the woman on the porch and moved to Fox's car in silence. Once
inside, they burst into laughter.

"Now *that* was scary," Fox said, starting the engine.

"No shit. I'd be afraid every day that the damn thing was going to blow us
up." Alex let his head fall back against the headrest and closed his eyes.
"What time's the next one?"

"We should just make it, actually, if we go right from here."

"Ah, damn. You mean there's no time for me to jerk you off in the car?"

"Gee, sorry," Fox answered with good-natured sarcasm. "Maybe next time."

Eyes still closed, Alex smirked and said nothing.

Forty-five minutes later, they walked out of house number four.

"Are they kidding?" Fox asked as they got back into the car. "Who the hell
puts a sink in the bedroom?"

"Same idiots who panel their kitchen in pea-green masonite." Alex ran his
hands through his hair. "I don't mind a little work, you know? But that was
ridiculous for the price."

"I know." Reading Alex's expression, Fox reached across the seat and stroked
his lover's cheek. "We'll find something, babe. It just might take a little
time."

Alex turned and smiled at his lover. He grasped the hand at his cheek and
pressed a soft kiss into it. "I'm glad we're able to do this together."

"Me too." Fox glanced down at the clock. "We got about three hours until our
next appointment. Wanna wait till after and have a late supper someplace?"

"Sure. What are we going to do in the meantime?"

Fox smirked and let his hand creep into Alex's lap. "I got an idea or
two..."

********************

House number thirteen.

Alex walked up the door of the white French Country and met the woman on the
porch.

"Hello," the thin woman peered over her glasses and offered a bony hand to
shake. "I'm Margaret Millhouse. You must be Mr. Krycek."

"Yes, I am. My partner had to drive a friend to the airport and will be with
us shortly. I hope you don't mind."

The woman looked at her watch. "I have approximately an hour and a half
until my next appointment. I suppose it won't be too much of an imposition.
Would you like to have a look at the outside in the meantime?"

As they walked around the house and looked over the yard, the woman made
light conversation. "It really is a lovely house. Good for a growing family.
Do you and your...partner...plan to have children?"

Alex caught the disapproving tone and smiled.

//One of those. Well, you oughta *really* love this, lady...//

"My partner is not female."

One perfectly plucked eyebrow arched. "I'm sorry?"

"I'm sorry if I gave you the wrong impression, Mrs. Millhouse. My partner is
a man."

The woman blanched. "A...a man?"

Alex gave her his best saccharine smile. "Yes. Oh wait till you meet him,"
he gushed, enjoying the expression on her face. He leaned in closer and
whispered confidentially, "He's *gorgeous*."

The woman backed up so fast she almost tripped over her own feet. Alex bit
down on his lower lip to keep from breaking up as she quickly composed
herself.

"Well. I....I, I..."

"Are you all right, Mrs. Millhouse?"

"Yes. Yes, fine."

Alex was about to torment her further, but the sound of a motor stopped him.
He turned his head and saw Fox getting out of his car. An evil grin curled
his lips as his lover approached, and he walked to meet Fox halfway.

"Hi, baby," he sang, wrapping his arms around the older man and planting a
long kiss on his mouth. He pulled away smiling, and Fox squinted at him
after tossing a wary glance in the direction of the slack-jawed woman.

"Alex, what the hell is going on?"

"Nothing, snookie. Scully get off okay?"

"Yeah."

"Good." Alex wound his arm through Fox's and walked him to the porch. "This
is Mrs. Millhouse, the nice lady who's going to show us this beautiful
house." He grinned at the woman and winked. "Didn't I tell you he was
gorgeous?"

Fox merely stared at Alex, dumbfounded.

The woman looked from one man to the other, momentarily unable to speak.
Then she found her voice. "Um...well...sh-shall we go in?"

Alex gave Fox a quick grin and puckered his lips, making soft kissing
noises.

"Alex..."

"Come on, bunny wabbit, let's not keep the nice lady waiting." Alex pulled
Fox inside and immediately shrieked. "*Oh*! It's beautiful!" He placed one
hand on his hip and the other on the shaken woman's shoulder. "I have a
very, very good feeling about this house." He looked over to his stunned
lover and nodded. "This is the one, I think, Fox."

"Well...now...l-let's not be too hasty," the woman stammered. "Take your
time and consider it carefully..."

In spite of her words, the realtor tried to rush them through the house, but
Alex refused to be pushed. He thoroughly investigated every room, oohing and
aahing and making sure to make the realtor as uncomfortable as possible.
When they got to the bedroom, he really poured it on.

The woman reached for the knob with a shaking hand and pushed the door open.
"And this is the master bedroom..."

"Oooooh. Look at all the windows." Alex walked into the room, then suddenly
spun and fixed a smoldering stare on Fox. He walked back to the other man
and slipped his arms around his waist. He writhed seductively against Fox
and moaned into his ear. "Think of the nights we'll spend in here, huh?"

Fox risked a glance at the woman who stood leaning against the door for
support. Her face was positively ashen, and she pressed a hand to her chest.
He looked back into eyes that sparkled with sadistic glee and whispered,
"What the hell are you doing?"

Alex winked at Fox then tucked his head under his chin, smiling in the
woman's direction. "I think we'll take it."

The woman's eyes grew wider than they already were, and she practically fell
over herself trying to dissuade the couple. "Oh...no...I really...*really*
don't think that this is the house for you."

Alex gave her a confused pout. "No?"

"N-no. This is really a quiet neighborhood..."

"We like quiet," Alex replied. "Well..." He snickered. "Actually, there are
times when Fox can get pretty noisy..."

The woman gasped. "Goodness...um...you wouldn't like living here. There are
so many older people here. Not really your age group. We'd bore you."

One sable eyebrow arched. "*We*?"

"Oh. Y-yes. I live a few doors away..."

"*Really*? Well, isn't that nice? We could be neighbors. Isn't that great,
honey? We can invite Mrs. Millhouse and her husband to our first party..."

Fox rolled his eyes and finally spoke more than a handful of words. "Alex. I
hate to be the one to break the news to you, but I don't think Mrs.
Millhouse wants us to have this house."

"What do you mean?" Alex asked, doing a very convincing job of looking
perplexed. "Why wouldn't she want us to live here?"

Fox turned a blank stare on the woman. "I don't believe Mrs. Millhouse
approves of relationships like ours."

"Oh...no. No, no, it's just that I'm thinking of *you*. I don't think
*you'd* be happy here."

"You know, Mrs. Millhouse," Fox replied with a distinct chill in his tone,
"I think you're right. Come on, babe."

Alex gave the woman a broad grin as they exited the room and blew her a
kiss, sending her reeling back against the wall. When they reached the front
yard and the realtor made it to the porch, Fox stopped short, jerking Alex
into his arms and laid a long, hungry kiss on him. When they parted, they
waved at the woman who was looking frantically around to see if anyone had
witnessed what had just happened.

Laughing hysterically, they fell into their respective vehicles and drove
away. Mere seconds later, Fox's phone rang. Laughter greeted him when he
answered.

"Well, it took you a while to get into it, but..."

Fox choked back a giggle. "Alex why the hell did you drag me through that?
When you found out what she was about, why didn't you just tell her thanks
but no thanks?"

"'Cause she pissed me off with that superior, holier than thou attitude. I
couldn't let her get away with it."

"God. Good thing we didn't *really* like the house."

"Yeah....hey."

"What?"

"What're you wearing?"

"What am I...Alex, you know what I'm...oh, no. No, don't start. We got
another appointment in..." Fox checked his watch. "...less than an hour.
Let's just drop your truck off at home and get to it."

"Okay," Alex answered a little too agreeably, immediately making Fox a bit
suspicious. He disconnected and drove the rest of the way in silence,
wondering what his lover had going on in that devious mind of his.

He shook his head and smiled.

He'd done some crazy, risky things in his life, but falling in love with
Alex Krycek had to have been the mother of all insane risks. The man was
unpredictable, untamable, and at times, completely unreasonable.

And then there was the flip side. The side he'd begun to see more and more.

Thoughtful...always overly concerned about his personal
well-being...sensitive, sweet beyond description...

And he loved him. Fox had no doubt of that. It was in his every touch. Every
word. He could feel it in the way Alex kissed him. Made love to him. He
could feel it in the warm circle of his lover's arms as they clung to each
other each night. It was in the deep green depths of his eyes, sometimes
mingling with the pain he saw there after Fox had had one of his nightmares.

There were times when he was so upset by dreams of Samantha's disappearance
that there was nothing Alex could do, and Fox could see the anguish in his
lover's eyes as he spoke soft, soothing words to him. Then one night Alex
began kissing the tears from his face. Those kisses trailed to his mouth,
and before he knew it, he was writhing against the younger man, begging for
more. From that day forward, any time he'd have a particularly bad dream,
Alex would take him in his arms and tenderly make love to him, and that more
than anything else seemed to be just the medicine he needed...

Fox pulled up in the parking garage beside Alex's truck, and as he got out
of the vehicle, a hand grabbed the back of his jacket. He yelped in surprise
as he felt himself being dragged toward the back of the truck.

"Alex, what are you..." His lover leapt up, climbing into the bed then
motioned to him. "What the hell are you doing?"

"Just come on."

"Alex..." Fox's eyes widened when the younger man stood up and peeled off
his jacket then began unbuttoning his shirt. He looked around the garage
then back up at his lover. "*Alex*," he whispered harshly. "*Stop* that."

"Come on up and make me," the other man purred, continuing to strip.

"God, I'm going to kill you," Fox grated as he climbed up. As soon as he
made it up into the bed, Alex began pulling at his jacket.

"Come on, baby. We got a couple of minutes..."

"Jesus Christ, Alex. Do you see where we are? It's the middle of the damn
day. People are in and out of here all the time..."

Alex moved closer, rubbing against him. "There's a wall on one side of us
and your car on the other. Nobody can see us if we lie down...unless you
*want* to do it standing up..."

"*No*."

Alex lowered himself to his knees and tugged at the leg of Fox's pants.
"Then come on."

Fox remained standing. "We're *not* going to do it standing, sitting,
kneeling, or lying in this truck! Now button your shirt and let's go"

Alex shook his head, gazing up at the man that he knew would sooner or later
have to give in. He undid the top button of his jeans and drew the zipper
down. He pushed the jeans down to his knees and ran the tips of his fingers
lightly over his lengthening cock. "You can stand there and watch if you
want to." He shifted onto his back and, before his lover's disbelieving
eyes, began to jerk himself off.

"Ah, *fuck*." Fox lowered himself to lie beside the other man and slapped
his hand away. "One of these days, Alex..."

Alex stretched sensuously before his lover and gave him a heavy-lidded
stare. "Come on, baby," he whispered. "You know you want me."

Fox looked once more around the thankfully empty garage, trying to decide on
the best way to do this, then undid his own pants. "Turn onto your side,
dammit."

Alex obeyed quickly and reached into one of the pockets of his leather
jacket before making a pillow of it for the two of them. He handed the tube
to Fox and rested his head on the jacket, shuddering in anticipation. In
record time, the older man prepared himself and began to work his way
inside. As Alex began to whimper softly, a hand clenched in his hair.

"Don't you dare make a sound."

He bit his lip in an attempt to remain quiet as Fox slipped into his ass as
quickly as he dared. The hand left his hair and worked its way under him to
come up and around his chest. The other grasped his cock and began to work
it in time to the steady rhythm that Fox's hips had now fallen into.

He tried. He tried very hard to remain silent, but how in God's name could
Fox really expect that he could? He pressed his lips together as his lover
moved faster, but he could feel the scream rising through his chest, and he
knew that there was no way in hell he'd be able to stay quiet.

Fox knew it as well, and when he began to rock harder against Alex, he
removed his hand from the other man's chest and clamped it over his mouth.
"Shh," he whispered shakily as he jerked Alex faster. The muffled whimpers
excited him further, and he slammed into Alex as forcefully as the position
they were in allowed him to. He tightened his hand, ensuring no sound could
escape past it. "Come on....baby...come for me." The truck rocked with his
efforts, but he was too far gone to care. His hand moved so quickly over
Alex's cock it was almost a blur. "Come on, Lexei..."

Alex's body shook with a series of long spasms, and a soft, high pitched
whine could be heard as he came, covering Fox's hand with slick fluid. Fox
buried his face in the younger man's shoulder, muffling his own cries of
completion, and when he was through, he lay quietly shuddering behind his
lover, momentarily unable to move. After a short while, Alex pulled the hand
that was still tightly clasped over his mouth away and shifted so that his
lover's spent cock slipped out of him. Cautiously he lifted his head and
looked around. The garage was still empty. He turned to face Fox and gently
shook his arm.

"Come on, baby. Let's get cleaned up and get out of here."

A weary, gruff voice sounded from the lump on the floor. "*Now* he's anxious
to leave."

"Yeah. We're gonna be late. Come on."

Hastily, they cleaned themselves up using the tissues that Alex had stashed
in the inside pocket of his jacket, readjusted their clothing, then hopped
down out of the truck and got into Fox's car. As Fox pulled back out of the
garage, they passed a car just coming in. He looked over to Alex and
backhanded the younger man's upper arm.

Alex flinched at the smack and frowned over at his lover. "*What*?"

"You see how close we came to getting caught?"

"Yeah," Alex gave him a lazy smile. "Kinda makes your dick hard, don't it?"

Fox closed his eyes for a brief second, then turned his eyes to the road.

"Come on," Alex taunted. "You can't sit there and tell me that you weren't
turned on." He gave his lover a smug grin. "You were all *over* me."

A tiny trace of a smile twitched at Fox's lips. "What the hell am I going to
do with you?"

Alex reached across the short distance to caress his lover's face. "You
don't have to ask, baby. You know exactly what to do with me. And god*damn*,
you do it well."

********************

House number twenty-one.

The ride on the way to the latest prospect was a quiet one.

Though neither man had wanted to say so, this fruitless search was beginning
to wear on them, and they had come to the unspoken, unanimous conclusion
that they weren't going to be finding a house any time soon.

Just blocks from their destination, Alex cleared his throat and spoke up.

"Fox?"

"Yeah, babe?"

"You wanna take a break?"

"What d'you mean?"

"I mean we're out here day after day, seeing two, sometimes three houses in
a day. We've found nothing. You've got only two days left to your
vacation...I think we should take a break. Maybe go away for the weekend and
not even *mention* houses.

"Yeah, but what about..."

"We can keep looking," Alex interrupted. "Just not as actively as we have
been. We must have looked at every house in two states. Let's just wait a
while and see what comes up new on the market in the next few weeks."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. I don't want you going back to work all tired and stressed."

"We can keep looking, Lexei. Don't do this on my account. I *want* to find a
house."

"I know. But it's for both of us. We're gonna get so tired that after a
while we'll end up snapping at each other. I don't want that."

Fox tossed him a soft glance. "Have I told you today how much I love you?"

Alex covered his lover's hand with his own. "Yeah, but you can say it again.
I don't mind."

Fox's eye shifted to the sprawling Cape to their right then smiled over at
Alex. "This is it. Looks nice."

Alex chuckled as they pulled into the driveway. "Yeah, *most* of them
looked nice from the outside."

They passed the Cadillac that was parked ahead of them and walked up to the
door. While they waited, Fox pointed out the connected structure that was
set back and to the left of the house.

"Nice, big, two-car garage."

As Alex nodded, the door swung open and a pleasant-looking middle-aged man
greeted them. "Hi. I'm sorry it took me so long to answer the door; I was
out back. Please come in."

The couple stepped into the house, looking around. So far so good.

"I'm Stanley Black."

Fox shook his outstretched hand. "Hello, Stanley. I'm Fox Mulder and this is
Alex Krycek."

The man extended his hand to Alex and gave him a warm handshake. "So nice to
meet you both. Well..." He smiled and motioned them ahead. "Shall we?"

The realtor led them on an extensive, unhurried tour of the house, speaking
at length on a wide variety of topics, including the neighborhood, taxes,
and recent renovations. The two men followed him from room to room, sending
each other encouraging glances and smiles.

"There are three bedrooms," the man informed them as they moved through a
large hall then stopped in front of the first door on the left. "This is the
smallest of the three." He opened the door and they stepped in. "As you can
see, it's still quite roomy, and it's got two closets. One is quite large
and the other is smaller."

Alex prowled around the room then turned to Fox. "You know what I'm thinking
this room would be good for?"

Fox gave him one of those patented Mulder smirks. "A nursery?"

Alex's mouth opened on a silent laugh. "I was thinking about an office. You
know, for the computer and those hundreds of files you've got stacked up on
the floor all around it."

One golden-brown eyebrow lifted. "That's an idea."

"Yeah. And there'd be room for your fish tank...even a sofa and a t.v."

When they'd looked their fill, the realtor walked them to the next room.
"This one has its own bathroom and a nice, big, walk in closet."

The two men looked around then to each other.

"Guest room?"

Alex laughed. "Who's gonna come visit?"

Fox shrugged. "You never know." He smiled at his lover. "You see what we're
doing?"

"What are we doing?"

"We're making plans for these rooms. We haven't done that with any of the
other houses."

A slow smile curved Alex's mouth. "I know." He turned to the realtor. "Okay,
next bedroom."

They moved out of the room and on to the next.

"And this is the master bedroom. Adjoining bath and two walk-in closets so
you won't have to fight about closet space..."

Fox and Alex stared at each other. They'd said nothing at all, given the man
no real clues, yet he knew and continued to treat them as though they were
actually people. The other man's voice interrupted their thoughts.

"I find that there's usually one partner in the relationship who likes to
hog all the closet space. Being that guy, I found that it really cut down on
the arguments with Bill when we added another closet."

An understanding smile passed between the three men, and they moved on. When
the entire house and garage had been seen, they moved out to the yard.

"Now," the realtor explained, "you may want to make cosmetic changes, but I
think you'll agree that the house is in move-in condition. The yard, on the
other hand, is not so wonderful..."

"No kidding," Fox breathed, looking out at the large, overgrown yard. "What
the heck happened?"

"The people who owned the house were elderly. When the husband took ill, the
wife just let the yard go."

"God, what a mess, huh Alex? ...Alex?"

Alex looked around at the waist-high tangle of weeds, eyes sparkling. "I
love it."

"You do?"

He turned to Fox, grinning from ear to ear. "Yeah! Think about how much fun
it'll be to make it beautiful."

Fox frowned at his lover. "Fun?"

Alex nodded enthusiastically. "I like this house, Fox. I mean, I really like
it."

Before he could think about it, Fox reached out to caress Alex's cheek. "I
know. Me too. You want to make an offer?"

"Yeah, I do. I mean...if *you* want to..."

Fox smiled and pulled the younger man into his arms. "Yeah, I want to." The
realtor stood by quietly grinning as Fox planted a kiss on the tip of his
lover's nose. "I guess we've found our house, babe."

********************
Three weeks later
********************

"Why is this in here?"

"Why is what in where?" Alex stopped wrapping glasses long enough to look
over at Fox.

"This." Fox pulled a battered, deflated basketball out of the box they'd
designated for throw aways.

Alex shrugged. "It's no good for anything..."

"Are you nuts? This is the game winning ball in the MV Regional/Falmouth
game."

"And?"

"What do you mean, *and*?" Fox pointed at his lover. "There were three guys
on me. The shot clock was running down, and somehow I managed to break away
and make an impossible three-pointer. They gave me the ball, *and* I made
MVP that game."

Alex inhaled deeply. "Okay, babe, I understand that it was probably the
highlight of your high school years, but..." he gestured toward the lump in
Fox's hands. "*Look* at it."

A stubborn frown wrinkled Fox's brow as he held onto the ball. "We're not
throwing it out. It's part of my life history."

Alex rubbed at his temples. "Fox, you've got a story to go with every piece
of junk in this apartment."

"It's not junk..."

"We're supposed to be lightening our load here! And what have we got in that
box? *Nothing*."

"There's stuff in there."

"Yeah? Besides three-year-old boxes of cereal and strings of Christmas
lights with half of the bulbs missing, what have we got in there?"

Fox dug into the box and held up a battered, barely recognizable object.
"This means something to me. It was my first ever briefcase and I'm letting
*it* go..."

Alex stared at him. "It has no bottom, Fox."

Fox tossed the object back into the box. "So?"

"Come on, now, really. We gotta seriously start getting rid of some of this
stuff."

Fox rose to his feet and placed the ball in another box. "You're not getting
rid of my ball, Alex."

"Or your tapes, or that nasty, ripped chair..."

"It was my grandfather's recliner!"

"You guys!" Scully walked into the apartment carrying a bag full of markers
and tags. "Are you two still at it? I left over an hour ago, and you were
fighting then!"

"He wants to throw out all my stuff, Scully."

"It's garbage!"

"That's because it isn't *your* life!"

"Fox, we *agreed*..."

Scully held a hand up to Alex then turned to her partner. "You did have an
understanding, Mulder. You were only going to take what you both agreed to
take."

"Yeah, but he's not agreeing to anything!"

"Alex..."

"That's not true! I didn't fuss when he wanted to bring that stupid lamp
that sits on his desk."

"Why is everything of mine *stupid*?"

"I never said everything of yours was stupid." Alex turned away, mumbling,
"Only about ninety percent of it..."

Scully massaged her forehead. "Okay, shut up the both of you and listen.
You'd agreed that the third bedroom was going to be Mulder's office, right?"

Fox nodded.

"All right. Alex, would you agree to him bringing whatever he wanted as long
as he could fit it..."

Alex cocked his head and gave her a wide-eyed stare.

"...*comfortably* and unobtrusively into that room?"

"So what are we gonna do? Pack the two closets full of this stuff?"

"What do you care?" Fox threw back, folding his arms over his chest. "It'll
be out of sight."

Alex tilted his head back, closing his eyes. "Can we put that recliner in
the basement?"

"The *basement*?"

Scully's head snapped around in Fox's direction. "Mul-der..."

Long, exasperated sigh. "All *right*."

"There. You see?" Scully pulled Fox up and over toward Alex. "Compromise is
the key, boys." She placed a hand on each man's shoulder. "Now kiss and make
up."

Both men hesitated then moved in for a quick peck.

"What the hell was that?" The woman planted her hands on her hips and looked
up at the two men who towered above her. "I've seen you two practically
swallow each other whole. I *know* you can do better than that." She shoved
her partner toward his lover. "Come on. I want a nice, heartfelt kiss."

The two stood facing each other, their bodies just barely touching.

"Sometime today would be nice..."

Fox cast a scowl in Scully's direction, then looked back at the other man
through a curtain of lashes. Alex met his gaze, and a tiny spark ignited.
Fox slowly brought a hand up and cupped the back of the younger man's head.
He leaned forward and brought his other hand up to join the first, then his
lips tenderly met the other's.

Alex's hands settled on Fox's hips and he began to kiss his lover back. When
they broke the kiss, Scully's pleased voice sounded.

"Aww. Now isn't that better?"

Fox nodded and pulled Alex into his arms, again finding his lover's mouth
with his own. Alex emitted a deep sigh and wrapped his arms around Fox's
back as his mouth opened to allow the other man admittance.

"Okay, that's good, guys. Come on, we've got a ton of packing to do yet."

Fox growled softly, feeling the small hand on his arm. He shrugged away from
it and tightened his hold on the man in his arms.

"Mulder."

No response.

"Alex?"

Still nothing.

Scully threw up her hands and walked into the kitchen. "You should have left
well enough alone," she chastised herself. "They were fighting, but at least
they were working."

Oblivious to the fact that they were now alone in the room, Fox backed Alex
over to the sofa and pushed him down onto it. Seconds later they were lying
together, Fox's body covering the younger man's, and they were feeding
greedily on each other's mouths. The ringing doorbell went completely
unnoticed, and Scully had to come out from the kitchen to answer it. She
opened the door, and Frohike burst in, followed by Byers and Langly.

"Got the truck. It took a little..." The small man caught sight of the two
tangled together on the sofa and did an abrupt about face. "Oh, *God*."

The other two stopped dead in their tracks, seeing what Frohike saw, and
turned their backs as well.

"Do they *have* to do that?" Langly complained uncomfortably.

"It's my fault, guys. When I came back from the store about twenty minutes
ago, they were ready to tear each other's throats out over some stuff that
Mulder insisted on taking to the new house. I made them compromise and make
up."

"Oh, well, that's just great." Frohike peeked over his shoulder and
grimaced. "Can't you make them stop?"

Scully looked past the men in front of her, over to the two on the sofa.
Mulder had Alex pressed down into the cushions, rocking slowly against him
as they kissed endlessly. Alex lay beneath him, leg draped over his hip, and
was gently caressing his ass with one hand while the other had anchored
itself in his hair.

Scully sighed and shook her head. "I don't know, Frohike. It's like trying
to stop a moving train." She took a deep breath and walked over to the sofa.
"Guys," she called, a note of premature defeat in her tone. "Come on, guys,
the Gunmen are here. We gotta get the truck loaded."

Some of what Scully had said actually filtered through the cocoon of lust
the two men had wrapped themselves in, and Fox finally, reluctantly pulled
away from Alex's mouth. "We'll finish this later," he murmured, petting the
top of the sable head.

Alex nodded and allowed Fox to lift himself away. The older man got to his
feet and helped him up, but as Fox began to move away, Alex shackled one of
his wrists and jerked him back. As they came together, Alex fastened his
mouth once again on his lover's, giving him a long, hungry kiss. He broke
away abruptly and moved past Scully and Byers.

"Hey, Byers."

Byers nodded his hello and watched as Alex passed the other two.

Alex prowled past Frohike and Langly, stopping long enough to give them a
lazy grin. "Hey, guys. How's it hangin'?"

Langly clutched at Frohike, nearly toppling the smaller man. Alex laughed
softly and continued on toward the kitchen door. He turned a dark gaze on
his lover, who still stood in the middle of the living room.

"I'm going to go get the kitchen boxes. Care to give me a hand?"

Fox moved toward the younger man but was stopped by a small hand on his
chest.

"Oh, no, you don't," Scully warned. "I'll go help Alex with the boxes. *You*
start getting this other stuff downstairs."

Fox stood and watched Scully disappear into the kitchen then turned to his
friends. "Thanks for the help, guys."

Byers nodded. "Sure. Uh...no problem." He observed the smirk on Fox's face
and tilted his head in curiosity. "What is it?"

"Byers, why the hell are you wearing a suit?"

The other man looked down at himself. "I always wear a suit."

"To move furniture?"

"I told him," Langly said, moving past the others, "but did he listen to
*me*? Hell no."

"It's not like I'm going to get *dirty*..."

A pair of bushy eyebrows arched over the tops of Frohike's glasses. "Are you
for real?"

"What do you mean?"

"Byers, unless you plan to just stand around directing us, you're *going* to
get dirty."

"And sweaty," Langly added gleefully.

"We'll see."

"Okay, guys, let's..." Fox lost track of his thoughts as Alex came out of
the kitchen carrying a box and brushed purposely against him as he passed.
"Uh...can I help you with that, babe?"

"Sure," Alex purred. "Wanna come down to the truck and show me where you
want it?"

As Fox moved in his lover's direction, Scully caught him by the back of his
shirt. "Uh uh. Alex is a big boy. I think he knows how to put a box in a
truck. Come on, let's start moving this stuff out of here."

"Is she always so pushy?"

Cerulean eyes shifted to the man at the door. "When I don't want to be
moving furniture at two o'clock in the morning, yeah." Scully pointed to the
hall. "Now get moving."

Alex sent Fox a sexy smirk and moved out of the apartment.

The rest followed soon after, moving quickly and efficiently under Scully's
firm direction, and three and a half hours later, everything that was going
to the new house was loaded up and ready to go.

The group waited downstairs as Fox went up to apartment number forty-two for
the last time. He stood in the doorway looking at the empty rooms and
remembering the last several years he'd spent here alone. He thought he'd
have a feeling of melancholy when this moment came, but the sensation was
more one of relief. The last few months not withstanding, there were really
no memories of this place that he would tuck away in a corner of his
heart...

A warm hand at his shoulder drew his attention. Alex stood behind him, hand
now caressing his back.

"Will you miss it?"

Fox turned to his lover and smiled. "Not especially." He wound an arm around
Alex's waist and deposited a soft kiss on his mouth. "Come on. Let's go
home."

********************

"Are you sure you guys don't want to stay?"

"No," Scully answered as she moved the Gunmen to the door. "This is your
first night in your home. You should spend it alone, just the two of you.
When you get settled, we can get together and celebrate."

"Yeah," Frohike added, "and besides, I really could use a shower." He looked
to Byers, who remained as unruffled as ever. "How the *hell* is it that the
rest of us are all grungy and you look like you haven't done any work at
all? Look at him," he complained to Scully, "not even a hair out of place."

The bearded man gave the other an amused smile then motioned Langly toward
the exit, prompting the entire group to walk in single file to the door.
"Yes. As I recall, *someone* thought I was crazy for wearing a suit today."

Langly merely snorted in response.

"Freshness, you see, is a state of mind," Byers added smugly.

"Yeah? Then geekiness must be too, cause you sure got *that* down pat." The
comment earned Frohike nothing more than a glare. The small man opened the
door, and they said their good-byes.

"Thanks, everybody." Fox slid his arms around Alex's middle and pulled the
younger man back against him. "We really appreciate all your help."

"Yeah," Alex added. "As soon as we're settled, we'll have you all over for
dinner." He winked at Frohike. "I'll make something really *special* for
you."

An immediate look of fear washed over two of the three faces.

"Yeah...uh...okay then," Frohike stammered. "Let's go, guys." He and Langly
shoved Byers out the door and started toward their vehicles, leaving only
Scully with the other two.

"Thanks, Scully." Fox hugged the man he still held against him. "You've been
a really big help."

"No problem." She stepped out onto the porch. "I know there's no need for me
to say this, but you two have a good night."

"We will," Alex answered softly, nuzzling Fox's jaw. "Thanks for your help,
Scully."

They stood together on the porch waving as Scully got into her car and drove
away, then retreated into the house. The minute the door was closed, Fox
grabbed Alex by the arm and pulled the younger man against him.

"Alone at last."

Alex chuckled softly. "Yeah." He looked around then back into his lover's
sparkling eyes. "In *our* home."

Fox nodded and came in for a long, sweet kiss. He broke away only when he
was ready and grinned. "Why do you enjoy scaring Langly and Frohike like
that?"

Alex's hands rubbed the curved muscles of his lover's ass. "Because they
make it so easy."

"You're rotten."

"Mmm hmm. But you love me."

Fox came in for another kiss. "Mmm hmm....hey."

"What?"

"I'm hungry."

Alex writhed against him. "Me too."

"For *food*."

The younger man lowered his eyes and gave him an irresistible pout. "Oh."

Fox gave him a playful swat on his backside. "You know what I mean. You..."
he bit down gently on Alex's lower lip then released it. "...are my dessert.
Now let's go get cleaned up."

After a long, warm shower and a good amount of merciless teasing, both men
emerged from the shower and sat down on the floor to a meal of buffalo
wings, potato skins, and champagne. After making love amongst the ruins of
their dinner, they picked up and headed into the bedroom, where they dropped
onto the mattress they'd laid out on the floor.

"So," Alex said softly, "what room do you want to start in?"

Fox shrugged, snuggling into his lover's arms. "I have no idea, but I guess
we'd better make a decision. You know, just in case we're not through by the
time my vacation is up, at least the most important rooms will be done."

Alex nodded and kissed the top of the golden-brown head. "It was good of
Skinner to give you another two weeks so soon after your last vacation. I
figured that once he knew what it was for, he'd deny your request just to
spite me."

"Nah. He may not like you..."

"He *may* even hate me..."

Fox ignored the comment. "...but there's no way that he can deny that I'm
happy. And no matter what his feelings about you are, he's on my side."

"You gonna invite him to dinner when we have Scully and the Gunmen over?"

"Yeah, I'll invite him. I'm not so sure he'll come, but..."

"It'd make for one hell of an interesting evening. Hey, how about Maggie?"

"Oh, yeah, we gotta invite Maggie."

"What about your mother?"

Fox began to laugh. "Well, babe, I think first thing I'd have to do is tell
her I bought a house. Then the next thing I'd have to do would be to tell
her that I'm living with someone. Then, if she takes that well, in about
three or fours years, I'll tell her that I'm living with a man..."

"Fox, do you think you can keep it from her forever?"

"I can sure as hell try."

"Well, you do what you feel you gotta do."

"I know my mother, Lexei. There's no way in hell she could handle this."

"Even if she sees how happy you are?"

Another laugh. "Seeing me happy would *really* freak her out."

Alex shook his head. "Okay, whatever. You tired?"

"Not really. You?"

"No. So I was thinking..."

"Uh oh."

"What do you mean, uh oh?"

"When you start thinking, it can mean nothing but trouble."

"Is that right?" Alex asked indignantly. "Well. If that's the way you feel
about it..."

"I'm just stating facts, babe. Okay, what were you thinking?"

"Nope. Forget it."

"Alex..."

"Not telling."

"You'd better."

"Or what?"

"Or I'll tickle you again."

"*No*."

"Then tell me."

Alex shrugged. "I was just thinking that we might christen our bedroom."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah."

Fox draped one leg over his lover's hips, coming in contact with his
quickly-hardening erection. "I guess we could do that." He stretched up,
touching his mouth to Alex's. The tip of his tongue slid over the warm
flesh, then teased its way inside, tangling with its mate.

Alex clutched at Fox's shoulders and sighed softly into his mouth. He could
kiss this incredible mouth for hours on end and never tire of it. He'd seen
people watch Fox's mouth as he spoke to them and knew what they were
thinking as they attempted to comprehend what he was saying. They were
wondering what it would feel like to kiss such unbelievably luscious lips or
feel them traveling over the more intimate parts of their bodies. He loved
their reactions as they realized that the man beside him knew in explicit
detail what it felt like and he wasn't the slightest bit interested in
sharing his good fortune...

Fox broke contact with Alex's lips for only a split second before he moved
in again, pressing a number of tiny, soft kisses against them. As he did so,
his hands wandered the length of his lover's body, stroking and massaging
everywhere they could reach. As Alex arched into him, silently pleading for
more, he sat up. Glazed green eyes watched as he began searching under the
mattress with one hand. Seconds later, he pulled an object from underneath.
Alex smiled as he held up a tube of lubricant.

"I'm in love with a boyscout."

Fox only nodded and grinned as he squeezed some lube into his palm then
rubbed his hands together. He straddled Alex's hips and grasped his lover's
cock in his right hand while taking his own in his left.

Alex moaned softly and closed his eyes but opened them again almost
immediately. He didn't want to miss a second of this. His eyes shifted from
his lover's face to his hands, which were stroking them both in languid
unison.

Fox watched Alex watching his hands, and he smiled. "I can feel you getting
harder."

"Gee," Alex breathed, "I wonder why."

The older man gave him a lazy grin and shrugged. "Don't know." His head
tilted back as the strokes on his own cock became firmer. His eyes closed
and a soft hiss escaped past his lips.

Alex watched, hypnotized, as his lover brought himself closer and closer to
the edge. He loved it when Fox jerked off for him, and Fox, attention lover
that he was, enjoyed doing it.

"That's it, baby," Alex whispered, now reaching behind to squeeze his
lover's ass. "Fuck, you're gorgeous when you're like this." He removed his
lover's hand from his own cock and coaxed it to join the other. As soon as
Fox was enthusiastically jerking himself off with both hands, Alex reached
up to his chest and began lightly pinching his nipples. "Come on, Fox. Come
on, baby, I'm waiting. Come for Lexei..."

The older man pumped his cock harder and faster, whimpering softly as Alex
tugged sharply on his nipples.

"Almost there," Alex purred, "aren't you?"

No need to ask, he could see for himself how close Fox was. The golden-brown
head was thrown back, exposing the elegant line of his throat. His eyelashes
fluttered but never opened, and those infuriatingly gorgeous lips parted
ever so slightly to allow short, harsh breaths to escape. His hand worked
furiously now, desperately driving himself toward release. A small, choking
sound gurgled in his throat. Alex knew the sound well, and his eyes shifted
between Fox's face and his hands, waiting.

Fox clenched his teeth as a line of heat bolted through him, then out. One
hand left his cock to balance himself on Alex's chest as he pitched forward,
while the other continued to work erratically over the spasming muscle.

Alex's eyes closed involuntarily, and his cock throbbed in response as Fox
came all over his chest. He brought a hand up as he stared into exhausted,
half-open eyes and spread the slick fluid over his chest.

Fox watched as his lover's hand glided over his smooth skin, circling first
one then the other nipple. Alex smirked up at him.

"I hear it's good for the skin."

He grasped a handful of hair, flipped his spent lover onto his back and fell
on top of him. "My turn."

Fox moaned softly as Alex's mouth began to devour his, and the younger man
pulled his legs up and encouraged him to wrap them around his waist. Two
teasing thrusts, and then Alex was filling him, forcing a cry from his lips
at the suddenness of it.

Not giving Fox time to so much as take a breath, the younger man began to
drive into him, grunting loudly with each thrust. He tore his mouth away
from his lover's and lifted himself on his hands for a better angle.

Exhausted as he was, Fox emitted a tiny sob as Alex hit his prostate again
and again. His fatigued cock pulsed to life with a speed that shocked him.
"God," he gasped, "Lexei...oh, God, baby..."

Alex gave him a pained smile. "Christ...again?"

Fox nodded impatiently then sucked in a quick breath as Alex wrapped a hand
around his swelling erection and began to pump it steadily.

"Better hurry...up...better....oh, shit....oh..." Alex increased the pace,
bringing Fox along with him.

The older man squirmed beneath his lover's perspiration-drenched body,
feeling the onset of his third orgasm in just hours. He wondered fleetingly
what it was about this man that drove him so insane. But as his body again
found its release, the thought evaporated. He shook uncontrollably and
clawed at his lover's back as he emitted a long, grating howl into the
air...

Feeling the slick warmth cover his hand, and Fox's body shudder and relax,
Alex let go of the quickly-softening organ and again braced himself. He
gritted his teeth and slammed into Fox as hard as he was able to. Four hard
thrusts was all it took, and he exploded, pumping what seemed like an
endless stream of semen into his lover's body. His own harsh growls filled
the room, echoing off of the empty walls and dying an abrupt death as he
fell in a sweaty, satisfied heap onto Fox's heaving chest.

For long minutes, neither man moved. Intermittent shudders ran through one
then the other, and when those finally stopped, Alex lifted his head and
smiled down into glazed, contented eyes.

"Two down."

"Two..." Fox laughed softly. "Oh. Can't we count this as three?"

Alex gave him a confused frown.

"I came twice in this room."

"Oh. Nope. Sorry. We could come six times each tonight in this room, and
it'd still only count as one."

Fox closed his eyes and tried to suppress a smile. "There isn't any time
limit, is there?"

"No, but..." Green eyes sparkled with diabolical glee. "What time is it?"

Fox checked his watch. "Eight-twelve."

"That's all? Hell, we've got almost four more hours."

"To do *what*?"

"Each other, baby. In every room." Alex licked a straight line across his
lover's mouth. "If we're fast enough, we might even get the front porch in
tonight."

"You're out of your mind," Fox said matter-of-factly as he scattered soft
kisses along the side of Alex's neck.

"Yeah," Alex purred as he writhed against him, "but you love me."

END

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