Disclaimer:  Chris Carter owns them.  I merely allow them to visit me, and they
never pay for what they eat.

Rated:PG13 for implied M/M sexuality and naughty thoughts.  Don't read it thinking it,s comparatively safe though, it's as warped as the rest of the story.

Thank you to the many people who have assisted me in the making of this saga.  Lucy Snowe for her sterling beta as well as Paula, the detail demon, who betad way back when.  Orithain, Aries, Nicole and Frankie, my Greek chorus, and the many people who have said they like what I'm doing.  This story has a long way to go yet.

Plot:  Alex Krycek had to be doing something when he was off camera during season 6.  This is it.

Archive?  Only if you tell me about it.

Feedback?  Oh, yeah_.need lots of feedback.  Where's my feedback?  If you don't
send it, I'll come and get it, and I may never go home!  sashworth@home.com

Guilt Edged 2 #5 "Don't Stand So Close To Me." By Dr. Ruthless *****************************************************

He wandered into the old man's bathroom and showered quickly, then put his denims back on, combed his hair and went in search of Mulder.  He found him stretched out on his bed. Lying on his belly with his feet kicked up high, he was leafing through one of Alex's books.  Mulder looked up at Alex.

"Krycek, this is your room, isn't it?  I don't want to take your room."  He had obviously been looking around, checking out the contents of the drawers and cupboards.  Alex was sure he could not have missed the two prosthetic arms that lay in the closet.  One had been given to him immediately after the amputation for purely cosmetic reasons.  The second had been a replacement after the lengthy surgery he had endured. It was still clumsy, but had at least been made to fit his stump and had not been so painful to wear.  They had both been superseded by the arm he now wore.  It was very new and he was still learning to use it.  It had been bought for him by the Brit, who had told Alex when sending him for fittings, that he required Alex to be as fully functional as he could be.  At the time, Alex had laughed and said something flippant about Star Trek and Data, but he had been grateful, even when the clasp of it on his arm bruised, and chafed, and caused his skin to blister.

The new prosthesis was a marvel of microtechnology and permitted Alex to make movements he had thought lost forever.  He no longer required cumbersome straps that bound and chafed, impairing the grace of his movement.  Now, a sleeve fitted snugly onto his stump and to all intents and purposes he had a new arm.

Mulder's eyes were fixed on him, and Krycek brought his mind back to the present.

"Mulder, you'll take my room because I say you will.  You're to follow my instructions, remember?"  Alex beckoned Mulder out of the room and together they descended the staircase into the kitchen.  The maid had prepared lasagna, salad, garlic bread and steamed vegetables, and all Alex had to do was lay them out on the table.  He proceeded to do just that, and finally the two of them began to eat.  Mulder chewed silently for a few minutes before laying his fork down.

"What do you have planned for me?  Are you going to rape me, Alex?  Are you going to do it to me the way I did it to you?"  Alex glanced up from his plate.  He had heard a tone of regret in his prisoner's voice, and felt unsure again.  His groin was stirring too, despite his recent activity, and he ruthlessly suppressed any twinges of desire he was feeling.

"As always, you go straight to the heart of the matter.  I don't intend to rape you, Mulder.  I don't plan on causing you any harm at all.  I just want to show you the way that the things you did affected me."  Alex was quiet.  Mulder had to strain to hear the words as he spoke them.  "Did you know when you abandoned me in the forest that those moujhiks would hack off my arm?  They did, you know.  They waited until I was sleeping and then held me down and hacked it off
with a red-hot blade.  Do you want to see?"

One-handed, he began to unbutton the denim shirt he wore, slipping out of it to reveal his naked torso.  Mulder put his palms flat on the table and half-rose as if to leave, but then slowly relaxed.  As Alex began to release the mechanism that held his prosthetic arm in place, Mulder sagged back down into his seat with a look of sick horror on his face.  At last, as Alex laid the prosthesis across his knee, Mulder could see the truly sickening thing that had been done to him.  He could see the scars, the blisters from the prosthesis, and the reddened patches where it chafed white skin.  As Alex looked on, he saw the remote look in Mulder's eyes, and watched him bow his head.  A moment later, Mulder's shoulders began to shake and Alex realized the other man was weeping.


Quickly fastening his arm back in place, he put his shirt back on and began to clear away the dishes, covering the leftover food and putting it into the refrigerator.  Taking a bowl of fruit salad out of the fridge, he placed it on the table.

"Dessert?"

Mulder glumly shook his head and sat, dull-eyed and unresponsive.  Alex helped himself to a little of the fruit and glanced at Mulder, trying to gauge the honesty of the man's response.

Mulder finally looked up again, evidence of grief still on his face, and seeing Alex watching him intently, tried to explain.

"The man in the cell next to me told me you were betraying me.  He told me you were bailing out and leaving me.  You had no reason to stay with me any more and I saw you hugging the soldier.  You were going to escape and leave me behind."  Mulder's voice was loud in the quiet of the house, impinging on Alex's ear like a wild animal crying in the night.

"Mulder, that soldier_ that soldier was the camp supervisor.  I fucked him just to get us a safe passage out of there.  It was the first time I ever let someone screw me for what I could get out of it.  He was going to drive us out that night if you could have waited just a little while longer."  Alex turned his intense, green gaze on Mulder and again had the satisfaction of seeing his face crumple.  "Once you had received the shots and gained immunity from possession by the black oil there was no longer any reason for us to be there.  We would have been away from there and back in Frankfurt the next day."

Mulder was quiet.  One might even have thought he was in shock.  He sat, stunned, while Alex cleared the table, filled the dishwasher and set it going.  The maid had left for the day and the house was silent as the early evening sun glowed red gold through the windows warming the two men as they sat facing each other.  The sunlight cast shadows over their faces, the one ecstatic and the other devastated.  Mulder stirred.

"I loved you, you know?  I still do.  I felt that everything you did was in mockery of me.  I hated you for the way you betrayed me.  I hated you because I loved you and you didn't care."  Alex nodded, and the two were silent again.  Finally Alex checked his watch.

"Are you feeling up to going out?  There's something I want to do, but I need you to come with me."  Mulder, lost in his own memories, took a moment to respond, then nodded.  Alex stood up, pushing his chair back under the table and gesturing with his head towards the door.  Mulder, who was being torn from the thoughts that raced though his mind, appeared a little vague.  "I don't have shoes.  Your shoes don't fit me.  I tried them.  Too small."

"We'll stop by your place on the way.  You can get changed and pack a bag, okay?"  Mulder nodded and Alex led him through the door at the rear of the kitchen.  As they entered the garage, Mulder saw the cars parked side by side.  He had not until this moment been thinking clearly.  Now he turned to Alex.

"Krycek, It's obvious you've been living here.  Whose house is this?  I mean, it's beautiful.  Do you own it?"  Mulder was taking in his surroundings and for once appeared totally overwhelmed.

"Yeah, it's mine.  It's all mine.  I live here alone."  He didn't elaborate, and Mulder said no more as Alex unlocked his car and gestured for Mulder to climb in.

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

They drove to Mulder's apartment, and Mulder packed himself some clothes, changing into jeans and leather jacket in unconscious imitation of Alex.  His feet were now tidily tucked away into running shoes and once Mulder was dressed in his own clothes, both men drove off into the evening.  A short time later they arrived at the hospital where Scully had been brought that morning.  As they waited for the elevator to take them to the ward where Scully lay recovering from her ordeal, Alex put his hand on Mulder's arm.

"You can do and say anything you like as long as it,s nothing against me.  As far as Scully is concerned, you and I have been friends for years, okay?"  Alex's voice was intense, and warning signals flashed in his eyes as he stared the other man down.

"Won't that be difficult to rationalize?  She knows that I hated you.  She knows I wanted to kill you."  Alex's smile turned deadly. 

"Don't forget our agreement.  You are going to do what I order you for 48 hours, right?  So far it's only been six hours.  Are you gong to keep your word the way I did?  Or are you just a miserable, worthless cocksucker after all?"  His face showed fury, and something more.  He was showing Mulder ample reason to believe that he, Alex, could be a killer.  Mulder quailed visibly as Alex's face resumed its normal expression.  His inner beast returned to its lair, and Alex smiled as the elevator finally appeared.

"Here we are.  Let's go.  Fuck it up, Fox, and I will kill you."  Mulder, entering the elevator on Alex's heels, did not doubt it for a minute.

Scully was sitting up in bed when the two of them walked into her room.  As they entered, she registered Mulder first, smiling at him as she accepted the flowers and the kiss on her cheek.  Then she turned to Alex and her brows drew together in a frown as she recognized him.

"Mulder?  What does this mean?  Why is Krycek here?"  She made a vague gesture towards Alex, who had assumed his very best "harmless puppy" expression. Mulder, who had sat down on the edge of her bed, patted her hand, ate a few grapes from the bowl beside her bed, and grinned at her when she smacked at his hand.

"He rescued you, Scully.  He saved both our lives.  If he hadn't turned up when he did we would be frozen memories now."

Scully studied Alex suspiciously and then turned to Mulder.

"I don't understand.  I thought you hated him, Mulder."

"God, Scully, it's complicated, but believe me when I say I've been wrong about him.  We would have died.  We were already dying when he arrived.  He rescued us.  He brought us back from Antarctica. It's because of him that we're alive to tell the tale, though it looks as though you've taken a battering, kid."  Mulder put out an idle finger, skimming across lips that were dry and peeling, before turning to Alex.  "Tell her, Alex."

Alex sat back in the chair at the foot of the bed, radiating cute harmlessness.

"It was nothing really." The grin on his face was goofy and altogether sexy.  "I just happened to be in the neighborhood_"  Scully shot him a glare.

"In Antarctica?  Don't give me that shit!  What were you doing there?"  Her voice was cold, although he had not missed the way her icy blue stare had checked him out, was still checking him out.  He adjusted his posture carefully, focusing on the redhead, sending a muted message of sensuality her way even though he was aware of tension emanating from the watching Fox.

Scully licked dry lips and looked away.  Seeing the dull flush of color rise to stain her cheeks, Alex grinned inwardly.

//Yes, It's do-able, and it might even be fun! //

"I wish I could tell you why I was there, but I can't.  Suffice it to say that it would put lives in danger.  I'm just glad I was able to help."  The sincerity in his voice resonated in Scully, he could see it, and inwardly gloated.

"Fox, we shouldn't tire Miss Scully out.  She's still recovering."  He stood up and went towards Mulder, who was perched on the edge of the bed.  As he went, he held out his hand to Scully, who, he was pleased to see, appeared mesmerized by his pantherish gait and apparently unconscious sexuality.  She was so surprised that she took the hand, shook it, and appeared not to notice when he held it a fraction too long for good manners.  Her gaze rose from the rapt contemplation of his midsection to those killer eyes.  They met and held hers, guilelessly.

"I hope we can be friends now.  There are explanations for everything."  Alex spoke quietly, but both Scully and Mulder gave a sigh as he finished speaking.  Alex moved back to lean against the wall, thrusting his hips forward, and hooking his thumbs into his belt, as he watched Mulder exchange comforting words and smiles with his partner.  He made no overt movement, merely taking note of each time Scully's eyes flickered over him, each time she checked out his crotch.  He could feel himself beginning to stir at her interest.  This was good.  This was very good.  His jeans were tight and well worn.  Alex could see her eyes widen as she ran her gaze over him for about the fifth time.  Whatever she had been saying to Mulder abruptly dried on her lips and Alex judged that it was time to stop today.

"Come on, Fox, It's late, and Miss Scully's tired.  We need to go now.  We can come back tomorrow if you like."  Mulder nodded, patting the hand he had been holding.  He bent forward and brushed her cheek with his lips before rising and following Alex from the room.

Once they were on their way back to the car Mulder grabbed Alex's shoulder.  "What was that all about?  What are you doing?"  He sounded irritated, not understanding Alex's actions.  Alex smiled.

"It's time to make peace with everyone.  I don't want to spend the rest of my life at war with people who matter to me."  His thick lashes veiled his eyes as he shot Mulder a glance to see how he was reacting.  Mulder's face was a study in 'I want to believe', and a wry grin appeared fleetingly on Alex's face as he watched the other man wrestle with his words.

//Oh, Mulder, whatever happened to "Trust No-one"? //

"We'll go and see her tomorrow.  She'll be much better by then.  It's not fair to tax her while she's still a bit out of it.  Let's go home.  In the morning I have a job for you."  Together, the two of them climbed back into Alex's BMW and pulled away.

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

Alex woke with the dawn and lay thinking of the day to come.  He had definite plans for Mulder and now was the time to begin putting them into operation.

He thought about Mulder and the things he was planning.  His mind wandered to Dana Scully.  He had made a good start there.  She may not like him, but she had been interested, that was definite.  Even though she had bristled at him she hadn't been able to take her eyes off him.  More particularly, she had been drawn to the center of him.  He had known instantly that she was attracted to him, and that with care she would succumb to his charms.  He smiled to himself.  Success was coming his way.

He headed for the bathroom, shaving quickly and then hopping into the shower.  Images of the little redhead were still with him.  In his mind's eye she lay under him, spread and open for him as he buried his face in her, his tongue stroking and swirling around the soft pink tissue of her.

Glancing down at himself, he snorted with laughter as his cock jolted to attention.  He took hold of it, thinking to stroke himself to orgasm and get rid of the annoyance, then reconsidered, and allowed his hand to fall away.  It would give him an edge when they went to visit Scully later in the day.  He knew she would be aware of how needy he was, even if she didn't know how, or why, she knew.

His cock subsided a little bit after he emerged from under the shower although it hung heavy between his thighs.  As he pulled on his silk shirt and his form fitting denim he was aware that he would be giving both Mulder and Scully a show.  Alex reflected on the irony of the two partners in a battle for his favors, hurrying to get on with the day, he slapped on cologne, brushed his hair, and moved off out of his mentor's old room.

Entering Mulder's room, he was surprised to see the FBI agent was still sleeping.  Alex stood watching him for a short while, admiring the slim, taut body splayed out in sleep as if for his approval.  He had known that Mulder was well made, and now, with the sheet down around his knees, the sleeping man was completely exposed to Alex's considering gaze.  His arm was flung carelessly over his face and his lips were slightly parted, showing white teeth and the tip of a pink tongue.  His chin was dark with morning beard, and his skin was pale in contrast to the sprinkling of curls scattered over his chest, trailing down over his flat belly to cluster around the erection he was sporting right now.

//One day I will.  One day he'll get what's coming to him, but not today.  Not now. //

Alex shook the elbow that had been flung out beside him. And Mulder stretched, grumbling, before coming awake with a start.

"Rise and shine, Fox, I need you to do some work for me."  Alex turned and made for the door.  "Breakfast will be ready in 20 minutes.  I'll see you downstairs." With that, he padded away.

After breakfast, Alex wasted no time at all in setting Mulder to work.  He brought out a thick stack of files and dumped them down next to his rangy visitor.

"I need a profile on this man.  I release I don't have much time with you so I want you to get started now and do as much as you can.  You probably realize that there are things at stake here.  I assure you that the future of the world, and the humanity which dwells on it are dependent on the job you do."  Mulder, interested now, opened the flyleaf of the first folder and studied the photo inside.  There was no name, but he certainly knew the man depicted there.

Cancerman.

Frowning, but eager, Mulder bent to his task.

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

When Alex came back into the study, he found the other man totally absorbed in files, with papers and notes scattered everywhere.  He didn't look up as Alex approached,  bearing a mug of coffee.  Alex cast about vainly for an empty space to put it in, before finally giving up.

"Fox, can you clear a space?  Fox!"  He found himself almost yelling in an attempt to attract the other man's attention.  He clicked his tongue to himself as he remembered the depths of the man's concentration from the brief time when
they were partners.

Mulder jumped and then rummaged through papers to clear the small space needed so Alex could put down his cup.  His eyes were gleaming as he worked in a way that Alex remembered well, and was truly happy to see.

"How's it coming?  You look as if you're getting somewhere."  His offhand inquiry sounded casual, but Alex's breath was tight in his chest as he waited for Mulder's reply.  He had seen this man at work, and knew that while his results were always accurate, his methods were usually unorthodox to say the least.  He was not at all sure whether he had enough time with Mulder to complete the profile.

Mulder grinned at him.

"I would have paid to do this, Alex.  I've wanted to know about him for years.  I'm getting there."  He gestured to the papers he had taped to the wall, most of them covered in Mulder's spiky hand writing, while more had headers waiting to be fleshed out.  "What a cold, hard son of a bitch!"

Alex uttered a curse that could only have been Russian and growled at Mulder, who looked at him consideringly for a long, frozen moment in time.  Nodding to himself, he returned to his introspection before bombarding Alex with a whole new set of questions about the smoker. 

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

The morning had passed by rapidly as the two men worked.  When Alex had suggested that they go and visit Scully, Mulder had been amazingly difficult to prize away from his task.  Alex had growled and threatened, finally coercing the other man into making the trip to the hospital.  Mulder had been silent all the way, chewing his lower lip with an intensity that made Alex shiver.

As they parked the BMW, Mulder suddenly turned to Alex and gave him a dark, intense stare, stripped of all artifice.  "Alex, I do really love you.  I wish you could see how much."  He leaned forward and grazed Alex's mouth with his lips before drawing back. 

Alex smoldered at him for a brief moment and then flashed Mulder a sardonic grin.

"Okay, Fox, we're even now.  Just don't push it.  You and I are not going to be lovers any time soon, and you may as well learn to live with it."  So saying, he emerged from the car.

When they arrived at Scully's room this time, the petite redhead had just finished her lunch.  She looked up as they came through the door and smiled as she saw Mulder.  Looking beyond him to Alex, who was following behind, she blushed and her face became unreadable.

Mulder went straight to her and handed her the things he had brought her with a flourish.  There was a bunch of flowers hastily bought from the hospital store, and a book on origami, which he presented to her, telling her that she might just as well put her time in the hospital to good use.

"I want to see those napkins shaped like swans, Scully.  I know you can do it."  The look she gave him was the kind reserved by an older sister for her idiot sibling.

Alex waited for this ceremony to come to a close before approaching her and stooping to plant a peck on her cheek.  He handed her a small package which, when opened, proved to contain a dopey-looking stuffed penguin.

"I got it because something about it reminded me of Mulder.  I think it's the beak!"  He grinned shyly and backed out of the way to lounge against the wall in his favorite spot, while he watched Dana Scully trying to decide how to react to him.

They chatted for a while.  Alex took little part in the conversation, content merely to watch Dana as she bantered back and forth with her partner.  It was obvious that she was feeling nervous and slowly, Mulder recognized the fact.  Then he did what Alex had been counting on, and began to sulk.

Alex had reasoned that Mulder would be jealous.  Not only did he want Alex himself, but Scully was his partner.  He was watching them engage in some peculiar, unspoken courtship dance, feeling distinctly left out.

Finally Alex smiled at Scully.

"Fox, we need to go.  There's a lot still left to be done.  We can come back later this evening if you would like?"  His raised eyebrow made it a question, and she nodded slightly, murmuring thanks and telling them that she expected to be discharged the following day.

As they turned and left again, Mulder demanded furiously to know exactly what it was that Alex was trying to do.  Alex just laughed at him and Mulder stalked alongside him in silence, eyes flashing as he punished his lower lip with his teeth.
 
Once back at the house, Alex steered him back to the kitchen where lunch was waiting for them in the form of new bread fresh from the oven, a salad with chicken and an apple pie.

Mulder picked his way through lunch and kept up the bombardment of questions.  Alex shot answers back to him, brow furrowed in his efforts to be accurate. 

The meal done, they left the table and threaded their way back through the house to the study that Mulder had been using, and settled down to work.  An image of the smoker was on the TV monitor and, from time to time, Fox would sit back, staring at it while Alex watched him.

"He's a dangerous man, Fox.  Beneath the polite 'old-boy exterior,' he's a killer."  Mulder turned to face Alex, concern on his features.

"That's why you won't beat him.  You care, Alex.  You try not to, but you care.  He doesn't.  He doesn't care at all.  He's subsumed all his weaknesses, and now there's only the man and he's hollow.  You can make him obey you by coercion, but look out, he's as slippery as an eel and would have you put out of his way so incredibly fast..." Alex smiled a little.

"Good job I have insurance then?  Yes, I thought so.  One day he and I will finish what we've started, but right now he's necessary to unite certain factions within the group.  He knows he can't just kill me, but he's trying to slow me down because he knows too that we don't want the same end to this sorry tale.  I don't think he hates me, he just can't bear that someone else might have a hold on him, and I do. 

Mulder was listening happily, occasionally making notes on the various papers that covered the wall.

Alex laughed.  "It was he who sent me to pull the two of you out of Antarctica.  He thinks he'll divert me by involving me with you."

"And won't he?  True, he probably thinks that you love me, though nothing could be further from the truth, but then I never told anyone what I did to you.  I find it hard enough to admit to myself."  Mulder's voice was low, and Alex found himself drawing closer and closer in an effort to hear what he was saying.

"Fox, I don't know what you think you did to me, but if you want, I'll tell you.  When I was sent to be your partner, I was told that I was your type and that I was to use whatever means were available to me to gain your trust.  He meant for us to become lovers, and I have to admit that made me angry.  I shied away from you because it seemed so cynical.  Then when we were enemies, it no longer seemed possible.  It was obvious how much you hated me.  I wanted to kill you but then you made amends.  I was going to get us out of there.  I gave myself to the camp commander and we would have been free that evening.  Who knows, we might have been lovers for real, but you jumped the gun.  You broke me out.  Then you left me to sink or swim with a pack of ignorant moujhiks and I had to say goodbye to my nice ideas pretty damned fast.  I spent two years whoring, and it's only been a short time since I realized that there are other ways of making things work."  Alex was silent then, and Mulder reached for his hand, pulling it to him and kissing the palm.

"Alex, I'm so_" he pressed his face to Alex's hand, unable to continue.  Alex remained still for a few seconds more, then drew his hand away gently.

"So you see, I have few qualms about fucking people, and I'm not anxious to get into a relationship right now.  I'm not ruling you out, Fox, but you have to wait.  It's not going to happen now, if it ever does."  He turned on his heel and left the room, leaving Mulder to sit alone with his thoughts.

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


Sue aka Dr. Ruthless

<sashworth@home.com> ICQ#14783367 <Alyosha303 on IM> <Xtrovert1@aol.com>

That's underwear, ladies and gentlemen~Nick Lea (Access Hollywood)


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