Title – It’s not the fall… Walter chuckled to himself at the inner peace he felt as he watched out of the window as his two younger lovers sat in the lower branches of the apple tree at the end of their garden, munching the fruit they were supposed to be picking. All three of them looked up at the same moment and Alex and Fox waved, gesturing to Walter to join them. ‘I’m too old to climb trees.’ Walter shouted. Fox and Alex’s expressions showed what they thought of that idea, but they had to admit that they would rather be out in the autumn sunshine, picking fruit off their own trees than inside washing the dishes. So they waved again, then turned their attention to the remaining apples which hung around them. ‘Race you to the top.’ Alex challenged impulsively. ‘Okay.’ Fox pushed his tree-climbing ability, or lack thereof, to the back of his mind and stood up on the sturdy branch. The dishes finished, Walter went back into the living room relieved to have a little time to himself. He loved the two younger men, but he knew it did them all good to have some time where they could do things they wanted without feeling they had to involve the other two. For some reason, which he didn’t want to think too deeply about, he knew he had less of this ‘self-time’, as Fox called it, than the other two. He didn’t resent it, exactly. But an hour or so curled up on the couch with a little Mozart, a glass of nice wine and a good book would revive his spirits. He heard the scream and was out of the back kitchen door before the echo faded in his ears. ************* ‘What the Hell?’ Frank Harris woke suddenly as the scream from over the fence rent the still air. He offered up a silent prayer to the previous owner of the house who had installed a door between the two properties. He wrestled the bolt open and rushed into the adjoining garden, arriving moments before Walter. Fox and Alex lay on the ground in a tangle of limbs, Alex on top of Fox. Just. ‘Boys, lay still now.’ He urged sharply, moving to kneel opposite Walter who dropped onto the grass at Fox’s side. ‘Fox, Alex, don’t move.’ Walter pulled his cell phone from his pocket and dialled 911. Frank left him briefly to fetch a couple of blankets, thankful that the recent weather had been dry, and the grass the two men lay on was dry under their clothes. Returning, he tucked the blankets around the two sets of trembling shoulders after gently feeling all their limbs except Fox’s arm which was trapped under Alex’s leg. He was relieved he found no obvious breaks. As a retired Army doctor, he knew as Walter guessed that the height the boys had fallen from would determine how serious any internal or spinal injuries were. Walter’s main concern was that the initial sounds of pain the two had been making were no longer audible, tailing off into scared whimpers. He reached across and stroked both damp foreheads. ‘Ambulance is coming.’ Indeed, almost as he spoke, the wailing siren sounded in the not too-far distance. Frank got up and left them alone, intending to guide the vehicle to their property. ‘We’re sorry.’ Alex whispered. ‘Yeah. Fox agreed. ‘Shh now. Don’t try and talk. Just keep still. Okay, let’s get you to hospital now.’ Walter stood up as the two paramedics began to assess Fox and Alex and prepare to transfer them to the ambulance. ‘Wisk, car keys?’ Frank caught the keyring Walter threw at him. ‘You go in the ambulance with the boys. I’ll follow in your car. You can drive us all back when we’re done at the hospital.’ Trying to ignore the sounds of pain and distress Fox and Alex were making as they were prepared for the ambulance journey, Walter nodded distractedly. ************* Alex hissed through gritted teeth as the doctor standing over him removed the rigid collar from around his neck. ‘Your films are fine Mr Krycek. No broken bones. I’ll sign you out.’ He turned his attention to Fox. ‘You weren’t so lucky. You have a broken wrist and several broken ribs. It’s a simple break, no need for surgery. Your ribs’ll take a while before they stop hurting though. D'you have someone at home to take care of you while you heal?’ Walter turned from helping Alex on with his jacket. ‘Yes. He does.’ ‘Okay. We’ll get your wrist into a cast and some support for your ribs, then I’ll sign you out too. Oh, and fellas…’ ‘Yeah?’ Alex looked up from where he was zipping his jacket closed. ‘Leave tree climbing to the kids in future, okay?’ *********** Alex, Walter and Frank followed Fox’s trolley as he was wheeled into a side room to await his plaster cast. ‘Just what the Hell were you doing so high up anyway? When I looked, you were both sitting in the bottom branches.’ ‘We were…’ A spasm of pain hit Alex and he stopped in mid-sentence. Walter’s arm went immediately around his shoulders and he felt himself guided into a nearby chair. ‘…making out.’ Fox finished softly, wincing at his aborted attempt to move as he spoke. Walter made a sound of horrified disbelief, looking from Alex to Fox. ‘In a tree twenty-odd feet off the ground? How stupid are you?!’ Walter’s shock at what might have resulted from the arboreal necking transferred itself into anger, and his shout reverberated around the whitewashed walls. The sound had faded a moment later as the technician came in. But he had heard the shouting, assumed the age shown on the sheet he held was wrong, and was surprised when, instead of the teenager he was expecting, he saw an adult male laying on the bed, tears in his eyes. ‘Hi. Let’s get this cast on and get you out of here, okay?’ Fox nodded miserably. Frank put a gentle hand on Walter’s shoulder. ‘Hey, let’s get a coffee while he gets Fox sorted out, okay?’ Ignoring the resistance, he steered Walter out of the room. *********** ‘Ow!’ Fox protested as the technician carefully wrapped his arm in cotton wool. Alex got up from the other bed and came across slowly. ‘Fox?’ ‘It hurts Alex.’ Fox whined. ‘Least you still got your arm.’ Alex said, looking down at his state-of-the-art prosthesis. His words opened the floodgates and Fox sobbed, his words almost unintelligible. Except if you’d heard Fox crying and talking at the same time and were used to separating the two sounds. Alex picked out several ‘sorry’s’, a few ‘fault’s’ and the occasional ‘Walter’. The latter, Alex thought, understandably. Walter’s temper had been restrained in the environment of the hospital. He was looking forward to returning home about as much as Fox evidently was. ‘Maybe if you came around this side?’ The technician suggested. Alex nodded and walked to stand on Fox’s left side, his hand stroking Fox’s damp forehead. Occasionally, he leaned down and whispered Russian words, meaningless to Fox but soothing in their tone and volume. Fox was almost calm when the technician stood back from the table. ‘Okay, all done. We’ll just leave you here for a while until it hardens, then someone’ll bring you some strapping for your ribs and your meds and you can check out.’ Alex smiled at the young man. ‘Thanks.’ ‘You’re welcome.’ ************* ‘Here.’ Frank handed Walter the Styrofoam cup of what was, apparently, coffee. Walter looked suspiciously at it, sipped warily at it, then looked at it with pure hate. Frank sat opposite with his own cup, apparently not so horrified at the contents. ‘They’re gonna be okay. You heard what Doogie Howser said.’ Walter couldn’t help the smile at the old army doctor’s disparaging comment. It was true. The kid couldn’t have been more than twenty. Well… ‘Yeah. But they could have…’ Frank put a reassuring hand on Walter’s forearm, waiting until he looked up. ‘Yeah, but they weren’t.’ Walter closed his eyes, inhaled and exhaled deeply, pinching the bridge of his nose. Tiredly, he said: ‘Maybe I’m too old…’ Frank put a finger under Walter’s chin, lifting it. ‘What, to worry when the people you love get hurt? You’re never too old for that son.’ They both knew that had not been what Walter had been about to say, and both let it drop. Draining his cup with a grimace and a curse, Frank got to his feet. ‘Time to pay the bill, Poppa Bear.’ Walter groaned, reaching into his back pocket for his wallet as he, too, got to his feet and followed Frank out. ************* The door had only just closed when Walter turned, in full ‘angry AD’ mode on his nervous lovers. ‘You’re both grounded. For a week. Alex, you will be Fox’s main caregiver until his cast is removed and his ribs healed. Did I miss anything out?’ Fox and Alex exchanged a worried glance. ‘Um…’ Fox bit his lip anxiously. ‘Are you gonna punish us?’ ‘What for Fox? Tree climbing? No. Falling? No. Endangering yourselves and each other, oh yes.’ Two sets of eyes stared at spots on the carpet between their feet. ‘We’re sorry.’ Alex mumbled, close to tears. ‘You might have been killed. Or worse. Fox, go to your room and rest. Alex, go with him and help him get into bed. You go and lay down in the spare room when you’re done.’ Both men looked as if they were about to protest, looked up, saw Walter’s stony expression, and changed their minds. ************* Alex performed his duties perfectly. He made sure Fox took his meds at exact intervals, gave his fingers regular gentle exercise and ate calcium-rich foods as well as taking the calcium supplements Walter brought. He chafed at the lack of comment from Walter on the obvious care he was lavishing on Fox, guessing rightly that Walter’s silence was part of his punishment. ********* On the following Sunday, both younger men woke early. The end of their weeks’ enforced captivity was at an end, and they had discussed getting Walter to agree to take them out somewhere. Walter deliberately feigned sleep as Alex got up and made breakfast for the three of them, waking an already-awake Walter with a gentle kiss on the cheek as he returned with a tray laden with food and coffee. Walter turned over slowly, opening his eyes gradually, focussing on two faces doing very badly at hiding their excitement. He groaned inwardly. Sunday. A whole day with two very restless young men. It was, he knew, time to give Alex back his freedom. Still, he reasoned, he didn’t have to make their lives too easy. ‘Alex, the car needs washing. Please do that this morning. Fox, I would like you to update our Christmas card mailing list. Work at it for fifteen minutes at a time, and if you get too tired, stop and rest.’ ‘But it’s only Oct…’ ‘Fox, don’t argue. Now, I’m going out for a while. When I come back I expect a clean car and an accurate Christmas card list. Any questions?’ Two heads shook. Both men wondered how Walter could remain mad with them for a whole seven days. Yeah, they’d been stupid. But they’d paid the price, Alex with his grounding and Fox with his arm in a cast. They exchanged a look. Walter noticed the eye contact between Fox and Alex and continued to dress, waiting for the inevitable. He was just pulling on a sweater when it came. Unexpectedly, Alex began. ‘Um, Walter…uh, we thought maybe…’ Keeping his face straight only with great effort, Walter stared at Alex over his wire-rims. ‘You thought what, Alex?’ Stared down, Alex looked to Fox for support. He wasn’t disappointed. Walter waited, suppressing his amusement. ‘Well, we thought…you might…want to…’ Pretending anger, Walter snapped: ‘I might want to what Fox?’ ‘Take us out for the day.’ Alex finished quickly before his nerve failed him completely. Walter looked from Fox to Alex, his incredulous expression leaving them in no doubt as to what he thought of their suggestion. ‘You two almost got yourselves killed a week ago. What the Hell makes you think you deserve a treat?’ Fox decided he had nothing to lose. After all, he already had one broken arm. ‘Because we’re sorry and you love us and we haven’t been out of the house in a week.’ Walter sighed heavily, aware of two sets of eyes watching him nervously. ‘I’m sure you’re sorry, and I do love you, but there’s a reason you haven’t been out of the house in a week.’ ‘We know.’ Alex whispered pathetically, his eyes shiny with what Walter suspected were tears of less than genuine contrition. ‘Come here.’ Walter said after a few seconds pause. He waited until Alex was standing one side of him, Fox the other, then he put his arms around their shoulders. ‘I could have lost both of you last Saturday. What you did was stupid and dangerous and thoughtless.’ As he spoke both men leaned into him, holding him and each other as they listened. ‘However, I think it may be time to put this behind us. So, get showered, get dressed and get your contrite butts downstairs in thirty minutes.’ He looked from Alex to Fox, smiling at their excited faces. Releasing them, he dropped a kiss on their noses before walking out of the bedroom. ************* Alex and Fox surveyed the picnic with dismay, their excitement at being out evaporating rapidly. Fox poked warily at the contents of one of the Tupperware containers. ‘Walter, does everything have…’ Walter nodded. ‘Apple in it? Yup. There’s apple pie, apple and walnut scones, pork and apple loaf, apple and sultana bread and apple juice. Oh, and apples. Any complaints?’ Two heads shook quickly, mumbling negative answers. 'Aren't you going to have anything Walter?' 'No thanks Fox. I've had enough apples this week to last a lifetime. But you know how I hate to see good food wasted. So get started.' Smiling at the sounds of the stifled groans, Walter lay back on the woollen picnic rug, folded his arms under his head and closed his eyes. End Home Send me feedback on this fic Return to the X-Files Fic Index Return to the West Wing Fic Index