Title: Deflationary measures Part Two They were all relieved when the neurologist decided Alex was well enough to go home. Alex was scared. In the hospital, with Walter or Fox always near, his world had consisted of his room and the bathroom. Now, he was outside, and he was scared. He stayed close to Walter, grateful for Fox’s additional proximity. Safely in his seat on the aircraft, Alex forced his mind back to listening to the safety instructions the cabin crew were reading out. Before long, he was leaning on Walter, dozing while Fox and Walter watched the in-flight movie. His mind filled with images he’d seen on TV of care homes for people who didn’t have anyone to look after them. It took all his self-control not to throw up on Walter’s lap. ************* Without Fox realising, Walter had made sure the room was dark before he undressed and slipped into their hotel bed. He was relieved that the shock of Alex’s injury had left Fox in no mood to do anything other than sleep. In the mornings, without much effort, he had always been up and dressed well before Fox stirred. ************ Fox opened the bedroom door and saw Alex moving around. ‘Good morning Alex. It’s time for breakfast. You wanna have it here, or come down?’ Alex shrugged. ‘Whatever’s easiest Fox. I don’t care.’ Fox was relieved they were home, in familiar surroundings and away from the hospital, and was in a good mood. ‘Okay, I’ll help you get dressed and after breakfast, you can take a shower.’ ************ Alex reached up to where he thought his glass was. But after refilling it, Fox had moved it to the other side of Alex’s plate, and Alex’s hand knocked Walter’s glass over, splashing him from shoulders to waist. He jumped up and grabbed a towel, soaking it as he swiped at the stain. Turning from the sink, Fox saw Walter’s attempts to mop up the dampness. ‘What happened?’ ‘Nothing Alex.’ Walter said calmly. ‘I spilled my juice.’ ‘Take your shirt off, I’ll leave to soak in the sink.’ ‘Okay.’ Walter turned and walked towards the stairs. ‘Walter. Your shirt?’ Fox prompted. ‘I’ll…um, go get another one. I need to shower anyway.’ Walter said evasively, realising Fox would wonder at his strange behavior. He did. ‘Walter, why can’t you take your shirt off down here?’ Fox said, his tone moving from concerned to worried. Walter said quietly: ‘Don’t worry Fox. Just eat your breakfast.’ He nodded in Alex’s direction. ‘What does this have to do with Alex?’ Fox asked, forgetting. ‘What did I do?’ Alex asked, his voice panicky. ‘It’s okay Alex.’ Walter said, quickly reassuring Alex, who was breathing heavily. ‘When you knocked into me the other day, I got bruised, remember?’ Alex turned away, his head dropping. ‘Oh, yeah.’ He knew exactly what Walter meant. Fox was even more suspicious, and said crossly: ‘You didn’t tell me you were bruised.’ ‘It’s not important Fox, I’m…’ ‘I hit him.’ Alex said quickly. ‘What?!’ Fox exploded. ‘Alex, it’s all ri…’ Walter tried to calm the atmosphere. ‘You selfish bastard. Walter’s done everything for you these last weeks. And you hit him! Why?’ ‘Because he can’t see and he was frustrated and you bruise too easily.’ Walter interrupted Alex as he was forming his reponse. Fox stormed away and ran upstairs, slamming the bedroom door behind him. Walter took a deep breath, then realised Alex was frozen in his seat, his whole body trembling. For a man who had been exposed to so much violence during his life, Walter learned early on in their relationship that the one thing that really upset Alex were raised voices. ‘Alex, listen to me.’ Walter knelt beside Alex and pulled him close. ‘I let you hit me. Aside from a few bruises, you didn’t hurt me, and I could have stopped you at any time. I know you needed to take your anger out on someone. It was my decision, understand?’ There was no response and Walter put a gentle hand under Alex’s chin, lifting his sightless eyes until they were level with Walter’s own. ‘Alex?’ ‘I’m sorry.’ Alex managed, his lungs refusing to fill with enough air to manage any more. ‘It’s okay. Fox was just a little shocked. I’m gonna go talk to him, and then I’ll come straight back down, okay?’ Alex nodded slightly. ‘Okay.’ As soon as he heard Walter’s footsteps on the staircase, he realised that, unlike all the other times, he couldn’t simply walk out. He wasn’t even sure he’d make it to the front door. *********** Walter went upstairs, opened the bedroom door and looked in. ‘Fox, I know you’re not asleep. Sit up please so we can talk.’ Scowling, Fox sat up, looking everywhere but at Walter. ‘I won’t apologise.’ Walter sighed inwardly. //Here we go.// ‘Yes Fox, you will.’ ‘Why? He hit you, not me!’ ‘You called Alex, and I quote: ‘a selfish bastard’. Tell me one thing he’s done since the accident, which you’ve seen, which would allow you to call him that.’ Fox huffed, then shrugged. ‘Nothing.’ ‘So?’ Fox realised he was beaten. ‘O-kay.’ He dragged himself off the bed and walked towards the door. ‘Try and think how you’d feel in Alex’s place Fox, before you yell next time, okay?’ ‘Yes Walter.’ Fox said, already dreading the next few minutes. Walter pulled Fox towards him and hugged him, dropping a kiss onto his frown. ‘Go on. I’ll stay up here and make the bed. Then I’m going shopping.’ ************** Alone in the house with just Fox, who, after his muted apology, was keeping out of his way, sitting in the den surfing the net, Alex decided to try getting himself a drink. After all, he remembered the layout of the kitchen, and it wasn’t difficult. Glass, sink, water. He moved slowly from the couch to the kitchen doorway, feeling his way along the cold surfaces until he reached the sink. Thankfully, there was already a glass in the sink, and Alex ran the tap and filled it. ‘What are you doing?’ Fox’s angry voice behind him made Alex jump. ‘Getting a drink.’ ‘Walter told you to ask me if you wanted anything. It’s dangerous for you to be wandering about.’ ‘I can get a drink Fox.’ Alex said crossly. ‘Next time, ask.’ Fox said sharply. ‘Come back into the living room.’ He grabbed Alex’s arm, and pulled him. ‘Get off me!’ Alex pulled himself free of Fox’s grip. ‘Fine.’ Fox snapped, walking back into the den, snagging a bag of biscuits from one of the cupboards as he passed. ************** Walter returned with armfuls of groceries to what he was sure was a worse atmosphere than when he had left, all of half an hour earlier. ‘Alex, did something happen while I was out?’ Fox appeared immediately. ‘Oh sure, ask him.’ Walter frowned. ‘One of you tell me what happened. Now!’ Walter listened to two, sometimes overlapping, versions of what had happened. ‘Fox, wait in the den.’ Walter dropped the three bags onto the coffee table and sat down next to Alex. ‘Come here.’ Walter pulled Alex’s resistant body towards him and held him tightly. ‘Alex, I know this is driving you crazy, but you can’t wander about. Supposing there had been something on the stove, or a cupboard door open. You could have hurt yourself.’ Alex huffed a little, but Walter had a point. Fox wasn’t the tidiest member of the household, and was quite capable of leaving cupboards open after he’d taken what he wanted from them. ‘I know.’ He said quietly. ‘Don’t move from here until I come back, okay?’ ‘Okay.’ Walter sighed inwardly as he lifted himself from the couch. Slowly, he walked into the den. ‘Fox?’ Fox was standing at the window, and, wrapped in his own thoughts, was startled by Walter’s voice. ‘Yeah?’ Despite the cocky tone, Walter realised Fox was worrying about their conversation. ‘Fox, what is it?’ ‘Nothing.’ Fox said tightly. ‘Fox.’ Walter repeated, a little more firmly. ‘You let him get away with anything.’ ‘He can’t see.’ Walter said, in a tone suggesting Fox was being unkind. ‘Before. You always let him do stuff…’ ‘Such as?’ Walter interrupted. Fox scowled. ‘I dunno. Stuff.’ ‘Fox, if you think I treat you differently, you must have based your conclusion on **something**.’ ‘You let him hit you.’ ‘Fox, we talked about this.’ Walter said, his voice indicating a patience he didn’t really feel. ‘He needed an outlet for his frustration. And he never really hurt me.’ ‘TV.’ Fox said immediately, thankful he’d thought of something else. ‘You let him have the remote way more than me.’ ‘Do I?’ Walter asked. ‘Yeah.’ Walter nodded. ‘Fine. Starting today, neither of you will have it. I’ll decide what we watch.’ In the living room, Alex heard the raised voices, and began to shake. Within seconds, he felt nauseous. Maybe, he thought, if he could get some water, he might be able to stop the feeling. Cautiously, he felt his way into the kitchen. Fox realised the conversation wasn’t going in his intended direction. ‘Um, you don’t…’ Walter bit back a smile. ‘Oh yes Fox I do. I’d hate you to think you were getting less than equal treatment. Anything else?’ ‘No.’ Fox said dejectedly. Walter closed the distance between them. ‘Fox, just because Alex needs me more than you do right now, that doesn’t mean I love you less.’ Fox pouted, tears brightening his eyes. ‘It feels like it.’ Walter reached out and Fox moved into his arms. ‘He needs you too Fox. Remember that next…’ The crash, followed by a string of Russian curses, startled them both. Fox following him, Walter ran into the kitchen. Alex was leaning against the countertop, a cupboard door open beside him. ‘Alex! What happened?’ Walter crossed quickly to his side. ‘I walked into a door.’ Alex said sulkily. ‘Did you hurt yourself?’ Fox was running a cloth under the tap, folding it to make a compress for the impressive bump which was forming on Alex’s temple. Alex put his hand to his head. Then he looked at his fingers. ‘No. There’s no blood. It’s just a bump.’ Suddenly, all three men realised at once what Alex had done. Walter caught him as he passed out. ************** Alex woke slowly, the pounding pain in his head making him nauseous. He struggled up onto his elbows and realised Fox and Walter were sitting either side of the bed. Walter smiled. ‘Hey.’ Alex looked from Walter to Fox. ‘I’m kinda glad I didn’t ask you to bring me a drink.’ ‘We need to get you checked at the hospital Alex.’ Walter said gently. ‘O-kay.’ Alex sighed, his voice heavy with reluctance. Fox got up. ‘I’ll drive.’ Alex sat up, grateful for Walter’s help as he stood up shakily. ‘Thanks Fox.’ ‘For driving?’ Fox frowned. ‘For leaving the cupboard open.’ Alex said softly. ‘Anytime.’ Fox said, finally smiling for the first time in a long time. Walter shook his head. ‘Oh no. From now on Fox, you close things you open. We don’t want Alex getting another bang on the head.’ Fox shuddered at the thought. ‘Okay.’ Alex said timidly: 'So can I stay?' Both Walter and Fox looked at him. 'Why wouldn't we let you stay Alex?' You had an accident.' Alex decided not to pursue the topic further. With a relieved smile, he lay back, allowing Fox to turn the cloth over. He shivered at the cold. Seeing his smile and his shiver, Fox and Walter exchanged a glance. Alex was a part of their lives. Forever. End Home Send me feedback on this fic Return to the X-Files Fic Index Return to the West Wing Fic Index