Scully entered and looked around. Her expression was torn between
distress and sentiment. She perched on the corner of my desk and
asked, "Are you sure this is what you want?"
"I'm sure," I said.
"I want you to be happy," Scully said.
The door had barely shut behind my partner when AD Skinner entered.
He's good,surprisingly good. His face is bland and his voice is
steady as he leads the new agent into my office.
"Agent Mulder, this is Agent Krycek. He's your new partner," Skinner
said.
I looked up and saw the gawky eager figure standing a step behind
Walter Skinner. I stood and said, "Welcome to the FBI's most
unwanted."
"That's not what I hear," Alex Krycek said. His eyes looked around,
taking everything in.
"Sorry your desk isn't in place yet, but I made some room over
there," I said.
"Great,' Krycek said. He frowned and looked mildly puzzled. "Why do I
feel like I've been here before?"
"Deja vu, " I said. "It's very common to process the first glimpse of
a scene as if it were a memory rather than a new experience. Stress
heightens the sensation. I imagine you're nervous."
Eyes turned down before he raised them again to meet mine, Krycek was
a blushing virgin of a new agent. He said, "Yeah, I've heard so much
about you and now I'm going to be your partner. I can't believe it."
"Must have been bad in a previous life," I joked.
Walter's eyes met mine with a mixture of pity and worry. He pasted a
blandly paternal look on his face as he moved aside to let Alex into
the room.
I shook Alex's hand and said, "Fox Mulder."
Holding my hand a moment longer than might be considered properly
manly, my new partner said, "Krycek, Alex Krycek."
Walter nodded and said, "I'll leave you two to get acquainted."
The door shut behind Walter and we were left alone. I said, "You can
pull a chair up to my desk for now, Krycek."
"Call me Alex," Krycek said. "I already know you don't use your first
name."
Momentary confusion crossed the pretty young face. Alex said, "I
guess I heard that at the academy. Rumors and gossip...you'd think it
was high school."
"Yes, there is a lot of gossip," I agreed. "Hope it doesn't put you
off working with me. Agent Scully was my partner, but she has a
couple of children to raise now. She's going to stay out of the field
until they're grown."
"Her gain is my gain," Alex paraphrased.
"You're not ambitious? Not worried about an unconventional partner
ruining your chances for promotion?" I asked.
"No, not really," Alex replied. "Sure I want to make a name for
myself, but I'm more interested in pursuing unusual cases than in
rising through the department. I'm in no hurry for a desk job anyway."
"That's good, because I have to warn you that our fellow agents are
going to give you a hard time," I said.
"That woman with red hair who just went out of here? Is that Scully?
She really stared at me," Krycek said.
"Yes, that's Scully. She's protective," I said.
"She won't have any problems with me," Alex promised.
"I know she won't," I said.
"Do you have a case now?" Alex asked.
"I do," I said. "Pull your chair up. We can look at the file
together."
His thigh was warm against mine. I could sense no tension. Out of the
corner of my eye, I watched him, enjoying the lightning expressions
crossing his animated face. He was exactly what I wanted in a partner
if I couldn't have Scully again.
We read through the file and then headed out for lunch. We went to a
Greek restaurant that I knew Alex would like. He said, "All right,
this is great. How did you know I liked Greek food?"
"Just a good guess," I said. I couldn't help watching his left hand.
He was nearly as dexterous with it as he was with his right. I
smiled. He was so perfect.
As Alex mopped up the dregs of the hummus with a chunk of pita, he
said, "So you think that the woman might have made up some story to
cover a child abuse homicide?"
"No, I don't," I said, "But that's the local DA's theory. You up for
a trip to Washington State?"
"Sure. I've never been there," Alex replied.
I smiled. The case was an ideal one. We'd be out of state in an area
where we would spend a lot of time on the road. We would have time to
get to know each other.
The rental car flew from pothole to pothole. Alex held onto the door
and said, "I would say that the people trying to raise money for road
repair on the ballot have it right."
Smirking, I said, "Yeah, but this is the reservation. Didn't you see
the sign back there?"
"I saw that we were entering the reservation, but I looked up as much
information as I could before we left. This road is not in
trust...that means it's a state road," Alex said. "This entire area
is a hodgepodge of tribal, federal, and state jurisdiction."
"Smart ass," I replied.
"That's what they say," Alex agreed. He pulled out a printed map. He
had drawn in details after printing out directions from the
Internet. "The Indian cops said to watch for the White Horse Tavern,
swing right there, go straight for sixteen point five miles, and take
a left on the dirt road. The Meplum place is about five miles down
the private road. Last place on the road, according to Sergeant
Largent."
I looked over at Alex. He was gazing out the window, a far away look
in his eyes. He was fucking gorgeous, so beautiful.
Perfect.
And I knew why.
"Mulder?" Alex said. "Something wrong?"
"No," I said, "Everything's fine. I'm just happy to be in the field
again."
"Yeah," Alex said. "It's been awhile from what I read. I heard that
you could have had any job you wanted after what you did, but you
wanted the X Files back."
"Yes, I did," I said.
"I wish I could have been part of all that," Alex said.
"No, you don't." I replied. "No, you don't."
Green eyes stared back at me with limpid innocence. Was it fair to
keep him from knowing?
It was my will that Alex never know. What good would it do for him to
have the knowledge? I smiled at him and said, "Don't take that the
wrong way. It was terrible. I'm glad you...I'm glad you don't have
those memories in your life."
The ramshackle two-story house could have used a paint job. It looked
as if it had once been a small structure and had just grown like
Topsy, as semi skilled carpenters added dormers, extensions, and
wings to it. The yard consisted of long weeds, a rusty swing set, and
a pile of fishing nets. Fish were smoking over a slow fire.
A well-dressed Indian woman with short, styled hair walked out on the
sagging porch to greet them. "I'm Naomi Johns. It's my sister whose
son was kidnapped."
"I'm Agent Mulder. This is Agent Krycek," I said.
"My sister didn't do anything to Jeffy. She loved that boy," Ms.
Meplum said.
"I'm interested in the truth," I said. "I don't start out with any
assumptions."
"That's good," the woman said.
Several other women waited behind her. There were two men, but many
more women and children. An older man with long thin white braids
glared from a comfortable armchair. A bright woolen blanket in Indian
patterns covered his legs. Through a doorway, I could see a younger
man in the kitchen. He sat at the table, cleaning a fish. He looked
at me as if he was imagining me gutted and hung out on a rack to
smoke like the fish in the yard.
"I'm going out to check on the fish in the smoker," the man
said. "The Fed can come out and talk to me when he's ready."
Ignoring her brother, Naomi Johns said. "Mr. Mulder, this is my
grandmother, Emily Meplum. She took us in and raised us when my
mother was murdered. Our father drowned in a fishing accident and we
were alone."
"Are you an honest white man?" the elderly woman asked.
"Well, Ma'am, I've been told that there isn't such a thing, but I'll
do my best to find the truth." I said. "If you don't mind, Agent
Krycek will talk to some of you."
"He better start with Jacob then. He's my grandson. He doesn't like
Feds. The only FBI he wants to deal with are full-blooded Indians."
Mrs. Meplum said. "He's going to finish turning those fish and then
go up to sweat. He won't be back until tomorrow."
"You okay on your own, junior?" I asked Alex.
Alex nodded and went outside to talk to the surly Jacob.
"I'd like to talk to your granddaughter," I said to Mrs. Meplum. "The
child's mother."
Mrs. Meplum nodded, but the sister had her own ideas.
"She's in her room," Naomi said. "I don't really think she should
talk to you without an attorney."
"Let the man talk to her," Grandmother Meplum said. "I got a good
feeling about him."
The stairs squeaked and one or two were unpainted wood, having been
replaced recently. Angie Meplum was young to have a seven-year-old
boy. She looked no more than twenty, but it was hard to read Native
American's ages at times. They could look like teenagers until they
were thirty or look ancient at fifty if they lived hard.
"Hi, Ms. Meplum," I said. "I'm Fox Mulder, the FBI agent who is going
to help find Jeffy.
"I think his father took him," Angie Meplum said.
I frowned. If the explanation was that simple, what was all the fuss
about?
I sat down in a battered rocking chair. She was on the window seat,
half turned to watch the edge of the woods.
"Did you tell the other policemen that you thought the father took
the boy?" I asked.
"Sure, Eddie Charlie from tribal laughed at me," the woman said.
"Well, Ms. Meplum, why would he do that?" I said.
"You call me Angie. I'm not Ms. Meplum to anyone," the woman said.
I wrinkled my nose. There was a strange odor in the room. It wasn't
just unwashed human. It was a musk-like, rancid smell.
Angie stood up and opened the window. She said, "Sorry about the
smell. I can't get rid of it. I wash every day, but me and Jeffy
always smell like that."
I covered my embarrassment by looking at my notes. I said, "Jeffy had
special needs, they say."
"That's what they say," Angie said. "I didn't want to send him to
school. His father's people don't go to school."
Hmm, an odd religious group? This was looking more and more like it
was not an X-File. Just an ordinary child custody case.
"Can you tell me about Jeffy and his father? I don't see any notes in
the records about the father," I said.
"I don't remember much about Jeffy's dad. I guess I was under a
witching when I was with him," Angie said. She twisted one of her
long thick braids in her brown hand.
I thought she was beautiful, with her tan skin, her high cheekbones,
her strong wide mouth, and her pointed chin. But oh, that smell...
"I was only thirteen," Angie said. "I went with my auntie and cousins
to pick huckleberries. The huckleberries were good that year. Last
thing I remember was there was a bad smell and I was so scared. Then
it's all cloudy. A hunter found me two years later. He said I was
running naked in the woods, my hair covering me like a wild woman's.
He made me ride in the back of his pickup because the
smell was worse then. I was home for a month before I woke up and
realized it. Six months later, I gave birth to Jeffy."
Oh, shit, if I hadn't researched this myself, I would have thought
that someone was playing an elaborate joke on me.
"It was obvious that Jeffy wasn't going to be an ordinary child. He
was all covered with hair from head to foot. It thinned out when he
grew older, but he's still very hairy. He was quick to crawl and
quick to eat solid food, but I felt like he would never learn to use
the toilet or talk. He made lots of noises, but no matter what anyone
tried, he wouldn't learn words until he was nearly four," Angie said.
"Look, Angie, I may be white and I know that you don't like me poking
around, but if you expect me to believe your child was fathered by a
Sasquatch, you have another thing coming," I said.
"He wasn't a Sasquatch," Angie said, "He was a Stick Indian. They've
always been around. Just because you white folks don't see them
doesn't change that. Jeffy was half Stick Indian and it wasn't right
to take him from the woods and try to make him act like a regular
kid. I love my son, Agent Mulder. I want to be with him, but I can't
say the father made the wrong decision. That school wanted Jeffy on
medicine and all. He was always in trouble even though he was
the sweetest little boy in the world."
It took most of the day to interview the family. Each member told
versions of the same story. Some of them believed that Angie was
kidnapped by a pedophile and had been kept captive in a mountain
hideaway. The older folks really believed that the Stick Indians had
taken her.
After I finished talking to one of Angie's cousins who had been with
her when she disappeared, I went to find Alex. He was sitting in the
kitchen with a plate of cookies and a big cup of coffee. He looked
totally at home and comfortable. With his notes spread out in front
of him for review, his cheek leaning on his hand, he looked like a
high school kid doing his homework. I stopped for a moment taking it
in. He looked up, saw me, and smiled widely, showing his large,
white, slightly crooked teeth. I don't think I ever saw him
smile like that before. It quelled that persistent voice of
conscience that nagged at me.
"You ready?" I called out.
"Yeah, let me get my notes together," Alex said. He stood up, hastily
stuffing one last cookie in his mouth and washing it down with the
rest of his coffee.
I filled Alex in on Angie's statements. He stared at me in bemusement
and said, "Stick Indians? Are you sure this isn't some kind of Native
American humor or a game to make a jackass out of a G-man?"
"I think the girl believes what she told me. Stick Indians have been
a local legend in Washington State since pioneer times. There are
other cases of young girls being kidnapped by them. At one time, I
thought it might be early reports of alien abductions," I said. "The
Stick Indians seem to be relatives of the Yeti and Sasquatch. They
seem to be more likely to interact with humans however."
"Still sounds like a crazy story to me," Alex said.
"Well, why don't we go have a look at the police reports of all three
incidents? How good are you at reading between the lines?" I
challenged.
"Try me," Alex said. His eyes crinkled with amusement and his pink
tongue ran around his pretty mouth.
Alex and I went to look at police records. We found the case file
from when the Meplum girl was kidnapped and the second case that
opened when she turned back up pregnant. No perpetrator had been ever
named.
The police had no reports of abuse in the Meplum family. They all
seemed to genuinely love Jeffy.
"Poor kid's going to have a hard time in life if they find him," Alex mused,
fanning several pictures of the child.
I agreed. The child looked like an extra from a Star Wars movie. His face was
framed with thick hair. It climbed down to meet his brows. Sideburns extended
nearly to his mouth. His hands were thick with it. His eyes were deeply set.
They looked sadly at the camera. His round head was set forward on his short
neck. His arms were long and his legs short and bowed.
"I'm surprised that someone didn't have him sent in for genetic testing,"
Alex said. "I've never seen anything quite like that except on the front page
of 'The Sun' or 'The National Enquirer'"
"The family didn't trust the Indian Health doctors who recommended it," I
said.
"Trust no one?" Alex teased.
"I think I pilfered that phrase from the Indians," I joked.
Alex kept smiling at me until his eyes softened. "I like you, Mulder. You're
just what I imagined, but better. It feels like we have been partners
forever."
"I agree," I said. Yawning and stretching, I let my arm brush against Alex's
back. He leaned back for a moment, seeking further contact. "Listen, let's
just grab some dinner and go back to the motel."
"Sounds good," Alex said. "I'm ready to go to bed."
I hoped he was.
At the little motel, not far from the Meplum ranch, I sat on the bed watching
Alex undress. My partner seemed to be unaware of my gaze or uncaring. Maybe
he meant to tease.
Yes, Alex meant to tease. He turned around as he put his underwear into a bag
for dirty laundry and said, "Your eyes are going to fall out, Mulder."
"I'm sorry. I was thinking," I said.
"Oh? I thought you were looking. I was sure of it," Alex said.
"I could have been looking," I replied. "If you don't mind?"
Without directly answering, Alex said, "I slid on my ass following Jacob out
to the woods to where Jeffy used to play. I think I pulled something. I bet I
won't be able to wash my own back when I take a shower."
"Given that it was in the line of duty," I said, "I'd be remiss not to give
you a hand."
A few moments later, we had crowded into the small enclosure. There wasn't a
scar on Alex's body. He was smooth and unmarked as a young child. No one
lives to Alex's age without a scar or two. It surprised me even though I knew
why.
Almost purring under my touch, Alex said, "Mulder, you are spooky. You know
just how I like to be handled."
"Good," I said. I pressed against him, letting him feel how excited I was.
"You going to think I'm easy if we make love tonight?" Alex asked. "Because I
really want you, Mulder. You don't have to worry about complications. If this
doesn't work, I can still work with you. Don't worry about me freaking out on
you."
"Alex, I have a feeling you were made for me," I said. A wry smile crossed my
face. Truer words were never spoken.
"I feel that way too," Alex said. He turned off the water and put his arms
around me to kiss me.
We levitated to bed. I could tell by that little v-wrinkle above his nose
that Alex had memories stirring. He shook them away willingly and said, "This
must be what it's like to be in love. Deja vu all over again. I feel as if
I've always known you."
"Some things just work out for the best," I said. "Stop thinking, Alex. Here
let me see if I can distract you."
A moment later, Alex was laughing softly as I endeavored to taste and fondle
every inch of his six-foot body. My fingers thrummed one nipple while I
sucked and lightly pulled on the other. He arched like a porn star, his green
eyes smoky with passion.
I took my time as I explored him. If he saw that a tear or two fell from my
eyes, I'm sure that he probably thought it was just passion.
"I want you inside me," Alex said. Then a moment later, "Do you...I like it
both ways."
"So do I," I assured.
Alex lay there looking at me, big green eyes mesmerizing me as I worked my
way toward his cock.
"You want a condom for that?" Alex asked as he saw I was going to go down on
him.
"You clean?" I asked. I knew he was.
Alex said, "Yes, I always get tested."
"Mmm, you taste too good to wrap in latex," I said.
"Yeah?" Alex said.
"Oh, yeah," I muttered before I let him fill my mouth again.
My fingers found their way into him. He felt tight, smooth, like the virgin
he was.
"Been awhile since I did this," Alex said. "Feels different. A little
uncomfortable. Go slow."
"I will," I said. "Turn on your stomach. I'm going to make you feel good."
"You don't have to tell me twice," Alex said, sprawling on his stomach and
spreading his legs. He grinned back over his shoulder. "I had you spotted
from the day that I saw you at the academy. I knew I wanted you and I knew
you would be interested."
That warranted a slap on his bare butt. He jumped, but wasn't offended. I
think he liked it. I parted his cheeks to tease his bud open. I wouldn't do
this for just anyone. In fact, I'd only ever done it with him.
I took my time. Alex thought he was out of practice. I knew the truth. First
times need care.
I was big enough to have learned to be careful. Alex asked me to stop once. I
waited until he stopped panting and told me to go on.
When I finally got the right angle, Alex writhed beneath me, groaning a
litany of obscenities that would have amused me except that I was too
involved to find them other than erotic. My fist worked him until he trembled
in the last stages of his pleasure. After that, I held onto Alex's hips and
rode him hard until I came.
Afterwards, I held him in my arms. His eyes were closed and his breath was
warm against my cheek.
I knew it was right. I knew it.
As we tramped through the woods towards the place where Angie Meplum had been
picking huckleberries before she was kidnapped, I fought the urge to reach
for Alex. He was moving a little stiffly this morning. So was I. It didn't
embarrass me. I imagine that the Meplums just assumed that city folks
couldn't hike without pulling muscles.
Alex grunted and said, "Mulder, look at this."
It looked like the impression of a naked human foot, although there was
something different about the traces as if the man didn't walk like a normal
person.
There was a tuft of hair a short distance from the footprint. I bagged it
even though Jacob Meplum said it was probably from a bear. He said the Stick
Indians were usually smart enough not to leave traces.
Angie Meplum had insisted on coming along to look for her child and his
father. Even outside, I could catch a whiff or two of her.
Angie said, "I never told Jeff about his father. I hope he isn't scared. I
probably should have told him."
"I don't think it would have been a good idea," I said.
"You don't think that Jeffy should have known what he really was? Half Stick
Indian?" Angie asked.
"It would have just made him unhappy," I said. "Little white lies don't hurt
anyone."
"I don't know," Angie said. "I don't know."
Her face brightened. Angie said, "You might be right. I think I was happier
before they brought me back. Before I remembered I was human."
I stopped to turn and look at her. She beamed at me. I shrugged and resumed
our walk.
About fifteen moments later, I thought I saw something running through a
distant copse of woods. I pointed it out and Alex was off after it like a
Russian wolfhound. I caught up with him a few moments later.
We never saw the hairy creature I glimpsed. When we stopped trying to catch
it and counted heads, Angie was missing.
I saw the expression on Jacob's face. He knew where she had gone, but then so
did I. We played it out, sending one of the teenagers back down to the ATV to
call the tribal police.
We broke into teams. I went with Jacob. He made a good show of searching, but
he didn't seem worried.
As we scrambled down a gulch to have a look in the thick growth, I said, "Do
you think she's going to be happy?"
Jacob stared at me, his dark eyes searching my face. He must have found
something to trust. He said, "Happier than she has been. No one outside the
family will have anything to do with her or Jeffy. I love my sister, but it
was a bad thing for that hunter to drag her back."
"I think I can help," I said. "If I write my report in such a way that it
reflects her wanting to be with the baby's father, I don't think they'll look
too hard for her after that."
"You're a good man, Fox Mulder," Jacob said.
I had nothing to say. There's good and there's right; then there's what a
desperate lover will do.
Search and Rescue didn't find Angie. The dogs brought to the mountain to find
her balked from the trail, howling, shaking, and refusing to go further. Dogs
don't like Stick Indians. The human searchers did their best, but Angie was
with a creature that had avoided detection for hundreds of years. I don't
think she'll make the mistake of being seen again. I hope not for her and
Jeffy's sake.
The way I wrote my report cleared Angie. I said she was sure that her son was
with the father. I speculated that she had joined them. Her family was
grateful that Angie was no longer suspected of child abuse. They thanked me
and I was hard put to refuse the blanket they tried to give me.
Alex moved in with me about a month after our first case.
We were very happy.
Scully brought William over to visit one day when Alex had to work and I was
off duty.
While William napped, Scully and I sat at my table. She frowned into her
coffee, turned the cup, and finally exhaled in her best exasperated way.
"You still don't want to tell him?" Scully asked.
"I'm never going to tell him. The only people that really know are my
friends. I hope they wouldn't do that to me," I said.
"Mulder, you can't have a person designed for you as if he was no more than
an exotic pet," Scully said.
"I don't think of him as a pet. He's my lover, the lover I always wanted him
to be. He's happy. I'm happy. With everything I gave up, don't I deserve to
have something I wanted?"
"But, Mulder," Scully protested. "Regardless of his origin, he's human. Don't
you think he deserves the truth? What if forcing a clone to maturity causes
hidden genetic flaws? Emily was sick. She died, Mulder, and she was allowed
to develop normally."
"If that happens, I'll face it when it happens," I said. "But they promised
me that he would be perfect. He is perfect. You and Skinner just need to keep
your promises. This way, Alex is my partner. We fell in love the way we would
have, had the project not had control of him. It's going to be fine, Scully."
Scully was silent. She had William back. She had Emily or a reasonable
facsimile, a human clone of the hybrid child. What could she say?
As for me, after a lifetime of pursuing the truth, I now appreciated the
virtue of deceit. He would never know what he was...
The alien rebels offered me the world. I chose love.
The End
This story was written for Pollyanna's Lyric Wheel.
http://www.tifling.demon.co.uk/wheel/wheel.htm
Tosca gave me an excerpt from Gordon Green's Genes: A Philosophical Inquiry
The part that I used as a theme was:
Suppose genetic screening shows up some genetic defect that is likely to have
very serious consequences for the individual. Should the person be told? The
common response is that people have a right to this information-that they
should be told if they want to be and that it is an unacceptable exercise in
medical paternalism for doctors and others to keep this important information
from the patient.
Little White Lies
by Ursula
Sitting down, I felt at home for the first time in ages. The office
looks the way it did before Spender burned it down. An exact
duplicate of my "I Want To Believe" poster was on the wall. The files
were full again, built back from those that I'd hidden here and
there, and from information I found in raids on Consortium property.
