Book IV
Dana locked her car door and forced her feet to carry her just a little
further with a promise of a bath and slippers. A shower would require standing,
besides which, Scully had taken three within the last eight hours...one with
flea shampoo.
Mulder and Scully, freak magnets. Dana laughed softly to herself. They
couldn't even stay out of trouble checking into the mailing procedures of a
perfectly normal business.
"So I guess you don't need cheering up after all." A long, slender
figure gracefully unfolded on her doorstep.
Scully had her gun out and aimed as quickly as her fingers would work.
"Don't. Christ, Li Ann you scared me half to death." Recognition came
a short breath behind the physical reaction.
"A little on edge, are we?" Li Ann's hands were held palm out, a
clear sign that she meant no harm. The oriental woman offered up a smile,
inviting Dana to share in the humour.
"It's been a tough couple of days." Dana explained, holstered her
weapon. "Killer critters in Detroit. How did you know I was coming
home?" She dug out her house-keys, shifting her carryall to the other
shoulder.
"I hacked in and got your flight information. No big mystery." Li
Ann knelt and picked up two insulated bags. "I come bearing food and
drink." She followed Dana inside and to her apartment door. "I figured
after a week in Detroit with the ever-challenging Agent Mulder you could you
some down time."
Dana nodded, pushing open her door. "But I thought you were in Los
Angeles."
"I was, and then Atlanta." Li Ann walked confidently to the
kitchen. She sat the bags on the counter and began un-zipping the lids. "I
got back in yesterday." Li Ann shouted over one shoulder. "I meant to
e- mail you but I never got round to it. I've been playing catch-up at the
office. Victor manages all of the company's practical work without any trouble,
but he can't seem to keep up with the paperwork when I'm not here. I think he
does it on purpose just because he hates filling in forms."
The microwave's door dinged as it popped open. Dana stopped in the kitchen
doorway. She watched Li Ann move about extracting what she needed to reheat the
meal without having to ask for directions or look anywhere twice. Scully admired
the other woman's unconscious grace. It was like watching a dancer move, or a
thief, her unconscious mind provided petulantly. "So, where are all your
boys?" Dana asked the traditional question that hung between them with more
that a bit of trepidation. The answer had proved dangerously argument provoking
in the past many a time.
Li Ann dumped some vegetable and rice concoction from its cardboard box in to
a deep dish. "Victor is home with his sister tonight. She officially moved
into our basement apartment last week." The oriental woman added with a
pleased smile. A layer of bite sized chicken pieces joined the rice.
"Victor's hilarious. He is so hyped up about becoming an uncle. It's
adorable. Allegra has him painting the smaller bedroom with a border of ducks
and kittens." Li Ann laughed. "He tried it free hand but they came out
looking like fish and pigs."
Dana smiled at the image that built in her mind for several reasons. Victor
was so sweet-tempered, completely unlike his twin in so many ways.
"So he switched to stencils." She finished. A tall cup of sauce
joined the dish in the microwave. "Mac is away doing some job with one of
Alex's sisters." The hesitation was noticeable. "Far south of
here." Li Ann stabbed some buttons on the control panel of the appliance
then returned to the counter.
"And Krycek?" Dana prompted when the silence stretched too long.
"Lexi is in Europe on business for the Director. I don't know any more
than that." Li Ann sighed at the petty lie she had just told and lifted a
small bottle of wine from the second cooler bag.
Dana Scully turned, pressing her forehead into the wall next to her. This
evening could turn sour so easily. "What were you doing in California and
Atlanta, Li Ann?"
The other woman deserted the food to go to her friend's side. "Just
designing a couple of security systems. They were both strictly legit jobs,
Dana. I don't need to play dirty to turn a profit." Long fingers settled on
the shoulder of Scully's trench coat. "I'm not doing anything that either
you or I need to be ashamed of."
"No, you leave that to the boys. Mac's in Cuba, isn't he?" She
asked wearily. Scully was quickly learning to see through the younger woman's
code of vague references and careful silences.
"Why don't you get changed?" Li Ann declined to answer, confirming
the guess. "I'll finish up here."
"What's he doing in Cuba?" Scully persisted.
"A job for Nicki." The taller woman admitted. "I didn't come
here to hash out Mac, or Alex's..." She forestalled. "...dubious
morality. Tonight isn't about the boys, yours or mine. Go get into something
more comfortable. I brought dinner, a really fine wine, a video and my own
charming self. Surely one of those things will cheer you up." A long nail
flicked a lock of red hair and Li Ann smiled invitingly.
"What video?" Dana teased, downplaying her pleasure at simply being
with her companion.
"Gone with the wind. When in doubt go with a classic...besides I was in
the mood for it after looking at all those fancy manors for the last three
days." Li Ann backed off. " I have a box of rocky road brownies."
Dana pushed herself away from the wall. "Okay, for that alone you can
stay, but I get control of the remote and you do the dishes."
"Aren't you tired of playing power games after time in the field with
Mulder." Li Ann baited gently but the other woman looked unmoved. "All
right, but only if you promise not to burp and scratch yourself during all the
mushy parts. My last client maxed out my Macho tolerance for the week."
"Deal." Dana shrugged out of her navy-blue overcoat then dragged
her light carry on into the bedroom. The larger piece of luggage was abandoned.
She would deal with in the morning. The shower vs. bath question was
reconsidered yet again. She and Li Ann didn't get to spend much time together.
Wasting an hour of that time in the tub no longer seemed like such a good idea.
A quick shower, some silky pyjamas next to her skin and a pair of fuzzy socks
for comfort seemed the way to go now.
Li Ann was just dishing the food onto the plates when Dana emerged from the
bedroom. The dipping sauce made the meal too messy for the sofa so they settled
in the dining room.
"How is it that you manage to find such wonderful takeout?" Dana
asked around a forkful of tender meat.
"The other woman was deft with her chopsticks. She used them to eat and
to punctuate her words. "I have a food taster." She laughed softly.
"I swear Mac has tried every restaurant within thirty miles of Atlantic
City by now. The man can barely make toast." Li Ann took a sip of wine.
"He doesn't even have an oven...just a stovetop and a microwave."
"Men." The redhead snickered.
"You know that's not exactly true, Dana." The admonishment lacked
force. "Victor cooks, better than I do when it's for more than two people.
I've never gotten past stir-fry, pre-packaged food and salads."
Dana nodded agreement. "Omelettes and frozen food. The single woman's
staple." She added wryly.
"You work too hard." Li Ann settled back and really studied her
dining companion. "What are you doing for Christmas? Tell me you're taking
a bit of time off."
Dana shrugged. "Mom's going to Bill's, baby's first Christmas and all,
you know." Sadness tainted her expression. "I don't want to go. Not
after what happened last year." Emily's death would be too heavy in her
thoughts if she went back to California at Christmas time. It would suffocate
her. "I thought I'd hang out here. Just have some quiet time. Maybe I'll
touch base with some friends I haven't had a chance to see for a while."
"You're going to brood." Li Ann translated. "Or let Mulder
drag you about after some slime monsters or a demonic Santa impersonator. No way
Dana." The younger woman protested. "How about you come stay at my
place for a week? Victor and Allegra are all charged up over Christmas. Maybe
it's a Canadian thing."
The temptation was strong but Dana stared down at her plate. "Is Krycek
coming home for the holidays?" The objection was clear to them both.
"If he is, I just can't. You know what he's done to me."
"He didn't shoot your sister." Li Ann said softly, catching Dana's
eyes and holding them with the intensity of her gaze. "That's one of the
things I've made sure of."
"But he was involved." She shoved her plate away. "He worked
with 'THEM'. He still does I suspect. He's a criminal, a murderer, a poor excuse
for a human being."
"He's my friend."
"Don't count on it, Li Ann." Dana crossed, her blue eyes studying
the other woman. A thought that had been preying on her mind for some time
demanded to emerge. "Are you still sleeping with him?"
"Damn it." The oriental woman stood abruptly. "I don't want to
fight Dana, not with you, not tonight."
"You are." Scully deduced. Her expression was icy. "Christ, Li
Ann."
"You don't understand how it is." An open palm forestalled another
protest. "The guys and Allegra are my family." She put weighty
emphasis on the last word. "Can't you try for some kind of peace treaty?
Come over for a few days, for me. You're welcome to ignore Alex completely,
just, try not to kill him."
"That's not my style."
"Then don't arrest him." Li Ann sensed a weakening in Dana's
resolve. "Victor's cooking a turkey dinner with all the trimmings."
"Why are you sleeping with him, Li Ann?" The older woman needed to
hold on to her anger. She wanted answers. "He's an absolute whore. You've
told me as much yourself. God knows whose bed he's coming to you from, or how
many there have been even in the last year."
"It's really complicated." She shoved her own plate to one side,
studying her companion's face. Dana's expression was a mask of determination.
"Lexi's got a lot of problems." Li Ann hesitated, trying to balance
Alex's privacy against the need to have the FBI agent's understanding.
"Sometimes after Mac has passed out Lexi comes downstairs to talk."
Scully nodded. She'd picked up references to those encounters before.
"Lexi can't separate intimacy and affection from sex." Li Ann
explained. "If I want him to talk to me..." She winced at Dana's
disapproving frown. "I'm trying to pull his life, his experiences, out of
him. I need to understand him for so many reasons. Victor and even more so, Mac,
they've grown too dependant on Alex. He's holding most of the power in our
family and that's just not safe for the rest of us, especially since he's so
terribly fragile in some ways. The three of us just got out of a situation like
that. The Director tried hard to control us by keeping us in the dark. I hated
it." Li Ann floundered. "It's for Lexi's benefit as well. I'm also
trying to find out how he's put together so I can repair the worst of the damage
Nicki has inflicted on him. I get the impression she thinks of him as a weapon
not a person. No one deserves what she's done to him over the years." Her
head shook and she repeated herself. "You don't understand. I need to make
sure her control doesn't overpower his affection for us. Admittedly, sometimes I
feel guilty, using whatever method I have to ensure his loyalty but it's a
battle for his soul."
"That's such a load of garbage." Scully accused unimpressed by Li
Ann's justifications for the relationship. "Can't you just admit that the
sex is good and you like it?"
Dark eyes rolled in defeat. Dana wasn't in any mood to discuss this
rationally. "Is that what you want to hear? Fine. The sex is phenomenal. He
goes down on me like no man ever has. His tongue practically shoots
sparks." Li Ann snapped out, her temper breaking loose. "How does that
feel, Dana? Do you get some sense of satisfaction from knowing Lexi is a dream
in the sheets? No one he's ever made a run at has turned down a chance to do
him. Even Mulder can't keep his hands to himself around Lexi despite all his
ranting and raving on Alex's contemptible character. Maybe you'd understand
better if he tried out his wiles on you."
A sudden remembrance of how he had affected her during that fiasco with the
diplomatic pouch assaulted Dana. She hadn't allowed it to show but being in the
car with him on the way to the airport had been a brutal exercise in
self-control. Dana had been disgusted with herself for reacting that way to
Krycek's proximity. "I think you should leave, Li Ann." Scully pushed
away from the table. She needed distance. "Maybe we can get together some
time in the New Year." Dana lied coldly.
"No." The younger woman stated flatly. "I'm sorry, that was
completely out of line. I really am sorry. I'm just on edge and I took it out on
you." Her tone was sincerely regretful. "But I won't let you push me
away. You're almost as bad as Lexi. You're just looking for an excuse to end
this, end us, and go back to your nun- like existence." She was out of her
seat and catching at Dana's arms in an instant. "I don't give up on
important relationships that easily. The fact I live with three of my exs is
proof of that."
"And how is that a good thing?" Scully crossed. "Sometimes you
have to let go in bad situations." She grumbled. "And Krycek is the
worst of a bad one."
"Black and white." Li Ann sighed. "He warned me."
"Pardon?"
"This thing between us, I want it. You want it, but it's uphill all the
way because you insist that everything be black and white, Dana." Li Ann
elaborated. "I've been on the shady side of the street ever since I was a
kid. That's why I loved Mac. That's why I can understand Alex." She
acknowledged. "But white is like a magnet to me as well, you and Vic are
proof of that, but we, Alex, Mac and I, we've got all these ambiguous colours in
our backgrounds that you can't seem to appreciate." She closed her eyes,
emphasising the heavy darkness of her make-up. "I know you want me in your
life, you need me and what I represent. Expand the realm of what's acceptable
and what's not. You've taken a few baby steps but you're going to have to come a
little further."
Glossy red hair shook. "Why am I always the one who has to change?"
Dana's expression was harsh. "I've bent so far already for you, for
Mulder."
Li Ann swooped down and placed a kiss on the corner of her companion's mouth,
shorting the argument out. Long fingers slid over Dana's shoulders and down her
back. "It's your decision, Darling. How about we skip the movie, get some
rest, then in the morning you can think it over with a clear head?" A
twinge of guilt bit at Li Ann. This was the Alexei way out of an argument and
she hated it when he used it on her. Still, if she were going to get dumped, Li
Ann would rather have it happen in the morning.
"Cheat." The older woman accused. "You argue like a man."
"I don't spend enough time with women." Came the excuse.
"Maybe you could take me on as a scientific project if you can't deal with
me as a lover."
Heavy lips brushed over Dana's forehead. Thinking became a chore. "I
need you to stop sleeping with Krycek." That demand still managed to
emerge. "Maybe we can work on the rest, but I won't share your body with
HIM."
"In the morning." Li Ann reminded. "How do you feel about
brownies in bed?" A black brow lifted devilishly. "Without a
plate?"
"You said they were rocky road. Ouch." Dana's nose wrinkled.
"It's all in the technique." Releasing her lover, Li Ann smiled.
"Trust me."
"What are you looking for Victor?"
The inquiry caught the man in question completely by surprise. Victor's gaze,
which had been wandering about the dimly lit club, snapped back to his drinking
companion. "Nothing really." He lied. "It's an occupational
habit. I spent too many years as a cop, then as an agent." He shrugged.
"I can't stop scanning the crowd, checking for potential trouble. You must
do it too, Mulder, what with all your years at the Bureau." Victor
Mansfield turned his half-empty glass absently in his hands. "Right?"
A brief chuckle was the immediate response. "You should have figured out
by now that I'm hardly a typical example of the best the Bureau has to offer. My
paranoia tends to be towards less tangible threats." Mulder took a sip of
his now-warm beer.
The small blues band had wrapped up a few minutes ago and left the stage. The
emotionally loaded silence between the two men had become more pronounced since
the music no longer masked it.
"So, what are you really looking for?" Mulder repeated the
question. A corner of Mansfield's mouth twitched at his insistence, speeding up
the older man's heartrate. It was such a temptation to do nothing but stare at
Victor's face to the exclusion of all else. Jeez, not the lashes. Mulder
protested internally as Mansfield's eyes dropped to the cluttered tabletop. His
cock hardened in automatic response to the sight.
The younger man leaned slightly forward. "I was wondering if you want? I
got us a room tonight." The words blurted out, not in the seductive tone
he'd intended but in a rather breathless panic. It didn't get much better than
this. There was no sign that they were under surveillance this evening. Victor's
extremely obsessive and less than stable brother, Alex, was supposed to be in
another country. Lastly, a mission was threatening on the horizon that would
drag Vic and the team out of town and away from Mulder. Damn, but he wanted a
bed for a change, not the chill interior of one of their cars or the smelly,
damp darkness of some out of the way alley or park. There was no way they were
ever going to get beyond heavy groping and blowjobs without a locked door and
sturdy surface.
Neither of them would dare to suggest going back to either of their
apartments. Mulder's was probably under constant surveillance by some faction or
another and Victor shared a building with a couple of people who might not take
Mulder's presence very well. Alex, the most volatile ingredient in the mix,
would likely go straight to Mac's apartment when he did come home and it was a
mere two stories above his brother's.
"You sure?" The federal agent hid his body's enthusiastic tremor of
reaction behind reaching for an unwanted handful of peanuts.
"Quite. What about you?" Victor Mansfield shifted until he caught
Mulder's eye. "Have you got a tight enough grip on who I am and who I'm
not?" They'd gone two encounters now without Mulder slipping into reacting
to Victor like he would with Alex, Vic's twin. That had been the main stumbling
block to their taking their budding relationship any further.
A smile lit up the older man's face. "You're fun, gorgeous and just
being with you makes me feel good. Your integrity is intoxicating. You're
absolutely perfect. Yeah, I think I'm well aware of who you are." His mind
no longer had to chant 'NOT KRYCEK, VICTOR!' in the background constantly, but
he wasn't about to tell his companion that's what he'd been doing all this time,
not right now anyway.
Victor's cheeks heated and his head ducked. "I want..." A chuckle
gusted out. "Let's get out of here." He rose to his feet. A battered
brown leather jacket was snatched off the back of the chair and shrugged on.
Victor went out of his way not to wear black around his lover. His jeans were
always blue. He avoided stark colours in favour of soft cotton shirts of greens
and blues. Victor even left the boots he preferred at home in the closet and
wore running shoes instead. "I already booked a room in a place down the
street, one that didn't look too sleazy. Come on."
Mulder took in the view for a second, denim straining across lean hips,
before following suit. All of a sudden he couldn't pull his own coat on fast
enough. Mulder followed closely but was careful not to make contact, certain
that actual sparks would fly if they accidentally touched.
The cold air slapped them as they stepped outside, taking the sharp edge off
their nervousness.
"You can leave your car here. It's only a block down." Victor
tipped his head to the right. A fleeting smile was shot Mulder's way then the
younger man led the way. He walked swiftly, confidant that the agent's long legs
would close the distance between them easily enough. His breath puffed steam in
the chilled air, betraying how shallow and quickly his lungs were working.
They traversed the distance to the motel in complete silence. Victor stepped
forward as they approached the brightly painted doorway. He dug a key with a
bulky plastic fob out of his jacket pocket. Victor then waited with one hand on
the knob and caught Mulder's eyes with his own. "What's my name?" His
tone was dead serious.
"Victor." The older man leaned in. His mouth almost brushed up
against the other's diamond earring. "Please Victor. I'm so ready for this.
I'm dying for this." The pause lengthened and Mulder had to fight against
the impulse to push, knowing the delay was one last test. He would have thrown
Krycek face first into the door and torn at his clothes by now. "Vic."
His voice was strained. "Come on don't torture me."
"I'm sorry." Mansfield whispered. "I just had to know."
He shoved the door open. "He said..."
"Nothing HE said matters." Mulder assured, following the object of
his affection into the dimly lit room, slamming the door behind them.
The key landed with a clank on the bedside table. Victor turned in place
slowly, shrugging his jacket off and letting it fall to the floor. "Watch
me, Mull-dhar."
His drawling whisper cut the older man to the core. All Mulder could do was
nod and stare. They'd yet to see one another completely nude. Only necessary
bits of flesh had been displayed, as the act required.
Victor toed off his sneakers one at a time then lifted his feet to pull off
his socks. Straightening, he slowly dragged the flat of his hand up across his
crotch, letting out a hiss of air at the contact.
"Christ Victor." Mulder took a step forward.
"No." Came the warning. "Just stand there and watch me, damn
it." He pumped his hips slightly and let out a shivery sigh. The spectre
constantly loomed between them. Vic realised that he wasn't a match in skill to
Alex so he needed to make his own unique impression on Mulder. A bit of rough
friction up his zipper sent a quake down his legs. Victor had to pop the top
button on his jeans in order to keep breathing. A smooth movement pulled the
tail of his shirt out of the waistband of his pants. One by one Victor flicked
open the buttons, pausing between each to stroke the skin that the action had
revealed. The urge to close his eyes pressed at him but Victor gave in only
halfway gazing through heavy lashes. He needed to watch Mulder's reaction to the
strip show.
"Victor please." The other whispered his plea. "Just let me
come a little closer." Mulder inched forward when no refusal was voiced. He
stopped just before touching, falling to his knees in front of his lover and
inhaling deeply.
Victor finished with the shirt buttons and coasted his palms down until they
were braced on either side of the taut fabric before Mulder's face. He bowed his
back slightly, thrusting forward until he could feel the older man's shallow
breath through the damp denim.
"Victor." Mulder whispered, provoking a violent tremor when his
bottom lip made accidental contact. "Take your pants off." He
requested.
"No." Strong fingers shifted to tickle Mulder's nose. "You do
it." Victor suggested.
The jarring trill of a cell phone startled them apart.
"Fuck!" The younger almost fell over in surprise.
Mulder, knocked back on his heels, dragged absently at his jacket to locate
the source of the noise. When the ring came again he glared at Victor's
discarded coat. "It's yours." He frowned. "Ignore it."
"I can't." Victor scrambled after the intruding presence. "It
wouldn't ring if it wasn't important." Everyone knew he disliked the cell
phone. "Yeah." He fumbled, almost dropping the thing. "What is
it?"
"Viktor darling." A feminine purr slipped into his ear. "You
need to come home. Right now."
The faint Russian accent in her voice was enough to send a trickle of fear
down Victor's spine. That one of the core family members would call HIM rather
than the house boded no good. "Catherine?" He tested.
"Riene." She specified. All four of the Catherines sounded
identical. "Mac is back. Kiska, Alexei and Anastasia are here at the house
too. Something very big has suddenly up, Viktor sweetie. Get yourself home right
away."
"Alex is home?" He sat down hard on the edge of the bed, tossing a
nervous, involuntary look at the door to the unlocked motel room.
Mulder was frowning up at his lover. Those simple words had the power to
destroy everything he was desperate to experience this evening.
"I'll be home in..." Victor began.
The promise was cut off. Mulder lunged forward, grabbing after the phone.
"Don't! Please." His tone was frantic. "Don't you leave me like
this."
Distressed shouts were coming from the dropped cell phone. Victor grabbed it
with one hand, laying the fingertips of the other against Mulder's heavy lips.
"It's okay. Hush." He cautioned, raising the phone. "I'll be home
in three hours. That's the best I can do." Pushing the disconnect button
silenced Riene's protests.
Mulder wrapped his arms around Victor's waist and buried his face into warm,
bare flesh. "Thank you." The words blurred into kisses on the hot
skin. "...left me like this...think I'd die. You could never be so
cruel." Mulder's mouth dragged up as the kneeling man straightened himself
out. "Not my sweet Victor." Teeth threatened to mark but never
actually pressed hard enough to break the younger man's skin.
"Mulder, first lock the door, then get your gear off." Victor
suggested. He wanted the slick sensation of bare skin that they had yet to feel.
Those changeable eyes were blurred with need but eventually the words
penetrated. Mulder shoved reluctantly away. He crossed the room in three steps
and was back again before Victor had time to catch his breath. Mulder pulled off
his clothing with a hurried lack of artistry and practically threw himself down
beside his lover. "I'm not going anywhere, not for a little while."
Victor assured the other. "Relax."
"I just..." Mulder shook his head and set to skinning the ex-cop
out of his jeans.
When the frantic actions grew too rough Victor attempted to help, only to
find himself shoved back down on the mattress. "Ease up!" The younger
man protested loudly, bucking his lover off.
Mulder froze in place at the sharp complaint. "God, I'm sorry." He
rolled off to land down beside Victor on the mattress. His hands dropped flat on
the rough bedspread. "I'm sorry. Don't leave. Please, don't leave."
"Just take it easy." Victor shifted up onto one elbow and leaned
over his lover. "Relax. We're gonna do this, you and me. Victor Mansfield.
Remember me." He smiled briefly then bent to take a kiss, pleased when
Mulder accepted the brief contact without grabbing and trying to hold him down
despite the trembling he saw in the older man's hands. "It's okay to touch
me." Victor allowed.
Mulder's hand came up cautiously, resting against Victor's neck to keep him
from pulling too far away. The delicate touch at his neck held him over Mulder,
forcing their eyes to meet. "Please Victor."
"I've got you." The younger man squirmed down just a bit and he
lowered his mouth to the curve of Mulder's shoulder. His parted lips brushed
over the skin provoking shivers of anticipation. First Victor painted his
lover's throat with damp kisses then his mouth moved to tease across hard
nipples. When his teeth threatened playfully Mulder's breath caught and held.
"I'm not going to hurt you." Vic murmured into the other's chest.
"Whatever you want." Mulder offered with a moan.
"No pain." Victor insisted. His fingers skimmed the older man's
chest, soothing. "That's not us." He sucked at a nipple making
Mulder's breath hitch with pleasure. Victor looked up through his lashes to
enjoy the sight of his lover's flushed face. He pulled off with a faint chuckle
of amusement. "You like?"
"Oh yeah."
"Pay attention. It gets better." Victor wiggled even lower,
dragging his mouth along skin as he went.
They were waiting for Victor when he let himself in the front door. He hadn't
even closed the outside entrance when Mac's door opened at the top of the
stairs.
"Victor, c'mon up here." Li Ann called down.
"Let me just get cleaned up and changed."
"No." Another head poked out. "You'll just have to shower
again when we're done with you anyway." Anastasia, Alex's foster sister,
argued. "Come." She commanded imperiously before disappearing.
An urge to ignore the order had to be fought down. Stacey was obnoxious but
her presence indicated serious business. Alex's adopted family wasn't much for
hollow social visits.
Victor wasn't prepared for the view when Li Ann finally caught his hand and
drew him into Mac's living room.
Alex sat, bare to the waist, backward on a metal kitchen chair. Two identical
teenage girls hovered over him. The first of the petite, dark-haired beauties
was just stepping away from Victor's brother to lay aside a buzzing razor. She
flicked it off and dropped it into Mac's outstretched hand.
"I hate it." Mac criticised immediately, his attention locked on
Alex's newly shorn, newly midnight black hair.
Alexei looked up at the complaint, his brow furrowed with dismay.
"It'll grow out soon enough." The slender girl shrugged,
negligently petting Alexei's slightly damp hair. He leaned blindly into the
caress. "It's easier than trying to match an existing..." The
explanation faded out as she noticed the new arrival. A smile broke across her
lips like dawn. "You must be Viktor." Bottomless, dark framed eyes
devoured him. She crossed the room with the slinkiest prowl Victor had ever seen
a female use. He could practically see Alex's training in the girl's every move.
"I'm Riene. We've talked." She sidled right up to his chest, bringing
her face close enough to smell the sweat and sex on him.
Victor took a step back, bumping into Li Ann. The four Catherines were the
second tier of the Romanov family hierarchy. He'd seen a picture of one of them
about a year ago. That image didn't do credit to the living girl standing in
front of him. This tiny beauty absolutely burned his eyes despite having just
come from Mulder's bed. She was also, Victor reminded himself, still a teenager.
"Riene." He extended a hand. "I'm pleased to finally meet
you."
Inky, green-black eyes glanced down then dismissed the offered gesture in
favour of pushing snug and hooking her wrists behind his neck. She used the grip
to lift herself and meld her mouth to his. The girl's tongue darted between
Victor's surprised lips.
With a yelp of distress Victor shoved, knocking the teenager away. Disbelief
brought his brows together and he wiped at his mouth with the back of his hand.
"Yum." Riene whispered. "You taste like Lexi too. That's what
took you so long, right? Who were you fucking around with, Viktor?"
"Shh." His hands gestured.
Li Ann looked from the young girl to her ex-lover with a frown of annoyance.
She had been close enough to hear the question.
"Sukin syn, Kiska!" Alexei snapped, breaking into the suggestive
situation. "That hurts."
Victor looked over, pushing past Riene to get a better sight of what the
other Catherine was doing to his twin brother.
"Big baby." The girl accused, scolding, as she stepped back. The
light glinted off the brand new jewellery that hooped through Alex's ear.
"Oh shit." Victor cursed, suddenly realising what was occurring. An
empty chair was placed right at Alex's side waiting for Victor.
"It's important." Li Ann caught hold of his arm and urged him into
the centre of all the activity. "They wouldn't insist if it wasn't so
important. I appreciate what it means to you that there be some differences
between you."
Any of the others he would have evaded but Victor allowed his former fiancee
to ease off his jacket and settle him down into the chair beside his twin
brother. "No. No way." Victor protested as he saw Riene pick up a
bottle of black liquid from the nearby coffee table.
"Lives are in the balance." Li Ann bent down and with a brief pinch
removed the diamond stud from Victor's ear. "Thousands of lives."
"We need two identical teams." Anastasia cut into the conversation.
Her long pointed fingernails flicked from Riene to the other Catherine.
"You and Kiska. Alexei and Riene." She said. "We need you to be
Aleksandr Nicolavich and we need the pair of you to be 'absolutely'
identical." She repeated.
"What are you going to do? Cut off my arm?" Victor snipped then
instantly regretted the flippant remark when he noticed Alex's pained flinch.
"No, but we will need to brace and wrap it so it moves and feels more
like Lexi's, through your shirt at least." Stacey said calmly. "And
leather gloves will be the order of the day." Alex was seldom seen without
a pair of black gloves in public to minimise the chance of his handicap from
being noticed.
Riene flicked a large towel once, then moved to wrap it around Victor's
shoulders. "The dye will wash out in about a month." She leaned closer
than she needed to tuck the fabric into his collar. ''Should we pierce his
nipple so he sets off the metal detectors properly?" The girl teased,
holding him down when the joke threatened to raise him out of the chair.
"Hah. Hah." Victor tried to sound unaffected. Fingers slipped
through his hair reminding him so much of what Mulder had done to him not two
hours ago that he had to shiver in reaction.
"Not so much to cut off this time." Riene observed.
"What's going on? What's the mission?" Victor asked Alex. His twin
was more likely to know all and tell the most. Anastasia hated giving up
information. Mac and Li Ann wouldn't likely have as many details.
"Aleksandr Nicolavich..." Alex began, referring to one of his many
aliases. "...received an invitation to bid on a set of computer
discs." He noticed Stacey's annoyed moue of disapproval but continued on
regardless. "I'm Aleksandr Nicolavich in old guard European circles.
'Nicola's protÈgÈ' to her old time associates." He explained. "A
contact has offered me the chance to buy the complete personnel files of the
British secret service and Interpol. The American DEA, CIA and FBI are also up
for grabs as well as a few other organisations."
"Personnel files? As in names and addresses of all their
employees?" Victor hissed half in reaction to the news and half because
cold liquid had just been poured over his scalp.
"As well as service records, clearance levels and personal information
like next of kin and health reports."
"He's yanking your chain." Victor protested. "I'd believe if
it was only one organisation, but..."
"This man." Alexei let out a calming breath. "He isn't the
type to promise things he can't deliver. He's been in the business since Nicki's
time in the trenches. He's a cold war graduate." The Russian scratched at
his nose, brushing away bits of hair clippings. "We can't afford not to
take him seriously."
"And what are Nicki's intentions?" Victor wiggled as gloved fingers
rubbed through his hair. "Are we trying to buy the discs?"
The Catherine, Kiska, who stood off to one side, let out a bark of amusement.
"We can't afford to buy them all. Nicolavich has been invited with the
expectation that he will want the Interpol files."
"We're going to steal them." Alexei said softly. "All of them.
It's just going to take a colourful mix of deception and confusion to accomplish
the task while maintaining Aleksandr Nicolavich's impeccable reputation within
that community."
Victor looked around the room. Li Ann had settled on the couch, her hands
clasp in front of her. She nodded her encouragement, sensing what his next
question was. "To what end purpose, Alex?" Victor looked right into
his twin's eyes as he voiced the question. When the other threatened to look
away Victor narrowed his own eyes in warning. "What are we going to do with
the files once we have them, brother of mine?"
"Lexi!" Stacey warned from somewhere off to one side.
Victor didn't dare release Alexei's gaze even to blink. "Sell
them?" The ex-cop prompted as the other squirmed in discomfort.
"I don't know." Alex finally admitted.
"You've got to find out, Lexi." Victor said softly, using the
nickname on purpose. "Or maybe we should just tell Mulder. He'll be on one
of those lists." Vic reminded. A thin, venomous stream of Russian profanity
nibbled at the edges of the connection Victor had pulled his twin into. It
sounded as if Anastasia was nearly spitting with anger. "Alex." The
ex-cop whispered to hold the other's attention. "We can't do this for
profit, to sell the information on the open market. Think about it, Alex."
He repeated.
"Victor's right." Li Ann joined the effort now that the topic she
had been impatiently waiting to breach was opened. "We need more
information about Nicola's intentions, Lexi, my love." She coaxed sweetly.
Much to Stacey's frustration, Alex looked decidedly confused. His eyes darted
back and forth between the two factions and his eyebrows had drawn together
until they almost met. "It's not really our place." Sharp teeth bit
into his bottom lip.
"These people and their families would be exposed. It isn't right. I can
see stealing them to secure them, but if Nicola is planning on something
else?" Li Ann persisted. By herself she hadn't dared to call the head of
the their family's motives into question but between her and Victor, Li Ann was
certain they could ground Alex. "We need to know her intentions."
"Nicki doesn't need to explain herself." Anastasia snapped.
"She knows what's best."
"It can't hurt to ask?" Mac joined the cause. His own loose sense
of morality kicked in now that his partners had pointed out the problem. "I
mean, Alex and Victor are taking the risk. The least she could do is give them a
rough idea of what her big picture is."
"Lexi." Stacey flipped into Russian, needing to take the argument out
of the control of Alexei's playmates. "Since when do we question Nicki's
orders? She looks after us, for god's sake. We don't have time for this kind of
hesitation when it comes down to the crunch. We have to trust her without
reservation. That's the only way the family can function."
"Nicki knows what she's doing." Kiska seconded her mentor, Anastasia.
"These three are not inner family, Lexi honey. They don't give orders. They
carry them out."
"Victor's my brother." Alexei countered in a less than convincing tone.
He fidgeted under Kiska and Stacey's intense scrutiny. The idea of disagreeing
with his sister was an almost physically painful situation. Anastasia was such a
commanding figure in psyche. He shifted uncomfortably.
"Nicola is more than our mother." Stacey crossed her arms, glaring at
Li Ann and Victor. Mac wasn't a problem. Challenging Mac's sense of fun and
adventure invariably shorted out any ethical doubts the young man was troubled
with. It also helped that Mac was slavishly devoted to Alexei's sexuality. But
Anastasia was learning to actively dislike Victor's twin and the oriental woman.
They were a dangerous influence on him. "I worry about you sometimes. You've
been spending altogether too much time with your trio. It's bending your
priorities out of shape, baby brother."
"Alex." Victor ran a calming stroke down his twin's arm, attempting
to pull the disagreement back into his realm of understanding. "In English,
please."
"Victor's my real brother." He switched languages, complying
without thought to the physical persuasion. "And he does have a valid
point." Alexei pushed up off the chair and groped after a cell phone.
"Riene, finish up Victor. I'm just going to make a quick call." He
confirmed the phone was his own and set to pushing the unfamiliar code to reach
the recently occupied family compound.
"Fine." Stacey threw up her hands. "Piss Nicki off. It's your
pretty hide, Lexi-baby. But if you can't trust Nicki, who can you trust?"
"But I just want to know what we're going to do with the information
once we have it." Alex hesitated with his finger on the last digit, looking
miserable.
"It's a righteous question." Victor supported.
"Nicki's not stupid." Anastasia turned all her attention on Victor.
"Some of it may get sold. It's what we do. But you can be sure her buyers
will be carefully chosen. That's more than you can expect from the old bastard
who's running the auction."
"So you're saying that we're the lessor of two evils. That's not good
enough." Victor complained. "We could always turn the discs over to
the authorities. I could call Mulder and Scully." He trailed off at the
sight of the snarl those names brought to Anastasia's face.
"I'm getting so sick of hearing about that damned man." She began,
but the tirade cut off when she noticed the look of dismay on her foster
brother's face. He took it personally when Stacey dumped on his favourite
Federal agent. "Besides your pet drones would have to pass the lists up the
food chain." Came the reminder. Her tone dripped bitterness. "Of
course, we all know that officials would never take advantage of each other's
lists, or that leaks don't exist. Garbage. We don't have time for this."
Stacey persisted.
"Call Nicki, Alex." Li Ann urged delicately, crossing the room to
wrap her arms about the confused Russian's shoulders. It was a cheat, she knew,
but now wasn't the time to waffle over the ethics of using the flaws that his
harsh upbringing, had created. It was Nicki's own fault that Alexei was so
receptive to this kind of persuasion. The physical contact soothed him
immediately. "Just explain to her that we'd like to have some input on the
distribution of the information. That's not much to ask. We'll earn as much with
our share of the work on this project."
Alexei practically burrowed into the contact. Not daring to meet Stacey's
frigid stare, Alex completed the call. "Eh-ta Alexei."
Li Ann squeezed his good arm to bolster his confidence and smiled.
Mulder and Scully were crushed into a spot near the rear of a crowded
surveillance van. The hum of electronics all about them was almost as annoying
as the trails of sweat that ran down their foreheads and inside their clothes.
Mulder couldn't help but wish he had waited to put on the kevlar and F.B.I.
windbreaker that had been thrust at him but AD Skinner's authoritative frown had
suggested otherwise. He didn't dare make any cracks about the situation either.
Skinner had greeted his last remark about the air-conditioning with a curt 'save
it Agent Mulder' and a glare.
"Movement." The agents huddled over the video equipment all shifted
awkwardly, making room for the Assistant Director to see the specified monitor.
"Another limo." One of them said aloud for the benefit of everyone who
couldn't see what was happening.
"How original." Scully murmured in a voice too soft to reach anyone
but her partner after making sure her microphone was pushed well back.
Mulder smiled. She had been tossed off pace far worse than him but she
recovered twice as quickly. AD Skinner had sent for them just as they were
leaving for the day. They barely recognised anyone on the task force that they
had been drafted into. Far too many of the other FBI agents looked as green as
new grass. Mulder suspected it was a matter of trust.
"One arrival." The default announcer supplied, into his mike as
well as to the occupants of the lead van. "He's approaching the entrance.
Caucasian. Late fifties."
"Aren't they all?" Mulder tried to duplicate the tone of voice
Scully had gotten away with. He failed. Skinner's laser beam glasses flashed his
way in the subdued light. Mulder kept from flinching, barely. He really was
trying to behave, wanting to remind everyone that he was good for more than
jockeying a telephone and poking about fertiliser stockpiles. If Skinner would
just take them back from AD Kersh's control permanently, Mulder was certain
their situation inside the Bureau would improve. At least it couldn't get any
worse.
"He's pissed about the hand scanner, no surprise there." Every one
of the attendees had balked upon sighting the fingerprint equipment. "He's
waving his invitation in the guard's face." The tech said. "This is an
absolute dream come true." He commented on the system.
Discovering the location and purpose of the gathering had been a gold mine.
That so many organisations were willing to pool their resources and share the
bust-in-the-making was extraordinary. When Interpol's hackers managed to worm
their way into the mainframe of the building's security system most of the
people involved decide that there was a god and he was smiling down on this
joint venture.
"These guards are amazing. They haven't lost their cool once." The
comment came. "Guard one isn't budging. The perp is settling."
The perfection of Roderick Stalward's security system was now the most
powerful tool the combined task force had ever laid hands on. Stalward's
paranoia would assure that every criminal attending the auction would be
identified and accounted for by the united forces waiting to swoop down on them.
"And there's the hand-print. Gotcha." Necks strained waiting for
the delicate series of up-links and connections to relay the identity of the man
their attention focused on.
"The CIA is calling on this one, Sir." The young woman sitting
nearest Skinner's left hand covered the mouthpiece of her equipment. "We've
got an open file. His name is Quentin Page. But we've nothing solid we can pin
on the man."
"They can have him." The Assistant Director allowed after a brief
glance at the information on the database screen. "What are we up to...in
number of claims?" He asked aloud.
"Seven for sure. Two in dispute." Scully provided promptly.
Mulder mouthed 'suck-up' but he was privately proud of his partner's quick
response.
Skinner nodded. They still had a few agents to spare but, then again,
participants were still arriving.
"He's strapped." Someone provided. "Christ that equipment is
sensitive. It's picking up a heart murmur on the guy." The man marvelled.
Each of the attendees was given a sealed on bracelet that monitored their
heartbeat and location in side Stalward's building.
"He's the CIA's problem." Skinner reminded. "We don't need to
monitor him. Clear that device for the next arrival. Who's still free?" He
looked about, checking to see which agents weren't glued to the screen of a hand
held tracer.
"Diaz and O'Conner in van two." Came the response over everyone's
earpiece.
Dana flicked her mike forward and made sure it was on. "Mulder and
Scully. Van one." She announced to everyone including her temporary
supervisor.
"Hackett and Pinkerton. Van two." Another female voice crackled in
their ears.
Skinner looked down the list of felons that they had laid claim to. If no one
else that they wanted showed up he intended to shift one of the newer teams to
back up another and hand Isaak Colton off to Mulder and Scully. That slippery
son of a bitch might be a bit too much for an inexperienced team. Skinner
regretted having to use so many rookies on this job but he couldn't risk a move
of this magnitude on anyone he didn't trust implicitly. All in all the lot of
them were steady enough considering how the assignment had ambushed and pulled
them from all over the Bureau.
"No way." A whisper of disbelief came from one of the monitor
jockeys.
"What?" Skinner demanded, bending.
"It's got to be just passing by." The agent began. "Nope. It's
a motorcycle and it's heading for the door. Two riders."
"DEA." Someone muttered over the radio.
"No chatter." Skinner warned. He peered at the screen that showed
the outside steps.
"Two riders dismounting." Agent Caspian took up the play by play
yet again. "One male. One female. Both are Caucasian, dark-haired and
dressed in leather. The male is maybe early-thirties. The girl is young. A
teenager, I'd say."
Puzzled looks came from all about the stuffy van.
"At the doors. Inside." Caspian moved his attention to a different
monitor. "The guards are not impressed. Ah...we have an invitation. Guard
one is calling for verification. Guard two is leering at the girl."
"I don't blame him." Another viewer peering intently down at the
screen mumbled, earning a hard look from Skinner.
"Guard one is off the phone." Caspian swallowed a smile without a
hiccup. "I think motorcycle man just figured out the palm scanner. He's
going ballistic. Christ." The tech squinted hard. "I think the perp is
carrying. That's a first."
Every other attendee had come unarmed according to the barrage of metal
detectors that they had been required to pass through.
"Definitely DEA." The mutter was repeated in another voice.
"I think he's getting the 'take a hike if you don't like the rules'
speech." Agent Caspian continued. "The perp is handing over a gun.
Guard two's got out the wand." He paused. "We have strip search."
Caspian chuckled before recalling who stood beside him. "No, I was wrong
there. Just the shirt is getting pulled open." He corrected. "Ouch.
The perp just clocked guard two on the chin. Two's shaking it off." He
frowned. "The girl is palm printing."
A few tense breaths of silence filled the van.
"Nothing." The female agent informed them. Her head cocked to one
side. "Nobody wants her, Sir." The radio in her ear was silent.
Skinner nodded, watching the reception room. Something about the way the
suspect stood seemed familiar but the clarity of the picture left much to be
desired.
"Motorcycle man is still trying to avoid the print ID. Guard one is back
on the phone. No clemency. One is pointing. It's give the print or use the door
time. Come on, butch, do it. Uh...sorry Sir. He's pulling his glove off. We have
contact."
The database monitor lit up like a Christmas tree three seconds later.
"SIR?"
Skinner whirled, seeing the name in his head almost before he read it off the
screen. "Jesus Christ. Call it Agent!" The Assistant Director roared.
She tried to obey, shouting into they system that connected all the different
agencies. "Interpol, DEA, CIA, British secret service, even the rep from
the RCMP is screaming Mr Skinner. What do I do, Sir?"
Skinner straightened up. "Mulder, Scully, Diaz, O'Conner. Your target is
Alex Krycek. Get him for us if you have to mow through everyone to reach him.
Lock your locators in as soon as they bracelet him. Hackett and Pinkerton. Tune
into that girl Krycek brought in with him. The rest of you defer to Mulder and
Scully's experience with this man."
"We have a heartbeat, Sir. It's racing."
Scully accepted the tiny computer they passed to the back of the van. Mulder
looked down at the small graph with blips running across it.
"He'll ditch the bracelet." Mulder said with his fingers covering
his mic. "Krycek won't let them track him like this." His nerves were
more than matching their target's level of excitement.
"He's in there unarmed. If he does ditch it it's open season and there's
guards all over." She responded in the same fashion. "They'll have his
last location and something tells me his tag will be monitored closely after
that scene he just pulled."
"Diaz." Mulder went back on air, braving Skinner's glower of
warning. "Hackett. Join agent Scully on channel six." He took one half
of each partnership private.
Scully inclined his head in approval and switched over her own radio.
"Check in." She requested of them.
"Hackett here." A young woman's voice offered.
"Diaz." Came a man's.
"You need to know what we're up against." Scully began. "Alex
Krycek is a completely amoral killer who will do anything to anyone to preserve
his own skin." She warned. Her eyes flicked over her own partner as she
listened to them relaying words. Mulder was all but vibrating with contained
energy. She knew how he felt. If Krycek was here, so close to Atlantic City,
then there was a better than average chance that Li Ann was ghosting about
somewhere behind the scenes. They had parted on less than amicable terms the
other night and this definitely wasn't the stage Dana would have chosen for
their next, crucial interaction. "Agent Mulder will take point when the
time comes to approach the target." Krycek might cut her down without
blinking, but if Li Ann was to be believed Mulder was safe from harm.
He looked away, wiping absently at a trickle of sweat to cover some of his
discomfort with Scully's weighing gaze. "That would be safest." He
admitted, concentrating on the monitor she held. His mind continued to howl
Krycek's name, but he managed to keep evidence of his disturbance off his face.
Oh fuck, Victor went out for a big job. Alex came home for the same job. His
lover couldn't be too far away. Li Ann and Mac too if they kept to pattern. Oh
please don't let Victor be mixed up in this, Mulder wished desperately.
Concentrate, damn it. Krycek's heartrate had slowed down but it still wasn't
normal and he was moving. It was Alex in there, not Victor. They had proof
positive, fingerprints. It was Alex.
"Hackett. Diaz." Scully pursed her lips. "Get next to each
other. Let us know if the girl separates from Krycek." She covered her mic.
"Why would Krycek bring a bimbo to something like this? As a human
shield?"
"That's a bit harsh, Scully."
He had forgotten to muffle the reply. "No chatter on the air."
Skinner grouched.
With a sheepish look Mulder flicked off his microphone. "I don't think
so. She must serve a purpose. He's a lot of things, but he's not a stupid
man."
Scully nodded, bound to agree. "One of his sisters?"
"She's too young. I got the impression the women he worked with were all
older than him, besides, I suspect any member of Krycek's extended family would
set off alarms, with Interpol, if nowhere else."
"Agent Scully." Diaz' voice interrupted. "O'Conner says you're
a doctor."
"Pathologist." She amended.
"Krycek's heartrate, it's higher than the girl's and it's not settling
down to the same level." Diaz questioned vaguely.
"Nerves?" Hackett suggested.
"Could be." Scully examined the information that the palm-sized
tracer was providing. Their target was now in the centre of the building. A
glance across at another screen showed roughly their man in a similar position.
A blueprint was tossed their way. "Everyone is gathering in some kind of
convention room and staying there." One of the other Agents explained.
"Not our target." Scully countered a few minutes later. "Krycek's
moving.
"So is the girl." Hackett offered. "With him."
"Does anyone else have movement?" Mulder asked, earning nothing but
denials. "He's up to something Scully."
She fumbled with the blueprint. "I can't place him exactly...he's not
far down..." Her finger trailed over the detailed plans. She circled a bit
of the hallway absently. "A closet of some kind maybe." She guessed,
fighting the urge to shake the tracer in an attempt to get more information.
"Pulse rate jump." Diaz mentioned.
"On the girl too."
"Maybe the guards are hassling them." Mulder suggested. They waited
for the blips to either end suddenly or slow down but neither occurred. Instead
the moving lights showed an inevitable rise. "If they were fighting with
someone?" He asked.
"It's too gradual. Too..." Scully's cheeks suddenly flooded with
colour. "Hackett, is the girl's pulse-rate even with Krycek's yet?" It
couldn't be.
"It's not as fast, but it is up there."
"Scully?" Mulder questioned when the silence stretched on too long.
Krycek's heart was continuing to speed up. "What do you think?"
Her tone was a whisper. "I think they're having sex." Scully
finally admitted with a certain amount of distaste. Jesus, the man had all the
restraint of an alley cat.
A couple of snorts came from the other teams. Hackett spoke first. "The
girl is up, but not as far. If that's what's happening he's not very good."
She criticised.
"Is a blow job from a juvenile statutory rape?" Mulder wondered
aloud causing a few agents to stare in their direction.
"Krycek's skirting a cardiac arrest." Scully marvelled. "The
girl must..." She couldn't finish the sentence. Christ, where was her mind
these days. Li Ann must have set some kind of contamination in place. It was
rotting her brain from the inside out. "Mulder." She frowned at the
rapidly moving blips. "He's going to stroke out."
Her announcement had even Skinner looking their way now. Scully's mouth
dropped open in surprise.
"Flatline!" Mulder almost screamed, shaking his head in disbelief.
"NO. No." Scully grabbed at one crumbled sleeve, steadying her
partner. "He's back. What the hell was that?" the red-haired agent
lifted her eyes to discover the two of them were the centre of attention.
"Sorry sir."
"Is your target all right?" Skinner asked calmly.
"Yes Sir." She wondered if it was possible to melt into the metal
of the back door that they sat against.
The Assistant Director's chin shifted abruptly as if he was loosening a crick
in his neck then he returned his attention to the overpowering flood of
information laid out before him.
Alexei took one look at the palm scanner beside the reception desk and
considered walking out. There was a chance that Victor and Kiska could still
pull off the job if he and Riene blew it off.
"It's Mr Stalward's orders." The uniformed goon stared across,
implacable as a brick wall."
"I'm not giving you my prints." Alex decided, thrusting his chin
forward and glaring the other man down. His good hand cut the air violently.
"No fucking way. If Stalward wants my money then you'd best stand
aside." His upper lip curled.
"Aleksandr." Riene said softly, her eyes taking in the unfavourable
odds. "Boot't'ih ah-stah-rohzh-nuh."
"Nyet! Yah doo-muh-yoo, shtuh-nyet." He shook his head, lifting his
voice. "If you morons think I'm going to hand over my fucking fingerprints
for you to do Christ-knows-what with you're even stupider than you look. Now get
out of my way or I'll turn the lot of you into cold meat." Alexei's threat
ended in a full-voiced shout. His gun was out of his holster and in his hand in
an eye-blink. "Stand aside, Frankenstein." Alex aimed right between
the guard's eyes.
"As to your prints, Mr Stalward collected them some time ago. They are
already entered into our database. This is just confirmation that you are who
you say you are." The target reasoned. "And killing me won't open the
door."
"No? But it'll make me feel better."
The second gatekeeper interrupted. "You were told to come unarmed,
Sir."
The cool behaviour of these men on infuriated Alexei more.
"We will return your weapon when you leave." The guard Alex was
pointing his gun at calmly extended his hand. "If you don't wish to comply
with guidelines that Mr Stalward laid out you're welcome to leave, Sir."
His head inclined to the outer doors. "But you will not get passed this
point armed and unidentified."
Alex let out an annoyed huff of air. He thumbed the safety on and let the
pistol curl forward on his finger. If that bastard of a guard even attempted to
look smug he was going to loose a tooth. Goon one took Alexei's weapon while the
other came over to swing a metal detector over Alex. Of course the thing went
nuts.
"You're still carrying." The guard swept the Russian's chest and
left arm to illustrate his point. The equipment whined annoyingly.
Alex reached across his chest and tore open the domes on his shirt.
"Metal buttons." He shoved the material back of his shoulders and
down, exposing both his nipple ring and the joint of his artificial arm to the
guard's view. "Some things I just can't throw in the dish with my
keys." He snapped. "All I had was the gun."
A smirk blossomed on goon two's face. "I guess you are unarmed."
Alex's swung without thinking, sick to death of that joke. His right fist
connected with a satisfying rush of pain.
"We don't want any trouble." Riene spoke up, trying to draw some
attention away before this got even nastier. She paced over and dropped her hand
onto the glass screen.
Still rubbing his jaw, the second guard walked over to look at the computer
screen. "She wasn't invited." He announced gravely, as if that was
some kind of surprise.
"Well DAH!" Alexei straightened out his clothes. "You get
Stalward down here. He'll fix this misunderstanding. I'm Aleksandr Nicolavich,
damn it. I don't need to do this." He gestured to the scanner. "And if
I feel like bringing a toy along, it's allowed."
"Mr Stalward will greet you inside. Your 'property'" Riene drew
lecherous scrutiny from both the men. "will remain here until you leave.
We'll take good care of it." Goon two looked about ready to start licking
his chops.
"Get him on the phone then, you imbecile. Let me talk to him and I'll
fix it." Alex didn't completely understand his own hesitation at offering
up his fingerprints. It's not like his prints weren't scattered over the world
and catalogued in dozens of places but this whole set-up struck him as hinky.
"Mr Stalward permits you to bring your lady friend inside." The
guard sat down the telephone after only a brief interchange. "But there are
no exceptions on the security procedures. Bracelet the 'lady', Calvert."
The second guard approached Riene, his sore chin forgotten in order to admire
the way the leather pants she wore wrinkled and strained over her narrow hips.
"What's this?" Riene asked softly as her wrist was lifted and
encircled by tight flexible plastic.
"Just something to keep track of your movements while you're visiting
us." The uniformed man's fingers lingered, stroking up the inside of her
wrist as he tightened the flexible band until it almost but didn't quite dig
into her skin.
"Ooo! Look Alek." Riene held up the device. "I saw something
like this on a nature show. They want to monitor if we migrate."
"Fuck." Alex stood before the scanner, even more hesitant about
getting inside through the front door. He and the trio should have tried a
straight up 'break and enter'.
"You can always leave." Goon one reminded him.
"I hate this." Alex pulled off his right glove with his teeth and
slapped his hand down. "Remind me to rip Stalward a new hole when this is
over, Bodkin."
"Don't mind Alek. He's just a bit tense." Riene flirted to downplay
Alexei's foul behaviour.
Alex watched through slitted eyes as the first guard nodded at the
identification that followed, then took the device that attached the locator
cuff from his partner.
"If you take this off while you're still in the building it will set off
alarms and our people will be instructed to shoot to kill. We're monitoring your
heartrate, Sir. We will know within seconds of the bracelet's removal." He
warned.
Alexei's sneer grew more vicious but he refrained from snapping. Kiska and
Victor should be waiting inside. The mission and how to elude this tracking
system now took their places in the forefront of his thoughts. "Come on
Bodkin." Alex opened his arm absently and felt Riene slip up against him.
They made their way into the interior, security doors slamming shut behind
them. While Alexei guided their path Riene fussed and examined the strap around
her wrist. "We're not wired for sound at least." The girl concluded in
Russian. "Not that it's necessary." The place was crawling with security
guards, all holding tracers and radio connected to each other by the looks of
it.
"I should have expected something like this." Alex grumbled, continuing
on in the same language. "Stalward is a cautious son of a bitch at the best
of times. Of course he's going to go cracker-box, sitting on the damned
discs." Green eyes took on a bit more focus. "So we take a quick turn
through the crowd then head for the rendezvous."
"They're watching us." Riene rose up to her tiptoes to nibble at
Alexei's ear. "You want to give them a show?" Her hand slid down his
stomach to cup his crotch. "It'll give us a reason for ducking into the broom
closet."
"That's my girl." He praised, pulling her through the thin crowd to
where Stalward stood near a buffet table.
"It's young Nicolavich." The gaunt old man offered up a smile so
sharp that it cut the air. "I'm so glad you could join us this afternoon.
How is you enchanting mentor, Nicola, son?" He asked. His gaze flicked down
Alex and up Riene with a faintly sour expression creeping onto his face.
"Resting in the southern warmth." Alexei lied. "Retirement
agrees with her. She's never been so comfortable. She sends her compliments on
your 'impressive' choice of merchandise. When will the bidding begin?"
Stalward turned to the old man beside him. "You see the impatience of
today's youth. Thirty years ago I would have been criticised for not turning
this in to a weekend affair. We'd be gathering a casino in Monte Carlo, chatting
over cocktails and squiring beautiful ladies about the blackjack tables."
He sighed. "Nicola in a floor-length sapphire gown was a sight to make a
grown man weep. She sets us a good example. I grow weary of the game, don't you
Kruegar?"
"I resent having to come to this filthy city. New York is a
toilet." His portly companion complained. "You should have done this
in Switzerland."
Alexei, sensing a dismissal, drew Riene away. He guided her confidently
enough although he made a show of peering about curiously as if unfamiliar with
the building.
The teenager set herself to providing entertainment for the guards watching
them. Her fingers wandered and Riene clung, squirming against his legs and hips.
Her escort made sure that the nearest sentry was concentrating on them before
sliding a fingertip over her brightly painted lips, pressing. Riene obligingly
sucked the digit in with a dramatic moan of pleasure.
"Impressive Bodkin." Alex murmured, stepping closer to his
destination.
"You want impressive? Let me crawl in with you and Mac one of these
evenings and I'll show you what I'm capable of." She offered in a low
seductive tone. "Stacey says you yowl like a cat in heat when a man shoves
into you while you're pumping a woman. I'd like to hear that." Teeth snapped
at his cheek. "Besides, Lexi lover, I'm your apprentice. You're supposed to
teach me everything you know. I've only ever watched you with a man on tape. I
consider that a massive gap in my real life education."
"I'll ask Mac."
"Oh Baby." Riene said loudly, grinding against him. "You know
what soaks my panties."
The observing guard laughed as Alex grabbed after the doorknob that was now
digging into his back. "Knock if they start the auction, will you
Sport?" The Russian requested casually, dragging Riene into the closest.
"Turn on the light, Alek. I want to see you." Her palm scraped the
wall to the left of the door as they shoved the portal closed. "Tight
quarters." Riene's voice dropped down to a more normal level.
"Rattle the door a little, Bodkin." Alex suggested, easing her
against it. He then picked up a mop and popped up a ceiling tile a couple of
times.
On the third lift eager fingers caught the edge and pulled it aside. Kiska
dropped down out of the darkness a few breaths later. Victor followed close
behind her, landing awkwardly, his balance thrown off by his strapped arm.
"Shh." Alex warned, motioning Victor to join Riene in creaking the
door. "Take a look at this." He presented his encircled wrist for
Kiska's inspection. "Location and heartrate they claim." His lips were
right at the girl's ears. "Can you and Victor do the work while Riene and I
run interference down here?"
"Victor's good, Lexi, but..." She fiddled with the locking
mechanism on the cuff. "At last contact Stacey and your thieves told us
that there are altogether too many unmarked vans about for such a deserted
neighbourhood. If one of you has to be tied to a surveillance device I'd rather
it was Victor. Besides..." Her voice dropped even lower. "Making this
work is going to require a few 'casualties'." She hid the declaration in
Russian, worried about the ex-cop having an attack of conscience.
"So what do we do?" Alex shook his wrist.
"Your heartrate huh?" Kiska smiled and pushed, shoving Alex up just
to the left of Victor. "Riene." She whispered. "Give our Lexi a
blow job. Victor, give me your right hand, please."
Victor's mouth opened to protest but nothing emerged. He simple watched,
wide-eyed, as the teenage girl dropped obediently to her knees and began tugging
at Alex's black jeans.
"This needs to be shattering Lexi-honey." Kiska elaborated. Her
face was the only thing that separated the twins. "Let that perverted mind
of yours run wild." She instructed. Her left hand trailed down Alex's good
arm, catching and lifting his hand then she looked to Victor. "This is
important, cousin." Kiska stroked her right hand up the black leather of
Victor's jacket. "Turn a little, Vicka darling." She requested,
catching at his right hand. Very carefully, wary of Victor protesting, Kiska
brought their palms together.
"What the hell?" The ex-cop's expression was confused.
"Hush." Kiska warned. "They're listening outside the
door." Came the gentle reminder. "THIS needs to go..." She
presented Alex's bracelet to his twin. "Here." Kiska kissed Victor's
wrist as she pulled off his right glove.
"Fuck!" The curse hissed out of Victor. This was not something he
was comfortable participating in. He would have pulled his hand away but Alex's
grip tightened.
"Give it up, Lexi-honey." Kiska encouraged, manipulating Alex and
Victor's joined hands so the knuckles didn't stand out so prominently. She
wiggled the bracelet's lock about until it was easily visible then pulled out a
delicate lockpick.
Riene's harsh breathing stalled out for a moment and Alex let out a low
groan. His lips spilled urgent, unintelligible speech.
"Tell me when you're close, Lexi." Kiska requested, poking at the
tiny lock.
"Victor." Alex gasped out, demanding the other's attention.
"Look at me."
"Jeez Alex." His brother complained. "I can't." Victor
stared up at the pitted ceiling. Bad enough to stand here holding hands while
far- too-young Riene performed the erotic service...He had to look away.
"Vicka please." Alex pleaded, tugging at the hand he gripped The
movement caused Kiska to hiss that he 'be still'.
She needed just the right moment before interrupting the heart monitor's
signal. "Make some noise for the audience, Lexi-darling." No doubt the
guards on the other side of the door had reported the situation and were
watching their tracers as well as eavesdropping.
Riene yanked his jeans down further so she could get a hand on his ass.
His head thumped impatiently against the door. "S'not enough."
Alexei croaked out. "Not enough to explain a flatline." He realised
what Kiska had in mind.
"What do you need, Darling?" Kiska purred, shifting so Victor was
forced even closer. "Tell me what you want." Even as she voiced the
question she suspected the answer and jostled Victor against Alex yet again.
"Bodkin." Alexei prompted, then shuddered in response as fingers
shoved roughly inside him. "Sukin syn! Nearly." A dangerous gleam
escaped his slitted eyes.
Kiska, watching for it, felt a cold chill run down her back. She saw Alexei's
artificial arm lift and reach. Victor's ear was caught in the pinch of those
fingers hard enough to make him squawk in pain. Alex levered his twin over and
into a kiss before Victor even registered what exactly was happening.
"Twisted fuck." Kiska muttered without heat, flipping the now unlocked
catch. As soon as Alexei hit the peak of the convulsions that began when he
pressed mouths with Victor she slipped the cuff loose from one wrist and onto
the other. With luck only a few heartbeats were lost before Victor was properly
adjusted to take up the rhythm.
As soon as Kiska released him Victor used both his hands to break loose and
shove Alex away. "That's not what's between us." Victor hissed at his
twin. "Don't do that again."
Alexei didn't respond. He lay against the closet door, breathing deeply. A
quaver shook him as Riene tucked him away and did up his pants. She climbed to
her feet, wiping the back of her hand over her mouth and chin. "You okay,
lover?" Riene cuddled up to Alex's heaving chest.
"Can the afterglow, kids. We've got work to do." Kiska interrupted
the embrace. "Victor, Riene try to stay in here another half hour if they
let you." She whispered. "Fifteen minutes after that see if you can
draw some attention and a few guards, but don't actually cause any trouble.
Aleksandr Nicolavich is one of the most invaluable covers any of us possess.
Under no circumstances should you tarnish it with those men out there. He's
arrogant, impatient, and deadly but he is one of them. They trust him as much as
is reasonable considering everyone's profession. This theft is going to fuck
with that situation enough as it stands. Don't let them know we've made this
switch or our whole organisation will suffer. Nicolavich has to be right there,
with a solid alibi as the centre of everyone's attention when the job goes down
so the blame for this doesn't come snapping back at Alex when contrary reports
surface from the folks upstairs. Do you understand?" She glared. "Lexi,
come on. Time is wasting."
"Da." Shaking himself into order Alex looked up into the ceiling
space.
Without being asked Victor made a stirrup of his joined hands to boost his
twin. First Alexei, then Kiska disappeared up into the darkness.
"You know," Riene lounged against the door. "This would be a
lot more convincing if we could speed our heartrates up again." She offered
up an imp's smile.
"Trust me, Kid." Victor rubbed his palms, one still gloved and one
bare, across his face. "My pulse is racing quite nicely as it is."
"Yeah. He's a good kisser."
"That's not what I mean." The ex-cop crossed.
"Ooo!" Riene cooed. "S'that a tender spot, Vicka
darling?" Her eyes glittered, the brown taking on a definite shimmer of
emerald in the harsh light of one hanging bulb. "You must know that Lexi-lover
would drop and spread for you faster than you could un-zip, if you asked. You're
the only one in the whole damned family that he hasn't played with. Christ,
you're probably the only person he's met who hasn't sized him up for sex since
he was fifteen."
"Knock it off, Riene." Victor warned. "That's not even
true." Anger was only a short breath away.
"You are so naÔve, Vicka darling. It's delectable." She teased.
"But Lexi can tell with a glance when someone is considering him. That's
part of his training." Riene continued. "And you're the first one to
show a complete lack of interest since Lexi's precious G-man ignored him back in
'95. He said it himself. Even your little sister played kiss and flirt when she
first met our Lexi."
Victor had the teenage girl shoved hard to the door before she got another
word out. "I don't like hitting women. Don't tempt me, Riene. My sister,
Alex's sister..." He fumbled after words. "Alice would never consider
doing anything with our brother. That's just plain wrong."
"None of our lives are exactly private, Vicka. We gossip horribly among
ourselves. He told Marie." The girl persisted. "Marie mentioned it to
me." She shrugged. "Alexei had his tongue down your Alice's throat and
her hand was inside his pants when they got interrupted. They just never got
back to it again."
"You lie." Victor jarred her backwards causing her to let out of
squeak of distress. Riene's breath was shallow and hot against his neck.
The teenager's body arched against his, squirming slightly. "It happened
in India a day after he popped round to introduce himself." Her hiss was
venomous. "If a couple of kids hadn't come looking for your Alice to help
with an emergency Lexi would have fucked her against the wall of the shack she
was staying in just 'cause that's what he thinks is expected of him."
"You lying little, brat." Victor had to back away or he was going
to strangle the girl.
Riene let out a throaty chuckle. "Now that's a heartrate to justify us
staying in here, Vicka sweet. How about you thump me against the door a few more
times to add to the illusion? I enjoyed that part."
"Bitch!" It came out louder than he had intended but no doubt the
listening guards would dismiss the gritty roar as an endearment. "You made
that all up just to get me going." Victor accused, more quietly.
Narrow shoulders shrugged. "Maybe." Riene looked at her watch.
"Maybe not. You can ask them yourself. Little sister might fib to cover it
up but Alexei will tell you the truth, if you want to hear it." She turned
a bit more thoughtful. A smile tipped her lips. "I was thinking that I
could flirt with Raymond Dulang." Her thumb hitched. "He's hot-headed
enough that the two of you could bluff and bluster. That'll get some attention.
He's a squinty-eyed man with a big, hooked nose. I'll point him out."
Victor gulped in air, trying to find the business-like attitude that Riene
had flipped into so easily. "Yeah, fine. You do that."
Mulder and Scully went in right on the heels of the heavily armoured first
strike force. They would have been in the leading edge but Krycek was their
primary target not the defending security guards.
According to the wrist tracers everyone had gathered in the massive
conference hall, so that's where all the agents were converging. The unassigned
portion of the task force would see to clearing the staff from the hallways and
the rest of the building.
Fox Mulder pinpointed his quarry as soon as he stepped into the cavernous
room despite the changes in Krycek's appearance. Let everyone else fuss and
bother with tracers and demands of producing identification. Mulder was certain
that he was feeling a magnetic pull.
Set apart by his black leather amid the crowd of expensive suits Mulder's
target stood near the back wall with his bimbo cowering behind him. A butter
knife from the buffet table was already digging hard at the cuff that identified
him. The Federal agent tore across the carpet while most of the other
law-enforcement officers were still catching their bearings and pointing guns.
He trusted Scully to mind his back since his own vision had narrowed to a
tunnel.
"Krycek!" Mulder collided with the younger man, catching at the
glossy black of his jacket and heaving him to the wall. The knife skittered away
across the floor with a metallic rattle. "You son of a bitch. You're trying
to buy peoples lives."
"Mulder!" Victor forced himself to hold onto the role that had been
set for him. He scrambled after Alex's usual air of playfulness. "What a
nice surprise. I wasn't expecting to see you here."
"Leave him alone." Riene launched herself at Mulder's back, nails
digging in, only to be shrugged off like a pesky fly. The petite teenager hissed
and hit Mulder between the shoulder blades rather ineffectively.
"FBI." Scully arrived, gun drawn. "You're both under arrest.
Don't move."
"It's just me and you, Krycek." Mulder closed the distance between
them until their faces almost touched. "No tame thieves to watch your back
here. One wrong move..." The elder warned, digging his gun barrel into the
other's still left arm. "...and we'll find out what kind of warrantee your
spare parts carry."
"Behave yourself." Victor cautioned. "I'm not carrying and
we've got an audience." He pointed out.
As more agents filled the hall a small crowd began to angle their way. Scully
handed Riene off to a thin blonde woman and her partner then moved to shield
Mulder and his captive from the growing group of men flashing their various
badges and demanding that they surrender custody of the fugitive.
"Actually." Victor pointed out. "If it's all the same to you,
Mulder, I'd rather go with Interpol. The accommodations are always so much
nicer."
"Shut up Krycek." The Federal agent thumped him against the wall
again to make his point.
"Ease off." The temptation was strong to find out some things about
Alex and Mulder's relationship while safely in disguise. "Victor isn't
going to like it if you cave in my skull for no reason."
"Anything I do to you right now is my word against yours, you little
whore. Who do you think he's going to believe? Now shut up and stop
squirming." Mulder rattled him harder, but not before grinding his groin
into the younger man's body. "Slut." The Agent accused as if he was
the target of the action rather than the one pressing his stiff erection
forward.
Victor, shocked by the Mulder's blatant sexual arousal, let himself be
manhandled without saying a word. He had hoped that his lover had progressed
beyond this kind of warped behaviour with Alexei because of their growing
relationship.
Handcuffs were extracted. "Turn around." Steel locked on with a
satisfying clink. "Now that's the only way to play safe with you isn't
it?" The sentence was hissed right into Victor's ear, lips brushing
sensitive skin. "Somebody testing out their dog-clippers on your head
again, Krycek?" Mulder said more loudly, turning him roughly forward again.
"And the earring is pretty lame."
Victor wanted to pull back from the violence and wild arousal he saw
smouldering in his lover's eyes, especially knowing that it wasn't meant for
him, but he also desired to punish the betrayal that Mulder's behaviour
suggested. Mostly he needed to hold onto the impersonation that had been thrust
upon him for as long as possible. "I know what you like, Fox." That
was a classic Alex line. Unfortunately, too classic. Victor could see Mulder's
control crumble away. The blow made his jaw creak and his head ring.
"MULDER!" Scully left Diaz and O'Conner to arguing their claim on
Krycek and stepped into the conflict between her partner and the prisoner.
"Get a grip, Mulder. Everyone is watching." Her voice lowered.
"You're practically rutting against him, for gods sake."
Mulder glared. "He..." The defence faltered under her cold glare.
"I'm sorry. He just does something to me, Scully." The excuse was
barely loud enough to reach her ears.
"You're crazy." Victor shouted, wanting away from Mulder and this
whole messy situation. "Son of a bitch." The ex-cop licked his lips,
tasting blood. How the hell did Alex put up with this crap, let alone enjoy it?
The Agent's behaviour was all the more distressing considering Victor and Mulder
had only just taken their relationship to the next physical level. "Get
away from me. I'll talk to Interpol. I'll ONLY talk to Interpol." He
repeated loudly.
That drew a shout of triumph from the surrounding crowd. A tall, black man
shoved his way into the small clearing. He presented his credentials to Scully.
"LaSalle, Interpol. I'll take over with this one."
"No way." Mulder snapped. "We've got him. We're keeping
him."
"I can present you with a case file, Agents, quite severe enough to
justify extradition. Our organisation was promised consideration for
participating in this effort."
"Take your consideration out on someone else." Mulder caught the
chain between his captive's cuffs in a proprietoral grip.
Riene, who had been standing docile between the pair of agents assigned to
her chose that moment to eel loose and throw herself across at Victor. "Alek!"
Her arms whipped around his neck. "His first name is Urbain. You've known
him for years." She whispered urgently. "Offer him info on the ESCAR
project."
Scully and Hackett both stepped in to drag the writhing teenager off.
"Let me go!" Riene protested in a high-pitched whine. "Alek,
do something."
Victor pulled in a deep breath and tried for his twin's most seductive tone
of voice, gravely and low. "Urbain, do you want to hear about ESCAR?"
Mulder frowned.
LaSalle's posture went board stiff. A grin spread over his face. "We'll
pass on every other suspect here if that's what it takes." The black man
offered. "We need Nicolavich."
"Nobody but LaSalle gets anything from me." Victor stated for the
record.
"We've got your girlfriend, Krycek." Scully attempted, testing the
loyalty that Li Ann swore the man possessed.
"You've got nothing, Scully. She's clean." Victor shot back.
LaSalle backed off to whisper urgently into the headset he wore in privacy.
Most of the other agencies had withdrawn to pursue other possible arrests.
LaSalle looked up. "Give me something Aleksandr. I need to convince my
people you're worth fighting for."
Victor sifted through what he'd been told of Alex's Nicolavich alias.
"You know better than that. Not here. If it gets back to Nicola that I'm
talking to you she'll clean me before you can get me out of this country."
He improvised.
"What have you got on ESCAR?" LaSalle demanded.
Victor forced out an amused laugh. It tore at his throat. All he wanted to do
right now was shout out his distress to his lover and demand an
explanation...but this game had to be played out. His voice quavered but Victor
managed to sound professional. "Everything, of course. I know you wouldn't
take anything less, Urbain. Come on, don't tell me you're scared of the FBI's
spook squad?"
Dark eyes judged Mulder and Scully's determination. "Who's in charge of
your contingent?" Urbain LaSalle demanded.
"That would be Assistant Director Skinner." Scully provided,
confident it would do the man no good to try going over their heads.
"I'll be right back. Stay here." The tall man ordered before
stomping away in the direction of the main door.
Victor shifted his shoulders restlessly against the pull of the handcuffs
unconsciously trying to gain a fraction of distance from the man holding him.
"Don't move." Mulder whacked the restrained man across the back of
the head.
Patience strained to breaking. "Christ! Enough with the hitting already,
Mulder." Victor snapped in annoyance. "You're pissing me off."
Mulder froze, hazel eyes gone hard. "Krycek?" Doubt coloured his
voice. One hand reached out to squeeze the younger man's left arm, testing its
solidity.
Victor swallowed panic, trusting the wraps Kiska had secured his arm with.
"Hey, if you're gonna play nice, Foxy, I can think of spots I'd prefer you
to put your hand." Too many of Alex's contacts were still in the room. He
couldn't blow the cover story yet.
The sneer returned to Mulder's face. "I'll do anything I bloody well
please to you. I know you enjoy it, slut." He seethed.
"Agents." Assistant Director Skinner strode towards with LaSalle in
tow. "It seems as if we're having a small jurisdictional scuffle
here." He observed blandly.
"New York is outside of Agent LaSalle's usual sphere of influence,
Sir." Diaz dared. "I think we should retain custody."
"But this task force was assembled on the premise of co-operation."
LaSalle countered. "In the interests of possible future joint endeavours I
must insist that you surrender Nicolavich to Interpol's custody."
"Nicolavich?" Skinner questioned.
Scully clarified. "Krycek."
"A name for every day of the week, Krycek?" Mulder grumbled.
"YOU can call me whatever turns you on, Foxy." Victor quipped
coldly.
"How about prisoner number 1013, cell block B?" The elder
suggested.
"Kinky, Mulder. Prison role playing, not my favourite game but hey, I
can deal that if it's what you need to get off." Victor returned the jab.
"Been there, done that." Came the honest admission. Lord, but falling
into this game of snarl and bait with Mulder was more than a little sexy even as
it made him angry. Victor shook his head, squashing that thought ruthlessly.
This wasn't the kind of relationship he wanted with anyone, especially Mulder.
It could twist from an occasional game into something much more dangerous, far
too easily. Mulder, Alex and Mac's disturbing interactions were proof of that.
Skinner started to speak but he halted mid-syllable, pressing his earpiece
tighter. "Retrieval team, repeat that." He ordered. His mouth hardened
into a thin line. "What do you mean 'gone'? Where are they?" The AD's
grim expression was frightening to behold. "Don't tell me that." He
warned someone.
Victor exchanged a quick look with Riene, who smirked. Alex and Kiska had
pulled off the heist.
"Mulder, take Agent LaSalle along as you process Krycek. We'll work this
out later. I've got bigger problems right now." He growled.
"What's wrong, Sir." Scully asked.
"The material that's up on the auction block has been..." He
hesitated. "Misplaced." The AD explained obliquely. Mulder and Scully
were among the few people present aware of what Stalward had been attempting to
sell today. Skinner stilled again, listening. "I'm coming up." He
announced to the people on the second floor.
"Diaz, O'Conner." Scully addressed the junior agents. "Can you
clear a path out of here? Hackett, get on the radio and find us some
transportation." She took charge. "We should think about a safehouse,
Mulder. I'm afraid Krycek won't last fifteen minutes in lock-up considering his
fluctuating loyalties and the information he has."
Victor shuffled impatiently. "Either way, could you get me out of
here?" Too many of the attendees of the auction were giving him curious
looks over how much attention he rated from the authorities. Besides, the sooner
he was out of their scrutiny the sooner he could blow off his Alex impersonation
and demand some answers from Mulder about his bizarre behaviour.
"YOU are not in charge here, Krycek." Mulder shoved him sideways to
make a point.
"Agent!" LaSalle glared. "That kind of treatment is un-called
for. Don't hit the prisoner again." He warned the other man.
Scully noticed that Mulder's hand twitched at the satisfied expression their
captive assumed upon hearing the reprimand and she reached out to casually touch
his arm. "Maybe I should take custody of Krycek for a while." Dana
suggested.
Mulder stepped reluctantly away.
Scully wrapped her small hand around the warm, damp handcuff chain.
"Behave yourself Krycek and you may wind up in the safety of solitary
confinement." She said softly. "Cause trouble and I'll put a bullet in
your brain myself."
"We both know that I'm not going into lockup, Scully, one way or
another." Victor countered calmly, feeling decidedly safer with the woman
than his lover. "If you had one piece of solid evidence that you could use
in a court of law I'd be behind bars already. You've got nothing but a web of
suspicions and circumstantial fluff."
"I'll stand as a witness." She threatened.
"To what, Scully?" He asked in a level tone. "Breaking and
entering? Trespassing? Every charge you have against me starts with 'suspicion
of' or 'wanted for questioning in regard to'. I've seen the file. Actual,
physical evidence just doesn't seem to be something your labs can keep proper
track of. Where did the bodies disappear to, Scully?" The cache of tangible
evidence against Alex was slim to absent, no doubt due to interference. Li Ann
had broken into the FBI database almost a year ago and discovered the surprising
lack of substantiated facts. "At least Interpol has a rock solid theft
charge. Maybe you should give me to LaSalle." Victor wanted away from
Mulder and Scully.
"Be quiet, Krycek." Scully said wearily. "Nothing you say is
going to do you any good."
Fairly quickly, Hackett announced there was a prisoner transport van at the
front doors for them and the group began pushing their way out of the room.
Diaz, with his broad shoulders and foreboding manner, took point.
"I feel like royalty." Victor mumbled as they held him back at the
outside doors to check the area.
"O'Conner." Mulder instructed. "Take over for the
driver." They didn't need a stranger involved in the transport.
"Where to Agent Mulder?"
"I think we should take him up to Quantico. THEY won't expect that.
We'll keep him with us until we've got a secure place to stash him. What do you
think, Scully?" He asked his partner.
"Sounds good. Let's go."
"It looks like there's seven of them." Li Ann relayed over the cell
phone. "Two of them are climbing in the front. Five in the back with our
people. I can't be sure but it looks like some kind of security van. Odds are
there's a bulkhead of some kind separating the driver from the transport
area." She provided. "Mac." Li Ann paused to get his full
attention. "It looks like Mulder and Scully are in on the bust. You better
make sure Stacey goes easy on them. You hurt Dana and I'll hurt you." She
threatened.
"I hear you, Doll." Mac assured her. "Nothing more than bumps
and bruises. Trust me. Have you got a direction yet?" He quizzed.
"Li Ann peered intently through her binoculars. "They're at the
street. Left, southbound." She amended. "We could just let them start
processing him. They don't have anything to hold Victor on." She reminded
her ex-boyfriend.
"That's plan 'c', but let's try and keep Victor squeaky clean by freeing
him before he blows his cover or before Mulder starts breaking bones."
Mac's voice on the last part was virulent. "We've acquired the
target." He announced as Anastasia pulled out onto the nearly deserted
road. The clunky grey van wasn't going to escape with Stacey behind the wheel of
the pursuit car. Mac had got a heady sample of her driving skills earlier.
"You sit tight until it's time to extract Alex and Kiska. We'll take care
of this." He glanced over at Anastasia, who grinned as he disconnected from
Li Ann.
"Agent Mulder is in the van?" Stacey questioned, flicking her eyes
back to the street before them and the not-too-distant smudge of grey.
"And Scully too. Kid gloves, Stacey. I mean it." He cautioned.
"Li Ann has grown rather attached to her redhead and you know how it is
with Mulder." Mac almost grumbled. He tugged briefly on his seat belt,
tightening up the slack. "It's Vic, Riene and seven suits. You got a plan
in mind, gorgeous, or are we winging it?"
"I could force them off the road and hope for the best." The
refined blonde suggested in a carefully bland voice.
Mac frowned at the Russian woman. "I know you're joking." He said
emphatically, earning a dismissive shrug from her. "Seriously, have you got
any ideas?"
"If we had some equipment..." Stacey pursed her carefully painted
lips. "There's a few gas grenades in the trunk. Maybe running them off the
road isn't such a bad idea." She supposed. "I could beep a warning.
Riene should understand. She might be able to clue Victor in. She must know
we're close behind them."
"Victor is going to kill us." Mac groaned in complaint. "Can
you get ahead of them before they reach the Interstate? It would be a lot
messier at highway speeds."
"Piece of cake." Anastasia assured him. "The grenades are on
the right side, just against the outer wall. I've got a gun under my seat that
will punch a hole through the windshield but let's hope they haven't locked
themselves inside. As soon as we stop I'll pop the trunk. Grab at least three
grenades. As soon as you see an opening I want you to gas the guys in the front.
Stay out of sight, Mac. They know you too well." All the while Stacey spoke
the distance between them and van narrowed.
"What if they won't open the back door?"
"I'll persuade them." Anastasia bared her perfect teeth. "You
got a problem with blowing out kneecaps?"
Mac winced but he didn't object aloud.
After coming up on the grey van's bumper Stacey let out three blasts on the
car's horn, each one a little longer than the one before it.
"Ready Pet?" Anastasia bent forward and extracted a massive handgun
from under her seat. The car surged forward, throwing a frowning Mac back into
the leather cushions. Using her knee to steady the wheel Stacey rolled down her
window as they drew up beside the other vehicle.
The passenger looked across, noted the weapon and ducked in mid- shout. The
van swerved as expected. Stacey fired and it halted as she gassed her own car
and cut them off.
"Mac. Grenades." Came the curt order.
While he scrambled to obey, Anastasia got out and sent two rounds into the
windshields, knocking open a hole up near the roofline.
It was tight aiming but Mac lobbed an already hissing missile through the
opening a few breaths later.
"Nice work Pet." Stacey shot him a tight grin.
"You want to 'Pet' me." Mac's nerves were thrumming. "Get our
people out and you can call me anything you want."
Anastasia headed down the driver's side of the van, reaching up to crack open
the man's door as she passed. "Amateurs." The woman said scornfully to
the bent over, swooning man. "Get the other one out, Pet. Disarm him and
make sure he's going to be out for a while." Mindful of the streams of
knockout gas, Stacey pulled the door the rest of the way open and dragged out
the woozy driver. A search turned up only one gun which she sent sailing.
The van was rocking between Mac's activity and some restless movement in the
back.
"Oh Agent Mulder..." Anastasia sang out sweetly, rapping on the
back panel with her gun butt. "You all need to sit quietly in there so both
these boys will stay alive." She shouted. "Now we're a trifle pressed
for time." Stacey continued as all movement halted inside. Voices were
whispering frantically however. "Pay attention pretty Fox." Anastasia
called.
Her hostage wailed as she shot into his foot.
"That was something less than vital. His hip goes next, boys and
girls." She warned.
"What do you want?" A deep voice demanded from inside the van.
"I don't want to hurt you, lovely Fox, but I will if you make me."
Anastasia warned. "Open the back door and let your prisoners go. Very
calmly. No fuss. I'm not alone out here. NOW!" She rapped the side of the
van again, then moved to a different position in case they decided to take a pot
shot.
Mac ghosted down the passenger side of the vehicle and waited for the door to
crack open. His attention moved constantly, aware that help could arrive at any
moment.
"We're coming out." Riene's voice warned.
The back door pushed open slowly. Mac dropped to his stomach and crawled,
preparing to heave the gas grenade into the back. Riene stepped away, taking
passing notice of Mac just under the bumper, who motioned with his hand that she
would need to step aside. Victor was only halfway out when the girl exploded
into action. She caught at his jacket, heaving them both sideways and down. Mac
pulled the pin and tossed the gas inside from below then clawed at the door near
the hinge to try and close it.
Curses and gunfire erupted as the door started to swing closed.
Stacey shot past, knocking the portal shut tight. "Riene! Get the car
over here." She ordered.
Mac, still flat on his back on the road shoulder, kicked at the back door as
it started to open again. "Breathe it in you bastards." He hissed,
more to himself than anyone else.
Three more bullets pierced the metal before things grew quiet inside the van.
Riene pulled around with the doors to Stacey's car wide open. She and Victor
crawled immediately into the back seats.
"Come on Pet." Stacey dived for the driver's seat leaving Mac to
scramble after the other side.
The van and its occupants remained quiescent as they tore away.
"What the hell was that about?" Victor found his voice finally.
"You shot a Federal agent."
"So he loses a toe...big deal." Stacey popped the sunroof and
headed for the highway. "How angry was Lexi's luscious G-man?" She
quizzed.
Riene started to respond but Victor's dire expression convinced her to keep
silent.
"Was that necessary?" Victor demanded. "Mulder and Scully know
where we live, damn it."
Anastasia rolled her blue eyes. "Did you blow cover, Victor? Or did we
just bust Alexei free?" She questioned.
"They still thought I was Alex." The ex-cop admitted. "I was
trying to figure out the best way to tell them." Actually, he had been
rather preoccupied, brooding about his lover playing him false and how to deal
with the situation.
"Then what's the problem?" Stacey laughed, laying her head back.
"They already know Lexi is a very bad boy. They didn't see Mac. Deny
everything, Gorgeous. For all they know you, Mac and Li Ann were doing
phone-taps in Pisshole, Nebraska for Nicki while this went down." She met
his glare in the rear-view mirror and broke into a trilling laugh.
"Besides, it's not like you're going to be seeing Pretty-boy or the marble
saint anytime soon. The four of us are airport bound."
"What?" Both Mac and Victor roared almost simultaneously, frowning
at each other when they realised the co-incidence.
Mac raised his flattened hand, stilling the man in the back seat.
"What's going on, Stacey?"
"Don't worry. Victor's little sister has packed up everything the lot of
you will need for a few weeks." Anastasia glanced at her wristwatch.
"Marie should have swung by and collected dear Allegra and the baggage
about three hours ago."
"Alice." Came the reflexive correction from Victor.
Stacey ignored it. "By now they should be checking your luggage and
themselves in. Your house is locked up tight and the staff at Roman security has
been told that you're all going to be out of state for a while. They run the
office without Mac and Li Ann actually in town all the time while on business
trips. Covering for Victor too shouldn't be that much of a stretch, especially
with everything shutting down for the holidays." She rambled.
"Stacey!" Victor lost patience and thumped the back of her seat.
"Get to the point. Where the hell are we supposed to be going?"
She sighed. "Why 'home', my darlings. After all that's happened,
especially over the last day and a half. It's about time the lot of you actually
met Nicki and the rest of the family. Don't you think? Why, simply everyone is
gathering at the new compound. This hasn't happened in over ten years and it's
all because of you and Li Ann, Victor dear. Doesn't that make you feel
special?"
Something about Anastasia's tone filled Victor with a subtle, bone- deep
chill. "And where is the new compound?" Victor asked. "Alex just
said it wasn't in Russia anymore. He never told us where exactly Nicki has moved
to."
"Alaska, Darling." Anastasia laughed, a brittle sarcastic sound.
"And it's so lovely this time of year. We're all just thrilled to pieces
that Nicki thought to collect us together. Thank you, Victor."
Mac slumped down in his seat with a whispered string of curses.
"But..." Victor began.
"But what, Vicka?" Riene asked softly. "If Nicki asks everyone
is to come home for a debriefing, we go. If we don't, we're not family."
She advised.
"We'll let you walk. We'll stop this car and let you out right
now." Stacey offered. "But make sure that's what you really want
because Nicola has issued this command with every bit of authority she holds.
The FAMILY is going to Alaska."
"What about Alex?" Victor's question was ambiguous.
"Pick your side, Vicka. It's loyalty test time." Riene's whisper
was husky. "Alexei is going. Allegra is already en-route." She shifted
her focus abruptly. "What about you Mac? Are you in or out?"
The lanky thief let out a shivery breath. "I go with Alex." He
declared finally. "You all know that. I have to."
Anastasia laughed at some internal jest. "Of course you do, Poppet.
You're addicted."
Mac scowled, but didn't bother to voice a retort.
"Where's Li Ann?" Victor asked.
"She'll be heading north with Kiska and Alexei as soon as the pair of
them squirm their way out of Stalward's place." Anastasia surmised.
"I'd like to know for sure." He leaned forward. "Give me your
cell phone, Mac."
Mac dug it out of the cubby it had fallen into but before he could pass it
back Stacey snatched the device away and sent it sailing out the sunroof.
"Shit or get off the pot, Mansfield." Her voice carved like a razor.
"Make a decision for yourself. Are you fucking in or out?"
Riene cowered into a corner of the cramped seat.
Mac covered his eyes with one hand and pushed to his own door. Sheltered in
Atlantic City, Victor hadn't had much contact with any of Alex's foster family.
Mac, however, had worked with Stacey on a few less than legal jobs. He had seen
the beautiful blonde garrotte a man on a balcony rather than shoot him so she
wouldn't muss her ball gown with blood then immediately return to the party and
trade quips with the unknowing widow. Poor Victor had no idea what the icy bitch
was capable of.
"Alaska." Victor considered, green eyes boring a hole in the back
of the carefully coifed head.
Mac almost laughed. Then again, Stacey had only ever seen Victor in his
boy-scout mode. Maybe she didn't realise what she was up against either. The
ex-cop was absolutely fearless when it came to protecting his own and Nicki was
all but taking Vic's pregnant baby sister and twin brother hostage.
"I can do Alaska." Victor decided with a too casual shrug of his
shoulders.
It was going to be one hell of a Christmas, Mac decided, with a muffled curse
that everyone in the car chose to ignore.
By the end of their voyage Li Ann had gone from admiring Kiska's surprisingly
stubborn maturity to actively disliking the teenage girl. For someone so young
she had handled Li Ann and Alex like a pro.
It seemed sensible enough that Li Ann and Alex should take the controls of
the two waiting motorcycles. After leaving Stalward's Kiska had hopped onto the
seat of the larger of the two bikes and slid back...of course Alexei had chosen
to drive that one. The stop for food was perfectly logical too. Kiska had been
hiding out in Stalward's venting since late the night before with minimal
supplies and Alex was desperate for an after the job chocolate rush.
Looking back on it Li Ann now recognised the hushed conversation that the
pair of Russians had while waiting in the restaurant line as something
important. Lacking incessant moral support from Li Ann or Victor, Alex had, of
course, fallen easily into his well-established 'just following orders' mindset
over the course of the mission. That left Kiska free to turn her full attention
on Li Ann when Alexei took what appeared to be a bathroom run and never came
back. Once separated from Alex and the discs Li Ann became a much easier target.
Kiska had waited long enough to be sure that Alexei was beyond recall before
informing the older woman of Nicki's demand that everyone report in. Calling
Mac's cell phone had been a dead end and calling Alex's was a waste. Kiska had
extracted the chirping phone from her own pocket wit an insincere 'oops, he must
have forgot it'. Victor's cell was home on his dresser and there was no answer
at Allegra's apartment.
The teenager had thwarted Li Ann's attempts to leave a paper trail with equal
skill, sticking to the older woman like a determined tick. First class tickets
were already waiting at the airport. Cash was produced whenever Li Ann expressed
a need for anything from coffee to a paperback. Toward the end of the lengthy
trip Kiska had even trashed her helpful faÁade and actually threatened
retribution when Li Ann had attempted to call the office. Their disappearance
was so clean it squeaked. The best Li Ann was able to manage was to leave her
private investigators badge and one of Scully's business cards with the word
'help' written on it in the bathroom of a coffee shop in Anchorage. It would
take a wild stroke of luck for that clue to reap results. The mascara writing
wasn't the best and the chance of it being thrown away was high.
Needless to say, Li Ann's mood was as pitch black as the sky by the time a
chauffeured four-wheel drive delivered her and the annoying teenager to a
massive, snow-covered lodge in the middle-of-nowhere Alaska. The drone driving
was no help either. He made it clear right from the start that he didn't
understand English, only responding to Kiska's smooth Russian.
"Are the others here?" The oriental woman glared at Kiska,
repeating the question she had asked at least a dozen times already.
"Pavel says most everyone is home." The teenager finally admitted,
pushing open the van door. "Alexei isn't but he was taking a different
route, with more connections. He's the one with discs after all and he has the
highest profile. We had to be certain that Lexi wasn't followed. Kiska fixed Li
Ann with a flat, dark green stare. She forced a smile. "So, what do you
think of it?" Her hand lifted, sweeping across to indicate the artificially
illuminated lodge as she climbed out of the vehicle.
Li Ann raised her eyes.
The place was magnificent, a classic hunting retreat with a sprawling timber
lodge and dozens of small outbuildings, surrounded by an impenetrable forest of
shadowy pines. It was every inch a medieval Prince's summer home except for the
set of satellite dishes mounted on the highest point of the roof.
"It's...impressive." Li Ann pulled her coat tight against the
frigid air. Her breath plumed. "But isn't it a bit too ostentatious for a
covert base?" The numerous gold-tinted floodlights had to pinpoint this
place from miles around.
"Hide in plain sight." Kiska crunched through the crusty snow
heading for the wide entrance stairs. "All these lights aren't usually on.
They're only lit up for our sake. Besides, it's not like we could hide
completely, what with the generators and the communication system, not to
mention having to buy supplies and all. This place used to be a place for
company teamwork retreats and overpriced hunting vacations but the owners met
with some unexpected reversals of fortune." Her chuckle was heavy with smug
satisfaction. "It suits most of our needs rather well."
Li Ann followed in the girl's footsteps, cursing her lightweight footwear and
inadequate clothing. There was little chance that she would be wandering around
outside unless she turned up something else to wear.
"They know we're here. The van set off motion detectors about two miles
back. We've got a short-range radio system set up, although it isn't as secure
as we'd like, so word will have been passed about the compound of our
arrival." Kiska caught hold the door handle and tugged, pulling one side of
the huge double portal open.
Behind her Li Ann heard the van that had brought them here rumble away. Ahead
of her a wash of invitingly warm air broke over her face. She followed Kiska
into the heat eagerly.
A woman bearing a passing resemblance to the driver stepped up to push the
heavy door closed. She bubbled out what sounded like a greeting and set about
helping the teenager out of her coat.
"This is Bela. I'm sorry Li Ann but she doesn't speak English either.
None of the domestic staff do." Kiska specified. "One of the techs and
Dr Vladovna are fairly bilingual...and of course all the family are." She
explained.
Bela gestured, requesting Li Ann's outerwear.
"Find out where everyone is." The oriental woman demanded. "I
want to see Victor, Mac and Allegra. Now."
"Don't worry. We'll turn them up shortly." Kiska assured the elder
before turning to the servant. They lapsed into Russian although every sentence
or two a recognisable names crossed one or the other's lips.
"Kiska." Li Ann's voice raised and she glared daggers at the teen.
"Either tell me what I want to know or I'll go exploring without you."
She threatened.
"I'm just finding out what you need." The young girl placated.
"Just a few moments." Finally she dismissed Bela, sending their coats
off with the servant. "It seems that Allegra has placed all your things in
the guest suite nearest the back of the house." Kiska crossed the expansive
entranceway, heading for yet another curving staircase. "We'll just get you
settled in and cleaned up."
Her speech was interrupted by the arrival of a tall, handsome woman with rich
brown hair. The statuesque woman came striding out of the archway to the left. A
long burgundy skirt of heavy wool fluttered about her long legs. "Kiska."
She greeted loudly. "It's good to see you. We were just starting to worry
about the pair of you. Pavel was gone so long." The elegant woman came to a
halt in front of Li Ann with a toothy smile. "Miss Tsei, I doubt you recall
it but we've met before. I'm Tatiana Romanov. Lexi was fucking you against an
alley wall in Hong Kong several years ago when I interrupted." She
prompted.
Li Ann's colour drained away, more from anger than embarrassment at the
inaccurate reminder. They hadn't been that far along in the act and besides it
was just crude to refer to the meeting that way.
"I knew that Lexi-baby had taken a fancy to you then. He was frightfully
later than acceptable meeting me the next day and he was absolute drained."
The towering brunette continued. "But I never foresaw the day when he would
bring you home to Mummy." She teased with a hint of malice. "Welcome
to the our home, Cousin."
Li Ann's answering expression was tight with annoyance. "Where are Mac,
Victor and Allegra?" She persisted in her quest, choosing to ignore all the
false pleasantries.
A corner of Tatiana's mouth hooked into a smile. "Allegra is downstairs
in the medical bay. Olga is running a few tests on the fetus that she's
carrying. I believe Victor is with her. Mac is upstairs with Cathers and Riene
in one of the bedrooms listening to some electronic excuse for music loudly
enough to wake the dead." Her shiver was purely theatrical, too expansive
to reflect any honest emotion. "He's a handsome enough creature but hardly
the kind of company I'm accustomed to."
"Where's Stacey, Tati?" Kiska interrupted the glaring contest that
the other two had going.
Wide-set blue eyes turned on the teen. "Debriefing with Nicola and Kate
last time I checked but that was hours ago." Tatiana considered. "I
suppose that's everyone important. Oh, except for Peter and Marie. He's chained
to a computer in one of the outbuildings I suppose." Her chuckle was
resonant. "And she left to collect Lexi. Baby brother is supposed to be
coming in the back way." Tatiana turned in place, her arm extended to
indicate the stairs. "I'm to show our cousin where she's going to be
staying while you get your tail to Nicki's office, little sister."
Li Ann valiantly attempted to sort out and assign all the names that Tatiana
had tossed out so casually but what stuck in her mind was that someone was
mucking about with Allegra's pregnancy, yet again. The poor kid had gone through
enough poking and prodding back home. "Forget my room. I'll find it
later." Li Ann announced. "Take me to the medical bay right now."
She demanded.
Tatiana's carefully plucked brows lifted slightly. "Whatever you want,
Cousin. Come this way."
Alex slumped down into the passenger seat and dug around in the box beside
him for a blanket to pull over him. The heater in the cab wasn't nearly up to
the task of keeping the chill completely away, especially considering how he was
dressed. A few odds and ends of supplies tumbled loose as he extracted the grey
material.
"You're the last one in." Marie's usual soft tones wouldn't work in
the noisy cabin. She had to almost shout to make herself heard even with Alexei
right next to her. "Nicki's been rather impatiently waiting on those
discs."
"She's the one that sent me the long way around." He reminded.
"How are our new cousins taking to the situation?"
"I've only met the one so far." Marie smiled. The oddly coloured
dash lights didn't do her pretty face justice. Her lit-from-below expression
looked more evil than reassuring. "Allegra's a sweet thing...so bright and
enthusiastic. She's still at the stage where this is all a grand
adventure." Her heavy fall of dark brown hair shook. "Olga's taken the
pregnancy on as her new project. She's trying to figure out the baby's DNA and
what exactly those consortium butchers were trying to prove."
Alexei shot his foster sister a dark look. "I don't want her hurt. She's
a good kid."
"Don't worry, Dearest." The elder soothed. "Nicki likes
Allegra best of all the strays you've adopted. She's the most
impressionable." She paused. "You must realise that you're in for a
rather extensive debriefing. You've been misbehaving, even more than
usual."
"I've done my job." Alex argued quickly, pulling the cover up
around his chin. "More than my job. I got a line into the Pacific
Agency...something we haven't had since that quick stint I did in the late
eighties. I salvaged all of the Englishman's papers and connections. I even
picked up a contact with the rebels. Do you know how hard that was?"
Marie seemed unimpressed. Her large, brown eyes blinked twice. "I don't
envy your job, Dearest. It's nasty. I'm content handling drug- lords, banana
republics and gunrunners, thank you very much. Those I understand. That stuff
you muck around in is surreal."
Alexei spidered his fingers over the frosty glass of the window. They looked
even paler than usual against the gloomy darkness outside. "I'm sorry
everyone got dragged home on my account." He began. "But I am glad to
see you, Angel. It's been too long." He shifted his neck, attempting to
loosen up his muscles. "Has Nicki told you how long we're going to stay up
here?"
"A few weeks, I think." Marie didn't have to concentrate too hard
on the road. No other vehicles should be within miles and she'd driven this
route a couple of times now. "Until after the new year begins for certain.
That should be interesting." She laughed. "Then I suspect that Nicki's
going to send the Catherines back out with us. None of us are getting any
younger and they're ready for practical training." All the tutors had been
left behind when Nicki had pulled out of St Petersburg; a sure sign that further
in-house training wasn't likely. Marie noticed his frown. "Which bothers
you more? Spending New Year's here or taking on a full-time apprentice?"
"Riene's no trouble." Alexei answered obliquely. "Anything
would be better than taking that BOY out."
"Peter." She corrected. "Not that he's ready for the field,
but when the time comes, I thought I might get him as a replacement for CC
although he's a bit bookish for my kind of work. I suppose information is the
future rather than hardware." Marie mused, pausing often to consider her
words. "For now Olga is sending her Kate out with me to give the kid some
life lessons." The Catherine that had been marked as Marie's understudy had
been unexpectedly retired the year before. Nicola had replaced the faulty
Catherine by recruiting a teenage boy, but breaking and training him took time.
"Olga isn't going to have the energy to spare, what with taking over
Nicki's out of country workload, which she hates, and helping Nicki to program
Peter."
"I know. Olga would be happy to stay in at headquarters and delegate for
the rest of her life. I suspect if it weren't a matter of tradition the family
leadership would skip over Olga and go straight to Kate if Nicki lived long
enough." Alexei didn't want to get into a discussion about the new kid. For
a reason he couldn't quite pin down the idea that Nicki had taken in another
male, after all these years, infuriated him. "Still, with the network we've
been setting up Olga won't need to do nearly as much jetting about as Nicki did.
That should make her happy."
"I don't understand your distaste for Peter, Dearest. Didn't you once
have a thing for another English blonde?" Marie dragged him back to the
hated topic. "Rick or Dick or some-such name, wasn't it?"
"Ebat'-kopat." Alexei shuddered violently. "Pazhaluysta! Nyet."
He pleaded. "Please, don't ever mention HIM, Marie. Not ever." Alex
warned as a pre-programmed headache threatened him.
Marie studied his reaction for a moment then nodded as a stray memory clicked
back into place. Alex had been put through some rather strenuous avoidance
conditioning on the topic of that Englishman after the mess in Switzerland. That
was likely a potent factor in his adverse reaction to young Peter. "Nicki
wants you to play nice with Peter while you're home, Dearest." She swerved
back to her point. "There are a few things that only you can teach him. No,
not just that either." She laughed. "You're the best we've got with
knives and his hand to hand isn't nearly up to the quality we require. Then
there's that silletto-ice pick thing you brought home. We all need lessons with
that."
Alexei wasn't listening with his whole attention. His brows were tight
together and he was pinching the bridge of his nose. "He's too old."
Came the complaint finally. "Nicki said I was almost too old when she got
me and I was twelve. He's what? Sixteen? He'll never completely absorb the
programming, not like the Catherines did. Not like we did."
"There isn't time to start with a child this time." Marie
countered, amused at his unconscious jealousy of Peter. "He'll take it,
what with Nicki's complete concentration on him, and Olga's too. They're done
with the Catherines. He'll be the centre of their attention." She shook her
head. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed Alexei's scowl of irritation at
her choice of words. "They'll have him completely assimilated by this time
next year. He's already so far along it's scary."
"Are they trying to chemically enhance him?" Alexei had his
suspicions, but Marie had seen more of what was going on where Peter was
concerned. Alex tended to avoid the boy on the occasions he was home unless
Nicki insisted he interact with the kid.
"After puberty and without Vasili to supervise. They might want to, but
it isn't likely that Olga would dare. You're a one and only in that regard,
Dearest."
His nod was curt. "I didn't think so, either. Not even the Catherines
have been tampered with much. Olga can't seem to grasp the intricacies of
Vasili's research. She's hard pressed enough to maintain the work he did on me.
She's heavy handed. My blood chemistry is so screwed up I can't even take a
regular transfusion without going into shock. I found that out a few years
ago." He shifted in his seat. "Vasili was a genius."
"The man was a lunatic." She shouted out her disgust with the man.
"If Nicki hadn't held him back he would have turned you into a complete
psychopath. He screwed you up pretty badly as it was." Marie snapped,
sensing that her foster brother was on the edge of rather melancholy mood.
"He was some unholy combination of the Marquis de Sade and Dr Frankenstein
reborn with the scientific morals of a Nazi doctor. You did the world a service
when you killed him." Vasili had possessed the ability to give Marie the
creeps just by looking her way. It was if the man was trying to see right into
her soul when he fastened his disturbingly intense attention on her.
"The monster always turns on his creator eventually, Angel. Mac's got me
watching old horror movies. It's a reoccurring theme that Nicki should keep in
mind." His tone was more brittle than the air outside.
"Don't." His companion warned. "We're not monsters and we
would never..." Her eyes judged him. "You must know, that's the kind
of nonsense talk that worried Nicki enough to call us all in from the field. She
brought your little coven inside the family to make you happy, Dearest. Nicki
spoils you shamefully. She always has. Now you're making her regret her
generosity."
"This isn't about them." He pouted. "It's been building for
years."
"I know. I've been watching." She acknowledged. "More
carefully than Nicki sometimes. We've always been the closest, Dearest. I saw
the cracks start years ago, after your stint with the FBI. Now the others have
finally realised. Anastasia blew the whistle loud enough to break eardrums. You
should have been more discreet."
The look they exchanged was sombre. Alexei swallowed heavily. "I should
be scared." He finally said aloud. "But part of me..." His head
fell back. "It's gotten so complicated that I'm almost looking forward to
Nicki knocking things back into perspective. Just, if they retire me, Marie, can
you..."
"They're not going to retire you." She interrupted with sharp
sincerity. "You're too valuable."
"I said if."
"They won't."
"Try and get my thieves out, Angel. Suggesting tossing them to the wind
over killing them, for me."
"Damn you, Lexi. That's just the kind of shit that's at the root of the
problem." Her curses were vivid. "I saw it coming. It's the fault of
your fucking G-man."
"Leave Mulder out of it."
Marie hadn't ever met the Agent, but she had seen surveillance video and
photos. The first thing she had noticed about Mulder was that he had eyes just
like Vasili's, so melancholy and yet unreasonably demanding at the same time.
Poor Alexei never had a chance. Vasili had seen to it that Alex was designed to
try and please the man at all costs. Nicki should have known better and yanked
him out as soon as the assignment with Mulder came to her attention. Alexei's
post in the consortium hadn't paid off well enough to justify the damage the
young man sustained by simply being in Mulder's company. "People like us
should never stand that close to pure integrity. It makes us see our flaws too
clearly. I should have spoke up back then."
"You don't understand." Alex argued petulantly.
"I understand better than any of us, Dearest. Remember I told you about
Isabel." Marie prompted, mentioning a rebel leader from a long ago failed
coup. "If she had lived I might be the reason for this call in rather than
you, Dearest." She stared straight ahead as she admitted her own weakness.
"Nicki never found out, but I armed Isabel's company for free."
Alexei winced. "You shouldn't tell me that. Nicki might pull it out of
me during one of my debriefings."
"I should have told you that four years ago, Dearest. I wanted to tell
someone but..." The quilted shoulders of her jacket shrugged. "New
Years is going to be a kick." She forcibly changed the subject, noticing
how tensed up he had become.
Alexei's laugh was strangled. "A wealth of choices. Maybe this year I'll
actually see if it's possible to satisfy myself after my booster."
"You won't find a closed door anywhere." She teased.
Again his mood crashed into darkness. "You're wrong, Angel. One door
will be barricaded." Alex picked absently at the tab of his coat zipper.
"What's wrong?"
"I hit on Victor." He admitted. "Frenched him on the last
mission. He wasn't impressed. In fact he's more than a little annoyed with
me."
"I don't know what Nicki hoped to accomplish by that particular
subroutine? Nothing makes you want someone more than disinterest." She
sighed. "I remember you on your knees begging Anastasia to just look your
way. You were falling all over yourself and jumping through hoops to get her
attention." Stacey's hesitation had been an act, of course. It was just
another part of the conditioning that Nicki had put him through. First she made
him completely frantic over gaining her affection, then Anastasia's and Olga's.
Dark-haired Marie and Tatiana were under instructions to be much more obliging.
Marie had developed into more of a pal than a lover right from the beginning.
"It's an implanted personality flaw." He said negligently. "Nicki
needed a sure method to reduce me to crawling on the floor begging for her to
notice me, and even though I know what's happening, I can't help myself."
Alex sighed. "Thanks to my pheromone tampering no one should be able to
refuse me without taking the block Vasili developed and Nicki has never shared
that formula with anyone but Olga. Nicola should have the market cornered on
refusing me. I don't know the hell Mulder did it for so long and Victor
mystifies me."
"Damned if I know." The elder giggled softly. "You make me
crazy and I don't go for guys outside the job. Sometimes I think you ruined me
for other men."
"I turned you into a lesbian. I like that." Alexei threw his head
back and let loose a laugh that filled the cab. "Luckily women can fake it
so much easier than men or Nicki would have kicked both our butts for letting
such a calamity devalue you, Angel." That was especially true considering
the other mistake they had made together around that same time.
"Pig." She accused, without malice. "My business does not
pivot on my sexual liaisons. Some of us actually do things like work hard and
deal harder."
"How incredibly dull that must be." His voice was an honest mixture
of regret and disbelief. It was simply beyond his ability to grasp the concept
that his sisters' methods didn't involve sex.
After years together Li Ann knew the expression that Victor turned on her
when she entered the small medical centre, complete and utter relief.
He pushed away from the narrow berth his sister was sitting on and gathered
Li Ann into a crushing hug. "We need to talk, privately." He whispered
into her ear before they separated to simply hold hands.
Tatiana remained in the doorway to the small, sterile looking room. "I
suppose I'll see all of you at dinner this evening. Do try and make it to your
rooms before then, cousins. We dress for dinner."
The oriental woman was still in her black, multi-pocketed work clothes from
the day before. Victor hadn't changed either and it didn't look as if he'd had
any rest or taken time to shave. The tall brunette withdrew. Li Ann let go of
her former fiancee and looked over to the young woman sitting on the examination
table. Victor's sister appeared relaxed and comfortable despite the suction cups
and wires connecting her to some nearby equipment.
"Hey Li Ann, you look wiped out."
"Well thank you very much." Li Ann offered up a carefully crafted
smile. "How are you doing, Kid?"
"I'm great." Allegra shifted. "Everyone here is going out of
their way to make sure that I'm comfortable." She glanced at the monitor
near her shoulder. "And they're all really cool about the baby. The Docs
back home never did seem convinced that I didn't just have an accident in India.
Olga's told me more in a day than they did in two months...although her bedside
manner leaves a bit to be desired. She's kind of brutal in her honesty."
Allegra grinned. "And the food...the cook, Mrs Uritski is catering to my
every whim. She's even trying to make apple pandowdy...and she'd never heard of
it before."
Victor leaned heavily against one wall. "Olga and Dr Vladovna have
admitted that the baby's DNA isn't entirely human." He cut right to the
heart of the matter. "That's something the hospital back home wouldn't
acknowledge."
Allegra shot her brother a frown then brightened back up again. "It's a
boy." She announced.
"Have they been able to pinpoint a due date?" Li Ann asked
carefully, casually looking over the electronic equipment all around the young
woman and wishing desperately that Dana were here to help her understand all of
it.
"Not exactly, but it seems as if I'm about five months along so the baby
was already about eight weeks when they popped it into me." Her brown eyes
clouded over as they always did when that experience was mentioned.
Victor moved immediately to wrap one arm over his sister's shoulders.
"Maybe we should unhook you and take you upstairs." Li Ann
suggested, picking at one of the many wires fastened to Allegra's belly. "I
should think you've had enough experiments done on you lately."
"I'm not experimenting." A cool voice came from one of the
doorways. "I'm analysing. There's a difference." The woman's hair was
almost as white as the lab coat she wore. "You must be Li Ann. I'm
Olga." Came the introduction. "I assure you that all this," long
fingers flicked about the room. "is needful. Your young friend is carrying
a rather remarkable baby and the situation needs monitoring." She settled
on a stool near a small computer. "The fetus is in need of some odd
nutritional requirements that Allegra's system isn't providing." A few
keystrokes brought up a screen filled with calculations. "One of the
doctors or nurses that have been treating you must be affiliated with the
project that did this to you." She informed Allegra. "Luckily I
recognised the components. I've seen variations on the formula before. Alexei
sent me an almost perfect match a couple of months ago."
Allegra chewed on her bottom lip. "So you can make some more then?"
She asked anxiously.
"If you want me to." Olga confirmed. "If I don't then you'll
miscarry within two weeks." She laid out the alternative. "It's your
choice."
"Make it." Allegra showed no hesitation. She reached out and caught
Victor's hand. "I've already wrestled my way through this decision once
when this was first done to me. Nothing you've told me has changed my
mind."
Olga nodded. "Good." Her stool swivelled. "I have to admit I'm
terribly curious about the baby. It seems odd for the Consortium to have gone to
such...public...lengths to procure host bodies when their artificial
environments had sustained the developing subjects before that quite
adequately."
With every chill word Allegra unconsciously burrowed a little tighter into
the security of her brother's embrace.
"Daria, that's Dr Vladovna ..." Olga registered the girl's distress
but it didn't seem to concern her. "...seems to think that by implanting
the fetus in a human host the doctors hoped to regulate the peculiarities of
it's blood chemistry and allow it to alter to a more recognisably human
composition. That's the largest problem with engineered life, making it blend
in."
"That sounds like the voice of experience." Li Ann cut into the
woman's lecture. "Is Allegra's baby a clone, like the Catherines?"
"The Catherines aren't exactly clones, not at a molecular level, at
least. Slight alterations were made as each model was taken from the
original." Olga corrected. "I don't see any gene pattern flaws that
suggest that this baby is a clone, but then again, it could just be a very good
copy. Unless I saw the original template I couldn't venture a statement either
way."
Li Ann scowled. There was no answer anywhere in that convoluted speech.
"Are you done?" Victor pointed at the electronics. "Alice has
had enough."
"Allegra." The young woman corrected with a weak smile. It was a
running battle between them. Her older brother refused to comply with her choice
to change her given name.
"I can be." The blonde rose and began disconnecting all the
monitors. "Daria and I should have a dosage of the supplement ready by
tomorrow. I think we have all the components on hand."
Now they were closer together Li Ann could see that Olga was very carefully
made-up to disguise an older, much plainer face than Li Ann had first realised.
"You should take it easy until we have the injection prepared, Allegra."
She cautioned. "Go rest until dinner. Your brother and Li Ann can use the
time to clean up and change." A sniff of mild distaste at their appearance
escaped the older woman.
The pregnant girl nodded. "Okay. Say good-bye to Dr Vladovna for
me."
"No need. Daria usually joins the family at dinner. She's a 'cousin' as
well." Platinum blonde hair was brushed absently back from Olga's cheeks.
"With all the people that will be at dinner tonight I'm sure a fascinating
evening is in the works."
It didn't surprise Alexei when Marie ignored the massive, brightly lit
structure that lorded over the compound. Instead she pulled up behind a small
outbuilding at the absolute edge of the treeline where the artificial
illumination began to fail. Marie shut the engine down and silence descended on
them like an avalanche.
"If you behave..." Marie began. "You may still get to spend
Christmas Eve with your friends. Nicola is aware of the significance that
occasion holds for them."
Alex had to think to recall what day it was. He needed to rest. His mind was
beginning to slow down to the point that Marie supplied the answer before he
came up with it.
"That's two nights and three days. Not that it really matters in this
perpetual darkness." She clarified. "In the meantime your little group
thinks that you've been delayed in transit with an emergency."
Alexei nodded. The cab was already growing uncomfortably cool. "Are you
going up to the main house?"
"I might be. I don't know yet." Narrow shoulders lifted and
dropped.
"Li Ann is the most 'difficult' to handle. Keep a close eye on
her." He provided unnecessarily. When his foster-sister made no attempt at
further interaction Alexei shoved off his covering, heaved open the door and got
out. The bitter cold sucked the air right out of his lungs. His jacket and
skin-tight jeans were no match for this weather. Luckily, the door was only a
few short steps away. Another extreme temperature change halted him just inside
the portal. Alex leaned back against the rough wood and studied the room. It was
pretty much the austere cell he had expected. A low wooden bench stood in the
centre of the plank floor. Over by the fireplace Nicola sat in the only other
piece of furniture, a dark-patterned wing-back chair. One of the Catherines
lurked in the shadows behind the elderly woman. It was probably Kate considering
the magnitude of this encounter.
"Alexei, my pet." Nicola shifted her spare frame, settling further back
into the cushions. "You must realise that I'm annoyed with you." She
warned in a dangerously silken whisper.
"Da." He fumbled his jacket open. "I brought the discs."
Alexei extracted and offered up the black case as a distraction. He managed two
steps before Nicki raised her hand.
"Stop!"
The low hiss was enough to freeze Alexei in place. "Nicki..."
"T'ee-Khee." She demanded his silence. "Kate, take the discs
from Alexei." Nicola flicked a finger. Her eyes glittered in the dancing
firelight the illuminated the room.
The teenager emerged from the half-light and crossed the room. Her left hand
reached up and plucked the soft-sided case from his fingers. They barely
acknowledged each other since Alex's eyes were still fixed on the old woman by
the fire.
"Please Nicki I..." A hard slap across his face stopped the words and
Alexei shifted his attention to the tiny girl in front of him for the first
time.
"Nicola told you to be quiet." Kate reminded him evenly. She seemed
completely unconcerned by the fact that he towered over her. The teenager
glowered fearlessly up at him. "If you want to live through this I would
suggest that you shut up and follow orders." The menace in her voice more
than made up for her lack of stature. Kate backed away gradually, keeping Alex
in her sights as she handed the packet to Nicki.
Up until now Alexei hadn't considered the Catherines as much more than
students or assistants. Kate, not requiring much training from him, had barely
made any impression at all. He had the distinct feeling that she was about to
radically change his perceptions of her. Alex should have expected this. Kate
was second in line and Olga had never been fond of doing hands-on disciplining.
"You're clever enough, pet." Nicola tapped the package of discs with
one lacquered nail. "What have you done wrong? Why am I angry with you?"
"I questioned you." He admitted quietly. "I had no right."
Her smile was only the slightest baring of teeth. "Undress and kneel by
the bench, Alexei." She instructed. "Kate." Nicola pointed to the small
pile of supplies by the hearth. "Give Alexei his shot, please." Pale eyes
narrowed as she realised that he wasn't moving. "If you make me repeat
myself, pet, you won't enjoy the consequences." Nicki warned, rising slowly
to her feet. She hadn't had to physically coerce him into obeying an order since
he was sixteen years old, a good thing considering how muscular Alexei had
grown. She had disciplined him often enough, but persuasion was another matter
entirely. Nicola didn't dare let the absolute fury she was feeling right now
escape her control.
"Nicki, if we could just talk."
"Not one more word!" She cut him off with a raised finger. Her glare
was colder than the drifts of white outside. "Undress and kneel." Nicki
locked eyes with her disobedient protÈgÈ and held the stare as Alexei pulled
off his boots, socks and leather jacket. The material of his T-shirt blocked his
vision for a brief moment as he pulled it off. Nicola took the steps required to
stand right beside him while he was blinded. Her hand casually slipped into the
deep pocket of the long cloak she wore. Alexei's jeans peeled away with a
certain amount of squirming, pulling his underwear down with them. Nicki's thumb
rolled the dial of the tiny device in her pocket as she watched his face. She
registered the exact second that Alexei noticed the restraints embedded in the
top of the low bench.
He looked up, lip curled in annoyance. "Nicki, this isn't..."
The taser was out before he finished her name. She shocked him two words into
the protest, dropping Alexei in place. "I warned you, pet."
Kate was quick to come over. It took both of them to wrestle Alexei's arms
into place.
"This is why I prefer working with women." Nicola complained softly.
"It's like heaving a dead horse around."
"Then why bother with Peter?" Kate closed the wide metal bands about
Alexei's wrists and locked them down. "He's going to mature to this size
eventually."
"It's a sad fact..." Nicki retrieved the hypodermic needle that Kate
had dropped in her rush to help. "...that there are some things only a male
can accomplish and some places where females are not allowed even in this day
and age. Olga and I held a false hope that the world was changing when we
created you Catherines." She jabbed the point into Alexei's hip more
viciously than was requisite. "We should have known better and seen to
producing a boy back then. We had the building blocks on ice. We still do. It
was a mistake in judgement."
Alex struggled, moaning slightly at their rough treatment of his body. Kate
squatted on the far side of the bench to examine their captive's face. "How
high is your taser set?" She peeled back one of his eyelids.
"Too high." Nicki admitted. "I'm angry." She adjusted the charge
intensity back down to a mild shock. "Here." She passed it over. "I
hope you realise the profound psychological power that this session is going to
give you over our Lexi. I'm handing you dominion over one of the powerful tools
at my disposal, you had best not misuse him."
Alex groaned again, tossing his head in a vain attempt at clarity. Tingling
sensations were spreading rapidly from his waist. "What did you give me?"
He asked in a mumble, resting his head briefly on the smooth wood before
attempting to look up at them.
"A truth serum and a hallucinogen." Kate answered honestly. "Just
enough to loosen your grip on reality a bit." She steadied him with a hand in
his hair. "You've been a very bad boy, Alexei. Nicki says I can kill you if I
want to." Kate laughed, testing his reaction.
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. NICKI!" His head swivelled awkwardly, looking
for Nicola, who had strategically moved to stand between him and the fire. All
he could see was her blackened outline. "Nicki please." The cuffs rattled
as he tried to reach out.
"I no longer want anything to do with you, Alexei. You have proven a
tragic disappointment." Nicola announced, imperiously pulling her cloak
tightly closed. "I leave your fate entirely up to Kate's discretion." She
glided to the cabin door.
"Nicki! Nyet! PAZHALUYSTA NICKI!" Alex strained to rise, screaming
his panic. The metal cut into the skin of his good wrist but the bolts anchoring
the bench to the floor held. "I'll be good. I'll do anything. Don't leave me,
please." He continued attempting to free himself, heedless of the damage he
was doing to himself.
The elderly woman paused at the door. "Tell me, boy. If I hand you a gun
and set you free will you kill your pet thieves for me?"
His mouth worked, trying to voice the promise but thanks to the chemical
cocktail they had given him the easy lie eluded him. "I've killed for you
before." His muddled brain compromised.
Kate padded over to where Nicki stood.
The silver-haired woman glared at Alex, shaking her head at his shuddering
reaction to their exchange. Her voice was a bare whisper. "Find out exactly
how strong his allegiances actually are to those 'playmates' of his then shatter
them. You've studied his file. You know all his weaknesses. I can't accept his
apology until you've reduced him to crawling naked through the snow, vowing to
tear out that oriental bitch's throat with his teeth if I ask him to."
"You can depend on me, Nicki."
She nodded once then pushed out into the frigid darkness without another
glance Alex's way.
Kate twirled, scooping up his discarded jacket and slipping it on over her
sweater. It helped with the chill and gave her a mental step up on Alex by
taking it. Of course her tiny frame swam inside the large garment. "How's the
head feel, traitor?" She kicked out at his legs, spreading them further apart
to mess up his carefully held balance.
"It hurts." His response was a weak mumble.
Kate detoured over to the fireplace in order to snatch up a wide leather
strap. "What's the name of the first man you ever killed?" She tested. His
hesitation was punished with a stinging blow across the shoulders.
"Vasili Bohdanovich." That was no secret within the family. Alex
let the drugs push the name across his lips.
"See how easy this is." Kate petted his dark hair. "How old were you
the first time you got drunk?"
"Sihm-naht-tsuht." He admitted. "It was an accident. I didn't
know what I was drinking. I didn't realise what was happening."
Seventeen, Kate mused. It must have happened during army basic training. She
trailed a finger down the back of his neck and onto his spine provoking trembles
and a pained whine. The temptation to get information that wasn't in the file
Nicki had given her was strong but she fought it. No doubt this session was
being recorded. "Have you ever fathered a child." Of course she knew the
answer to that one as well.
"Da."
He was sagging, relaxing into the easy questions just as she had hoped he
would. "How old were you?"
"Fifteen. It was a mistake." He offered in a blurred tone. "Then
Vasili snipped me to keep it from happening again. The bacteria in my system.
It'd be dangerous."
Kate smiled at the free flow of information. He was ready for harder
questions. "Have you ever been in love, Alexei?"
A violent tremor racked his frame, pushing her away. "Hundreds of..."
He choked on the response, tossing his head restlessly. "Yes, a few times,
maybe." Tears were beginning to leak from the corners of his eyes. "I
don't know anymore."
The teenager sat down the strap in favour of the palm-sized taser. "Do you
love Li Ann, Alexei?"
Part of his brain screamed, warning him not to answer but it couldn't be
contained. "Da." The word tore at his throat.
"Nyet." Kate zapped him on his lower back making his spine snap and
the bench creak as his weight suddenly shifted. "Do you love Li Ann?" She
repeated the question. At his reluctant confirmation she stung him again, this
time on his earlobe. "No, you don't." Kate instructed.
Alexei whimpered, tugging at his bonds.
"Tell me, handsome Lexi..." She caressed his heaving chest, giggling
when he tried to shrink away from the contact. "Have you shared information
with Li Ann that Nicki would disapprove of her knowing?"
Alexei was crying. "Some things."
"Which things?" Kate continued to pet him.
He swallowed, unsuccessfully attempting to edit what came out of his mouth.
"About Vasili and my training. About Father, the Ambassador, Arntzen, I mean.
Where..." He stalled out a moment, rocking helplessly. "Where the money
goes, how we clean it."
"BAD ALEXEI!" Kate swiped the taser up his ribs, leaving a trail of
fire. He screamed, writhing desperately but she was unmoved. That titbit of
information was enough to earn the interloper death. The money flow couldn't be
jeopardised.
Mac flipped the CD case he was studying on the stack at the foot of the bed.
Lying stretched out, stomach down on the narrow bunk he had a good view of the
bedroom door. He saw the knob turn before either of the girls did. No one seemed
to have any privacy in this place from what he'd seen so far. None of the doors
he had come across so far had working locks. He didn't know how they handled the
lack without driving each other insane. The newcomer to their small gathering
made his head hurt. It was bad enough dealing with two identical teenage girls.
He did not need a third one. Mac automatically registered this one's damp hair,
black tights and long grey sweater. Riene had the little pink dress on and
Cathers wore the velvet jacket and green pants. He could deal. He just had to
keep their clothes straight. "Which one are you?" Mac asked without
finesse.
"Really Mac, your manners are appalling." She sighed, leaning in
the open portal. "Kiska."
He was half off the bed before her open hand registered. "Nyet. Lexi
isn't here." Kiska protested. "We separated back in New York. I came
in with just Li Ann and she's busy with 'pregnant girl' and 'morality man'.
Don't waste your time." Kiska inclined her head to the stereo. "It's
too loud. Take it down a few pegs before everyone starts drifting this way to
dress for dinner or change it to something Olga won't complain about."
"Alexei and the ladies might like it, but Mozart makes me gag. It must
be an age thing." Riene's mouth pinched. She reached over to turn the dial.
"So you come to join the party?"
"Maybe." Kiska dropped down on the bed beside Mac. "Anything
up...besides the volume on your boom-box?"
"Mac's trying to interrogate us." Cathers observed. "But he's
doing a piss-poor job of it." She shot a grin at his startled reaction to
her words. "You're not subtle enough. We've been trained by the best,
Mac-dear."
"So what tactic do you suggest." He challenged.
"Just ask, oh gorgeous one." Riene reclined into a provocative
pose. "Since we like you we may even tell you the truth."
"Or at least our version of it." Kiska qualified, making herself
comfortable.
Mac ran a considering gaze over the three, trying to decide if they were
simply playing with him. It was eerie. Alex and Victor actually made an effort
to separate themselves from each other. Their postures, hair styles and facial
expressions distanced the twins but these girls blended into each other on
purpose. Even their make-up was copied face to face. "What's it like, being
a clone?" They wanted blunt. He gave it to them.
Cathers laughed, leaning forward over the desk chair she was straddling.
"You should see the look on your face. It's like you've just eaten sour
grapes."
"It's nothing to get strung out over, Baby." Riene slid closer,
catching his arm and snuggling in. "We like it. We've been held safely
within each other's company since we were babies. We've never been alone unless
we wanted to be."
"In the beginning there were nine copies and an original." Kiska
was intimately close to his other side. "I actually miss every one of my
sisters. I wish sometimes that we'd all survived. It was so wonderful having all
those playmates, having so many others that actually understood me."
"What happened to them?" Mac tried to judiciously free his arm but
Riene refused to release him.
"Some fatal flaws had crept in during the cloning process." Cathers
took up the question. "Some rather severe mental and physical problems
surfaced as we grew, mostly physical ones. The others had to be put down when
they became more of a problem than Olga's science could handle."
"Only the best and the brightest remain." Kiska bragged.
"Which of you is the original?" Mac watched as all three faces took
on varying degrees of annoyance. Glares were exchanged between them.
"We don't know." Kiska finally admitted. "It's been a matter
of some speculation although Kate is arrogantly convinced that it has to be her.
Only Nicki and Olga know for sure. It's not on file anywhere."
"We looked." Riene's finger traced absently up and down his sleeve.
"I thought Marie might know but she swears that they never told her and she
couldn't tell us apart even when we were babies." Her caress slid up and
across to toy with the bare skin showing at his throat.
"Why should Marie know?" Mac questioned as he pushed Riene's
fingers away. If he understood correctly, Nicki and Olga were in charge of the
family. Marie was just another operative, like Alex.
"She's the Mother." Cathers said softly. "She got to help care
for the original for a few months before Olga began the experiment, then the
nannies took over so Marie could get back to work."
"So you know who your parents are." He frowned mildly surprised at
that bit of information. "Which one is Marie?"
"Dark-haired, works out of South America." Kiska outlined.
"Short, little lesbian who sends Alex chocolates all the time." Her
hand suggested a height of about five foot three. "Why do you think we're
all so tiny? Olga sure as shooting wouldn't have designed us this way if she'd
had a choice. It was unexpected, all things considered. It's such a pain
sometimes."
"But Lexi's pretty baby hasn't met Marie." Riene interrupted. Her
hand ruffled through his hair. "Marie left before you, me and Vicka got in.
She went to find Alexei."
Mac let out a hissing breath. He squirmed under Riene's disturbing
attentions, tempted to simply shove the girl away. "Why is Alex taking so
long to get here?"
"I heard he was coming in the back way." Kiska fluffed up her
almost dry mane. "You miss him. How sweet."
"Mac-baby loves Alexei." Riene corrected.
"Oh my God. Don't we all?" Cathers sighed heavily before pushing up
and off the chair to plug another CD in.
"Not like Mac." The pink clad teenager continued, teasing her
fingers up and down the nape of his neck. "Mac's an incurable Lexi-junkie.
Aren't you Gorgeous? Withdrawal kicked in some time ago and Stacey never gave
you time to score a proper fix during the mission."
He thrust the girl away, tired of her behaviour and not liking where the
conversation was now going. "Don't." He warned.
Riene's smirk was annoyingly familiar. Alex had to have taught the girl that
just-so crook of the mouth. "You complained to Stacey when you found out
that Allegra had stowed your gear in the big three bedroom suite with Li Ann and
Vicka's rooms. I heard you. You asked for Alexei's bedroom instead then got mad
when she wouldn't even tell you which one it was."
"I just though that Allegra should have the third bedroom so she could
be closer to Victor." Mac defended.
"We've enough spaces to spare." Riene reasoned. "This was a
resort. Allegra's got a big room with an en-suite. You just want to stake your
claim before he gets here." She accused. "The competition is a bit
more fierce than back in AC, right?" Riene stood up, smoothing her skirt.
"Mac-baby, the fact is you aren't likely to be the first person he fucks
when he finally gets home." She grinned. "But since I'm such a
sweetheart, you can come with me and I'll show you which one is our Lexi's
personal abode."
"Riene, you shouldn't." Kiska's tone was low.
"Posh!" She scoffed. "It's not like Mac-baby couldn't find it
with a certain amount of poking about. There's only a few guys here and Lexi's
wardrobe couldn't be mistaken for anyone else's."
Mac practically jumped off the bed to follow the teenager out the door. She
might be a terror to deal with but from what he'd seen and heard so far Riene
was the most devoted to Alex out of the lot of them.
The long hallway stretched both ways with unidentified portals lining either
side. Surprisingly enough, Riene led him to a stairwell he hadn't even noticed.
Even more of a shock was that they climbed up. Mac was unaware this place even
had a third floor.
"Now pay attention." Riene spoke softly. "You do not want to
barge in on Nicki or Olga by mistake." Her hand lifted, tapping the dark
green rectangles as they passed. "Tatiana's. Anastasia's. Marie's."
She named each entrance. "Kate's. Olga and Daria's. Yakob and Nadya's.
They're our two techs." She clarified. When they reached the last two doors
her finger indicated carefully first to the left and then to the right.
"Nicola. Alexei. Do not, as you wish to continue living, ever mix them
up." Riene opened the right hand door and stepped inside.
The light flickered on to reveal a cluttered but comfortable sitting room
with a computer centre nook off to the side. Mac didn't get an Alex sort of
impression from the place but then again, he wasn't even sure his lover had even
visited this place yet. The only piece that really struck him as Alex's choice
was the long, black leather couch, although the patterned throw tossed over the
back of it didn't seem to fit in. His lover had shown a rather unhealthy
fascination with leather couches on many occasions.
Riene grinned, watching his face for a reaction. "I decorated it for
Alexei and yes he's been here briefly. He adored it." She giggled at some
inner jest.
"It's kind of dreary." Mac observed. The lighting was pathetic
everywhere except at the desk area. "It looks like you bought all the
pieces from a garage sale." He peered at the brightly illuminated fishtank
off by one wall. It was filled with water and plants but no fish swam within the
thing.
"Thank you." She seemed strangely pleased by his show of distaste
for the room. "That ridiculous billiard ball coatrack had to be custom
made." The girl giggled at some internal joke. "It cost a pretty
penny."
"Why bother?" Mac shook his dark head and pushed through to the
door on the far wall. The bedroom was definitely more familiar territory, or so
he thought until he opened the portal. Expecting something near the clean,
modern lines of their room at home the massive poster bed and heavy dark wood
caught him by surprise.
Riene pushed past the startled man and jumped, throwing herself onto the
centre of the huge mattress. "All this stuff used to be Bohdanovich's. I
had it packed up and shipped over. Alexei always used the old man's rooms when
he was in St Petersburg."
"Who's Bohdanovich?" Mac fingered the open, red velvet draperies
that surrounded the bed. This archaic monstrosity looked like it belonged in a
museum.
"Vasili." She sprawled out, wiggling into the thick covers.
Mac shrugged, moving to pull open a long sliding closet door. The scents
imbedded in the clothing hit him with the force of punch. It was almost like
coming home. "Is that name supposed to mean something to me?" He
pulled one of the leather jackets off its hanger almost absently and ran his
fingers over the supple blackness.
Riene stopped squirming about and sat up. "Bohdanovich was the man who
instilled Alexei with all that mondo-twisted obedience training that you
accidentally tripped across and have so skilfully invoked." Large eyes
studied Mac. She climbed off the bed and began rooting through one of the
dresser drawers. "Here." She produced a small photo album from its
fabric wrapping. I don't know if Nicki realises that he has these." Riene
flipped open the little book as she sat back down on the edge of the bed. She
patted the spot beside her invitingly. "This is Vasili Bohdanovich."
Mac dropped into place, still holding Alex's jacket. The old black and white
picture that Riene indicated showed a slightly gaunt man in his late forties
with a decidedly Mulderish look about him. The eyes, especially, looked
frighteningly familiar. Mac took the album away from her and began flipping
through the pages. A picture of himself and Li Ann caught his eyes. It was a
surveillance photo that had been enlarged and clipped by the look of it. He
recognised it as about a 1995 shot but he was unable to place the background.
Mac couldn't help but marvel at how innocent they looked. Another photo made him
shake his head. It was Mulder and Scully but a black pen had turned the female
agent into a stereotypical Halloween witch, complete with peaked hat and a wart.
He turned the page with a sniff of amusement. "Who's this?" Mac
pointed to a rough looking blonde sitting beside a fresh-faced, twenty-something
Alex. Both young men wore shabby army fatigues and big grins.
"Someone he trained with, I suppose. I don't recognise him." Riene
slid the picture out of its plastic pocket. "It says 'me and Dickin' on the
back." She read before replacing it. "Oh yes, that must be that
English operative 'Richard something or other' that Lexi hung around with on and
off after they did a stint in British special ops together. I haven't heard him
mentioned in years though." Riene frowned. "Nicki absolutely hated
that guy. She ordered Alexei to keep his distance after some mission fell
through in '92 because they crossed paths unexpectedly in Switzerland and Lexi
wouldn't take the guy out." She pursed her lips. "I don't know what
happened with him. I'd have to check our database to get details."
"Don't bother." Mac dismissed. "I've just never seen him so
completely... That's just such a happy grin." He flipped again, finding two
more pictures of Mulder, one of Allegra and a score he didn't recognise. Alex
himself was noticeably rare in the book. The one nice photo he almost mistook
for his lover was Victor, if the earring could be believed. "What's
this?" Mac stopped again at a new-born baby lying on a pink blanket. It was
the only child he had come across.
"The first Catherine." Riene muttered, taking the album away she
snapped it shut. Her expression flitted from a grim frown back into its
incessant smirk quickly. "I've got stuff to do. Are you going to stay here
and sniff his clothes or do you want to come back downstairs?" She teased.
Mac self-consciously shoved the jacket aside. "I'm going to poke around
here for a while if that's okay." The computer in the next room was a
strong temptation. He couldn't help but wonder if it would give him access to
the Family's mainframe.
"Behave." Riene warned.
"Always." He bounced tentatively on the bed. It was amazingly soft.
"I'll see you at dinner. Go." As soon as the girl left him alone Mac
began a careful search. First he'd do the bedroom then the other rooms. His
conscience pricked at the invasion of Alex's privacy but the urge to pry was
more powerful. No surprise there. His dangerously strong curiosity had been the
subject of countless lectures over the years.
The hidden cubby behind the tiles in the bathroom shower stall concealed
several vials of some pale green concoction. A sheath of papers were stashed
into a slit in the bed's canopy. Unfortunately the writing on those was all
Cyrillic. He found a few hiding spaces that sat empty which made sense
considering how little this place had been used.
The best hiding spot had to be where a narrow band of wood slid out of the
tall wardrobe that held Alex's best suits. The handful of letters hidden there
were a mixed bag. Some were Russian, some were in other languages and a very few
were written in English. Mac tucked the others away and with only a slight
twinge of guilt he took the ones he understood back to the bed so he could read
them. The ones with addresses had been sent to a post office box in New York and
date stamped years ago. One was from someone named Danny who mentioned going to
Quantico with Alex and spent the first page apologising for using what Alex had
called 'the emergency address'. The second page was devoted to pleading that the
other man call him so they could work out their problems. There was even a vague
offer of 'Bureau information' if Alex would just come back.
Seven of the letters were from England and signed 'Dickin'. The contents of
those notes seemed purposefully lacking in identifying details, almost as if the
writer assumed someone would examine them other than Alex. Coded references
suggested future meeting places and times like 'that green bar on the second of
Lamb'. The paranoia made Mac laugh while the intense sentiments expressed pissed
him off. The ending of the last brief note, the only one with no obscure coding
in it, set his teeth on edge. It read:
I don't understand how this happened but I think I love you too. Isn't that a
kick in the head? You claim you'd come clean just to be with me. Would you
really? I wish I could believe you this time. The crap you're into is so fucking
deep but I might be able to get you amnesty if you'll give up Nicola. I've
spoken with the Commander and it looks promising. We've got to talk in person.
Christ, I miss you, my Xander. Dickin
Mac had to fight down the urge to scream with rage and tear that particular
letter into tiny pieces.
The final paper in the pile, surprisingly enough, was a surveillance log. His
and Li Ann activities for the month that everything went to hell in Hong Kong
were carefully detailed. The news of Mac's death and Li Ann's disappearance
ended the report. It was interesting that the paper looked as if it had been
crumbled then flattened and folded again. Maybe, just maybe, Alex actually cared
enough to be upset by the erroneous death announcement. Mac fell back into the
cushioning mattress, pulled Alex's jacket close and let himself drift off into a
mixture of memory and fantasy.
It was with only the tiniest flush of shame that Kate would acknowledge she
was having fun. The power of altering people's lives with a few keystrokes on
the computer wasn't immediate. Neither were the carefully orchestrated moves
that she helped Nicola plan on their own person chessboard, the world.
Alexei and the women of the Romanov family had flitted in and out of the
lives of Kate and her sisters like royalty visiting the palace servants. Kate
had been watching the family and staff trip over themselves to accommodate
Alexei since she was old enough to reason.
Power, Kate had decided over the last few hours, was the ability to reduce an
object of lifelong reverence to the shivering wreck kneeling before her. Of
course a certain amount of cheating was involved. It wasn't fair that a point by
point list of Alexei's weaknesses had been provided but time was at a premium so
exploration and discovery were skipped over.
The blindfold had surprised her. It was such a simple fear, darkness and
silence. Kate wouldn't have guessed at their dilapidating effect on a man who
could shake off a whipping under normal circumstances. Kate knelt down, quietly
unfastening the top on a container of motor oil. She waved the open bottle near
his nose and was rewarded by a frenzy of attempts at flight. His verbal protests
had lapsed into hoarse whimpers a half-hour ago. Kate capped it and sat the
container aside. When she ran a hand through his short, sweat-soaked black hair
he tried to cringe away, making Kate tighten her grip.
"The family got you out of that nasty place, dear Alexei. You would have
slowly died there, ALL ALONE, if we hadn't found you." She reminded him
quietly. Easing closer she picked at the knot in his blindfold. "The family
has always taken care of you."
"I know."
His faint response earned him a kiss on the forehead. Kate peeled the
darkness away, making sure her face was the first thing his squinting eyes
found. A caress tickled down his cheek. "You must realise that it's Li Ann's
fault you ended up in the silo. Lexi-dear" She laid out a line of conjecture.
"The Tangs turned on you because she wouldn't leave you alone. Your defences
were weakened from protecting yourself from her family. That's why Mulder was
able to catch up to you. That's why the oil alien found you." Kate continued
to stroke him until he leaned into the attention. "The oil alien would never
have got you if you had stayed away from Mac and Li Ann, Darling." When a
particularly brutal shudder wracked him at that memory Kate kissed the bridge of
his nose. "Li Ann and Mac are bad for you, Alexei. It's one thing to fuck
around but it's never safe to trust someone outside the family." Her
monologue continued ceaselessly next to his ear like a stream of liquid poison.
"We know you have needs, Lexi. No one minds if you play with outsiders but
love is such a dangerous emotion."
Alex was collapsing into the physical comfort his tormentor was now offering.
Every muscle in his body ached from tension. His wrist was slick with blood and
both his shoulders throbbed from his useless struggles. His prosthetic
connection prickled, suggesting that he had damaged some of the more delicate
connections during his exertions. The sweat running down his back stung in the
places Kate's strapping had broke the skin.
"It's not like pretty Mac actually loves you either." Kate's battering
whisper didn't relent. "No more than an addict loves the heroin that he
craves."
It crossed his mind to object. Mac was constantly swearing his devotion but
then again, Alex knew how easily that sort of lie came to the lips. He had
spoken it himself more times than he could recall and had seldom meant it.
Besides, arguing with Kate wasn't something he wanted to do right now.
"Nicola loves you, Dearheart. Your sisters love you." Kate snuggled
against him. "I love you but you've been a disappointment lately."
"I'm sorry. I'll do better."
"I want to believe that, Lexi." she drew away to reach for the box she
had carried over from the hearth. Yet another needle was extracted and uncapped.
She checked the label Olga had put on it carefully. Because of the weird
chemical stew Vasili had contaminated Alexei with only certain obscure drugs
still worked on him. "But I'm having trouble accepting your word. Hold still,
Sweetie." Kate jabbed the point into his ass so she didn't have to worry
about being precise with her aim.
Alex groaned and dropped his forehead down once more. The action was too
abrupt and he could feel the bruising from repeated thumps grow more severe.
"I want you to listen to my voice." She tossed the now empty tube
aside. "Nicki wants you to do a little job for her." Kate levered his head
up and used a thumb to hold one of his eyelids open. She could tell the moment
the drugs hit his bloodstream. The green in his eyes all but vanished as his
pupils dilated. "You in there, Lexi?"
"Da." His head lolled.
"I'm going to give you a gun, Alexei." Kate mimed setting a weapon
between his bound wrists. "Nicki needs a body, Lexi." She explained
carefully. "It's completely up to you, Darling. You can kill anybody you want
from among the family or your little coven...but someone in the group has to
die."
"Don't do this." Alex pleaded, twisting in her grip. "Don't make me
chose."
"Baby, baby." Kate laughed. "You've killed before. What's one more
body. I won't punish you no matter who you chose. Tell the truth now." She
shifted to murmur right by his ear. "The family, ours and yours. Pick a
victim. No repercussions." Kate licked away the tear running down his cheek.
"Whom can you live without? Who matters the least?"
"Peter." Alex hissed, giving up the new kid Nicki had taken in wasn't
hard.
"There's a good boy." True to her words Kate didn't reprimand him over
the choice. Her finger tapped his forehead gently. "Three more bullets,
Darling. Use them."
He flinched with each tap. Any sense of what was expected of him shredded
away with an audible rip. "Kiska, Cathers, you."
Kate swallowed her annoyance. His priorities were completely outside the
family line. The next three taps on his forehead held a bit more force, no doubt
causing pain.
His hesitation was in making his choice, not in understanding what she
demanded of him. "Olga, Tati, Stacey." Alex declared in a dull monotone.
Kate wanted to scream into his ear. His programming was so fucked up she
couldn't begin to guess how long it was going to take to fix it properly. Olga
was supposed to be a primary subject for defending and he still hadn't started
on his little coven. "Another two." Her knuckle tapped out the demand.
Finally Alex began to struggle against the order. His voice was a gritty rasp
when he finally spoke. "Allegra and Mac."
It was about bloody time. Kate mentally ticked off who remained in Alexei's
fabricated hell. It wasn't good. "Another pair." She hit him a bit harder
this time.
His throat worked hard against the words. "Riene." Alex choked a
moment. "Li Ann." He was panting shallowly.
Three left. Kate frowned. As a soldier Marie should have gone down near the
beginning of the recital. Herself and Olga were supposed to be among the last
few he gave up. They were the commanders. "Another." One tap. Kate held
her breath as he tormented himself.
"Nicki." He finally spat out.
Kate had one hand on the taser. "One more." She had to knock the back
of his dark head. He was attempting to curl in on himself.
Alexei's head thumped off the wood. "Marie." His whimper was pitiful.
Kate flicked the taser on but Alex didn't flinch. He was too wrapped up in
the hallucination of all the piled bodies. "Oh baby." Kate said sadly,
cranking up the electrical charge. "This is the last bullet. You need to use
it too. I'm sorry. Who's left?" She needed to make him say it aloud before
they could move on.
Alex's hand spasmed on the imaginary gun. Only a squeak emerged.
"Last one, Lexi dear. Pull the trigger and end the game." Kate
encouraged. "What's that, Love?" His mumble wasn't even near audible.
"Say it loud."
Against all expectation Alex lifted his face. "Me." He repeated softly.
"I shoot myself."
Kate rocked back on her heels. This was not how the scenario was supposed to
go. "We've got a problem, Lexi. We've got a big problem here." She
considered the body before her with a scientific distance before adjusting the
taser yet again. "We need to have a little chat about the order of value
within the family and your brother, Victor." Kate aimed her weapon carefully
at the point where his arm turned artificial. Nicola did say she had complete
discretion on the handling of their wayward Alexei.
The suite had only one bathroom so while Li Ann took a turn in the shower
Victor shaved. Only a little over a year ago this kind of intimacy would have
drove Victor to distraction but now it was comforting.
The water in the stall shut down and a lean arm emerged to snag a pair of
towels. The curtain shoved aside a moment later and Li Ann let out a gasp of
surprise. "What happened to you?" she stepped out and edged closer.
The harsh bathroom light and his half-dressed state weren't flattering. Dark
bruises marked his arms and his wrists were chafed almost raw. When he was
unshaven she hadn't seen the darkness on his cheek and jaw. A bit less
noticeable were the hickeys about his collar line and a bite mark on his
shoulder blade.
"Mulder." Victor sat aside his razor and stared at his reflection.
"I don't think you want to get into it not if you want time to rest before
dinner." His voice was weary.
"Screw resting. What happened?" One long fingernail pointed out the
largest of the hickeys. "Don't tell me you're playing Lexi's game with
him." She warned.
"No. No. It's not like that." He grabbed up a washcloth to clean
away the remains of the shaving cream. "The bite was a mistake. We got
caught up in the moment. The hickeys..." Victor's face tinted red under her
scrutiny. "I was with Mulder when the mission got dropped in our laps.
After the call we got a little frantic, rushing things. I marked him in a couple
of spots too."
"This..." A gentle touch brushed his jaw. "...is not frantic.
This is abuse." She corrected.
He turned in place, leaning back against the sink. "That was meant for
Alex. Mulder and Scully were in on the bust at Stalward's. I held cover against
them."
"I know. Oh." Li Ann's dark eyes widened. "I'm sorry Victor.
That had to be difficult, coming so soon after you two finally connected."
She sympathised.
"Actually..." His breath escaped in a sigh, almost deflating him.
"Mulder and I have been dating on and off since that mess back in
September."
"Scully and I too." Li Ann encouraged. "No big deal."
"Maybe not for you." He teased. "But we've been trying to work
through the Alex issue."
She nodded. Their problems seemed similar at first glance but the particulars
were completely off. Scully simply hated Alex. Mulder hated him and wanted to
fuck around with Alex at the exact same time.
"I honestly thought he'd worked past it." Victor continued.
"Mulder swore he had it under control so we took what we had all the way
the other night." The ex-cop caught a glimpse of himself and Li Ann in the
mirror and had to laugh at the picture they presented. He felt like a
high-school kid all of a sudden. They should be standing in a locker room and Li
Ann should be one of the guys from his old hockey team.
"Victor?"
The woman he had once intended to marry slid right up to his side and took
his hand. The joke shattered into a million icy fragments. "Mulder went
into full 'rub his crotch then backhand me' mode at the bust." Victor
resumed his explanation. "What does that say? Not even 24 hours after he's
made love with me the bastard is onto it like a stray dog on a bitch in heat and
it wasn't even Alex. It was me, damn it. I know for a fact that I didn't
encourage him. I barely had time to realise who he was and I've got a steel rod
erection digging into my hipbone." He scrubbed at his forehead.
Li Ann rested her head on Victor's thick upper arm. "Are you writing him
off then? Maybe he's not worth the energy you're expending on him."
"I don't know." His hands scraped up into his hairline and through
his too short black hair. It was brittle, not having been washed since just
after the hasty dye job. "When it's just him and I it's fabulous. He's so
careful of me." Victor stated. "But the world doesn't work that way. I
know that."
"Are you in love with him?" Li Ann asked cautiously.
"Are you in love with the beautiful Agent Scully?" He countered in
an arch tone.
"Ah, stalemate." She squeezed a little before pulling away.
"Finish getting cleaned up." Li Ann suggested. "I need you sharp
to guard my back at dinner."
Victor shook his head. "They're not that bad." He scolded softly.
"They're just not comfortable with outsiders, which is what we still are.
It's only been a year."
"You are altogether too nice a person, Victor Mansfield. You're just
lucky that Mac and I are nasty enough to make up for the difference."
"Mac's nasty." Victor chuckled, shoving off his jeans. "You're
simply cautious." He grinned at her. "So, you staying for the floor
show?" His fingers hooked suggestively into the band of his underwear.
Li Ann broke into an uncontrollable case of the giggles as she dropped her
eyes to his crotch.
"Oh thanks." He complained. "That just caps off a wonderful
day."
"No." She gulped air, trying to get control of her breathing.
"It's just..." Li Ann bit at her lip in an attempt at sobriety.
"Besides the arm." She forced a serious expression onto her face.
"There's always one sure way to tell you and Alex apart." Another
giggle cracked her calm.
"What?" Victor glared impatiently. "I am not going to get my
nipple pierced. No how, no way."
"That's not it either." She had to turn away and stare down at the
floor. "I don't suppose it's come up before."
"Spit it out."
"All that detail getting him ready as a mole. I can't believe they
missed something so basic." Li Ann broke into a snort. "Russians don't
circumcise their baby boys."
"Eww, yeck!" Victor's lip curled. "Go. Shoo. I have to shower
from just listening to you talk." He teased half-heartedly. "That's
the very last thing I need kicking around in my head right now."
"Sorry Vic." Li Ann padded out the door still chortling to herself.
When the women had told them that dinner was formal they had understated the
situation. The long table, set with delicate china, was covered with a white
cloth and lit by four huge candelabras. A woman in an immaculate uniform served
them. Every lady at the table except Li Ann wore a dress that wouldn't have been
out of place at a tie and tails event. The elderly woman at one end of the
table, Nicki, actually had on a floor length gown and jewellery enough to buy a
life in most cities of the world. She had let out a slight sniff of annoyance
when Victor and Li Ann appeared last in simple slacks, tidy shirts and sweaters.
The conversation so far had been overtly polite as well, touching on the
difficulties of the move from St Petersburg, the political climate back home and
the exchange rates of world currency.
Since they were closest to Olga's end of the table the trio were also gifted
with some incomprehensible dissertation on DNA and genetic manipulation. Li Ann
wrote off the chance of gaining any useful information from dinner conversation
and set to visually studying the people present. With the exception of the three
Catherines she was able to match a face to each of the names that had been
thrown at her.
Nicki was a bit of a surprise. She was much more aristocratic and delicate
than Li Ann had expected. She had supposed the taskmaster of the family to be a
rather stern, hard-edged woman. Nicola, however, was every inch the elegant,
ageing Empress that the setting suggested. Occasionally the elderly lady would
look Li Ann's way, intercepting the younger's gaze. No information passed
between them. Nicki could have been an ice sculpture for all the honest emotion
her expression disclosed.
Li Ann was also curious about the two noticeable absences from the family
dinner. There should have been a fourth clone and the boy, Peter, that Alex had
mentioned a few times was missing as well. Mac, Victor and the driver were the
only males she had seen so far in this strange place.
Victor, sitting across from her, gave the impression that he wanted to say
something to her but wasn't comfortable voicing it aloud. Mac was the one that
surprised her by whispering to Li Ann.
"There's a third floor." Mac began, choosing not only to use his
quietest voice but Cantonese as well. "I was up in Alex's room for a while.
The older women are all lodged up there."
"Anything strange?" Li Ann asked in the same language.
"Not at first glance but I only checked out Alex's rooms. You want to go
prowling later tonight after everyone calls it a night?"
The two Catherines sitting on either side of Mac and Li Ann were beginning to
frown at them.
"That might be nice." Li Ann flipped back to English to ease their
minds.
The dinner plates were being collected. Victor was gently chiding his sister
about how much she had packed away over the course of the meal while Olga
insisted that Allegra wasn't eating nearly enough for a woman in her condition.
"There's dessert too." Allegra looked across, noticing Mac was
fidgeting in his chair with the urge to leave. She grinned.
"I couldn't eat another bite." Li Ann protested. If she wanted the
energy to prowl around tonight she needed to lay down now.
The Catherine beside Li Ann chose that moment to address a stream of Russian
at Nicola.
"If you will all excuse me." Li Ann began to push back from the
table.
"Li Ann." An imperious tone cut through the air silencing everyone
present. "Are you leaving us already?" Nicki asked. "I had hoped
for a chance to speak with the three of you after dinner." There was no
need to specify which three. Mac and Victor's heads lifted immediately.
"I'm sorry." Li Ann attempted. "I really am quite exhausted
from all that's gone on over these last few days. Perhaps in the morning."
She looked up the table in time to see one carefully plucked, silver brow lift.
"Then I shall only keep you briefly." Nicki countered. "We
will take hot chocolate in the other room." She announced as the servant
returned with yet another trolley. The old woman climbed gracefully to her feet.
"The rest of you finish without us." With that she began walking to
the door, confident that they would follow.
"It is her house." Victor pushed upright.
Mac sighed once but followed suit, offering an arm for Li Ann. "When in
Rome." He mumbled to himself.
Li Ann stood but avoided the courtesy in favour of walking boldly after
Nicki. She felt an intense need to present an independent manner about this
gathering of odd women. She let the guys trail her.
The 'other room' that Nicki led them to was a strange mixture of a
traditional old world parlour and an office. The desk was ornately carved and
two tall wall units held a collection of computer equipment but the utilitarian
parts were overwhelmed by vases of dried flowers and fussy red velvet and
polished wood furniture.
Nicola settled into a chair that bore more than a passing resemblance to a
throne. Her hand gestured to the two nearby couches. "It will take a little
time for Marianna to bring the chocolate but I won't try your patience by
waiting."
All three of them settled onto the same long sofa, Li Ann between the two
men.
"I just wanted to make sure that all of you were clear on the few simple
rules that govern our home." Nicola adjusted a pillow at her spine.
"Rules?" Mac asked. "Are we guests or something else?"
His voice hinted 'prisoners' but he didn't use the word.
"You are cousins." She smiled. "But even within a family some
concessions must be made for the consideration of other family members."
Nicki's hand's folded on her lap. "If a door is locked, although few here
are, you are not to enter uninvited. That's just common courtesy, yes?" She
didn't wait for a response. "The same with any information that is password
protected on our computer system. I suspect neither a lock nor a password is
capable of holding you three out but polite regard may."
Several appraising looks were exchanged between Nicki and her guests. Mac
leaned back with an innocent smile on his face.
"I would like access to a telephone." Li Ann announced. The lack of
phones in clear sight made her especially apprehensive. "I need to make
contact with my office before it shuts down for Christmas vacation and I'd like
to give them a way to contact me if anything important occurs."
"Would e-mail access suffice?" Nicki counter-offered. "The
authorities have taken an unhealthy and less than legal interest in your phone
lines."
"I'll manage if that's all I can have." Li Ann allowed. "I
will also be checking in with a few friends who are no doubt worried about my
sudden disappearance."
Nicola's pale eyes narrowed. "Agent Scully is not to be given this
location." She announced, obviously aware of Li Ann and Scully's
relationship despite the fact that they had been quite secretive. "I don't
want the FBI turning their attention to my home. Surely you can understand
that."
"Where is Alex?" Victor leaned forward to take the spotlight away
from Li Ann's outraged expression. His arms rested on his knees. "I don't
think he should be this far behind the rest of us and I doubt you're unaware of
his exact location, considering what he's carrying."
Nicola locked gazes with her Alexei's twin. It annoyed her enormously that
those intimately familiar green orbs didn't immediately drop to the carpet. She
had expected difficulty from Li Ann. The oriental woman's will was too strong to
bend quickly. Finding insolence wrapped in Alexei's form was beyond frustrating,
especially after the trouble he had been giving her. "I'm afraid Lexi has
been intercepted." She threw them something to gnaw on.
"Who? Where?" Mac jumped to his feet.
"SIT!" She shouted. "Calm down. All of you." Nicki added
seeing Li Ann and Victor poised for action as well. "Marie and Kate have
been dispatched to deal with the situation. If it's beyond their capabilities
they will request aid. Until then we will not froth ourselves into a state of
alarm."
"When were you planning on telling us what happened?" Victor
demanded, earning another hostile look from the elderly woman. It was strange.
As simply a voice on the phone over the last year he had gotten the impression
that Nicki liked him but he saw no sign of that now.
Elegant shoulders lifted briefly. "I hadn't decided." She said
honestly. "I have the problem in hand and it needn't concern you."
"I want to go and help." Li Ann persisted. "Mac and I can go,
Victor will stay here with Allegra." Unspoken, 'as hostages' was obvious in
the offer.
"It's under control."
A quiet tap warned them before the door opened and a plump old woman wheeled
a cart inside. Nicola continued on as if the servant weren't even there.
"Kate and Marie assure me that Alexei will be back in your arms tomorrow or
the next day. If they need help I will hear of it."
"Still, an extra set of hands..."
"Young lady." Nicki cut her off. "You forget your place.
Alexei belongs to me first and the three of you only as I allow. I hold the
power of final decision in this family. If and when I see fit you will receive
further information." She accepted a shell thin cup from the servant.
"Don't press my tolerance, Children." She warned in a mild tone.
"We are not children." Victor waved off the drink. "And we
don't belong to you." He had taken enough of that kind of attitude when he
worked for the Director. "We work for you, that's it."
"I want a phone. Now." Li Ann reiterated her demand. With Victor
running interference there was no better time to attempt the request.
"E-mail." Nicola insisted, flipping her attention from one
challenge to another without a fluster. "The computer in your suite will
suit your purpose.
"Car keys and Alex's location." Victor asked.
"No."
"Marie's cell phone number." Mac leapt into the fray. "Let us
talk to her ourselves."
Nicki's carefully painted lips pursed. "I can not contact her safely.
Her position may be delicate. If and when she calls into us one of you may speak
to her briefly."
"Me." Mac claimed the opportunity.
The servant withdrew, having been unable to provide any of the trio with a
drink.
Mac stood up. "If that's all." The others were following his
example.
Nicola surveyed them over the rim of her cup. "I had a few more bits of
information to pass along." She said.
"I got the 'common courtesy' speech when I was five years old. If you've
got nothing else I'm out of here." Mac headed for the door.
"But you obviously didn't absorb much of it, young man." Nicki's
temper almost slipped its leash. "Let me make it perfectly clear. If you do
not respect the privacy of our business and stay within the boundaries you've
been shown I have it within my power to make your lives even more complicated
than they are now."
"Are you threatening us?" Li Ann almost growled.
"Yes." Nicki subsided back into the chair, looking completely
content with the world. "Yes, I am. Now...you're all excused." Long
fingernails flickered, dismissing them.
Victor could almost see the urge forming in Li Ann's head so he caught hold
of her wrist and pulled before the words could reach his ex-fiancee's lips. They
got out the door without a screaming match because she was too angry to be
articulate.
Alex awoke from an especially nasty nightmare to find his situation had
finally changed. On the up side the cuff around his good wrist was cushioned by
bandages and padding. He had also been sponged off and now lay wrapped in soft
white sheets on a real bed. The down side was a noticeable lack of weight at his
left shoulder. He had hoped that he'd imagined that particularly painful
sensation, but no, Kate had taken his arm or rather he had fought so hard
against his restraints that it had torn loose so it had to be removed.
A body settled next to him on the mattress and Alexei flinched
uncontrollably. Fingers skimmed up his ribcage making him whimper. There was no
way he could go through another interrogation session with Kate. Alex just knew
it would drive him absolutely insane. "No more." It was a cracked shadow
of his usual voice.
"Have you learned your lesson, Lexi? Have you got things straight now?"
Kate's whisper tickled his ear. "Because it's not too late. I can still end
it for you. End all the pain." She seduced, her hand caressing even as she
offered him death. "Shall I kill you, Lexi darling?"
"If you want to." He tried to lay passive under her attention.
"That's our special boy." Kate praised. She pushed up and placed her
hand across the slight arch of his throat. "Lay still, sweet one. You just be
still and take it. Goodbye Alexei." The pressure against his windpipe
increased while Kate's kiss sucked the air right out of his lungs.
It wasn't the most difficult thing he had ever done but it was harder than he
expected. Alex's fingers spasmed about the chain holding his wrist to keep
himself from attempting to throw her off. At this point he wasn't even sure if
he hoped this were another test or if he wished Kate was serious. Alexei was
still undecided when stars began to explode inside his eyelids forcing tears
out.
The pressure abated at the very last moment and a hard thump on the chest
reminded him to breathe again. Kate was whispering praise in his ear but the
words refused to make sense. The light kisses she was scattering over his chest,
shoulders and face were a reward he could process even half-conscious.
"There's our very good boy."
Alexei finally began to comprehend Kate's voice. He swallowed, testing the
damage to his throat. The best Alex could manage was a hoarse croak. "I'm
sorry. I'm so sorry." He began despite the pain of speaking. "Please, can
I see Nicki? Please."
"You owe us so much it's staggering, Lexi." Kate reminded him. "You
owe Nicki and the family some major concessions."
"Anything." The promise was heartfelt. Living without Nicola's
sheltering protection wasn't an option. His entire life outside the family was
built on one set of lies or another. It would drive him crazy if he didn't have
some one who understood exactly what he was and accepted it. Only once in his
life had he ever seriously considered defecting and that was years ago, back
when he'd been young and stupid.
"IF I manage to convince Nicki to grant you an audience..." Kate sat
up. "...and she sets you a loyalty test..."
"I won't fail." Alex assured.
"You're not the spoiled baby of the family anymore, Lexi. There will be no
more chances after this. You've used up the last of Nicki's patience up with
this fiasco." The teenager climbed off the bed. "No more questioning or
complaining. Your little coven is an indulgence that only exists under the
limitations that the family allows. If Nicki says their time is up..." She
looked expectantly down at him.
"I'll kill them myself." Alexei finished the thought.
"She might ask you to do one of them now as proof. Which one would you
pick?"
Alex kept his expression blank not daring to betray the tight pain across his
chest. "Whichever one Nicki chooses."
"Your choice. Make Nicki happy." She tossed it right back at him. No
drugs were pumping through his system right now. Kate watched his shoulders and
chest for any betraying tension. Lexi was too good for his expression to give
him away.
"Li Ann. She knows too much. Do you want me to do her now? I'll need a
weapon. She's too good at hand to hand, unless she's asleep." He considered.
"I'll try it if you want but a knife would be more reliable." He squirmed
as close to upright as his chain would allow. "Especially with..." Alex
looked pointedly down at his left shoulder.
"Why not Victor?" Kate continued to study him as if he were an
experiment near completion. "Or Mac? Or Allegra?"
"Allegra's baby needs to be investigated. Mac is harmless. Victor's
malleable, if a bit naÔve. Nicki could break him in a week if she put her mind
to it. As far as risk management goes Li Ann is the most dangerous in knowledge,
personality and level of independence." He outlined blandly.
"Very nice, Lexi. Very logical." Kate smiled. "So, you think Victor
is good material for assimilation."
"As it stands now he's a land mine. We should either pull him in the rest
of the way or push him out to the fringes."
Kate took a step backwards. Her eyes narrowed as she looked for some sign of
guile in his manner. What he was saying did make sense. In fact a rather
elaborate plan was beginning to form in her head even as he spoke.
"Victor wants to belong somewhere badly. Given the right atmosphere of
acceptance even his sense of morality can be subverted. His years with the
Pacific Agency are proof of that. Although I would suggest any removal of Li Ann
be set up to appear as an external act if Nicki wishes to suck Victor in. The
Agency or, if possible, Mulder and Scully would be the best to take the blame
thereby shattering his faith in any source outside the family." Alex stared
up at his tormentor with a carefully bland expression. If Kate caught even a
whiff of deceit from him, whether real or imagined, he was toast and Victor
wouldn't be far behind.
"I'll be back shortly." Kate announced. She had a tentative scenario
she wanted to present to Nicola.
It wasn't until the plain wooden door closed behind her that Alex allowed
himself to break out into nervous shivers.
Victor left the more delicate work inside the lodge to Mac and Li Ann. Acting
on a gut level instinct that he didn't completely understand Victor chose to
bundle up and attempt to investigate some of the smaller buildings that he'd
caught sight of in the half-light of the compound. Because of the cold the locks
outside were of a more primitive mechanical kind rather than fancy electronics.
Of course if the first two shelters were any indication the contents weren't
terribly interesting either. The first was full of boxes and sacks of chemical
compounds and dry goods. The second had been packed with household supplies
liked canned food, candles and everyday necessities. Victor had opened a few
crates in expectation of weapons or files before realising that sort of thing
had to be in a more secure location.
Shivering, he persisted. The next door opened just as easily as the first
two. Li Ann and Mac had taught him well. The interior of this cabin, however,
was entirely different. A fireplace glowed on one wall of the simply furnished
room. Victor noted two old-fashioned chairs and a bed before his eyes reached
the extravagant computer desk that took up one entire wall.
The chair in the centre of the massive sprawl of electronics swivelled around
and a very young man jumped to his feet. He stared across at Victor, clearly
surprised at the intrusion but not angry. "Umm. Hullo. I wasn't expecting
you quite..." The baby faced youth stalled out, subserviently dropping his
gaze to the floor. Strangely enough a strong British accent had flavoured the
words. "Sorry."
The next sentence was made up of stumbling, hesitant Russian words of which
Victor recognised 'please' and 'Alexei'. "It's okay. English is fine."
He had impersonated his twin a few times before around casual business
associates. The ruse came easily.
"Nicola told me you were on your way home but not that you had
arrived." The slender kid shifted nervously under his visitor's scrutiny,
daring finally to peek up at his visitor. "It's good to see you
again." Hands bunched against the fabric of his loose trousers.
That was as big a lie as any Victor had ever heard. The young man was
obviously terrified. "I just got in." Victor's mind raced trying to
place the other. Maybe the youth was one of the family's pet hackers. It was
also odd to see someone in this place that wasn't eagerly excited by Alex's
arrival. "What are you doing?" The ex-cop made a sit-down motion with
his hand and the kid obeyed instantly, like a well-trained puppy.
"Banking." The young man turned in place and reached for the mouse.
"It's a trifle awkward moving big lots of money about through Canadian
banks." Narrow shoulders shrugged stiffly. "But I've found enough back
doors and loop-holes to shift a fair chunk of it to where Nicki wants it."
Victor leaned, putting enough weight on the back of the kid's chair that it
wouldn't turn about suddenly. He memorised the account number on the screen to
give Li Ann a start point for hacking into the family's banking records.
"How long have you been at this? It's late." Victor observed.
The young man's spine tensed straight. Soft spikes of short, sandy blond hair
tickled Victor's cheek when the kid shivered. "You're here for my first
lesson, aren't you?" The question ended with a worried squeak. "Nicki
says I'm overdue. I knew this was coming. Olga left some 'supplies' in the
dresser drawer." He rambled, showing his upset emotional state.
"What are you afraid of?" Victor questioned vaguely.
"Kate said it's going to hurt but Riene swears I'll like it. I don't
know what to think. I don't do pain well. You've seen that already. I don't
want..." His breath shuddered out. The teenager's head tipped forward to
rest against the computer monitor. "I'm sorry, Alexei. I'll shut up. You
know I'll do whatever you want. I'll try really hard. Please don't tell Nicki
I'm acting up."
Peter, the new kid, Victor finally decided. No one else would toss family
names around so casually and of course he would be expecting Alex to do
instructor duties. For God's sake, the boy wasn't any older than the Catherines
were. He was still a child as far as Victor was concerned. "I'm not going
to hurt you." Victor assured the other. To stay in character he dropped a
kiss on the top of Peter's head. The downy texture and pleasant scent was a
temptation that Alex certainly wouldn't have bothered to resist. "Not
tonight anyway. I'm just checking in." He leaned closer. "Do me a
favour." A smile tugged at his lips. Tonight's work wasn't going to be a
total waste of time. "I want to sent a message to a friend but I don't need
the girls teasing me about him. You can get it sent without Nicki seeing it,
right?"
"Uh, yeah, but..." The younger squirmed.
"Then do it." Victor ordered arrogantly. "Open me a message
and give me some space."
Fingers flew at the command and in seconds a blank e-mail stood ready.
"Wait on the bed." Victor tapped the seat, chasing the kid out of
it then took his place. Using only his right hand Victor typed out:
"landed in Anchorage "took a little plane for an hour then drove for
another hour "we're in serious shit "we need some help "V
"Will 'send' get this out cleanly?" Vic asked over his shoulder.
Luckily he'd memorised Mulder's address. Arguments aside, they needed help and
Victor couldn't think of anyone else to ask.
"Yes Alexei." Came the timid response.
"Great. Thank you." Victor stood up. He had to get out of here
before the kid realised that he wasn't Alex and blew the whistle. "I've an
appointment." He lied. "I just wanted to touch base with you."
Victor headed for the door. "Don't work all night. Even at your age you
need to sleep." He joked then let himself out.
Li Ann and Mac were both in a foul mood and had been all day. Their
explorations had been close to useless. Interesting information trails had sent
them in circles. Altogether too many people had been moving about in the most
promising areas despite the late hour. Their night's work had accomplished
little of value. It occurred to them that their rooms were quite probably bugged
and they had been anticipated.
The day dragged, with Allegra choosing to remain quietly in her room after
pleading exhaustion and the Romanov ladies seemed to be avoiding them. A servant
brought meals to the trio's suite and announced that the formal dinner was
cancelled for the evening.
Victor was rapidly joining his roommates' emotional state. "We're in the
middle of nowhere." The ex-cop threw himself down on the couch beside Li
Ann. "No Alex, no tree, no clues. Happy bloody Christmas."
Mac looked up from the keyboard he was slaving over. His expression wasn't
hopeful. All he'd done was confirm that none of Li Ann's e- mails had actually
left. Some kind of buffer server had intercepted them by the looks of things.
A knock on the door made all three of them jump. It opened without
invitation. Nicola took one step into he room and gazed down at them, chin high.
Li Ann stood to make them level. "We've had about enough of this
garbage." She started.
A thin, be-ringed hand lifted. "Such tempers and glares. How rude when I
come bearing a gift." A flick of her wrist brought Alex forward into the
light. "Be gentle with our darling. He's a bit fragile right now."
It didn't matter that he had the most distance to cover. Mac threw himself
across the room in an eye-blink. Li Ann almost laughed with delight until Mac's
voice strangled out an exclamation of "Your arm!"
"Our Lexi suffered some damage at the hands of his captors and discs
were lost." Nicola explained in a chill tone. "But at least we
recovered him. Olga will see to replacing his arm in a day or two when it isn't
quite so tender." The elderly woman looked to Victor. "Can I trust
he'll be handled carefully or should I take him back down to the
infirmary?"
"We'll take care of him." Victor stated, curious as to why she had
singled him out.
Nicola nodded and left them.
Mac was guiding his lover to a space on the couch. Nonsensical soothings fell
from the younger man's lips. Alex looked rough, battered and bruised, and his
movements were stiff.
"Alex, what happened?" Li Ann questioned. "Who did this to
you?"
"Don' wanna talk about it." As soon as he realised where he sat
Alexei pulled away from Mac's touches and burrowed into Victor instead.
"Don' wanna talk at all."
"I know it's painful." Li Ann persisted. "But you need to get
it out."
The lanky thief stared at the scene in shock, a protest forming on his lips.
He laid a hand against his lover's back causing Alex to whimper and draw even
further away.
Li Ann motioned him off. "Alex, I'm not going to hurt you. I just want
to see." She coaxed. The long sleeved shirt he wore was far too large. It
hung loose on him. "It's important, Love. Let me..." She caught the
back tail and lifted. What Li Ann could see of his skin was covered with wide
welts. A peek at the hand Alex had fisted into the front of Victor's sweater
told her that his wrist was thickly wrapped. She sat back. "Someone has
beaten him badly. Be careful how you touch him Mac. Alex, who did this?"
Mac seemed offended by the suggestion on how to treat his lover for a brief
moment but his face cleared. "Alexei." He crouched down in front of
the sofa. "Love, has someone seen to you? Checked over the damage?"
Alex nodded silently without removing his face from the curve of his twin's
shoulder.
Victor winced at Mac's obvious distress but Alex had chosen and showed no
sign of relaxing the death-grip he had fastened on with. Victor squirmed a
little, turning into the embrace and cupped the back of his brother's head.
"It's okay, Alex. It's all over now. You're safe with us."
Mac's mouth opened in protest and his hand lifted to catch hold of his lover
but Li Ann blocked the touch. "He's probably sore there." The oriental
woman explained, indicating Alexei's shoulder. "Step back a bit Mac. He
needs to talk not be mauled right now. Alexei darling, you have to tell us what
happened. Where have you been?" She began.
"Step back?" The other repeated in a disbelieving monotone.
"I...should step back?" Mac's head shook. "I'm just trying to
show MY lover that I'm glad to see him. Maybe someone else here should be
stepping back." His lips tightened into something near a frown.
"Don't." Victor caught their attention with one whispered word.
"Not now." He warned before turning his attention to his brother once
more. "Alex, how about you lay down on one of the beds and let me see your
back. You'll feel better if you're not crunched up on a couch." Victor
coaxed his twin into standing up. "No interrogation." Vic informed Li
Ann. "No groping." Mac was told.
"I would never." Li Ann seemed appalled at having her intentions
questioned.
"Come on Alex." Victor gently drew his twin over and through his
bedroom door. With a twinge of guilt he kicked the door closed behind them,
shutting out his partners.
"Thank you." Alex mumbled briefly.
Victor ran an appraising stare over his brother. "You don't want them to
see you like this, do you Alex?" Without waiting to be asked Vic stepped up
to undo the small buttons that held the other's shirt closed. The fabric pulled
slightly at the salves his back was coated with but only briefly.
"Christ." The exclamation squeezed out of Victor's lungs. The evidence
of a whipping wasn't actually too bad. The skin was only broken in a few spots
although some vivid bruises criss-crossed Alex's back. The thing that disturbed
Victor was the multitude of small angry red marks all over his brother. Normally
he would have been puzzled by the tracks but he'd seen another smaller copy of
these and it helped him place the evidence. Dobrinsky had once tasered Mac on
the hand while Victor had watched. The result was similar, if less severe.
"Would you like something to drink, some ice water?"
Alex shook his head. "Throat hurts." He whispered. "Olga
medicined me."
"Okay. Lay down and I'll get your shoes off." Victor suggested. His
stomach did a quick rollover at the sight of a stark white bandage covering one
of Alex's nipples but he didn't want to press for details. More gauzy wrappings
covered the stump of Alex's arm and his remaining wrist. "You okay in those
pants? I think I've got some sweats kicking around you could sleep in if you
wanted to."
"I'm 'kay." Alexei mumbled. "Keep me company, Vicka. I don'
wanna be alone."
After dealing with Alex's shoes Victor toed off his own and lay down beside
his brother. He suspected what was going to happen and had chosen Alex's
undamaged side. As expected the injured man's hand extended and fisted into the
wool of his twin's sweater once more. The muscle in Alex's arm twitched but he
did no more than hold tight.
Victor considered. "It's all right." He slid closer, allowing Alex
to press against him. "I'm not going to leave, I'm never going to hurt you
and I don't want anything from you." Victor qualified when he noticed the
shift in the other's hips. He kissed Alex's too-short, dark hair. "Let me
talk instead." It had to be a harmless subject, which was hard. No Mac or
Li Ann. No cop stories. Family was tricky too. "What do you know about
hockey, Alex?" Victor didn't wait for a response. "I've got a hell of
a slap-shot. I once made all four goals in a semi-final. It was the best game I
ever played."
Victor might have slept through the urgent whispering beside him but the odd
jolting of the mattress was too rare an occurrence for his dreaming mind to
dismiss. Now, he lay quietly trying to decide what to do about the situation and
missing the insistent clinging warm of his twin that he had enjoyed for several
hours now. Victor heard laboured breathing and moist suction of what he hoped
were kisses.
"Don't. You're going to wake Victor." Alex's complaint was soft and
lacked any sense of authority.
"So stop squirming." Mac's voice chastised. "We should go to
my room, Lover." Weight shifted and Alex moaned softly. Mac's laugh was
faint. "But that's not what you want, is it Demon?" Fabric rustled and
Alexei's breathing hitched erotically. "I know what you're thinking. I know
I'm a stand-in for who you really want, just like always. Open your eyes, damn
it. Do you think I'm stupid?"
More damp suckling almost made Victor speak up. The next sentence put a
severe dent in his ability to reason, however.
"If I fuck you right here whose name will you call out when you come,
Demon? Does Victor know, Lover? You're such a sick slut. What you want. It would
disgust him. You must realise that he won't ever do 'this'..."
Alex's moan was choked. The body beside Victor was shivering violently.
"...to you." Mac let out a laboured hiss. His voice was on the edge
of cracking with emotion. "Jeez, I don't even care at this point. I've
missed you so much." A lengthy kiss interrupted the declaration. "Come
to my room, Demon. You can bury your face in the pillows and pretend it's him if
that's what you need. I won't complain. But if I don't have your ass in the next
ten minutes I think I'll die."
"Bastard." Alex accused weakly.
"Yeah, but we need each other."
The balance of the bed shifted. Mac's voice was higher above them the next
time he spoke. "I had him Alexei." The younger man taunted. "You
come with me and I'll tell you about it. I'll tell you what all his bedroom
noises sound like. Vic liked it on his back with all the lights on so we could
stare into each others' eyes."
Victor's stomach and fists clenched but he couldn't see a way out of this
that wouldn't turn nasty enough to hurt them all except to continue to fake
sleep.
"He came to relieve me on a stake-out." Mac confided. "I had
nothing to go home to but an empty apartment so I hung around to mess with his
head. Vic flusters so nicely if you hit the right topic. I know you want to hear
about it, Demon. You want details. Come with me right now."
More shifting. How could someone so badly injured move so quickly? Victor
wondered. Maybe if he thought about that hard enough he could block out the
lovers' whispered conversation.
"I'm so fucked up." Alex's voice was muffled.
"I don't care." Mac declared vehemently. "Anything you want
I'll be it, I'll do it. Don't you ever leave me, Demon. You need me. I need you.
Nobody else would ever put up the garbage we inflict on each other. You remember
that."
"I know. I know." Was the mumbled response.
Victor caught a glimpse through his lashes as the outer door opened
illuminating the pair. Alex was leaning drunkenly into the taller man with his
forehead pressed against Mac's shoulder. Mac's fingers dug harshly into the
curve of the Russian's ass provoking a whimper of excitement from Alexei and
they ground their crotches together.
As soon as they were gone Victor rolled over onto his back. His palms
scrubbed at his face. He should have expected Alex would take a sexual interest
in him. Alex took a sexual interest in everyone he met it seemed. Hell, within
their odd squared tangle he and Alex were the only pairing that hadn't had a
physical relationship and they made up for it by both chasing after Mulder.
Maybe Li Ann had the right idea. Although Agent Scully was still at the edge of
their incestuous muddle at least Alex had never shown any interest in the
attractive redhead. The problem was in finding a partner outside of the tightly
entwined world that he, his partners and his siblings inhabited.
Now, however, wasn't the time to plan changes in his social life. First they
needed to get out of the odd 'fortress of solitude' and back among normal
people. Hopefully Mulder would make his destination known to the right people so
they'd have some leverage against simply disappearing without a ripple of
protest from the outside world. Maybe he should have contacted the Director
instead. Her resources would be more expansive but then again Alex and his
family would go ballistic if he revealed too much to that particular government
agency. Mulder investigated stuff like this all the time and never seemed to
expose his conclusions. The Director would plunder and exploit the discovery.
Riene rousted them all out of bed and into their clothes with a giggling
announcement that Saint Nicki had made sure they would have a proper North
American Christmas after all. She insisted that all four of them shower and put
on comfortable clothes. It was an awkward twenty minutes before the four of them
were ready to descend the stairs.
The teenage girl earned Mac's annoyance at every possible step of the way.
She hung on him, grabbing at his arm and fussing so much that Alex was
practically shoved away. The injured man, of course, turned to Victor for aid
with his buttons and shoes. The Russian also chose to lean on his twin for the
trip down since Riene had a death-grip on Mac's arm as they left the suite.
Once they reached the lower floor she dragged them down a side hall and into
a room the trio hadn't noticed before. The sitting room was dominated by a
massive evergreen festooned with garland and illuminated by tiny candle-like
lights.
Allegra stood to one side of the bush tree almost bouncing with excitement.
She reached behind the greenery as soon as the group entered and with a cheery
'Merry Christmas' she dragged an annoyed looking Fox Mulder into their line of
sight. Scully was a step behind him, carefully avoiding the younger woman's
grabbing hands. Both the agents were dressed in rumpled looking work-suits and
neither seemed well rested or at all comfortable.
Mulder shook off Allegra's light touch and stalked across the room to stop in
front of the twins. "If this is your idea of fun..." He let the threat
hang without directing it at either man. After a split- second's appraisal
Mulder turned all of his fury straight at Alex. "Where are the discs?"
"Please explain to me..." Alexei's posture straightened and he
gathered sarcasm about himself like a cloak. "How could I have been
upstairs stealing the bloody computer files at the same time as you were
smacking me around in the reception room?"
Mulder's changeable eyes shifted to Victor, taking note of the bruising on
his face. "I know of one way, but I'm hoping there's another
explanation." He stated levelly.
"Victor, Mac and Li Ann were already headed up here when that crap at
Stalward's went down. They had nothing to do with it." Alex lied smoothly.
"Riene and I made a brief stab at the discs but they were too well
secured." He glanced over at the teenager and she nodded confirmation.
"Nice to see you again, Agent Mulder. How's the head?" Riene
recalled the man had taken a thump during the van break. "We weren't
properly introduced before." She padded forward in an attempt to draw some
of the attention. "I'm Catherine Alexander. You have no idea how much I've
heard about you."
Mulder ignored the girl, pushing past so he could get even closer to Alex.
"You are under arrest." His hand shot out to grab at the Russian's
shirt.
Victor batted the reaching fingers away. "Back off Mulder." He
warned in a low growl. "You're in hostile territory now and strong arm
tactics won't cut it here." Victor moved to keep his brother protected from
the older man. Alex was damaged enough right now. Strangely, considering past
experiences Alex let himself be walled away from Mulder without protest.
Mulder turned a curious stare on his lover. "You brought us here."
He reminded.
"Not to bluster and threaten." Victor clarified. "Things are
complicated. If you can stay rational and official you'll do a damned sight more
good at this point." He'd wanted to improve the odds against the Romanov
women but he now saw Mulder's flaring anger and Scully's harsh stare Victor
couldn't help but wonder if it was a mistake bringing them into things.
"This is simply too-too awkward." Riene pouted. "Why doesn't
everyone just settle down somewhere while the tea and coffee are fetched and
we'll have a civilised chat over opening Christmas presents." She coaxed.
"Now some of the gifts were scrounged up at the last minute but I'm assured
Santa Nicki has done miracles."
All around the room incredulous expressions turned the teenager's way. As if
on cue one of the wide doors pushed open and the elderly Mrs Uritski pushed a
large silver trollycart into the room. The old lady halted it right beside
Scully then abandoned the cart to bustle across the room. First she shooed
Allegra onto one of the long couches, propping pillows all about the pregnant
girl. After that she bustled over to Alexei and confidently extracted him from
Victor's shadow. He was installed on a different sofa as the woman spouted a
stream of Russian chatter that sounded suspiciously like scolding. The elderly
servant then fetched two already prepared cups of hot chocolate and plates of
little cakes for each of the two. Her words directed Riene's way eventually.
"Mama Uritski says everyone should help themselves." The girl
translated. "There are sweetrolls and fresh bread. The coffee is very hot
so mind you Americans don't burn your tongues." Riene grinned. "She's
got work to do but we should shout if we need anything." She flipped into
Russian to address the woman, thanking her and promising she would keep close
tabs on what Alexei and Allegra required.
Scully eyed the wheeled tea tray. "This is not a social call." She
spoke for the first time. "Agent O'Conner lost two toes thanks to that
little stunt down in New York. Valuable information is missing and the
surveillance equipment suggests that you and Krycek are responsible. On top of
all that I get the distinct impression that Mr Mansfield and Ms Tsei are here
against their will." Scully outlined. "And we have a valid warrant for
Krycek's arrest which we intend to carry out, young lady. So let's forget all
these hollow platitudes and tend to business."
Riene's thin brows lifted and some comment in Russian snarked out making
Alexei laugh.
"Da. I told you that Bodkin." He reminded her.
"Lexi." Li Ann's upper lip curled slightly in warning. She had
recognised only one of Riene's words but she suspected that it was a rather
vicious insult.
"I was just commenting on Agent Scully's impeachable sense of official
standards." Riene's falsehood was glaring. "Perhaps to put the
esteemed doctor in the festive mood." The dark-haired teen walked over to
the tree, knelt and withdrew a brightly wrapped bundle. "Merry Christmas
Agent Scully. Olga chose this out of her files especially for you." She
offered up the parcel.
"How absurd." Dana eyed the gift with disdain.
"Open it." Li Ann suggested. The comment about it coming from the
scientist's files was intriguing. The oriental woman had been itching for a
chance to dig through the family's information archives since she'd first heard
about them. "It might be useful Dana."
Using the woman's first name earned a frown from Mulder but no one else
seemed to notice. Victor had set himself to the task of pouring and handing out
the aromatic coffee in an effort at keeping the gathering civilised. He started
by offering a mug to his lover who accepted it with a distracted glare.
"It's a simple Christmas present." Riene continued to hold it
ready. "No strings attached."
Scully took it cautiously. She untied the ribbon and unwrapped the fabric to
reveal a three ring binder crammed with densely printed pages. Flipping through
also revealed diagrams and tables among the text.
"That's everything we know about the composition, design and programming
of that chip in your neck Agent Scully." Riene informed her in a level
tone. "Lexi's been pestering Olga about passing this your way for months
now."
Scully's blue eyes flicked briefly Krycek's way before returning to the
binder she held. "How do I know any of this information is valid?"
"You're welcome, Agent Scully." Riene's laugh was sprightly. She
turned back to the small pile of gifts. The next parcel was delivered to Mulder.
"Again, it's not comprehensive but we did have copies of some of your
destroyed X-files."
Mulder tore open the package to discover a folder with several CDs inside.
"How did you get my files?"
"Aren't they just a wealth of good manners?" Riene observed
sarcastically.
"That's why we all adore them." Alex responded with a hint of his
usual amusement. "Hand out the rest of the presents Bodkin. I'm sure we'll
be much more gracious."
Nicki had chosen wisely even if the gifts were all on the odd side. A box,
done up like a floral presentation of a dozen roses, contained a new arm for
Alexei. Mac got a case full of audio phone-tap recordings. Victor's little
sister received a packet of paperwork and documents declaring her to be Allegra
Romanov a native of St Petersburg.
Li Ann was given a file filled with information on the Tang family's
activities both before and after the time of her and Mac's association with the
Hong Kong crime family. The note inside the cover said 'to help satisfy your
bountiful curiosity' in Cantonese but, much to her discomfort, it wasn't Alex's
handwriting. Someone else in the family obviously was literate in the Eastern
language as well. Li Ann stared down at the bulging folder as she sipped her
coffee and a vision tantalised her. Stacks of information on nearly everything
she could wish to know waited just a few locked doors away. She could find out
all she wished to know on Alex, the consortium's plans for alien invasion, the
extent of her former employer's control in the government or even how to clone a
human being, for goodness sake. Li Ann glanced up a Dana's pinched expression.
She could easily earn her estranged lover's happiness with a few picked locks
and deactivated alarms. Another swallow of the strong brew in her hand started
her mind off down the path of considering exactly how to break into the Romanov
archives.
Victor's gift was the most tangible, traditional present of them all. He
stared at the large gold-framed picture for several moments before turning it
about so the rest of the room could see it.
"Cathers is just a whiz at photographic manipulation." Riene said
quietly. "She took Nicki's favourite painting and tricked it around so the
whole clan was represented. Look, Vicka Sweetheart." She was leaning over
him with her fingers ruffling an absent caress through his short hair. "She
even put that adorable moustache you used to have into it so you and Alexei
aren't exactly the same."
The portrait looked like it had been painted about ten years ago. Nicki sat
on an ornate antique chair with the elder generation of girls standing to her
right, Alexei to her left, and all the Catherines aesthetically arranged on the
floor before them. Somehow Victor's image had been added in beside his twin's
and Alice sat down amid four cloned girls looking just a touch more mature than
they did, at about nine years old. There was also a sweet-faced, young blonde
boy standing in front of Alex and Victor that Vic was fairly certain represented
Peter. Every one of them wore extremely formal clothing that would have been
well suited to a royal family from a hundred years in the past.
"How?" Victor stared at the family portrait. If he didn't know for
a fact that he and his sister had never sat for the picture Victor wouldn't have
known the thing for a composite. "It's incredible." His eyes were
wide. This courtly portrayal was nothing like the family pictures that his
mother had herded him into all those years ago.
"Like I said Cathers did it. I don't know how exactly." Riene
leaned on his shoulder. "It's comforting to have a representation of our
entire family, Vicka, my dear. She's making a few others for the rest of us.
Still, we should talk to Nicki about staging an authentic one over the next
couple of days. As long as the pictures never leave the manor our security won't
suffer." She casually kissed the top of his head. "Or maybe we should
wait until the baby comes so we'll all be in it."
"This is all quite 'festive' but we're not here for cookies and party
games." Scully interrupted the quiet moment with a sharp complaint.
Riene sighed and exchanged an amused glance with Alexei. "Drink your
coffee and have a ginger cake, Agent Scully, then we'll attempt some civilised
negotiations. You've been given a distorted image of what's been occurring over
the last little while and it needs to be addressed." Heavily lashed eyes
swept the room. "It's supposed to be a happy day, Christmas is. Surely all
of you can contain your quarrels and objections long enough to have some
breakfast. Mama Uritski has worked so hard to provide all of this. The coffee is
her own special blend. She grinds it fresh at every brewing."
No one but Riene caught Alexei's brief frown of suspicion but then again she
was waiting for it. His green eyes caught her's immediately. Alexei's brows
raised in inquiry then his gaze dropped purposefully to his cup as he tilted it
towards her. When Alex looked back up Riene offered him the most dazzling smile
in her repertoire and a hint of a nod. His only reaction was to close his eyes
and tighten his grip on his hot chocolate. Unless he was reading the situation
completely wrong, Alexei decided, everyone in the room except himself, Allegra
and Riene was in the process of ingesting a sample from Olga's vast array of
chemical supplies...and he doubted any of them were going to be happy with the
results.
Alex had hoped that whatever was spiking the food and drinks would perhaps
soften the moods of his guests. He couldn't have been more wrong. The tensing
paranoia showed up in Mulder and Scully the quickest but Li Ann and Mac's
expressions began to sour right on the heels of the Feds. It was being directed
just like a stage play. As soon as Li Ann started to grow waspish Olga showed up
to haul Allegra away from the impending unpleasantness. To Alexei's surprise Mrs
Uritski re-appeared a few moments later with a note requesting that Victor come
away from the parlour. The ex-cop's brow furrowed and Alex had to reassure him
several times before the twins could be separated.
"Are Mulder and Scully still carrying?" Alex whispered the question
to Riene between fending off some rather furious accusations from Fox about
Alex's role in the consortium's activities. Scully and Li Ann, on the far side
of the room, had fallen into a whispered but intense discussion of something.
"Only partially." Riene's thick laugh drew glares from all about
the room.
Li Ann dropped the file she had been given on a sidetable with a resounding
smack. "This is nothing, simply bread crumbs." She yelled in Riene's
general direction. "They've got piles of information filed away downstairs
that puts these scraps to shame." One long nail poked at Scully's binder.
"It's not right to hoard it all like that, to sell it to the highest
bidder."
"What kind of information?" Mulder's attention snapped her way.
"It's their coin of trade." Li Ann's voice was growing more biting
with every word. "It's what this family supports itself with. Buying and
selling information and influence."
"Li Ann you forgot our lucrative sideline of assassinations and drug
trafficking." Riene teased, although the humour seemed to beyond the grasp
of their four remaining guests. "Oh and prostitution." The teenager
added flippantly. "How much a night are you going for Lexi my lover."
Alex wanted to protest, to ease the fire that was starting to burn in Mac's
eyes, but he didn't dare do anything but play along. They were under
surveillance, he was certain of that. "Bodkin!" He forced amusement.
"You know I never charge for it, not with anyone attractive at least."
"Liar." Mulder snarked. "It only costs our self-respect."
"And the occasional death in the family." Riene giggled. "But
his sweet ass is worth overlooking patricide for, right Foxy?"
She pushed too far with that remark. Mulder was across the room with his
hands at Alex's throat within a breath of the taunt. Alexei went limp in the
clinch, having neither the strength nor the inclination to fight back.
"Ooo, Foxy." Riene cooed. She shifted, shoving her hand between the
two men. Her fingers forced down to cup Mulder's groin and squeezed. "Which
is it this time, lovely Fox? Are you going to fuck him before or after you beat
him bloody? Can I watch?" Riene licked at the Agent's stubbled face.
Mulder's surprise at the teenager's actions loosened his grip enough that
when Mac dragged the older man back Alex gagged only briefly. Mulder was flung
almost into the tree.
"MINE!" Mac roared the single word then went on the attack.
"What the hell was in the coffee?" Alexei demanded of Riene as he
noticed Li Ann dragging Scully out of the room. Neither woman seemed to even
notice the battle their partners had begun.
"A pinch of this. A twist of that." Riene winced in sympathy as Mulder
landed a solid hit on Mac's jaw. "It'll make them paranoid, prone to
suggestion and scramble their thought processes a bit. Nothing permanent,
Love." The brief exchange in Russian was being ignored by the fighters.
"Ouch. I thought your Mac-baby was a marital arts expert?" Riene
tsk-ed as the Fed landed another blow.
"Give him a minute to size Fox up." Alex forced himself to remain
seated. "There he goes. See."
Mac let out a cleansing shout and went on the offensive.
"He's going to hurt Mulder." The concern escaped in his tone.
Alexei's body was tensing to stand and interfere.
"Mulder still has his spare gun in his ankle holster." Riene
reassured Alex. "As soon as he gets angry enough. There it is." Her
fingernails dug into the tender skin of Alexei's neck, holding him back.
"JUST BACK OFF, YOU BASTARD!" Mulder shouted. The hand holding his
back-up piece trembled. His other hand wiped a drip of blood from the corner of
his mouth. "Just give me an excuse Ramsey and I'll splatter what little
brains you have over the wall behind you." The older man was sweating
profusely. "Do you understand?" The question almost screamed out.
"You'd better not blink, Fibbie 'cause it'll only take me a second to
snap your neck." Mac shifted, unable to keep still. His skin was on fire
and his muscles twitched with urge to kill the man who had laid hands on his
mate. Even as the thought formed he halfway recognised it as primal nonsense but
the power of the emotion refused to be denied.
Mulder was pressing the heel of his left hand to his wrinkled forehead.
Something was definitely wrong. The anger that had seized him was too sudden,
too strong. It had to be an unnatural sensation. "Krycek! What
have..." The blame could only rest in one place. "What have you done
to me?"
"Not half so much as he's wanted to do to you, Pretty-pretty."
Riene answered for her mentor. "You must realise that Alex would happily
ditch skinny Mac-baby and spend the rest of his life chained to your bed if you
simply nodded his way, dear Agent Mulder." She carefully noted Mac's stance
growing more aggressive with every breath. "Not that dumping Mac-baby would
be a stretch. You were planning on throwing him over for your handsome
Englishman come the new year anyway, weren't you Lexi-love?" The teenager's
claws threatened, demanding agreement.
What Englishman? Alexei made an effort to keep his confusion at the new
variable from showing. "It's the accent." The Russian ad-libbed.
"The accent simply destroys me. I wish we'd met while you were still at
Oxford, Foxy. I'm told you picked up the pattern of it over the course of your
stay. The sound of that would've had me coming in my jeans in two seconds
flat."
Mulder frowned, shaking his head in confusion.
Mac, having heard enough, couldn't resist the urge to strike out at someone.
Mulder seemed the most likely target despite the still waving gun. Without any
further warning the lanky young man launched himself at his rival.
The gunshot that immediately followed made Alexei cringe but the vivid
emotion he felt at the look of absolute malice Mulder turned his way put that
slight quaver of fear to shame.
"You have to taunt him into hurting you badly, Lover, and see if you push
him into raping you too." Riene distanced herself after the brief
instruction, backing away.
Alexei dragged himself to his feet. His eyes locked onto Mulder's face,
completely dismissing Mac's crumpled form. "I'm impressed." Alex
announced sarcastically as Mulder's gun barrel swung around to point his way.
"I must scare you pretty badly, Foxy, if you've got to use a gun to keep me
in line." He purred out the boasting statement. "Even when I had two
arms you used to be able to handle me without a weapon. You're getting old and
tired, Mulder."
The Federal agent let out an incoherent roar of anger and charged across the
separating expanse. Alexei tried to direct the impact so they tumbled to the
floor without bashing their brains out on the nearby furniture but he couldn't
exhibit much control. They rolled to a stop nearly under the tree.
Mulder dug his fingers into Alex's shoulders and shook the man under him
violently. "What have you done to me, you Bastard?" Came the demand.
"What haven't I done to you, Gorgeous? I've been fucking with your
lovely head since the day I walked up to your desk and you haven't been able to
protect yourself or anyone around you." Alexei bragged. "I own your
ass, Foxy baby." The blow that Mulder slammed across his cheek and the
heavy weight of the other man holding him down sent Alex's head into a familiar
spin.
"SHUT UP, YOU FILTHY EXCUSE FOR A PIECE OF CRAP!" Mulder screamed
into his captive's face, dripping spittle.
Alexei had to stifle the urge to laugh out loud as they began a repeat
performance of what had happened so many times during the trip to Tunguska. He
thrust his hips up and threw back his head to bare his throat to Mulder's fury.
There was only a split second's hesitation before Alex felt the cleansing pain
of Mulder's teeth breaking his skin. Alexei groaned out his excitement.
Attempting to shift his shoulders, however, earned him a hard slam to the cold
wooden floor. The magnitude of the agony from his damaged left side was
startling, almost making him pass out. "Don't!" the protest escaped
involuntarily but it didn't matter.
Between the wash of drugs, memory and anger Mulder was well down the path
that they wanted him on. Anytime now Alex could begin fighting in earnest and
screaming his head off without provoking a guilty reaction from Mulder. Riene
had fled, to fetch Victor, if Alex's guess was right. He really should start
fighting back if he wanted his twin to get the right impression of the
encounter. Cloth was tearing, Alexei realised through the haze. He shook his
head to clear it. He didn't want to miss any of this, especially since it was
going to be interrupted all too soon. Cold air assaulted his skin helping to
focus his attention. Mulder's hands, which had vanished for a moment, returned
and blunt nails dug in trying to turn Alex over. Too fast, Alexei realised. It
would be finished before the intended audience arrived. He purposefully began to
struggle against the action. "Mulder, NO! Not like this!" The younger
man twisted suddenly in his attacker's grasp. He almost broke free because of
Mulder's shock at the novelty of Alex protesting. Still, even as the words fell
from the Russian's lips his body squirmed seductively pressing into the older
man's groin.
"Lying little cock-tease." Mulder concluded. With a snarl he dug
his fingers into the pale skin below him, forcing Alex over onto his stomach.
"WHORE!"
Alexei felt a slam to the back of his head bouncing his forehead off the
floor. Christ, he was hard enough to cut diamonds at this point. It was
difficult to keep wits enough about him, to keep from whining and presenting
himself for mounting like a bitch in heat. "I don't want to do this,
Mulder!" Alex shouted the lie at the top of his lungs so it would carry out
the door. "Don't do this to me." The cry for mercy had to be forced
past a clenched jaw.
Mulder was dragging his ass up into the air by his hips. "Deceitful
Bastard!" A hard bite punctuated the accusation drawing another trickle of
blood.
More wet heat hit Alexei's asshole. With only that dribble of saliva it was
going to be a rough ride. The scream torn from his throat as Mulder shoved in
with one quick stroke was genuine pain. "NYET! Stohp! Pazhaluysta Mulder,
nyet." Alex lapsed momentarily. If his beautiful bastard didn't slow down
Alexei was going to need stitches. Damn Riene for springing this on him without
giving him enough warning to slick himself this morning. "Mulder, no.
Don't. You've got to stop, Mulder. You're tearing... FUCK!" How could such
sawing torment feel so damned good at the same time? Alex screamed, letting out
his suffering, confusion and arousal in a single word. "STOP!"
When the smothering heat and pain was dragged off his back Alexei didn't have
to fake the wail of despair and shaken collapse that followed. Mulder was raging
somewhere behind him and the sound of furniture breaking touched his ears. Alex
really wanted to turn and watch the battle that was beginning but the best he
could manage was a glimpse before Riene's small hands were there sticking him
with a tiny dart that froze up his body's responses to all that was occurring
around him. Alexei was dragged down into the darkness but he took with him the
sight of Victor standing over a sprawled Mulder looking the very image of an
avenging angel so it didn't scare him so much as usual.
Li Ann had thought they'd been careful. She'd seen no evidence of triggered
alarms or that she and Dana were under surveillance. When the faint click of a
gun cocking roused them from their exploration of a room crammed with
over-flowing file cabinets it took Li Ann by complete surprise. Anastasia and
one of the Catherines had them covered. The choice of personnel made sense.
Scully had already had dealings with Stacey, briefly. There was no need to 'out'
another member of the family to the federal agent.
"Ladies, a locked door does not mean 'Come on in and feel free to look
around'." Anastasia's most annoying tone of voice grated out. She flicked
her gun barrel, instructing them to return to the barren hallway.
Li Ann stalled, attempting to judge their chances against the two women. She
could disarm one of them with ease and perhaps the other as well. That would
give her and Dana guns and a margin of time to explore.
"You underestimate how precarious your situation is, Deary."
Stacey's voice grew even more nasal. "But then you're thinking isn't very
clear right now."
Li Ann tensed to spring.
"Perhaps, Agent Scully..." The Catherine began. "You might
want to offer Olga a hand in the medical bay." She took a different
approach from her elder, attempting to coax rather than issue orders. "Olga
and Dr Vladovna are both competent but with three different patients and only
two doctors I'm afraid Agent Mulder's less than life- threatening injuries are
being ignored." She passed off the facts as if it were merely incidental.
"In favour of operating on Mac's bullet wound and repairing poor Lexi's
damage."
Scully reached out to lay a steadying hand on her lover. Li Ann didn't seem
to be even registering the information. The part about Mac being operated on
should have caught the younger woman's attention. "Take us to them."
Dana tossed the sheath of papers she was holding aside. She'd been busted enough
times during an illegal search to know when to give up.
Li Ann, however, was still poised on the balls of her feet.
Scully squeezed gently trying to get the other woman's narrowed attention off
the guns and onto the situation. "Li Ann, they're saying that Mac has been
shot. I think we should go along and see what's happened." Dana stated
clearly, watching Li Ann's wide dark eyes for some sign of understanding.
"We'll never get another chance at these files, this information."
Li Ann was almost shivering with tension.
"I know." Scully's regret was clear. "But I need to check on
Mulder and this stuff isn't going to do us any good if we die without even
reading through it. I followed you down here, Li Ann. Follow me back up. Trust
me."
Li Ann shuddered then reached up to scrub her palms into her eye sockets.
"I think there's something wrong with me, Dana. I feel really
strange."
"It's okay. I'm feeling a bit odd myself." Scully admitted.
"How about we go check on the guys then I'll look you over too?"
"Fine. I give up." The oriental woman's hands dropped to her sides,
still fisted.
Li Ann had a piercing headache perched between her eyebrows and her stomach
was knotted into a tight ball but relief didn't appear to be in sight. The three
injured men were all separated by stairs enough to make her calves ache.
She had left Scully to patch Mulder up in the sitting area of their suite.
Mac was down in the sterile confines of Olga's laboratory-medical bay with
enough equipment gathered around him to seriously frighten Li Ann. Olga had made
it quite clear that Li Ann wasn't welcome near the patient so she had gone
looking for Alexei and Victor. It was odd that the pair of them weren't hovering
near Mac's bedside.
Only after cornering a Catherine and threatening physical violence was Li Ann
taken up to the third floor and pointed to the correct door. Alex was cocooned
in the centre of a monstrous bed in a museum of a room with Victor and Allegra
sitting guard on either side of him. Her occasional lover was a mess of bruises
and bandages. His throat was decorated with blue and green marks, one eye was
swollen shut, and he looked paler than she had ever seen him. Allegra sat
quietly, petting Alexei's cropped black hair, while Victor held his twin's hand.
"What happened Victor?" Li Ann had yet to get an explanation from
anyone. The Romanov women weren't talking and Mulder was making no sense at all
when he did try to speak with his badly bruised jaw.
"You'd know..." Victor's voice was harsh. "If you hadn't gone
haring off with Scully when you should have been watching out for poor Alex.
What were you thinking?" He demanded of her. "Leaving him there with
Mulder and Mac was just asking for trouble."
Li Ann winced. Her reasoning, which had seemed perfectly logical at the time,
looked rather silly in retrospect. There was no reason to believe that the
Romanov women would allow her to wander around freely, especially with a FBI
agent in tow. "I'm sorry." She didn't even try to explain what she
couldn't understand for herself. "Could you just tell me what happened
Victor?"
"What usually happens..." He grouched. "Alex and Mulder
started snapping at each other. Mac took offence." Victor frowned.
"Mulder and Mac got into some kind of fist-fight that turned really nasty
and Mulder shot Mac with the gun he had hidden in his ankle holster then turned
on Alex. Riene came and got me. By the time I made it back to the room..."
He hesitated. "Alex was on the floor under Mulder. I guess I lost it and
started wailing on him. I may have broken Mulder's nose. I'm not sure. It all
seems kind of distorted now." Victor continued to stare down at his twin
rather than meet Li Ann's eyes. "Nicki's driver and some of the ladies
showed up after that. They hauled Mac out on a blanket and separated Mulder and
I. The driver and I carried Alex up here. One of the women, a short dark haired
one, patched Alex up. She took off a few minutes ago to go get an update on Mac
for us."
"Mulder's nose isn't broken." Li Ann offered. "Scully's with
him. She says he's had worse and still walked away from it."
"I don't even know if I care." Victor mumbled. "Alex was
screaming for Mulder to stop. I heard it from down the hallway. It was bad. You
know Alex has never tried to push him off before no matter what Mulder's done to
him but that." The ex-cop mused aloud. "Alex's arm, umm, his stump, I
mean. Christ. It was bleeding but that woman..." His free hand gestured
absently to the doorway.
"Marie." In a faint whisper Allegra offered a name for the woman
that had been caring for Alex. "That one is Marie. She and Alex are close,
I'm told."
"Yeah, Marie. She's quite the medic. She wrapped it tight, cleaned up
the rest of his injuries and gave Alex a shot to stop him from thrashing around.
Alex hasn't regained consciousness since I pulled Mulder off him but he was
tossing in his sleep."
"You called?" The door, which had been standing opened, now
contained a woman of about thirty-eight with long brown hair and a sweet face.
"How's Mac?" Victor didn't bother with pleasantries.
"Shouldn't we be taking him into a hospital?"
"There was no time for that before Vicka, and now it's just a matter of
waiting. A hospital wouldn't help." Marie countered. "I'm sorry."
The woman's mouth pressed into a line. "He's right on the edge. The bullet
seems to have torn through some tricky areas. Olga says we won't know for a few
hours if he's going to be okay." Marie walked over to lay a soothing hand
on Victor's shoulders. "Try not to worry too much, Vicka honey. Olga may be
more of a lab tech than a practising surgeon but Daria, Dr Vladovna, is
excellent at practical surgery. She's the one who attached Lexi's arm." She
settled beside him, keeping her arm around him in a cosy manner, as if they were
family.
Li Ann took an unconscious step backwards. She couldn't help but feel, for a
fleeting moment, that they were closing ranks against her as SHE was the
outsider rather than this Marie person.
"Alla, Darling." Marie addressed Allegra with a nickname Li Ann had
never heard before. "Lexi looks a bit warm. Maybe you could get a damp
cloth. The bathroom is through there." She pointed to a door without
loosening the possessive embrace she had Victor enclosed in.
"Victor." Li Ann began. "Can I have a word with you in
private?" She ventured. Something was definitely wrong.
He didn't even look up to acknowledge her. "Later, okay? I don't want to
leave Alex alone right now. Why don't you go keep Agent Scully company?" He
suggested in a rather distracted tone of voice.
Maybe talking to her lover was the right way to go. A bit of scientific
detachment might be just the thing to help figure out what was going on around
here. "I won't be long. I'm going to ask Dana to come up here and take a
peek at Alex. She's a doctor too."
"She's a pathologist, a coroner." Marie corrected with just a touch
of smugness. "I don't think Alex is liable to need her anytime soon. Best
she simply keep an eye on Agent Mulder. No one else has the time or temperament
to deal with him right now."
When no support came from Victor, Li Ann frowned and backed out of the room.
She needed some help.
Li Ann vaguely recalled dozing off on the couch as she was trying to explain
her sense of discomfort to Dana. Both of them had been yawning enough to make
their jaws sore. She'd hoped to awaken to discover her headache gone but that
wasn't to be. It was cutting into her brain even more sharply than before. To
make things worse a phone was ringing right beside her ear. She'd best grab it
before it woke Dana. Her lover had been so terribly tired.
The receiver came away from the base of the phone with a clumsy rattle and Li
Ann lifted it to her face. "Yeah?" She was in no mood for phone
etiquette right now.
" Good morning. This is your ten am wake up call." A too jolly voice
informed her.
"Yeah, fine. Whatever." Li Ann dropped the phone back in place. All
she wanted do was cross the narrow space between her own body and where Dana lay
sprawled out beside her. If she moved across the bed carefully enough she
wouldn't wake the other woman and it had been almost two weeks since they'd had
a chance to snuggle. Li Ann missed that even more than the sex.
Wait a minute, the bed, Li Ann's mind protested. She reluctantly dragged
herself upright and looked around the room. How dare they move her about in her
sleep like a sack of rice? The bedroom was completely unfamiliar. It was
decorated in tasteful but non-descript modern furniture. Mulder was stretched
over the other double bed snoring slightly. All three of them were still dressed
in the clothes they'd been wearing since this morning. Mulder's were stained
with blood.
Strangely enough most of the illumination in the room came from wide balcony
doors near the foot of Mulder's bed. Li Ann wasn't aware any of the lodge's
rooms had sliding glass doors. It seemed completely impractical in the chill of
Alaska. Besides which, wasn't it dark all the time at this time of year?
Cursing the pounding headache still assailing her, Li Ann dragged herself off
the bed and over to the bright doorway. It opened easily letting the oriental
woman out onto a long balcony with an extraordinary view. "NICKI, YOU
ABSOLUTE BITCH!" Li Ann screamed at the horizon. Her stomach fell to
somewhere down near her toes. In the face of the scene laid out before her the
wake-up call that she had listened to with only a half an ear suddenly
clarified. Cantonese, the cheerful man on the other end of the phone had been
speaking Cantonese.
Li Ann caught hold of the balcony railing and stared across at the skyline of
Hong Kong wondering how the hell she was going to explain this to Dana and
Mulder when she didn't even understand it herself.
The End Evil, I'm evil. Mangled Russian translations: Boot't'ih ah-stah-rohzh-nuh...be careful
A Gathering of Scoundrels
by Carla Jane
Meet the Family
Dana Scully's feet hurt. Her tidy leather shoes with their towering heels
were not made for running through back alleys. Unfortunately hairy, semi-human
killers seldom gave her notice enough to change into track shoes. Occasionally
Scully considered switching to flats but then she would stand beside her
partner, looking way up, and the rumination would shatter into dust.
Milk and cookies time
Yah doo-muh-yoo, shtuh-nyet... I don't think so
Stohp... Stop (I'm not sure about this one)
T'ee-Khee... quiet
Pazhaluysta... please
Sihm-naht-tsuht... seventeen
