Ring ring.
Alex pushed aside his uneaten sandwich and looked down at his cell phone. His heart skipped two beats when he saw the incoming number, and he took a deep breath before answering.
"Hello?"
"Krycek."
A frown appeared immediately.
"Who is this?" he asked, though he had a sinking feeling that he knew.
"It's Scully. Mulder's in a meeting," she said, answering Alex's question before he could ask it. "He left his phone behind, and I decided to see if I could find your number. Guess I did."
"...What do you want?"
"To talk to you."
"About?"
"Guess."
"I'm not the mood," Alex said, trying to sound bored.
"Okay, fine. I'm calling about Mulder. What the hell are you doing?"
"I don't know what you mean."
"Of course you do. Mulder told me about the two of you. What do you want with him? What are you up to? What have you done to upset him so much?"
"I'm not up to anything," Alex said, choosing to answer only the second question.
"You've been sleeping with my partner," Scully accused. "A thought that disgusts me like you wouldn't believe. I don't know what the hell is on his mind, but we had a big to do about it when he told me, and he was adamant about keeping you."
"What am I, a puppy?"
"If you were, I wouldn't be so upset about this mess."
No answer.
"He said you haven't been together these last several weeks, and he's depressed as hell about it. What exactly does he mean? Have you broken it off?"
"I haven't."
"Did he?"
"...No."
"Then what the hell is he talking about?"
"There are some things we need to straighten out before we move on."
"Doesn't seem as though you're getting that done. Why are you doing this to him?"
"Doing what to him?"
"Screwing with his head. Making him miserable."
"You ever think for half a second, Scully, that Mulder's not the only one who's miserable?"
There was a long silence, then Scully asked, "Are...are you telling me that his feelings aren't unrequited?"
"Why ask? You won't believe my answer anyway."
"I don't like this," Scully said simply.
"Not exactly a revelation," Alex said flatly. "What exactly do you want, Scully?"
"I want you to do something about this."
"You mean you want me to walk away."
"If you don't feel about Mulder the way he feels about you, yes."
"And if I do?" Alex asked, trying to hide his shock at her implication.
"Make up with him. And know that if you ever do anything to hurt him, I'll kill you."
"Why would you want me anywhere near him?"
"Because I'm closer to Mulder than my own brothers. I want him to be happy...even if what makes him happy is you."
"Well, therein lies the problem."
"What do you mean?"
"I don't know how he feels about me. I don't think he knows."
"*I know," Scully snapped. "How can he not know. How you not know?"
"Okay, let me rephrase. He doesn't know what to do with his feelings. Admitting to them means that he's been disloyal to his father, his sister...to you. And he can't get past that. He's ashamed."
"Well, if he's got enough sense to be ashamed," Scully said, "I guess he hasn't lost his mind...completely."
Alex said nothing.
"He needs to settle this," she informed Alex. "He needs to know where this...*relationship with you is headed. And it needs to get there so he can get his act together and be of some damn use around here."
"He isn't the only one who needs to get things settled."
"Well then, do it."
"It's not that easy."
"It's only as hard as you make it. Fix this. Or let him go."
The abrupt click startled Alex. Staring at the phone for a good long while, he finally let it drop to the table.
Fix it. Or let him go.
Sounded like a simple enough choice. To Scully it was.
But for him...and for Fox...
Alex leaned back and closed his eyes. And considered Scully's words more carefully.
Only As Hard As You Make It
by Aries
Ring ring.
