"Wow, that was some evening, huh, guys?" he said, tossing his own tie
over the back of a kitchen chair. "Dinner, champagne, and then
shopping for Valentine's Day presents..." He yawned, stretching with
feline grace. Walter did not fail to notice the equally feline shake
of the tail he gave as he headed for the stairs.
"I'm worn out," Alex called. "Guess I'll go on up and get ready for
bed..."
"Hold it right there, Alex," Walter boomed.
Alex froze.
Slowly, he turned back toward the kitchen, his shoulders slumping
slightly beneath his impeccably tailored suit jacket. Haltingly, he
walked over to Walter and stood contritely, hands clasped behind his
back, occupying the exact square of tile indicated by his lover's
pointing finger.
Walter gave his Rat a long stern Look. He noticed Alex's eyes dart
quickly toward Fox and acted decisively to redirect the younger man's
attention.
"OW!" yelped Alex, both hands clutching his stinging backside.
"Look at me, Alex," Walter said, hands on hips. "We have something to
discuss, don't we?"
Green eyes sought intimate communion with the kitchen floor.
"Alex," Walter said warningly.
"Yes, Walter," Alex mumbled, fidgeting a little.
Walter sighed and folded his arms.
"Alex," he began patiently, "we've talked about this before. You
simply cannot behave this way."
"But, Walter," Alex whined, his lush bottom lip poking out ever so
slightly. "I didn't do anything that bad, did I?"
He blinked innocently, his thick black lashes sweeping over wide
emerald eyes.
Walter counted to ten.
Twice.
"Alex," he said again. "You scared that poor man half to death!"
"But it's not fair, Walter!" Alex protested. "That was your watch!
I picked it out over a month ago!"
"I know you wanted me to have the watch, Alex," Walter said, a little
more quietly. "But the fact remains that the other customer got there
first."
"The jeweler's assistant was supposed to save it for me," Alex sulked,
stuffing his hands mulishly into his pockets. "It was a Patek
Philippe, Walter. A special design, one of only four hundred fifty
ever made. It was perfect for you. It took me three months to save
up for it. And then we go to get it and it's just been sold to
someone else. Do you expect me to be happy about that?"
"No," Walter said evenly. "And take your hands out of your pockets."
Pouting, Alex obeyed, his eyes fixed soulfully on his lover. Walter
was in full alpha male mode, and although Alex's butt was already
tingling with dread at its inevitable fate, his cock had not failed to
notice the way those incredible pecs flexed and rolled under that
crisp white shirt.
"I don't expect you to be happy about not being able to buy the watch
for me, Alex," Walter continued. "But I also don't expect you to
frighten an innocent man half out of his wits simply because he got to
the jeweler's a little earlier than we did!"
"He wasn't too frightened to pay the man for the watch and take it
home with him," Alex grumbled, then yipped as Walter, with one hand on
Alex's biceps, deftly spun him around and landed two stiff swats to
the seat of his dress pants.
Walter watched his Rat gather himself together and steeled himself to
remain strong in the face of the almost heartbreaking triple-threat he
was now facing...sniffling, rubbing and pouting. The look in Alex's
big green eyes was almost too much.
No, Walter, he reprimanded himself. I know the last thing you want is
to have to punish him on Valentine's Day, but right now, you need to
think about Alex. He needs you to enforce the boundaries.
Walter grumbled a little himself. Sometimes it wasn't easy to be the
Top.
"All right, Alex," he said, hoping to move the proceedings along so
that they could all salvage something of the evening. "What did you
do wrong?"
Alex shifted from foot to foot, said something softly to the floor.
"I'm up here," Skinner said, his tone brooking no foolishness.
Alex looked up quickly and swallowed hard.
"I...I guess I might have...scared him a little..."
"You insinuated that you were a member of the Mossad, Alex," Walter
said tightly.
"Well, nobody's really afraid of the KGB anymore..." Alex mumbled.
"ALEX!"
"Okay, okay," Alex said quickly, a light sheen of sweat beginning to
break out on his forehead. "Okay, I admit it! I scared him! I
wanted him to think that I was dangerous and he should...should..."
"Not buy the watch," Walter finished succinctly.
"Y-yes, Walter," Alex gulped.
"And that was wrong, wasn't it?" Walter prompted.
Alex looked down, bit his lip.
"Yes, Walter," he said softly.
He looked up, his green eyes swimming with tears.
"Please, Walter," he said, his voice trembling. "I...I know I'm a lot
of trouble. I know sometimes I...I behave badly. I forget the things
you've taught me. But I try," he said in a near-whisper. "I really
do."
Walter swallowed, feeling himself crumbling a little. Girding his
strength, he shook his finger at Alex sternly.
"Now, Alex..." he began.
A sob escaped his young lover, who stood wringing his hands, obviously
sick with remorse.
"Please, Walter," he begged again, a single tear freeing itself from
the lush black fronds that held it and threading its way down the
center of Alex's cheek. "I'm sorry. I really am. I know I...I
didn't have the kind of life you've had. I never had a real family
like you and Fox." He looked down, wiping his eyes roughly with the
back of his hand. "I know I'm not like you. I never learned how to
be good. Not...not until you took me in, loved me enough to teach me.
You took a chance on a...a Rat like me. A double agent, a killer.
Someone who didn't deserve to be rescued, didn't deserve a second
chance."
He looked at Walter, beseeching him with wounded eyes.
"Thank you, Walter," he whispered brokenly. "Thank you for loving me.
For trying to teach me right from wrong. For b-believing that I can
l-learn how to be g-good..."
Alex broke down, his shoulders shaking as he sobbed.
Walter stood as if poleaxed, stunned at the outpouring of grief from
his guilt-ridden Rat. My God, he thought. He's incredible at this.
If Walter didn't know better, he could almost swear he heard mournful
violins playing in the background as Alex wept miserably over his
misdeeds.
Walter paused.
Wait a minute...
He did hear mournful violins playing in the background.
He spun around.
"Fox!" he snapped. "Get away from the CD player!"
Fox started guiltily and cringed. He edged along the kitchen counter,
away from the small CD player that sat beside the coffeemaker.
With a thoroughly disapproving glance at Fox, Walter stabbed the
"stop" button. He held the CD up and scrutinized it.
"The theme from 'Love Story', Fox?"
Fox squirmed, searching his eidetic memory for the perfect response,
anything that would stay the hand of justice from its path toward his
hapless butt.
"Uh..." he said, backing away, hands unconsciously plastered to the
seat of his pants.
"Corner, now!" Walter barked, pointing meaningfully toward the living
room. "You know what to do first, young man," he added as Fox
slouched toward the living room, already unbuttoning his shirt. A few
moments later, Fox was naked, hunched sorrowfully in his corner, nose
pressed to the wall.
Walter turned back to his guilty Rat.
"And as for you—"
"I'm sorry, Walter," Alex whispered, bringing his hands together
before him in a position of prayer. He snuffled dramatically, fresh
tears flowing down his cheeks. "Please, my love. Please help me."
Walter arched an eyebrow, waited.
"Please help me," Alex repeated hoarsely, bowing his dark head. "I
want to be good like you. I want to be worthy of your love, of my
place in this house and in your heart."
He sobbed again, the sound echoing sadly in the large kitchen.
"Teach me, Walter," Alex begged, his eyes streaming. "Please teach me
how to be good."
Walter listened silently, nodding.
"Are you finished?" he asked quietly.
Alex nodded and wiped his nose on his sleeve.
"Y-yes sir," he said softly.
"Then consider school in session," Walter said decisively, reaching
out and pulling Alex toward him. Alex squawked in surprise as, in one
fluid motion, Walter divested him of his suit jacket, unzipped Alex's
pants and dropped them along with his boxers to pool around his
ankles.
Walter pulled one of the kitchen chairs out from the table and braced
one foot on the seat before hauling a wide-eyed Alex up and over.
Alex now hung suspended over Walter's strong left leg, his bare bottom
in the perfect position for a serious one-to-one discussion.
With one hand on the small of Alex's back, Walter reached toward the
utensil drawer just behind him. Careful to make sure Alex was secure
and in no danger of sliding off, Walter rummaged through the assorted
kitchen utensils, searching by feel for the perfect implement.
"Ahh..." he said, holding up the object he had been feeling for.
With an audible gulp, Alex craned his neck, trying to see over his
shoulder.
"Oh, no..." he whimpered.
Skinner smiled a decidedly non-comforting smile as he admired the
heart-shaped spatula Fox had bought as a joke the previous Valentine's
Day.
"I think this will do nicely," Skinner said, noting the pleasing shape
of the implement. It also had a broad, flat end, guaranteeing good
coverage.
Walter paused for a moment to admire the naked bottom before him.
Caressing it gently, he leaned down, closer to Alex.
"You know I don't like having to do this, Rat," he said gently. "And
you know there are plenty of other things I'd rather be doing to this
gorgeous bottom of yours on Valentine's Day. But you also know this
is for your own good."
Alex squirmed and kicked a little, nervously awaiting the first swat.
"Walter, I—" he gulped, clutching the leg of Walter's pants miserably.
"Shhh," Walter said soothingly. "You know we have to do this."
"Yes, Walter," Alex whispered. This time the sorrow in his voice was
genuine. Funny, he thought, how he never really seemed to see things
quite so clearly as when he was tipped over, staring at the floor,
about to have a very clear reminder drummed into a very vulnerable
part of his anatomy.
Walter raised the spatula and brought it down with a resounding whack.
It left a perfect heart-shaped mark on Alex's creamy white skin,
right in the center of the sit-spot.
"Ow..." Alex moaned.
"Settle down, Rat," Walter warned, raising the spatula again. "We've
got a lot to discuss."
Walter began to spank in earnest, painting Alex's heart-shaped bottom
red with swat after well-placed swat.
"Ow, Walter!" Alex howled, clutching Walter's leg more tightly,
wrinkling his best pair of dress pants. "Oooowwww! I'm sorry, I
really am, Walter, I'm sorry!"
"Tell me what you're sorry for," Walter said, not missing a beat.
Alex gulped in air as the spatula continued its blistering assault on
his bare rump.
"Ow! I...I scared the man in the store! I intimidated him! I did it
on purpose! I wanted to get my own way! Ow! Jesus, Walter—"
"Very good, Alex," Walter said calmly, methodically covering the
sensitive area just below the curve of Alex's buttocks. Alex's
heartfelt yowl told him he was getting through to his naughty Rat in a
very meaningful way.
"I'm sorry!" Alex shouted with all the sincerity he could muster.
"Please, Walter, I swear I'm sorry! I really mean it! I'll-I'll find
the guy and apologize! I promise!"
Like a metronome, stolid and implacable, the spatula rose and fell.
Whack.
Whack.
Whack.
"Shit, Walter!" Alex howled, unable to stop himself from bucking and
thrashing. "That really hurts!"
"I know it does," Walter said, not without sympathy, as he began to
pepper the sit-spots smartly. "And why is that important?"
Squeezing his eyes shut against a flow of hot tears, quite unlike the
crocodile tears with which he had attempted to fool Walter a few
minutes before, Alex tried to stay still and take it. He knew in his
heart that he really had gone out of his way to earn this spanking.
"So I'll learn!" he shouted, his voice rough from crying. "So I'll
remember!"
"That's right, Alex," Walter said, spanking with renewed vigor. "I
love you. That's why I'll never let you get away with what you tried
to do just now. That's why when you break the rules we agreed on, I'm
going to make you face up to it, every time."
"Yes, Walter!" Alex sobbed. "I know I was wrong! I know I was! I
understand, I swear!"
"But," Walter said sternly, hiding the pain he felt at the sound of
Alex's cries, "we have something else to discuss, don't we?"
"I...I don't..." Alex gasped, weeping openly. He was finding it hard
at the moment to concentrate on anything beyond the flaming ruin that
had been his butt before Walter Skinner got hold of it.
"Define the word 'manipulative' for me," Walter said firmly, turning
the tops of Alex's thighs bright pink.
"Wh-what?" Alex choked. "I..."
He slumped over Walter's leg, his hands over his face, wetness seeping
through his fingers.
"What I did just now?" he asked, his voice barely audible.
"Yes," Walter said, not unkindly. He landed three more swats in rapid
succession, making Alex gasp and sob harder.
"I'm sorry I did that, Walter," Alex cried, hanging his head. Walter
knew that this time, Alex was sincere.
Alex knew, too.
"I'm sorry, Walter," he repeated, bracing himself as Walter launched
into the final set of swats, laying them down fast, five on each side.
"I'm sorry! I tried to put one over on you and I was wrong and you
d-deserve better! I'm sorry, I'm sorry..."
At last, Walter threw the spatula aside and stood Alex up. The
younger man flung himself into Walter's arms and clung, his scarlet
bottom peeking out below his shirttail, his sobs muffled against
Walter's chest.
Walter held Alex and rocked him gently, stroking his damp dark hair,
whispering to him in Russian.
"Love you, little Rat, love you..."
Alex snuffled and raised his head, his eyes pleading, devoid now of
any trickery, any attempt to elude responsibility for his wrongdoing.
"Forgive me, Walter?" he asked, so trustingly that Walter's own eyes
filled with tears. "I know I was wrong. I did try to...to use my
background as an excuse...I did manipulate you." Alex looked down
again, shaking his head slightly. "How could I have...that was so
horrible, Walter." He buried his face in Walter's shirtfront again,
the picture of utter misery. "How can you ever forgive me for that?"
Walter gently tipped Alex's chin up, exposing his ripe mouth for a
kiss.
"I will always forgive you, Alex," he said softly, his brown eyes
promising along with his deep, comforting voice. "I know you're sorry
for what you did. You've been punished and it's over, little one.
It's over."
Alex's hands fisted in the fabric of Walter's shirt.
"I ruined Valentine's Day," he mumbled sorrowfully. "I'm sorry for
that, too."
Walter laughed, tousling Alex's hair and pulling him closer.
"You didn't ruin anything, Alex. We're all here together, aren't we?"
he asked softly. "You and me and Fox."
A lonely sniffle issued from the living room.
"Come here, Fox," Walter said, holding out one arm.
In a moment, Walter had his arms full of naked Fox and Rat, each
trying to get as close to him as possible.
"I think we have some unfinished business, don't we, Fox?" Walter said
quietly.
Fox looked down and nodded.
"Yes, Walter."
Gently moving Alex aside, Fox waited for Walter to reposition his leg
and prepared to bend over for his punishment.
"Please don't, Walter," Alex said suddenly, his eyes worried. "Don't
punish him. It was all my fault."
Walter hesitated. He really didn't feel like spanking Fox. What he
felt like doing was racing them both upstairs to the bedroom, taking
along the gift basket from Boy's Toys that had been Fox's gift to them
both.
"My fault, Walter," Alex repeated. "Please?"
Fox waited, his pale bottom clenched.
"It's okay, Alex," he said softly. "I've got it coming."
Walter looked at Alex, his heart softening. He'd planned on giving
Fox a fairly stiff hand spanking, but Alex looked so genuinely
anxious...
Aw, hell.
"I'll tell you what," Walter said. "I was going to give you ten
swats, Fox, but only this once, I'll make it five."
"Thank you, Walter," Fox said.
Alex, still looking a little pale, nodded sadly.
"Thank you, Walter," Alex repeated, then looked at Fox. "Sorry, Fox,"
he said remorsefully.
"But," Walter added, eyeing them both sternly. "Tomorrow, Alex,
you'll retrieve the dictionary from my study, look up the correct
definition of the word 'manipulative' and you'll write it down two
hundred and fifty times."
Biting his lip, Alex nodded, already dreading the long dull hours he
would spend hunched over completing his assignment.
"And since you're getting off lightly now, Fox," Walter said, his hand
poised over Fox's naked butt, "you can keep him company and write the
same number that he does."
"Yes, Walter," Fox said glumly.
That said, Walter administered a brief but effective hand spanking
that had Fox squirming and yelping even before the fifth swat landed.
After Fox was been set on his feet, his tears dried and his succulent
mouth plundered for a kiss by Walter and then again by Alex, Walter
led the procession up the stairs, stopping to scoop up the gift basket
as he went. Wrapped in purple cellophane, it contained a wide
assortment of "toys for bad boys", as the card promised.
Walter smiled.
They'd start with the chocolate body paint.
End
Red Hearts, Red Bottoms
by Lorelei
The back door opened and Walter Skinner entered, already loosening his
tie. Fox Mulder followed, uncharacteristically quiet. Then, Alex
Krycek, uncharacteristically chatty, brought up the rear.
