Mulder pulled away from the lightly snoring body of his lover...if that was what he could call Alex. He hadn't mentioned Walter once in Alex's prescence and wasn't sure if he should. He stared at the ceiling, trying to decide, but was pulled from his thoughts with A shock when Alex rose and captured his lips with his own.

Alex sucked on that irrisistable bottom lip that he had seen pouting most sexily, and then pulled away to gaze into those beautiful almond shaped eyes of Mulder's. "Damn, I wish things were as they were. I wish I could make everything better." He sighed, pulling away. "Fox...I - I have seen Walter. I am trying--"

"You have seen Walter?" Mulder cried in shock, sitting up on the bed. Alex followed him, unconsciously petting him in an effort to calm him.

"Mulder, he was so awful. What did you do to him?"

"Me?!"

"Yes, you! You must have devastated him."

Mulder shook his head. "Alex, he was already devastated by your running away. I have never seen him so listless before. Not even after the divorce from his wife!"

Alex looked saddened by what his lover was saying. His shoulders drooped. "I- I had no choice, Fox. You know that if I hadn't returned to the Consortium they would have come after me. You know what the outcome of that would have been."

Mulder rose from the bed and glared at him. He folded his arms, angry, and then pouted briefly, knowing that Alex was right. No amount of love could have kept Alex free from the Consortium.

Seeing that Mulder accepted his words, Alex left the bed and moved closer to the FBI agent, pulled open those folded arms and lay his head down on his lover's chest.

"I wish I could leave the Consortium but I can't, you know that. Maybe with me working on the inside, I could help out. Don't you see?"

Mulder groaned. "Yes, I do see. But it's still painful."

His hand was rubbing down the smooth back of the man he loved. Just then Alex stiffened against Mulder. He pulled away to look into Mulder's eyes. "Wait a minute. Did I just hear you correctly? Do you mean that when Walter was feeling his absolute worst you just left him?!"

Mulder turned away from the accusing look and tone directed at him. After a moment he turned back to his lover and said, "I - I had no choice. I was falling apart too, but in another way...I needed something to keep me in control. I wanted Walter to help me so that I might help him too. But he wouldn't do anything, Alex. Nothing! I grew tired of watching him drink himself to a stupor every night. I certainly was unable to stop him. I tried, though, I swear I did."

Alex turned away from Mulder, shaking his head. "This happened before he went to the hospital, didn't it?"

"Yes. Believe me, if I was still with him at that time, I wouldn't be here."

Alex turned back to Mulder and took a deep breath. "I believe you, Fox."

Just then the door opened and their master entered. They scrambled to assume their proper positions.

"Very good, my boys. You are doing very well." He ran a hand down Mulder's cheek and a thumb over Alex's lips. "Just beautiful. I love to see that a little freedom didn't lessen my hold on you two." He paused and thought. "I think a stint in the gym would do you both good. What do you say? You like that idea? Good. Come on, Cat and Pup. Time for a bit of exercise."

Jeff let them follow him out to the gym. After their workout, he left them to make their way back to their rooms for a shower. He said they could not leave the facilities just yet, but they were free to go anywhere they liked. Mulder tried to get Alex to join him in his room, but he told him he would meet him there later.

Alex grabbed a cell phone he found in a desk drawer in the office and dialed Skinner's home number. The usual gruff tone was a relief to hear and he asked cheerfully, "Hey, how are you holding up?"

"Alex, we are not buddies anymore. Why pretend you care?"

Alex took a deep breath. "Walter, you know I love you, regardless of anything else. I need you to do me a favor--call Mulder for me."

"What? Why would I do that? He's made it clear he's fed up with me."

"But you've sobered up. I'm sure he would be happy to see you now..."

"Alex, what's going on?"

"I'm just worried about him and he's worried about you..."

"You've seen him?"

"Yes, Walter. I have. I think you and he need to talk. You both love each other and you both can get what you need from each other..."

"Alex, I want us all to be back together."

Alex sharply inhaled a breath. "I would love that too, Walter, but it's not in the cards right now. You know what I am dealing with. I don't want to involve Fox in any of it. You have to promise not to tell him what's going on."

Walter sighed. "Are you sure he wants to see me?"

"Very sure."

Walter paused to make up his mind then said, "Very well. I'll try to reach him."

Alex beamed into the phone. "I knew there was a reason I loved you, Walter Skinner."

Walter snorted. "What a way to show it!"

They said a painful goodbye then rang off. Alex returned quickly to the bedroom, knowing that slaves really were not allowed in that part of the office, but not overly concerned. Not many people here questioned a naked slave anywhere for the most part. He could have been on an errand for his master. He entered the bedroom to find Mulder laying flat on his back staring at the ceiling much like he had earlier.

"Hey, babe. I missed you." He lay down on one side of the bed and curled up next to the supine body. He reached over and ran his hand up and down the smooth expanse of his lover's chest and belly. A shiver ran through Mulder's body.

"Can I make love to you, Fox?" he asked, his voice tremulous, knowing this could be the last time for a long time that he could make love to his Fox.

"You spoke to Walter."

It was a statement, not a question, and Alex paused for a moment, deciding how best to answer. "And if I did?"

Mulder shook his head. Alex sighed and grabbed Mulder's face to look straight into his eyes. "I will not hurt Walter, I love him. Just as I would never hurt you."

Mulder pulled away. "But you did that already, Alex."

Alex flopped down on his back beside Mulder with a sigh, unsure what to say when there was a knock at the door. Jeff entered and they scrambled up from the bed and froze into their proper positions.

"Pup, your cell phone has been ringing. I know how important your job is, so I will let you answer it." He handed the phone to his sub who took it gratefully. The phone began to ring again. Jeff smiled. "I will leave you to it. Cat, come with me."

Alex wondered what Jeff could want of him, but was glad he would be out of the room when Mulder talked to Skinner.

***

"Mulder," he spoke into the phone. There was silence at first and he was on the verge of hanging up when Walter said, "Hey, you answered finally. I know you are on vacation, but I just wanted to see how you were doing..."

Mulder sighed. "I miss you, Walter."

Walter groaned. "I miss you too, Piggie."

Mulder chuckled. "Back to name calling again, Daddy Warbucks?"

"What did you call me, Agent?"

Mulder moaned. "Oh, I love it when you get all AD on me, sir."

"Mulder..." Walter paused long enough that Mulder asked, "Yes?"

"When you return...would you come home?"

Mulder sighed then nodded. "Yes. I want to see you, Walter."

Walter sounded choked up when he whispered, "Thanks, Mulder...I want to see you so badly."

Mulder nearly cried out at hearing such emotion from the usually so in control man. "I-I know that Alex has been to see you..."

"Alex? You have seen him?"

"Yes..." Now he felt like a complete heel for keeping from the man he loved just where he was and what he was doing. "I should never have left you..."

"Oh, baby, I didn't want you to stay with me the way I was."

"I'll be home soon, Walter, I promise."

"I can't wait, baby."

"I'll see you soon." Mulder turned off the cell phone. He would just have to convince Jeff that he was called away for an important business meeting.

***

In the office, Jeff pulled Alex into his lap and kissed his Cat's neck. "I have been so busy that I haven't had time to be with you two as much as I would have liked." He sighed, then continued, "I have been given instructions for you to carry out. If Pup is leaving, I want you to return to the house and await my instructions, understand, my Cat?"

"Yes, Master."

Jeff ran his hands all over his Cat's willing body, loving the way his slave seemed to purr in his embrace. He nibbled on Cat's ear, making the eager young man pant and squirm as his hard cock bounced up. His master promptly took the cock in hand and caressed it.

"Such a beauty. I shall miss you when you are away. Especially this pretty thing." The Master played with his slave until Alex was moaning and bucking up into his Master's fist, whining, "Please..."

Jeff bit his slave's earlobe and whispered, "Go fuck your Pup once more. I'm sure he will be leaving shortly."

He swatted the full round ass that rose from his lap and immediately regretted not fucking it. But he had been told by his own Master that he was not to take pleasure in anyone but him in that way, and Jeff would never go against the wishes of his Master.

***

Alex hurried along the corridors, trying hard not to let ANYONE distract him from his goal of finding his lover's ass and fucking it into the mattress. His Master had given him permission. He saw the twins he had been with once before. They were hot and insatiable, but he continued on his way without a second glance. When he burst into the room, Mulder was trying to find some clothing to wear.

"Mulder, what are you doing? You can't leave yet!"

"And why not?" Mulder asked indignantly.

"Because you have to be given permission by Master and right now he's given me permission to fuck you into the mattress."

"Oh, he has? How do I know this?"

Alex growled and pushed him down on the bed and proceeded to prove to his lover just who was boss. Alex bit hard into Mulder's neck, marking him like the animal he was named after. Alex wanted to mark his lover as his, knowing full well it would probably be Walter who saw it first.

"You just want to mark me so Walter will know you've been with me," murmured Mulder, living up to his 'spooky' reputation even as he began to pant from the actions of his lover which sent shivers up his spine.

"Oh god, baby. I want to be with you both, but I can't," Alex breathed against Mulder's bruised flesh.

Mulder didn't say anything, knowing it would be futile. But he gasped aloud as Alex's mouth and teeth attacked his nipples. Alex snickered against his lover's flesh, causing Mulder to struggle against the wiggling Cat atop him. Mulder surprised his snickering lover by flipping them both over and suddenly he was looking down at the wide eyed younger man with a grin on his face.

"Let's see who fucks who into the mattress!" Mulder pounced, sucking on Alex's earlobe while squeezing first one then the other nipple between thumb and forefinger, adding a twist at the end that made the other man groan.

"Oh god!" Alex felt like he was being mauled by an overgrown pup.

The puppy quickly changed into a overpassionate man as Alex felt a hot dripping cock press insistently against his own. Mulder humped against him, and Alex answered with a few thrusts of his own. Soon, they were kissing and humping and rubbing against each other like two snakes mating. Their tongues moving to the rhythm of their bodies and their heightened blood pressure. Pulling his mouth away, Mulder bit into the juncture of his lover's neck and shoulder causing Alex to cry out and cum between them. The agent atop him writhed then thrust one last time over his overheated slick skin and groaned as he came.

After their breathing and their pulse rates slowed to normal, Alex's fingers sought Mulder's ass and whispered, "Damn, I wanted to get inside you once more."

"Maybe next time." Mulder winked at his lover then rose to get a washcloth for them.

"So, you plan on seeing me again?"

"You better believe it, Alex. I want you, even if it has to be without Walter. I will accept you however I can get you."

Mulder began to clean the man but Alex pulled him down to kiss him deeply.

"I love you, Fox. Never forget that."

Mulder lay in Alex's arms, languidly cleaning them both off before pulling away. When he returned, he lay atop Alex and looked deeply into the pools of deep green ocean that were Alex's eyes. "I love you and I won't give you up without a fight." He bent and kissed his lover deeply

***

Walter was feeling better than he had in ages. Just knowing that Alex was alright and in contact with them both was more than he could ever had hoped. The nanobyte situation was something he would just have to contend with in the future and only if it affected his life. Until then, he wasn't about to worry over something he had no control over. He knew, though, that the Consortium saving his life was just the starting point. There was going to be more to come. He wasn't a fool. But the fact that Mulder was coming home totally overshadowed the prospect of future double dealing.

He cleaned up his apartment, though it didn't really need it. He tried to make himself look presentable, worrying that the abuse he had done through neglect of himself might make him undesirable to his lover and then he wandered around the apartment wondering where he should sit and how...or should he be sitting at all. He laughed at himself for being a fool. And laughed again and said to himself, "You're a fool in love, Walter Sergei Skinner. Admit it once and for all."

Just then there was a knock at the door. His pulse raced as he rose from the sofa. When his hand touched the knob, he paused to take a deep breath, and then opened it. He wanted to slam the door when he saw it was Mrs. Grimes from down the hall. The woman never had good news to tell him...luckily it was mainly about her family and the tragedy rarely involved Skinner personally unless the one time he spent listening to her. She hadn't been to see him since long before he started seeing Mulder. Something must be up.

"Hello, Walter. It's good to see you. I heard you went away for a bit and I didn't get a chance to say goodbye. Did you have a safe trip?"

Walter nodded, letting the old woman enter his apartment in spite of himself. She sat primly on the sofa, waiting for the usual cup of coffee he would eventually make for her.

"Yes, ma'am, I did, thank you for asking." Walter quickly shuffled off to the kitchen to get a cup for his neighbor. When he returned, she looked up as if surprised he remembered what she liked. She took the cup and sipped cautiously, then paused and said enigmatically, "Your young man is a very nice boy. He helped me last week with my groceries. You don't see such good manners these days in one so young. You should keep him."

Walter was shocked she knew anything about who he was with and was mortified she knew Alex. "A-Alex helped you?"

"Oh yes, he did. Such a nice boy. I just wanted to give him something..." She reached into a pocket of her sweater and pulled out a quarter and looked distinctly at Walter until he put out his palm. "There, you be sure he gets that when you see him again."

Walter wanted to laugh out loud at the absurdity of it all, but he did his best to keep decorum in front of his elderly neighbor. She waited, watching closely until he put it in his shirt pocket. Then she smiled.

"Well, I'd best be getting back, Max gets upset when I leave him too long."

Max was her large tom cat, a mangy one eared creature that was probably older than she was by now. Walter found him one day in his laundry basket when he was washing his clothes. He wasn't sure what exactly had taken up residence in his fine washables, but it had hissed and clawed at him repeatedly, refusing to budge from it's spot. Walter wasn't sure of what to do until Mrs. Grimes had come to the rescue by saying, "Max, get out of the nice man's laundry."

Walter had been amazed that the big tom had listened to the frail old woman, who barely reached his chest in height and probably weighed all of about eighty pounds. From then on, the old woman would come by his place, talk about her family, and then return to her apartment. There never was a set time that she would come; rather, she woud show up intermittently, though always whenever she was aware he was at home and not busy. She seemed to know the exact moment to come by and sit with him. It was uncanny, really.

"Oh, make sure that other fella of yours eats better. He is way too thin." With this last cryptic remark, she toddled off out the door. He stared after her like he expected the door to do a shimmy, or something Mulder would have loved to investigate, but all it did was reverberate with another knock. He was almost afraid to open it, thinking Mrs. Grimes must have forgotten something, and wondering if she would want more coffee. He finally opened it and was nearly bowled over by Mulder jumping into the apartment while rubbing his ass.

"Damn, Walter. I didn't know you had such predatory neighbors."

"Mulder?"

"She pinched my ass and told me I needed to gain some weight."

Walter burst out laughing, snorting and guffawing so hard he was nearly crying. He tried to stop but the hurt look on Mulder's face just kept him going.

"Well, that old broad has sharp fingers!" whined Mulder.

Walter went up to his lover and, holding back a pocket of giggles, he kissed those pouting lips. "It's good to see you, baby."

Mulder sighed. "Yeah, me too."

A big grin split Walter's face. Mulder pouted then growled, "Go ahead."

Walter started laughing again.
 
Continued in Chapter 23