John got up, loosening the knot in his belt. ‘I wasn’t this scared when the crazies were shooting at me from ten yards away.’ ‘John, you understand that you can stay on here even if you change your mind about this.’ ‘Yeah.’ ‘John, this isn’t a game. It’s about making your punishment memorable so you don’t even think about doing something like that again.’ ‘I know.’ Walter looked at John for a long moment. He saw last-minute nerves in John’s eyes which were looking everywhere but at him. And he saw something else. Something he recognised from his early days with Fox. A need to be punished, forgiven and reassured that they could move on. He didn’t make John wait. ‘Okay. Take off your robe and lay across my lap.’ Walter waited while John arranged himself comfortably across Walter’s lap, his head resting on a couple of couch cushions, his legs stretched out along the couch. Suddenly John struggled, lifting his head. ‘Where’s Fox?’ ‘In the bedroom.’ Walter said reassuringly. ‘Don’t worry.’ He rubbed John’s back from tense shoulders to clenched buttocks several times, his other hand resting on John’s hip. ‘John, what am I punishing you for?’ ‘Hitting the kid.’ ‘Yes. This is your last chance John. You can get up now and we’ll say no more about this.’ Forcing the words out through gritted teeth, John shook his head. ‘I’m ready.’ He tensed every muscle in his body as he waited for the first blow to land. The stinging, burning pain of Walter’s palm on his damp skin caught him by surprise. He tried to keep silent, biting the inside of his cheek to keep from crying out, but by the time Walter had landed the tenth blow, he was losing the battle. ‘It’s okay John. Let it out.’ Walter’s soft words opened a floodgate, and John sobbed, his words almost lost in the noise of the smacks and his gasps of pain. But Walter heard them. ‘I’m sorry. OW! I shouldn’t…have…hit…him. He…OW! I’m sorry. Please…no more.’ Walter stopped then, satisfied that John had learned a lesson. The hard way. He moved his hand, hot and sore, to hold John while his other hand came up and rubbed John’s heaving back. ‘It’s all over. You’re forgiven. We can put this behind us.’ Walter realised he was making it up as he went along, his actions being guided by John’s reaction to the punishment. Which were almost the exact opposite of Fox’s. John was neither aroused by the spanking nor tearful and clingy. His military training seemed suddenly to kick in and his tears dried up almost instantly as he controlled his breathing. ‘Jeez, that hurt like the devil.’ Walter smiled. ‘Good. Maybe in future you’ll think before you react to a situation with your fists.’ ‘He deserved it.’ ‘Maybe.’ Walter conceded. ‘But that doesn’t make what you did right, does it?’ ‘No.’ John admitted quietly. ‘John, I’m just gonna get some things from the kitchen. I’ll be right back. Don’t move, okay?’ Lifting John gently off his lap, Walter left him lying on the couch while he went to the kitchen and brought back a can of soda and a tube of after-sun lotion. He popped the top on the soda can and handed it to John before squeezing a generous amount of the clear gel onto his fingers. ‘This might sting, but it’ll help, okay?’ John nodded tersely, steeling himself. In the event, the stinging lasted only a few seconds and the cooling effect of the gel quickly soothed the burning from his heated flesh to a bearable level. ‘John, I meant what I said. We’re putting this behind us. I don’t want you dwelling on this.’ ‘Yes sir.’ John sipped at the icy drink, shivering slightly. Walter reached across the back of the couch and pulled the throw across John’s bare back. John hissed as the rough-woven Aztec design fabric scraped his sore flesh. ‘You want me to stay down here for a while?’ ‘No sir. I’ll be fine. You go on up. And, um…thanks.’ ‘Come on up when you’re ready.’ Walter squeezed John’s bare shoulder reassuringly. ‘Don’t stay down here on your own for too long, okay?’ ‘Yes sir.’ ‘You wanna sleep in our room tonight?’ ‘No thanks sir. I’d just as soon not keep brushing my butt up against anything.’ Walter smiled. ‘Well, if you’re sure. I’ll see you in the morning. Night John.’ ‘Night sir.’ ************** Walter walked into the bedroom and immediately sensed the tension. ‘Fox?’ Fox lay on his side, facing away from the door and didn’t move as Walter crossed to the bed. Walter dropped onto the bed and reached across to put a hand on Fox’s exposed shoulder. Immediately he felt the touch on his bare skin, Fox jerked away, breaking the contact. Walter sighed, stripped off his clothes and climbed into bed. ‘Fox, we talked about this, didn’t we?’ Getting no response, Walter pulled Fox onto his back. He looked at the angry expression on Fox’s face and reached down to stroke Fox’s cheek. ‘Fox, are you angry with me?’ ‘No.’ Fox muttered. ‘When I left, you said you were fine with this. What changed your mind?’ ‘Did you hug him and bring him soda and lotion?’ ‘No. Well, not the hugging part.’ ‘But the rest?’ ‘Yes.’ Fox turned onto his side and curled up. ‘Whatever.’ Walter leaned over Fox’s tense form, his mouth close enough to Fox’s ear that he could smell the mixture of shampoo and aftershave that a late shower hadn’t washed away. He wrapped his arms around Fox’s unresisting torso, waiting until he was sure Fox was listening. ‘In the morning, Fox, after John’s left for work, I’ll punish you for your sulkiness right now. I’ll make you scream so loud John’ll hear you in his office.’ Fox shivered at the mock-threat and Walter smiled inwardly as he realised how well he knew Fox. Within moments of being enfolded in the warm and powerful arms, reassured that Walter still loved him, Fox began to relax. After a few minutes, he relaxed into sleep and Walter released him, only to find Fox immediately spooned back against him, almost as close as they had been seconds earlier. John was half-tempted just to drift off to sleep where he lay. For the first time in months he felt an inner calm. He had laughed at Fox’s description of the feeling, and now he felt guilty for his teasing. He swallowed down the last of the sticky drink, got up slowly, pulling the throw carefully off his back, pulled his robe back on and walked into the kitchen, dropping the empty can into the recycling box before switching off the lights and climbing the stairs. He passed the half-open door on his way to his room, and, seeing the shadow and mindful of Fox, Walter called out softly: ‘John, everything okay?’ John put his head around the door and looked in. ‘Yes sir. G’night.’ ‘Night John.’ ‘Night John.’ Fox mumbled. ‘Night Mulder.’ ‘Y’cancallmeFox.’ Fox slurred, still half-asleep. ‘Night Fox.’ John said, the smile on his face evident in his voice.   ************* When Fox came down for breakfast, John’s car was already gone from the space outside their house and Walter had been up for some time. ‘Fox, come in here please.’ Fox heard Walter’s voice from the room off the living room which they used as son office. Remembering Walter’s words the previous night, he shivered in anticipation as he opened the door. Immediately, he was wary. Walter was sitting on the couch, the laptop perched on his legs, a deep frown on his face. He looked up as the door opened and asked sharply: ‘Fox, what are the rules about you taking breaks from the internet?’ ‘I have to disconnect once every hour for fifteen minutes.’ Fox said without thinking. ‘Yet, according to this, you spent three hours online yesterday without any break at all.’ Fox’s stomach lurched. Since Walter had introduced the rule, he had installed a program on the laptop which listed the connection time and duration of each internet session. ‘I did take a break. I just didn’t disconnect.’ Walter got up, folding the laptop closed and leaving it on the desk. ‘*A* break, Fox? You took only one break in three hours?’ Fox swallowed hard. Then he noticed Walter’s expression. And his suit. Huge ol’ Boss, he had nicknamed the dark blue suit, which seemed to accentuate Walter’s muscled physique with every hand-tailored inch. He was in big trouble. Better to confess and get it over with. ‘I was in a chatroom and…’ Fox’s explanation tailed off as he saw Walter’s raised eyebrows. The ‘don’t make it worse by keeping me waiting’ expression was so familiar, he stopped talking immediately. Disappointed that Walter had evidently forgotten his promise of the previous night, Fox unhooked the belt on his robe and pulled it off. ‘How many?’ Fox asked, hating the tremor in his voice. ‘You are supposed to take a fifteen minute break every hour. And this is the second time I’ve had to remind you about this. So I think thirty.’ Reluctantly, Fox lowered himself across Walter’s lap. Once in position, Walter asked: ‘What is this punishment for Fox?’ ‘For not taking proper breaks.’ ‘That’s right. Now hold still.’ Fox hated the seconds before the first impact landed on his bare skin. And Walter seemed in no hurry to begin. He simply sat still with Fox stretched out across his lap, ignoring the obvious signs of Fox’s impatience as the younger man fidgeted under his gaze. After a couple more minutes, he raised his hand a little way in the air and brought it down onto Fox’s pale flesh, leaving a slight flush as he removed it. His second smack followed a few seconds later, leaving a similar mark on the other cheek. Immediately, Fox realised two things. One, this was no usual punishment spanking. For one thing, the blows were so light he could hardly feel the impact of Walter’s hand on his skin. Second, Walter’s usual tight grip around his waist, intended to hold him in place during his punishment, was loose, allowing him to squirm around, but still holding him safely in place. As he moved, his genitals brushed Walter’s soft-clad thighs, and he groaned as the growing sensations in his groin mingled with the pleasure/pain signals from his buttocks, almost overloading his brain. Walter kept careful count of how many times he had smacked each cheek, smiling as Fox’s moans and struggles increased as he continued to spank Fox with very little force, waiting a few seconds between smacks. Anticipating the inevitable outcome, Walter spanked a little harder as he reached a count of twenty. Fox’s legs kicked and his hands reached back several times, something he stopped doing as he realised each time he tried to protect his stinging buttocks, Walter stopped the spanking, firmly enclosing both Fox’s wrists in his large hand and moving them out of the way before waiting a few seconds to be sure Fox’s hands were back at his sides before re-starting the spanking. The last four smacks were almost as hard as Walter would spank if it were a proper punishment spanking and he gave a moments thought to the suit he wore which, he was certain, he would have to bin when they were done. As he had guessed, as the final two spanks landed, Fox came with a scream which made Walter glad he had waited until their neighbours had left for work before calling Fox into the den. He left Fox hanging, limp and breathless, over his lap for a few minutes before turning him gently over. ‘You back with me yet?’ ‘Wow.’ Was all Fox managed to gasp out between heaving breaths. Walter smiled, gently stroking the sweat-slick hair from Fox’s forehead as he waited for the younger man’s breathing to return to normal. ‘Did you think I would forget something this important?’ Fox’s momentary frown, quickly hidden, gave him his answer. Walter sighed. ‘Fox, nothing will ever change what we have. I will always care about you. You understand that, don’t you?’ Fox nodded. ‘I do now.’ Walter smiled, shaking his head as he folded his arms around Fox for one last hug before he got up, lifting Fox gently across the couch. ‘Breakfast, then get dressed. We’re going out for the day.’ ‘Where?’ Fox asked excitedly. Walter chuckled at Fox’s curiosity. ‘You’ll find out when we get there. Breakfast. Now. I’ll be down when I’ve changed.’ Fox’s eyes were drawn to the huge dark patch between Walter’s thighs. ‘Your best suit. I’m sorry…I…’ Walter cut off Fox’s panic with a gentle finger on his lips. ‘It’s okay Fox. It was worth it.’ ‘Was it?’ Fox still sounded anxious. Walter nodded, smiling. His voice was calm, reassuring. ‘Yes Fox. It was.’ Continued and concluded in Part Four Home Send me feedback on this fic Return to the X-Files Fic Index Return to the West Wing Fic Index