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A Gathering of Scoundrels

Book VII: A Closing Tempest
by Carla Jane


Prologue


Nathan Muckle liked the solitude of the early morning in the Agency archives. Most of the directors and agents who worked here didn't shift into action until later in the day. During this time Nathan would take the opportunity to pursue a personal project of his. Cloaked by the many blinds that the Agency's computer network employed, Nathan felt safe enough to go into an Internet chat room.

A tight smile crept onto his face as Nathan realised his favourite contact was on line for the first time in days.

<Caveman> Benji! I was afraid something had happened to you.

Nathan typed in the words, while at the same time inviting Benji into a private room. Nathan then waited for the kid to get around to noticing him. The reply came up inside the new room, as expected. Benji never said much in open chat. He usually just lurked.

<Benji> Sorry Caveman. RL has been topsy. My hours have been seriously strange ever since the Queen moved the palace.

Finding Benji had been a stroke of luck the like of which Nathan had never experienced. In its own way the cyber meeting was even more important to Nathan than being pulled into the Agency as their archivist. Over the last few months Benji had come to trust Nathan and was dribbling out a steady stream of information about the elusive Illuminati. Benji revealed nothing about the business end of the Family but on a more gossipy, personal level, the kid held very little back. Of course all the disclosures were cloaked in the pet names Benji had given everyone. They didn't dare use real names for fear of public exposure.

<Caveman> Is the new location of the Palace permanent?

<Benji> As permanent as anything can be. I'm just glad to be away from heat-stroke central.

Normally Nathan would have chatted for a while then approached the information he wanted more diplomatically but impatience got the better of him this morning.

<Caveman> Have you heard from the Prince and the Pauper?

<Benji> :laughs: You've got it bad for the Prince. I'll bet you like sharks and poisonous spiders too.

<Caveman> The Prince is...

Nathan had to pause a moment before finishing the statement.

<Caveman> The Prince is a powerful force. I knew that the moment I laid eyes on him.

<Benji> The Prince is a self-absorbed prima donna with all the compassion of a hungry rattlesnake. He scares me more than the Queen in some ways.

Before Nathan could respond the kid continued.

<Benji> That night in the hacienda I told him I loved him... and this is the part that freaks me out... I swear to God, I really meant it at that moment. He sneered at me. He laughed in my face then knocked me down and fucked me again. My ass was sore for a week.

Nathan had to swallow down a flush of emotion. Benji had touched on that night before only briefly. His cyber-friend had experienced something that Nathan had been obsessing over. The librarian wasn't sure if he was angrier because Benji wouldn't elaborate on it or because the boy had mentioned it at all.

<Caveman> He kisses like a lightening strike.

Nathan mentioned his single encounter with one of the objects of his obsession, wondering if that would provoke a more graphic description from the other.

<Benji> I spoke to Sappho. She says the Prince and the Pauper are headed to New York with the surviving tube girl now that the sex kitten is buried and the Pauper feels better. The Queen is in a bloody pissy mood. She can't decide who she will use to replace the sex kitten. I'm worried she might decide to use Madonna.

Benji had made no secret of the fact he had it bad for his pregnant companion. Nathan felt sorry for the kid. It looked as if the romance was doomed.

<Benji> Madonna is so special. It would kill me if they gave her to the Prince as his new student but I'm afraid that might be the choice the Queen makes. Madonna is a bit frightened of that possibility too.

<Caveman> Madonna has a good head on her shoulders.

<Benji> I know. She figured out that the tube girls are Sappho and the Prince's progeny. Madonna got into an argument with the Queen about that. She says she's going to tell the Pauper as soon as he comes home. That'd cause such a blow out. I'm trying to convince her not to tell him. I'm afraid the Queen will kill her if she doesn't stay in line... to keep her from getting the Pauper upset, because if the Pauper gets upset the Prince will go ballistic. The Prince is bloody obsessed. It's scary as hell.

Nathan sighed. The mortality rate in the upper echelons of the Illuminati had skyrocketed lately. He offered up a suggestion he'd given several times already.

<Caveman> You should take Madonna and run.

<Benji> There's nowhere we could go that the Queen wouldn't find us. No one gets out of the Family alive.

<Caveman> That's not quite true.

Nathan didn't really want to bring the Agency's personnel into this but it was necessary.

<Caveman> I know someone who was inside and got out. He was hurt but he got out. Have you ever heard of Mac Ramsey?

The pause that stretched out was unnerving.

<Benji> Ramsey was the Prince's lover. He's dead.

<Caveman> He's alive. I saw him yesterday.

Mac seemed to be going out of his way to visit Nathan and the archives lately. It was eerie. Mac seemed to be courting him, but Nathan wasn't sure what the ex-thief wanted from him. Nathan frowned at the screen. It wasn't like his cyber-friend to leave such long pauses between comments. Growing a bit concerned, Nathan offered up some words of encouragement.

<Caveman> If Ramsey got out you can.

<Benji> Madonna will want to talk to Ramsey. She knew him. She'll want proof it's really him. Can you meet us here tomorrow morning? With Ramsey?

<Caveman> I think so.

Nathan typed in the words reluctantly. He didn't really want to deal with Mac, nor did he want to lose his inside source on Victor Mansfield and his twin brother, Alex, but Nathan couldn't help but feel sorry for Benji and his cyber friend's companion. If he could help them he would.

The story

Sharpe double-checked to make sure that Li Ann was deep in concentration on her computer before slipping out of her apartment. The oriental woman's controlling attitude toward him was pushing Sharpe to the edge. Li Ann was keeping him in line with paltry dribbles of information on Alex and promises that she would soon locate Sharpe's former lover, but every day it was growing more difficult to trust her.

Searching through the apartment above Li Ann's the day before had provided some assurance that Alexander lived here. Nothing and no one had a scent quite like Alexander. Richard had ransacked the upstairs bedroom to turn up clothing that still held the lingering scent of Sharpe's long-ago lover. Of course that wasn't proof that Alexander actually lived in the complex, only that he visited.

What Sharpe wanted to do was explore the flat underneath Li Ann's, especially since she had insisted that he not go in there. Something had to be going on. Not another soul seemed to be home in this massive house.

The locks weren't complicated. In a matter of moments Richard let himself into the ground level apartment. He walked in without any expectations. Li Ann's place was stylish and tidy. The upper floor had bordered on stark with its clean modern lines. This place, on the other hand, seemed more like a stereotypical American home. Out of the three it looked the most lived-in with its heavier furniture, scattered clutter and the telly piled with videotapes.

Some paper caught Sharpe's eye. The phone bill was addressed to a 'Victor Roman'. A surveillance report lay in the pile, as did several magazines and an old newspaper from, strangely enough, Toronto Canada. Richard didn't think anything in the mess shouted 'Alexander', but Sharpe's vision of Alex was years out of date and skewed by his less than perfect memory.

Sifting through the videotapes didn't strike a cord either. He found hockey highlights, westerns and, sticking out like a sore thumb, an expose on UFO encounters over the last 50 years. There were a few bare, less dusty, spots on the shelves that suggested things had been recently removed and some of the slots in the CD rack were strangely empty. Richard ran his finger down the line of titles. They were mostly things he didn't recognise with the exception of a few 60's British bands. There wasn't a single classical piece, and that was the only kind of music he'd ever noticed Alexander going out of his way to listen to.

Li Ann must have been telling the truth. The only evidence of his old lover was in that upstairs flat. Richard had no clue who lived down here. Almost absently he padded into the kitchen and popped open a few cupboards. Here, Sharpe found Alexander; dark buckwheat honey, six kinds of cocoa mix, black currant jam, and most telling of all, a box of those damned chocolates Alexander used to buy from an importer in London. They were made in Brazil and had to be special ordered.

Newly inspired, Richard sought out the bedroom. The clothes seemed almost right but the scents were all wrong. The sheets should have been a dark colour and the bed was made. None of this was making sense. Why would Alexander sleep upstairs but eat down here?

As Richard returned to the living room he heard the rattle of the outer door to the building. Li Ann hadn't come down the stairs so perhaps someone was coming in instead. Sparing a second to regret that he'd left the apartment door open, Sharpe moved to the meagre shelter of the kitchen.

The apartment door swung in slowly and a cautious voice called out. "Li Ann, is that you?"

It cut like a razor, hearing his Xander's voice live for the first time in years.

The query was followed by the noise of the safety clicking off a gun.

Sharpe eased out into sight, hands held clear, so as not to spook his old lover. The figure standing in the entranceway was so amazing that Richard's heart almost stopped. Surveillance photos and memories were flat comfort compared to facing the man who had haunted his dreams for more than ten years. Xander looked radiant, if a little weary. There was a hint of a tan about the younger man. His shoulders had filled out over the years and there was a maturity about him that Sharpe had no memory of.

Those green eyes that had tormented Richard's soul were narrowed in suspicion but marked with laugh lines. Laugh lines! Sharpe couldn't believe it.

"Shite, Xander. You're bloody stunning." Richard murmured softly. "I was afraid I'd never see you again. Terrified that I'd snuff it without ever laying eyes on you again, but here you are, finally. My God. I've missed you so much."

Strangely, the scene remained frozen. Not that Sharpe expected his Xander to fling himself across the room and into his arms like the heroine in a sissy novel, but why didn't Alexander at least lower his gun?

"Why are you here?" Stepping into the room to get a clearer line of fire, the other man frowned. "What do you want?"

Sharpe dared a few steps. He had to see better. He wanted to breathe the same air as his former lover. "I've been looking for you, Xander." Richard feasted his eyes, noting the short black hair, a glint of gold at one ear, and the fact that Alexander needed a shave. "I shucked it all, sweet thing. I'm out of the service. I left it all behind when your Li Ann said she could bring me to you."

The use of Li Ann's name made the gun droop a little.

"God in heaven Xander. I'm ready to do whatever it takes. Screw Command. I'll come over to your side. I'll take orders from your Nicola if that's what it takes. I should never have... I should have come to you back in '92, Xander, not the other way around. I was wrong. Please, baby, please." Sharpe inched closer. He could almost touch his obsession. "I've always loved you, sweet thing. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." His tone grew more desperate. The indifference he saw in Alexander's eyes was like a blade twisting in his gut. "Li Ann's been explaining things. I'm guessing you never expected to see me alive again, baby. I'm sorry, my Xander. Give me a chance. Let me prove it to you. Set me a task."

Plush lips still frowned. "I think we had better go upstairs and see Li Ann."

Richard raised his hand slowly, projecting the movement so as not to startle. "Whatever you want. That's the way it's going to be from now on." The backs of his fingers stretched past the loosely held pistol and ran reverently along one elegant cheek. "You're so beautiful. Every time I saw you I thought that, Xander-love. You told me you loved me. You swore it. For the sake of that love... shoot me if you want, but I just have to touch you. I've missed you so much. I can't believe you're real."

A weary sigh gusted out and the gun lowered. "I'm real."

Blunt nails dared to touch pale lips. "I need to kiss you, Xander. I'm going to die if I can't kiss you. Please." Alexander looked so sad. Richard wanted to drag the Russian into his arms, hold him tight and never let go. He settled for leaning in and tasting. The texture slammed him backward in time to the library where Alexander had first seduced him.

The taste wasn't exactly right. Sharpe had to push further, trying to find that flavour he recalled so clearly. Richard moaned, his arms moved of their own accord to wrap around his former lover. Pressing hard, Sharpe's mouth worked against the other man's, forcing the kiss to deepen.

Another gun cocked, further away. "What the fuck is this?" The demand screamed across the tableaux. "Take your hands off moi Vicka!"

It made no sense to Sharpe. He was kissing his Xander and yet Alexander was shouting from across the room as well, there was no mistaking that voice. Richard jolted back slightly without releasing his grip on his old lover's arm.

"MOI Vicka!" the complaint began again but stalled out in a strangled gasp.

Richard stared from one version of his Xander to the other.

"Dickin?" The first utterance of the old nickname was filled with wonder and delight, but before another breath could be drawn Alex shuddered and took a step backward.

Seen together the subtle differences between the two identical men were detectable. Sharpe knew with his soul which of the two men was Alexander even while his eyes remained confused. Richard released his grip on his lover's doppelganger with a hiss of emotion. "Xander, baby, I didn't know." He moved toward the doorway.

"NYET!" Green eyes were wide with horror. Alex spat out a Russian phrase flavoured with denial, and cringed away, one hand lifting. He pushed at the space between them with his gloved hand as if to stop the advance. "Stay away from me. Don't come near me." Alex's gun continued to point.

"Alex, are you all right?" Alex's twin tried to push past Richard.

The Russian retreated further into the hallway.

"Xander," Sharpe persisted. "Shite, I've missed you."

Alexander went dead white. In one heartbeat he'd turned and ran.

"ALEX STOP!" The twin heaved Sharpe out of the way and tried to give chase only to trip over a teenaged girl who was sprawled on the porch of the huge house.

In the driveway a black car roared to life.

"ALEX!"

The Nissan slammed into gear, tore grass backing out of the driveway, and raced off in a squeal of tires.

"ALEX!"

The teenager climbed to her feet. Large greenish-brown eyes took in the scene and the players. Her gaze finally fixed on the blond ex-soldier. A truly evil smile made the corners of her lips curl. "I know who you are. I've seen your picture. You're Sharpe." A delicate hand lifted in expectation of a kiss. "I'm Catherine Romanov."

###

The noise of Alexei screeching out had brought Li Ann running. She had gifted Sharpe and Catherine with an angry glare, assessed the third person on the porch just long enough to decide it was Victor, and then hustled her friend inside. Victor was dragged up to the second level and installed in a living room chair, while Li Ann went to fetch coffee. The oriental woman barely acknowledged Sharpe and the Catherine, when they finally trailed up.

"I've been just going along with it every time someone mistakes me for Alex. I've been doing that for weeks. I didn't think," Victor whispered. He sounded shell-shocked and confused. "I didn't think."

"Where have you been Victor?" Li Ann ignored the mutterings as unimportant. "I've been looking all over for you guys," she complained. "The security company has been shut down. None of the contact numbers I have for the Family seem to be working. The bank accounts were closed out a few days after that mess in Alaska. I was half-afraid this place would be burned to the ground."

"I have to go find Alex."

Victor started to rise only to have Li Ann press him back down. "Was that Alex who took off? Is Mac with him? I've been worried sick. Where have you guys been hiding? Why haven't you called me?" Li Ann's questions ran into each other. "Why did Alex take off?"

Victor scrubbed at his closed eyes before looking up at Li Ann. "Mac?" He voiced the name hesitantly. "What are you talking about? Mac is dead."

With her mouth agape, Li Ann was doing a good impression of a stunned fish. "No." Her voice cracked. "No. That can't be. I would've known. It wasn't that bad. Mac can't be dead."

Victor didn't argue. He just stared blankly at his ex-girlfriend.

"No." Li Ann's dark head shook. "It's just a trick, like it was last time, like the time before. Mac can't die." Even as she said it, Li Ann realised what a preposterous statement that was.

"I can't do this now, Li Ann." Victor tried to stand again. "I have to find Alex. He's upset."

"Don't even think about it, Victor." Li Ann wrapped her painted nails around his forearm. "You are going to tell me exactly what happened from the moment I left you and Allegra in Alex's bedroom in Alaska. I have to know everything, Victor."

An angry glare sprang to life in Victor's green eyes. "You'd have already known if you hadn't taken off with Mulder and Agent Scully." His voice was tight. "You left me there to deal with the Romanovs... alone. I couldn't walk away from Alex and Alice. Someone had to watch out for their interests while you were off moping about..." He stopped in mid-sentence. "I thought you left because of Mac, but if you didn't know, why did you leave?" Victor's attention shifted abruptly. "Catherine?"

Victor's question startled the teenage girl to life. "I didn't know anything, neither did Lexi. He was unconscious for God's sake."

"They dumped us in Hong Kong," Li Ann exclaimed. "Dana, Mulder and I. They told some Chinese officer to arrest and execute us." She caught at his jacket. "Didn't you realise? I would never leave without a word. What did you think happened when I just vanished? You know me better than that Victor."

"Alex was... " The protest trailed off. Victor leaned back in the chair and pressed his palms to his eyes. "God, I'm so stupid." When he regained his composure Victor looked to the Catherine once more. "Talk." His demand was angry.

"Nicki wanted you split up." The girl's tone was faintly disgusted. "Alexei figured it all out within an hour after waking up. You would have too if you'd put your mind to it, Vicka."

"Tell us everything," Victor demanded.

"Not that I was inside the plan," she qualified before beginning. "But letting Mulder and Scully into the lodge was purposefully done. You were all supposed to argue. Li Ann was shipped off to Hong Kong because no one in the Family wanted the responsibility for killing her to be on their hands if you ever found out she was dead. Nicki wanted you bound tighter to the Family."

"And Mac?" Li Ann's question was cautious. If the Romanovs had botched up his care on purpose she was going to kill that butcher Nicki.

The Catherine heaved a sigh. "That's the one part Lexi wasn't able to figure out for sure. I never saw a body. Lord knows if he's dead or not, or why. Lexi asked Kate and got smacked. Marie is trying to find out without putting Nicki on the defensive." Her lips pushed into a pout. "It would be a damned shame to waste such a lovely and talented thief. I know I could put him to good use if he was mine." One shoulder twitched. "Nicki doesn't usually waste potential assets. My guess is he's tucked away somewhere. I was going to ask Nicki if I could have Mac as my reward for Columbia going so well, since Lexi doesn't want him anymore."

"He's not dead," Li Ann insisted, dismissing the teenager from her attention. "I just know it in my soul. He can't be."

Victor was cursing quietly as he attempted to review the last month again to see through the intricate web of lies and half-truths. It was an impossible task that invariably led back to the one true thing, Alex. Alex needed him. If he just concentrated on his twin's well being and slowly worked outward Victor could decide what needed to be done.

"I have to go find Alex." Victor pushed to his feet again. "Give me your car keys, Li Ann." His palm extended in demand.

"It's not that simple," the oriental woman protested. "You don't even know where to start looking. You're going to stay here and help me sort this out, Victor."

Richard Sharpe only understood the very edges of this conversation. This man wasn't his Xander. His Xander had just taken off in a jealous snit. Li Ann hadn't told him nearly enough of the situation. Close-mouthed bitch.

Leaving Li Ann to argue with this odd double, Richard drew the teenage girl who looked remarkably like Alexander aside. "My perceptions seem to be a t'ch out of date, lass. How well do you know Alexander's mind?"

Her pretty face took on a thoughtful expression. "Better than anyone, I expect, considering what we are to each other."

Sharpe's gaze raked down, then up her, briefly. Catherine could see the light dawning as he concluded something in a bare instant that seemed to somehow elude most of Alex's friends.

"Yer his daughter." Richard nodded. "I've a key to Li Ann's car," he announced softly. "Take me to him."

"Why should I?" Riene questioned while the others continued to argue.

"Because otherwise I'll go looking without you and you'll be stuck here with the bitch until Alexander decides to come back fer ya." His thumb hooked toward Li Ann.

"Ah!" The girl nodded. "Excellent point. Lead on, Mac Duff."

The pair of them slipped quietly out the door.

###

It took some searching since neither of them was familiar with Atlantic City but once they'd pinpointed the worst part of the city it was just a matter of looking for the seediest clubs and visiting them one at a time. It was a surprise to discover Alexei alone, in dark corner, rather than strung up for the pleasure of the bar's leather-clad patrons.

As Sharpe and Riene approached, they witnessed Alex snarl and chase off a would-be partner. Several glasses lay scattered in front of the Russian. The bottle on the table was already half-empty. Riene pointed to the floor, indicating that Sharpe should stand still before closing the distance and slipping into Alexei's booth. The girl picked up the bottle to glance at the label. Rum, not vodka. "Is this your first bottle, Lexi lover?"

{I don't know.} He responded in Russian. {I started out drinking from glasses but that was taking too long.} The alcohol was snatched back.

{Are you drunk yet?} Riene used the same language he had chosen.

Alex looked up at Sharpe. His expression was weary. "Not drunk enough." He tipped up the bottle and knocked back several deep swallows. {I thought Olga had him killed.}

{I heard she tried a few times then gave it up as an unnecessary waste of money and energy.}

{Practical,} Alexei acknowledged. "If you don't get him away from me I'm going to puke and that'd be a waste of good booze."

"Drink the rest of the bottle, Lexi lover. You'll feel better." Riene tapped the base of it.

"Fuck you, Riene," he hissed across the table at the teenager. "I know what you're thinking and it won't work. If he lays one hand on me I'll go into screaming convulsions and that's not the game you want to play."

"Not if you're drunk enough to ignore your conditioning. Give him a few hours to maul you over and your training will collapse under the pressure." Riene met her mentor's gaze. "Just forget everything and drink. You'll feel better in the morning. I promise."

"You're either lying or you're stupid, Bodkin, and I know you're not stupid." Alexei's eyes were narrowed to slits.

Sharpe, sick of waiting, slid into the booth beside Riene. He tried to catch Alexander's eye but those emerald orbs avoided contact. "Xander..."

"Don't! Don't talk," Alex ordered. "You don't know what it does to me when I hear your voice." His lips pushed out into a frown.

"I realise I've thrown you a startle Xander, but it's not like I could drop you a postcard and tell you I was in town." Sharpe devoured his old lover with his eyes, noting changes. He would never mistake that other man for his Alexander again. All he'd have to do would be to see his Xander's eyes. There was soul-deep damage in those dark green depths. Richard recognised the sight all too well from looking in the mirror. "I've been searching for you, Xander."

Alex's eyes closed. A crease formed at the bridge of his nose. "Idiot." His shoulders sagged. "I killed your first wife, y'know?" An almost imperceptible tensing of Alexei's body followed the confession. "Fucking, God-damned Teresa. I hated her. Blowing her up was the most fun I had that whole year."

A sigh hissed out of Sharpe. "It's not going to work, Xander." Reaching across, Richard grabbed the bottle and took a belt. "I figured that out a long time ago and dealt with it. There's nothing you can confess that'll make me walk away, or hurt you. I've hardly been a saint either."

A tortured laugh scraped out of Alex's throat. "Fuck you, Richard! You've no idea what I went through for you. You've got no clue! Nicki tore me apart. She broke me into so many pieces that dying would have been easier." The bottle was hit away to smash on the floor near the booth. "You were supposed to save me. I screamed your name until my voice gave out but YOU NEVER CAME. You took your fucking prize, went home and forgot about me. While you were screwing some bitch with tits to drown in I was licking the motherfucking floor to get a drink."

It said something that Alex's rant reached an intensity to draw stares from the kind of people that frequented the dive they were in.

"There wasn't a woman, Xander." Richard hissed across the table. "I looked for you. I swear I did. I lost it. Command wouldn't put up with it. I got busted down. They took Essex away from me. The lads were scattered to the winds." Rising off the bench, Sharpe bent over the tabletop to seize Alex's wrist. "Please Xander. I've given everything up for you. There's nothing else for me but you."

Light grey-green eyes caught and held darker emerald. Sharpe's grip was crushing. Between the rum on his tongue, the whisper of Richard's Yorkshire accent ringing in his ears, and the hint of seductive pain shooting up his arm, Alex was captured. The rest of the room fell away. The years fell away. Alexei stared as if hypnotized.

His grip not relenting in the slightest, Sharpe dragged his former lover half way across the sticky table to whisper right against Alexander's lips. "I love you. No one has ever loved you like I do, Xander. No one ever will."

The things Alexei would have done... the things he had done, to earn those words back when they'd been together were frightening. "Dickin. Moi zolotoj soldat." Alex was shivering. His tone was almost a whimper.

Forgotten by the men, Riene slid sideways out of the booth.

###

Once Li Ann discovered the injuries that Victor had received down in Columbia her attentions grew, overpowering him. Victor had become used to constant contact while he was living with Alex and the girls, but Li Ann's manner made him decidedly uncomfortable. She didn't even touch him properly. Li Ann hovered. Victor was kept in his chair by invisible pressing hands that he couldn't even take comfort in because they weren't real.

"So one of the clone girls is dead?" Li Ann's grilling continued.

"Kate." Victor shifted his shoulder in place, feeling a twinge where Li Ann had fiddled with his bandages. "But we told Nicola that it was Riene."

"As if it makes a difference," Li Ann sniffed. "They're no good, Victor. Rotten to the core. None of them can be trusted, not after the way they were raised, the way they were trained. They wouldn't still be alive and functioning if they weren't true Romanovs. We can't trust any of them."

He knew he should try harder to defend Riene. She 'was' his lover of sorts, at least she had been, until Victor had been hurt. Now Alex slept at his side every night and Riene was warned off, with snarls and growls, whenever her attentions toward Victor grew more than casual. God, that was another complication, one he didn't dare let slip around Li Ann. It's not like he was having sex with his brother, not proper sex, just fingers... and mouths when Alex pleaded for more. Alex knew just how to plead too. Whispery groans and smatterings of foreign endearments while his body strained against Victor's. Still, it wasn't something he wanted to discuss with Li Ann, because he didn't even understand the situation himself.

Dragging his heated imagination back into its cage by force of will, Victor tried to concentrate on the conversation with his ex-girlfriend. "Riene's not like the others. She's a lot more..." He wanted to say 'mature' in order to justify his affair with the teenager, but that would be a huge lie. As near as Victor could tell the only difference between Riene and her 'sisters' was a more playful attitude, at least toward him. When they were out doing business the girls had been indistinguishable. "Alex and Marie have decided to take control of the family business." Victor tried to shift Li Ann's focus. "They'll never be able to leave, not the way it stands now. They're going to push Nicola out and try to make Alex the head of the Romanovs so he can shut things down."

Victor looked longingly at the door. Riene and that English guy had slipped away, probably to look for Alex. He needed to get out of here. He needed to find Alex. Very little of the world made sense these days except when Victor was with his twin. Alex was the only stable thing in Victor's life. Wasn't that a sad statement on the way things were? "Riene has thrown her support behind Alex." There, that was a point in the kid's favour. Victor stood up, earning a glare from Li Ann. "Jeez, Li Ann. I have to go after Alex." The craving was too strong to deny. "He's not going to wander home on his own. You didn't see the look on his face."

"And where are you going to start?" Her expression was clearly marked with annoyance. "I think I know Alex better than you do, Victor, and if he doesn't want to be found, you won't find him. These last few weeks were proof of that. Don't waste your time." Her tone took on a razor edge. "I've been stuck here with Sharpe, trying to keep a lid on him, trying to locate some sign of where you'd all disappeared to. I needed to be with Dana, Victor. Because of this, she told me that it's over between us. I promised her my full attention when we got back from Hong Kong, but we haven't had ten minutes since we got home. I'm not supposed to be trapped here, babysitting a dangerously obsessive ex-boyfriend of Alex's. Would it have killed you to call the house? I would have been happy if you'd even bothered to leave a message on one of our machines."

"Alex said he tried to contact you."

"Jeez, Victor! Alex lies." Li Ann raised her voice to a shout. "You know that. We all know that. It's a fact of life that we're both well acquainted with. I know you're not stupid, Victor, and I don't want to believe you're inconsiderate, but fuck, would it have been so hard to pick up the damned phone yourself?"

There wasn't anything Victor could say to that. He'd been comfortable down in Columbia despite all the intrigue and strange circumstance. Victor had felt like a whole other person and Li Ann hadn't been a concern that he'd bothered to dwell on. Entire weeks had slipped away without Victor ever thinking of the woman who had once been the centre of his life.

The outside door and the patter of feet on the steps saved Victor from that line of questioning. Riene let herself in Li Ann's apartment and padded into the living room. Her pretty face was pulled into a scowl of annoyance.

"Where's Sharpe?" Li Ann's graceful neck craned. "Did he take off on you? That son of a bitch is nothing but a pain in the ass."

Riene's arms crossed. "We found Alexei," she announced in a full-scale pout. "They're at a bar downtown. I couldn't get a word in edgewise so I left them alone." The teenager looked to Victor. "You've got to do something, Vicka. Lexi is so drunk he can't think straight. That ratty old blond is trying to convince Lexi to ditch everything and run off with him. Now that we've started working against Nicola we can't just stop."

Victor turned toward the exit but Li Ann surged across the separation between them and caught at his arm.

"Marie and I can't do this without Lexi." Riene looked the very image of a panicked child. It was a well-practised skill. "If he walks away it'll be the ruin of both of us, and likely Allegra and her baby too." She knew reminding Victor that his sister was still firmly under Nicola's guardianship would get him worked up.

"Which bar," Victor demanded, shaking off his ex's grip. "Take me to Alex, Riene."

"NO!" Li Ann's fingers dug in once more. "You're hurt. You shouldn't be chasing all over the city or tangling with that bastard, Sharpe. He's dangerous. Besides, WE aren't finished here, Victor."

"Then come with me." Victor moved, forcing her to either take the couple steps with him or let go. He had to drag Li Ann. "We can talk on the way." The idea of Alex drunk and in a former boyfriend's company sent flashes of heat and emotion spiking up Victor's spine and straight into his brain.

"I've never seen Lexi like this before, Vicka. It's scary." Riene carefully twisted the knife. "That guy, Sharpe. You should have seen Lexi after the last time they tangled. Lexi was destroyed. A complete wreck."

Freeing himself by force from Li Ann's hold, Victor headed for the door. "Who the hell is this guy?"

"Alexei's first love." Li Ann snatched up her gun and chased after Victor and Riene. "Richard Sharpe." She stashed the weapon inside her jacket. "Former British special ops. He and Alex were a thing back about ten or twelve years ago."

Li Ann pushed Riene to one side as they exited the building. "I'll drive." Hers was the only car in the laneway. Riene must have used it somehow. "Alex was going to defect and run off with Sharpe back in '92," Li Ann continued the story once they climbed into the vehicle. "But Nicola found out and tortured Alex until he shattered." The oriental woman sneered into the rear view mirror at the Catherine. That damned girl was trouble, Li Ann was certain of it. As if confirming her suspicions, Li Ann noticed that Riene was actually smirking now she was safely out of Victor's line of sight.

Victor buckled into his seat. A distracted frown pulled at his mouth. "Alex's first lover? I thought Nicola was..." The sentence broke off into a shudder.

"Lexi's first LOVE," Riene corrected. "Lexi had never CHOSEN who he'd fuck before Sharpe. Sharpe was Lexi's first time at picking who he was going to fuck."

Victor flinched at the words spilling out of the teenager. It was absurd to think that Alex had never honestly been in love before but for some reason Victor had thought that Alex's destructive affairs with people like Mulder or Mac, or even Alex's affection for Marie, hadn't appeared to have the same depth of devotion that his twin had for Victor.

"Turn there!"

Riene had levered herself forward by grabbing and pulling on the back of Victor's seat, but Victor paid them only minimal attention.

Alex's first love. Victor's eyes closed and his face scrunched up. Lingering pain from his injuries must be responsible for the wash of discomfort sweeping through him, Victor decided.

###

The table was shoved to one side, allowing for more room on one of the benches. Alex found himself crowded into the corner of the booth. Years had been stripped away from him. A strong hand was tangled in his hair, forcing his head back. His Dickin's body was heavy on Alex, trapping him in the best possible way. Endearments that Alexei would have... had killed to hear years ago were buzzing in his ears.

"I'll never let us be separated, ever again." Richard's accent tickled Alexei's ears, drowning him. "You and me, sweet thing. That's the way it's gonna be." Sharpe's teeth scraped near his lover's jaw.

"Miloserdie, moi soldat d'or." Alex arched up into the restraining body. "You don't know. Everything is different now. Everything has changed."

"This..." Richard's palm dragged down to press into the other's crotch, feeling the hardening flesh. "This hasn't changed. Yer hot for me, Xander. Our bodies were made for each other."

Air gulped in. "It isn't enough. I'm more than that, Dickin. Bodies aren't enough any more."

Sharpe stole a kiss that pulled at Alex's lower lip before breaking away. "I know that. I've always known that, though at times I wondered if you did, sweet thing." The younger man was petted. "But we do have more. We've always had more, I just didn't realise it. We're two of a kind, baby. We've lived through the same shite. We've got history, lover."

"Things've changed, Dickin. I found someone."

"God, Xander. You don't want someone else. It's always bright and rosy at the start but when push comes to shove your past, your work will destroy it. Yer gonna have to start up with lies and excuses again. Yer gonna to have to keep secrets. Tell me yer not sick of having to hide things. It wouldn't have to be like that with me. You could tell me anything and I wouldn't hold it against yer." Sharpe's thumb brushed pale skin. "I've seen it all, know it all, and it doesn't matter. No one else is ever going to understand exactly what you've been through, what you need, and accept it, not like I do."

"But Vicka said..." Alex's protest was stifled by Richard's mouth closing over his yet again. Alexei's palm pressed to the other man's chest but as the kiss stretched Alex's fingers curled, clutching rather than pushing Richard away. He bent back, inviting Sharpe to dominate him even further, his left leg stretched up to wrap around one hard hip.

###

When Victor and the girls walked into the bar they discovered Alexei and Sharpe thoroughly entangled with one another. The sight before them stopped Victor cold while they were still fifteen feet away from the couple. It was startling. Victor realised that he hadn't seen Alex touching another male since New Year. The sight caused a rising tide of anger inside him.

"You've got to stop this, Vicka." Riene caught at his arm and squeezed. "Sharpe is trouble. He'll drag Lexi off and get them both killed."

"Damned man." Li Ann was muttering. "He wasn't supposed to be down in your apartment. I told him..." She frowned. "I expected their meeting to be more controlled, but Sharpe just won't listen to me."

Taking the lead, the oriental woman strode across the bar to confront Alex and the Englishman. "A little restraint would go a long way." The words escaped a second ahead of her realisation of their double meaning in this place. Li Ann pushed on, attempting to avoid comment. "Alexei, you have to come home right now. So many things need to be sorted out."

Sharpe broke the kiss with which he was smothering Alexander only long enough to turn his head slightly. "We've a done deal. Sod off, lass."

"Deal?" Alex balked away from Richard's attempt to resume their kiss. "What deal?"

Victor had caught the loaded word as well. "Li Ann, what have you done?"

"THIS isn't the place." Reaching, Li Ann caught at Sharpe's sleeve. "Get off of Lexi. We have to go back..."

Not allowing her to complete the thought, Sharpe jumped up and struck out, shoving her away. The table toppled sideways, out into the open floor. "Don't you dare, lass. You'll not be separating us. I've been looking for Xander for far too long. It'll take more than the likes of you ter part us again." Richard backed Li Ann away by crowding right into her face.

"It's you who'd better not dare, Major," Li Ann snapped back at the blond. "Alex belongs with us."

"With you?" Pale brows lifted in sarcastic amusement. "Xander belongs with the likes of you as much as a wolf belongs with a box o' kittens, little girl. You've no appreciation for Alexander. You've no idea how dark and complex he can be. I do. I understand where he's coming from."

"Alex." Victor slipped around where Li Ann and Sharpe were squaring off. "Alex, come home. We need to sort things out." The other patrons in the bar were taking notice of the conflict and drifting closer. This could get nasty.

The green eyes that lifted to look at Victor were muddy and hazed by alcohol. "Vicka?" Alexei's real hand lifted. He traced his own features first, lingering at his mouth, before reaching across to lay two fingertips against Victor's lips. "You kissed Dickin. You kissed moi soldat d'or. You're not supposed to be kissing other guys. Just me. It's not fair. I was doing everything you wanted, everything you'd let me do. Why'd you have to kiss Richard?"

"It didn't mean anything, Alex. He thought I was you. I was just playing along. I didn't 'want' to kiss him." Victor's tone dropped to a faint whisper. "God forgive me. I haven't 'wanted' to kiss anyone but you in far too long a time." This wasn't the stage Victor would have chosen for the important admission but Alex's hurt expression demanded the confession as reassurance. "Come back to the house. Come with me," Victor coaxed. "Please Alex. Let me take you home."

Alexei's head fell backwards to rest against the padded leather, rolling slightly. He couldn't seem to focus. "Da, Vicka. Anything you want. Anything for you." It took several tries before Alex's legs would work well enough to allow him to stand and even then he tilted, leaning into his twin. "I've been drinking... a lot." The confession was whisper-quiet.

"I can tell." Victor winced at the effort of supporting both himself and Alex. He was healing fast, but still not up to his full strength.

"What the bloody hell do you think yer doing, boy-o?" Sharpe swung around at their movement.

"He's drunk and confused." Victor pulled one of Alex's arms over his own shoulders. "I'm taking him home."

"You gonna put me to bed, Vicka?" Alexei leaned, pushing his nose into his brother's soft hair. "I need..." The demand trailed off into a suggestive moan.

"I'll be seeing Xander to a hotel." Richard's loud claim provoked a few hoots from the surrounding audience as they realised that an attractive man was being fought over. Sharpe tried to take the Russian from Victor's hold.

The attempt earned Richard a hard shove from Victor, even though the effort made Victor wince with a spasm of pain. Riene's warning that this guy was trouble echoed in Victor's thoughts. "Stay away from my brother."

Li Ann inserted herself into the gap that the push had created. "Take Alexei home, Victor. I'll tend to the Major." She'd been the one that had brought Sharpe into their lives, the annoying bastard was her responsibility.

Out in the dimly illuminated crowd someone shouted. "Stay out of it, BITCH!" Li Ann's features pulled into a sour frown but she knew better than to look away from her target.

"You'll be gettin' out of my way if you know what's good for yer, lass." Richard tried to follow when Victor and the teenage girl began drawing his precious Alexander away but Li Ann blocked the move with her body.

"You can come by the house tomorrow, after Alex has had a chance to sober up and clear his head."

His Xander was fast disappearing. "That weren't part of the deal." Sharpe hit out at the oriental woman. The action earned cheers and a few whistles of encouragement.

Li Ann blocked the strike easily. "Tomorrow, Major Sharpe. You can plead your case with Alexei tomorrow."

"Yer not getting it, lass. I have been looking for Alexander for years. I've waited long enough." Xander and his escort were no longer in view. He didn't have to play nice any longer. Richard kicked out at her leg, buckling it and slipped past. "NO ONE is going to keep me away from my Xander any longer."

The nails that dug into Sharpe's back were a surprise despite the rumble of warning that had risen around them. He countered by ducking down, reaching back, and catching Li Ann's small wrists in order to fling her up and over his head. Li Ann crashed into a tabletop, spine first, collapsing it.

"Flatten that dyke!" "Take that bitch out, Blondie." The audience was really getting into the play being put on. Chips and pretzels were being tossed into the circle of action.

They were already out the door, damn it. Sharpe just knew he couldn't afford this kind of delay. Something he seriously feared but didn't quite understand was going on between Alexander and his look-alike.

A gun cocked behind Sharpe. Li Ann's posture was less than perfect but her gun arm was steady. Richard turned, an expression of annoyed anger on his hard-worn face. At least the appearance of a gun had hushed down the surrounding crowd. Some of them were retreating into the back room.

"You don't want to be bringing weapons into this, lass. Someone might get seriously hurt."

"I know we made a deal, but it was a mistake, Major. You're a mistake. You're not what Alex needs at this point in his life. I think he may have already found what he needs." Li Ann gestured Sharpe aside with the barrel of her gun. "I know I owe you for getting us out of Hong Kong. I'll get you more money."

"Money?" Richard repeated loudly in disbelief. "Do you think I give a flying fuck about the money? It's about Xander. Almost everything in my life, since that first day he walked into class and changed everything, since that bloody first kiss in the library, my whole life changed. I've tried. I tried everything but it always came back to Alexander. I need him. No one else could ever match me like he did and no one else could ever be everything he needs either. Oh, it might work for a while with someone else, but then things would unravel. Xander and I, we're the same species." A frustrated sigh gusted out. "I can't live without him any longer, not now I've tasted him again, not now I've held him again. Put down the gun and let me go after him or you will have to kill me, because I will do whatever it takes to put you down."

"You underestimate me, Major Sharpe." Li Ann's chin lifted. "I've walked in the dark too." Her aim shifted slightly, picking a point that would disable him.

"I've not underestimated a woman's malice fer years now, lass."

As if a gift from the fates, a glass flew out of the shadows to crash into the side of Li Ann's head.

The distraction was more than enough. Sharpe couldn't afford to leave this woman at his back. He threw himself across the divide and knocked her to the floor. Li Ann was a kicker. She'd fight best in open quarters. Richard needed to give her as little room as possible to move.

The pair of them rolled on the hard floor to a renewed chorus of shouts and cheering. The glass that had knocked Li Ann was shattered in pieces and ended up cutting both of them. Her gun became an object of contention only to skitter away when Sharpe slammed her wrist down on the floor. An ominous cracking accompanied the loss of the gun and Li Ann screamed.

The nails of her left hand attempted to dig into Richard's face. "You're never going to have him now." Li Ann hissed out between gritted teeth. "I'll make sure of it."

Sharpe's vision hazed with red, before he even realised he'd grabbed hold of her throat and his hand was pushing down. Her body flailed, trying to throw him off, and then Li Ann went still. Another punishing squeeze and the elegant throat seemed to give way, crushing under his grip.

Silence had fallen over the remaining audience. When Richard climbed up to his knees above Li Ann and her body continued to sprawl in complete stillness the exodus began. The men in the bar couldn't get out the doors fast enough.

"Shite..." Sharpe crawled over to get Li Ann's fallen gun before climbing to his feet. Only the bartender remained, staring wide-eyed, towel in hand. "You didn't see anything," Richard informed the shaking man.

The bartender nodded eagerly enough, his arms lifted in a gesture of surrender. "Nothing." The agreement squeaked out.

"Fuck it." Why take the chance?

The first shot took the bartender in the chest, throwing him backwards. Sharpe walked over and leaned over the bar. He drilled another hole in the bloke's forehead just to be sure. Pocketing the weapon for disposal, someplace far from the bar, Richard stalked out without another look.

###

The trip back to the house was only possible because Alex had been banished to the back seat while Victor drove. Riene had spent the entire drive whispering with... and tugging at Alexei... in what looked like to Victor an attempt to contain him. Once they were out of the car, Alex plastered himself to Victor's side once more.

"You know I love you, Vicka," Alex purred as they dragged him inside. "I can't live without you. I'll do anything you want."

"Yeah. It looked that way back in the bar." Victor surprised himself with how strongly he resented Alex's attention to the other man. "As soon as we had a problem you ran." Hiding one set of emotions behind another, Victor grew even angrier. He pushed through the outer, then the inner door, to his apartment. Riene was following along, locking the doors behind the men.

"I didn't run from you, moi Vicka." Alex's grip on his twin's arm was almost bruising. "I would never run from you. You mean everything to me. It's Richard. I can't deal with Richard. I thought he was dead. Olga said he was going to die. She usually follows through on things like that. I thought it was over, but it's not." Alex's tone was pained. "All the rules change when Dickin's involved. He's not like anyone else."

"Oh God, Alex," Victor stalled, halting in the middle of the living room. He caught at the sides of Alex's head, attempting to hold his twin in place. "I didn't kiss that guy because I wanted to. You did, and it hurt, Alex. It felt like a hot knife in my gut. I hated seeing it." Victor's stare was intense as he attempted to pierce the alcohol haze that Alex was wrapped in. "Seeing you with another man hurt, Alex. I didn't realise it would, but it did."

The light was frustratingly slow to appear in Alex's eyes, but slowly it seemed to dawn. "Vicka?" Alex's face turned to kiss the inside of the other's wrist. "Oh, moi Vicka. I was afraid you'd never... I love you. You're all the best parts of me that I had to get rid of. You're the keeper of my soul." Tears beaded up in the corner of his eyes. "There is nothing else that matters anymore. No one is more important than you." Leaning in, Alex touched his forehead to Victor's. "I've killed for you, moi Vicka. I'll do it again. I'll do anything to protect you. Kate never should have touched you."

Victor went ice stiff. "Kate?" He jerked away from the intimate pose that they'd fallen into. "What do you mean, Alex? Tell me it's not what I think."

"Vicka, I didn't do..." Alex began desperately, only to be cut off by a raised finger from his beloved brother.

"No. Scratch that." Victor swallowed hard and looked deeply into the other's eyes. "Tell me the truth," Victor demanded, as a feeling of dread crept up his spine. "The truth, Alex"

A weary breath huffed out of Alex. He tossed a 'help me' look toward where Riene was sulking in the doorway, before returning his attention to Victor. "I did it for you, Vicka, to protect you."

"TELL ME!"

Alex's whole body flinched. "That last time it was Kate, not Riene. Kate was in your bed. It was her you fucked." Anger was starting to infect the shame in Alex's tone. "You'd do her. Give her your cock, give her your god-damned baby." Alex glared. "Even infected with the pheromones you wouldn't let me do more than suck you, but Kate got everything." His volume continued to rise. "Kate was going to have you. She was going to keep you from me, use you to replace me, give you my place at Nicki's side." His foot lashed out without warning, sending the coffee table flying.

"I killed Kate. I killed the fucking nurse who'd been pumping you full of drugs. I lied about Li Ann. I requested the assignment in Columbia to keep you with me." Once the admissions started, Alex couldn't hold anything back. "Everything I've done, since Kate broke me in Alaska, has been to protect you, to keep us together, and nothing is enough for you! I want you so bad. My body burns every night, every minute we're next to each other, but you keep holding back. I haven't touched a man since that little fucker, Peter, waiting for you, putting off more Colombians than I can count with promises and dodges just so I'd be cleaner for you." Alex was in a full scream now. "But it's never enough for you! I'm going to die if you don't fuck me soon, Vicka. I need a cock inside me, your cock inside me." Throwing himself across the divide, Alex caught at the front of Victor's shirt and clung. "Pozhaluista, moi Vicka." He ground their bodies together. "I'll give it all up for you. Women. Men. The job. I'll tear it all down. Just please, please Vicka, give me more. Give me the rest. Promise me you'll slide inside me and I'll do anything you want."

Reeling from all the words Alex had let fly in his drunken carelessness, Victor shoved at Alex, pushing the Russian backwards. His dark head shook. "Jeez, Alex." Victor's mouth worked silently, unable to articulate everything that he needed to express at that moment.

"I love you," Alexei attempted.

Victor's forehead creased. "I love you too, Alex." The wild anticipation that flared up in Alex's eyes was crushed by a single word. "But..."

"NYET!" Alexei's hands flung up defensively. "I heard you! You said you loved me. Nothing else matters. There is no 'but'. I can't hear that. I won't."

"Stop it, Alex," Victor shouted. "You're acting like a child. We need to talk about some of..."

"NYET!" The repetition was even more passionate. "We already talk too much. I want contact. I want bodies. Heat. Fire."

A loud rapping at the outside door silenced the tirade. Riene whirled about and scuttled to answer it.

When the teenager reappeared with two policemen at her back Victor and Alex were still staring soundlessly at one another. At the sight of the uniforms, Alex's expression shut down to an ice mask. If Riene hadn't known him as well as she did she might not have noticed the subtle tension that took hold of Alexei's body as he prepared for fight or flight.

"We're sorry to bother you but..." The elder of the two cops spoke. "There's been an incident downtown and this is the address on the victim's identification. We'd like to speak to someone about..." Eyes dropped to an open notebook. "A Ms. Li Ann Sai."

Riene cut the silence that followed the announcement of Li Ann's alias. "Victor, handle it. I'll settle Alex down." The Catherine's tone of command was startlingly firm. Pacing across the floor, Riene caught Alex's arm and dug her fingers in. It seemed to take no effort at all to pull Alex into the depths of the apartment towards Victor's bedroom.

When Victor appeared in the doorway to that very same bedroom a short time later, with a stricken expression on his face, it was to find Alex pushed up against the headboard of the bed. Riene sat near the foot, watching her mentor crush himself into a small ball of arms and legs.

"We have to go to the morgue," Victor whispered. "They think they have Li Ann. They think she's dead." His voice was thin and brittle with disbelief. "It has to be a mistake. Someone else. Li Ann can't be..." He faltered. "But we have to go down and tell them that, tell them it isn't Li Ann, then we have to find her. She should have been back by now."

The announcement had no effect on either of the Russians. Riene continued to stare intently at Alexei. "You go." The teenager's voice was a tiny murmur. "Go tend to it. I'll mind Lexi."

"Riene," Victor persisted. "We shouldn't separate. I'm going to need your help to find her. Li Ann must be in trouble."

Without turning his way or lifting her voice, the Catherine gave off a commanding presence like a perfume in the air. "I said go, Viktor," she snapped out in a sharp monotone. "We'll be here when you're done."

Victor surprised himself by obeying the tiny girl. Returning to the policemen, Victor snatched up a coat he hadn't worn in months. As he followed the officers out the door the phone started to ring, but he left it for either Riene or the answering machine to get.

###

Victor was a half-hour gone when Riene heard the betraying sounds of someone entering the townhouse. Leaving Alex still immobile on the bed, Riene went to deal with the intruder.

The Englishman stood there, splattered with gore and scowling fiercely. "Where's my Xander?" His demand was all but spat out.

Riene's lips pursed in consideration.

Normally she wasn't under this kind of pressure. By this point she was supposed to have become Alexei's companion, maybe even his permanent partner, damn it. Ever since that option had been denied to her, Riene had been sifting frantically through her options to decide what else she could do with her life. Back in Columbia she had thought that she might insinuate herself into the relationship that Alexei and Victor were building, but Riene now knew that was completely impossible. If Alexei stayed with Victor, he would be out of the Family and gone as soon as Victor returned from the police station. There was no way Victor was going to play along, or allow Lexi to continue on, with the Romanov Empire, no matter who was in charge of it. Riene had some nebulous ideas but still more threads flew looking for a place in the pattern as she studied Major Richard Sharpe.

"I'm more than willing to rearrange the Romanov Empire." She realised that her voice was less than steady, so she whispered to keep it under control. "Hell, I'd actually enjoy doing that." The chuckle that accompanied those words was forced. "Things have gotten rather stuffy and restrictive. The command structure is unbearable." Riene explained herself softly, forcing him lean in so he would be able to hear her. "But I am unwilling to have it completely dismantled. This is my inheritance. This is all I know. I've gone through sixteen years of internship. I want to use what I've learned."

Sharpe's head tilted slightly in an attempt to grasp where the girl was leading.

"You and Lexi are both soldiers at heart, Major Sharpe, so is Marie. You're all designed to take orders. I'm not. I know I could do more. I will do more. I need some control over what's going to happen to me. I want to be the one giving orders for a change. I want to top now. It's my turn." Riene's plush lips curved into a slight smile as her ideas began to solidify in her own mind. Alexei paired up with Victor would be beyond Riene's reach forever, but if Alexei were mated with Richard Sharpe, the pair of them would likely be willing to continue as part of the Family. "Would you have a problem taking orders from me, Major?"

"Nay, lass." Richard's gaze weighed her. "Yer some piece of work, ain't ya?"

"I am more than the sum of my parts." Riene's greenish-black eyes sparkled as she announced that newly discovered truth about herself. A wonderful pattern lay before her. If Riene could just cover the angles she would come out of this mess with more freedom and control that she'd ever hoped for in her wildest dreams. "Consider yourself a Romanov soldier, Major. Alexei is in the bedroom. I'll guard the entrance. I've some phone calls to make. I would like you to keep Lexi completely distracted for the next few days while I make some..." She paused, searching out the right word. "...arrangements."

Sharpe hesitated, seeming unsure. "I want my Xander at my back, lass, for the rest of forever, however long that might be. Can you promise me that, little one? Do you have that kind of authority? Can you promise me him as a permanent partner?"

"I can," Riene pronounced confidently. It's not as if they would have been able to use Alexei any longer if he remained with Victor. Nicola certainly wouldn't object to a deal that allowed for the possibility of her foster son still being of some use. "Lexi is no longer stable. If you ground him, Major, you can keep him. I admit, I'll miss him, but I've already lost him. Victor's seen to that." Her shoulders shrugged. "It's time to salvage what I can and be happy with it." She picked up the phone. "Do we have a deal, Richard?"

"Give me a fortnight to work with him and we'll be ready."

The promise had to be more bravado than anything else, Riene realised. Sharpe had only a limited idea of what kind of shape Alexei was in. However, the alternatives weren't any better and it would be a shame to toss darling Lexi onto the junk heap without at least trying to salvage him. Smiling, Riene waved the blond past before turning her attention to the keypad of the telephone.

Sharpe's stomach tightened as he paced in the direction of his prize. His back was now completely turned on everything he'd worked for over his long career. He was now one of the criminals that he'd spent his life attempting to stop. Still, every doubt pestering the back of his brain vanished as Richard looked into the bedroom.

A shattered green gaze lifted to examine Sharpe. "You look like hell." Alex's voice was a mere shadow of what it had been earlier. God, he was tired. He was shredded, cut to the bone and turned inside out. Everything he thought he knew had changed in just an hour. Alex realised immediately the implications of Riene letting Sharpe past her and into the bedroom without the sounds of a struggle reaching his ears.

"I'm sorry." Richard eased into the room and knelt down on the foot of the bed. "I'm sorry about Switzerland and what followed." Moving carefully, Sharpe crawled up the mattress. "I'm sorry about Teresa. I'm sorry I let her come between us." Callused hands gripped Alex's legs, tugging. "I'm sorry I didn't realise the value of what you and I had before it was too late." Pushing closer as he slowly eased Alex out of the ball he'd curled into, Richard dusted kisses over every bit of Alexander he could reach. "I'm sorry I didn't take you and disappear out the library window the first time we touched. What a bloody, fucking waste it's all been."

Alex was melting under the gentle touch and the fantasy Richard's words were creating.

"Xander, baby, lover. My sweet thing. We belong together. I love you. Yer the most important thing in the world to me. Nothing else matters."

"Li Ann is my friend." Alex's thumb brushed at a smear of blood. "What happened Dickin?"

"We fought, lover. No lie." Richard leaned into the touch. "She wanted to keep us apart. I won't let anyone do that ever again, Xander. You're the only thing left in the world that means anything. The only one I care about. You're all I've left to live for."

"Tell me you didn't kill her."

Well aware of what exactly Alexander was asking of him, Richard lied without hesitation. "I didn't kill her." The words conceded to the demand exactly.

"Moi Vicka..."

"No, no, no. You don't wanna talk about him, not now." Silencing the words with a kiss that invaded and subdued, Sharpe's hands stroked and coaxed. He squirmed, pulling them back and down on the duvet. Alex was already half-hard and lifted into the contact. "There's nothing like yer body clamping down on me, sweet thing." Richard nibbled at the other's jaw and ear. "I wanna make love to you. I want to come home, baby. I need you. I need to be inside you. I love you, Xander. I've always loved you."

"I can't." Alexei panted. His brain had liquefied and was dripping out his ears, it had to be. His mind had vanished, leaving only a body that had been empty and hungry for too long. "I'm waiting... waiting for Vicka. He's..."

"Just once. He'll understand. I'd understand. It's your body, sweet thing. Your choice, not his, not mine. Just..." Sharpe kneaded at covered skin. "Remember how good it felt, Xander baby? I ache for you. I'm so bloody hard it feels like dying. I'm aching to slide inside your sweet ass. Please, baby. God, please, Xander. I love you more than life. Let me make love to you. Let me make you feel good."

"Oh Dickin." Alex ached up. His hands unclenched to thread into pale hair. Legs spread and hips tipped in invitation. "Moi zolotoj soldat." Richard's cock was huge. Alex couldn't help but remember how intense their sessions had always been. The sensation of that thick shaft breaching him wasn't quite buried under time and training. It was impossible to erase completely. Victor had allowed only hands and limited oral contact. Alex shuddered at the hunger seizing him at the possibility of something more.

During Alexei's musings, Richard had been busy peeling the Russian out of his gear. "We joked about it, baby." Sharpe touched reverently as skin was bared. "I'll marry you, Xander. I'll put a ring on your finger. I'll wear one too if you want me to. You can thread one through my dick if that's what it takes. I'll change my name to Romanov. I'll do anything you want. Anything! You've killed for love, baby. I know that. Has anyone ever done it for you? I will. You're so perfect. I love you more than anything, anyone. Please Xander. Let me feel you against me. Around me."

Maybe if some hint of Victor's scent still clung to the sheets Alex might have been able to focus. Maybe if he wasn't so muddied by alcohol and the taste of blood on Sharpe's skin he might have kept control. Maybe if Dickin would stop spouting words of love or if he wasn't so hot to be fucked, Alex might have pushed his old lover away. But when the crunch came, none of those things materialized to prevent Alex voicing words he'd said without success too many times lately. "Do it. Fuck me. I want it."

###

Victor Mansfield had seen more than his share of dead bodies in his life, starting with his father when he was just a kid, right up through people he himself had killed. None of those had prepared him for the sight of Li Ann lying on a metal table.

Victor had insisted upon admission. He needed to do something beyond peering through a window at the woman he had once intended to marry. He'd demanded and been granted the chance to lay hands on flesh gone impossibly cold and waxen. His hands shook as he attempted to make himself touch Li Ann's face but Victor still couldn't manage to do it. Instead, he had to settle for resting his fingers on the bit of bare shoulder that had escaped the sheet they had laid over her. The temptation was powerful to grab and shake Li Ann, screaming that she stop this charade, but he held back for fear they would drag him from her side. Victor couldn't tolerate the thought of leaving her alone in this place.

Words moved his lips but no air was behind them to form actual sounds. It was too late for an apology. It was too late to tell her she was one of his only friends in the world and that lately he'd made one massive mistake after another. It was too late to plead for the aid and advice he'd been so willing to ignore just hours ago. He wanted to promise Li Ann justice, but he was afraid he wouldn't even know justice any more. He'd fallen too deep into the bewildering shades of grey that Li Ann and Mac had always had more success navigating through.

The morgue staff showed enormous patience, allowing Victor to stand there for an hour, staring down at features he'd once traced with loving fingertips. He took the time, needing to push past disbelief. Several times the police had asked softly voiced questions, but each time Victor ignored them completely. Victor knew exactly who had actually ended Li Ann's life, but Sharpe wasn't for the police to deal with. The Englishman wasn't going to jail; he was going to die. He was going to be as stiff and cold as poor Li Ann, before Victor was done.

He was nearly prepared to tear himself away from Li Ann's empty shell when a commotion erupted behind him. Devastating grief turned into anger as Victor realised that Riene was arguing frantically with the staff to be allowed in to see her 'Uncle Victor'.

Victor stalked over to the small knot of people so he could seize the tiny teenager's arm. "You're supposed to be watching Alex. What are you doing here?"

"It's important." Shooting a loaded glare at the nearest member of their audience, the girl frowned. "I need you to come and help me." She glowered. "Alex's old boyfriend showed up. He took Alex and the car. I've got a taxi waiting outside, Vicka. Please. You've got to come." Her bottom lip was sucked in and bitten.

Victor could feel the teen tensing under his grip, fighting the urge to use her all-too-impressive defensive skills against the restraining hold.

"Mr Roman." The cop who'd been waiting for a statement looked deeply disturbed by Victor's possible departure. "We need to ask you some questions about Ms. Sai."

"If you don't help me I'll have to call Grandmother." Riene threatened in a tone that in no way conveyed the gravity of bringing Nicola Romanov into things.

The chance to track down the murdering, Goddamned, Sharpe without the restraints of the law looming over him was impossible to resist. That the fucking Englishman would dare to steal Alex away only added fuel to the fire.

Victor edged toward the exit. "Alex's boyfriend is abusive," he tried to explain while keeping things vague, just like Riene had. Victor would let them think ëAlex' was some poor girl in need of rescue, if that's what it took. "I'll come down to the station tonight, I promise. I just have to stop them from doing something foolish like getting on a plane." Victor moved further away, realising that the cop was about to offer assistance. "We've been through this before. I'll have it straightened out in a few hours then I'll bring the family down to the station to tell you everything we can about Li Ann."

Without giving them a chance to stop him, Victor swung around and dragged Catherine out. "Where's the cab, Riene?" Victor kept running for the front entrance to the place, hoping he was on the right path.

"It's waiting." She shook off his grip and sprinted ahead, slipping around the people in the hallways as if she were greased.

Victor emerged into the fresh air just a moment behind the teenager, but Riene was already down the steps and gesturing to a running taxi.

She reached the rear door of the grey car first and yanked it open. "Hurry. Get in."

Victor practically dove into the back seat. Riene flung herself in behind him. Before they'd even settled on the bench one of her small hands reached up to slap at the side of Victor's neck. A sharp pain radiated out from the contact, followed by a frightening numbness. While Victor was still attempting to process what had happened Riene reached to pull the car door closed.

"Move it!" Her order to the driver was curt.

"Re..." Victor's throat refused to obey the command that his mind was attempting to issue. He couldn't get her name out. Panic gripped him.

"Nyet, nyet, Vicka. Spakoynee. Calm down." Riene attempted to push his larger body into a more comfortable position. "You can still breathe. You're just going to take a rest," Riene soothed. "I'm sorry, Vicka. You're really quite sweet, but it's not enough. I won't have you, or moi Lexi, if I let your plans go through. I won't have anything if I allow you to dismantle 'the Family'. I don't want to be that ordinary, love-mine. I can't live like that, not as a nobody." She stroked his forehead.

"With Kate gone Nicki needs a new heir-apparent. Olga isn't really up to the task. She's just a stepping-stone to someone younger if Nicki doesn't live long enough to season one of us Catherines. I'm going to run this family someday, Vicka. I've decided that's what I want. Sorry baby. This has to happen if for me to get where I need to be. I'm sorry, sweetheart." Riene petted his dark hair, continuing to whisper soothing variations of 'hush' until Victor passed out.

###

Lost in time and space, Alexei gave up on everything except the feel of his lover's body against his. It might have been anywhere in Europe, anytime before Nicki had sundered their connection, or even another reality. His Dickin was with Alex, swearing undying love in that thick Yorkshire accent that always sent chills down Lexi's spine.

Who needed to breathe? Maybe he'd died during one of Nicki's discipline sessions and breathing was no longer needful. Having his face crushed into a firm mattress felt like a reward, not a hardship. That particular belief was reinforced as the wet tickling sensation at his ass vanished in favour of blunt, heavy pressure. Alexei hadn't gone this long without being penetrated since the first time Richard's erection had pierced him years ago.

Words babbled into the muffling fabric. The language he used hardly mattered. Dickin wouldn't hear it, but Alex felt the need to give voice to the intense pleasure sparking through him.

Fingers caught and pulled. Alex found himself dragged up and out of the protective concealment of mussed sheets. There was even more pressure and he was impossibly filled.

"Miloserdie! Moi Dickin. Nuzhdat'sya v chto-libo." Alex's voice cracked, breaking into a wrenching moan of pleasure. "My god, mon soldat d'or." He squeezed down, wanting to feel the twinge of being stretched open to the limit. When Richard grunted and pushed harder, Alexei quaked.

His voice roughened by passion, Richard hissed into Alexei's ear. "My Xander. Mine." Sharpe dragged his lover the rest of the way up, bringing Alex to his knees. Richard's front melded to the Russian's spine. The position exposed Alexei completely. "This..." Richard stroked his hands over his lover and attempted a shallow thrust. "You are everything I want. All I need. I will love you forever, Xander... angel... baby. I know you, sweet thing. I know it all and I don't care. I love you. You're mine."

The words flowed over Alex, filling the empty crevices of his soul that craved love and acceptance. That word 'mine', spoken so desperately in Richard's unique tone of voice, brought with it another flood of memories. Right now, at this very moment, every aching part of Alex belonged to his Dickin... and he delighted in the fact.

###

Strange. A thought attempted to form in Victor's fuzzed-out brain. It would have been more appropriate if he'd awoken on a cold, steel gurney, like poor Li Ann. That would have been no more than he deserved. Then again, considering who sat in the nearby chair, perhaps this odd, spider-web-like contraption he found himself strung up in was suitable after all.

Victor closed his eyes again. He didn't want to deal with this cold, shadowy room or the ice-spider staring up at him, with eyes even deader than Li Ann's. He'd fucked up so completely that dying would almost be easier than having to sort though the mess that lay ahead. Despair threatened to swallow Victor whole. He'd failed Mac. He'd failed Li Ann. He'd even failed Alex, it now appeared. He'd allowed himself to be seduced by both his twin, and the false sense of family that the Romanovs had dangled before him, without a word of protest. Hell, he'd run into it with his arms flung wide, only seeing Alex and missing all the intrigue that had flourished around them.

"No questions, young Viktor?" Nicola Romanov folded her pale hands on her lap. "No demands of 'where is Alex?' or 'where is Alice?' or even 'where am I?'. How surprising."

Victor kept his eyes and mouth tightly shut. He'd dealt with the like of the Romanov matriarch before, though never such an intense version. Anything he said or did would just feed the woman's machinations. He did shiver, however. Nothing could stop that purely physical reaction. The room felt frosty. Victor would have suspected they were back in Alaska if he didn't know that was an impossibility.

"I am not without compassion, my boy." Nicola's tone contradicted her claim. There was malice and delight in the old lady's voice. "You're in Maine. Our new residence." The heavy material of her skirt rustled. "Your sister, Alice, is here as well. Of course I have had to keep your arrival from her. The girl had made quite a pest of herself over the last few days."

Victor had to bite his tongue. Silence was one of his only strengths right now.

"She's corrupted my new protČgČ, Peter, led him astray." Nicola continued on. Her Russian accent more noticeable now than it had ever been in any of their other conversations. "Alice convinced dear Peter to give up our location to a rather hostile individual." A sigh whispered out, like old paper ruffled in the breeze. "When I declare someone as dead it's embarrassing to have them break into our compound afterwards." Silence fell.

She was ice. She was a rock. Victor waited, until his shoulders were screaming and his mind was near to deserting him, but the old woman didn't elaborate.

"Mac?" It was only one word, but Victor hadn't been able to contain his need to know.

"Da Viktor. Khorosho. There's my good boy," she praised. "Young Mr Ramsey came back from the grave only to fall victim to a bit of security filament in one our windows." A thin chuckle escaped Nicola. "I have yet to decide what to with all these foolish children. Peter might yet be salvaged, but I am afraid that Alice has proven herself untrustworthy... and Mac... well, sending him away twice would be redundant. Yes?"

Another unbearable silence stretched between them. The only part of Victor that was warm was the section of his chin that blood was dripping over from where he'd bitten himself. His body pimpled up in gooseflesh.

Nicola finally spoke, but it was only to voice a threat he couldn't ignore. "If you are indifferent to Mr Ramsey and young Alice I won't bother you with this problem again. I'll just have them both shot."

"Don't." The word couldn't be contained. Victor's reserve cracked, although it didn't shatter.

"Viktor, darling malchik." Nicola stood gracefully and paced over to her captive. "I designed this family with great care. I meant to establish a dynasty. You and your friends were welcomed in to that family but you've done us at every turn. When the damage was less... tangible... I attempted to bend with the changes and repair where necessary, but...."

Frigid fingers brushed Victor's cheek, startling him into opening his eyes and glaring. Nicola seemed unimpressed with his malice.

"A Catherine is dead. My favourite Catherine is dead. That is unacceptable. Lexi committed this murder. That was supposed to have been an impossibility. Things must change." Pale eyes swept over his bound form. "We are attempting to salvage my Petya. Olga has taken the boy to South Africa and she is working on repairing the damage your sister's influence caused. I have need of Olga here, and yet I was forced to dispatch her to another part of the world to tend to this business. Peter is still malleable, so every effort must be made to isolate him from harmful influences and make repairs." Emotion was beginning to colour the old woman's cheeks. Nicola took a breath, composing herself once again.

"For her part, Riene insists that she can fill Kate's position. Lexi might still be of some service, if we can deal with that odious Englishman, who I suppose has his own uses. But..." She raised her pointed chin. "None of that is enough. My family has been thrown into disarray and glaring vacancies have formed. I need you to accept your place within our organisation." Her smile was fleeting and insincere. "You must accept it properly. Lip service will not suffice. I require the absolute devotion of my upper tier agents. The children Olga now harvests are years away from being any use, while you are capable and easily fitted in to Alexei's network. I demand your service as compensation for all the trouble you have instigated."

"I won't do..."

"Oh don't start that, boy." Nicola interrupted him. "You will do whatever I want, by choice, before I'm finished with you." She turned away. "But in the process of convincing you... Well, I am afraid I shall have to hurt you, my dear." The old lady padded over to a table that was half-hidden in the gloom. "At times like this I honestly miss, Vasili. He was so much more comfortable torturing people than I will ever be."

###

Everything was too white to believe. All four walls of the box-like room in which they had imprisoned him were stark white. The seam between the walls and the door was so faint that it was almost imperceptable. The white trousers and socks he wore blended into the white floor. The straightjacket that restrained him even had white plastic buckles.

What little nourishment they brought him was pale and bland on white plates. The purČed food arrived only after a whiff of gas had made him dopey and disjointed, carried by a non-descript, unspeaking female wearing white hospital scrubs and a mask. Each time, she would shovel the creamy, medicine-flavoured paste into him and depart, leaving even before the slop had silenced his growling stomach if he attempted to balk in any way.

If Mac Ramsey didn't manage some kind of stimulus soon his brain was going to melt into a puddle of goo and drip out his ear. Fuck, it was likely already too late. He couldn't seem manage to focus on one thought, or even one point in the room for longer than the count of ten. Screaming didn't help. It just made his throat sore, and besides, his own voice no longer affected him enough to make it worthwhile.

When the girl entered his cell, Mac couldn't stop himself from devouring her with his eyes. The Catherine was not only different from the steely faced woman who had been tending him, she was beautiful. The girl was a vision in black and gem-tones. She fed his starving senses.

"Poor Mac-baby. How long have you been here?" The teenager padded across the barren cell to crouch down at the corner Ramsey had shoved himself into. Honeyed tones tickled his ears. "Admittedly, the Director and her agency are no great bundle of fun from what I've seen, but you were safe there. If you'd just tucked down and behaved yourself we would have contacted you later when it was the right time, when we were ready for you to return to the fold. You were sent there for a reason, sweetheart." Her head shook. "You've messed Nicki up, coming back like this, and Nicki doesn't approve of things that annoy her."

A sigh puffed out of her, tickling his face, making him shudder. Mac whimpered and leaned closer. A light perfume arose from the girl and swirled his deprived palate, entangling him. It was musky with just a hint of a chemical sting. The scent was completely familiar yet subtly altered.

"Kate had a plan." The Catherine sighed again. "Kate had lots of plans, but they didn't help her, not at the end. All it took was our dear Lexi in a fit of jealousy. He does adore his Vicka. Everyone else on the fucking planet can go to hell - so as long as his god-damned Vicka is secure, he'll let us rot." Her tone was bitter. "I've lost him, moi Lexi can't be bothered with me anymore. It's not fair. I was his favourite. He was supposed to take me on and teach me when I got old enough. I worked my ass off to get ready, to be good enough to partner up with him. I helped him get Viktor. It's not right that I should be shut out now, but then you know how that feels, don't you, darling? He tossed you aside quick as thought, once he didn't need you any longer." Her head tipped, and she gave him a sorrowful smile. "It's such a shame. I liked you right from the start, Mac. I thought the three of us would mesh perfectly. I was quite looking forward to it."

Mac was swallowing desperately, attempting to make his ruined voice work.

"Riene, baby-doll, I'm Riene," she answered the question that she hoped he was asking. Moving with controlled grace, the teenager settled herself across Mac's outstretched legs, straddling him. Soft fingers lifted, stroking down the side of his face. Shivers that would have thrown her off, if she wasn't so carefully balanced, wracked Mac. "Me, I don't have a long-range strategy here. I'm just flying by the seat of my pants." A wiggle accented the statement. "Trying to get by, secure myself, maybe have some fun along the way."

Ramsey was whining, leaning forward to press his face against her. Riene allowed the intimacy, twisting so his face could rest against her small, silk-covered breasts. "You like this, baby?" she chuckled. "It's his scent. I scraped it off his skin and bottled it." Riene didn't use a name. There was no need to betray that Victor, rather than Alexei, had been the donor of this particular vial of musk. "The other girls have tried using his sweat as perfume over the years, but it doesn't work quite the same with them. It wears off too fast. Luckily, some little quirk in my chemistry seems to hold onto the scent better." Riene petted Mac's unruly hair. "Don't you know, baby-doll? I'm just a few DNA strands away from what you've been chasing after so hard." She kissed the top of his head. "I've seen your files, darling boy. You don't really need all those masculine bits and pieces to get off. You'd do fine with a female." A gusting sigh escaped her as she considered the man below her. "I could make you happy... maybe even happier. I bet you'd like to hear your own name on your lover's lips rather than someone else's for a change. I know I'd like it. Wouldn't it be good to know you're not a poor substitute for another body? We'd fit too, baby. We're the same kind. There'd be no fucking Tchaikovsky rumbling in the background when were sliding in the sheets. We'd sizzle as hot as the fusion blaring out of the speakers."

Riene swayed slightly, pleased that the man she held against her moved bonelessly, just the way she wanted. "And I dance. I know you love to dance, baby-doll." Her hands drifted, pressing hard, feeling through the fabric that restrained Mac. "No constant struggle in the sheets, not unless you're in the mood for it, of course. You wouldn't have to continually come up with ways to entertain me. That must wear at you, baby-doll. Yes, it can be fun, but not ALL the time. I know that. Lexi tended to exhaust me emotionally after a few days, but I'll bet you and I, we'd be a much better fit." Catching his chin, Riene tipped Mac's face up. His eyes were wide and almost sightless.

"You know what, Mac? We could make it work baby. I could take you out of this horrible place and give you something to do. Something you're good at. Something that mattered... something fun," she tempted. "I don't want to be alone." For the first time since she entered the room her tone was brutally honest. " I don't function well when I'm by myself and neither do you. I can't be completely alone. The problem is that I can't trust any of the Family not to try and take away whatever power I manage to earn from this. You'd protect my back, wouldn't you, Mac? You'll be mine, won't you, baby?"

Mac attempted to burrow against her, but Riene stopped him, catching at his hair and tugging. "This is such a classic moment in the downfall of a human being, Mac darling. Pay attention. Selling your soul is a big step." Her serious expression was sustained only a moment then it broke into a fountain of bright laughter. "Sorry Mac. I don't mean to get all evil on you, but hey, it's in the DNA, and my training. If I'm going to lay claim to you I'm going to do it up right. I can't afford to keep you, unless I've got your complete loyalty. I really do want your soul." Riene giggled.

The sound of her amusement made Mac cringe slightly. His eyes squeezed shut.

"Face it, sweetness, if you don't come with me you'll be here forever. Certainly Lexi's not about to come riding to your rescue. He's busy twisting the sheets with his beloved Sharpie." Mac's whimper of distress urged her on. This was just the kind of crap Nicola had taught her to use, and didn't it just work like magic. Riene had to admit to herself, there was a seductive power in twisting another person's mind around so they believed only you. "Didn't you know, cupcake? Lexi's English obsession has returned. You matter less than yesterday's shit, now that Major Sharpe is fucking Alexei through the mattress. Lexi's always loved his precious Dickin. You were nothing more than a passing entertainment to Daddy-dearest, while I, on the other hand, am frightfully intrigued with you, Mac." Riene kissed him. "Be mine, Mac. Let yourself love someone who could love you back for a change," she coaxed. "Do you want me to leave you alone?"

A shiver quaked through Mac's frame. He tried to make a sound but the best he could manage was a hoarse croak.

"Tsk, tsk." Riene sighed. "I know it hurts, but if that's the best you can manage we'll never get anywhere. Come on Mac. One word. Say 'Riene' and come with me, or say 'Lexi' and die here. Your choice."

She was right. It tore his throat in ways he couldn't even begin to explain, but Mac voiced his choice in a battered whisper. "Riene."

The glitter that burst to life inside the teenager's eyes was a frightening thing to behold. "There's my good boy. Not to worry, sweetie. You're finally in the right set of hands."

###

Nicola ran a fingernail over sweaty skin and was pleased with the way Victor whimpered and attempted to flinch away from the contact. There was a hint of blood on her fingertip when she lifted it away. His skin had been broken in several places. Small trickles of crimson trailed from his wrists, mouth, shoulders and ankles. Other parts of Victor's body were fire red, but the flesh was holding together.

"Viktor darling." Nicola's lips brushed the curve of his ear, touching against an angry blister. "You have to understand. I don't enjoy hurting you." She pinched at the skin of his hip, and then trailed her fingers over one cheek of his ass. "I only discipline you because I love you."

"Bitch!" The accusation ground out through cracked lips.

A weary sigh gusted out of Nicola. "What did I tell you about using profanities, boy?" The question was accompanied by the tripping of a switch on the remote control in her other hand. A shock of electricity shot out from the wires taped inside Victor's thighs. The bolt was intense and it lasted until Victor stopped gritting his teeth and screamed. Nicola wouldn't allow him to keep silent during his torture. She always pushed the limit until Victor vocalised his agony.

While he was still panting in reaction to the pain, Nicola grasped the end of the dildo she had buried in his rectum and set it to a low vibration. Using the exposed end of the device as a handle, Nicola eased the long vibrator out, then back into Victor's body in a rocking wave.

"All you have to do is relax and trust me, Vicka, my darling," Nicola purred as he writhed under her attentions. "I love you, Viktor. I simply wish to take care of you." Gentle kisses were brushed over his skin.

"No. No. NO! Don't!" Victor moaned and struggled uselessly against the strands that he was tangled in. The flailing accomplished little beyond screwing the dildo even deeper into his ass and making his limbs ache. Three times now Nicola had forced his body to orgasm with that damnable tool of hers. Victor was convinced this time he'd ejaculate blood. His body didn't seem to understand that those were a demon's talons stroking his cock rather than human fingers.

"Don't fuss, dear boy." Nicola rotated the vibrator until a guttural moan from Victor told her she'd found just the right spot inside him. "Nicki loves you," she crooned. "You're my own special boy and I'll take good care of you, baby."

"Stop! Stop! NO!" Victor sobbed and tried to thrash but the weak action achieved nothing. His body roused, yet again, under Nicola's expert attentions. The only blessing was that she didn't play with him this time, keeping him at the edge of orgasm for ages.

Nicola brought Victor off quickly, and then replaced the invasive vibrator with a plug. She then adjusted some of the sling controls so Victor hung suspended mostly vertical with his feet just off the floor. The old woman climbed on a step so she was tall enough to take several unresponsive kisses. She then withdrew from the room.

Stopping into the monitoring booth, Nicola spoke to the woman overseeing Victor's situation through a massive pane of one-way glass. "Let him doze, but never longer than twenty minutes at one time, and then turn on the sprinklers. Cold water," she clarified. "Keep the heat in the room high so he doesn't take a chill. No one goes in there but me, unless he seems about to die. I need a few hours sleep. Call me in four hours if he's begging AND using my name. If not, I'll be back in six hours or so."

###

"VICKA!" Alexei bolted upright in the bed, shoving off the body that was draped over him. His heart was racing and it felt as if his skin were attempting to crawl right off his frame.

"Bloody hell... " Richard reached out as he was jolted awake and attempted to catch hold of his lover. "Shite, Xander. Waking up like that's enough to give me a coronary." His grip finally caught on a bicep and Alexander was pulled back down into the rumpled sheets.

This wasn't the first time Sharpe had been required to quell his lover's attempts to leave the refuge of the bedroom. Each time it grew more difficult to contain Alexander. The sexual desperation that Xander had evidenced earlier had noticeably lessened, and Richard wasn't certain another bout of sheet tangling would be enough to keep his Xander down any longer.

"It were just a nightmare, lover. Let it go." Sharpe attempted to wrap his arms around Alexei but the hold failed.

"Nyet. Don't." Squirming, the slightly younger man scrambled to the edge of the bed. "Something's wrong with Vicka. I just know it. He should have come back by now, even if he was angry." Alexei rubbed at his face with his palms. "How long have we been in here? Longer than a day? Two days?"

Richard knelt up behind Alex and pressed himself to the other's spine. "Not nearly long enough." Laying a row of kisses from Alexander's ear to his shoulder made Alexei moan and bend under the attention. "Riene is tending to things, Xander-baby. The only thing you need to concern youself with... is me."

Alex's expression was glazed. "Stop!" He shook his head and rolled his shoulders. "I need to find Vicka. Get off." Alexei dragged himself upright.

"You don't have to go anywhere, love." Richard gave chase, catching up to the other man in the doorway. "We just have to phone Riene." Snagging Alexander's chin, Sharpe tipped his face to a better angle for kissing. "Go back to bed. I'll see to it, and find you something to eat." He stole a gentle kiss. "I doubt it happens very often, that someone is willing to wrap you in silk and grant your every whim. You should take advantage of it, sweet thing."

"Dickin." The name came out as a sigh. "Stop it. I can't do this any longer. I need Vicka." Lexi pushed Sharpe away and slipped out of the bedroom. Upon entering the living room, Alex frowned. He had been unfamiliar with Victor's bedroom, but this space was another matter entirely. This space was infused with memories of Victor.

Steeling himself, Alexei paced over to the phone. Deciding the right phone number took a few breaths. Riene carried a cell phone, Kate's cell phone. That would be the place to start. The numbers came awkwardly to Alex's fingers. Part of him wanted to punch in the phone code for their now-defunct St. Petersburg compound. It seemed that was the number his mind still wanted to use whenever there was trouble. The distant ring kicked over to another kind of line about ten rings into the page. Six more hails were required before Alexei heard the click that signalled that someone was finally responding.

"Yes?"

The single word wasn't enough to tell Alex who had answered, beyond the fact that it wasn't Riene or any of the Catherine clones.

"Where is she?" Alexei's inquiry was abrupt and vague. He wanted Riene, but Riene was posing as Kate to most of the family, so it was dangerous to ask for the girl by name.

"Alexei?" the woman on the other end questioned. "Where are you right now?"

Still unable to recognise the voice, Alex's own tone grew wary. "Tell her to call me. She knows where I am. I'm looking for Victor." There was a finality to his statement that the woman caught.

"WAIT!" she stalled. "Victor is with Miss Kate. The two of them are following a lead about your young lady's murder. They've caught a plane to Vancouver, Alexei. Miss Kate said to tell you to sit tight where you are."

Finally he placed the voice. Oddly enough, it was Nadine, one of Olga's long-time aides. Strange, the last Alex had heard, Nadine was working out of the Family's small South African base.

"Alexei, what's wrong?"

Hanging up, Alex began a quick search of the area around the telephone for notes Riene might have scribbled down.

"I made you some more hot chocolate, darlin." Sharpe padded up, offering the other a steaming mug.

Alex burst into life. The cup was swatted away to splash on the floor. Alexei had Richard backed to the wall with his arm across the blond's throat in seconds. Their bodies, still bare of clothing, pressed tight. "What have you done? Where has Riene taken moi Vicka?"

Sharpe gave way, standing quietly under the attack. Fighting back would only escalate things. "Calm down, Xander-baby," Richard soothed. "I'm on your side, lover. You're all that matters to me. If you need this Vicka, we'll find him for you."

A quizzical expression flitted across Alex's green eyes. "Don't you play me, Dickin, not over this. You don't realise..." Alexei loosened his restraining hold to stroke his fingertips over Sharpe's lips. His expression softened.

Richard kissed the caressing touch. "Beloved." The word whispered against skin.

"You have to understand." Alex sighed and pulled back. "Moi Vicka... he's... " His eyes closed and Alexei's face tipped up to the heavens. "He's not like you and I, Dickin. Moi Vicka is everything people like us wanted to be, back when we were children, everything we could never, ever be no matter how hard we tried. He's a storybook prince, a knight in shining armour. An angel. I need him like the breath in my lungs. I'll turn to dust without him. I'll die." A thin slice of green showed under Alex's lashes. "He's clean, Dickin. Cleaner than I've ever been, cleaner than you've ever been. He's... Oh God. He loves me. He loved me right from the start and I didn't have to do anything." A faintly accusing tone flavoured Lexi's voice. "I didn't have to fuck him in the library, or let him get better marks than me, or do tricks to keep him interested, or break my balls taking on missions I didn't give a crap about. No sucking up. Nothing."

"Xander, I never asked..."

"No, you never ASKED," Alex cut off the other's protest. "But you took it when I offered it, took it like it was your right. I did everything you ever wanted before you even had a chance to ask. I suffered for you. I killed for you, Dickin. I risked everything and lost almost all of it because of you." One hand flung out, shoving Sharpe to the wall again.

"I know, baby. I'm sorry. I can't say I'm sorry enough times. I can't make it up to you either, not if you won't let me. Please, Xander. You are my last reason for living. I'm sorry I took so long, but I finally figured it out. Just tell me what you need. You can depend on me."

"Then prove yourself. Help me, lover. Save my soul. Help me find moi Vicka."

"She really was on the phone," Richard stated quietly. His expression was sombre and closed down. "Is there some way to find out who she spoke to, some kind of number recall?" he quizzed. "And we should check the answering machine."

###

Riene straddled Mac's lap. Bubbles broke the surface of the water in the hot-tub, just below the girl's pert breasts. She petted his damp hair, smiling at the way it curled in the moist heat. His eyes still held the same, rather vacant expression they had evidenced since he was in his cell. Perhaps she had misjudged just how intensely the deprivation therapy had affected him.

"Poor darling, you seem so tired." Riene sifted through the choices now available to her. "I know just what you need. You need a holiday." Squirming on Mac's lap, Riene stole a kiss. "Japan," she announced with a bright smile. "I think that I should take you to Tokyo. There's an absolute raft of things we could do there." She tapped at his forehead. "What do you think, sweetheart? Tokyo?"

Mac's eyes blinked slowly. "Japan?"

"It would do you good. Maybe we could slide over to Hong Kong too. I bet you'd love a chance to go home. It'd be safe, Mac. You're under my protection now."

A faint sigh whispered out of Mac.

"Then later we'll do Europe. I need to look over things there. That's where my Family's foundation is based," Riene continued. "It'll be a grand adventure."

His gaze was hardly riveting, but Mac managed to nearly focus on the girl, for a moment. "I liked Europe." The statement was softly voiced.

"Then we shall go on a trip," Riene announced. "We'll get some distance from this stuffy, damp place and Nicki's glowers. I'll get to have some fun my way, for a change." She kissed him. "I just need you to help me with one teensy little chore first, then we can go far away from that horrid white room forever." Riene nibbled at his jaw. "You'll do that, won't you sweetheart? You'll help me with a small job, won't you?"

"A job?"

"It'll only take about five minutes. You do five minutes work then we'll be far away from the room, the guards, and Nicola. Quick as a flash."

"Five minutes?" His frame shook.

"Five minutes," Riene confirmed again. "Then we'll take you far away from here. Please Mac?"

"I'd like to leave." His brow furrowed. "But I was looking for someone." Mac's tone was uncertain.

"And you found me, sweetie. Now you just have to help me tend to a tiny bit of business and we'll be on our way before the day is over." Leaving the request alone for a little while, Riene concentrated on rousing Mac's annoyingly absent passion. She was well aware what Ramsey was capable of. Lord knew, she'd watched enough surveillance tapes of Mac and Lexi to be able to see the two men behind her eyelids when she shut them for sleep. So she couldn't have Lexi anymore, and Victor was beyond her reach now that Nicki had claimed the man. Riene was willing to accept Lexi's lover as a consolation prize. Going by what she'd read and observed, Mac should be a lot of fun once, she'd captured his attention. Small hands skimmed over strong shoulders and across Mac's darkly-furred chest. Her mouth teased, nipping at his skin, while her body wiggled on his lap. Riene kept at Mac until he was moaning softly and attempting to return Riene's caresses.

Once Mac's interest was finally roused and fixed on her, Riene tried again. "Sweetie, can you do me one little thing? I need to tie up some loose ends," she reminded him. "I need to take care of a competing factor. Get rid of it. You'll do that for me, won't you Mac?" The teenager flicked her tongue across his earlobe. "Please Mac, one little clean-up and then you and I can go far away together." Riene pulled back from him, pleased at the way he panted in reaction.

"What thing?"

"We just have to sanitise one of Olga's laboratories, Mac, get rid of the contents. It will secure things for me. Help make certain that I keep control of my inheritance. Please Mac, then we can leave," Riene coaxed. Too many of the things in Olga's collection could be used against Riene, and besides, there was someone there who Riene wanted gone for more than a few reasons. There would never be a better time to accomplish the job. There were no other Romanovs in residence except Nicki and herself at the moment, so Riene's word was law with the staff. Since Olga was out of the country and Nicki completely occupied with breaking Victor, Riene had complete freedom of the manor-house. Sending away the doctor who was tending to Olga's lab was well within Riene's authority. The woman could be dispatched on some errand or assignment with a few words.

"Okay." His agreement was more than a little dazed.

Riene smiled. Ramsey wasn't likely to be too much help in destroying Olga's genetics lab, but there was no way she was going to trash Olga's collection of DNA, genetic samples and experiments without someone in the room with her, to protect her if possible, or share the blame if everything went to hell.

###

When Nicola slapped Victor's face, the blow stung more than it normally would. Moisture, from tears rather than sweat, increased the impact. "I am not fond of men at the best of times." The old lady's nose wrinkled delicately. "Over the years I have learned to handle them, but I've never been fond of them." Nicola ran a sharp fingernail from Victor's left nipple down to his navel. "Boys do not bother me as much, but men have this foolish mindset that they are in control of themselves and the world." Leaning closer, she reached up to catch hold of a few strands of Victor's underarm hair. "You're not!" The statement was punctuated by her yanking the sensitively placed hairs out by the roots.

Victor gritted his teeth against the annoying spark of pain and glared at her. "Nothing you do matters. You're nothing but an old, shrivelled up fossil."

"And you..." Nicola plucked out another short hair. "Are nothing more than my toy to use as I see fit. What does that say about you, boy?" She snatched out another strand, pleased that he flinched slightly at this plucking. By the time she'd yanked out every hair under his arms and between his legs, one at a time, Victor should be in a state of frenzy.

"As the situation stands, darling one, you are no one and nothing. Right now, I am the only person on this earth who cares if you live or die," Nicola chuckled. "Your parents wrote you off as a loss years ago. The Pacific Agency now considers you tainted goods, an untrustworthy liability to be terminated if they stumble across you again. Your sister is strapped to a table in Olga's genetics laboratory, more concerned about surviving the day than your fate. Silly, young Mac is having difficulty stringing two sentences together," Nicola listed. "Your friend, Li Ann is on a tray in a refrigerator, since no one cares enough even to claim her corpse." A pleased huff of air puffed out. "And Alexei?" Nicola's amusement peaked. "I believe Alexei is busy sucking the cock of the man who murdered the recently departed Ms Tsei. Lexi has always had horrendous taste in romantic obsessions."

Victor was now attempting to twist away from the constant plucking stabs of pain. "You don't know what you're talking about," he snapped at Nicola. "Alex is going to wring your scrawny neck!"

"Alexei," she corrected. "Is mentally incapable of lifting a hand against my person. His devious little mind might plot otherwise but when push..." Nicola viciously yanked out the last few strands, then switched sides. "...comes to shove, Alexei is mine as certainly as you will be before I'm done with you, Viktor darling."

###

The smell of disinfectant told Mac that he was in a different place than before. Not that it mattered where he was, so long as Riene was nearby. Everything around him, except the dark-eyed, teenage girl, had an unreal quality to it. Mac couldn't help but fear that if he lost sight of Riene that he'd open his eyes to discover himself back in that too-white room, all by himself. Riene had told him she would get him out of the room, and she'd done so. Riene had promised she'd soothe the jagged pain inside him, and she had, melding her body to his until all the edges were smoothed out, then she'd given him a set of needles that had taken care of the rest of his uneasiness. Riene wouldn't lie to him, she'd told him that. She had insisted that she was his only hope, so he had to believe her about that as well. There was no reason left to doubt anything the girl said.

A great many noises assaulted Mac's ears as he huddled near the doorway, making him shrink into the wall and wrap his arms around himself. He found it impossible to focus when more than one overpowering stimulus was being tossed at him. Someone was screaming, probably a girl considering how piercing the pitch of the noise was. Riene's arm swung, wielding a bat of some kind. Glass shattering usually followed the movement. A shove pushed a computer monitor and tower to floor and sent up a brief shower of sparks.

Perhaps the white room wouldn't be so awful after all, Mac thought, covering his ears. Every time the other girl screamed his name, Riene echoed the sound twice as loud and five or six times.

"MAC! HELP ME!" The words ricocheted around inside his skull, making less sense with every bounce. There was something about 'untying', but he wasn't tied up, maybe she was. The word 'Victor' caused another spike of pain behind his forehead. Mac tried to mind the person speaking but between his own fuzziness and the way Riene was screaming and causing massive destruction, it was hard.

A few working brain cells locked in place. "Allegra?"

"MAC!"

Riene was there an instant later. Small fingers threaded into his hair and turned Mac's face. "Sweetheart..." Riene kissed at his jaw and cheek. "I'm the one that got you out of that awful place. I'd hate to be the one that had to put you back in." The girl's threat was softly voiced. "Nothing matters but me, sweetie."

"MAC! It's me, Allegra! Mac! Alex and Victor are in danger. Help us. Let me free!"

Riene slapped lightly at Mac's face when it looked as if she was losing his attention. "I am your only hope, lover. Mind me, not the talking corpse... or I'll have to put you back where I found you."

"MAC! PLEASE!"

"My friends..." Mac groped after language.

"Silly darling, you don't have any friends. They didn't come for you. I did. They left you for dead a long, long time ago, sweetheart. They left you to the dragon lady of the Pacific. They never cared about you. You were in the way. Li Ann discovered a woman was better for her than you ever were. She always was a cold lover, Mac darling. Now you know why. She never wanted you, or any man. Then there's Victor, dear Victor who wanted a family so badly. Well, he found one and you immediately became expendable. You didn't fit into his life anymore. You didn't fit in either of their lives so they just forgot about you. You were extra baggage. Dead weight. Unwanted."

Tugging, Riene urged him to crouch down into a huddle. "You just sit quiet, my darling and let me get rid of the competition. We don't want this stockpile of DNA, or this bit of Consortium tech competing for my inheritance, taking away what we deserve. Let me clean it up." Riene petted Mac's head. "You just sit tight and I'll put a stop to all her yelping. I know it's giving you a headache." The teenager rose gracefully, catching up the bar of metal she'd been using to destroy Olga's stores of eggs, sperm, and chemical vats filled with samples.

"MAC! Let me up. I can help you."

Riene stopped at the side of the cot to which Allegra was strapped. "Fuck, I hate you."

When Allegra opened her mouth as if to argue, Riene used the base of her weapon to slam sideways into the trapped girl's jaw, busting it. She couldn't afford to have Mac's head turned around by her victim's pleas for mercy. "You didn't have to do anything to make Viktor love you. As if by just being born you had the right to him? You're the REAL sister. Doesn't Viktor just adore his precious widdle Alice-kins," Riene sneered. "Lexi liked you too, for no reason except you're his sister, he treated you as if you were at the same level as him, as if you had a right to sit and talk with him. I'm his fucking daughter and from the day I was born I had to earn every kind word I ever got from Lexi with sweat and blood, but not you. You just slide right into the Family without any training at all. It's not fair. You don't get to be a Romanov that easily. You don't get to step in and have all three of the guys in the Family fall all over themselves to make things easy for you." Riene was almost spitting. 'Easy' and 'Romanov' were not words that belonged together. It wasn't fair.

"And as if all that weren't enough, you get handed a piece of Consortium tech that's worth a mint. So what do you do with it? Nothing. It's just a baby to you. You don't belong with us. I can't let you stay here. Idiot." She looked down at the restrained girl with an expression of cool disdain. "Amateur. Do you know what I could have done with what you had? They loved you, both of them, and you didn't have to do anything to earn it. Spoiled brat. I would have played your hand so much better if it had been dealt to me."

Riene's weapon rose to the sound of wordless, mindless screaming, and a moment later Mac was gifted with a relieving end to the pleas he couldn't respond to.

###

Alexei hadn't actually set foot in the new Romanov compound yet. He could only guess at the security measures that Nicola had chosen to employ, by taking into consideration what she had used in the past. The electric fence was 'standard Nicola', as were the filaments running through the glass of the windows. Nicki adored using electricity in all its various forms both to protect and torment. Still, the infiltration of the target wasn't as difficult as Alexei had feared it would be.

It was also damned reassuring to work back to back with Sharpe, again, after all these years. When Alex had done his undercover stint with British special ops, he and Richard had worked together perfectly. That synchronicity returned to them the moment they'd begun this infiltration. Richard had been the one to spot the broken window up on the second floor, but Alexei, the more agile of the two, had crawled inside thanks to a boost from the Englishman.

The reason for the broken window became obvious quickly. Letting in outside air was one more method of contamination. Someone had, quite methodically, smashed and ruined the contents of the dimly lit laboratory.

"Xander!"

The hiss, quietly voiced below the window, was ignored. There was no way that Alexei wanted Richard to see the contents of this room. Sharpe had always had a clear distaste for the work of scientists and he hated people who involved non-combatants in the business. Seeing the remains of biological samples smeared all over the floor would make the man upset. Seeing Allegra's damaged body strapped to the table like a despoiled sacrifice would drive Richard crazy. Fuck, it wasn't doing anything for Alexei's self-control either and this manor wasn't a place for anyone without a cool head.

Alex stopped to lean on the edge of the table, forcing himself to look down at his half-sister's still form, to touch her. He needed to push himself past the fury this sight invoked and into cold, controlled anger. His fingers brushed through lank, brown hair. He'd foolishly promised Victor that their little sister would be safe. Moving his hand, Alexei rested it on the cold curve of the girl's heavily pregnant stomach. He hadn't been able to protect her from the Consortium or his Family. Yet another failure weighed down Alex's heart. No one he had promised to protect was safe.

Olga hadn't done this. Olga would never destroy her own specimens like this. Besides, if his eldest foster-sister had wanted Allegra dead for some unknown reason, the murder weapon would have been a hypo of poison. Allegra's jaw was completely out of alignment and her windpipe was crushed in a precise line.

"I'm sorry, Alla," Alexei murmured softly. "I should have known you had too clean a spirit to fit in with us. I should have asked them to leave you in India."

"XANDER!" Sharpe's plea for attention from outside the building grew louder, demanding the response that Alex declined to give.

Alexei stepped back from Allegra's body and turned away. He'd honestly liked his young half-sister but he couldn't spare the time to linger at her side. Something more important was nagging at Lexi's brain. If someone was willing and able to do this to Allegra, then Victor wasn't safe either.

It was almost too bizarre, that a simple un-erased message on an answering machine would herald the end of Alexei's life, as he knew it. Sharpe had been the one to tweak just the right buttons on Victor's answering machine so they could hear Allegra's voice, pleading for help. That message, from days ago, had been the first sign that all promises of safety, spoken and unspoken, were now void. The body behind him confirmed the dire revelation. Nicola was no longer protecting Alexei's real sister or, more importantly, his brother.

###

Having lost the option of a stealthy entry and unwilling to allow his Xander out of his sight for any longer than was needful, Richard Sharpe threw subtlety to the wind. He tore around to the nearest entrance to the manor house. Without even bothering to test his skills against the lock, Sharpe applied the bottom of his foot to the section near the door handle. Alarms began blaring out a warning, but it hardly mattered. Three more hard pounds had the bloody thing open.

Richard got two rooms into the sprawling building before the ping of a bullet made him duck for cover. He answered the challenge, first with a spray of automatic weapons fire, then with a bellowing challenge. "If yer hired help I'd suggest you high-tail it. Ain't nothin' gonna stop me and I'll mow down whoever stands in my way."

"Richard!" The announcement of recognition was oddly delighted. Another shot ripped into the wood of the table Sharpe hid behind, rather close to his neck. "I certainly wasn't expecting you to drop in here, Major," Riene's voice trilled out.

"You know how it is, lass. Where me Xander goes, I'm to be following."

On the other side of the doorway from Sharpe, Mac huddled down, dropping to the floor. His hands lifted to cover his ears, to try and block out that once heard, eternally despised voice.

Riene noted the action out of the corner of her eye while she considered the possibilities presented by Sharpe's attack on the Romanov home base. If Alexei had come to the point of invading the compound then he was more than likely going to discover what she had done to Allegra and what Nicki was doing to Victor. Nicki might be able to stomp Alexei down, in which case none of this would matter, but... Riene frowned. If Alexei won this little scuffle, then she had best be able to lift up clean hands. If Nicki won, then Riene's aid or hindrance would be examined under a microscope. Her best plan seemed to be the one she had been about to embark on, it seemed.

"I was just leaving, Major Sharpe. Mac and I will be out of the country, quick as bunnies, if you would just raise your gun and let us pass," Riene called out her intentions. "I'll ring up the manor tomorrow and see who answers the phone, if that's okay with you?"

"Xander's mine," Sharpe snapped out the reminder of their earlier understanding.

"I'm not arguing that, Major. I would never argue that." A sideways glance at Mac showed Riene that he was cowering. She'd decided she was going to keep Mac and this was a perfect opportunity to convince her new lover that he was best off in her company rather than attempting to chase down his ex. "Lexi's loved you since day one, Major. I know that. We all knew that. I saw him back when you were together in '92. That was the problem. He couldn't contain how much he adored you, Richard. He'd never loved anyone like he loved you." Her words were for Mac rather than for Sharpe, but if they flattered the Englishman, all the better. "Let us out of here Richard. I don't want a part of what's going to go on here today."

Sharpe's rifle pulled back with a mechanical 'clunk'. A shuffle suggested he was moving. "Go if you want, lass. You've nothin' to do with me. The only thing that matters ter me in the whole bloody world is my Xander."

"Come Mac." Riene dug her nails into Mac's shoulder.

His eyes were wide and wild when Mac looked up at his teenage protector. "No, please."

"Yes," Riene hissed. There was no way she was leaving here alone, especially since the possibility existed that she was never going to be allowed back. She wasn't ready to face the real world all alone. She needed a teacher and Riene had decided that Mac was that teacher. Ruthlessly, the teenager employed the skill of persuasion with which a lifetime in the Romanov Family had gifted her. "There's nothing left for you here, sweetie. You made your choice already, so has Lexi. You picked me. Lexi is with his precious Dickin now and forever. Alexei never loved you. You're no fool. You always knew that, Mac. He just used you." She tugged at him. "Don't waiver now." Her tone grew coaxing. Teachers, computers, home study, and a few too-brief field expeditions hadn't prepared her to face the world alone, not yet. She needed Mac at her side.

Long legs were slow to support Mac but he finally managed to achieve upright. With one hand holding her new acquisition and the other keeping her pistol at ready, Riene edged out.

"You know where I stand, Major. I told you earlier." She stepped cautiously, relieved when the blond Englishman stood up to put himself in full view. "We're leaving. I'll call tomorrow and see who's still alive."

"Fair 'nough."

Mac's dark eyes fastened on Sharpe rather than watching where he was going. "Tell Lexi..." Richard's expression of haughty disgust froze the words before they managed to cross Mac's lips. A shudder quaked through his frame, then Mac drew himself up to his full height, towering over Riene and topping Sharpe by several inches. "Don't tell him anything."

Richard's breath escaped in a sniff of laughter. "Why would I? You mean cold shite to us." Spinning on his heel and turning his back to the couple clearly conveyed Sharpe's opinion of them.

"Europe, Mac." Riene tugged, urging him to walk forward.

"Europe." His confirmation was barely audible, but Mac shifted into halting movement once more.

###

The muffled report of gunfire, and the distant whine of alarms warned Nicola that either the compound had been breached, or someone within her circle of trust was misbehaving. Leaving Victor hanging, unfulfilled yet again, in the sling, Nicola delved into a nearby cabinet. She wasn't about to venture out into the corridors to discover the situation without being armed.

The 'situation', however came to her before Nicola could leave the discipline room. The door burst inward, slamming into the wall with enough force to crack plaster. Alexei's fierce visage was intense enough to make Nicola back up a step and raise her weapon.

The first thing Alex did was to turn a stream of shots at the mirror on the east side of the room. Mirrored glass shattered and collapsed in a sparkling waterfall. The overseer behind the one-way window let out a shriek as she was flung backward. Her chest blossomed red. A small machine gun fell away from the woman with a clatter.

Alex's gaze swept the room once. He let out a strangled sound that suggested rage at the sight of Victor strung up for torture. Blazing green eyes then turned back to Nicola. "You have no right to..."

"I HAVE EVERY RIGHT!" Nicola's snarled rebuttal cut Alexei off in mid-sentence. She had to go on the offensive immediately to take his power away. "You're the one that's out of line here, little one." Nicola considered where to point her weapon, then chose to let the barrel dip to the floor. Pointing it at Victor would merely sustain Alexei's rage and pointing at her foster son would suggest weakness. She shouldn't need a gun to control Alexei.

Alex turned such an extreme shade of crimson that it looked as if he were about to explode. Dropping his own arm, Alex surged toward where his twin hung.

"Don't you dare, Alexei!" Nicola ground out the warning, stopping him in mid-stride. "ALEXEI ARNTZEN ROMANOV!" Her Russian accent was so strong that she might as well have switched languages. "I am working here." Every word was bitten off. "You will turn around this instant, go to my room, and await your punishment for this abominable behaviour."

"No." The denial was a sharp bark. "Victor is not for you. I won't let you ruin him like you've contaminated everything else." Even as he denied her, Alexei's gaze avoided the elderly woman.

"That," Nicola paced over to close the distance between herself and Alexei. "Is not your decision to make, boy." A bony hand reached out and seized Alex's upper arm. "You forget your place." She needed to capture his sullen gaze. Digging her claws into him made Alexei wince and look up.

"I'm taking him," Alex stated in a less than authoritative voice. His lashes fell and his expression was sullen.

Nicola would have laughed, if the situation had been any less serious. As it was, she needed to reinforce the hesitation and uncertainty Alexei was feeling about challenging her head on. Releasing his arm, Nicola put every ounce of strength she had into slapping her foster-son across the face. "KNEEL!"

To Nicola's relief and satisfaction, Alexei's knees buckled instantly, responding to the soul deep training.

"Alex, don't." Victor managed to croak out the two words from between cracked lips, proving he was following the scene being played out before him.

That such a small thing could return the fire to Alexei's eyes infuriated Nicola. Her foot connected with Alexei's groin even as he gathered himself to rise back up again. Normally that was the last place Nicola would target, but circumstances were dire. When Alexei curled in on himself in reaction, Nicola kicked again, this time to the small of his exposed back. Alexei uncoiled as abruptly as he had curled up.

Russian was the language to use, not only to cloak their words from Victor's interference, but because it was the language that Alexei had been trained with. {You stupid little boy!} Nicola planted one of her feet right on Alexei's throat. Her slight weight wouldn't hurt him, but she approved of the pose's significance. {Again and again your pitiful ego expands and you develop this mistaken idea that you're something more than my tool.} Nicola sneered down at her foster son. {You are nothing without me, boy. You are a shadow, a ghost, a puppet. Do you think your precious Viktor would still love you, if I hadn't moulded you into this form? Do you think anyone would look twice at the creature you were before I took you in? No one loved Mikhail, not even the man who was supposed to be your father.}

The words pounded down at him relentlessly. {They all want Alexei and I created Alexei. You're my creation. You'd be nothing more than a forgotten, rotting body if I hadn't taken you in. Worm meat. Your precious Viktor loves what I created.} Nicola caught Alexei's chin with the tip of her shoe. {Inhale, boy. I know you can smell it. This room stinks of darling Viktor's seed.} She watched Alexei carefully, picking the exact right moment to continue. {I have Viktor now, Lexi. I don't need you anymore, but 'IF' you behave yourself properly, I may let you continue to serve me.}

Her foot continued to rest on Alex's neck. When she removed it, the act was carefully played out, slow and deliberate. Ignoring Victor's hoarse attempts at shouting, Nicola bent down. {My baby boy.} Bony fingers ruffled Alexei's short hair. {My son.} His quake at her choice of endearments was satisfying. {You shouldn't vex me so. The results never make you happy.}

"Mama, please." Alexei mumbled out the plea, straining into Nicola's touch.

Nicola smiled down at him. "Hush, my dearest, darling love. Stop your crying, do what I tell you, and everything will be all right. You know I'm the only one who knows what you are, and what you really need."

"I beg to differ, Ma'am." Richard's clipped accent invaded the scene. He stood in the doorway, gun pointed.

"Ah, Major Sharpe. I was informed you were involved in our affairs once again. I found the news quite distasteful." Nicola's upper lip tightened. "You have no place in this interaction. It's between my son and I."

"To hear Xander talk..." Sharpe frowned at the frail-looking old woman who had his lover cowering on the floor with only a few poisoned words. "I thought you'd be a damned sight more impressive, but yer just a spiteful, shrivelled-up old woman." Without any forewarning, Richard shot the elderly lady in the stomach.

Alex let out an inarticulate yelp. His eyes locked on the now sprawled Nicola, and his mouth hung open in shock. "MAMA!"

"She's not your mother, Xander." Richard paced over to stand above the pair of them. His weapon was still on target. "She's done nothing but hurt you since you were just a kid. It stops here. I promised you, my love. I'm not going to let anyone hurt you ever again."

Nicola's eyes finally seemed to register some fear as the Englishman loomed over her.

"Dickin, NO!" Alexei tried to move to cover Nicola. "Don't kill her."

Before his lover could completely block his aim, Sharpe blasted another hole in the old woman. This time he destroyed most of Nicola's face in the process. "I'm going to protect you, baby, even from yourself."

"Oh God, Dickin!" Alex teetered precariously to his knees. "Nicki, she... oh God! How could you? Nicki can't... Oh Dickin. What have you done?" Hands reached up to catch at, and pull, his own hair. Alexei breath faltered, and he seemed on the verge of screaming. "You killed her, Dickin. This is Nicki. How can she be dead?"

Richard reached down to drag Alex up to his feet, supporting most of the Russian's weight in the process. Sharpe shook the younger man once, then again, watching for the moment when Alex's eyes managed to finally focus. "Let's get out of here, sweet thing. We don't need any of this shite, not if you don't want it. I've got money, lots of money. Let me take you somewhere you can heal up. Somewhere quiet, just you and me, lover."

"Nyet!" Alex pushed awkwardly away from Sharpe and staggered over to where Victor hung limply in the sling. "Vicka?" Alex's fingertip tested a bit of skin that was bright red from an electrical burn. "I'm sorry."

The bound man groaned and flailed uselessly. "Alex." Victor's voice was a dry croak.

"It's over, Vicka." Alexei's hands knew the best way to free his twin from the web he was entangled in. This equipment was all too familiar. In just a few moments Victor was free to sag against Alex.

"I'm getting you out of here. We're going away." Alexei murmured soothingly. "Away from all this."

"Alice?" There was more to Victor's inquiry, but his ruined voice couldn't managed to convey it.

Alex could leave his twin with hope, but that would make it all the crueller later on, to admit to the deception on top of the death. It wasn't enough to say that she was dead either. Too many of them had been declared dead only to turn up again later. "I'm sorry, Vicka. I'm so sorry. I found her on the way in. I saw the body." Alexei's tone was gentle. The admission caused even more weight to hang onto Alex and he was hard-pressed to keep them both upright.

Victor's entire frame shuddered, but he couldn't seem to manage any noise beyond almost imperceptible weeping.

Glaring, Richard stared at the pair of them. "We should get him to a hospital, then get the fuck out of this country, Xander. Things haven't finished collapsing, not nearly. I've read files on your Family's organisation. I need to get you out sight for a while, a good long while."

"I'm not going anywhere without moi Vicka." Alexei shifted, attempting to adjust his almost unconscious twin so Victor was better supported. "Help me, Dickin." Alex gathered Victor closer, cooing a reassurance. "I'll fix it, moi dusha, somehow I'll fix it for you. I've got you now. I'm never going to let you go."

The light dawned in Richard's eyes within seconds. "No. No. No." Sharpe's head shook. "I did not go through all this shite so you could be with someone else. You're mine. I earned this." His gun lifted instinctively and his breathing sped up. "Put him down, Xander. We'll ring up for some medics, an ambulance. When it gets here, we'll leave. You and me." The barrel of the machine gun tipped, lining Victor up in its path. "Put him down and come with me, Xander."

"Don't point your gun at moi Vicka, Richard."

"I need you, Xander. I thought you understood that." Sharpe's aim didn't waver. "Put him down, and come with me or I will kill him."

A string of foreign curses flowed out of Alexei's mouth. "Okay. Okay. Calm down." Well aware of Richard's capabilities, Alex carefully eased Victor to the bloody floor. "It's all right, Dickin. If that's the way it has to be, we can make a deal. I can do a deal." As soon as he was free of his burden, Alexei straightened back up again. Keeping himself between Victor's helpless form and Sharpe's gun, Alex padded over to the Englishman. "Don't you think there's enough dead bodies stacked between us already, lover?" Richard's gaze was caught and held by Alex's burning green stare. Extending his created hand, Alexei pushed at the barrel of the machine gun, as his other hand slipped around to seek out a knife hidden in the back of the waistband of his jeans. The blade was out and pressed to Richard's throat before Sharpe could react.

Holding rigidly still, Richard continued to meet his lover's gaze. "I know you love me, Xander. Consider all we are to each other, baby. Think about it. I'm quite likely the only one of your kind still walking the earth. You need me as much as I need you. Would you really kill me over him? Because I'm not letting you walk out on me again. So long as there's breath in my body, I will fight to keep you. Does he mean that much to you? Is he worth that much? Is he worth my life?"

"Yes." The blade pushed slightly, creating a line of dripping red across Sharpe's throat.

"If I die you're coming with me, love." The tip of Richard's weapon dug into Alex's ribs. "Is it still worth it?"

"Yes."

The sigh that escaped Sharpe caused the cut to bleed even more. "Bloody hell." His gun dropped with a clatter. "Do a proper job of it then, you bastard, 'cause I can't live without you."

Alex's forehead tipped forward to rest against Richard's. An exhausted moan was breathed out. His free hand lifted to tangle in hair gone golden-brown with sweat. "Help me, Dickin. Please." The knife still lay in place, but the pressure had vanished.

"Help you? How? Should I lean into the blade and finish the job fer ya?" The jest was strained. "Or would you rather have me lend a hand with getting your boy, over there, out of here and somewhere safe?"

"His name is Victor," Alex reminded the other man as he shifted backward, releasing Sharpe. "And if he doesn't survive, then you and I won't be far behind him, understand?"

"Perfectly." Ignoring the steady drip of blood down the front of his shirt Richard moved to one side of the collapsed man. "Get his other side, Xander. It's a long way to the door."

Epilogue

Sharpe had chosen their destination well. New York had been close enough so that Victor hadn't been confined in the discomfort of the car for too long, and the city was more than vast enough to swallow three people. Richard wasn't entirely certain of whom or what they were hiding from, but it paid to be careful. Retribution of some kind might be forthcoming from the heirs to the Romanov empire, or not, given Riene's attitude. Still, Alex had also hinted that some government types would be curious as to his and Victor's whereabouts, so it didn't hurt to be over-cautious.

Sharpe had stood a watch over the two almost identical men for over twenty-four hours. He was more than a little afraid that if he turned his back the pair of them would vanish into the busy city that surrounded them. Still, exhaustion was dragging at Richard, no matter his fears. Leaning in the doorframe of the bedroom they had installed Victor in, Sharpe sagged heavily. He was practically falling asleep on his feet.

"Go lay down, Dickin."

From Richard's point of view, Alex moved from the chair by Victor's bed to Sharpe's side in a mere instant. Richard's eyes were too tired to process the movement properly. Either his perspective was completely screwed or he had dozed off standing upright.

"Only if you come with me." Sharpe's plea to his lover bordered on pitiful. One hand fisted weakly in the material of the robe that covered Alex's nearly bare body. "Lay down with me. Please Xander. Please. Sleep with me."

"We've slept, Vicka and I. You haven't." Alex easily pried loose the Englishman's grip and then pushed at one of Richard's arms, turning him in place.

"Please, Xander, no. Don't leave me. I love you. I need you. Don't leave me, please. Promise you'll kill me first. Don't you leave me behind," Richard babbled, unable to control what came out of his mouth.

"I'm not planning on leaving you." Alex guided Sharpe into the other bedroom of the suite and urged him to drop down onto the bed. "If it's at all possible, I'll make this work. You're going to fall in love with Victor, Dickin. I just know you will. Everyone always does." Kneeling on the edge of the bed, Alex petted limp blond hair. "You need to rest now. Close your eyes."

"I love you."

"Then trust me."

A weary chuckle escaped Sharpe. "It's nary the same thing, luv. Y'know that." Even as he protested, Richard's grey-green eyes drifted closed.

Alex waited a few moments to assure himself that Richard was dead to the world, before he padded back to his brother's room.

Victor made no effort to disguise the fact he'd been watching intently for Alex's return. "I was afraid you might lay down with him."

"Dickin..." Alex's speech paused as he settled on the bed beside Victor. "Dickin could do right by us, Vicka. I won't say he's a good man. He's not, but then neither am I. He could be good though, useful." Alex studied Victor, devouring him with his eyes. "But you don't care about... you don't want that." Green eyes clouded and then cooled to a dull, non-reflective hue. "I'm so stupid. It's okay. I'm sorry. I've fucked up again. I'll fix it. You're stronger today. We can ditch him while he's asleep, if that's what you need, moi Vicka. You know I'll do anything you need me to."

"He killed Li Ann, Alex."

The abrupt tone of the statement caused a flinch. "He told me he didn't." Alexei chewed at his lower lip. His lashes lowered, hiding his expression. "But it's probably a lie. You know best. It's okay," Alex repeated the assurance in a breathy whisper. "I'll take care of it." Pulling open the bedside table drawer, Alex plucked out a heavy knife. "We'll have to change hotels when I'm done. Richard paid cash and signed a fake name so we should be clear if we just get out of here."

"Jeez, Alex. There's been enough killing." Victor caught his brother's wrist, holding tight. his head shook. "We're far enough adrift as it is. If he helps you, if he's what you want..." He fumbled for words.

"I need you, but... oh God, Alex. More than that, I want you to be happy, to be safe for a change. If this guy helps you to hold it together, keep him." Fingers fisted in the sheet that shielded Victor's body. His knuckles turned white. "If he's what you need, go to him." The offer cracked near the end.

"Nyet, moi Vicka. You don't understand. I need you!" Alex protested in a strained whisper. His chest was constricting. "Dickin isn't important. The only thing that matters is you. I love you more than anyone, more than anything. More than my life. You're the only person left in the whole world that I can believe in. I know I've wrecked your life, Vicka. I'm sorry. I know I should have left you alone, but I couldn't. If I didn't have you, Vicka, I would curl up and die. You're my soul now. The only one I have 'cause I sold my own years ago. Please don't send me away. I'm sorry. I'll do anything. Anything!" Alex had discarded the knife in favour of clutching at both of Victor's wrists. "Please, Victor. I need you more than air, more than the breath in my lungs. Please don't leave me."

"Alex, calm down." Victor pulled, drawing his twin toward his chest. "I will never, ever send you away, as long as you want to be with me." Long soothing strokes were given. Victor petted from Alex's hair, down to the Russian's lower spine. Legs shifted out from under the sheets so Alex could be cradled against Victor's entire body. It took only a moment for Alex to collapse into the embrace; his surrender was intoxicating. Victor couldn't help but feel a jolt of power, considering the way Alex was melting against him. It seemed at times over the last year or two that Alex was an almost mythic creature, a force of nature. The idea that Victor could hold command over him was astounding.

The petting contented Alex for a time, but eventually he began to squirm in Victor's embrace. Alex's head turned and his cheek rubbed against his twin's. Not long after that, he began bestowing fleeting kisses on Victor's jaw and the side of his mouth that he could reach. Next, Alex's entire body began to turn inside the human cradle that held him.

"Vicka, please." Alex's hands linked up behind his twin's neck and he stole one kiss after another, from lips that grew more pliant by the moment. "I almost lost you." Alex whispered, against the other man's mouth. "It could all end any second. I don't want to leave this world regretting something that would have been so simple to change. Please, moi Vicka, be my lover. Don't deny me this. There's no reason for it."

"There's a reason." The countering words were gasped out between kisses. "There is." Victor's fingers kneaded at Alex's lower back, pulling him tight. He stared into eyes that were so like his own and yet completely different below the surface. The raw hunger he saw in there would have terrified him when he'd first met Alex, but Victor was coming to realise that the fire he saw there was more than just animal instinct. "There was a reason," Victor repeated. One of his hands skimmed up and around the straining body in his arms, finding a path up to Alex's chest, throat, and to his face. Fingers spread, tracing the lines of Alex's eyes, cheekbones, nose, chin, and finally his mouth. Plush, parted lips were outlined. Alex whimpered as Victor's forefinger slipped inside those lips. It was immediately suckled. "God Alex. There was a reason, but I just can't imagine why it was so important, not anymore."

The groan that Alex let out practically curled Victor's toes. The finger slipped free, and Alex licked at it. His tongue's actions gradually expanded to paint Victor's entire palm. "Don't tease me about this, Vicka. Please. I need you so bad. I ache."

Victor's face pressed in to nuzzle at Alex's jaw, near his ear. "You have to be certain, Alex. I won't take advantage of you. Too many people have done that already. I love you. I need to know that this won't change anything. Are you certain that this is what you want for us?"

"Oh Vicka, moi sweet Vicka." Alex's bottom teeth brushed at Victor's wrist. "It will change things. I'm sorry. It will change everything, but can't you see? That's what I want. I want to be everything to you, not just your brother or your friend," Alex purred. "This is what I want."

Victor's hand closed, his fingers catching at Alex's chin and holding tight. For a long time Victor just stared into his twin's eyes as if all the answers he needed could be found there. They could be, Victor finally decided, and the main answer was 'yes'.

"I do love you." Victor voiced the words carefully. "I only hope that makes up for everything else. I don't want you to ever regret this." A shaking breath escaped Victor. "And I'm sorry, but I'm afraid I'm not terribly good at this ëtwo guys' thing." That said, Victor leaned forward into a kiss that would have stopped a weak heart.

They wallowed in the kiss for longer than Victor had spent on the last blowjob he'd given. Every possible ridge and valley of Alex's lips and mouth were explored. A small flaw on Alex's lower lip broke open under the contact, and blood flavoured their kiss. Even as their mouths worked, hands wandered. Fingertips lovingly traced shoulders, arms and chests. Alex's touch was reverent, skittering carefully over still-damaged skin. Victor tweaked a nipple. Thrilled by the eager noise that Alex made, his hands continued to pinch, press and lightly scratch at Alex's flesh.

"Get me... out of this..." Alex mumbled against Victor's forehead. He shoved at the underwear that twisted and tangled, while at the same time, he attempted to shrug out of his robe. "Skin, more skin."

Victor wasn't wearing anything. He'd slept nude. Alex had insisted that clothing would aggravate the many sores on Victor's abused body.

"I've got it," Victor pacified. Catching at one shoulder of the robe, Victor eased it off his twin. His mouth tracked down the curve of Alex's shoulder to nibble down Alex's breastbone. His touch drifted across to brush the hard nipples, relieved to find the damage done to the one had completely healed up since Alaska. Only a slight scarring suggested it had ever been torn. Victor's mouth moved, latching onto the previously damaged nub so he could test its sensitivity. Either the suckling, or the fact his left hand was tickling down over a flat stomach, caused a moan to break from Alex's lips. Alex squirmed, arching into the contact.

Alex couldn't stop himself from grabbing at his lover and was devastated to cause a hiss of pain to escape Victor when he squeezed one of the electrical burns.

Alex whimpered, his hands shaking just a breath away from contact, the fingers twitching desperately. "I'm sorry. I just need... " His breath faltered. "I don't want to hurt you."

"Lay down," Victor soothed. "Let me." Gentle pressure on Alex's shoulders urged him to stretch out on the rumpled sheets.

Trembling with the strain of holding back, Alex attempted to lie on the mattress.

"Trust me," Victor asked in a soft voice. "I've felt you, the way you've touched me since we've started sleeping in the same bed. It made me feel special, precious." Victor moved carefully, wary of recently strained muscles. He straddled Alex's stomach and bent forward, catching at each of Alex's wrists in turn. Arms were eased straight out to the sides with sweeping caresses from the wrists to the shoulders. "It's my turn to worship you, Alex. Trust me. Lay still and let me love you this time."

The request provoked a guttural whine from Alex. Even as he tried to obey, his hips jerked in reaction to the promise his body heard in Victor's tone.

Victor smiled and bent down to kiss Alex, feasting on his lover's mouth even as his body shifted to cover Alex and hold him still underneath. When Victor pulled out of the probing kiss, it was to curve forward so he could rain smaller, more delicate kisses over every inch of Alex's face, ears, and throat. His tongue flicked constantly, tasting sweat that very nearly stung his tongue. The chemical burn of it was familiar, and intoxicatingly Alex. No one else tasted quite the same as his brother. Each brush of his lips over skin was followed by a touch. Victor's fingertips mapped out Alex.

By the time Victor's mouth swept down to Alex's shoulders, Alex was already whimpering almost constantly. Part of Victor's mind told him to stop the tormenting and swallow down the damp shaft bumping up against him, but Victor couldn't resist the urge to completely devour Alex. He wanted to imprint himself on Alex so completely that no one else's touch remained distinctive in his twin's memory.

Alex was an oral lover, Victor had discovered. Victor himself was more tactile. He wanted to touch everywhere. Victor smoothed his fingers down each of Alex's arms in turn, exploring every pore of the slick skin then carefully examining the created flesh of Alex's artificial arm. The real one was more responsive than the other arm, but even the fake one twitched at the extended contact as nanites transmitted the sensation of touch to Alex's lust-fogged brain. It appeared that the arm that Olga had grafted onto Alex's body while they were en-route to Mexico was now perfectly bonded to live tissue.

Satisfied with his exploration, Victor then repeated the actions over again, even slower, on the real arm, pausing to nibble at knuckles, and then again to feel the pulse on the inside of Alex's wrist with his lips. The beat raced, throbbing under the pale skin.

It amazed Victor that Alex was able to stay on the mattress considering how his body vibrated under the touches, but Alex fought to reassert control each time Victor said, "Let me," and gifted Alex with another caress. The depth of Alex's obedience to a simple request was absolute. When Victor finished with Alex's chest and stomach he almost considered skipping down to long legs that shook and spread in invitation but then he decided it would be too cruel. Instead Victor shifted to rest his cheek on one shaking hip.

"My Alex." A huff of air and a light, skimming touch over Alex's balls accompanied the declaration.

Letting out a wrenching moan, and with no further encouragement, Alex's body arched upward, orgasming, thrusting as much as the weight of Victor's face on his hipbone would allow, then collapsing back with a shudder. "Ebat'-kopat'! I couldn't hold... I'm sorry." Tremors wracked through Alex's body. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay. It's all right," Victor moved quickly so he could kiss at the skin of Alex's trembling stomach. He tasted Alex's spill on his lips. "That was gorgeous. It's okay, Alex." Victor petted a shaking hip. "I shouldn't have teased you so long. It's all right." Victor's tongue emerged to gently lap at the smeared skin. He caressed his lover, attempting to ease the fright he heard in Alex's voice. "It's okay." Victor murmured against flesh. "You can move. You can touch me. God, you're so..."

Alex's hand moved warily upon being given permission. His fingers settled cautiously on short blackish-brown hair, not putting any pressure on at all. He touched as if confirming a sight his eyes couldn't completely accept. When Victor's open-mouthed nuzzling eased lower, Alex let out a sigh. Despite having come only a moment ago, his body hadn't shifted out of arousal. He still wanted the contact just as desperately as he had before the pressure had blown. "I love you moi Vicka. I love you so much." Alex had to consciously force himself to speak in English. Russian was not for use with his beloved Victor. It wouldn't be right.

"I love you too, Alex." Victor's tickling lips tracked down from Alex's bellybutton to brush at the base of Alex's shaft. His tongue swiped up the quickly returning curve until Victor was in a position to suckle at the very tip of Alex's cock. Teeth grazed across Alex's foreskin, testing to see how it moved. Victor hadn't had very many cocks in his mouth over the years, and this was the first uncircumcised one.

Alex's fingers curved, but he didn't catch at his lover's hair. His thumb brushed the curve of Victor's left ear restlessly, making the tremble in his hands obvious. The heat of Victor's mouth engulfed more of him and Alex gasped. His created hand was thrown back to clutch at headboard of the bed, making the wood creak ominously. As wonderful as it felt, Alex's body flexed, caught between the urges to thrust into Victor's mouth and to pull out. His legs spread and his hips tipped in place. Feet flat to the mattress, Alex lifted when Victor pulled back to catch a shaking breath. "Please, Vicka."

Warm breath sighed out against Alex's exposed genitals. "I think I know what you want." Victor trailed one fingertip down the underside of Alex's shaft and between his tight balls to rub gently against the skin below them. Sucking kisses copied the path a moment later, making Alex groan and lift higher in invitation. "You want me... here." Victor brushed between the cheeks of Alex's ass.

"DA! Pozhaluista! Please, Vicka." If Alex attempted to open himself any further he would tear in half. He was at the edge of despair. All the words he knew for the act were discarded. How could he ask his precious Vicka for what he wanted in such crude terms? "I need you to... Please."

"I don't have anything." Victor's objection was clearly regretful for the first time. Always before it had been simply 'no, not that'. "We can't. We've no slick, Alex."

"You don't need anything!" Alex countered in a near scream. "I don't care. I don't need slick. Please Vicka." Alex's body rocked slightly in place, unable to keep still.

Victor's throat felt almost raw. His breathing had degenerated into shallow pants for air. He wanted to ask for confirmation, but he already knew the answer. "Okay. All right. I'll try." First Victor swiped a finger through what little moisture that remained on Alex's trembling stomach. He wanted to spit, but his mouth was mostly dry.

"VICKA! Please!" Alex pleaded.

Finger shaking, Victor pressed into the crease between Alex's cheeks. His attention darted from the task, up to Alex's face, and back again. "I don't think..."

"Don't! Don't think. Just stop it. I'm sick of all the thinking." Alex squirmed. "No fingers. No prep. Just do me. I can take it, Vicka." One of his legs lifted to hook over one of Victor's shoulders. "Your cock is slicker than your fingers. C'mon, Vicka. Please."

Whispering profanities that he wouldn't dare voice aloud, Victor shifted positions. Alex's free leg was caught and levered backwards as well. Alex groaned, but he held the position. The body underneath Victor was now bent almost in half. Using one hand to steady himself and the other to cup one of Alex's ass cheeks, Victor lined up his erection. He was weeping pre-come, making things slipperier, just as Alex had suggested. The entrance to Alex's body felt as if it would burn him to a cinder. Victor hesitated, rubbing the head of his shaft over and across the opening.

Alex whined and tried to push against the faint pressure. "Do it! Please, just do it, Vicka."

Exhaling heavily, Victor pressed into Alex. The sensation didn't just envelop Victor's erection, his entire body felt as if it were being engulfed by flame. A buzz built just behind Victor's eyes, spread backwards and seared down his spine. Alex's body convulsing under Victor compounded that raging fire. The sudden movement forced the penetration deeper and faster than Victor had been prepared for.

A long string of near nonsense spilled from Alex's mouth. His left leg curved, wrapping around Victor, and locking them together. Alex's head was thrown back, his mouth was open in a pseudo scream, and his entire body went rigid.

"Oh God! Alex." Victor had to use one hand to support himself, or he would fall and crush his lover. The other hand coasted up the skin of Alex's oddly bent leg, to his torso, and then up to his shoulder. Victor wanted to say something, anything, but he couldn't. Looking down at the mix of expressions washing across Alex's face took away the little bit of breath that remained in Victor's lungs. Victor had looked into the faces of lovers before, above, below, and even beside him, but he had never seen the like of the ecstasy on Alex's face at this moment.

"Moi Vicka. Moi dusha." Alex shuddered, his legs shaking even more than the rest of his body. "Lover please." Heavy lashes dropped down to hide green eyes that were almost glowing. Alex's mouth opened, and his tongue emerged to wet his lips.

The temptation was impossible to resist. Compressing Alex's bent body even further, Victor dove down to take the kiss he was sure was being offered. While immersed in that heated kiss, Victor's body took over for a mind that was completely devastated. The movement began with a slow, irresistible thrust that made Alex moan low in his chest. Moving gradually, Victor's hips were eventually flush to the curve of Alex's ass. Throughout the push, their lips never parted.

Wood creaked at the headboard and a piece of the inexpensive material broke under the force of Alex's created hand. The sudden change in balance made Alex clutch at Victor with his real hand, fingers digging into Victor's shoulder.

"Move." The word was spoken against Victor's mouth. "Move Vicka. Do me."

Victor's response was physical rather than verbal. Slowly, as if the act would shatter him if it were done too quickly, Victor eased away. The slide back in was just as precise a movement. Again and again, Victor repeated the careful motion.

"I love you Alex. I'll always love you."

Sometime in the haze of extended fucking, Alex started to cry. Completely uncontrollable, tears ran from the corner of Alex's eyes, back into his ears and hair. Occasionally Victor's head would turn and his tongue would swipe at the salty drips, but his mouth would always return to Alex's a moment later. Demands from Alex of ëfaster' and ëharder' were ignored. Victor continued at the same soul-devouring pace.

"I love you. I'll love you forever."

It was might have been the first time or the hundredth time Victor whispered those words, or something like them, Alex wasn't sure if he'd managed to answer the sentiments aloud, but those declarations and his fevered responses buzzed around inside his head and suffused his body. Alex had lost track of time and space as he was suspended in impossible pleasure. There only existed two bodies and a single soul.

When a hand wrapped around Alex's aching erection, a screech of pleasure was released into Victor's mouth. The overall burn finally focused, centring itself in Alex's cock. Alex felt it. That elusive sensation of near death, the feeling that the world had ceased to revolve and was now exploding around them. Alex felt overwhelmed. It was everything he'd hoped for during the long, painful wait. There was heat within, heat without and honest human warmth suffusing Alex's entire body.

Victor's face was a revelation. Alex fought to keep his eyes open so he wouldn't miss out on the sight. Another might have mistaken Victor's expression for pain, but Alex knew better. He'd seen lesser reflections while his mouth brought Victor to pleasure, but this was more. Alex was convinced that a vision of creation couldn't be more beautiful.

Eyes finally had to close. They felt burnt beyond repair. With darkness, sound returned. Endearments made mostly of nonsense spilled from Victor's lips as their bodies slowed. The words seeped into Alex's skin, sealing what small fractures remained in the protective cocoon that Victor had spun around Alex.

Reluctantly, Alex straightened out his crushed frame. Victor's spent cock slipped from Alex's body. When it seemed as if they would part even more, Alex caught Victor in his arms. "Don't leave me."

"I won't." Victor shifted so he could lie at Alex's side rather than on top of him, but the distance was minuscule. "Ever." They pressed together. Victor kissed the damp hair by Alex's ear. "Ever."

"I can't live without you, moi Vicka. I won't."

"Fair enough," Victor whispered back. "Because I don't think I would want to continue without you either, Alex." Victor nuzzled his twin's neck.

"It's you and I now, moi Vicka. Anyone else, they're just a luxury. Anything else that happens won't matter, not so long as you and I are together, moi dusha," Alex insisted.

Victor paused in his nibbling kisses to stare gravely into his twin's eyes. For the second time that day he found the answer he needed there. A smile pulled at the corner of his mouth. The words he finally gave voice to were the only ones that really mattered. "I love you."

...and that's a good place to fade to black. It's definitely milk and cookies time, kids. CJ says goodnight to Lexi and Vicka and tucks all her ëScoundrels' universe research papers away.

###

jimcarla@hotmail.com

A Closing Tempest
By Carla Jane
With Dr Ruthless on plot development and beta-reading and Erika on beta-reading (re: saving the story from never being finished and forcing me to clarify myself when I got excited and took shortcuts)
Address: jimcarla@hotmail.com
Date: May 2002, yeap, it took almost two years
Summary: An X-files/Once a Thief crossover in my 'Gathering of Scoundrels' universe. Alex and Victor come home to Atlantic City and find Sharpe at the house with Li Ann. Mama Romanov and one of the Catherines decide they don't like things the way they are and set about changing the situation to suit themselves.
Rating: NC-17 for m/m and m/f sex, heavy violence and (yeap) incest.
Disclaimer: Chris Carter and Fox own Krycek and the X-files gang. The OaT people belonged to Alliance and John Woo. Bernard Cornwell wouldn't likely recognize this Richard Sharpe, but that's where he came from in the beginning.
Notes: I diverged from X-files canon a long while ago. Alex is a member of an international crime family, the Romanovs. Victor is his twin brother. They met each other when Alex hooked up with the trio from Once a Thief.
Here's the list of stories I've written in this universe in the order I wrote them:
The first three may be archived as Hong Kong Compiled. They are: Hong Kong Convergence, Hong Kong Connection and Hong Kong Conflict
Then come the ones that matter:
Re-Establish Contact
Crossing Paths
Meet the Family
Three points on the Globe, a story in three parts
And
Storm Breaking
There are also a fair number of NC-17, pwp sidepieces to these stories. If you want anything I wrote and can't find it, just tell me, or go here:
http://www3.sympatico.ca/carla.patterson/homepage.htm

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