Title: Singular Opportunities

Author: Aqualegia

Yes to Gossamer, Basement, RatB, Spookys, WWOMB. Anywhere else please ask.

Status: NEW - Standalone

Category: X-File or Casefile, Missing Scene

Pairings: Mulder/Krycek

Rating: NC-17

Gossamer Category: X-File ~ Romance ~ Slash

Summary: Written for the MK Fight Club "Canon vs. Fanon Challenge". Pick an episode featuring some wholly illogical or absurd annoyance, and make it right. The episode I chose to fix for the challenge was Requiem.

Singular Opportunities
by Aqualegia

THE WATERGATE APARTMENTS
WASHINGTON, DC

As he and Marita pause at the top of the stairs outside Spender's room, Krycek looks back over his shoulder and wonders why he agreed to come here instead of going his own way after arriving back in the States. He looks back towards the door and catches Marita's eye, then she knocks on the door, and after a short wait it is opened by a blonde woman.

"Hi. He's anxious to see you," the nurse tells them.

They enter the room and the Nurse goes to a man in a wheelchair and turns him around. It is Spender, who is looking very, very ill. His hair has turned completely grey, his face has no colour and he has an artificial voice box installed in his throat. He gives them a rather sickly smile and Krycek looks at him in barely concealed horror.

While he is still stunned into silence, Spender says, "I was worried about you, Alex."

At the sound of the hated voice, Krycek recovers the power of speech. "Cut the crap, old man," he retorts.

"I heard about your incarceration."

"You had me thrown in that hell hole," Krycek replies angrily.

"For trying to sell something that was mine, was it not? I hope we can all move forward... Put the past behind us. We have a... singular opportunity now."

Krycek is suspicious, "A singular opportunity?"

Spender, despite his weak state, sounds excited. "There's been a crash in Oregon. An alien ship has collided with a military aircraft. Recovery is all-important. It's Roswell and Corona all over again... 50 years later. It's our chance to rebuild the project."

While they are talking, the nurse lights a cigarette. When he stops speaking she gives it to Spender who puts it into the inhaler apparatus of the artificial voice box and inhales the smoke... Krycek looks on in disgust.

Recovering her equilibrium, Marita asks, "How do you know someone hasn't already recovered it?"

"It's never quite so easy," was the ambiguous reply she receives.

"Who have you got looking for it?" Krycek asks.

"No-one... yet. I want you to travel to Oregon and find it... take possession of it, before anyone else finds it."

"Me and who's army?"

"There is no army, Alex, not now... just you."

"Just me... I suppose I just walk up to it and say come with me," Krycek replies sarcastically.

Spender smiles enigmatically. "You have to find it first. When you do... call me." He turns to the nurse, and says, "Greta, please give Alex the two packets from my desk."

Spender silently watches the nurse as she crosses the room to fetch the packets and returns to hold them out towards Krycek, who makes no move to take either of them from her.

"Take them, Alex," Spender commands weakly. "In the larger one you will find a cell phone already programmed with all the numbers you might need; the other contains everything else you could possibly need; identification papers, money, check book, platinum credit card... unlimited funds my boy...." He takes another drag from his cigarette, and gets the nurse to wheel him closer to Krycek. He takes the two packages from her, and tells her to go away. Craning his neck back to look Krycek in the eyes, he says, "You know as well as I do, that you will do what I ask in the end, so why not make it easier on everybody and give in gracefully.... Don't be so damn stubborn, Alex." His voice sinks to a hoarse whisper that only Krycek can hear. "There's thousands of dollars in there for you to spend as you like.... I've no doubt there are some treats, some little rewards you would like to buy yourself in 'compensation' for your enforced holiday." He gives a lascivious grin. "More than enough to buy yourself some high-class tails if you want them." He smiles vindictively as Krycek's eyes glitter with anger, then says in a louder voice, "Just find the ship, Alex, that's all I'm asking in return."

Krycek takes a tight hold on his temper, and finally takes the first of the two packages from Spender. Opening it reveals a cell phone and all its accessories. He checks the pre-programmed numbers then puts the items away in his pockets. The second package contains ten thousand dollars in $100 bills, two different platinum cards, a driver's licence, passport, social security card and various other essentials to enable him to get the job done.

Without saying a word, he stows all these items in his jacket pockets, then silently nods his acquiescence. He turns on his heel and walks rapidly out of the apartment, leaving Spender laughing and coughing behind him.

-oo0oo-

OUTSIDE MULDER'S MOTEL ROOM
BELLEFLUER, OREGON
8.07 PM

Krycek glares at the closed door of Mulder's room after watching Scully being ushered inside, and thumps the steering wheel in disappointment as he had been just about to go over there himself and try to talk to Mulder.

Feeling the need to take his frustration out on someone, he takes out his cell phone and calls Spender, not caring whether he wakes the old man up or not.

As soon as Spender answers, he says, "In spite of a great deal of effort, no one seems to be able to find this UFO of yours."

"Of course they can't," the old man replies contemptuously.

"You know why? 'Cause it's not here."

"It's there, Alex. I'm certain of it. Hidden in plain sight."

Krycek is getting angry again. "You listen to me. If you're going to play games, the two of them, Mulder and Scully, they're going to beat me to it.

"Are you saying that Mulder and Scully are there looking for the UFO?" Spender asks, surprise evident in his tone.

"They're looking for a missing deputy."

"Well, they're looking for the right thing but in the wrong place."

"You sent me looking for a ship."

"Find the deputy. Find the ship," Spender tells him, then cuts the connection.

Krycek jabs the end call button, thinking furiously. There has to be something that he is missing, some angle that he hasn't yet thought of, otherwise the cancerous old bastard wouldn't have got him out of prison and be so sure that he could 'take possession' of the ship...

When no solution comes to mind he gives a mental shrug and decides that he isn't going to lose any sleep over it right now. Taking a tracker unit out of the glove compartment he goes into his own room, and, after drawing the curtains, he switches on the main light and set the dial on the unit to emit a signal if the agents' car should move.

Stripping off he hangs up his suit and takes a shower, standing under the cascading water long after he has rinsed the soap away, just for the pleasure of the feel of it against his skin. When the water starts to run cold, he leaves the stall and uses a large fluffy towel to dry himself off, then pads over to the bed where he set the alarm clock to wake him at dawn. Pulling on a clean pair of shorts he gets into bed, luxuriating in the feel of the clean, crisp sheets.

-oo0oo-

HOUSE OF RAY AND TERESA HOESE.
BELLEFLEUR, OREGON.

Teresa Hoese, dressed in a bathrobe, walks down the stairs and sees a man wearing a deputy's hat standing outside the door. She calls out, "Who is it?"

The man rattles the door handle.

"Ray?"

She opens the door to find her husband standing there. She throws her arms around him, and hugs him, but he barely responds. "Oh, my God. Oh, my God. I was so worried. I was so sure... what did they do to you this time?"

He stares at her unresponsively

"Ray, talk to me."

He still just looks at her.

Suddenly she backs away in terror. "You're not my husband."

She turns and runs upstairs. He follows more slowly; as he turns the corner at the top of the stairs, she whips around and stabs him in the chest with a kitchen knife, then stumbles back from the green fluid that oozes out of his chest. Her eyes burning from the fumes, she lurches into the nursery where her baby is crying loudly.

The Bounty Hunter follows her, picks her up and carries her, screaming, out of the room leaving the baby crying for its mother.

-oo0oo-

The next morning Krycek watches as Mulder and Scully are called in to examine the Hoese house. As soon as the agents are inside, he gets out of the car and walks closer to the crime scene; lurking just inside the edge of the trees on the opposite side of the road, he is careful to keep the small crowd of onlookers between himself and the house.

He doesn't have long to wait, Mulder comes out and gets in the rental, then Scully leaves the house, and goes to join him. Suddenly Mulder gets out again and crosses the road towards him, followed by Deputy Billy Miles. For a panicked moment he thinks that Mulder has seen him, then breathes a sigh of relief when the Agent stops to talk to a boy whom Billy addresses as Richie.

He, with the onlookers, listens in silence while Richie tells Mulder and Billy about the disappearance of his friend Gary, then he follows them as the boy leads the two agents to the scene. He drives past their car and hides his rental further up the road, before tailing them into the forest. He watches thoughtfully as Scully is caught in an energy field, then gives a predatory smile when he realizes that he now knows where the craft is, and more importantly, how to find it.

Swiftly going back to his car, he drives towards the town. For a moment he considers calling Spender to tell him about his discovery, then changes his mind. "This information is too precious to be squandered appeasing the old bastard... I know someone who will appreciate it much more."

With that thought in mind, he drives to the mall to do some shopping, then returns to the motel in a very good mood. He arrives back just in time to watch Mulder take Scully to her room. While the agent is taking care of his partner, Krycek lets himself in to Mulder's room and hides behind the bathroom door.

He doesn't have long to wait, less than fifteen minutes after taking up his position, Mulder enters the room and closes the door roughly behind him. As the agent passes the bathroom, Krycek steps out and presses the barrel of his gun against Mulder's neck.

"Keep still," Krycek commands him.

Too surprised by the turn of events, Mulder obeys. Krycek moves in closer and removes Mulder's gun, then says. "Go sit on the bed, and tuck your hands under your thighs... I have some important information to give to you."

"Why now, Krycek, and why me?" Mulder asks aggressively, making no move towards the bed.

"Spender is dying and I want to damn the soul of that Cigarette Smoking son-of-a-bitch. He sent me here to find the alien ship..."

"There is no ship," Mulder interrupts.

"Yeah, it's there. Cloaked in an energy field. While he mops up the evidence."

"Who?"

"The Alien Bounty Hunter. Billy Miles, Teresa Hoese, her husband. He's eliminating proof of all the tests. We're asking ourselves, we're asking ourselves, 'Where are they?' They're right there. They're right under our noses. I'm giving you the chance to change that, to hold the proof."

"How?"

"Listen to me, and I'll tell you."

-oo0oo-

That night, following Krycek's directions, Mulder goes back to the spot where he found Richie's torch earlier in the day, and switches on the laser pointer that his ex-partner had given him. He grins in delight as the red beam appears to end abruptly in mid air. Slowly he moves forward to the edge of the force field, and experiments putting his hand through it... he would be able to pass through. Pocketing the laser pointer, he walks through the energy field, then towards the group of people he can now see standing in a beam of light beneath the hovering ship.

As he steps into the light, the Bounty Hunter appears and smiles at the unexpected, yet welcome, addition to his collection. A moment later the Alien staggers and drops to the ground, an alien stiletto lodged in his neck. A few moments later Krycek steps out of the gloom looking very pleased as he watches the Bounty Hunter dissolve in a puddle of green goo. He looks at Mulder and says, "Tell them to go home."

Rather sceptically, Mulder gives the order, "Go home and go to bed," to the group of abductees and stares in amazement as, without making any protest, they all move out of the light and plod away from the ship.

Krycek moves forward, passes Mulder's carry-on luggage to him, then grips the Agent's shoulder. "Up," he says, and they are both lifted into the alien craft.

"How did you do that?" Mulder demands once he has recovered from his surprise.

Krycek shrugs, "I've been on one of these before... and so have you if you can recall. Now, let's move this ship before anyone else comes here looking for it."

"Where to... how... oh fuck it..."

Krycek has shrugged off his back pack, touched some controls and the viewscreen was showing the earth receding beneath them.

Fascinated by the view, Mulder forgets to ask any questions until the craft is safely tucked away in the middle of a large wooded area a long way south of its starting point.

Krycek powers down the craft and opens a hatch to enable them to leave.

"Where are we?"

"On the coast of Central California. An old friend of my mother's used to live here, and having no relatives she left the property to my mother, and therefore to me, in her will. Can I suggest we leave any more questions until we get to the house?"

Mulder closes his eyes, wondering if he could contain himself that long, then says, "Okay, I'll wait... but..."

"Later, Mulder. All the answers." Krycek promises, then leads the way through the moonlit trees.

The house, when they reach it, is all in darkness. Krycek tells Mulder to stay still while he paces out a complicated pattern then scrabbles at his feet, returning a few minutes later holding a key. His teeth shine momentarily in the moonlight as he grins at his ex-partner, then he unlocks the door, disables the alarms, and let them inside.

Krycek drops his back pack in the hall and Mulder leaves his luggage there too as he follows his ex-partner into the kitchen and finds him inspecting the contents of the fridge and cupboards.

"Not much in the way of provisions, but I'm sure we can manage." he comments to the amazed agent.

Krycek takes out the new cell phone he bought that afternoon, and dials a number. "Mr Skinner... Mr Skinner, if you want the controller of those nasty bugs you'll find it in room 2645 of the Watergate Hotel.... It's where the Smoker now lives. He has the controller, but he doesn't know how to make it work. Goodbye, Mr Skinner." He ends the call with a satisfied smirk on his lips.

"Krycek...."

"Later, Mulder, much later."

He crowds his former partner against the kitchen wall. "I've been waiting to do this for a long time...." He fastens his mouth over Mulder's. Mulder gives a moan, and Krycek's tongue slips inside his mouth.

It was so, so long since they had kissed like this that they devour each other's mouths like starving men. Eventually, Mulder pulls away from the feast to say, "Bed, Alex."

Krycek nods and leads Mulder down some stairs and into a huge bedroom containing a king-sized bed. He flips a switch which lights the two bedside lamps. Then, pausing only to throw off the dust cover and divest themselves of their clothes, they climb on the bed, to carry on where they had left off.

A few minutes later, Alex breaks away and scrabbles in a bedside drawer, returning triumphantly with condoms and lube. Tearing open the foil packet with his teeth, he rolls the condom over his straining erection.

Mulder spreads his legs, and feels a slicked finger press against his anus, then slip past the ring of muscle. He writhes against the finger, and hears Alex murmur, "Slut."

"Mmmm... yeah," he murmurs back, feeling Alex opening him up. "Come on..." he urges, when the slicked finger leave him.

A breathy laugh greets this command, then the blunt tip of Alex's cock pushes into his hole.

He watches his lover's face as the large, slicked cock pushes deeper and deeper inside him, then a slippery hand grasps his penis and works it in time with each thrust of Alex's hips. Mulder feels the orgasm start at his toes, and he arches his back as the tsunami sweeps over him, the spasming of his muscles milking his lover's cock of its load, and Alex collapses on top of him.

Pulling Alex slightly towards himself, Mulder lowers his legs, so that they can be comfortable, then lets himself drift on the tide of feelings that only a spectacular orgasm can produce.... As he drifts off to sleep, he knows that the only answer he ever really wanted is already lying in his arms.

THE END

... and I've also negated the whole of seasons 8 and 9 :o)