He leant over the balustrade and contemplated the midnight sky, illuminated by innumerable sources of light. He remembered reading an impassioned plea for the reduction in artificial light, the writer complaining that it was getting harder and harder to view the stars naturally. Looking at the light pollution spread above him he could see why.
A hand on his shoulder startled him from his contemplation and he turned round to face the senator himself.
"Fox," Senator Matheson said jovially. "Glad you could come."
Mulder straightened up and held out his hand. Matheson shook it firmly and gestured him forward, continuing his conversation.
"I hadn't seen you for some time so I thought I'd invite you to this formal do and give you the opportunity to update me on your work."
Mulder nodded and smiled politely as the senator strode through the gathering acknowledging people on his way and picking up a drink from one of the waiters as he passed by. Mulder grabbed a glass of wine and followed.
"I also thought I'd ask you about some unsettling rumours circulating," the senator continued, waving Mulder through to a small heavily furnished room. "The unnatural, the bizarre and the strange being your natural hunting grounds I thought you'd be in a position to tell me more."
He settled in an armchair and waved Mulder to a seat. "Some unimpeachable sources are talking about something so outlandish that I have to assume there is some substance in what sounds like fantasy." He stopped and contemplated his drink.
"What would that be, sir?" Mulder asked, accepting his cue.
Matheson contemplated his drink, raised the glass to his lips and swallowed before returning his attention to Mulder. "Vampires," he said succinctly. "Not the Dracula version, nor the Anne Rice type, but undead, blood sucking vampires who are organised, business like, rich, influential and already well entrenched in the fabric of our society." He grimaced. "I feel stupid saying it, but at least I know you won't laugh at me."
"They call them Code V's in Britain," Mulder said lightly, taking a certain amount of pleasure in imparting the information. "Alternatively they are referred to as leeches."
Matheson narrowed his eyes. "You seem to be treating this very lightly, Fox," he said somewhat disapprovingly.
Mulder shook his head. "Anything but, sir," he denied. "I consider them to be a serious threat, but I've had trouble getting anyone in the FBI to believe they exist, in contrast to England where I met up with members of a squad specifically set up to monitor and eliminate Code V's."
Matheson nodded slowly. "Knowing your tendency to believe the most amazing things possible I too would have treated your report with scepticism, " he said slowly. "Now I'm not denying that you're an excellent profiler and investigator, and I wouldn't have sponsored you if I didn't know that much of your paranoia and concerns have a basis in fact, but you do ruffle feathers, Fox." He took another sip from his drink. "I want you to investigate this and write a report documenting everything you know and every contact you've had with these..." he stopped and looked blank.
"Code V's," Mulder offered blandly.
"Code V's. " Matheson agreed with relief.
"Why are you so interested?" Mulder asked curiously. His faith in the senator's integrity had faded over the years, and he assumed that Matheson was yet again attempting to use him to further his own interests. "Is this to be treated as official FBI business?"
Matheson nodded. "I've requested your cooperation in an ongoing X-File. The FBI aren't renowned for liking politicians interfering in their day to day running, but your Director owes me a favour."
Mulder wasn't too sure that he liked the idea of Matheson having sufficient influence to wrangle this either. "And who will I be reporting to and what exactly is my remit?" he asked carefully.
"To your AD as usual, Mulder. I'm asking the FBI to investigate the veracity of some unsettling and potentially highly dangerous rumours. While I may ask that your findings be available to me, you will be working within the remit of your organisation." Matheson stated firmly. "Now to other business. I assume that you have full command of the X-Files again, and that AD Skinner is backing you?"
Mulder nodded slowly.
Matheson relaxed. "Dr Scully is still with you?"
Mulder nodded again. "Scully and I are still in the basement, still the most unwanted," he said with grim humour.
Matheson's face twitched. "You do yourself a disservice, Fox. I know of many people who take a strong interest in you."
"How heart warming," Mulder said coolly.
Matheson frowned at him. "In fact I have an old, and very influential, friend who tells me that you and he are acquainted." He took another sip of his drink and stood from the chair. "I was quite surprised, and I strongly recommend that you make use of his interest in your affairs as you should find him a very useful ally." He stood up and strode to the door. "Wait here and I'll find him. He said he wanted to have a chat with you in private."
He vanished before Mulder could ask him for the name of his friend. Unsettled, Mulder stood up and wandered round the nondescript sitting room He found it hard to believe that if Britain had its own unit to investigate the Code V's the same couldn't be true here. True he'd been unable to uncover anything, but knowing the Government's love of conspiracies and cover ups, that didn't mean one didn't exist.
"Fox," said a voice he had never wanted to hear again. "I have missed your company."
Mulder took a deep breath and turned to face Paul Glendale. "Mr Glendale," he said formally, glad that his voice remained steady. "It would be true to say that I have not missed yours at all."
Glendale grinned and stepped forward. "You look good, Fox. The tuxedo suits you, but then you have a very graceful body and a perfect ass so pretty much everything is going to look good on you."
Mulder held his ground and raised his chin. "I'm a busy man, Mr Glendale," he said. "Was there anything specific you wanted to say to me, or was this just an opportunity to remind me of your existence."
"I doubt that you need a reminder," Glendale drawled, his smile increasing as he watched Mulder closely. "We were so intimate most of the time and I have so many photographs and films to remind me of you before your abrupt departure."
Mulder remained silent guessing where this was heading and not liking it one bit.
"In fact a couple of them are quite explicit, it seems that we allowed our passions to carry us away. I've arranged to have one dropped by your apartment for you to look over for old times sake, and to keep you warm until I can arrange for us to be together again."
Mulder took a sip of his drink and pointedly chose not to speak.
Glendale smiled again, moving even nearer. "I've been talking to some of the movers and shakers of this Consortium you hate so much. It seems that they disapprove of me moving in on one of their pet projects, although I get the strong impression that many of them think that your continued residence with me would do you the world of good in learning obedience."
Mulder took a deep breath and wished vehemently for his gun. "If you looked at a my profile, Mr Glendale, you'll find that dumb obedience has never figured very highly in my personality traits."
Glendale laughed. "I'm well aware of that, dear Fox. Remember, I did have you drugged." He moved into Mulder's personal space. "I've missed these lips, Fox. They feature prominently in my dreams." He reached forward to touch Mulder, smiling with amusement when Mulder grabbed his hand and held him away firmly.
"Hands off the FBI Agent," Mulder said, determined that Glendale was not going to make him lose his cool. "And if you plan to blackmail me with falsely edited film, think again. We have experts who could easily show how you manipulated the evidence."
Glendale smiled again, slowly lowering his hand, as Mulder's grip remained firm. "I doubt that very much, dear Fox. You were drugged to the gills some days, and I would imagine that you have absolutely no memory of what you and I did."
Mulder relaxed his grip and took a few steps away from Glendale. "Is the senator one of your paid stooges?" he asked, genuinely curious.
Glendale shook his head. "That's not a very nice thing to say about the person who sponsored you, Fox."
Mulder shrugged his shoulders. "What am I to expect after you boasted to me of your connections? You are correct of course, the senator did sponsor me, and for that I will always be grateful. It doesn't stop me from inquiring about him does it?"
Glendale nodded, but answered the question with another. "Who was your rescuer, Fox, and where did you vanish to for three days?"
Mulder looked surprised. "You mean you haven't found out?" he said caustically.
"I have his face on film, and you certainly seemed to know him and be very comfortable with him," Glendale said.
Mulder smiled. "You'll have to ask him," he said, "because I'm not telling you anything."
Glendale nodded, as if something had been confirmed. "And the others who helped him?"
Mulder shook his head.
"The ones that don't seem to show up on film?"
"Really, how bizarre," Mulder countered.
"Very much your area of interest, I believe," Glendale said smoothly. "I thought you'd like to know that anything that interests you is of extreme importance to me as well, dear Fox. I think it's very helpful if lovers share interests, don't you?"
"When I find a lover who shares my interests I'll be sure to let you know," Mulder said politely, wondering how he could cut this conversation short and get away from the man. Glendale had given him the creeps from the first time he'd met him, and even now some two months after Krycek had rescued him, he still had nightmares about the man. "I have pressing business elsewhere, so if you'll excuse me I'll be leaving now."
Glendale made no attempt to stop him, and Mulder walked swiftly to the door flinging it open and making his escape though a crowd of people to the foyer. The attendant at the door took his name and ordered him a cab, conversing pleasantly with him through the remarkably brief wait before opening the door for him and waving him off. Mulder sunk in the back seat; his humour restored by the brief encounter, and allowed his thoughts to concentrate on a more pleasant topic than Glendale, Alex Krycek. He hadn't seen the man since he'd dropped him off on the outskirts of the city, roaring off on the Harley Davidson that suited him down to the ground. Mulder smiled reminiscently. Leather, oil and bike fumes were forever going to remind him of Alex Krycek.
The cab driver stopped outside his buildings, and he made his way up the stairs to his apartment. Once inside he switched on the lights and headed for the bedroom freezing as a hand touched his neck.
"Don't change yet," Krycek's voice murmured. "I want to take a good look at you."
Feeling a little self-conscious, Mulder stood still as Krycek walked round him returning to face him.
"You look great in a tuxedo," Krycek said appreciatively. He stepped back and gestured to the couch.
Mulder removed the bow tie, loosened the top buttons of his shirt, kicked off his dress shoes and fell onto the couch. "I've missed you," he said quietly.
Krycek nodded. "Me too, Mulder." They smiled at each other then Krycek turned to business. "I've been in contact with the Resistance, and thrown them into some confusion with my revelations about the Code V's. Against my advice they agreed to meet up with some of them on neutral ground." He shook his head in disgust. "I'm worried that they seem almost beguiled by the Code V's. They don't seem to appreciate the risks of their involvement."
"And the Consortium?" Mulder asked.
Krycek shrugged. "Last I heard Spender was having talks with that bastard Glendale."
"So Glendale told me," Mulder said without thought.
Krycek turned on him. "When did you see him?" he said angrily. "Shit, Mulder, that man would devour you like a Popsicle given half the chance. He's totally and utterly obsessed with you."
Mulder shook his head. "At Matheson's gathering just now," he said calmly. "He told Matheson he knew me, and Matheson left us to talk together." He took a deep breath. "I got away as soon as I could and returned home. I'm not stupid, Alex, I know he's obsessed, I've dealt with his personality type many times before."
Krycek relaxed a little. "I know, I'm not suggesting you don't, but this is personal." He sighed and changed the subject. "What did you tell Scully and Skinner about the missing weeks?"
Mulder looked away. "A watered down version of the truth. The pictures you gave me were pretty convincing, I looked spacey in a number, and Scully and Skinner were predisposed to believe that I'd been kidnapped. We discussed bringing some kind of action against Glendale, but..." he shrugged hopelessly.
Krycek nodded. "How did you explain your rescue?"
Mulder fidgeted slightly. "I told them the truth, not that they really believed it. I said that the Code V's rescued me, I also mentioned that you'd helped." He could feel Krycek staring at him and shrugged. "I don't quite know just how much Skinner talks with Cancerman, although I know he distrusts the man, but I thought it would look rather strange if I didn't even mention that the Consortium had sent you to help me.
Krycek nodded slowly. "That makes some kind of strange sense," he agreed.
Mulder gave him a wry smile. "Thank you for the enthusiasm, Alex," he said mildly.
Krycek gave him a brief smile in return. "What did Glendale have to say?" he asked
Mulder sighed and shifted back into the couch. "You can guess. He's got pictures of you, but doesn't know who you are. He's aware of Code V's and, as you know, he's been in contact with the Consortium. The damn man has his fingers in every pie and he has far too much influence for my peace of mind."
Krycek sighed. "And Matheson?"
Mulder gave a short bark of laughter. "He wants me to investigate the Code V's." He frowned. "Somehow he has enough influence to have the Director assign me the case." He shook his head. "This is running out of control, Alex. Just six months ago I wasn't even aware of the potential threat these Code V's represented. Hell, I didn't even know that they existed outside of a few X-files. Now they've taking over every area of investigation, and yet my partner and AD still don't believe me when I talk about them." He frowned in thought. "What time is it in England?"
Krycek shrugged. "They're ahead of us, so about 8 or 9 in the morning I'd guess. Why?"
"I'm going to ring Mike and see if he knows of a similar US organisation to his own. I don't know why I didn't do it before, but perhaps I just didn't want to know." Mulder picked up the phone, frowned in concentration and quickly dialled a number.
"I wish I had your memory," Krycek murmured.
Mulder was about to reply when the phone was answered. "Hi, Mike, it's Mulder." He was silent for a few seconds. "Okay, but first I have to ask you something, are you in contact with a government sanctioned counter Code V group like yours over here?" He listened intently, pulling a paper and pen towards him as he listened. "Yes, right, okay." He scribbled furiously. "Thanks, Mike. How are you by the way?" He watched Krycek as he peered over his shoulder trying to read the note. "Is he still around? Yeah, I thought so. Krycek and I have been contacted, they're very interested, too interested." He laughed. "Yes we are." He was silent for a few seconds. "You know I'd always be pleased to see you over here, Mike. Right. Good. Okay I'll let you go." He put the phone down and stared at the paper.
"So?" Krycek asked, a little impatiently.
Mulder shook his head. "It's complicated. Mike says that they have only had contact with one man, and even Pearce, who is a priest himself, found the man's fanaticism and reliance on religious artefacts extreme."
"You mean crosses, stakes and holy water?" Krycek asked incredulously.
"I assume so," Mulder said with a sigh. "Mike said that those who had been bitten often used to flinch at the sight of religious artefacts, but that it was entirely dependent on the person's upbringing and beliefs. He said he felt queasy about going near a church after he'd been bitten, but it's more a psychological barrier than a real one, and not something to be relied on."
"So you're telling me that our government's response to the code V threat has been hijacked by religious extremists?" Krycek said in disgust.
Mulder ran through his conversation with Mike and shook his head. "Not exactly, I think it's a very modern and efficient force, but Mike suggests that leader sees this as some kind of holy crusade rather than a potential disaster for mankind." He sighed. "I'll ring him in the morning and arrange to see him. If Matheson has arranged for me to investigate at least I won't have to spend my time convincing Scully and Skinner that I'm not going crazy."
"I would have thought the pair of them would have more faith in you by now," Krycek said, a note of irritation in his voice. "Surely Scully has realised that more than half the time your paranoia is justified?"
Mulder smiled ruefully. "I think she remembers the other half more frequently," he said. He shook his head. "Scully keeps me grounded, Skinner has a natural disinclination to accept what I'm saying. Both have my best interests at heart, or at least that's what I keep telling myself when I feel like I'm hitting my head against a brick wall."
"They don't fucking deserve you," Krycek growled.
Mulder felt a shimmer of sexual desire shoot through him. He'd never have believed that he could get so turned on, yet, paradoxically, so irritated, by a lover's protectiveness. "I think they consider me the burden they have to live with," he said half jokingly. "Neither of them have come away unscathed, Alex."
Krycek said nothing, but glowered at him. Mulder bit his lip determined not to say anything he might regret. He had learnt early on in his relationship with Krycek that the man's desire to defend him encompassed everyone including his partner and boss. He reached forward and touched Krycek on the face and slowly leaned forward and kissed him. "Scully and Skinner are always there for me, Alex," he said quietly. "Just as you have always been there for me, although I never realised it."
Krycek visibly relaxed, his expression clearing. "Damn it, I so want to drag you to bed and make love to you," he said ruefully, his fingers tracing a pattern across Mulder's lips.
Mulder took a deep breath, desire bolting through him once again. "I'm not stopping you," he said quietly and licked at the finger.
Krycek shivered. "You are so damn sexy, Fox," he murmured, leaning forward to kiss Mulder on the lips.
Mulder closed his eyes and wrapped his arms around Krycek, and returned the kiss with enthusiasm taking in the smell of Krycek's leather and noting the faint lingering odour of bike oil. He was getting into his stride when Krycek gently disengaged and placed his finger on Mulder's lips.
"I don't want to stop, but I really have to go, Fox," Krycek said, a little breathlessly.
Mulder sighed, kissed the finger at his lips and sat back. "Are you in danger, Alex?" he asked.
Krycek gave a short laugh, and stood up quickly. "That's kind of accepted these days, Mulder. Neither of us are exactly poster boys for clean, safe living are we? I think we can take it for granted that you are under observation from any number of parties, and although I've given mine the slip, I've got tails as well." He pulled Mulder towards him and gave him a hug. "I've got word that the Spender wants to talk to me as soon as I returned, and I need to sort out a thing or two before I see him. Give me a few days and I'll get word to you and we'll meet."
Mulder returned the hug. "Phone or Email me, Alex," he muttered, "and don't make me wait too long."
Krycek nodded and disappeared.
***
The Reverend Abraham was a tall, solid built man in his early fifties with an easy smile and bright white teeth. Mulder sat back and watched with some appreciation as he charmed an initially hostile Scully. Scully had not wanted to come to the interview, had not wanted to take on the case, and had expressed her irritation at length during the car ride. By the time the coffee arrived, Scully had relaxed, smiled at Abraham's jokes and even given a brief smile to her partner. Mulder relaxed a little more until the sharp, intelligent eyes of Rev Abraham turned towards him.
"Agent Mulder, I fear I have been neglecting you," Abraham said, smiling benignly.
Mulder sat up a little and felt an unsettling urge to straighten his tie.
"I was somewhat perplexed by your message yesterday, but having taken time to read up about your and Agent Scully's work, I felt intrigued," he continued. "However, I am a little puzzled as to why you should want to meet a man of the cloth, and how I can be of assistance to you."
"Thank you, sir," Mulder said politely. "Basically I have some questions about the Code V's, and what you see as their primary objective in this country."
Abraham blinked, looked down at his coffee and took a long drink before replacing the cup slowly on the saucer. Mulder realised, with a mild degree of pleasure, that he'd shocked the man.
"Code Fives'?" Abraham said slowly. "I'm not too sure what you mean, Agent Mulder."
Mulder raised his eyebrows and continued. "In England, the agency set up to monitor and destroy vampires has labelled them Code V's. They write five using the Roman numbering system so it becomes a useful shorthand."
"I'm sure," Abraham murmured, glancing briefly at Scully. "Why do you think I should know anything about vampires, Agent Mulder?"
"Because the agency I'm talking about gave me your number," Mulder said blandly. He saw Scully frown and knew he'd be getting an earful about his supposed sources when they returned to the car.
Rev Abraham took a deep breath and rested his hands on the veneered surface of his desk. "What authority do you have for asking me this?" he asked staring directly at Mulder.
"Certain people within the government have been asking for information regarding the rumours about a organised group of apparently immortal beings who have a great deal in common with the supposedly mythical beings termed vampires. As the X-Files was set up to look at unexplained cases the case file naturally came to Scully and me." Mulder said impassively.
"I see," Abraham said simply. "Have you met a vampire, Agent Scully?"
"I've met individuals who think they're vampires and acted like them," Scully said carefully.
Abraham nodded. "And you, Agent Mulder?"
"Yes," Mulder said quietly. "The few that Scully mentioned, and a number of Code V's in England and recently here at home."
"And what did you make of them?" Abraham asked, his eyes fixed on Mulder, "and how come you know what they were, and survived the encounter?"
"They terrified me," Mulder said truthfully, and caught Scully's astonished look before she dipped her head and returned to watching Abraham. "As to how I survived, because they wanted to recruit me, I suppose."
Scully's gaze returned to Mulder.
Abraham nodded. "You're prime recruiting age," he agreed. "Old enough to realise that life is not forever, and young enough to want to stay the age you are before old age begins to impair you."
Scully looked between the two men. "Are you saying what I think you're saying?" she asked levelly.
Abraham returned his attention to her, a rueful smile crossing his face. "Yes, Agent Scully. I know they exist because, as your partner knew all along, I head up a team of investigators who monitor these Code V's, and destroy as many of them as possible."
Scully shook her head, glancing quickly at Mulder again. "Can you show me any evidence, any proof of these supposed vampires?"
Abraham shook his head. "Your partner has possibly already told you that these vampires do not show up on any recording machine. In fact the only thing that registers them is the human eye."
Mulder nodded, avoiding Scully's eye and looked searchingly at Abraham. "Who provides the backing for you, and what exactly is your remit?" he asked politely.
Abraham sat back in his chair, rested his elbows on his desk and linked his fingers together almost as if he was at prayer. "Are you religious?" he asked Mulder.
Mulder shook his head. "I have no defined religious belief," he murmured.
Abraham nodded turning towards Scully. "I notice a crucifix around your neck, can I assume that religion is an important part of your life, agent Scully?"
Scully nodded. "I'm a practising Catholic," she said. "Why do you ask?"
"To help me get a feel for the way you might approach this," Abraham said. "I see these vampires, or Code V's as damned, soulless beings unable to die, unable to rest and unable to seek forgiveness and redemption. I see them as an abomination, Agent Scully, and my job is to clean our country of them."
Scully blinked. "You can offer them no salvation?" she asked.
Abraham shook his head. "They damned themselves as soon as they crossed over."
"What about those who had no say in the matter?" Mulder asked curiously. "Although I have to say that the Code V's I saw went to great lengths to assure me that they only took those that wanted to join them."
Abraham shook his head. "They are still damned, Agent Mulder whether the choice was theirs or another's."
Mulder shook his head, unsettled by the man's statement. "Who finances you, and who knows about your existence?" he asked, wanting to change the direction of the conversation and mildly frustrated at not getting an answer the first time.
Abraham sat back in his chair and tapped his fingers on his desk. "Can I ask exactly where exactly this information will go?" he enquired.
Mulder sighed. "As I said, Agent Scully and I were put onto this by a senator I have some contact with. I can't see that giving the senator a complete run down of your operation is necessary or valid, but I would like to supply him with sufficient information to reassure him, if that is quite the right word..." He stopped and shrugged.
Abraham nodded. "But...?" he prompted.
"Who has the most to gain from revealing the truth about the Code V's?" Mulder asked.
"The truth of what, Agent Mulder?" Abraham asked. "What truth can we tell people? That out in their world exists creatures of myths and legends? In the earlier days of my ministry I would have been clamouring to climb into my pulpit and spread the word of these abominations."
He stopped as Mulder winced. "You do not like my use of the word, Agent Mulder?"
Mulder shook his head. "It is pejorative."
"Yet accurate," Abraham said dismissively, turning his attention to Scully. "What else can we call beings that need to feed on us to survive, possess no souls and can never be completely destroyed, Agent Scully?"
Scully shook her head, apparently unwilling to be drawn into the conversation.
"Unfortunate?" Mulder said slightly tongue in cheek, but finding himself irritated by the man's dogmatic attitude.
Abraham didn't bat an eyelid. "Unfortunate also," he acknowledged, "but that word does not hide the fact that they should not exist. They are perversions of life, foul shadows stripped of their humanity, and determined to create a world more suited for their needs than ours."
"You have evidence of that?" Mulder said, pouncing on the first useful thing the man had said.
"I have evidence of the type of people they are trying to recruit for their knowledge and skills, and of the type of research they invest time and money in," Abraham said.
Mulder nodded. "Your counterparts in England implied they had similar evidence."
Abraham nodded. "We work together at times." He sighed. "I can't answer your question as to who would gain from publicising the existence of vampires. Ten years ago I would have been all for doing so, believing that fear would unite our country, bringing with it a religious reawakening and a return to the moral values of the church and the bible."
"You said ten years ago, why have you changed your mind?" Scully asked, and Mulder felt a sense of relief at her curiosity.
Abraham returned his attention to her and raised his hands "Because I have been reluctantly persuaded that the most likely reaction to any revelation would be mass panic, witch hunts, civil disorder and a rise in the worst types of religious fundamentalism rather than a return to the values, ethics and morals of the true church, Agent Scully."
Scully nodded. " I see," she said slowly.
"Do the Code V's know about you?" Mulder asked.
Abraham smiled ruefully. "Yes, but we remain as anonymous as possible. That is why I saw you today in my church office. We keep track of them and I have to assume that they are monitoring us." He stood up. "I'm not too sure that I can assist you any further Agents. I think I have only confirmed what you already knew, Agent Mulder."
Mulder nodded, and stood up. "Thank you very much for your time, Reverend Abraham," he said pleasantly. "I've just got a couple more things to ask, one of which is who finances you?"
Abraham frowned. "Is that really important?"
"I don't know," Mulder said honestly.
Abraham nodded. " The church, the state and a few private beneficiaries," he said carefully.
Mulder nodded. "And lastly, do you have any knowledge of the origin of these Code V's?"
Abraham shook his head slowly. "None whatsoever, Agent Mulder," he said slowly. "I deal with the results rather than explore the cause."
Mulder held out his hand. "Thanks you, sir, you have been very helpful," he said with as much sincerity as he could muster.
Abraham shook hands and returned to Scully, gave her hand a shake and escorted them both to the door.
They were silent on the drive back to the office. Mulder kept looking at Scully, but she refused to make eye contact. They parked, and entered the building and headed for the basement still in silence. Scully took off her coat, shook it out, hung it on the back of the door and sat down her fingers curling reflexively around her cross. She stroked it slowly, her eyes drifting over Mulder's head.
Scully?" Mulder asked curiously.
Scully sighed and dropped her hand. "What do you intend to do?" she asked.
Mulder raised his eyebrows. "Investigate further, try and find out their origins and history," he said.
Scully shook her head. "It's not our provenance, Mulder," she said. "It's obvious that Rev Abraham and his people are doing the job of monitoring them quite adequately."
"You think so?" Mulder replied, a tad sarcastically. "Our remit is to explore the unexplainable, I'd say the Code V's come pretty high on the inexplicable, and dangerous, phenomena list."
Scully shook her head, her lips tight with annoyance.
Mulder sighed and leant forward. "Scully, I told you and Skinner that I didn't seek out these Code V's because I didn't even know they existed. Now I do, and everywhere I turn I stumble across them. It's like I can't get away from them." He fiddled with a pencil then looked directly at Scully. "I feel like I'm constantly being manipulated and I want to know why."
Scully frowned. "I accept that, but I still don't think it's our responsibility to chase them when another agency has been set up to do just that. And another thing I don't understand is why they've been so open to you? Surely it's the secrecy which they shroud themselves in that protects them?"
Mulder nodded. "I'd agree, but they also need to make people aware of them if they want to recruit, and apparently they want to recruit Krycek and me."
"What on earth do they want Krycek for?" Scully said venomously.
Mulder essayed a tired smile. "Perhaps he has skills they feel would be useful."
Scully snorted. "You mean like lying, cheating and murdering," she said bitterly. She shook herself. "Why do they want you?"
Mulder looked down at the floor and contemplated his reply. "Glendale told me, and Krycek confirmed it, that I'm not entirely human," he said, and swallowed the bile he felt every time he had to even think of the implication behind those few words.
"What do you mean by that?" Scully said tightly, and Mulder could hear a tiny thread of panic in her voice.
Mulder closed his eyes. "Apparently I was experimented on in utero and I'm the most successful 'hybrid' the consortium have to date," he said expressionlessly. "The Consortium want to play around with my genes, the Code V's are fascinated at the possibilities and Glendale wants me because I'm 'special'," he continued, starting when Scully's hand touched his shoulder.
"The Consortium might be playing mind games with you," Scully said quietly.
Mulder nodded. "That was my hope, but I don't think so. Krycek was very reluctant to confirm what he'd been told." He looked up and saw the anger in Scully's eyes at Krycek's name. He sighed internally, he didn't want to lie to Scully, but he could hardly tell her that blind passion and need had blunted his hatred to a point where he'd permitted Alex Krycek to seduce him, and that now Krycek starred in his erotic dreams, popped up with far too much frequency in his waking thoughts and was, including herself, one of the few people that he truly cared for. "Krycek may have had his orders, but he did rescue me at the risk of his own life, Scully. I owed him to at least listen to him, so we talked when the Code V's imprisoned us."
Scully nodded dismissively and returned to the original topic. "Then the last thing you need to be doing is making yourself even more of a target for them."
"They involved me, Scully," Mulder said a little wearily. "I can't turn my back on it and pretend they don't exist, I want to know."
Scully sighed. "We report to Skinner, you tell him exactly what you've just told me. I tell him what I think and he makes the final decision," she said firmly.
Mulder took a deep breath, looked at the case file and nodded hoping like hell that he was doing the right thing.
***
"No," Krycek said firmly. "I will not do it!"
Spender looked at him quizzically. "I don't remember asking you to, Alex. I distinctly remember ordering you not to do it."
"I am not taking Mulder back to Glendale," Krycek said hotly, too enraged to hear Spender's denial. "You asked me to rescue him because you didn't like what Glendale wanted to do to him. You didn't see him when I found him, hands tied, drugged out of his skull and so uncoordinated he couldn't stand up for trying. However much a nuisance you may find him, Mulder does not deserve to spend the rest of his days, or for as long as Glendale maintains his obsession, as a pet to that bastard."
Spender sat back and smiled benignly at Krycek. "You seem to be extraordinarily concerned with Mulder's well being, Alex," he said. "I thought you'd be fairly indifferent to his fate as long as he wasn't troubling us."
Krycek stiffened, aware that he may have given himself away with his emotional outburst. "I have been many things, but one thing I have never been is indifferent to Mulder," he said truthfully.
Spender nodded. "That's certainly a difficult emotion when it comes to our favourite FBI agent I do agree, Alex. You see, information has come to me that suggests that you and our dear Fox Mulder are perhaps far friendlier than it might appear on the surface. In fact, dear Alex, I do believe that you have been lying to me. I asked you quite clearly when sanctioning Mulder's rescue whether you knew if he had any interest in men. I remember your answer was somewhat ambiguous, but now I'm led to believe that the pair of you have been lovers since I assigned you to follow him to London."
Krycek held himself rigid. "From where, may I ask, are you receiving such information?" he asked levelly.
Spender gave him a cool look. "From the besotted Paul Glendale, Alex, and for your information I do not intend to permit Glendale to have any access to Mulder. You are right in your assessment, nothing has changed. Glendale is an obsessed and dangerous man, you are now the focus for his anger, because despite my reassurances that you were my employee doing a job, he is convinced that you are Mulder's lover, and says he has proof."
Krycek thought over his contact with Mulder since saving him from Glendale, and what Mulder had told him. Glendale had never mentioned him, or any lover to Mulder, so there was a very big chance that either Glendale or Spender were lying for reasons he was sure he'd be discovering all too soon. "I don't believe you," he said pleasantly. "Glendale has no evidence because there is no evidence."
Spender sat back in his chair and looked assessingly at him. "But you don't find the idea objectionable?"
Krycek considered his employer for a few seconds and wondered what the hell was going on in the quagmire he called a mind. "What idea?" he asked, playing for time.
"Don't play the fool," Spender said irritably. "I am well aware that while you like women, you have no problems with bedding men either. Are you attracted to Fox Mulder?"
"Yes," Krycek said simply. He still wasn't sure quite where this was leading, but he thought denying his attraction was not going to do either him or Mulder any good.
"And since your rescue of him and subsequent imprisonment with these vampires your relationship has improved considerably?"
"Yes," Krycek repeated.
"And did you visit him last night and spend about twenty minutes with him?"
"Yes," Krycek said again, glad that he had stuck to the basic truth, relieved that he hadn't dragged Mulder to bed like they'd both wanted, but wondering who the hell had spied on him. He thought he'd given everyone the slip and he'd been so careful entering and leaving the building.
"And this was the first time since your release by the Vampires?"
"Since you seem to know so much, shall we quit with the question and answer routine and get to the point of this interrogation," Krycek said, pretending an irritation he didn't feel to hide the worry he did. "Why have you been spying on me?"
Spender laughed and poured himself a drink, holding up the bottle to Krycek who shook his head and leaned back in his chair. "I haven't, you were spotted by someone in the vicinity, Alex. I put two and two together, remembered Glendale's rant about how Mulder seemed to be far too friendly with his good looking rescuer, and decided to see how far I could get."
Krycek contented himself with glowering at the man and inventing ingenious and subtle methods of torturing him.
"However, should you be able to get friendlier with our own dear Fox, I will not stand in your way, in fact I think I'd quite like you to pursue this 'friendship' as far as it will go."
"I don't remember saying we had a friendship," Krycek said carefully. "I would say we've reached an understanding."
Spender beamed at him. "I have faith in you, Alex. You got under Mulder's guard for a brief time as his partner, and I think we both know that much of the intensity of his negative reaction to you was because he felt so betrayed by you."
"And Mulder doesn't forget," Krycek said sharply. "Why do you want Mulder and me to get friendly?"
"I want him kept safe from Glendale and other predators until we finally decide just what we intend to do with him."
"You want me to play guard dog then betray him yet again," Krycek said slowly.
Spender smiled. "Something like that, Alex," he acknowledged.
"I'll certainly guard him," Krycek said coolly.
Spender nodded his head and blew lazy smoke trails towards the ceiling. "Good," he said, and Krycek was certain he saw malicious amusement in the eyes regarding him as he left the man's office.
When night descended he slipped the leash of his more obvious observers and headed for Mulder's apartment easing his way in via the bedroom window. He glanced at the bed and moved silently towards the door and opened it. The pale light of the TV flickered over the room and he headed for the couch, his eyes alert for any extraneous movement. Mulder was asleep, a can of coke by his hand and the remains of a pizza on the floor in its box. Krycek sat in the armchair opposite and amused himself watching the light flickering on Mulder's exposed face. He looked relaxed and peaceful in repose, and Krycek felt both desire and strong wish to spend more time with the man and really get to know him.
Shrugging in self-disgust he took his eyes off Mulder and looked around the place. A pair of scissors sat prominently on the coffee table and a look at the content of the trashcan showed a number of small pieces of paper. Curious, Krycek cleared the table and tipped the contents of the trash on it. Sorting through he began to organise the pieces into some kind of recognisable form and it was a couple of minutes before he sat back in shock and anger as he realised what he was viewing. "Bastard!" he hissed quietly, as he took in the sight of a naked Mulder apparently being felated by Glendale. "I kill him," he snarled under his breath and violently swept the pieces back into the trashcan.
"Me or Glendale?" Mulder asked quietly.
"Glendale," Krycek growled. He moved out of the chair and crouched next to Mulder putting his hand on his cheek. "I'm sorry I woke you, Mulder."
Mulder shrugged "I was just dozing," he said, giving Krycek a brief smile. He looked towards the trashcan. "I don't remember him doing that, but to be honest I'm not trying very hard to recall it."
Krycek felt him shiver before he pulled himself up to sitting. Krycek sat next to him and pulled him into his arms very aware when Mulder made no protest that he was far from feeling okay. "Forget him," he said firmly. "The Consortium aren't going negotiate with him, The Code V's seem less than enthralled, and he'd be a fool to snatch you now."
Mulder shivered again and then sat up straight. "I though it wasn't safe for you to be here," he said.
Krycek nodded. "Things have changed, Spender wants me to get friendly with you and be your guard dog. Of course he expects me to betray you as well, but then what's new?" he said dismissively.
Mulder snorted. "I don't need a guard dog," he said somewhat indignantly.
Krycek ignored him and carried on with the explanation. "Someone saw me here a few nights ago and reported to Spender. He accused us of being lovers, mainly to get a reaction I think, courtesy of Glendale's spiteful ranting."
Mulder stilled and took a deep breath, but kept quiet.
Krycek glanced at him, but could tell nothing from his face. "I denied everything, but acknowledged that we'd made some progress towards understanding each other. I also admitted that I had 'feelings' for you."
Mulder sighed "I didn't go that far with Scully, but I did tell her we'd started talking rather than beating each other up."
"You beat up on me," Krycek said insulted.
Mulder nodded. "I did, but I thought you deserved it. You never really fought back, Alex. Why was that?"
Krycek shrugged. "Didn't want to hurt you," he said truthfully.
Mulder let out a short bark of laughter. "You think I'm that poor a fighter?" he asked.
Krycek shook his head and grinned. "You're good in a scrap, Mulder, but you don't fight dirty."
"Right...,"Mulder said, and shook his head. He sat back into Krycek's embrace and rested his head on Krycek's shoulder. "I think you better explain to me again why I all of a sudden need a watchdog."
"Guard dog," Krycek corrected. "Protection from Glendale, security for Spender."
"That has touched my heart," Mulder said sarcastically. Krycek smiled and tightened his arm around Mulder. They were silent for a few minutes, then Mulder sighed and rubbed his eyes. "You might be interested to know that Scully and I met the guy in charge of our official, or semi official would be more correct, Code V opposition. Impressive guy, although I didn't take to him. He's not the fanatic Michael led me to believe, but he does see everything in terms of his religion." He went silent for a moment before continuing. "He called them abominations, damned souls, perversions of life. It's clear to him they should not exist and he has no problems with destroying them."
Krycek nodded. "And...?"
Mulder gave a wry smile. "I want to know about them, Alex. Why they exist, how they originated, how they survived through the centuries, what their plans are. Everything. Skinner doesn't agree. He thinks, like Scully, that the senator should never have been able to give us the case, and that since there is a task force devoted entirely to dealing with them there is nothing for us to investigate." He sighed. "According to Skinner the case has been closed and I am to have nothing to do with these supposed vampires."
Krycek pulled Mulder back towards him. "And what does Skinner expect you to do with the vampires that keep making it their business to involve you?"
Mulder shrugged and relaxed into Krycek's embrace. For a while they sat in silence until Krycek decided to make a move. He pushed Mulder's chin up and kissed him gently nibbling on the full lower lip. Mulder turned towards him and smiled.
"Can you stay tonight?" he asked.
Krycek grinned. "I'm your guard dog remember."
"Yeah, but they normally lie outside their master's bedrooms," Mulder said innocently
Krycek nuzzled the lower lip again. "Not this one," he said tracing his finger along Mulder's eyebrows. "This one sleeps in the bed and lays down the rules!"
Mulder snorted. "Oh yeah?" he said challengingly.
"Yeah," Alex said quietly. He tugged Mulder up from the couch and hugged him before launching a full frontal assault on Mulder's lips. Mulder responded in kind, and within seconds they were both breathless and aroused. Krycek guided Mulder towards a wall and pushed him against it as he started kissing along Mulder's chin and nipping at his neck enjoying the little whimpers of arousal his ministrations produced. "Been thinking about you all the time," he whispered in-between nips. "About how good you look when you're aroused, how sexy you are. How I love your neck, your lips, your mole, your eyes, your nose," he kissed as he named each part and smiled as the moans increased in volume.
"Been thinking about you too," Mulder panted.
"I should hope so," Krycek said arrogantly, as he slid his hand down Mulder's chest to his pants and slowly unzipped him. He knelt and peeled the jeans over Mulder's hips and down his thighs and looked up into Mulder's face which was taut with anticipation. "Been missing my mouth, my hand, my tongue, my lips, Fox?" He leant forwards, kissed the exposed penis, smiling as Mulder's erection immediately rose proudly before him.
"Yes," Mulder whispered, staring down at Krycek.
Keeping his eyes on Mulder, Krycek kissed the tip of his erection and ran his tongue around the top. Mulder's eyes closed and his breathing increased. Krycek smiled and began to kiss Mulder's hip bones, gently nipping at his inner thighs as his prosthesis held Mulder's hips and his real hand began a lingering exploration of his ass and groin. Mulder's breathing speeded up, and he began gasping and moaning as Krycek redoubled his efforts. Krycek waited until he heard muted begging before lifting his hand to Mulder's mouth.
"Suck them, Fox," he ordered gently.
Mulder opened his eyes and lowered his mouth on Krycek's erect fingers, laving his tongue around them in an erotic dance that further aroused Krycek. He gently tugged them free and slid towards Mulder's ass, taking Mulder's jutting erection in his mouth at the same time as a finger gently pushed for entrance. At the twin stimulation, Mulder threw back his head and gave a long moan of pleasure, his hands patting and soothing Krycek's hair as he rocked forward into his mouth. Krycek settled to his pleasure, the feel of Mulder in his mouth, the scent of his arousal, the gentle caressing of Mulder's hands in his own hair and the uninhibited vocal abandon of the man as he was brought to orgasm, giving Krycek both a thrill and a reminder of the power he could wield over Mulder as well as his own desire and need for him. He kissed the limp penis gently and slowly allowed Mulder to collapse to his knees, raining kisses on his face as Mulder slumped panting in his arms.
"Alex," Mulder whispered, his breath ghosting along Krycek's ear and making him shiver with desire. "Alex, what you do to me."
"I aim to please," Krycek murmured, raising a smile from Mulder.
Mulder snorted. "So do I, Alex, but can we take this to the bedroom. I'm getting a bit old for doing it on the floor."
Krycek nipped along Mulder's neck. "Doing what?" he murmured.
"Everything," Mulder said, as his breathing began to even out. "Whatever you want, just help me get there."
Krycek laughed, and pulled a boneless Mulder up from the floor and into his arms. They exchanged a few languid kisses until Krycek's arousal became too great for him and he tugged Mulder free of his clothes and towards the, thankfully, uncluttered bed. Mulder toppled onto it and watched with lazy interest as Krycek undressed. Keeping his prosthesis on, he knelt on the bed and viewed Mulder's loose long limbed sprawl with appreciation. "Anything?" he murmured, tracing a finger from Mulder's nipple to his belly button.
Mulder smiled, "As long as it feels good," he said, and shivered as the finger continued it's journey down towards his quiescent penis.
"Turn over," Krycek said quietly.
Mulder looked at him reaching out to trace a silvery scar just under his collarbone. "You appear to be doing all the work, Alex," he said quietly, staring into Krycek's face as trying to read his thoughts.
Krycek smiled. "Let me, Fox," he asked simply, and Mulder gave him a searching look then turned as Krycek requested. Krycek rearranged him to his liking, kissed behind his ear and slowly licked a line down Mulder's back straight to his ass. He separated the cheeks gently, kissed each one then began licking Mulder's hole.
"Alex?" Mulder said uncertainly.
Krycek ignored him, pushing his tongue against the opening and relishing the sharp exclamations of pleasure above him.
"Alex!" Mulder cried out, his ass moving up to meet the tongue. "Oh, oh, Alex!"
Krycek smiled, held on tightly and proceeded to drive Mulder out of his mind, listening with intense pleasure as his name was howled time and time again as Mulder shivered and squirmed beneath him. Finally unable to ignore his aching erection, he pulled Mulder to his knees and entered him slowly setting up a gentle action that had Mulder panting beneath him until consumed by passion and need he finally began thrusting until the pain and the ecstasy of orgasm caught him and he collapsed over Mulder panting as if he'd run a marathon.
There was a long silence punctuated by the panting of two breathless men, until it was broken by Mulder's wheezy laughter. Krycek lay and watched as two hazel eyes opened unsteadily and blinked at him. "I'm never letting you leave this bed," Mulder whispered hoarsely, and Krycek grinned. Mulder smiled back. "That was fantastic, Alex. Give me a couple of weeks to recover and I'll return the favour."
Krycek leaned forward to kiss him. Mulder reached out unsteadily and covered his mouth. "I know where that's been and you're not kissing me until you've brushed your teeth," he said solemnly.
Krycek bared his teeth and jumped him, kissing him sloppily until Mulder begged for mercy.
***
Mulder threw the papers on the table and sighed with irritation. Scully regarded him with mild curiosity, but said nothing as she drank coffee from the Styrofoam cup. Mulder eyed the remains of his burger and fiddled with the free gift, unwrapping it from the plastic and eyeing it curiously. "Who's it supposed to be?" he asked Scully.
Scully shrugged her shoulders and indicated the poster on the wall.
"Toy Story," Mulder read and transferred his gaze to the figure again. "Have you seen it?"
She shook her head and eyed him with some amusement. "You?"
Mulder looked up and shook his head. "Keep hearing good things about it, so I may." He looked down at the figure and his face cleared. "It's Mr Potatohead, I knew he looked kind of familiar."
Scully snorted into her coffee, and indicated the papers in front of her. "Where are we going with this one, Mulder?" she asked.
"No where fast," he said morosely. "I still can't see why we've been involved."
Scully looked at him sternly. "We've got a dead teenager who shows absolutely no reason for being dead other than the look of horror on his face, stories of a monster lurking around the place, at least five other unexplained deaths in the past year and a half, and you want to know why we were called in?" She shook her head. "Stop sulking and begin thinking, Mulder."
Mulder fingered Mr Potatohead, took a sip of his rapidly cooling coffee and pulled the papers towards him. "Sulking, Scully?" he said mildly.
Scully frowned. "Skinner is not going to let you chase around after rumours of vampires, or whatever you want to call them, Mulder."
Mulder shrugged his shoulder and rifled through the papers. "You're sure there was nothing strange or unaccounted for in the autopsy?"
Scully shook her head. "The strangest thing was that he was in perfect health and there was absolutely no reason for his death," she said patiently. "The lab reports on the other bodies say much the same thing."
"Except for the look of horror which links in with the reported monster which is why this was dropped so quickly into our laps," Mulder said cynically. "We've not found any common links except their sex. They vary in age, but are mostly in their twenties and thirties, our latest being younger than the norm. They all lived around the area and were in work, except for our student. Their families can shed no light into their deaths as none of them did anything that deviated from the norm in the days and weeks up to their death. Two were married, the others were in relationships, two went to church, the others didn't..." He sighed. "We'd do better looking at who came in new to the community just over the past two years. Or it could be someone who travels in from time to time because there's normally a three month gap between the killings." He poked his burger and frowned in thought. "We're checking in with Saul's classmates before we chat with the principal this afternoon. It's a long shot, but someone might have something they've not told the police."
Scully wiped her hands on the paper napkin and glanced at Mulder's abandoned meal. "Ready to face them?" she asked.
Mulder grimaced and stood up to join her. Within fifteen minutes they were at the high school and Mulder found himself facing forty young faces wearing expressions varying from hostility to boredom. Mulder sighed and began his spiel, stressing the importance of apparently unrelated facts, and telling all of them they were welcome to speak now or contact either himself or Agent Scully if they felt they had anything to contribute.
Silence greeted his remark until a tall, attractive blonde stood forward. Mulder noticed the way the other teenagers gave way to her, and watched her with interest. He held out his hand and after a second's hesitation she held it and shook hands. "Special Agent Fox Mulder," he said smiling at her encouragingly.
"Hester Haricot," she replied smoothly. "The principal informed us that you would be coming to interview us, so we had a talk and none of us could come up with anything that we thought was in the slightest bit relevant to Saul's death." She gave him a cool, professional smile. "We thought it would waste less time if we told you up front."
Mulder raised his eyebrows at Scully who shook her head. "Well, thank you for giving up your time so freely," Mulder said with gentle sarcasm. "The wealth of information and help you have given has almost overwhelmed us." He heard a few sniggers, but the sarcasm seemed to fly over the heads of most of the gathered students, and he watched thoughtfully as they began to move away.
Scully walked up to him and motioned him to the side. "The small blonde girl over by the window spent her whole time staring at you," she said.
Mulder eyed Scully quizzically glancing quickly at the girl in question who appeared oblivious of his observation. "You think she wants to tell me something?"
"She gave you her full attention from the time you walked through the door."
"And that was different enough to attract your attention," Mulder said dryly. "Thank you, Scully." He made eye contact with the girl and smiled at her. She walked slowly towards him.
"You have a bright intense exciting aura," she said slowly, her eyes viewing him as if from some distance. "It's different from any other I've seen and at first it disturbed me it seemed so alien."
Mulder stared at her incredulously before closing his eyes and swallowing furiously the, presumably, honest and open comment striking at his hidden fears about his supposed origins. He felt a touch at his side and opened his eyes to see her solemn face close to his.
"I've sorry if I've offended or upset you," she said simply. "I seldom talk about my sight to strangers, but you seemed like a man who would understand."
Mulder took a deep breath and shook his head. "Don't be," he said, then found himself unable to say anything more. He pulled out a chair and collapsed in it, shaking his head. He draw up his defences and looked back at her giving her a tremulous smile." Miss ...?" he asked, waving her towards a seat.
"Lizbeth," she said, and smiled at him turning her from a pleasantly attractive yet mousy girl to a stunning beauty. Mulder blinked and returned the smile a little hesitantly.
"You spoke of auras," he said, relieved that his voice sounded normal. "I've heard people talk about them normally in the context of healing."
Lisbeth nodded. "I can turn it off if it becomes too much for me, but I've been able to see auras from a very early age and couldn't believe that no one else was able to. My aunt does spiritual healing and she can both see and sense auras."
"And everyone has them?" Mulder asked, intrigued by the calm, serious girl before him.
Lisbeth nodded. "All living things, humans are just better defined. Yours for example is vivid, colourful and constantly changing, while you partner's is cool with a bright heat at the centre. I can sense if someone is well balanced physically, spiritually and mentally." She glanced at Mulder and he caught amusement in the cool gaze.
"I'm not asking," he said, laughing a little as she raised an eyebrow. He shook his head a little and returned to the reason he was in her town and school. "Do you know anything that might help Agent Scully and me in our investigation, Lisbeth?"
The girl dropped her gaze for a second before looking appraisingly at him. "Hester Haricot's aura is dark and strong," she said. "She is a powerful force who leads those weaker than herself. I have never been invited to join her elite. I think she dislikes me because she can't categorise me, but I'd guess that she knows far more than she is telling." She shrugged. "Most people's auras are pretty ordinary, although Saul had a vibrant aura, as did the other guy. I liked him and I'm sad that he's dead."
Mulder nodded. "Have you seen anyone do anything out of the ordinary in the past couple of weeks?"
Lisbeth shook her head slowly. "I don't have any information that you aren't already aware of," she said. Her brow furrowed and she blinked. "The only thing I have noticed different since then has been from about the time you arrived here. I've seen a man with no aura whatsoever." She shook her head. "I've never known that before, but I've seen him twice and it wasn't a mistake the first time."
"What do you think that means?" Mulder asked, fascinated despite himself.
Lisbeth gave a wry smile. "That he's a walking dead man?" she said, and laughed. "I really don't know. Some chemical imbalance that affects the body's natural magnetic charge and blanks the aura?" she shrugged. "He looked very healthy from what I could see and very alive."
"And you've never met or seen anyone without an aura before?" Mulder persisted.
Lisbeth shook her head. "No, but I can ask my aunt if you're that interested Agent Mulder."
"I'd appreciate that," Mulder said, then blinked as she went from a cool teenager to an alluring woman as she returned his gaze.
"Can I give you any more help?" she asked.
Mulder knew he wasn't imagining the come hither look that accompanied the question. "Not at the moment," he said, a little warily. "But please do ask your aunt and thank you for your assiatance."
"My pleasure, Agent Mulder," she said, returning to the cool young woman he'd first interviewed.
Mulder took a deep breath, nodding as Scully pointed at her watch. He headed off towards the Principal's office and after the greetings asked about Hester Haricot.
The principal smiled. "Our Hester's interests are in politics. She tends to lead and the others follow. She's been with us for a number of years and her heart's in the right place even if her manner and delivery could be improved. In fact they're a nice group and Saul fitted in well with them. He was quite a popular guy, so don't let their demeanour fool you, they do care, but I think quite honestly they're at a loss as to understand quite what happened."
"And frightened?" Scully suggested.
The principal nodded.
"What about the young lady called Lisbeth?" Mulder asked.
The principal frowned. "Lisbeth?" she said uncertainly. "Oh yes, she's fairly new, but has settled in well. Why do you ask?"
"She wasn't too positive about Hester - she mentioned she had a dark aura ," Mulder said carefully.
The principal raised an eyebrow. "She and Hester had something of a run in, Hester considers her to be weird, and I think Lisbeth was rather hurt by her dismissal of her claims to have psychic powers."
"She has mentioned these powers to you before then?" asked Mulder.
"I've heard that she's told people she inherited them from her aunt - who runs a spiritual healing practice," said the principal. "I'm sure it must be good for business."
Mulder nodded and left Scully to take up the rest of the questioning.
By the end of the day they had interviewed everyone who had been in regular contact with Saul and had come up with absolutely nothing. All the victims appeared to be ordinary, happy individuals with no dark secrets. Exhausted, Mulder and Scully had a meal, said their goodbyes and went into their individual rooms. Mulder made himself coffee, turned on the TV, peeled off his jacket and tie, shed his shoes and lay on top of the bed running the day's events through his mind. Someone had said something that needed further investigation, but for the life of him he couldn't recall what. Puzzled, he eventually fell asleep still dressed.
He came to the following morning cold, stiff and with very crumpled suit pants. The trouser press took care of the pants, but even a hot shower could not chase away his weariness. The day worsened as he and Scully spent time in the records department and the newspaper offices looking through the files and then went on to talk with some of the previous victim's workmates. It was mid afternoon before he remembered what had been eluding him, and he raced off, leaving Scully with the files, to the High school to request a further interview with Lisbeth.
Lisbeth gave him her megawatt smile when she saw him, and seemed amused when he faltered. Mulder gave himself time to recover by arranging the seating.
"Thanks you for agreeing to see me," he said. "I wanted to go over something you mentioned yesterday."
Lisbeth nodded and looked attentive.
"You were taking about Saul and you mentioned that he had a very vibrant aura, but I'm sure you said 'so did the other one', who were you talking about?"
Lisbeth frowned. "The previous victim, Rupert Madden," she said. "He worked over at the gas store on the highway, and I remember chatting to him about his aura. He was quite interested, certainly didn't laugh at me."
Mulder nodded carefully. "Did you know any of the other victims?"
Lisbeth nodded. "I've only been here a couple of years, I don't know about before that. The first one I knew had a shop nearby. I remembered he had a particularly striking aura, but I don't think I knew the other men. We've seen enough pictures of them recently, but I remember people as much by their aura as their faces."
Mulder nodded slowly. "Do you discuss people's auras with anyone else?" he asked.
Lisbeth frowned and glanced at him curiously. "Mostly my aunt, but occasionally other friends, why?"
"Just curious," Mulder said, smiling a little. "I'm trying to connect these murders in some way, you've already said that three of the victims had unusual auras, and I'm wondering if that means that they had anything else in common."
Lisbeth nodded. "I see." She smiled again. "You'd really need to talk to someone who knew more about reading people's aura's. I'm a novice at it, but I'm sure my aunt could help you. I did ask her about the man with no aura and she was intrigued, but could offer no solution"
Mulder smiled. "I think a visit to you aunt's might be very useful," he said.
Lisbeth beamed at him and handed him a card. "The address and phone number are on here."
Mulder thanked her, and was about to enquire a little more when his cell rang. He turned away from her to hear Scully telling him that another body had been discovered.
Six hours later, exhausted yet buoyed up on adrenalin, he stood silently listening to Scully's recitation of the autopsy result.
"Heart failure?" he asked, looking down at the grey, pale, but undeniably young features of the latest supposed victim. Unlike the others, the face was peaceful, as if asleep.
Scully nodded, her hair still trim and neat, her make up still immaculate, but a deep-seated weariness evident in her posture and voice. "It's not unknown," he said, calmly, snapping off her gloves and placing them in the clinical waste. "Young people do die of heart attacks and, to be honest, the condition of his heart muscle was such that he was lucky to have livedas long as he did."
Mulder nodded slowly. "And the publicity over the latest unexplained death led to it being attributed to our killer."
Scully nodded, divesting herself of her gown and washing her hands carefully as she watched the body being bagged and removed to the mortuary. "I'm done," she muttered. "I need coffee, food and bed, not necessarily in that order."
Mulder dredged up a grin, helped her on with her coat and silently drove them back to their motel with the convenient fast food joint next door. The bright artificial lights of the place seemed to bleach the remaining colour out of Scully's face, and Mulder took it upon himself to coax and wheedle Scully to eat and drink a little before gathering her up and depositing her outside the door of her room. She gave him a tired, but genuine smile, and went inside. Mulder let himself in his room, stripped, showered, lay down on the bed and was out for the count within minutes.
He never knew what warned him that he wasn't alone, but he opened his eyes to find a woman's face just above his, her eyes glowing a little in the faint light from the car lot and a 'cat got the cream' look about her.
"Lisbeth was right, Agent Mulder," she said. "Your aura is unique and eminently desirable. I can almost taste it"
Mulder blinked and went to sit up, but strong arms held him down.
"I will enjoy tasting you, learning about you, sharing your life for a brief time. Saul was too young, too inexperienced, he hasn't provided me with the sustenance I need and your arrival in town seemed such an opportunity once Lisbeth told me all about you."
"Lisbeth's aunt of the aura readings I presume," Mulder said, tensing for a fight.
The woman smiled. "I'm Lisbeth's great great aunt, to be exact, but I don't think the child needs to know that, do you Agent Mulder?"
"You're certainly well preserved for a great great aunt," Mulder agreed, and surged upwards only to be met by implacable strength.
"And much stronger than you'd imagine, Agent Mulder," she purred. "Lie back dear boy, struggling just makes it so much harder for both of us."
She opened her mouth and Mulder began to realise what had made the other victims look so horrified. Her flesh seemed to shrink and grow translucent, her eyes changed, her teeth retracted and her mouth grew ever bigger and fleshier until it reminded him of a large plunger. He bucked again and yelled for Scully, fighting the woman, or whatever she was, with everything in him as the mouth lowered towards his. He recoiled as he felt the touch of cold, wet flesh, redoubling his efforts to escape. The plunger covered his mouth; he felt suction then nothing as his arms were suddenly freed. Shivering with reaction, he sat and looked incredulously at the tableau before him. A man and a woman appeared to be kissing, the man's arms pressing the woman's face to his. The woman struggled uselessly until with a sigh she slumped and the man let go of her. Mulder looked down at her as she sprawled on the carpet, her gruesome features still obvious, and shuddered.
"Saving your life is getting to become something of a habit, Fox Mulder," said a voice he remembered all too well.
"Thank you," he muttered, his eyes drawn to the still figure on the carpet. "Is she dead?"
Louis shook his head and moved towards him. "Drained and exhausted," he said. "You'll be able to have her removed to a police cell without any problem, although what the authorities will make of her is another question."
Mulder shuddered. "How did you survive? Is it because you're dead and she can't draw anything from you?" He looked at Louis who smiled and waited. "You're the man with no aura," Mulder said in sudden realisation. "There was nothing for her to tap into."
Louis nodded and leaned forward pushing Mulder flat on the bed. Irritated, Mulder lashed out, only to find himself covered by the man, his wrists held in an unyielding grip and his legs imprisoned by Louis' weight. "Get off me," he demanded in a harsh whisper, worried that if he made too much noise Scully might wake and having no idea what Louis might do in the circumstances.
"I'm hoping for a little demonstration of your gratitude, dear Fox," Louis purred, his lips nuzzling at Mulder's neck. "I do enjoy looking out for you, but I'm selfish enough to want a little something back for all my hard work."
"Why can't you settle for a handshake and a thank you like everyone else?" Mulder muttered, trying to pull his wrists free.
Louis laughed and licked along his collarbone. "I want what you give Alex so freely, Fox."
Mulder gave up the unequal struggle, calmed himself and eyed Louis with a certain amount of curiosity. "Do you get off on domination?" he asked. "Every time you've been around Alex and me, you've flirted with me and done your best to provoke him. I don't think you really fancy me, I think you just want to demonstrate your superiority."
Louis stopped his nuzzling and smiled. "Fox Mulder, I've wanted you almost since the day I was detailed to watch you."
Mulder swallowed nervously, wondering how he was going to get out of this. "You watch me all the time?" he asked horrified.
Louis smiled. "Some of the time, Fox. Normally when we get wind that something interesting is up. You were in Violent Crimes and making a name for yourself as a profiler when we decided that you were worth watching, and I've never regretted that decision for a moment. If I'm honest, yes it turns me on to have you stretched out a helpless beneath me, and I delight in goading your sexy lover Alex Krycek." He laughed as Mulder stared up at him speechless. "Think of it as an investigation, Fox. We've heard that you're trying to find out about us, delve into our origins, find out how we exist and what powers we have. Having sex with me would give you a few answers."
Mulder blinked slowly and thought fast. "I'm grateful, Louis, I'm even flattered, but I'm also exhausted, running on adrenalin, repulsed by the aura eating thing over there on the carpet, and, strange as it may seem to you, faithful to Alex." He shivered again, and looked up at Louis hopefully.
Louis smiled again, a predator's smile that made Mulder quiver in apprehension. "Then I must discuss this sensibly with Alex," he said. "Give me a goodbye kiss and I'll go."
Mulder nodded mutely closing his eyes as the vampire leaned forward and kissed his lips. Seconds later, he was being kissed so passionately that he could only hang on for the ride as Louis mounted a campaign of seduction that left him breathless and aroused. He felt his cheeks glow as the vampire slowly let go of him and brushed the evidence of that arousal as his hands slid down the thin sheet separating them. Louis stroked his erection again and laughed, bending down to plant a farewell kiss on Mulder's lips. "Something to remember me by, Fox Mulder," he murmured, and had gone before Mulder had time to think up a response.
Mulder slumped back in the bed covered his eyes and took a long, deep breath. He waited for his arousal to subside, put cuffs on the unconscious thing on the carpet, dressed, reached for his cell phone, made a call to the Sheriff's office, then went to wake up Scully.
***
"What have you learned?" Krycek asked, as he slurped a noodle.
Mulder waved a chopstick around and indicated a pile of paper next to the printer. "The bizarre stuff you can get when you type vampire into a search engine is amazing. I bet Louis and his lot get a perverse pleasure out people being fans of the Anne Rice books."
Krycek shook his head. "Her lot couldn't have sex, mind you, there was a lot of homoeroticism in them."
You've read them?" Mulder asked, sounding a little shocked.
"I can and do read," Krycek injected a certain amount of irritation in his voice as he answered.
Mulder waved his chopstick again. "I know that, I just didn't think they'd be to your taste. They weren't too mine, that's for sure." He ate a little more of his Chinese then nodded his head at the computer. "All the resources say that the first reference to vampires was in the 11th century in Russia, although the word doesn't reach the English language until the mid 18th century."
"And?"
Mulder shrugged. "I think the Code V's were developed as a defence against the aliens," he said, and looked sideways at Krycek.
Krycek shook his head slowly. "Are you going to give me rhyme and reason for that supposition, or is it just an idea you've plucked out of the ether?"
Mulder gave a wry grin. "Pure conjecture, but I'll enjoy developing a full blown theory. Mainly I suppose because of all the 'monsters' I've seen over the years the Code V's strike me as the most dangerous because they are so organised, settled, mainly invisible, able to control their victims and because they don't need to kill to survive."
Krycek shook his head. "Want me to pass it on to Spender?"
Mulder shrugged. "If you want." He frowned. "What exactly does he think our relationship is, Alex?" he asked, changing the subject.
Krycek grimaced. "He thinks I'm infatuated with you and you're using me for information, or I hope so because that's the way I playing it."
"Infatuated!" Mulder snorted with laughter. "Alex Krycek infatuated. No, sorry, my mind won't go there."
"Sexually obsessed?" Krycek offered with a wry grin, not certain that he had any real understanding as to what went on in the dark and twisting morass Spender called a mind. "He wants control of you, Mulder, we both know that. I told you when we first talked in London. He's not keeping you away from Glendale out of any concern for you, he'd send you to him in an eye blink if it served his purpose."
Mulder sighed, placing his chopsticks and carton on the table and sitting back on the couch. "Talking of Glendale, I got another picture from him today."
Krycek bared his teeth and felt like ripping something.
"He sent it to work and I opened it in front of Scully." He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "She saw my reaction and managed to see what it was. I think her main response was a mixture cold, furious anger and bewilderment." He opened his eyes and looked at Krycek. "It was kind of sweet really, her interrogation techniques have something in common with the techniques she use in autopsies. I certainly felt flayed by the time she'd finished with me."
"You hadn't told her he's been threatening you?"
Mulder shook his head. "What could she or Skinner do? Any complaint I make would cause me far more problems and would resolve nothing."
"And so?"
Mulder shook his head. "Skinner knows now, but I've sworn them to secrecy. The bureau doesn't take kindly to their Agents going missing and then returning with implausible explanations." He gave a brief smile. "Had I said I'd been abducted by aliens I think life would have been easier. Accusing the powerful Paul Glendale of abduction was NOT what anyone wanted to hear. You'd be amazed how quickly that first report got squashed, not that I ever wanted to make it in the first place, but, as Skinner said, I had been abducted; there was evidence to that, it was just that everyone in power would be a lot happier if I declared myself completely clueless as to who had done it." He shrugged. "Read the official files and I lay you odds you won't see Glendale's name mentioned."
Krycek nodded, unsurprised. He knew how far corruption and nepotism extended in certain areas of the government.
"I knew he wasn't going to be shaken off so easy, but..." Mulder shrugged and deliberately changed the direction of the conversation. "Heard anything from the resistance?"
Krycek nodded. "Still very keen on talking with you, but very poor at coming up with a time and place. They are still interested in assessing possible uses for the Code V's," he said.
Mulder sighed. "It seems that everywhere we look it comes back to them." He stretched and yawned. "Scully and I have a flight booked early tomorrow and I need to pack. I won't be long, do you want a beer or something?"
Krycek shook his head and watched Mulder amble to the bedroom. He gathered the food containers, dropped them in the trash and wiped down the table. He heard Mulder's cell ring, amusing himself with the thought that he'd change the call tone to something spooky and appropriate next time he got hold of it, and flopped down in the couch watching the TV with a lack of enthusiasm. Mulder's hurried footsteps drew him out of his self-induced lethargy, and he was on his feet as soon as he saw Mulder's face.
"Glendale's got Scully," Mulder blurted out. "He's given me a web address with photos of Scully and my instructions. He says it will be deleted in five minutes."
Krycek wanted to touch him to calm him, but could see Mulder needed to handle this in his own way. "Do you want me to come with you?" he asked quietly
Mulder gave him a strained look, nodded and headed for the computer switching it on and tapping his fingers impatiently as it powered up. "He told me it's password protected, but I'd figure it out." He stole a look at his watch and muttered under his breath as he typed in the address.
A picture of a fox filled the screen with a picture of a naked Mulder and the title, 'Foxy things I love.' Mulder grimaced and quickly tapped in foxmulder, scully, x-files, Iwanttobelieve, Samantha and trustno1 in quick succession after the password prompt. He propped his head in hands on the last failure and rubbed his face wearily looking beseechingly at Krycek.
"His full name?" Krycek prompted.
Mulder wrote in Paulglendale quickly and sighed as 'Access Denied' came up on screen. He closed his eyes again, frowned, and then quickly typed Paulandfox. The screen cleared and a live picture of Scully tied to a chair in a cellar appeared. Peering at it closely Krycek noted the water around her ankles. A telephone number appeared briefly and vanished. Mulder grabbed his cell and tapped in the number listening intently.
"There's a taxi outside," he said, grabbing his coat and gun. "Prepaid, and the driver knows nothing, apparently."
Krycek grabbed his jacket and helmet. "The bike's round the back, you go I'll follow." He grabbed Mulder by the arm. "Look after yourself, Mulder."
Mulder gave him a preoccupied nod and vanished out of the door. Krycek followed him, heading down to the basement and out the back to his waiting bike. He jammed the helmet on, kicked the bike into action and skidded out onto the road just as Mulder got into the taxi and it drew away. Following it was easy allowing Krycek to ponder exactly what he was going to do to Glendale once he caught up with him.
The cab stopped and Mulder alighted outside a bar. Krycek watched from a distance as he went in and came out a few minutes later carrying a newspaper. He spread it on the hood of the taxi, searched for something, grabbed his cell and dialled. Krycek wished he could hear what was being said, but he was all too conscious that Glendale was quite capable of having Mulder observed and knew he needed to stay back if he wanted to surprise the man.
Phone call completed, Mulder got back in the cab and the journey continued as they travelled into the less salubrious parts of Washington. The cab finally stopped, Mulder got out of the taxi and stood and watched it drive away before he walked over to a trashcan, peered inside, and pulled out a book. Flicking to the back cover he threw the book down and started walking away from where Krycek was hidden. Krycek watched, noting the side streets, and pulled out when Mulder disappeared down the third block on the left. He kicked the bike into gear and got there in time to see Mulder vanish through a door into a nondescript tenement building. Parking his bike, he ran to the entrance, found the door left ajar and slipped inside. He automatically checked the elevator for lights, and decided Mulder must have gone up the stairs. He looked up the stairwell, caught sight of Mulder on the level above him. Mulder looked round quickly, saw him, gave him a brief nod, mouthed "forty-two" at him and vanished. By the time Krycek found number forty-two Mulder had already entered.
Krycek checked the hallway, and moved carefully towards the door. It moved under his gentle nudge, and feeling more and more like a rat in a trap, Krycek sidled slowly inside, every sense alert. He heard speech ahead of him further into the room, and flattened himself against the wall as he took in the sight of Glendale standing before Mulder with his gun trained on him.
"... you will then resign your position, Fox." Glendale's Texan twang sounded loud and gloating.
"Where is Scully?" Mulder asked angrily.
"Sign it, Fox, then we can then discuss Miss Scully."
Krycek heard the scrape of pen on paper and saw the pen being hurled against a wall. He wanted Glendale to tell Mulder the information then he was going to shoot him, in the balls.
"Come on you bastard, I've signed everything you asked me to, now let me go to Scully." Mulder said impatiently.
"Oh no, Mulder, you're coming with me. Here are the coordinates to Miss Scully's prison. You have precisely thirty seconds to call someone you trust and give them the information to rescue her. I'd say she's got about three hours before the room she is in floods completely, so I think you'd better get moving."
"I want to see her," Mulder insisted.
Glendale laughed. "You are powerless to make demands, Fox, in fact I'll up the ante."
He turned quickly and fired at the same time as Krycek threw himself to the side. Even so it caught him in the chest and he collapsed onto his prosthesis the blood pouring out from him.
"Alex!" he heard Mulder cry out, and tried to sit back up.
"Your choice, Fox," he heard faintly. "Scully or Alex Krycek. One will certainly be dead in three hours, one might be."
There was silence for a second and then he heard Mulder voice speaking rapidly into the phone. He tried to concentrate drifting in and out of awareness as he caught a little of the conversation. "Scully in danger...Tell Skinner... Urgent... Reference number 23..." Then Mulder's voice was cut off.
"You bastard," he heard Mulder whisper. "If Scully's hurt in any way I'll take you down so hard you'll never see the light of day again."
Glendale laughed. Krycek heard scuffling and felt a hand on his face. "Alex," Mulder murmured, and then the hand was dragged off him and he opened his eyes to see Mulder held in an arm lock by the larger man.
"Alex, don't give up on me," Mulder shouted as he was dragged from the room.
"Die for me," Glendale called cheerfully, and kicked the door shut with a thud.
Krycek collapsed and tried somewhat ineffectually to stem the bleeding with his coat. He felt dizzy and faint and knew that unless he got immediate help he was done for. Trouble was, he didn't seem to have any energy. He laid his head back against the wall and remembered the anguish in Mulder's voice as Glendale pulled him away. He didn't want to die; he had so much more to do, and he didn't want to leave Mulder. He closed his eyes and cursed himself for leaving Glendale alive the first time. The minutes ticked away and he began to lose consciousness until he felt something touch him and a voice say in his ear. "Decision time, Alex"
***
Doped, bound, blindfolded and gagged, Mulder drifted out in and out of consciousness as Glendale dragged him thorough a series of journeys in cars, helicopters and finally a boat that were either designed to head off pursuit, or just to totally confuse him. By the time he'd been deposited on the floor of a room and left all he wanted to do was to sleep. Fighting the need, he tried to dislodge his blindfold and escape from his bonds, but Glendale had left nothing to chance. Exhausted, he finally drifted off into unconsciousness, his dreams tortured with images of Scully drowning in the cellar and Krycek bleeding to death on the carpet.
He woke to complete silence and total blackness and began to panic when he found that he couldn't more. Not only could he not move, but also he couldn't feel anything at all. Nor could he open his mouth and call out for help. Trying to calm himself, he forced himself to relax and try to move,, but within seconds he realised that somehow he was completely paralysed. He couldn't make his muscles obey a single command. The lack of sensation meant that he wasn't even too sure which way up he was. He couldn't speak, he couldn't hear, he couldn't smell and he doubted very much that he could taste. With horror he knew he was experiencing complete sensory deprivation. As if on cue he was aware of sound, and his deprived mind clung onto the reprieve from silence.
"By now you have probably realised what is happening to you, Fox," the hated voice reverberated in his skull. "I have you resting in a special compound developed by the military. It's rather like a thick gel. I have placed you within a darkened box, although from my side the box is clear and affords me a view of your elegant body stretched out in all its glory, defenceless and vulnerable. You lie there naked, and unadorned except for an intravenous tube into your right arm that feeds the paralysing agent directly into your veins and provides you with nutriment and water to keep you alive, while sensors monitor your heartbeat and brain waves. The gel is within your lungs, providing you with oxygen and taking away the need to breathe."
His voice stopped and Mulder found himself desperately wanting it to continue however much he hated the man and what he was saying. He needed to know, if he could understand what was happening to him, there would be some chance that he could undo the damage. The silence dragged on for a few more seconds and then Glendale's voice started again.
" I know you, Fox, and had I not been so keen to have you I would have realised that drugging you was not going to achieve my goal. You have an active mind, Fox, and you will need it to remain sane, but you are an active man with a very active imagination. For the next few days you will remain enclosed in your womb until I decide to remove you. The release process itself will be slow, but you will be released. What I need you to understand is that any form of disobedience in the future means an immediate return here." Glendale laughed. "I wonder how many times you'll need this reminder, my dear Fox?"
Mulder wondered himself, and tried not to think too hard.
"Think of me, my lovely Fox. I can assure you I will be watching and thinking of you. Goodbye."
The voice stopped and the silence returned. Mulder absorbed what he'd been told and felt intense anger. He was in this situation partly because Glendale was fascinated by his uniqueness, his so called alien heritage. Well if his damn 'heritage' had anything to offer him it could show itself now and levitate him out of the damn box, provide him with telepathy to communicate with Scully, or allow him to kill Glendale with his mind.
Thoughts of Scully distracted him and he tried not to think of her as he'd last seen her. He was going to believe, no he knew, that Byers had conveyed his message to Skinner, and Scully had been found alive and well and would be searching for him. He resolutely refused to think of Krycek as he'd last seen him, he didn't want to acknowledge that image. His Alex Krycek was alive, well and tearing the country apart trying to find him, thank you.
And where was his vampire observer when he was actually required, not that he hadn't been grateful to Louis for saving him from the 'Aura Eater'. Although the police hadn't seemed too delighted at their good fortune it had to be admitted. No one knew quite what to do with the very elderly and wrinkled looking prisoner. Mulder had been quite happy to return home with a startled and pensive Scully. Mentioning that he owed his life to a vampire had not gone down well with either Scully or Skinner. He was beginning to get the impression that they were finding his vampire obsession even more irritating than his alien abduction theories. He wondered if they'd be more impressed if his vampires were more the blood sucking Gothic, flighty characters of many a horror film, or the freaky blood suckers of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Perhaps the Code V's were just too prosaic for their own good.
He returned to face the reality of his situation and refused to let the panic seething beneath the surface break through. He was going to survive this and be stronger. Glendale was not going to break him...
***
White everywhere, white floor, ceiling, white table, white sheet, the only break in the monotony Scully's eyes peering over her white mask centred in her white face. She twisted the anal probe and he tried to scream, tried to beg her to stop, but he couldn't make a sound. "Who's been a naughty boy, Mulder," she said, twisting it again.
"Agent Mulder, you're such a difficult man," the Smoking man said, his ever-present cigarette held in one hand as he stared down at Mulder through the threads of smoke. "Tell us about the vampires." He twisted the probe.
"Agent, I expect to be obeyed. I said no further investigation of these purported vampires." The smoking man vanished to be replaced by AD Skinner. He peered down at Mulder and shook his head morphing back into the Smoking man as he did so. "You shouldn't annoy people so much, Mulder. Life would be so much easier for all of us if only you'd toe the line." The smoke swirled round his head and turned into talons that aimed for Mulder's eyes.
"See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil," Byers, Frohike and Langley said in unison, their heads nodding rhythmically. They moved their hands in front of their faces, pointed at their heads and sang disharmoniously, "Head, shoulder, knees and toes, knees and toes. Head, shoulder, knees and toes, knees and toes. Eyes and ears and mouth and nose. Head, shoulder, knees and toes, knees and toes." They swirled and faced him singing the song again performing the actions, mouthing the word head and carried on to the end, vanished and came back dressed in suits to perform the last verse loudly. "Head, shoulders, knees, and toes, anal probe." A vicious twist of the probe and they left him screaming in agony.
"You let me down, Mulder," X stood quietly in front of him. "I wanted you to find the truth, not vampires, the truth." He held his arm up and pointed the gun at him. "Just the truth, Mulder, the truth." The gun fired and Mulder felt a sharp pain in his head.
"It's for your own good," the Smoker said cheerfully, as the drill dug deeper and deeper. "Just a little hole to release all those sad memories and difficult times then Fox will a much a happier man."
"You couldn't protect me," Scully moved into his line of vision, her eyes dark and pained. "What have I gained from working with you, Mulder. Nothing but pain."
"Pain is good, pain is lovely, pain is all you need, pain is blood," Louis sauntered towards him, grabbed him by the throat and smiled, showing sharp canines. He sank his teeth in Mulder's neck and caressed his face.
"Pretty, Fox," Glendale grinned at him maliciously and kissed him on the throat.
"Just a spoon full of sugar helps the medicine go down," warbled the Gunmen, breaking into a slow dance as the Bounty hunter walked towards him.
"You will fulfil your destiny, Fox Mulder," the being said as he picked him off the table, shook him and flung him into the brightness. Noise surrounded and engulfed him as the alien inside him struggled to break free. He gagged and coughed and heaved as it swam up from his lungs while other aliens wrapped him in scratchy material and hit him on the back.
He struggled, gasping as he retched and retched, trying to get way from the painful stimuli.
"Don't fight me, Fox," a voice ordered quietly. "You need to get that stuff out of your lungs."
Overwhelmed by noise, light and sensation Mulder let out the scream that had been building in him surface. He struggled and fought until utterly exhausted he lay limp and unresisting in the material cocooning him, each shallow, panting breath an explosion in his sensitive ears.
"It's Alex, Fox. Glendale is dead and you won't ever have to worry about him again."
Mulder slowly processed the voice and the information.
"I'm rubbing you all over, Fox. Giving you a massage. The light is subdued, you're lying on a soft fleece, the temperature is warm and you're safe."
Mulder shivered from head to toe. He hurt everywhere and each separate sensation, sound and touch felt harsh and magnified, weighing him down with its presence, something to be endured.
"Louis is helping, Fox. We're massaging you from top to toe, moving all your joints."
Mulder swallowed, wincing as his throat burned. "Alex?" he whispered, the sound reverberating in his skull.
"I'm here, Fox."
Mulder opened his eyes slowly, closing them instantly as the light tap danced across his abused retinas. He opened his mouth and tried to speak cleared his throat and gasped, "I thought he'd killed you."
"He did his best."
Mulder relaxed a little. "Scully?" he asked.
"She's fine. Angry as hell and spitting fire, but fine."
Mulder relaxed completely, slipping into a light doze as his body slowly responded to the constant gentle stimulation. He was beginning to be able to distinguish between the touch of hands and fingers on his flesh, and an occasional light brush of lips against his skin.
"We're going to stand you up, Fox, get you in the shower and rinse all the gel off you. The shower is set at a very gentle spray."
Mulder opened his eyes slightly and passively allowed Krycek and Louis to help him stand. His feet felt like blocks of rubber, and he could not quite get his legs to obey his commands as he was half walked, half dragged to a shower stall. Hands held him up as a warm spray hit him in the centre of his back, he gasped and tried to move away as the water beat against his skin.
"Hush," Krycek's voice soothed. "It's a fine spray, Fox. I won't let anything hurt you."
Mulder nodded his head and stood limply as he was rubbed over with water and soap. The smell of the soap intoxicated him, conjuring up memories of the sea, waves breaking over the rocks in the moonlight as he walked along the beach. The scrape of the razor over his chin made him shiver, but Krycek soothed and held him, and he relaxed into his embrace.
Shower finished, he was wrapped in towels and rubbed dry before being walked back to the bed. He lay down and found himself surrounded by two naked bodies.
"I'm going to make love to you, Fox," Krycek whispered, licking his ear and kissing gently along his chin. "Louis is behind you, holding you to keep you warm and surrounded, but I'm here in front of you and I'm going to be doing all the work. You relax, and let me give you pleasure."
"Alex?" Mulder murmured, slightly panicked by the feel of Louis behind him, he could already feel the swell of the vampire's genitals as they pressed against his ass.
"Concentrate on me," Krycek ordered, running his hand down Mulder's torso and gently encircling his flaccid penis.
Mulder's penis twitched with interest as Krycek continued to stroke it while his tongue and lips relished the work out Krycek's lips and tongue were giving him. He was gasping for air by the time Krycek's lips left his mouth and lazily trailed down his body, biting and sucking him everywhere until all thought vanished from his mind and he gave himself up to what his body craved, sensation.
By the time Krycek had stroked his body inside and out, kissed and licked every area of his skin and left him trembling in his wake, Mulder was incoherent with need. Even the knowledge that it was Louis's erection rubbing along his ass cheeks while Krycek stroked his prostate and lovingly lathed and suckled his own straining erection couldn't stop him from mewling as he writhed and clawed Krycek to him, gasping his name continuously. His hoarse scream of pleasure as he was pulled to his knees and entered in one slow thrust, caused Krycek to laugh.
"You are so damn sexy," Krycek whispered, pulling him back until he was kneeling astride Krycek's lap, clutched to his warm, solid chest. Krycek stroked his nipples and grasped his erection causing Mulder to push back on him impaling himself even further. "Shall we reward Louis for his efforts, Fox. Allow him the pleasure of sucking you off as I fuck you. He'll be good, he knows you're mine, Fox, only mine." He punctuated his claim by pushing deeply into Mulder, almost pulling out after each thrust, rocking Mulder from top to toe. "Shall we, Fox?" Krycek murmured.
Mulder tried to say something coherent as his body reacted automatically to the pleasure Krycek was giving him. "Nnnooo," he started as a wet kiss enveloped his erection and he reared up and forward trying to push himself in. The twin sensation of being fucked and sucked was too much, and he lost contact with intellect and reason as he rutted frantically, screaming out Alex's name as he came long and hard.
He collapsed back against Krycek panting heavily. "Love you, Fox," Krycek whispered.
"Love you, Alex," Mulder murmured dreamily, content to lie entwined with him. As his breathing slowed and his mind began to think he became all too aware of something that had bothered him almost from the start, but which he'd been too confused and too doped up to think through. He thought back to the massage, the washing, the loving and the caring and shivered.
"What is it, Fox?" Krycek asked, nuzzling along Mulder's neck.
Mulder took a deep breath and listened to the silence. He slowly opened his eyes and took his first look at a relaxed and content Louis, his head still nestled against Mulder's knees. Louis smiled and licked at a small drop of come off his lips. Mulder shivered again and looked down at his torso enveloped by two strong arms.
"You've got two arms, Alex," he said calmly.
Krycek nodded against him. "I have," he agreed.
"And you're not breathing," Mulder continued, trying to keep the rising panic from sounding in his voice.
Krycek grasped his chin and turned his face so that they could look at each other. "I don't need to," he said softly.
Mulder stared into the beautiful green eyes and felt numb.
"Glendale did a good job on me, Fox," Krycek said, stroking his hand soothingly down Mulder's face as if he was calming a panicked stallion. "I was dying and Louis found me and offered me the choice, death or change. I didn't want to die. I still had a job to do and I didn't want to leave you. I need you, Fox, I want you to understand that, but for now I want you to relax and forget your concerns. You're mine, Fox, I'll protect you forever."
Mulder began to struggle as Krycek clamped his arms tightly around his chest. "Relax, Fox, he soothed. "Forget your worries, remember only that you love me and I love you."
Mulder felt a sharp stab of pain at his throat, and whispers in his head as he slipped back into unconsciousness.
Ensnared by the Enemy
by Alison M
Mulder loosened the collar of his dress shirt, adjusted his bow tie and headed for the balcony for some fresh air. It was hot and airless in the room, and he had tired quickly of the endless small talk that surrounded him. Senator Matheson might have requested his presence, but apart from a brief handshake he'd had neither sight nor sound of his host for the past few hours.
