If Alex Fell: A Halo Newly Acquired
Author: Frohike
Email: frohike51@aol.com
Rating: NC-17
Category: Krycek/other
Spoilers: Who me?
Disclaimer: This is part 3 of the Alex series. If you haven't read parts 1 and 2, a lot of this will be confusing, but feel free come along for the ride anyway. Alex still doesn't belong to me, damn it! Neither do Mulder and Scully. I'm trying to come to grips with this reality, but I'm stubborn and refuse to let go of the dream. I'm only asking for Alex, CC, please? *sigh* Lyrics borrowed from Tracy Chapman's beautiful song "Unsung Psalm", REM's "It's the End of the World (As We Know It), Harry Chapin's "If My Mary Were Here" (I miss you Harry) and, once again, James Taylor's "You Can Close Your Eyes." If you've made it through parts one and two, then this last entry shouldn't come as a surprise. Yes, there will be nods to the Pythons. Katie, Matthew, Tyler and Miranda are mine, all mine.
Distribution: Anywhere you'll have me. Just leave my name and email address intact and drop me a line so I can come visit.
Feedback: Yes, please. Praise will make my day. Flames will be used to lure Alex to my door. Either way, I win. Can you say 'incendiary device'? Sorry, inside joke. Talk to me people.

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There will be psalms sung by a choir
I would have a white robe a halo newly acquired
I'd be at peace and I'd have no desires
If I'd lived right
"Unsung Psalm" by Tracy Chapman

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"So when are we going to set a date, Katya?" Alex asked. It was becoming a ritual, once a week, every Monday night, for the last eight weeks; he'd ask, she'd fail to commit. His original plan was to propose on New Year's Eve, but Christmas morning; he'd thrown those plans away and asked her in front of Tyler and Matthew. No dinner and dancing, no candles or champagne, just the four of them on the floor in the midst of shredded wrapping paper. It was perfect. She'd said yes, of course. He smiled in the darkness of the room. He thought 'of course' now like it was a foregone conclusion that she'd say yes in the first place. Alex was pretty sure Katie would accept, but when push came to shove, he found he had to hear the words out loud to really believe them.

"I've been thinking about that," she answered finally. "We need to set up a meeting with Mulder and Scully. Maybe she can help figure out why I get so sick before my period. I'd like to have some answers first."

"What if she can't find anything? What if you don't like her answers?" he asked. Alex rolled to his side and kissed her gently. "You're stalling. In sickness and in health, isn't that part of the deal? We're in this together; I'd like it to be official."

Katie was stalling; she knew it. What she didn't know was why. There was nothing more on this Earth that she wanted than to be irrevocably joined to this man. He was here to stay; he'd proven that to her. She took a deep breath, letting it out slowly before she spoke. "April twenty-first."

Alex sat up and turned on the light. Katie hid her face in her hands to block out the glare. "Really? April twenty-first. You're serious? No changing your mind later, this is it?"

Katie peeked out from between her fingers. "I promise. Now turn off the light, it's blinding me." Alex turned the light off, but hopped out of bed. "Alex, where are you going?" she asked, as he left the room.

Alex picked up the phone and dialed. "Matthew?" He walked back into the bedroom. "Sorry to call so late. No everything's fine. Here, Katie has something to tell you." He handed her the phone. "Tell him," he said. "I know if you tell him that you won't back out on me at the last minute."

Katie chuffed and took the phone from his outstretched hand, shaking her head. "Hi Kid. I need you and Tyler to take April twenty-first off. Yeah, I'm gonna marry this guy and I'd like you both to be there. No, that's it. Alex wanted assurance that I wouldn't change my mind." Katie smiled. "Yes he is; I'll tell him you said so. Go back to sleep now. I love you, too. Bye." Katie handed Alex the phone. "He says to tell you you're a very smart man."

"Nah, I just know your weak spots," Alex grinned. He went out to put the phone back on the hook. A thought occurred to him as he put it down. "You know, that's only ten weeks from now," he calculated as he walked back into the bedroom. Alex sat down on the bed next to her. "We should start planning this thing."

Katie groaned and hit him with a pillow. "Alex! It's one in the morning; I'm not planning anything right now!"

"But," Alex started.

"No!" She sat up and put her arms around his neck. "You have two choices. One, you can go out in the living room and plan 'til your heart's content or two, you can stay here with me." Katie pulled him down, straddled him and claimed his mouth. "Choose wisely, grasshopper," she whispered in his ear.

Alex let Katie finish her kiss, then stared at her when she pulled back. "Hmmm, plan or stay here?" he teased. "I don't know. On the one hand, we do need to give this wedding some serious consideration." He jerked as Katie slid her hand down and stroked him roughly. "On the other hand," he gasped.

"Pick a hand quickly, Alexei," Katie growled. "I picked a date, choosing a hand shouldn't be that difficult. You can have your hand on a pencil or my hand on you. What's it gonna be?" When he didn't respond immediately, she lifted her hand and sighed. "Fine. I give up. Go plan." She crawled off of his lap and plopped, face down, on the bed.

Alex stifled a laugh at her indignation as he got off the bed, listening to her huff as the mattress bounced up. He leaned over her and kissed her shoulder blades. "Mad at me, Katya?"

"Yes," she mumbled into her pillow.

He chuckled this time and let his hand smooth a path from her shoulders down to her ankles. "Really mad at me?" he asked, lowering his mouth to plant a kiss on the sole of her foot.

Katie jerked her foot away. "Yes, and stop it, that tickles."

"I know," he said, kissing the other foot.

She jerked that one away, too. "Alex," she whined. "Go away. You made your choice, now live with it."

"But darling, I'm planning as we speak," he started to explain.

Katie rolled over and tucked her hands behind her head. "Oh really?"

"Yes," he said, running his hand up the inside of her leg. "I'm planning on working you into a sexual frenzy, then, when I've had my way with you, waking you up bright and early to help me with the wedding arrangements." Nudging her legs apart with his knee, he began kissing his way up her thighs.

"It's not going to work," she said smugly. "I'm far to irritated with you."

"It'll work," he replied, just as smugly. "You can't help yourself."

Katie twitched when he nipped at the soft flesh of her inner thigh. "Not this time, baby." A rush of wetness betrayed her otherwise cool exterior.

Alex flicked his tongue against her opening, confirming what he already knew. Pushing a finger inside her, then drawing it out slowly, he held it up as proof. "I'm hearing negatives, but seeing positives, sweetheart."

"It's an involuntary reflex," she said, her breathing picking up, just a little.

"Then it won't bother you if I do this?" His fingertips lightly skimmed the sensitized skin covering her clit, holding back a snicker as she tried to contain the whimpering sound that always accompanied that particular maneuver. Again and again he gently moved across her until finally, she broke, letting out a tiny moan. Alex grinned triumphantly and repeated his motions until she was whimpering and pushing her hips upward. "Still not working, Katya?"

"No," she answered shakily.

"Liar." He lowered his mouth, tasting her essence. "You want me." He flicked his tongue over her again, smiling when she shuddered. "You want me bad."

"Do not."

"Do so" he said, inching slowly up her body. Alex kissed her belly, dipping his tongue into her navel. He continued to kiss his way to her breasts, sucking on the hardened peaks.

"Maybe," Katie whispered.

Alex shifted his body, positioning himself between her legs. He took her earlobe in his mouth and sucked gently. "Just maybe?" he asked, nuzzling her neck.

A gentle nudge from his hips, his voice in her ear, his fingers on her breast and bye-bye stubbornness. She locked her legs around his hips and tried to pull him inside her.

Alex held back, giving her an evil chuckle. "Oh no, you have to say it."

"Alex," she whined, pulling harder at the back of his hips.

He kissed her neck, not letting her pull him down. 'If she only knew how close how close I am to burying myself inside her,' he thought. "Say it."

"OK, I want you bad. You win," she stammered. "Please, Alexei..." He didn't give her time to finish her sentence before thrusting hard and deep inside her.

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"The bookstore?" He stared at her incredulously. "You want to ask Tyler to let us get married in the bookstore?"

Katie licked the peppermint stick ice cream off her spoon and nodded. "Sure, why not?" She put down the spoon and propped her feet up on the coffee table. "Look, they're all going to want to see us get married. Lisa would never forgive either of us if we made her miss the wedding. Ty can't very well shut down the whole store to accommodate everyone, so it's the perfect solution. And before you say something lame, like it's going to annoy the customers...no one comes in to buy an emergency book, so they can just wait the short time the actual ceremony requires, for someone to ring up their purchases. If they're really nice, we'll invite them to have some cake in the café."

"When did you figure all this out?" Alex asked.

"Last night, after you fell asleep," she replied with a grin.

He reached over and snagged the bowl of ice cream, finishing the last few bites. "You're right, this is good for breakfast." He smiled and put the bowl down on the table. "Hand me the phone."

Katie leaned over, picked it up and handed it to him. "Who are you calling?"

"Tyler," he answered.

"No, don't call him. We'll talk to him tonight. I want to see his face when we hit him with this one," she grinned.

"Good idea," he said, handing her the phone.

"Uh uh," she said pushing it back toward him. "I planned with you, now call Mulder and Scully. The sooner we get this over with the better."

Alex looked down at the phone in his hand. "I don't even know if he'll agree to meet me, Katya."

"He'll agree. You've said that curiosity is going to be his downfall; pique his interest. Make him an offer he can't refuse," she urged.

He hesitated, taking the time to gather up the courage to dial the number he knew by heart. It never occurred to him to wonder why it was he'd committed Mulder's number to memory; it simply happened. The phone rang through and he breathed deeply, waiting for the voice on the other end. "Mulder, do you know who this is? Yeah, that's right. Don't hang up; you'll be making a big mistake. There's something I need to show you and Scully. No, I can't discuss it on the phone." Alex held the phone a short distance from his ear while Mulder yelled. He gave him until the count of three, before getting back on the line. "Damn it, Mulder! Will you pull your head out of ass for once and listen to me?" he yelled back. "Look, I'm roughly a four-hour drive from DC. You pick the time and the place, I don't care." There was silence on the other end of the line. Alex looked at Katie who lifted her hands, wordlessly asking for information. He shrugged his shoulders, shook his head and waited. Finally Mulder began to speak again. "All right; day after tomorrow. It'll be worth it, Mulder. You have my word. Yeah, I knew you'd say that." He handed the phone back to Katie. "Day after tomorrow, one o'clock, Vietnam Veteran's Memorial."

Katie replaced the phone and climbed into his lap. She put her arms around him and kissed his face. "See, I told you he'd agree. Scully will be there, won't she?"

"Mulder said they'd both be there," he answered.

"Good, because I take the last pill in the package tomorrow. That makes the day after, 'pain' day. Scully's going to have her hands full, if this time is as bad as the last two," she sighed.

"We could put it off for a week," Alex offered.

"No, this is perfect. If Scully sees what's happening to me, she'll be more inclined to believe. They both will." Katie put her head down on his shoulder. Alex held her close, rubbing her back. She stayed there, eyes closed, for quite a while before sitting up. "I need to work."

"I have some things to take care of myself," he said. "Want me to pick something up for dinner while I'm out?"

"You're going to be gone that long?" she asked.

"Probably." He kissed her lightly. "You OK with that?"

"Yeah," she said, returning the kiss. "I'm OK with that."

"Just like that?" he asked. "You aren't going to ask if I'll be back?"

"Just like that," she stated. "I already know you'll be coming back."

"And how do you know?" he teased.

"I know you; you can't help yourself," she winked. "Call Ty before you decide on dinner; see what he and Matthew have a craving for; doesn't matter to me." She climbed off his lap and stretched, then made her way to the computer.

Alex picked up the ice cream bowl, depositing it in the sink as he went back to get his jacket. Before leaving, he poured ice water in the large cup by the sink and brought it out to her. "I love you," he whispered.

"I love you too," she whispered in return. He turned to walk away. "Alexei?" she called out calmly.

"What?"

"You are coming back?"

He shook his head and gave a silent laugh. "Yes, baby, I'm coming back."

Katie smiled and nodded, then turned back to the computer.

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Matthew fidgeted the last thirty minutes of his shift. The intake nurse had forced him to go away after his incessant pen tapping on the desk threatened to relieve her of what little sanity she had left. A minor emergency ten minutes later was the only thing that made the rest of his time bearable. He stitched up the little girl's knee and made her promise to wear kneepads the next time she went roller blading. Free and clear until tomorrow, Matthew ran out of the hospital. She needed him; he wasn't sure why he felt that way and he tried to discount it, but the feeling wouldn't pass.

The first thing he noticed as the garage door opened, was the conspicuous absence of the Ferrari. "Good job, dummy," he admonished. "They're not even home." He and Tyler were expected for dinner anyway, so Matthew decided to stick around and soak in the tub, thinking that might help clear his obviously overactive imagination.

The elevator door slid open. Matthew froze at the sight before him. Katie was sitting on the floor in front of the stereo, headphones on, arms wrapped around her knees, head bowed, body rocking back and forth. As he got closer, he could see she was shaking; her eyes closed, her face wet with tears. "Oh Hanna," he sighed. Sitting down on the floor behind her, he carefully removed the headphones before enveloping her.

Katie allowed him to hold her, knowing he wouldn't ask questions. He was good at that, not asking questions until she was ready to talk and somehow, he always knew when she was ready. She had two men in her life who understood how to deal with her panic attacks. Amazing, she thought, as her fear subsided.

"Did Alex do this to you?" he asked quietly.

"No," she whispered, struggling to find her voice. "How can you ask that?"

"You're on the floor, he's not here. Can I help it if that's the first thought that popped into my head?"

Katie took his hand and brought it to her lips, kissing each finger. "I love you, Kid." She laid his hand against her cheek briefly, then brought it back to her side. "He called Mulder and Scully this morning. We're meeting with them day after tomorrow. I was just sitting here working, thinking…I panicked."

"Where is he? Why isn't he here with you?"

"He had something to do before we leave. I wanted to work, so he went by himself. He's supposed to check with you and Tyler about what to bring home for dinner," she answered.

"Want to tell me what set you off this time?" he asked.

"I'm scared. Something Alex said last night…what if Scully can't find out what's wrong with me? What if she does and I don't like the answers? What if I can't handle the answers?"

"What if she has a simple solution to your problem, Hanna? What if it's something stupid that we've simply overlooked? You can't deal in 'what ifs'." He turned her around to face him. "We've been through some hard times, kiddo; anything Dr. Scully throws our way is just another ditch in the road." Matthew smiled lovingly at her. "Look around you. You have me and Tyler; two people who would do anything humanly possible for you. To top it all off, you have Alex. He's hopelessly devoted to you. Hell, that boy is whipped but good," he said with a grin.

Katie chuckled softly. "He is not whipped and if you start singing that song, I will hurt you."

Matthew kissed her cheek. "No singing, I promise." He struggled to his feet, pulling her up after him. "Now, as your doctor, I'm prescribing a bottle of wine and a long soak. Go get in the tub; I'll be there in a minute."

"Sounds like a plan," she said.

Matthew waited until she was at the bathroom door, then called out to her. "Oh Hanna?" She turned to look at him. "The boy is whipped."

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Alex pulled into the garage seconds before Tyler. Tyler jumped out of the car and helped him with the cartons of Chinese food he'd picked up on the way home. "Anything else?" Tyler asked.

"No, that's it," Alex answered.

"You've been gone since ten this morning and there's nothing else to carry in? What have you been doing all day?"

Alex leaned back against the car. "I had some legal matters to take care of."

Tyler frowned. "I don't like the sound of this Alex. You and Katie are leaving to start this whole vaccine adventure with people you say you trust, but who don't trust you. We don't know how long you'll be gone. Katie's on the verge of another bout of pain. Now you're taking care of legal matters. You're scaring me."

"Mulder and Scully are good people, Ty; don't worry. I'll convince them, somehow. I can't tell you how long we'll be gone, but you have my cell number, so we won't be out of touch." He rubbed his temple. "I know Katie's on the brink again, but she thinks it will help our cause if they see her like that."

Tyler nodded his head in agreement. "She's probably right. What about these legal matters?"

Alex sighed and hesitated before answering. "My will needed to be updated, all right? If anything happens to me, everything I have goes to her. Not that it will be useful once the invasion begins, but it will carry her through until that time," he answered. Alex shifted his feet and looked down at the ground. "For the record, you and Matthew are named in it as well. On the off chance that something happens…Katie and I both...well...the two of you get it all." He glanced up at Tyler who was doing his best to pull his mouth up off the floor. "Look, it's no big deal. The three of you are all I have; you're my family now. I take care of my family."

"Alex...I don't know what to say," Tyler began.

"Don't say anything. Forget we even had this conversation." Alex sighed. "Look, I know you're going to want to tell Matthew, just do me a favor and wait until after Katie and I are out of town. I don't want her to know about this, not yet."

"OK," Tyler agreed. "Come on, let's get this upstairs; I'm starving."

They didn't speak on the ride up. Tyler was still a little blown away by Alex's news and was finding it hard to know what to say to him. What do you say to someone who's just informed you that his death could make you a millionaire? Is thank you appropriate? 'I mean what does one wear that's apropos for a party that's also a crime?' He snickered at the stray thought.

"What's so funny," Alex asked.

"Nothing," Tyler answered with a smile. "My brain just went random on me."

Alex started to ask what he meant by that, but never got the chance. The door opened and they heard Matthew and Katie singing and laughing hysterically. He and Tyler exchanged questioning looks. Tyler held up the food and nodded toward the table. Alex returned the nod. They walked quietly to the table and put down the cartons, before carefully approaching the bathroom door. Katie and Matthew were singing something, off-key and at the top of their lungs. "…a tournament of lies. Offer me solutions, offer me alternatives and I decline. It's the end of the world, as we know it…" Tyler's hand flew up to his mouth to keep his laughter from leaking out. Alex cracked a smile and found he had to bite his lip to hold back a chuckle as well. He reached out and slowly pushed the door open a little wider so they could see inside. On the edge of the tub was an empty bottle of wine, on its side, kept from rolling off the ledge by a wadded up washcloth. Between the two revelers was another bottle sitting upright. Neither could see through the dark glass to judge the amount of wine left inside, but educated guesses left both with the impression that there wasn't going to be enough left for dinner. "…it's the end of the world, as we know it. It's the end of the world as we know it, and I feel fine. I feel fine…."

"Guess we don't have to wonder what started this binge, do we?" Tyler asked. "How was she when you left this morning?"

"Fine. A little quiet, but fine. She said she wanted to work, so I thought it was OK to leave her here alone." He rubbed his head and frowned. "I should have known something like this would happen."

Tyler pulled Alex away from the door and into the kitchen. "Cut it out," he snapped at Alex. "You aren't a mind reader and she can take care of herself. So they decided to get shit-faced and blow off some steam, so what? Maybe Matthew had a bad day at the hospital and Katie's consoling him, you know?" He took a breath to calm himself down, then took Alex's face in his hands. " Stop blaming yourself for everything that happens. These two do things like this every so often; deal with it," he said quietly. "Now, the way I see it, we can either grab another bottle and work on catching up or we can haul their drunken asses out of there and feed them."

Another chorus of "I feel fine" floated out from the bathroom. Alex shook his head and smiled. "Let's get them out of there. I have a feeling we're going to need to be reasonably sober for the puking part of the evening."

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Katie sat at the kitchen table cradling her head in her hands, while Alex made her some toast. He brought over the plate, along with a glass of milk. She winced as the plate hit the table, but made no move to touch her food.

He took her hand and pressed a couple of pills into her palm. "Take these," he ordered. She popped them into her mouth without looking at them and chased them with some of the milk. A small tearing noise, then another pill was pushed into her hand. "And this one," he said. She obediently swallowed that one as well.

The cold milk tasted incredible and she quickly drained the glass. "More, please," she whispered. The glass disappeared and was replaced with another one full of the glorious liquid. She finished half the glass before setting it down. "What did you give me?"

"Two ibuprofen and your last birth control pill," he answered. "Try to eat something."

Katie picked up a slice and nibbled until it was mostly gone. "Thank you."

"It's just toast."

"No, not for the toast. Well, not just for the toast." She raised her eyes and looked at him for the first time that morning. "For last night. For not losing your cool. For not asking a lot of questions. Pretty much for everything."

"You're welcome. I would like to ask one question though, if you're up to it now," he added.

She chuckled, then held her head. "Ow. It's going to be an essay question, isn't it?"

"Short answer…essay, depends on how long you decide to make the answer," he replied.

"Ask."

"What set you off?"

She crossed her arms on the table then dropped her head on them. "I did," she answered. "I set me off. It started off as nervousness about tomorrow and by the time I finished with myself, it had grown into a full blown panic over everything." She sat up. "But no more. That was the last panic attack; I promise. Matthew slapped some sense into me last night; he woke me up."

"Good," Alex said flatly. "I don't want you to misunderstand me, but you no longer have the luxury of allowing yourself to panic. It all starts tomorrow, Katya. I need you to be strong."

"I know," she whispered. "I will be. There's too much at stake for me to be acting like an idiot."

He took her hand in his and kissed it. "That doesn't mean you can't be scared; you're going to be scared. It means that you have to work through it, keep your mind on the task at hand. You can't let it build up that's all. Can you do that?"

Katie smiled. "Of course I can do that. I can do anything. I am strong. I am invincible. I am…"

"Quoting dumb songs from the seventies," he finished. "Did you ever go outside and play as a child?"

"All the time, I just took my radio with me," she answered, sticking her tongue out at him as she finished. Katie picked up the last bit of the toast and finished it.

"Want something else?" he asked.

"No, I'm good for now." She stood up and grabbed the plate, taking it into the kitchen and putting it in the sink. "When do you want to leave?"

"In a few hours. I want to get in tonight, get you settled in at my place so you know where things are. I told you this last night," he added calmly.

"Yeah, well last night is a little fuzzy, so you'll have to excuse me if I ask stupid questions," she replied sarcastically. "Anything else I might have missed?"

"How long are we packing for?"

Katie closed her eyes, trying to remember. "Wait… I know that one. Um…a week, but it might be longer, it might not be that long." He didn't make a sound, so she opened her eyes and looked at him. "Right?" He nodded. She smiled, he didn't. "Uh huh. I'm going to go take a shower before I pack." She backed up a few steps looking for a reaction; he just watched. She turned and finished the walk to the bathroom without turning back.

The door closed and Alex was left alone. He put his elbows on the table, resting his head in his hands, while he listened to the argument going on inside his head. * You were too hard on her. No I wasn't. She's not ready to handle this yet. She has to be; time's up. She's not a soldier. She is now. * The water came on. He heard the sliding door of the shower open and close. * She thinks you're mad at her. I am. No you're not; you're scared. You're scared and you're taking it out on her. * Just like that, the voices stopped. Busted. He was scared. Before this, before her, he had been alone. His life was unimportant; no one cared whether he lived or died, so he didn't care either. When did the rules change? The minute he hit town? The minute he got shot? The minute he woke up in the loft? All of the above? He raised his head and gazed at the bathroom door. * Time's up for you too, moron. Now you care and so does someone else. *

The bathroom door opened. Katie brushed by him on her way to the bedroom. She didn't say anything or even take the time to look at him on her way. He followed her, first with his eyes, then with his feet.

Katie's back was facing the door, her jeans were on and she was rummaging in the drawer for a T-shirt and sweater. He waited until she put them on before entering the room. "I'll be ready in about twenty minutes," she said quietly, when she realized he was watching her. Katie couldn't look him in the eyes right then, she knew he was upset with her and with good reason. He didn't need her screwing up; too much was at stake. Time to grow up.

Alex caught her arm as she tried to slip by him. "Wait," he implored. She looked up, then redirected her eyes. "I'm sorry," he whispered.

Her eyes widened and she looked up at him. "You're sorry? For what? For being right? I messed up; you didn't. You have every right to be mad at me."

"No, I don't. I have no right at all." He pulled her close and rested his chin in her hair. "I realized something while you were in the shower. I am angry, but not at you; I'm mad at myself. I'm scared, Katie. For the first time in my life I'm scared; I'm afraid I won't be able to pull this off and I'm taking it out on you."

Katie let out a small laugh. "That's funny." She pulled back and looked at him. "I realized something in the shower myself. I'm not scared. I know we can pull this off. The only thing I'm afraid of, is losing you."

He touched her face, pushing a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "One disagreement doesn't mean I'm gonna walk away."

"I know, but this was our first one; we hit unknown territory," she replied. "I'm sure we'll have some big ones down the line."

"I yell," he warned.

"So do I," she warned back. "Slam doors, too."

"Sometimes I leave," he added.

"Me too," she returned. "But I always come back."

Before she realized what was happening, Alex kissed her hard, throwing all of his fear-turned-to-passion behind it. "I'll always come back," he whispered.

"Alexei," she sighed. "You need to either let me go so I can finish packing or carry me over to the bed, right now. But I'm warning you, if you take me to bed, we're not getting out of here anytime soon."

He kissed her, more gently this time, before reluctantly releasing her. "We need to go."

"I know."

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"Is there some reason we're going in through the service entrance?" Katie asked.

"Yes," Alex retorted.

Katie followed him up the stairs, waiting for a more detailed answer. At the second floor landing, when no answer was forthcoming, she continued. "Would you care to share the reason?"

"Not yet," he replied mysteriously. "Come on, two more floors and we're there."

"OK," she sighed.

At the fourth floor, Alex unlocked the stairway door and held it open for Katie. "Third door on the left," he directed. At the door, he dropped his bag and put the key in the lock. "I haven't been here for a while, so we'll have to order out for dinner tonight. Later, after dark, we'll go out and pick up a few things." He pushed the door and guided her inside, picking up his bag and following her through. Looking down at his watch, he abandoned the bag by the couch. "Come on, he should be here soon."

Katie followed him to the window. "Who should be here?"

"Mulder," he answered. "Maybe Scully too. They're going to want to discuss their strategy for our meeting tomorrow and I'm betting they'll come to his place."

Katie scanned the street and the building across the way, while Alex pulled the telescope out the small space between the bookcase and the wall. "To review, we're standing at the window to see if Mulder comes home with Scully to collaborate on tomorrow's meeting. So logically, this means that Mulder's apartment is across the street, which is why we came in the back. We're on the fourth floor, so I'm guessing that Mulder's place is also on the fourth floor. How am I doing so far?" she asked with a smile.

"Not too bad, for a beginner," he teased. "Which apartment is it?"

Katie peered through the glass, trying to see into the windows across from her. "Move away from the telescope and I'll tell you," she said smugly. Alex backed away and motioned for her to take his place. "Prepare to be amazed," she winked. Lowering her eye to the telescope, she quickly scanned the windows. In actuality, she figured it out immediately, but stalled a minute to make him think she was stumped. She glanced over him standing on the other side of the window, arms crossed, smiling in amusement at her perceived difficulty in choosing. "Well, that was easy."

"So, which one is it?" he asked, eyes raised.

"That one," she pointed. "The one with the half-raised blinds, paper-covered computer desk, well-worn furniture and a basketball shoved on top of the bookcase. It practically screams bachelor/Fed."

"I'm impressed," he said, making a show out of tipping an imaginary hat to her.

"Oh, he's been working late, too," she added.

'OK, Sherlock, how did you arrive at that deduction?" he asked, leveling his eyes at her.

"Elementary, my dear Watson. You said he had a thing for sunflower seeds, right?" He nodded and motioned for her to go on. "Well, on the desk is a rather impressive pile of shells on a napkin. We should buy him a trash can."

"Maybe for his birthday," he answered sarcastically. "Any other observations you'd care to share?"

"About Agent Mulder? No." She moved closer to him and wrapped her arms around his waist. "About Mr. Krycek? Yes."

He raised an eyebrow. "And what, is it you've observed about me, Ms. Heyes?"

"I have observed, sir, that you have become distracted from the task at hand," she teased.

"Based on…" he inquired.

"Based on the fact that two people matching the description you gave me of Mulder and Scully, just pulled up in front of his building," she answered, nodding out the window.

Alex turned his attention to the activity outside, just in time to see Mulder open the building door for Scully. "That's them."

"Now what? Do we sit here and watch them all night?"

"For a while. Why don't you order something for dinner," he suggested. "Top drawer of the end table. There are menus from a couple of places that deliver. You decide tonight."

Katie wandered over to the table and pulled out the menus. They had Chinese last night, so pizza would have to suffice. She lifted the receiver, almost surprised to hear a dial tone. At the third digit of the pizza place's number, she put the phone down. "Um…Alex?"

Alex had his eye glued to the eyepiece, carefully watching every move in Mulder's apartment. "Yeah, baby?" he asked, never taking his eyes away from the window.

"Where do we live?"

He cracked a huge smile and raised his head. "What?" he chuckled.

"The address…for the delivery guy…might make it easier to order in, if I can give the guy a clue as to where to bring the food," she explained.

Alex laughed.

"What's so funny?" she asked. "You never gave me the address, so I know I didn't forget it."

Alex returned his attention to his surveillance and looked out at Mulder pacing in his apartment. "No, I never gave it to you; you didn't forget."

"Then what?"

"My first night here? I tried to order in and when the guy asked for the address, I couldn't give it to him. I was so green," he snickered.

"You callin' me green, Alexei," she challenged.

"If the shoe fits, Katya," he teased.

"Uh huh," she mused. "Well then, I guess you better figure out a way to season me quick, since I'm the only one you've got watching your back right now."

Alex sat back and leered at her. "Ooooh, season you? Got any suggestions?"

Katie sauntered over, ran her hand down his face and traced her index finger across his lower lip. She bent over and brushed her lips against his cheek. "Plenty of suggestions," she said seductively. She lowered her lips to his neck, planting kisses from the base to just under his ear. He closed his eyes and moved his head to one side. "The first one," she whispered, "is give me the address. I'm starving."

"It's written on the front inside cover of the phone book, Mata Hari," he answered, chuckling.

Katie smiled and called in an order for dinner. "Anything happening over there?" she asked.

"No, Mulder finally stopped pacing and made a phone call. He's either calling in for dinner or talking to the Lone Gunmen. Scully looks beat; if he's smart he's ordering dinner."

Katie wandered around the apartment, put their suitcases in the bedroom, and familiarized herself with where everything was, while Alex continued watching Mulder and Scully. She entered the kitchen checking the pantry, before getting up the courage to open the refrigerator; nothing in there but a few bottles of beer and a couple cans of sodas. Thank God, she thought. She had not been looking forward to scraping ancient foodstuffs. The freezer held nothing but three ice cube trays, all full of ice, she noted. A knock at the door announced the arrival of dinner. She answered, paid for the pizza and made sure to lock the door afterwards. Her trek through the kitchen had yielded no plates, but there were paper towels, so they would have something to wipe their hands on. "OK, Alex, get over here. I'm sure they're not going to do anything earth-shattering this evening." She dropped the pizza on the coffee table. "Soda or beer?" she asked.

Alex took one last look, then joined her on the couch. "Soda," he answered.

Katie returned with two cans of soda, handing him one. "That's it, so after that it's water or beer."

"We'll go out in a little while," he said, his mouth full of pizza. "When it's dark."

Katie grabbed a slice. "So, did I miss anything exciting?"

"No, they're just talking."

"Did you expect something more?" she asked.

He shook his head and took a swallow from the can. "Mulder's too predictable. You want to hear about a typical night in his life?" Katie nodded, her mouth too full to answer. "He gets home from work around six, changes out of the suit into sweats or jeans and T-shirt. Then it's dinner; usually take out, usually Chinese. He'll turn on the TV while he works on the computer. If he finds something interesting about a case they're working on, he'll call Scully. After talking to Scully, it's time to pull out the porno movies he keeps in the cabinet under the fish tank, while he treats himself to a visit from Mrs. Palm and her five lovely daughters, before falling asleep on the couch."

"Back up. Mrs. Palm?" she inquired.

Alex grinned and held up his hand. He put a finger on the palm and tipped each finger at her, silently counting to five.

"Oh," she giggled. "That's a new one for the collection."

"I'm sure she'll be over shortly after Scully leaves, if you're interested in the show." Alex raised the can to his lips and watched for her reaction.

"Oh, that's tempting," she said, biting on her thumbnail. "He is awfully attractive. Might be worth checking out. You know," she continued, keeping a straight face, "maybe I should go over there and offer to assist poor Mulder in his time of need…do a little undercover work…dig up some secrets…"

Alex put the can down on the table and lunged, knocking her flat on the couch. He pinned her arms over her head and held her in place while she struggled against him, giggling all the while. "Don't even think about it," he growled. "You're mine." His mouth descended on her neck, leaving a large hickey in its wake.

"Ow," Katie complained. "What was that for?"

"Marking my territory," Alex answered smugly.

"Well Hell, baby, if it was just my neck you wanted, all you had to do was say so. I'll be sure to have Mulder avoid that area," she teased.

"Tread lightly, little girl," he warned.

"What? Mulder's a neck man?" she teased. "I had him figured for an ass man, myself."

"I don't care what kind of man Mulder is," Alex growled again. "You're mine. Only mine." His grip on her arms loosened and his mouth returned to her neck, more gently this time. Sliding down to cover more ground, his feet hit the end of the couch. Alex huffed and got up, pulling Katie up with him, practically dragging her to the bedroom. He sat down on the side of the bed; Katie stood in front of him. Reaching out, he tugged on her sweater. "Take it off," he ordered. Katie raised an eyebrow at him. "Don't look at me like that; take it off," he said, straddling that fine line between amusement and irritation. She rolled her eyes, then removed the sweater, dropping it on the floor. "That too," he said, picking at the T-shirt. "And anything else that's hiding under there as well," he added.

"As many times as you've undressed me now, have you ever run across 'anything else' under my T-shirts?" she asked, as the shirt dropped to the floor.

"No, and I've been meaning to tell you how much I appreciate that," he shot back with a leer.

"I didn't do it for you," Katie replied sarcastically.

Alex's hands were on her waist, slowly inching up her sides. "I don't care why you do it. Just don't stop." His thumbs glided across her nipples, making her sigh involuntarily. He watched her eyes close and wondered, not for the first time, at how easily she accepted the differences in his touch. It never seemed to matter whether it was the real hand or the artificial one that caressed her. They say that the brain is the largest sexual organ in the human body. He'd always passed that off as bullshit, now he wasn't so sure. His mind snapped back the task at hand. 'Whoa, breaking my own mood here.' It's not good to go soft during a power play and a power play was exactly what he had in mind. He stopped quickly and pulled on her jeans. "Keep going. All of it off. Now."

Katie reached for the button, a snappy retort on her lips. She opened her mouth to give it voice, but changed her mind. His eyes were dark and determined; he did enjoy his power plays and so did she. Usually they were all in fun, but this one had more serious undertones; this one involved Mulder. Even though they both knew she was kidding about 'going undercover' with him, this time Katie wondered if she hadn't carried the teasing a bit too far. The button came free, the zipper lowered. Slowly, she pushed the jeans down, kicking them off when they fell to her ankles; grateful she'd long since gotten rid of her shoes and socks. She stood there silent and waited for his next move.

Alex rose and flung the blankets back. "Lie down." He waited until she settled in. His eyes traveled the length of her body, coming to rest on the jagged scar that crossed her abdomen. Something made him do a double take. 'Must be the light,' he thought.

"What?" Katie asked quietly.

"Nothing," he muttered. "I just…never mind." He raised his voice. "You hush; did I say you could talk?" She shook her head. "I didn't think so." Alex pulled the sweater off over his head and let it fall on top of Katie's. The belt came off next. A wicked flicker made him drag it slowly up her leg. Katie's eyes widened in a mixture of arousal and apprehension. He wasn't sure which was greater and decided he really didn't want to explore that any further. Been there, done that, didn't like it. The belt joined the sweaters on the floor. He popped the button on his jeans, watching Katie drag her teeth across her lower lip as he did. "What?" She smiled, but didn't answer. "You want to finish this?" he asked.

She nodded slowly, then sat up without permission. When he made no move to take back the upper hand, she slid her hands up his legs, from knees to hips, crossing at the waistband and meeting at the zipper. He was so firmly pressed against the fabric that she held on to the top with one hand while the other carefully lowered zipper. Katie took hold of the waistband with both hands, making sure to slip a finger under the waistband of his briefs as well, and pulled until they fell to his knees. Her foot snaked between his legs, pushing the garments to the floor, where he kicked them off. His hands landed on her shoulders and he attempted to push her down on the mattress, but she was quicker than he was. Her soft, easy strokes stopped him in his tracks. "I know what this is about," she whispered. He looked down at her, then closed his eyes. "Don't," she said, touching his cheek. "I want you to look at me." He opened his eyes and pressed his cheek against her hand. "I belong to you, only you. I tease, maybe too much sometimes, but never doubt who I want in my bed at the end of the day." Her fingertips raked along his length as she returned to the mattress and to her former position.

Alex remained standing. "What are you doing?" he asked quietly.

"Restoring the balance of power," she answered.

He climbed into bed and stretched out on his side next her. "What if I don't want the balance restored?" he asked, trailing his hand over her breast.

"Giving up control, Alexei?" she whispered.

He shook his head and kissed her. "No," he replied, rolling her on top of him. "I'm sharing it."

Katie lifted her hips and guided him into her, gently easing back down. "Ooooh," she sighed. "Sharing's good. I like sharing."

Afterwards, feet tangled in the sheets, arms wrapped around one another, Alex brushed the hair away from Katie's ear. "I belong to you, too," he murmured.

"I know."

=============================

Katie and Alex arrived at the memorial early and looked around for any sign of Mulder and Scully. Alex tapped the box nervously against his leg. Katie reached down and gently eased it out of his hand. "Here, let me hold on to that before you break something." She patted his jacket. "You want me to hold the records, too?" Alex smiled weakly and shook his head, as he scanned the people milling around the park. "They'll be here soon. We're almost fifteen minutes early," Katie assured him. "Honestly, Alexei, I've never seen you so skittish before."

Alex stared at her. "You don't understand. Mulder and I…we have an explosive relationship. I'll be lucky to get out here without a black eye or busted lip. He hits me and I let him do it; I figure I owe it to him after everything I've done to both of them."

"He's not going to hit you this time," Katie said firmly. "I won't let that happen."

"You gonna take him down for me, Don Katya?" Alex teased. Katie chuckled in reply. Alex tapped his thumb against his leg and checked for Mulder. "I don't care if he hits me this time or not, as long as he believes me." Alex sighed, still tapping his thumb. "He has to believe me this time."

Katie reached up and stroked his cheek. "Look at me," she said. Alex bit his bottom lip and met her eyes. "He'll believe you; he'll believe us." She smiled warmly up at him. "And if he doesn't, I'll rough him up until he sees the light."

Alex let out a half-chuckle and pulled her close. "You would do that, wouldn't you?"

Katie gave him a squeeze. "You know it, baby." The sight of a small redheaded woman and her tall, dark companion caught her eye. Katie pulled back a little. "I think they're here," she whispered, nodding in their direction.

Alex's head whipped around to see what she was seeing. He let out a deep breath. "Yeah, that's them."

=============================

Mulder peered through his binoculars from behind a tree in the park. "There he is, Scully," Mulder said, pointing to the far end of the wall.

Scully took the binoculars and saw Alex and Katie walking down the sidewalk. "Who's that with him?"

Mulder grabbed the binoculars from her, frowning. "I don't know. He didn't mention that he was bringing anyone."

Scully tried to take back the binoculars, but Mulder held fast. "Fine, you keep them. You know, it would have been nice if you'd brought me a pair as well, Mulder," she said, glaring at him.

Mulder lowered the binoculars and stared back at her. "Don't blame me for your lack of foresight, Scully. You knew we were going to be surveilling the area; you should have come prepared."

Scully crossed her arms and leaned back against the tree. "Remember that the next time we're on a long, boring stakeout and you get hungry. I'll be there, enjoying the snacks that I had the 'foresight' to pack in my bag, while you'll be there with nothing."

"You wouldn't share with me?" Mulder pouted. "I'm hurt." He reached into the pocket of his coat and pulled out a second pair of binoculars. "Good thing I picked these up for you."

"You had these all along and you didn't bother to give them to me?" Scully asked in disbelief, as she took them from his outstretched hand.

Mulder smiled, then raised his binoculars to his eyes and returned his attention to Katie and Alex. "I didn't think you'd mind sharing. Take a look at these two, will you?"

Scully adjusted her binoculars. "You know if we didn't know Krycek so well, I'd say he looks nervous."

"Krycek nervous?"

"Look at him, Mulder. He's pacing and tapping something against his leg. Oh…wait, whatever it is, she just took it from him," Scully observed. "Can you see what it is?"

"Looks like a box of some kind," Mulder lowered the binoculars and rubbed his eyes. "I wish I knew who she was."

"Whoever she is," Scully began, "she sure has a hold on him. Take a look."

Mulder shook his head. "What's going on?"

"She just touched his cheek and now he's hugging her." Scully put the binoculars in her coat pocket. "Mulder, I think we're about to meet a new Alex Krycek," she said with a grin.

"A new Krycek? Help me out here, Scully," Mulder said.

Scully pulled him out from behind the tree and started walking toward the memorial. "I think Alex is in love," she said quietly.

=============================

Alex let go and turned to face Mulder. He tried to keep Katie behind him, but she moved to stand next to him instead.

"Don't do that," she hissed.

"Sorry," he said. "Just a reflex."

Katie squeezed his hand. "You're not alone anymore."

Alex smiled at her and squeezed back.

"You didn't tell me you were bringing someone along for this meeting, Krycek," Mulder stated flatly.

"Nice to see you too, Mulder," Alex replied. "This is Katie Heyes. She's an important part of what I have to tell you today." He hesitated, then added, "she's an important part of my life, too." Katie smiled up at him and rubbed her thumb across the back of his hand.

Scully cocked her head to one side and smirked at Mulder. Mulder made a face at her. "Why are we here, Krycek?"

"Our cigarette smoking friend came to see us just before Christmas," Alex started to explain.

"I thought he was dead," Mulder challenged.

"He got better. Long story short, he gave me what he claims is the last of the vaccine. I kept three, but the last seven are yours," Alex said.

Katie reached into her jacket pocket and pulled out the box. She extended her hand to Mulder and held it there until he decided to take the box from her.

Mulder opened the box and counted the seven syringes there. "Why are you giving this to me? Why not keep it for yourself? I'm sure you could get a hefty price for it somewhere."

Alex sighed and turned to Katie. "See…"

Katie glared at Mulder. "Can you put the past behind you for a minute, Agent Mulder? We're here because Alex says you and Agent Scully are the only people who would believe us. We thought that Scully might be able to figure out the components and replicate the vaccine; maybe save lives in the process."

"Forgive me, but I can't help but notice your frequent use of the term 'we'. Just what is your part in all of this, Ms. Heyes," Scully inquired.

Katie looked up at Alex. He nodded. "My part is simple; I'm Alex's fiancee. I'm also recipient number one of this batch of the vaccine. We thought you might need blood or tissue samples for your research; assuming you plan on researching this at all."

Scully's eyes widened and Mulder's blood began to boil. "You experimented on your own fiancee?" he shouted. "That's low, Krycek, even for you." He made a fist and closed his other hand around it.

Katie stepped up to Mulder and grabbed his tie, yanking him down to her eye level. "Look Mulder, he didn't experiment on me. He didn't want me to have any part in this, but I forced his hand, so don't you dare try to lay this all at his feet. I have the vaccine running through me, just like Scully. The way I see it, I'm the only one here who has a pure system, since I've never been infected with the virus. You want to know how this is going to affect the rest of the population, then you need me. And another thing," Katie added, putting her other hand on Mulder's fist. "Put this away once and for all. The next time you lay a hand on him it better be in friendship, not anger. You ever hurt him again and I will take you out." Katie let go of Mulder's tie and pushed him away.

Mulder straightened his tie and glared at Scully who was trying hard to suppress a snicker. Alex moved up behind Katie and put his arms around her. "I think I just got really turned on, Don Katya," he whispered in her ear.

Katie smiled. "Hold that thought until we're alone," she whispered back. "Now, if you two think you can play nicely together, I'd like a chance to talk to Scully, alone." She turned to Scully. "Can we sit down over there?"

Scully glanced at Mulder. "Yeah, OK."

Mulder frowned at the prospect of being separated from Scully and eyed Katie warily. Alex shook his head and extended his hands. "Here Mulder, if it'll make you feel any better." Mulder stared at him, considering the offer. "Go on; you know you want to," he urged. Mulder hesitated, then pulled the cuffs out of his pocket and slapped them on Alex's wrists.

"Alex," Katie said, her distress evident in her voice.

"It's all right, baby," he replied calmly. "Go talk to Scully."

Katie glared at Mulder. "I promise you…if you so much as lay a hand on him…"

Scully touched Katie's shoulder. "He won't. Will you, Mulder." Not a question, but statement delivered from one partner to another. Mulder's answer was a simple shrug and the shoving of his hands into his coat pockets. Knowing that this was as close to an answer as they were going to get, Scully led Katie to the closest bench. "What did you want to talk to me about?" Scully asked as they sat down.

Katie's eyes were trained on Alex and Mulder. She saw Mulder say something to him and watched as Alex nodded at whatever had been said. Alex looked over at her and gave her a half-smile.

"Ms. Heyes?"

"Katie," she answered, turning her attention to Scully. "It's Katie."

Scully nodded. "All right. I'm Dana."

Katie smiled. "OK, Dana, I need your help. Something's happening to me; probably because the vaccine."

"What do you mean?"

"It started the day I made Alex give me the vaccine, which also happened to be the first day of my period that month; a few hours after the injection, I started experiencing excruciating pain. Not cramps, mind numbing, complete-inability-to-function pain. It comes on fast; a couple of sharp, searing jolts that can drop me to the floor, then the bleeding starts. Within the hour, I hurt so bad I can't move."

"Have you seen a doctor?" Scully asked.

"Yeah, my best friend is a doctor. He's the only one I trust and he knows about the vaccine. So far he's been unable to find anything," she answered. "We were hoping that you'd be able to help. That you might know what to look for."

"How long ago did this start?"

"Two months," she replied. "And I'm due to start today," Katie added.

"Are you always regular?"

"I'm on the Pill, so that keeps me on track. Alex has my medical records tucked inside his jacket. Matthew said you'd need them for your research. Let's get them and you can take a look before you decide whether or not you want to help me," Katie offered.

Scully nodded. "He's right, I will need to take a look at them."

Katie stood up and took three steps before the first wave hit. She went down, almost hitting the pavement. Scully caught her, easing her gently to the ground.

"Katie!" Alex yelled, taking off in a dead run, with a surprised Mulder close behind. He fell to the ground in front of her and reached out. "I'm here, baby," he said softly. "Take these damned things off me," he yelled at Mulder. Mulder fumbled with his keys before being able to release the lock. Alex's arms flew around her; the cuffs still attached to his left wrist. "It's all right, baby," he crooned, pulling her into his lap. "I'm here." He held her, gently rocking back and forth on the hard concrete.

"Take me home, Alexei," she sobbed quietly. "Take me home before it gets any worse."

"I will, baby. Think you can stand? I don't think I can lift you from this position."

"Yeah, I think so." She slid off his lap and putting both hands on the ground for leverage, tried to push herself up. Mulder bent over and placed his hands under her arms, helping her to her feet.

"Get your hands off of her," Alex snarled, pushing Mulder away. "You don't touch her. Ever!." His arms went around her protectively, possessively.

"He was just helping, Alexei," Katie soothed. "Please don't…ooooow!" Her knees buckled, but he held on tight, not letting her go down.

Alex picked her up. "I have to get her home. You can come with us or follow us, I don't care, but make a decision now," he said, mostly to Scully.

"Where to," Scully asked.

Alex gave her the address, causing Mulder's eyes to open wide. "Yeah Mulder, right across the street. Surprise!" He started toward the car. "I'll leave the door open," he called over his shoulder, not waiting to see if Scully was coming or not.

Scully started to follow Alex, but Mulder held her back. "Come on, we'll go together. I don't care how sick she seems to be, you're not getting into a car with Krycek."

"Mulder…"

"No, damn it! We'll be right behind them; I'm not letting you go in there by yourself. For all we know this is another one of Krycek's schemes. I'm not taking any chances." He grabbed her arm and pulled her toward their car.

They arrived at the apartment, just as the main door closed behind Alex. Scully grabbed her bag from the trunk, before she and Mulder followed. In the elevator, Mulder drew his gun, releasing the safety.

"Mulder, put the safety back on."

"No way, Scully," he frowned. "I don't believe either of them."

"I believe she's really sick," Scully returned.

"You believe what you want, Scully, but I'm not taking any chances."

"Fine. You do what you have to; just don't upset my patient," she ordered.

Mulder nodded and returned the gun to his coat pocket, safety off. "Better?"

"Yes, thank you."

The elevator doors opened. Mulder peered cautiously down the hall before exiting. True to his word, the door to the apartment was open. "Krycek?" he called out, fingering the gun in his pocket.

Alex appeared in the doorway of the bedroom. "Where's…" he started to ask, just as Scully entered the apartment. "Good, she's in here."

Scully brushed past Mulder, ignoring his hiss of displeasure. Alex stepped aside, allowing her to enter in front of him. Mulder moved to the doorway and looked inside. Katie was curled up on the bed, her face wet from tears? Sweat? He wasn't sure. She looked pale and in tremendous pain. Mulder found himself feeling sympathetic and found his fingers falling away from his weapon. Maybe she wasn't faking. Alex looked shaken. He sat next her on the bed, holding her hand, touching her face, her hair, while Scully began her examination.

"Katie?" Scully inquired. "I need to do an internal exam. Think you can handle that?" Katie nodded and closed her eyes. "All right," she said, giving Katie a little smile. Scully looked at Alex. "You don't need to be in here for this. It won't take long."

"Matthew would like her," Katie half-laughed.

"Yes he would," Alex chuckled back. He brought his lips to hers, kissing her softly. "I love you, Katya."

"I love you, too. Go play nice with Mulder for a few minutes, OK?"

"Sure, baby. Anything you want," he whispered. "I'll be just outside if you need me." He got up reluctantly and walked to the door. "Come on Mulder."

"Mulder?" Katie called from the bed. He crossed the room and knelt to see what she wanted. "While you're out there, would you take those ridiculous cuffs off my fiancee, please? I think he's forgotten they're still on his wrist."

"Sure," Mulder replied.

"Thanks." Mulder put his hand on the bed to push himself up. Katie put her hand on top of his, getting his attention. "Listen to him, please. He's telling you the truth." Her eyes bore holes into his. "We're telling you the truth." The hand slipped away quickly as another pain rushed through her. Mulder looked at Scully, helplessly. Alex moved back to her, but Scully stopped him, pushing them both out the door, closing it behind them.

=============================

Alex stood outside the door, head resting on the wall. Mulder watched, reading his actions, adding new information to the mental profile he'd written on one Alex Krycek. He looks lost, Mulder thought. Scully was right; this was a different Krycek than the one they'd dealt with before. Swallowing the hatred he felt for this man, Mulder approached carefully, putting his hand on Alex's shoulder, fully expecting Krycek to lash out. When he didn't move, Mulder spoke. "Come sit down. Scully will let you know when you can go back in." He didn't speak, but Alex went over to the couch and sat down. "What did he say to you?" Mulder asked.

Alex glared at him. "Fuck you, Mulder."

Mulder clenched his fists, but held back. "You want me to believe? Convince me. Give me something more than a box with a few syringes in it," Mulder urged.

"Scully has everything I hold dear in the other room," Alex hissed. "Isn't that enough for you? Isn't it enough that we're here, that Katie's giving herself over as a damned lab rat?" He turned away and stared at the door. "She's my redemption, Mulder. If I lose her…"

His voice got lower and lower until Mulder could no longer make out what he was saying. It didn't matter; he knew exactly what Krycek was trying to say. He'd been there every time Scully found herself in the hospital. He knew the overwhelming fear of suddenly finding himself alone in the world. A phrase from an old song came back to him as he watched the man slumped on the other end of the couch. 'I'm a sad sack Sir Galahad, whose sword's around his knees, with a grail no longer holy and a prayer that's saying, please.' Until this moment he'd believed that Krycek was more monster than man; maybe the man was surfacing. "Scully will do everything she can…Alex."

At the sound of his first name, Alex turned slowly. His eyes were glistening with the tears he was trying so desperately to keep at bay. Alex? He wondered what brought that on. Sympathy? From Mulder? He looked at Mulder, searching for something, not sure what. When he didn't find it, Alex nodded and turned back toward the door.

=============================

Scully removed the gloves and helped Katie get dressed. She'd given her an injection of a mild sedative, to help ease the pain. So far, it seemed to be working. If she hadn't read Katie's medical history, then she wouldn't have been struck by anything unusual in the exam. Scarring from her accident was still evident, but internally, where there should only have been old, damaged tissue, Scully found evidence of new, healthy tissue. She reread the chart, checking the measurements listed for the external scarring on her abdomen. Not having a tape measure handy, she couldn't be certain, but using the paper as a guide, she estimated that the measurements contained over a quarter of inch discrepancy. She looked more closely at the scar line and noticed that the skin on either end looked smoother, newer than the skin around it. Scully touched the edges again, feeling for puffiness or tenderness. Katie tensed as Scully's fingers touched skin that should have no sensation.

"That tickles," Katie complained.

"You felt that?" Scully asked.

"Yeah," Katie answered. "Why?"

Scully frowned. "Close your eyes, I want to try something." Katie closed her eyes and waited. Scully took the end of her thermometer and lightly ran it over the scar. Katie didn't react until Scully reached the last half-inch of the tissue. "Have you always had feeling along the scar line?"

Katie opened her eyes and gave Scully a puzzled look. "No, of course not; the nerves are dead. I mean, I feel pressure, but that's about it. Why?"

"Watch," Scully instructed. She moved the thermometer over the scar again. When it hit the same half-inch, Katie's stomach contracted, pulling away from the instrument.

"Oh my God," she exclaimed. "I felt that. That's really weird, Dana; I haven't had sensation there since before the accident," she yawned and clutched her stomach. "I don't think the sedative is going to last this time," she sighed.

"Your last pelvic exam was two months ago, when you had the first attack, is that right?" Scully asked.

"Yeah, Matthew came over when Alex called. He didn't find anything." She looked up at Scully. "Dana, did you find something?"

Scully smiled and squeezed her arm. "I need to talk to Dr. Curry. Do you know if he'll be at home or should I try the hospital?"

"Hospital…he'll be there until ten tonight. Ow!" she moaned.

"I don't have anything stronger with me," Scully apologized. "I'll write you a prescription and send Mulder out to pick it up." She soothed the hair away from Katie's face. "Get some rest."

"Dana?"

"Yeah?"

"Send Alex in?"

"Sure, in a few minutes." Scully opened the door. Alex shot up from the couch, but Scully stopped him with a look. "He'll be there in a minute," she said to Katie, then closed the door.

"What's wrong?" Alex asked. "What did you find?"

"I'm not sure, yet. There is something there, but I need to consult with Dr. Curry before I can tell you anything."

Alex grabbed her arm. "How bad is it?" Mulder put his hand on Alex's wrist and firmly removed it from Scully's arm. "Sorry, Scully," he muttered.

"It's all right. I can't really say, not without talking to her doctor first, but if I'm reading his entries properly, then it's not bad at all," she replied. A moan filtered out from inside the bedroom. "Go be with her. I gave her a light sedative, but it doesn't seem to be working. I'll have to get something stronger. Right now, I think seeing you would help."

Alex was in the room, before she finished her last sentence, not bothering to close the door behind him. He climbed into bed and molded his body against Katie's, holding her close.

" I'm going to call in a prescription for her. I need you to go pick it up while I try to contact Dr. Curry." Scully reached for the phone to order the prescription.

Mulder fidgeted. "I don't know, Scully. Leave you here, alone, with him?"

"Katie's sick. She's not going anywhere and she certainly isn't a threat to me." The pharmacy picked up. Scully held up a finger to Mulder, asking him to wait while she spoke to the pharmacist on duty. "Yes, twenty minutes? Thank you." She hung up the phone and turned back to him. "I want you to see something," she said, taking Mulder's hand. She led him to the bedroom door. "Look inside, what do you see?"

He peered into the room. Alex was speaking to Katie, quietly, lovingly. Her stomach clenched, she cried out, he held on tight, caressing her. When the pain subsided, Alex did something Mulder would never have expected; something so foreign to his notion of this man, that he found himself momentarily speechless. As she came down from the spasm, Alex Krycek, rat bastard extraordinaire, began to sing. "Well the sun is surely sinking down, but the moon is slowly rising…" Mulder moved away from the door and stared, wide-eyed, at Scully.

"Still think I'm in danger, Mulder?" she asked, giving him her patented smug look.

Mulder pulled his keys out of his pocket. "Need anything while I'm out?"

=============================

Scully closed the door to bedroom quietly. She wanted to be able to speak to the doctor without having them overhear her conversation. "Dr. Curry please. This is Dr. Scully calling from DC. Yes, I'll hold." She looked over the measurements and the results of Katie's last few pelvic exams while trying to ignore the annoying Musak on the other end of the line.

"Matthew Curry."

"Hello, Dr. Curry. This is Dana Scully, from DC. I was wondering if…"

"Is she all right, Dr. Scully?" Matthew interrupted.

"Well, she's in considerable pain at the moment, but I suspect you already knew that," she answered. "I've sent my partner out for something to help ease her discomfort. I have some questions about your findings, do you have her records handy?"

"Yes, they're right in front of me."

"During the exam you gave her two months ago, did you notice any signs of new tissue growth or notice any change in the size or color of the external abdominal scar?"

Matthew double-checked, to be sure, but he knew he hadn't. "No, no changes at all. Why do you ask." He paused. "Dr. Scully, do you have something to tell me?"

She ignored him for the moment and charged on. "And your measurements of the external scar…you're sure they're accurate?"

"Yes, down to the millimeter. Dr. Scully, forgive my impatience, but if you've found something, I really need to know what it is," Matthew implored.

Scully hesitated a split second, before answering. "I completed a pelvic exam about an hour ago. I found evidence of new, healthy tissue covering almost one fourth of the area you describe as being damaged. Additionally, the external scar measurements appear to be off by almost a quarter of an inch and there is sensation in the last half-inch on either side of the remaining scar tissue."

Matthew's jaw dropped as he tried to process the information. "Are you sure? There's no mistake?"

"I'd like a second opinion to verify my findings, but yes, I'm sure," she answered. "I believe that Katie's tissue is regenerating."

"Have you told her?"

"No, not yet. I wanted to check with you first. I'd hesitate to say anything at this point," she added.

"I'm coming down," Matthew said. "Where is she? Alex left me the number, but not the address. She won't see anyone else. We're the only ones she'll let examine her and, quite frankly, the only reason she let you in, is that Alex trusts you."

Scully gave him the address. "How soon can you be here?"

"As soon as I can get someone to cover my shift, might be as soon as seven, might be as late as three this morning. I'll do what I can," he said. "Will you let her know I'm coming?"

"I will. Alex is with her right now, so it may be a while before I can get in to see her."

"Is he singing to her?" Matthew asked.

Scully was caught off-guard by his question. "Well, yes actually. How did you know?"

"He does that when she's hurting; it calms her down," Matthew replied. "Does this surprise you?"

"You have no idea," Scully replied.

"Dr. Scully, I don't know the Alex Krycek you and Agent Mulder know. He's told Katie everything, but I'm still in the dark as to the nature of his past experiences. I do know that he respects you and Agent Mulder and that he's desperate for you to believe him. Whatever he's done in the past, whoever he was; he's not the same person you knew."

=============================

Despite Alex's best efforts, Katie was still hurting when Mulder returned with the prescription. Scully took a pill and a glass of water in to her. "Here, this should help," she said.

Katie sat up, with Alex's help, and swallowed the pill. "Finish the water," he said, when she started to put the glass on the nightstand. She moved it back to her mouth and emptied the glass. He helped her back down.

Scully sat down on the side of the bed next to Katie. "I spoke with Dr. Curry a little while ago. He'll be here later this evening."

"Matthew's coming here?" Katie asked, her eye filled with fear. "Oh my God, Dana, is it that bad?" She clutched Alex's hand, squeezing so hard his fingers turned purple.

Scully reached out and put her hand over Katie's. "He's already lost one hand, Katie," she said gently.

Katie looked down and saw his fingers in all their purple glory and released her grip. "I'm sorry, baby. Why didn't you say something?" she asked Alex.

"S'OK," he whispered. "Didn't hurt."

"Liar," she said, kissing his fingers. She looked at Scully. "Tell me. I know Matthew wouldn't be rushing up here, if there wasn't something horribly wrong."

"What if there was something horribly right?" Scully asked.

Katie's eyes shut as she tried to block out the latest ripple in her gut. Alex murmured in her ear while rubbing her stomach. "Hold on, the pill will kick in soon. Just a little while longer, Katya, I promise." He looked to Scully. "Tell us, please," he pleaded. "Even if Matthew disagrees, we need to hear something, Scully."

"I wanted to let Dr. Curry take a look before saying anything," Scully started. "But I'm pretty sure he's going to concur with my findings."

"Which are?" Alex asked impatiently.

"During my internal exam, I found what looks like healthy tissue where there should be only scar tissue. I'd say that fully one fourth of the area described as damaged is now…not. Also, I checked the measurements of the exterior scar and they don't match the measurements in the chart. The scar is smaller."

"I thought it looked different," Alex offered. "It wasn't my imagination?"

"That's not all," Scully continued. "There's sensation on either end of the remaining scar tissue."

Mulder cleared his throat, alerting them to his presence. "Scully, are you saying that her tissue is healing itself?"

"I don't know what else think, Mulder. If everything in this chart is accurate as of the last entry, then that's the only explanation."

"You said that a quarter of her damaged tissue is now healed?" Alex asked. Scully nodded. "It's been two months since the vaccine entered her system. If you're right, at this rate she'll be healed by mid-summer. At least the internal damage. Am I right, Scully?"

Scully shifted uncomfortably. "I hate to get your hopes up, Alex, but that is a possibility."

Alex smiled and kissed Katie's shoulder. "I promised you, didn't I? We'll have our son someday, just like I said."

"Peter Joshua?" she asked quietly, a smile forming on her lips.

Alex chuckled. "If you want. Just promise me that the second one won't be Benjamin Thaddeus."

"You have been paying attention," she replied, chuckling.

"Always," he answered, kissing her shoulder once again. "Now promise."

"I promise."

"I hate to break this up, but it's way too early to be picking out names, don't you think? We don't even know if…"

"I know, Dana," Katie interrupted. "It is what you think; Matthew will confirm it as soon as he sees for himself. I feel it."

"Katie…just don't get your hopes up too high, all right," Scully responded.

Katie smiled serenely back at her and closed her eyes. "Need to sleep now, Alexei. Doesn't hurt anymore."

"Good," he whispered. "Get some rest; I'll be right beside you."

"Just until I fall asleep," she said sleepily. "Then you go get something to eat; feed these nice people and yourself, OK?"

"Anything you say," he answered.

"Peter Joshua?"

"Peter Joshua."

Katie smiled and drifted off.

=============================

"There it is," Tyler said, pointing to the large brick building on the right.

Matthew parked the car on the street in front, got out and opened the back door to get their suitcase and his bag. Tyler went ahead, opening the front door of the building for him. They found the elevator and rode up to the fourth floor. As they stepped out, Tyler took the suitcase from Matthew. Matthew gave him a questioning look. "You go straight back to Katie, I'll take care of this," Tyler explained. Matthew smiled and knocked on the door.

"Hi, Dr. Curry?" Scully asked.

Matthew dropped his bag just inside the door and shook her hand. "Yes, nice to meet you, Dr. Scully. This is Tyler MacCreedy, my life partner."

"And professional gate crasher," Tyler added. "Nice to meet you, Dr. Scully. Sorry to add an extra person to the mix, but I couldn't stay home and wait for a phone call." He looked around for Alex. "Alex in with Katie?"

"No actually, he and my partner went out to pick up dinner," she replied.

Tyler and Matthew exchanged worried looks. "You think that was such a good idea?" Matthew asked. "Alex has said that…uh…he and Mulder don't exactly get along."

"They don't," Scully admitted. "Katie asked Alex to make sure he fed everyone before she fell asleep. Alex insisted Mulder come with him. I don't think he wants Mulder anywhere near Katie."

"Why doesn't that surprise me?" Matthew snickered. "Well, let's take advantage of their absence and take a look at her." He turned to Tyler. "If they get back before we're done, keep them out here, please."

"You got it."

Scully and Matthew entered the bedroom quietly, not wanting to wake Katie up any sooner than was necessary. "I thought you'd never come in here, Kid," came a soft voice from the bed.

Matthew smiled and crossed to her. He sat down and kissed her forehead. "How you feeling, Hanna?"

"Better," she answered, her voice just above a whisper. "Sleepy. The pill Dana gave me is working too well."

"No, it's doing just what it's supposed to do. Tyler came with me; he's outside waiting to see you."

"I knew he'd come," she chuckled. "Always has to be in thick of things."

"That's my guy," Matthew sighed. "Hey, I hate to do this to you again this evening…"

"Yeah, yeah, I know," she frowned. "Assume the position."

"We could wait a while, but Alex and Mulder are gone, so let's get it out of the way, OK?"

Katie sat up. "They're both gone? Where did they go?"

Scully stepped closer. "They went out to pick up dinner. Alex insisted Mulder go with him," she said, shrugging her shoulders.

Katie eased her body back to the mattress. "Damn, no undercover work for me," she giggled.

"What?" Matthew and Scully asked, almost in unison.

"Never mind. Private joke. So, are we going to get this over with or what?"

==============================

Matthew washed his hands, still trying to process what he'd just seen. There was no mistake; the scar was smaller and there was new, healthy tissue. He'd been quiet during the exam, not wanting to commit one way or other until he was done, but now he was sure. He dried his hands and prepared to give them his findings.

"So?" Katie asked. She searched his face, then smiled. "Dana was right, wasn't she?"

He nodded. "I don't know how, but yes, everything Dr. Scully said is true. I'm at a loss to explain how, but…you're healing."

"It's the vaccine, Kid. It has to be the vaccine."

"I'm inclined to agree, Hanna, but we're going to have to run some tests before we can say that with any authority. Don't you agree, Dr. Scully?"

"We'll run some blood and tissue samples through the lab and see what they come up with, but right now, the vaccine seems to be the most logical choice, Dr. Curry."

"Oh for crying out loud. Dr. Curry, Dr. Scully…I feel like I'm at a medical convention. Dana, this is Matthew. Matthew, Dana. Now shake hands and drop the medical posturing, OK?"

"Oh yeah, she's feeling better…Dana," Matthew said, shaking his head.

"So I see…Matthew," Scully replied.

"That's better." Katie closed her eyes. "I want to see Tyler before I fall asleep again."

Scully poked her head out the door and waved Tyler over. He got up quickly and rushed into the room, kneeling at the side of the bed. "Anyone ever tell you you're a real pain-in-the-ass?" he teased.

Katie grinned and opened her eyes. "Yeah, anyone ever tell you you're a real prick?"

Scully's eyes widened with surprise and amusement at this rather interesting display of affection. Matthew took her arm and motioned for them to leave. "That's just their way of saying I love you," Matthew joked.

"We were worried about you," Tyler said softly.

"No you weren't. You're just waiting for me kick off so you can move into the loft," she teased.

Tyler looked down and closed his eyes. "No Katie, I mean it. Matthew wouldn't tell me anything until he was sure and he drove like a maniac all the way here. I was really scared."

Katie touched his hair, gently pushing her fingers through. "I'm fine, Ty. I'm hurting because I'm healing." She took his hand on placed it on her abdomen. "The scar, right here, is getting smaller and everything inside is changing too, becoming healthy."

Tyler squeezed her hand. "How? Is it the vaccine?" Katie nodded. "Are they sure?" he asked.

"They want to run more tests before they commit, but Matthew's pretty sure. I'm positive, I know it's the vaccine."

"So, we're still on for April 21^st, because I've told everyone at the store and Lisa's already fussing about the cake and decorations."

"Tell her I want a gingerbread bride and groom on top," Katie giggled. "Alex will like that." Her eyes closed. "Love you, Ty," she said sleepily.

"Love you too, Katie," he whispered, knowing she was already asleep.

=============================

"Will you shut the Hell up about the sauce?" Alex yelled. "I'm sorry the lid wasn't on tight enough. I'm sorry I hit the brakes so I wouldn't run over the dog. I will personally wash your goddamned shirt, if it'll get you to stop complaining!"

Mulder sat, tight-lipped and fuming. They'd finally agreed on ribs and since Alex was driving, Mulder was left with the task of holding on to the food. A collie had run out in front of the car. Alex jammed on the breaks to avoid hitting it and when he did, a large amount of sauce sloshed out of the container, landing on Mulder's shirt. He had to be wearing his favorite blue shirt, too. At least he'd taken the tie off; the sauce would never have come out of that. He seriously doubted it would come out of the shirt either, damn it.

Alex pulled into the first available space in front of the building. No need to sneak in the back way now. He took the bags from Mulder's lap and got out of the car. "Look, you go home and change; I'll take this upstairs. Have the shirt dry cleaned; I'll pay for it."

"I can afford my own dry cleaning, Krycek," Mulder spat.

Alex sighed. "OK, whatever Mulder. I'm trying to apologize, that's all. Forget it." He kicked the door shut and headed to the entrance without looking back.

Mulder stood there until Alex was inside. He frowned then hurried across the street to change. The shirt landed on the floor of the bedroom in a heap. Deciding that since it was after hours and he was already shirtless, he might as well change into something a little more comfortable than his work clothes. He grabbed a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt, tossed on his running shoes and prepared to head over. At the last minute, he decided to grab a change of clothes for Scully as well. Over the last few months, their relationship had changed considerably and now they each had drawer and closet space in the other's apartment. Bet Krycek doesn't know that, he thought with a grin. His eyes caught the shirt on the floor. Alex did seem sincere about his apology. He seems sincere about a lot of things right now. Maybe…Mulder snagged the shirt. Fuck it; let him pay for the dry cleaning.

=============================

"Dinner's here," Alex announced as he pushed the door open. "Hope you're hungry, we bought enough to feed a small army."

Scully took a couple of the bags from his hands. "Where's Mulder?"

"Oh…we had a little accident with the sauce. He went home to change," Alex answered, trying not to grin. Scully stared at him menacingly. "I'm serious, Scully. Have a look for yourself." He walked over to the window, pulling out the telescope he'd tucked in its hiding place earlier that day. "He's probably over there changing right now."

Scully put the bags down in the kitchen then did just as he suggested. Sure enough, Mulder was sitting on the bed, tying the laces of his running shoes.

Alex appeared at her side. "See, safe and sound, just like I said," he smirked. "I told you, I'm not 'him' anymore."

"You're still spying on Mulder," Scully countered.

"I'm not stupid either," he countered. "I still need to protect myself. And Katie." He looked to see where Tyler and Matthew were and found them in the kitchen laying out the food. "And them. They're my family now; no matter what, their safety comes first."

Scully backed away from the telescope and looked directly into his eyes. She saw something she'd never thought she'd see, let alone admit, she saw honesty. "I'd like to believe you, Alex, but…"

"Then believe, Dana," he pleaded. "I'll prove it to you; I don't know how, but I will." He smiled and looked back at Tyler and Matthew joking with each other as they pulled out the utensils and paper plates he'd picked up while they were out. "You've stopped calling me Krycek," he observed. "That's a good start." He tilted the telescope up and slid it back into its hiding space.

Katie appeared at the bedroom door, yawning and rubbing her eyes. "You guys got ribs?"

Alex smiled and hurried to her side. He put his arms around her and kissed her. "You should be in bed," he scolded.

"I'm hungry," she yawned. "And I can't eat ribs on my back. Or were you going to hide them from me?" she teased.

"No, we weren't going to hide them from you," Alex chuckled.

"Yes we were," Tyler yelled from the kitchen. "She eats like a horse, Dana. Better grab a plate before she gets out here."

"Don't taunt me, book boy! In a few minutes there'll be rib bones floating around and I can think of a real handy place to store a couple of them," Katie warned.

"Ooooh baby, you know I love it when you talk dirty," Tyler crooned, blowing her a kiss.

Katie opened her mouth to reply, but a knock at the door broke the mood. "Saved by the bell, so to speak."

"I'll get it," Matthew called. He pulled the door open. "You must be Mulder; come on in. I'm Matthew Curry." He extended his hand.

Mulder reached out with his unoccupied arm and shook Matthew's hand. "Nice to meet you."

Alex crossed the room. "Scully was worried that I'd done something to you."

Mulder looked at Scully. "I'm fine, Ratboy just ruined my favorite shirt with his lousy driving." He tossed the shirt at Alex. "I want it back, assuming it's salvageable."

Katie's ears pricked up at the nickname. 'Ratboy?' She looked at Alex, eyes wide, then smacked him on the arm. "Alexei! Why didn't you tell me?" she asked through clenched teeth.

"It wasn't important, Katya," he answered out of the side of his mouth.

"What wasn't important?" Matthew inquired for all in attendance.

"Nothing," Alex and Katie replied, in unison.

"Anyone know anything about getting barbecue sauce out of fine washables?" Alex asked, changing the subject.

Tyler lifted the garment from Alex's hand, checking the stain first and label second. "You want my advice? Burn it. There's no way that stain is coming out of this fabric." He handed the shirt back to Alex and held his hand out to Mulder. "Hi, I'm Tyler MacCreedy."

Mulder shook Tyler's hand. "You a doctor, too."

"No, he just plays with one at home," Alex and Katie answered, beating Tyler to the punch.

"What?" He looked from Katie and Alex to Tyler and Matthew, understanding coming quickly.

"Oh." Mulder smiled in spite of himself. "Are they always like that?" he asked Tyler.

"Sickening, isn't it?' Tyler answered.

Katie stuck her tongue out at Tyler. "Feed me," she said to Alex. "I'm starving."

Scully met Mulder halfway across the room. "Here," he said, handing her the bag. "I brought you a change of clothes." She smiled and took the bag from his hand. "What's with these people?"

"It's called having fun, Mulder. You should try it sometime," she smirked. "Fix me plate, will you? I'll be right out."

=============================

Mulder and Scully left shortly after eleven. The six of them had spent hours discussing the vaccine, Spender's motives for giving it to Alex in the first place, the impending invasion and the implications of Katie's apparent tissue regeneration. Katie started hurting around 8:30 and had taken another pill, so she'd spent most of the last hour dozing on Alex's shoulder, refusing to go back to bed.

"What do you think, guys?" Alex asked. "Do they believe me?"

Matthew took a drink from his cup. "I think Scully does. The medical evidence is pretty hard to dispute and once she runs those tests, there should be all the more reason to accept your story."

"Mulder really hates you," Tyler added. "He's going to be a hard sell."

"Yeah, well, he has good reason to hate me," Alex acknowledged. "And no reason to trust me."

"I don't know, Alex," Matthew offered. "I think he believes more than he's letting on. He wasn't putting up much of an argument."

"I don't know," Alex sighed. "He's so damned tense all the time. That man needs to get laid."

Katie smiled sleepily, eyes closed. "He is."

"What do you mean?" Alex asked.

"He is getting laid," she answered, snuggling closer against his shoulder. "He and Dana have been doing each other for a long time."

"No way," Alex frowned. "Those two are strictly business."

Katie felt for his cheek blindly, patting it gently when she found it. "Poor, naive, Alexei," she sighed. She rolled back against the couch and tried to open her eyes. "Go look," she yawned. "Bet he's copping a feel right now."

The three sat there and stared at their drowsy companion. Alex looked at the window, then back at Katie. Matthew and Tyler exchanged glances as well. Tyler's foot started tapping, causing Katie to smile. "Go look, Ty. I know you want to."

He hesitated about thirty seconds, before getting up and going to the window. "Uh…Alex…you might want to come see this," Tyler snickered, keeping the telescope pointed toward the bedroom window across the street.

Alex closed his eyes and let his head fall back against the couch. "They're not…"

"Oh yeah, they are," Tyler answered, still peering through the eyepiece.

"Told you," Katie grinned. She opened her eyes and held out her hands. "Help me up; I wanna see what Fox has hiding under those FBI clothes."

"He is a vision, Katie," Tyler sighed.

Matthew frowned at Alex. "You take care of her, I'll take care of him." He got up and put his hand over the front of the telescope, closing the blinds as well. "That's enough. Show's over."

"Killjoy," Tyler snapped, as he put the telescope away.

Alex nodded and picked Katie up off the couch. "Come on, time for you to go to bed."

"Ah c'mon. Just one quick peek?" Katie pouted.

"No, no peeks at all," Alex said firmly. "The couch folds out, guys. Sheets and towels are in the closet by the bathroom. I think there are some extra pillows in there, too."

"We'll find everything. You two get some sleep," Matthew answered.

Alex got undressed while Katie was in the bathroom. When the door opened, he went in to brush his teeth.

"Aren't you going to ask?" Katie said when he crawled into bed with her. "I know you're curious."

"Curious about what?" he replied innocently.

"Oh, guess I was wrong. Never mind. Good night." Katie snuggled into her pillow and started the count. One, two, three, four…

"OK, how did you know?" he asked.

"How could you not?" she countered. "You may be good at espionage, but you're blind to what's right in front of your face sometimes."

"Katya, I've watched those two for years. I didn't see anything here tonight, that I haven't seen a thousand times, so what did you see that I didn't?"

"First, the way he touches her, the way he never takes his eyes off her, especially when she's not looking."

"Nope, he's always done that. Keep going," he urged.

"All right, how about the way she smiles, just a little, whenever anyone says his name. That's not traditionally a trait you find in people who are just partners," she offered.

"Not good enough. Come on, you're holding back on me," he challenged.

Katie smiled. "He brought her a change of clothes, including socks and shoes. How many partners do you know that keep a complete change of outfits at the other's place? A shirt maybe, but socks? That borders on intimate apparel and no woman leaves her socks at a guys place if they're not sleeping together."

"That's really reaching, baby," he chuckled.

"No it isn't. Think about it, clean socks implies drawer space, my love and drawer space isn't something you give up after a one-night stand. That's a long-term arrangement," she argued.

"So your conclusion was based entirely on a pair of socks?" he snickered. 'Unbelievable."

"Hey, was I right?"

"Well…"

"Was I right?" she repeated.

"A pair of socks?"

Katie rolled over and nipped at his ear. "Was I right," she whispered.

Alex pulled her on top of his body. "Yes, you were right." She kissed him, then snuggled in against his chest. "But it was a lucky guess," he added.

"Yeah, baby, keep telling yourself that," she snickered.

=============================

Scully rolled over and stared idly out the window, while Mulder snored softly beside her. She reviewed the day, trying to come up with some explanation for Katie's condition, something that didn't have the vaccine at its core. Her eyes widened as she realized that the blinds were still open. "Oh shit," she whispered. Feeling around on the floor next to the bed, she found Mulder's sweatshirt and put it on. She walked over to the window, expecting to see the blinds up at Krycek's place as well. The lights were off in their apartment and as far as she could tell, the blinds were drawn. Scully closed her eyes and breathed a short-lived sigh of relief. Well, they weren't watching right now, but what if…? She lowered the blinds and got back into bed.

Mulder curled up around her. "You all right?" he asked sleepily.

"I'm fine. Go back to sleep."

=============================

"How are you feeling?" Alex asked through the shower curtain.

"Achy," Katie answered. She put her head back and let the hot water soak her hair. "You coming in?"

Alex pulled back shower curtain a bit. "Not much room in there," he observed.

"There's enough. Besides, I think I could use some help," she said with a sigh. "I'm not feeling all that steady."

Alex stepped into the tub and put his arm around her. "Medicine making you dizzy?"

She closed her eyes and rested her head against his chest. "I guess so."

"All right. Let's get you cleaned up and see if some breakfast helps. You take the hair, I'll get the rest of you; we'll have you out of here in no time," he said, kissing the tip of her nose.

Katie frowned. "Sounds very…efficient…and no fun whatsoever."

"You're just going to have to settle for efficient right now," he smirked as he lathered up the washcloth. "You're wet, slippery and dizzy; I have one arm and we're sharing a shower the size of a phone booth. If you go down, I'm going to have to call Matthew and Tyler to get us both out of this. Now, maybe you don't mind being naked in front of them, but I do."

Katie giggled. "Ah, but think of Tyler's expression. You'd make his whole year with one quick flash, sweetheart. You know he's got a bit of a crush on you, right?"

Alex groaned. "Yes, I know. Matthew mentioned it a long time ago. I'm just ignoring it in the hopes he'll find someone else…maybe Mulder. Besides, it's creepy, almost incestuous."

"Oh stop," she said, smacking him on the shoulder. "He's not looking to jump you, he just thinks you're cute. Personally, I happen to think that Tyler has excellent taste in men, so you should be flattered."

"OK, I'm flattered," he answered, rolling his eyes. "And he is pretty cute…"

Katie snorted and smacked him on the shoulder again. "Tramp," she teased.

"Just trying to keep it in the family," he grinned. "All the shampoo out of your hair?"

"Feels like it," she replied.

"Good, scoot out of the way and let me get cleaned up." Katie moved over, leaning against the wall for support. "You OK for a few minutes? I can get you settled and come back in here later," he offered.

"No, go ahead. The way I'm feeling this might be my only chance to see you naked all day," she chuckled.

Alex smiled and lathered up his hair. He leaned back into the spray and let the water rinse it clean. Katie just watched him wash, never moving from her spot against the tile. He turned around and shut off the water, then opened the shower curtain and grabbed a towel, drying himself off quickly before wrapping it around his waist. "Your turn," he said, grabbing the other towel. He toweled off her hair, then helped dry the rest of her body, before putting the towel around her shoulders. "Come on," he instructed, helping her out of the tub.

"I can take it from here," she said quietly. "Give me a few minutes to take care of things."

"Sure. I'll be right outside that door until you come out. Call me if you need me."

"I will."

=============================

Matthew gathered up the sheets and pillows and put them back in the linen closet. Tyler folded the bed back into the couch and replaced the cushions. "I'm going up the street to get some coffee," Tyler announced. "Want some?"

"Sure. You have your keys?"

"For what? The coffee shop's just on the corner. It would take me longer to find a parking space than it would walk there and back."

Alex opened the bedroom door. "Walk where?"

"Up the street to get some coffee. Want some?"

"Yeah." He leaned back into the bedroom where Katie was sitting on the bed, debating whether or not put on shoes. "Baby, you want some hot chocolate?"

"Yes, please," she answered. "Big and double sweet."

"Marshmallows?"

"Well, duh!"

"Yeah, Alex…duh!" Tyler echoed.

Alex rolled his eyes. "Of course, what was I thinking? Hang on, let me grab my jacket and I'll go with you."

Katie got up and walked slowly to the doorway. "I'm just going to sit out here until Dana comes over."

Alex put his arms around her and helped her to the couch. "Back in a few minutes, baby," Alex said, kissing her.

"I'll be right here," she smiled.

Matthew waited until they were gone before approaching the couch. "You dizzy this morning, Hanna?" he asked. "I'd hoped the new meds wouldn't do that to you."

"I don't think it's the meds; I think its just part of the process," she answered. "Speaking of the meds…"

"Starting to hurt again?"

"Yeah, just a few minutes ago. Maybe it won't get too bad," she said hopefully.

Matthew frowned and got her pills and a glass of water. "Maybe not, but let's not take any chances." He handed them to her. "Take it now; that's what they're here for."

Katie stared at the pill in her hand. "They make me feel so useless."

"They makes you stop hurting," he reminded her. "And they make us feel better because we don't have to watch you in pain."

=============================

Alex and Tyler hit the sidewalk just as Mulder and Scully came out of their building. They stopped and waited for the pair to cross the street. "We're going for coffee. Want some?" Tyler offered.

"I could use some tea," Scully answered.

Tyler nodded. "Mulder?" He felt a slight flush creeping up his face and fought hard not to smile.

Mulder looked at Tyler curiously. "Yeah, sure. Thanks."

Scully felt a little red around the edges herself. 'Well, that answers that question,' she thought.

"Katie's upstairs waiting for you. She's a little dizzy this morning," Alex sighed. "She's a lot dizzy, really, but she didn't seem to be in pain. Matthew's with her."

"Then she's in good hands," Scully soothed. "I'm going up. You coming, Mulder?" Mulder nodded and followed her up the stairs and into the building.

"You're blushing, Tyler," Alex teased.

"Shut up, Alex," Tyler hissed.

"Lighten up, he's in the building already," Alex chuckled. "Besides, I thought I was the only other man in your life," bumping the other man's shoulder.

Tyler looked down at his feet and smiled. "Yeah, but you're family now; if I laid a hand on you, Katie would kick my ass."

Alex snickered. "You got that right. Matthew wouldn't be too happy with you either."

They walked quietly until they were just outside the coffee shop, then Tyler started laughing. Alex stared at him and when Tyler looked over, he laughed even harder.

"What?" Alex asked, starting to laugh himself.

"You're getting married in a few weeks," he answered.

"Yeah, so…"

"Well, it is traditional to give the happy couple a kiss," he hinted, as he put his hand on the door.

"You wouldn't…"

Tyler nodded his head furiously, laughing all the while. "Oh yeah, big old wet one, right on the kisser and no one will even think twice about it." He pushed the door open and went inside with Alex close on his heels.

"Tyler!"

"You are so doomed!" He walked up to the counter and placed their order, adding an assortment of pastries and doughnuts. "Oh, make sure that hot chocolate is double sweet, please," he added, giving the waitress a wink.

Tyler stood at the counter listening to Alex tap his foot behind him. When the waitress came back with their order, he picked up the bag and the drink carrier and looked over his shoulder. "Pay the nice lady, Alex."

Alex reached for his wallet. "When did I lose control?" he mused aloud.

"Pardon me?" asked the waitress.

"Oh nothing, sorry, just talking to myself," Alex muttered.

=============================

"When did the pain start?" Scully asked. "Alex said you were dizzy but not hurting when we saw him outside."

"It started just before he left. I didn't say anything," she explained. "Can I ask you a personal question?"

Scully hesitated. "I guess so."

"How long have you and Mulder been together?"

"We've been partners since…"

"Dana, don't be difficult."

Scully sighed and rubbed her eyes. "A little over a year."

"I knew it! I told Alex you guys were long-termers. He thought I was nuts, until…" Katie stopped abruptly. Oooops, so much for discretion.

Scully's eyes widened as Katie essentially confirmed her fears. "Katie…"

Katie grimaced. "I happened to say that I bet Mulder was over there copping a feel right now, so Tyler went over to the window…he was only there for a minute before Matthew and Alex made him put the telescope away. Matter of fact, Matthew packed it up and put it away for good right after they left this morning," Katie said hurriedly. "Alex won't be using it anymore, at least not for anything other than star-gazing." She watched Scully try to hide behind her hand. "If it makes you feel any better, Tyler was far more interested in watching Mulder."

"That explains why he was blushing this morning," Scully sighed. "We've been so careful to remain professional in public, afraid that the Bureau would use this to close the X-Files, or that others would use it against us."

"You mean, like Alex?"

"Especially him."

"Maybe this is where the trust begins, Dana. I promise you and Mulder will get nothing but support from all of us. We're on the same side, no matter what the two of you believe right now."

"Mulder's going to be furious," she worried.

"So let me tell him," Katie offered. "We don't have to mention that you knew Alex was watching his place. Besides, isn't that something he should have suspected in the first place?" Katie shook her head. "These are reasonably intelligent males; why is it they can save the world, but can't manage to find their asses with both hands and road map?"

Scully cracked a smile. "Maybe that's why they have us."

"Exactly," Katie giggled. "Go on, call Mulder in. I want him calmed down before Alex and Ty get back."

"I don't think I'm ready for this," Scully hedged.

"Don't worry about it. There's no reason for you to be in the middle of this at all. As far as Mulder's concerned, I told you first to get your reaction before telling him. You don't even have to act surprised, OK? What he doesn't know won't hurt him."

"I don't lie to him, Katie," Scully frowned.

Katie rolled her eyes. "Think of it as an 'I'm fine' then. We all do that, say we're fine when we're not, because it's easier than explaining emotions we're not ready to deal with. It's not a lie really, just a self-protection device."

Scully bit her lip and looked down at the carpet.

"Oh, I hit a nerve, didn't I?" Katie asked. Scully didn't move. "OK, you handle it anyway you want, but let me tell him now, for Alex's sake." Katie yawned. "Better make it quick, before I zone out again."

=============================

Mulder sat on the edge of the bed fuming, hands gripping the mattress as he tried to stay calm. This was too much, even for the normally controlled agent. Watching him, Katie was glad she'd sent Scully out of the room. She slipped to the edge of the bed and sat beside him, putting one hand on top of his. "I'm really sorry, Mulder. This was my fault. I know better than to egg Ty on. Would you believe that I was drugged?" she asked, trying to lessen the tension. He pulled his hand out from under hers and put it on his lap. "OK, now someone else knows about you and Scully. So what? We're happy for you, that's all. It was a crappy thing to do, but we can't change it."

"No, but now he can use it against us," Mulder spat.

Katie fell back on the bed and huffed in exasperation. "No one wants to hurt you, Mulder! At least not anyone in this apartment. We're here of our own accord, hat in hand, so to speak. Alex has given you the vaccine, I'm giving you me as a guinea pig, Matthew's offering his time and expertise, and Tyler…well you'd be surprised at what lurks behind those eyes. What more do you want?"

"Who are you?" Mulder asked, staring at Katie like she'd grown a third eye in the middle of her forehead. "You come barging into our lives with one of my worst enemies, then have the nerve to get irritated when I don't fall all over myself to believe you."

"What, you haven't already run a check on us? You must be one heck of an investigator, if you haven't run a simple security check on the three of us," Katie snapped sarcastically.

"You're an author with a handful of books to your credit; the last one, Yardstick for Lunatics spent six weeks on the New York Times bestseller list. You're single, never been married, no traffic citations, no outstanding warrants and you pay your bills on time," he recited. "Your friends check out as well," he admitted.

"There you go, we're the original Hole-In-The-Wall gang," Katie sighed.

"Even they had to start somewhere," Mulder replied.

"God damn it, man!" Katie yelled in frustration. "What do we have to gain by coming here? Do you think Alex would have come to you, like this, if he weren't trying to change?" She stood up and paced the floor in front of him. "He made a huge leap of faith bringing you the vaccine, but he took the risk because he believes in you. As far as he's concerned, you and Scully are our last best hope for survival. Why can't you understand that!"

Mulder got up, standing toe to toe with her. "Because he's a lying son of a bitch!" he yelled back. "And I…"

The bedroom door flew open and Alex burst into the room with his fist raised. "Get away from her," he bellowed, lunging forward.

"Alex, don't you dare," Katie screamed, stepping between the two men, just as Mulder pulled back to strike. "No!" Too late, Alex landed a shot on Mulder's chin. Mulder lashed out, but Katie moved into the path of his fist, taking the blow instead.

"Mulder! What the Hell are you doing!" Scully shouted. Tyler grabbed Alex and pulled him back, while Scully pushed Mulder away.

Matthew bent down to help Katie up off the floor. "Hanna, you all right?" he asked cradling her in his arms. He glared up at Alex and Mulder. "Get them out of here now!" he growled.

"Matthew!" Alex pleaded, trying to get free of Tyler's grasp.

"Not now, Alex. Just get out of my sight," Matthew snapped. "I'll deal with you later." Scully closed the door behind her, leaving them alone. "Talk to me, Hanna."

"Yo, Kid!" she grunted. "Put me back in the ring; I can take him."

"You're a regular Rocky Balboa," he agreed, kissing the top of her head. "Get up and let me take a look at you."

She tried, but found she wasn't steady enough to pull herself up. "Nope, you're gonna have to help."

Matthew got up and pulled her to her feet. "Oh Hanna," he grimaced. "Your eye."

"I'm not squinting because the light's too bright, am I?" He shook his head. "I was afraid of that. On a scale of one to ten guilt points, how much is this one worth?" she asked.

"I can't speak for Mulder, but knowing Alex…" he turned her head, gently touching the rapidly swelling cheek under the eye. "I'd say this is a fourteen."

Scully opened the door carrying an ice pack. Alex called out to Katie, but Scully shut the door quickly. "Here, thought you might need this." She gave Katie's eye a once over, before pressing the ice pack against it. "Hold this on your eye for the next fifteen minutes or so." Scully turned to Matthew. "He's losing it out there," she said quietly.

"Too bad," Matthew answered. "Let him deal with it on his own for now. And you," he said, turning to Katie. "What did you think you were doing getting in the middle of that?"

"He was going to hit Alex," Katie explained. "I promised him I'd never let Mulder hurt him like that again."

"You deliberately stepped in front of Mulder's fist?" Scully asked incredulously.

Katie nodded. "No one hurts him anymore, Dana. I won't allow it. He's been hurt enough." She looked deep into Scully's eyes. "So has Mulder. It's time to stop. Like it or not, we've been thrown together for a reason, so we'd better find a way to work this out or, as melodramatic as this sounds, we're effectively damning the rest of the human race."

"OK, Hanna, you've made your point, although I think you could have found a better way to do that than by taking a punch. Lie down and get some rest." He pushed her down gently. "How's your belly?"

"Still hurts a little, but it's not too bad. Either that or the pain in my eye is canceling it out," she chuckled. "I should go out there and talk to both of them; Alex is probably wearing a hole in the carpet, that is if Tyler isn't having to sit on him to keep him from killing Mulder."

"You're not going anywhere," Scully stated. "When I came in here, Alex was pacing in front of the door and Mulder was sitting on the couch holding his chin. Tyler's found a spot between them and they're both operating under penalty of death if either of them goes near the other."

Katie looked from Matthew to Scully, then back again. "Are you sure you two weren't separated at birth?" They both gave her their own special looks. "Don't do that! It's creepy." She gave them an overly dramatic shudder to emphasize her point. "Can I at least see them in here?" Scully and Matthew looked at each other. "Please?"

"All right," Matthew huffed. "I'll let you see Alex for a few minutes, but then it's my turn at him."

"Kid," Katie warned. "Let it go."

"Hanna," Matthew protested.

"Let it go," she repeated. Matthew nodded reluctantly. "Good. I want to see Mulder, too," she said to Scully.

"Katie, I don't think…"

"Perhaps you haven't figured this out yet, Dana. I'm not asking…I'm telling. See, the number one rule in my house is 'whatever Katie wants, Katie gets' and I want to talk to Mulder."

Scully opened her mouth to respond to Katie's statement, but Matthew shook his head. "Don't bother. Once her mind is made up the only thing to do is let her have her way. Believe me, it's a lot easier in the long run."

Katie smiled triumphantly. "I want to see Alex first. I'll send him out for Mulder in a few minutes."

"Yes dear," Matthew replied sarcastically.

"Oh, Kid?"

"Yeeees?"

"One other thing."

"And that would be?"

"We want a shrubbery." She gave him a wink and blew him a kiss as he turned to open the door.

Alex dove for the door as soon as Matthew opened it. Matthew put his hand on Alex's chest, stopping him before he entered. "She talks, you listen. You better be on your best behavior because I'm this close to wringing your neck." Alex nodded and bolted into the room.

"Oh shit! Your poor eye. God Katya, I'm sorry. You should have let him hit me, baby." He sat down beside her on the bed and leaned over to kiss her.

Katie backed away. "You had no right busting in here like some crazed lunatic. I told you, I can take care of myself; all you did was start a fight."

"The two of you were in here, alone, screaming at each other; I thought you were in trouble," he explained.

"Bullshit! The screaming had nothing to do with it. The two of us were in here alone, that's what set you off. If it had been Dana in here yelling at me, you never would have come in swinging," she accused. "Now listen and listen good. I want you to go over to the door and ask Mulder to come in; then you're to sit right here," she instructed, patting the mattress next to her, "and shut up until I'm done talking." Alex set his mouth in a frown. "Don't make that face at me! Go do it."

Alex went over to the door. "Mulder," he huffed, motioning for the man to come in. "She wants to see you." He returned to the bed and sat on his assigned spot.

Mulder entered the room, but stayed close to the door. He saw the swollen mess that was Katie's left eye and put his hand over his mouth.

"Yeah, it's a beaut," she acknowledged. "Sit down." She tapped the end of the bed with her foot.

"Katie, I didn't mean…" Mulder said, trying to apologize.

"I don't want your apologies. I want you to sit down and shut up until I'm done talking." Mulder complied and bowed his head. "First, you're real lucky that you hit me and not Alex," she told him. "Like I said yesterday, you ever hit him again and I will take you out. Do NOT underestimate me, Mulder." She turned her attention to Alex, who was smirking at Mulder. "And you, wipe that stupid look off your face; you're taking most of the blame for this one. If you hadn't come in here with your fists up, this wouldn't have happened. I have had enough, so this is what we're going to do. We're going to sit here and figure out how we can work together without beating the crap out of one another. I don't care if it takes all day or all week; neither of you is leaving this spot until we work this out." She leaned back against the headboard. "You start," she said, talking to Alex. "Tell Mulder what you want from him, what you expect to accomplish. Mulder, you listen; and I mean really listen. When he's done, it'll be your turn. Fair enough guys?" They grunted their acceptance. "Good, start talking, Alex."

=============================

"It's been over an hour," Matthew said. "I'm going in there."

"I don't think that's a good idea," Tyler warned.

"We should check on Katie's eye," Scully added.

Scully and Matthew went to the door and pushed it open slowly. Mulder and Alex were sitting on opposite ends of the bed, with Katie acting as buffer between them. Mulder was talking; the other two appeared to be listening.

"Sorry to intrude," Scully interrupted. "We wanted to check on Katie." They walked to the bed. Matthew took the ice pack out to refresh it, while Scully assessed the damage.

"Don't stop, Mulder," Katie urged. "You were doing so well."

Scully arched her eyebrow when Mulder resumed talking. She listened intently as he spoke of his contempt for Krycek; his hatred for all the pain he'd caused them. She stole a glance at Alex; he was listening, really listening. Scully looked at Katie in amazement. 'How did you do this?' she asked without speaking.

Katie smiled, knowing exactly what was going on in Dana's head. "It's a gift," she whispered.

Matthew came back with the ice pack, as well as a couple of pills and some water. He put the pack on the table and handed her the other items. Katie eyed the pills suspiciously. "Its just acetaminophen, for the swelling," he explained. Katie nodded and took the pills. He wanted to ask questions, but Scully tapped him on the shoulder and motioned for him to come with her. He leaned forward. "Everything OK?" he whispered.

Katie kissed his cheek. "Yeah, go on," she whispered back.

Matthew smiled and followed Scully out of the room. When they were out of earshot, Matthew turned to Dana. "What's going on in there?"

"I'm not sure, but I think Katie missed her calling," Dana answered. "It's taken me years to get Mulder to open up like that. How she managed to do it in less than an hour..."

Tyler squeezed Scully's shoulder. "Katie's good at that. There's something about her that makes everyone want to drop their troubles at her feet."

"You don't know Mulder," Scully said, shaking her head.

"And you don't know Katie," Tyler countered. "He and Alex may not be bosom buddies by the time Katie lets them out of that room, but I can promise you they won't be trying to kill each other any more."

"You're underestimating her," Matthew added. "They'll be shaking hands before we leave DC."

=============================

Two hours later, Tyler made sandwiches for everyone, using his hunger as an excuse to poke his head in on the trio in the other room. Scully and Matthew saw through his act, but humored him all the same. He knocked on the door, then went in before anyone responded, quietly putting the food and drinks on the nightstand. "I thought you might be ready for something," he explained.

"Took you long enough," Katie teased. "Have they been sitting on you out there?"

"No! I've been extremely patient, if I do say so myself," he huffed.

Katie passed drinks and sandwiches to Alex and Mulder. "Eat," she ordered. "Thanks Ty." Tyler winked and prepared to leave. Katie got up and put her arms around him at the door. "Hey, have I told you lately that I love you?"

Tyler chuckled. "Every day," he answered, pushing a strand of hair off her face. He pulled away and stared down at her. "How long until you release the hostages?" he asked softly.

"It's going to be a while," she sighed. "Why don't the three of you go see a movie or something; get out of here for a few hours."

"Sounds like a plan, but I don't think the good doctors will agree."

Katie walked over to the bed. "I'll be right back. You two keep talking, but stay right where you are," she threatened. She took Ty's arm and led him out of the room, leaving the door ajar. "Look, this is going to take a while; the three of you need to get out of here and go have some fun. I'll take care of those two," she promised.

"I don't think…" Matthew started.

"I didn't ask you to think," Katie snapped. "Get out of here, go get some fresh air, go see a movie, go shopping, I don't care what you do, but you need to go do something besides pace the apartment. All of you," she added. "While you're out, pick up some movies for tonight. Something familiar, OK. Maybe Holy Grail or Wanda; we need to laugh. And chocolate, good chocolate from a real candy store. There's got be one around here someplace, isn't there, Dana?"

"Well, yeah," Scully forced out.

"See? There you have it. You have something specific to do while you're out. Oh, maybe you could replace Mulder's shirt while you're at it. I'm sure you can help the boys with that, Dana." Katie spun on her heels and moved back to the bedroom. When she didn't hear activity behind her, she looked around. "Now would be good."

Scully walked over to her. "Katie, I'm really not comfortable leaving you alone with Mulder and Alex," she protested. "If they start fighting again, you're going to need some help."

Katie sighed and patted her on the arm. "They're done fighting. Besides, how am I supposed to tie them to bed and have my way with them if the three of you are in other room? I'd never be able to enjoy myself," she said, fighting hard to keep a straight face. Scully raised her eyebrows at that last remark. Katie giggled; Dana smiled in spite of herself. "Go, I promise everything will be fine."

=============================

Three hours later, Scully, Matthew and Tyler returned home, not knowing what to expect. They'd decided against sitting through a movie. None of them thought they could concentrate on a story when the only one of any interest was unfolding back in that fourth floor apartment. Instead, they went on a mission to replace Mulder's blue shirt, find Katie's chocolate and pick up movies for the evening, as requested.

On the way back, they stopped in a grocery store to get popcorn. They considered picking up some beer, but decided the last thing anyone needed was to risk consuming a little too much of that, so they ended up with an assortment of sodas instead. Dinnertime was approaching, but they elected to leave that decision up to Katie and company.

Matthew unlocked the door and pushed it open for Scully. "It's quiet," he observed.

Tyler took the groceries into the kitchen and put the sodas in the refrigerator, while Matthew put his bags down on the couch. Scully crept quietly toward the bedroom door, listening for any sounds from within. Matthew joined her, hesitating just a moment, before gently easing the door open. "I am not believing this," he whispered to Scully. "Take a look." Katie was curled up, head in Alex's lap, fast asleep. Alex was stroking her hair, leaning against a pillow wedged between his back and the headboard, talking to Mulder. Mulder had stretched out on his side at the bottom of the bed; head propped up on one elbow, facing Alex.

Tyler saw them staring into the room and hurried over to see what was going on. Matthew moved aside to let him view the scene. "Now that's a Kodak moment," he whispered.

"Either come in or close the door," Alex called out as quietly as he could.

The three entered the room. Scully and Matthew moved close to the bed, while Tyler hung out by the door. "When did she fall asleep?" Matthew asked.

"About forty-five minutes ago," Mulder answered. Scully sat down near his head. Mulder rolled over, resting his head in her lap. "She wants us to stay and watch movies tonight. That all right with you, Scully?"

"Yeah, sure," Scully answered, trying hard not to look surprised by his question. "Does this mean that everything's settled?" she asked, pushing his hair away from his forehead.

"No," Mulder replied. "It means we've issued a cease-fire and are in negotiations for a peace settlement."

Scully nodded. "I see. What were you two talking about before we came in?"

Mulder pointed at Katie. "Alex was telling me how they met."

"I can't believe she fell asleep," Matthew chuckled.

"I guess we wore her out," Alex said sweetly.

"And I didn't even get to tie them down, damn it," Katie muttered sleepily. She yawned and opened her eyes. "When did you get back?"

"Few minutes ago," Matthew answered. "Long enough to catch you sleeping on the job," he teased.

Katie stuck her tongue out him and looked at Scully. "Guess what, Dana?"

"What."

"Gave them that road map and both of them were able to find their asses after all," she said with a wink and a grin.

"Mulder, I think we've just been insulted," Alex said.

"I'm inclined to agree," Mulder responded.

"That's what I love about these guys, their stunning grasp of the obvious," Katie snickered, as she sat up. "OK Mulder, I'm waiting." Mulder looked at her, but didn't move. "Go on, it'll only feel kinky the first time." He closed his eyes. Katie slid down to him and patted his hand. "You don't have to hide here; take advantage of it."

Mulder opened his eyes and tried to smile, falling just shy. He looked up at Scully and crooked his finger, beckoning her closer. Scully wrinkled her brow, not sure what was going on, but bent down to him. Mulder's arm went to the back of her head pulling her down to his lips for a brief, but satisfying kiss.

"See? That wasn't so bad, was it?" Katie inquired.

Alex tugged at her shirt. "What about me?"

"You want Mulder to kiss you, too?" Katie asked innocently. "Oh, I don't know…Mulder?"

Scully snickered. Mulder and Matthew smiled and shook their heads. Tyler laughed unreasonably hard, though only Alex knew why this amused him to such an extent. Katie looked straight ahead, waiting for Alex to do something. She waited ten, twenty seconds, nothing. Another ten passed before curiosity got the better of her and she turned around. He hadn't moved. His eyes were cast down on his hand, studying his thumb, waiting for her to free him. Katie got up on her knees and crawled over to him, straddling his legs. She lifted his chin with her hand. "I love you," she mouthed, before moving slowly to his lips.

Alex stopped her before she made contact. "Say it again."

"I love you today, tomorrow and every day thereafter," she said softly. "Remember?"

"I remember." This time he didn't stop her when she tried to kiss him.

Tyler crossed the room and took Matthew by the hand. He motioned toward the door. Matthew smiled and followed him out, with Mulder and Scully trailing close behind. "They might be a while," Tyler said, stating the obvious.

"Why don't we get the telescope and go to my place," Mulder suggested with a wry grin. "That seems to be the latest trend."

Tyler turned bright red. "About that…I'm sorry…it was…I mean…the telescope's buried in the back of the closet, if that means anything," he stammered.

"Make sure it stays there," Mulder ordered.

"I promise," Tyler agreed. "Excuse me." He went into the kitchen poured himself some water, holding the cold glass to his face to soothe his burning cheeks.

Scully watched Tyler squirm as he attempted to apologize. When he left for the kitchen, she turned to Mulder. "You should have closed the blinds," she chastised. "We both should have expected that we were being watched."

"That doesn't excuse anything," Mulder protested.

"No it doesn't," she agreed. "But really Mulder, you're being too hard on him. Let it go."

"You weren't the one being watched," he reminded her.

"That's what's really bothering you, isn't it?" Scully smiled. "Mulder, you're bugged because some guy was checking you out, and liking what he saw, judging from the blush on his cheeks. You're embarrassed." Mulder squirmed. "You don't think you're being checked out every time you do laps in that little red Speedo you're so fond of? Get a grip!"

"You been checking me out in that Speedo, Scully?" Mulder asked with a leer.

"Since the first time I saw you in the pool," she answered. "Or more specifically, since the first time I saw you get out of the pool."

"So I should be flattered and let this slide?"

"I think that would be the best course of action," Scully confirmed. "Maybe you should tell him there are no hard feelings, before he beats himself up any more."

"Do I have to?" Mulder whined.

"No, you don't have to," Scully returned.

"But you think it would be the best course of action…" Mulder sighed.

"Yes I do."

Mulder closed his eyes and let his head drop briefly, before straightening up to go into the kitchen. Scully watched as Mulder spoke to Tyler, smiling at the relief in Tyler's face when Mulder finished.

=============================

"I thought they'd never leave," Alex murmured into Katie's neck.

"We have to go out there," she sighed.

Alex bit her gently. "Why? They're all adults out there; they can find some way to amuse themselves for a little while."

Katie pulled back and looked at him apologetically. "I never thought I'd hear myself say this, but not tonight dear, I have a headache."

Alex reached up and lightly touched the skin under her eye. "I'm sorry, baby; I wasn't thinking. Why didn't you say something before?"

"Everything was going so well; I didn't want to break the mood by whining about my eye," she explained. "Besides, there's nothing anyone can do about it. I'll take some more acetaminophen soon; that'll help." She pressed her head to his chest. "Maybe later tonight…"

"I'll let you lead," he answered, kissing her hair. "We really have to go out there?"

Katie nodded. "I got him to talk to you, now I want to see if I can get him to laugh."

Alex helped her up off the bed. "You're a glutton for punishment, you know that, don't you?"

"Hey, I have yet to find the individual that can make it through Holy Grail without at least a couple of snickers. It's simply not done," she stated, as she opened the door.

Matthew saw Alex and Katie coming out of the bedroom and checked his watch. "Ten minutes? Losing your touch, Alex? I didn't think we'd see you for another half hour."

Alex smirked at him. "Ha ha, funny man. It just so happens that some of us understand the concept of time and place."

Tyler glanced at Katie, then stared at Alex. "Turned you down flat, didn't she?"

Alex's eyes rolled up toward the ceiling and he blew out a breath. "As a pancake, my friend."

Katie chuffed and smacked his arm. "Just for that, Dana and I are going to plop our lovely selves down on the couch and let you men, and I use the term grudgingly, figure out what you're going to do about feeding us tonight.

"And this would be different from every other night…how exactly?" Tyler shot back.

Katie crossed her arms and leveled the evil eye at him. "Have I told you lately what an insufferable bastard you are?"

Tyler tapped his chin. "Hmmm, I seem to remember being called an insufferable prick…but an insufferable bastard? Nope, I don't think so."

Mulder leaned down. "And these people like each other?" he whispered to Scully.

"They're family, Mulder," she answered.

"Come on, Dana," Katie said, taking her arm. "Let's leave them to decide on dinner." She touched Mulder's arm and looked up at him. "Yes, we do like each other. Didn't anyone ever teach you how to whisper quietly, Mulder?" she teased as she took Scully into the kitchen. "How bad does my eye look? I'm afraid to go see for myself," she asked Scully.

"The swelling's gone down," Scully answered.

"But…" Katie implored.

"But…and I'm speaking purely from a woman's point of view and not as your doctor…it looks awful. Right now it's red and angry looking; by morning it'll be purple."

"I was afraid of that," Katie frowned. "Oh well, it'll be gone in a week or so and, if it helps keep the peace, it will have been worth it."

"Katie? How long are you and Alex planning on staying in DC?"

"I don't know. We left it open, not knowing how long it might take to convince you and Mulder about…everything. Why?"

"I'd like to run a full battery of tests on you, ultrasound, CAT scan, MRI, even an x-ray on your ankle, to establish a baseline. We'd have to repeat all of them again in six months to see what, if any, effects the vaccine is having on the rest of your system," she explained.

Katie's face paled at the thought of all those tests. "Dana, I don't do hospitals."

"It would only be overnight. The x-rays and ultrasound won't take long, but I'd rather not do the CAT scan and the MRI in the same day." Scully watched Katie hold on to the counter for support.

"Are you all right?" Katie shook her head; her breathing became rapid and her fingers turned white on the counter. "Matthew?" Scully called.

Matthew saw Katie's face and dashed to her side. "Hanna? Breathe. What happened?" he asked Scully.

"We were talking about running some tests," Scully began.

He nodded. "OK, take it easy." Matthew glanced over at Scully. "She doesn't do hospitals. Long story," he offered. "We talked about this, kiddo" he reminded gently. "You said you could do it."

"I know," Katie answered weakly. "I can do it."

"Sure you can," came a voice from off to the side.

"I didn't know you were there," Katie whispered. "I'm sorry, I promised I wouldn't do this any more."

Matthew stepped aside to let Alex embrace Katie. "And you're not doing it right now. You're afraid, that's all. It's OK to be scared, remember?" She nodded, pulling him close. "I'll be there with you the whole time; I won't leave your side. How soon?" he asked Scully.

"Tomorrow, if I can arrange it. Can you be ready?"

"Set it up," Alex replied. "We'll be there."

=============================

Mulder scanned the room and wondered how so much could have changed in such a short time. If anyone had told him that one day he'd be sitting in Alex Krycek's apartment, with his arm around Scully's shoulders, watching movies and enjoying himself, he would have had them committed. Yet, here he was, doing just that.

He looked to his right, to study the two men at the other end of the couch. Matthew and Tyler made an interesting couple. Matthew gave off the appearance of being the dominant one in the relationship, but watching them together, when the stress of the day had passed, Mulder realized that it was Tyler who held the true power. Katie was right, there was more behind those eyes and Mulder knew it. He had uncovered more than he'd let on to her. Tyler, he'd learned, was the only child of wealthy parents who'd never given their son the time of day. He was sent to the best boarding schools money could buy as soon as he was old enough to dress himself. By the time he was eight, it was recognized that Tyler had a gift for mathematics. At twelve, he was given the opportunity to spend the summer attending a special camp for gifted children. Three years later, he was admitted to MIT, making him one of the youngest students enrolled at the prestigious institution. Upon graduation, he went to work for a company responsible for the design and construction of underground military installations. In the early 80s he reported structural flaws in one section of a classified structure. He brought his concerns to those in charge, but they fell on deaf ears. The project was over budget and a year behind schedule as it was, so no one was willing to listen to a former boy wonder rant about a few minor inconsistencies. Three months after the structure was built, the section collapsed, killing seventeen men. The shit hit the fan. A Senate subcommittee was formed to investigate the accident. Tyler's files noting the flaws were used as evidence against the company; his testimony driving the final nail into the coffin. After that, he'd simply walked away. He had been right about everything, but he couldn't live with the deaths of those seventeen men. He drifted for a few years, living off his trust fund, before going back to school to study business management. In '92, he opened his own store, at which time he met Katie and Matthew, the rest, as they say, is history. Tyler, who gave the impression of being just an average guy, with his lighthearted sense of humor and voyeuristic tendencies, was not a man to be taken at face value.

Mulder turned his head slightly, so he could watch Alex and Katie. They were tucked in together on the oversized recliner, her legs draped over his, and his left arm, 'prosthesis' he corrected himself, around her shoulder. She laughed a little too hard at one line, causing her face to hurt. Mulder winced as her hand went up to the bruise. Alex said something to her and touched her face as well. She shook her head, took his hand and kissed it, before lacing her finger through his. Alex relaxed and squeezed her fingers. At that moment, Mulder knew that everything Alex had said and done in the last day was genuine. He shuddered as he realized he had just admitted to himself that maybe Alex could be trusted after all.

"You cold?" Scully asked.

"No. Why do you ask?"

"I felt you shiver," she replied. Scully reached up to touch his forehead, concerned that he might be coming down with something, but found it cool. "What's wrong?"

'I'm half-convinced I can trust Krycek' he thought. "Nothing," he answered, smiling down at her. "Nothing at all." She smiled back at him and then, as if it was the most natural thing in the world for him to do, he bent down and kissed her. He started to pull away after the one kiss, but Scully's hand snaked behind his neck and held him in place a little longer. When she finally released him, she nestled against his chest and sighed

Mulder happened to glance in Katie's direction and caught her smiling at him. "Feels good, doesn't it?" she asked, just loud enough for him to hear. He looked away quickly, feeling the beginning of a smile forming on his rapidly reddening face. Katie chuckled. He turned back slightly and nodded. "Told you so," she teased.

=============================

"You coming to bed sometime soon?" Alex asked Katie.

"Yeah, I…just need a drink. I'll be right back," she answered, putting her hand on the doorknob. She stopped short when a familiar noise from the other side of the door, caught her attention. "Or not."

"Come here," Alex beckoned. Katie approached the bed slowly. Alex pulled back the covers and patted the space beside him. She got in and curled up against his body. "I'll be with you the whole time," he whispered.

"I know. I'm still scared," she answered. "But, you'll be there, Scully and Matthew will be there, so it's going to be fine. Everything's going to be just fine."

"Don't forget about Tyler and Mulder," he reminded her. "They'll come by and see you at the end of the day."

"We can have a party in the hospital room," she said, trying to sound cheerful.

"Sure, green Jell-O for everyone," Alex chuckled.

"Oh yummy," Katie answered, making a gagging noise. "What inspired the creation of Jell-O anyway? I mean, did someone look at a jellyfish and wonder if they could recreate that as a sweet dessert alternative? Yuck! As far as I'm concerned, any food that moves on my plate is not ready for consumption.

"So you won't be having the Jell-O then?" Alex asked innocently.

Katie rolled over and stared at him, shaking her head. "Alexei…shut up and kiss me."

Alex grinned and complied with her order. His lips made quick contact with hers, before he rolled away. "Good night, baby."

Katie growled soft and low. "You are kidding?"

"Nope," came his muffled reply. "Scully said you needed to rest; big day tomorrow and you're not to come in looking exhausted. Those are her orders and I don't want to be on Scully's bad side."

"What about MY bad side?" Katie huffed. She unsheathed her claws and raked them slowly down his exposed back. "Dana's not here and she'll be far to busy tomorrow to get nasty with you about the amount of sleep I've gotten. I, on the other hand, am right beside you and I'm not the least bit sleepy." Her hand slipped further, going under the waistband of the pajama bottoms to cup his ass. "I'm wide awake," she whispered. The hand moved up the curve of his hip and down to his thigh, allowing her thumb to trace his rapidly growing erection. "Looks like I'm not the only one," she hinted.

Alex reached for her hand and pulled it away. He held it tight. "Katya, we can't, not until after the tests are done. Scully doesn't want anything to contaminate the results. She specifically said no sex until you come home."

Katie's head bumped Alex's shoulder. "I think I hate her," she pouted.

"She's not on my favored nations list either right now," he agreed. He kissed her hand and released it, rolling over. A thought crossed his mind and he gave her a sly smile. "You know, there may be a loophole in Scully's orders."

"Oh?" Katie asked, eyes raised. "Do tell."

"Well, since she specifically told me, no sex, we can make the assumption that she was speaking strictly about the…uh…male/female union."

"I'm listening," Katie prodded. "Go on."

"Well, if we subscribe to the Bill Clinton dictionary of sexual relations, then there are a variety of options open to us," he leered. "I do have one perfectly good hand available." He rolled on his side and put his mouth on her breast, suckling gently. Katie sighed. "And one perfectly good mouth," he added, giving her nipple a flick of his tongue.

"I see your point," she murmured. "Given my present situation, I vote for the perfectly good hand. And Alexei? Let's cut to the chase before I explode."

"As you wish," he whispered. His hand glided over her stomach and down inside her panties in one smooth stroke.

She arched into his touch, voicing her approval at his technique. Her hand snaked over and stroked him through his pajama bottoms. He removed his hand from her body and pushed the garment off quickly. Their hands found each other once again, taking up where each had left off. Whispered words of love and encouragement filled the space between them. Gentle moans and sighs filling the gaps left between words. One fell right before the other, neither taking very long to arrive at the perfect conclusion to the day. She curled up around him and fell into dreamless sleep. He waited only until her breathing assured him of her slumber before letting go as well.

=============================

Tyler's hands pushed at Matthew's t-shirt, swooping down on his lover's nipples; suckling with a vengeance. He moved rapidly down Matthew's chest and stomach, using one hand to pull off the boxers blocking his path. Before Matthew could stop him, Tyler's mouth had engulfed his penis.

"Geez, Ty!" Matthew gasped. He glanced at the closed bedroom door, then put his hand on Tyler's head. "What if they come out?"

Tyler slowly replaced his mouth with his hand. "So what if they do?" he asked, his hand never stopping its gentle motion. "Wouldn't be the first time Katie's caught us."

"What if it isn't Katie?"

"You mean, what if it's Alex?" Tyler asked with an evil grin. "Easy, we'll just invite him in."

Matthew's mouth opened in a combination of surprise and amusement. Tyler laughed. "Don't even try to tell me that you've never thought about it," he challenged.

"I haven't," Matthew answered indignantly.

"Not even once?" Tyler asked, kissing Matthew softly. "Just for a fleeting moment?" He looked into Matthew's eyes. "Don't lie, I always know when you're lying."

Matthew opened his mouth, then closed it and turned away. 'Damn.'

Tyler chuckled. "I thought so."

"It was just a fleeting notion, that's all," Matthew said defensively. "He belongs to Katie; I'd never…"

"Me either, baby," Tyler soothed. "I wouldn't really consider it. Well, not without the express permission of the other parties involved," he added, with a wiggle of his eyebrows.

"Blow me, book boy," Matthew snarled.

"That's what I was trying to do in the first place," Tyler huffed in mock exasperation.

=============================

Scully snuggled against Mulder's chest, letting her fingers thread through the hair on his chest. She'd been dying to ask him a question all evening, but the timing hadn't been right. Now, all was quiet, so she decided to ask while he was in that twilight state between wakefulness and sleep.

"Mulder?"

"Yeah?"

"What did she say to you?"

Mulder yawned and kissed her hair. "About what?"

"About everything. What did she say to get you to start talking to her? It took me years to get you to trust me enough to let me in like that."

"I don't know," Mulder answered. "She felt…safe."

Scully looked up at him. "Safe?"

"Yeah, go figure. Here I am sitting within an arm's length of Krycek and this woman made me feel safe." He smoothed the hair from her forehead. "I'm sorry if that upsets you."

"It doesn't upset me, Mulder. Confuses me a little, but all things considered, I'd say it worked out for the best." Scully put her head back down.

"How's that?"

"Do you realize we actually had a date tonight?" she asked. "We were able to sit with a group of people and enjoy a movie; no hiding, no pretending. It was nice."

"Even though Krycek was one of the people?" he asked.

"Yeah, even though Krycek was one of the people." Scully hesitated. "I know you don't want to hear this," she began. "But I believe him, Mulder. As insane and incredible as that may seem; I believe him." When he didn't respond, Scully thought that he'd drifted off. She lifted her head to check and found him staring down at her.

"Want to hear something scary?" he whispered.

"What?"

"So do I."

=============================

"Here," Scully said, poking a pair of surgical scrubs through the curtain. "These are more comfortable than the gowns and just as easy to work with."

"Thanks," Katie replied. "I hate these gowns." She tossed on the scrubs and threw back the curtains. "Let's get this over with." She walked to the table and climbed up, checking out the equipment next to her.

"OK, lie down," Scully instructed. "I'm going to expose most of your midsection," she said as she worked. She took a tube of jelly and proceeded to smear the goo all over Katie's belly. "I know it's cold, but it's necessary."

"I'm familiar with the procedure, Dana. Just do what you need to do. If I have any questions, I'll ask them."

Scully nodded and began running the transducer over Katie's body. She scanned each area, watching the screen carefully as she did. Katie watched for a while, then began to squirm. "Dana? How much longer is this going to take?"

"Just a few more minutes. Why?"

"Because if I have to wait too much longer, I might embarrass myself here." Alex snickered. "Hey ratboy, you drink forty-eight ounces of water, then hold it for most of the morning and see how you hold up," Katie snapped.

Scully raised her eyebrow at Alex. "That nickname seems to follow you around."

Alex shrugged. "Sounds different when she says it."

"I'll bet." Scully reached for a paper towel and wiped the excess jelly off of Katie's belly. "All done. Need some help getting down?"

"No, I can do it," she said, hopping off the table. "Just clear a path to the bathroom."

When Katie was out of earshot, Alex began to question Scully. "So, what did you find? Is she healing?"

"This is just to establish a baseline, Alex. Since we don't have an ultrasound prior to this, we have nothing to compare it to," she explained. "However, this does show the healing we observed in the physical exam and it gives us a better picture of the Fallopian tubes, so that next time we will have something to compare."

"OK, I feel much lighter now," Katie joked. "On to X-ray?"

"Yeah, I thought we'd get the easy ones out of the way first," Scully said with a smile.

"So why are we taking pictures of my ankle anyway? Do you expect to find a change there?" Katie smiled as she felt Alex wrap his arms around her.

"Well, the only x-rays we have of you are from your broken ankle, so it will give us something concrete to compare right now. Every break leaves a trace, even after it's fully healed. We have your before and after pictures from the original injury, so by comparing with a more recent one, we may be able to get a better idea of the full scope of the vaccine's healing effects." She turned off the machine and picked up Katie's file. "Or, we might find no change at all," she added. "We're starting at zero, so we have to cover all the bases."

"That's what Matthew said on the way over," Katie sighed. "He said you usually wouldn't do both an MRI and a CAT scan, but that in this case we needed to collect all the data possible."

"We wouldn't be doing this if it wasn't necessary," Scully said gently.

"I know. Come on; let's get going. I want to get the pictures taken so I can check out my luxurious accommodations for the evening," Katie joked.

=============================

Tyler paced the floor of the basement office. Mulder had left him there alone, while he went in search of some papers or something. He'd only half-listened to what he'd been told. His body was here, but his head was with Katie at the hospital. He stared at the pictures and articles stuck to the walls with thumbtacks and tape, then at the picture of the young girl on Mulder's desk. Tyler touched the frame and wondered who the child was.

"That's my sister, Samantha," Mulder said, answering the unasked question. "She was abducted."

"I'm sorry," Tyler replied. "Is that why you do this?" he asked pointing to the walls around him.

"It's why I started all of this, but not why I continue," Mulder responded. "Here, I want you to take a look at these for me." He tossed a cardboard tube onto the desk.

Tyler picked up it and removed the contents, spreading the papers out on top of the cluttered desk. They were the blueprints to an underground facility. There were no markings to identify the location of the specific site, but he recognized the layout and frowned. "What is it I'm supposed to be looking for?" he asked Mulder. "This is nothing more than a bunch of scribbles on paper to me," he lied, turning away from the desk.

"A bunch of scribbles you've seen and worked with before," Mulder countered. "What is it that Katie keeps saying…don't be difficult? I ran a check on all of you, Tyler. I know who you are, what you're capable of and what happened in '82." Tyler's head turned slightly, but stopped short of looking back at Mulder. "It wasn't your fault. You tried to get repairs made."

"But I failed," Tyler replied under his breath.

"No, you didn't fail," Mulder argued. "You weren't responsible for the accident, the people who knew about the flaws and didn't act to correct them were responsible. They're the ones to blame; not you."

"Then why do I feel so responsible?"

Mulder moved closer and put his hand on Tyler's shoulder. "Because you care," he answered.

"Look, I need your help. When the invasion begins we may very well need to find alternate shelter for those who survive. Underground facilities, like this one, may be our best hope. This isn't my area of expertise, it's yours, so I need you to tell me what kind of alterations would be needed to make this place livable on a long term basis. Are there structural flaws in these plans? Is there a better site we should consider? I don't know, I haven't thought this through. That's what I need you to do."

"I'm going to need more than just this," Tyler said quietly. "It's been such a long time…"

"It'll come back to you," Mulder assured him. "This is all I have at the moment, but I have some friends who should be able to get you anything you need. I'll introduce you to them some day. In the meantime, see what you can come up with from the blueprints.

=============================

"That's the tube you're going to put me in?" Katie asked, squeezing Matthew's hand. Alex tightened his hold on her waist, as she peered into the MRI scanning room.

"Could be worse," he offered. "At least this facility has the shorter tunnel design. I was hoping for the open system, but not too many facilities are equipped with that yet. You won't be completely enclosed."

"I guess that's something," she sighed.

"Before we go in, you need to give me your watch, rings and any other jewelry. We can't take any metallic item into the room," he explained. "You too, Alex. Oh, you'll need to leave your wallet as well. The machine will demagnetize your credit cards."

Katie handed him her watch, then slowly took off her engagement ring. She hesitated, then gave it to him.

Matthew put it on his little finger. "I'll take good care of it; I promise."

Alex handed Matthew his watch, wallet, and took out his earring, placing them in Matthew's hand as well. "OK, you ready?" he asked Katie.

"Alex?" Matthew shifted his feet. "You're going to have to go one better before I can let you in there."

"What?" he asked, confused. "I don't have any other…Oh, you mean…"

"Sorry, if you want to go in, it's going to have to come off," Matthew apologized.

Katie suddenly realized what was happening and turned. "Alexei… you don't have to. We can talk through the intercom. I'll be fine."

He shook his head and pulled the sweater off. "It's all right. No big deal."

Scully entered the room as Alex undid the last strap. "Oh Alex, I'm sorry, I forgot. I should have told you."

Alex handed her the prosthesis. "I'm just glad Mulder isn't here. He'd probably find some excuse to beat me with my own arm."

Matthew bent down and whispered in Katie's ear. "There's a bad joke in there somewhere," he commented with a grin.

Katie bit back a snicker and nodded her head. "Dana? What about the zipper on the jeans? That's metal, shouldn't we have him remove those as well?"

Alex's eyes widened as he looked from Katie to Matthew to Scully. They looked back at him and shrugged their shoulders. "You are kidding?"

Scully walked over to the closet and brought out a pair of scrub pants. "'Fraid not. No metal allowed."

"You could have told me this before I took off the arm, you know," he huffed in irritation.

Katie sidled up beside him and put her hand on his chest. "Need some help getting out of those pants, sweetheart?" she asked, wiggling her eyebrows.

He took a step back and smirked at her. "No, I can manage, thank you. You could help by not enjoying this quite so much," he added.

"There's a bathroom three doors down," Scully told him. "Just come on in when you've changed. Alex nodded and left the room. "Let's get you on the table. We can start the IV while he's gone."

The three entered the scan room. Katie hopped up on the table, while Matthew prepared the IV. Scully pulled a chair close to the scanner for Alex.

"Lie down," Matthew instructed. He pointed to the IV bag. "This is Gadolinium. It's a contrasting agent used to make soft tissue organs, blood vessels, what have you, stand out in the pictures we'll be taking. We're not going to start this right now; first we'll start with a saline solution. All that will do is prevent the vein from clotting when the Gadolinium is introduced. Now, when we do start the Gadolinium, you might feel a slight cooling sensation up your arm; this is normal, so don't worry about it. There is a slight chance of allergic reaction, but I don't think you'll have any problems with this one." He took her arm and tapped on the vein until it stood out enough for him to insert the needle. Once in, he taped it down and rested her arm on the scanner's bed.

Alex walked in just in time to see Matthew insert the needle. He flinched as it pushed into her skin. "I hate needles," he whispered to Scully.

"Me too," she whispered back.

"All right, I'm going out to start the scanner. It's very important that you listen and do exactly what Dana tells you to do, Hanna. Breathe at the wrong time or move when you're not supposed to and we'll have to start all over again. If you hear the knocking sound, don't move; got it?"

"Got it, Kid," Katie answered. "Can we get this over with?"

Matthew left them in the room and prepared to begin the scan. The procedure took almost ninety minutes; longer than most MRIs usually take, but most patients weren't subjected to having their entire bodies scanned either. By the time all the angles had been covered, Katie was exhausted and more than ready to escape the confines of the scanning room.

"OK, you can get up now," Scully said cheerfully, after removing the IV.

Katie shot up and jumped off the table, feeling a little lightheaded from her sudden movement. "Take me outside now, Alexei. Please," she pleaded.

Scully looked over at Alex. She nodded. "There are some benches out in front of the hospital. We'll come looking for you there in a little bit."

Katie grabbed his hand and pulled him to the door. He thought briefly about taking the time to put on his arm, but the look in her eyes told him that there was no time for vanity.

The entrance slid open and Katie sucked in the air, her eyes closing as she lifted her face to the sun. Alex put his arm around her shoulders. He could feel her shaking under his embrace. "You did good, baby," he said softly in her ear.

=============================

Mulder parked the car in the hospital lot. Tyler hurried to open the door; anxious to see how Katie was holding up. They were halfway up the stairs to the entrance, when they heard a familiar voice.

"Ty, Mulder, over here," Alex called.

They looked around until they spotted Alex and Katie sitting on a bench under a tree. Tyler broke into a run, leaving Mulder far behind. He cupped her face in his hands and beamed at her. "Well, you look all right." He glanced over at Alex and noticed his missing arm. "Oh my God, Katie, you ripped off his arm?" he teased. "Do I even want to know how Matthew and Dana fared?"

Katie slapped him playfully. "Shut up! I was very good in there, if I do say so myself."

"So what's with the missing arm, Alex?" Tyler asked.

"No metal allowed in the MRI scanning room," he answered.

"And I didn't give him time to put it on before making him bring me outside," Katie continued.

She caught Mulder out of the corner of her eye. "Took you long enough, Mulder. I was beginning to think you were avoiding me."

"After seeing what you did to him, I seriously considered it," Mulder said, straight-faced.

Katie's eyes lit up. "Mulder? Did you just insult me?" She looked at Tyler and Alex. "I think he just insulted me." Katie stood up and advanced on him. "You know what this means, don't you?"

Mulder stood his ground, shoving his hands into his front pockets, as she crossed the few feet between them.

"No, what does this mean?" he wondered aloud.

She stopped in front of him, toe to toe with the G-man she'd fought so hard to convince such a short time ago. Katie threw a quick glance back at Alex, as if to ask permission for her next move. He rolled his eyes, then turned and looked off in the distance. Katie tapped a finger against Mulder's chest. "It means that I get to do this now," she said, letting her arms slide around his waist, giving him a bear hug. "Welcome to the family, you big jerk."

Mulder slipped his hands from his pockets, not quite sure what to do with his arms. He stood there, arms hovering uncertainly.

"Christ, Mulder!" Alex shook his head in disbelief. "It's just a hug."

Katie felt his arms relax and land gently around her with a small squeeze. She backed away and smiled up at him. "Well, that was weak, but it's a start."

Mulder's mouth turned up slightly at the corners; not really a smile, but as close as to one as most people usually got from him. He looked at Katie, then furrowed his brow. Something wasn't right, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

"What? Is there a wart on my nose or something?" Katie asked.

"No, sorry," he stammered, keeping his gaze on her face. "There's something…" The lights turned on in his brain and realized what was wrong. "Katie, have you looked at your eye today?"

"I purposely avoided it this morning," she answered. "Why?"

Alex got up from the bench and stood next to Mulder. "I'll be damned," he said, looking over at Mulder. "Ty, come here."

Tyler joined them, taking a minute to see what the others had just observed. He wet his thumb and reached out to rub the skin under her eye. "No concealer."

"Tyler, what the Hell are you doing?" Katie asked, becoming more annoyed with each passing moment. She wiped at the damp spot he'd left on her cheek. "Would one of you please tell me why you're staring at my face? I know it looks awful and staring at me like I'm the main attraction in a freak show isn't helping my ego any."

"It doesn't look awful," Alex said slowly. "It doesn't look like anything at all, that's the point."

"Oh, well that certainly clears things up," Katie replied sarcastically.

"I think what he's trying to say, is that the bruising is almost gone," Mulder explained. He reached out and touched her cheek. "There's still some slight redness here and here, but that's it. Your eye should be one large bruise, but it's not, it's almost healed."

=============================

"All right gang, party's over," Scully announced. It wasn't quite nine, but she wanted to get everyone out of the room, before the nurses had to come down and do it themselves. She pulled Mulder aside. "Will you take Tyler home? Matthew and I still have some lab work to look over."

"Yeah, I guess," Mulder answered. "How long will you be?"

"A few hours," Scully replied, smiling apologetically. "We should be back before midnight."

Mulder nodded and walked over to Tyler. "The doctors are staying a while longer, so you're riding back with me."

"OK," Tyler acknowledged. "Let me say good-bye to Katie." He moved to her bed and leaned down to give her a kiss. "See you tomorrow, sweetheart. Don't give the nurses a hard time," he said with a wink.

Katie laughed. "I'll try to behave. Do me a favor?"

"Of course. What do you need?"

"Check my email when you get home, I haven't looked at it since we got here. It's about time for my monthly 'how's the book coming' note from Michelle and Miranda's probably sent me a message as well. You can pretty much delete anything else, unless it comes from my urban legend sites. Read through it all and use your best judgment."

"Do you want me to write to Miranda and let her know what's going on?" Tyler asked. "I know you two are close."

"She knows about the problems I've been having, but not the cause," Katie started. "Yeah, if she's written, you can tell her I'm having some tests done to see if they can figure out what's wrong, but leave it at that. Let her know I'll drop her a line in a day or so."

"What about Michelle? Want me to send her a note?"

"No. Let her stew until I decide to write her back," Katie grinned. Tyler nodded and started to move toward the door. "Ty? One more thing."

He moved back to her side. "What?"

"Can I have a hug?"

Tyler smiled and wrapped his arms around her. "You're doing great, love. Just one more day, then you can get out of here." He pulled back and gave her a wink, before moving away.

Mulder approached the bed. "Is there anything you want us to bring you tomorrow?"

"No, everything I need is right here in this room," she answered. "I appreciate the thought."

"OK, then I guess I'll take Tyler home and let you get some rest," he said. Mulder rocked on his heels for a moment, glanced at Alex, then leaned down and gave Katie a quick hug.

"Two hugs in the same day?" Katie teased. "Better be careful, Mulder. I might get the idea that you actually like me."

"Wouldn't want that to happen," Mulder deadpanned. He looked over at Scully and Matthew. "Midnight?" They nodded. He looked over at Alex. "Well, good night…Alex."

" 'Night, Mulder," Alex answered.

Katie chuckled and gave Mulder and Ty a wave as they left. She turned her head to see Alex's reaction. He was staring at the door and didn't turn back until it swung shut. "That was very civil of you both. In fact, one might almost think it was friendly. Not quite, but it's getting there."

"I think they've come a long way in the last couple of days," Scully offered in their defense. "We all have. Now, no more to eat tonight and only water until after the CAT scan tomorrow," she ordered. "She needs to sleep, Alex, so I'm depending on you to see that she gets it. We'll be up here at eight, tomorrow morning, so be ready. If all goes as planned, you should be out of here by lunch time." Scully gave Katie's hand a squeeze. "Any questions about tomorrow, before we leave?"

Katie shook her head. "No, you answered everything already. I'll be fine."

Scully moved aside to give Matthew some room. He pulled Katie into a big hug. "I love you, Hanna," he whispered.

"Love you, too, Kid," she whispered back.

Matthew and Scully left the room. Alex got up and crawled into the bed, next to Katie. "Thought they'd never leave," he murmured.

"Me either." She snuggled against him. "Are you all right? This hasn't been easy on you."

"I'm fine, baby."

"You handled things with Mulder well today. Thank you."

Alex closed his eyes and held her tightly. "It wasn't easy seeing him touch you," he offered. "But I think he's really trying to accept all of this, so I'm working to accept what goes along with it."

"I know that," she answered. "I'm a hugging/touching person. I need the contact and I think that Mulder's beginning to see that he needs it as well. Besides, it's just a hug," she reminded him.

=============================

Tyler plugged the laptop into the phone jack, sat down on the couch and pulled up Katie's online account. He plowed through the forty-seven messages there, finally deleting all but two, an update from one of her favorite sites and one from Michelle. With Matthew still at the hospital, Tyler decided to do a little surfing to kill some time. He was in the middle of an article on upcoming movies, when he was startled by the sound of a new window opening.

MIRA7: hi Katie. Wanna talk?

:-P Bye, Mira.

Matthew closed and locked the door behind him. He walked over to Tyler and kissed his neck. "Anything interesting?"

Tyler smiled up at him. "Yeah, I've just spent the evening with Miranda. Nice kid; I can see why Katie likes her. Did you find anything in the lab results?"

Matthew sat down beside him on the couch. "Actually, the blood we drew from the area under Katie's eye showed an elevated amount of that unidentified substance; almost half again as much as in other areas of her body. We found the same elevated levels in the tissue samples from her uterus."

"So, does this prove the vaccine is behind the spontaneous healing?" Tyler asked.

"It looks that way to me," Matthew replied.

"But..." Tyler prompted.

"But, it's still too early to draw a final conclusion."

=============================

Scully dropped her keys, just outside Mulder's door. "Shit," she muttered under her breath. She bent down to pick them up, just as Mulder opened the door.

"I thought I heard you out here," he said quietly.

Scully stood up and put her keys back in her purse. "Sorry. The lab work took a little longer than I expected." She walked into the apartment and tossed her purse on Mulder's coffee table.

Mulder pressed in close against her back, wrapping his arms around her. "Come up with anything?" he asked, as he nibbled on her neck.

She let her head fall to one side. "A higher concentration of the as yet, unidentified substance, in the blood and tissue samples taken from the areas currently healing. Mmmm, that feels good," she hummed.

"Is the vaccine responsible for this?" Mulder asked. "Has Krycek really brought us the means to survive?"

"I can't say, scientifically speaking, that he has," she answered. "But my instincts say yes."

=============================

A call of 'code blue' from the hallway woke Katie. She listened to the sound of running feet, felt the vibrations of equipment rumbling past her room and said a silent prayer for the person needing all this attention. Curiosity got the better of her, so she slid out of Alex's embrace and quietly opened the door. The commotion was coming from the room next to hers. Mr. Feldman, she remembered. On the way up to her room that afternoon, they'd encountered the gentleman in the hall, sneaking down to the lounge for a quick smoke. The nurse caught him and escorted him back to his bed, scolding him for leaving his room. When Mr. Feldman was back where he was supposed to be, the nurse passed them in the hallway and gave them a forced smile. "Eighty-three years old, dying of lung cancer and we still have to force these things from his hand," she said, holding up a pack of cigarettes.

Katie stood in the doorway, listening. All too soon, the crash cart was wheeled out of the room by a defeated looking technician. She reached out to him and touched his arm as he passed. The young man looked over at her and shook his head. Katie's eyes filled with tears. She didn't know this man, but his lonely death in the early hours of the morning mirrored the way she'd lost her grandmother. Closing the door behind her, she quietly made her way to Mr. Feldman's room. No one had been there to say goodbye to her grandmother; that wasn't going to happen to Mr. Feldman.

She peered into the room, watching as the nurse started to draw the sheet over his face. Katie cleared her throat to get her attention. "Did he have any family?"

"A daughter," she answered sadly. "But she could never be bothered to visit him."

"How sad for both of them," Katie said softly. She walked over to the bed and touched the sheet. "May I say goodbye to him?"

The nurse nodded. "I'll be back in a few minutes," she replied before walking out the door.

Katie pulled the sheet from his face and reached down for his hand. "You shouldn't have been alone," she whispered. "Your daughter should have been here with you." She stood silently for a moment, rubbing her thumb across the back of his hand. "When you get there, look for Ileana Dostovich and tell her that Katrina sent you; she'll make sure you're never alone again." She kissed the back of his hand, before placing it at his side. "Tell her I love her." Wiping the tears from her eyes, Katie returned to her room.

Alex woke and saw Katie standing by the window. He got up and put his arms around her. "What's wrong?" he whispered.

Katie relaxed against him, covering his arms with her hands. "Mr. Feldman died."

"Who? Oh, the old guy sneaking out for a smoke this afternoon?"

"Yeah," she answered. "He was all alone, Alexei. I couldn't let him go knowing that no one had said goodbye."

"Maybe that's why you were here tonight; to say goodbye to Mr. Feldman so he wouldn't be alone," Alex soothed.

"Maybe," she answered.

"I think your grandmother must be very proud of you right now, Katya."

Tears fell from her eyes again and he tightened his hold. "I hope so," she whispered. She turned in his arms and buried her face in his chest, letting him comfort her until she was done crying.

"Come on, let's get you back into bed," he said gently. "We still have a few more hours before Scully and Matthew come back. You need to rest." He helped her up, then moved to sit on the chair next to the bed. "You need to rest," he repeated, when she gave him a questioning look.

"No, I need to feel you next to me," she pleaded. "I'll rest. I promise. Please?"

Alex looked down at the floor, then back into her eyes. 'As if I could say no,' he thought. He walked around to the other side of the bed and climbed in next to her.

=============================

"We really have to do this?" Katie groaned.

Stephen, the technician, shrugged his shoulders. "Unfortunately, this is the only way. I had to have an upper GI series a couple of years ago; believe me you'd rather have the enema."

"That bad?"

"Worse. It's like drinking a milkshake made of chalk and unflavored Milk of Magnesia, at room temperature," he informed her.

Katie felt her gag reflex kick in at his description. "I'll take your word for it." She climbed up on the table. "OK, let's get this over with."

After the barium enema, the tests began. The first round completed, they moved on to the final stage.

"This time we need to inject an iodine solution into your system. You might feel a warming or a hot flush sensation as the solution enters your system. This is normal, so don't worry about it," Stephen said. "If you start to feel really uncomfortable, have trouble breathing or anything, let me know right away. Most patients get through this easily enough, but there are always a few, who like to make things difficult," he added with a wink.

"Don't look now baby, but I think he's got your number," Alex grinned.

Katie's arm shot out to punch him, but Alex shifted slightly and her fist fell short of its goal. She stuck out her tongue instead. "Hey, I've been really good since I've been here; stop picking on me."

"Yes you have," Stephen agreed, patting her hand. "Now lie still so we can finish these tests and before our luck changes."

Alex snickered and Katie smiled in spite of herself. "Anything you say. I can't wait to get out of here."

They heard the snick of the intercom turning on and looked over at the glass wall dividing them from the monitors. Scully was standing there, arms crossed, giving them such a look. Matthew leaned in to the microphone. "Hanna, Dana and I would also like to get out of here, so if you don't mind, would you please be still and shut the fuck up?"

=============================

Katie tapped her foot impatiently, as the elevator seemed to stop on every single floor. Alex nudged Matthew and pointed down at her feet. Matthew casually lifted his foot and planted it gently on top of hers. She looked sideways at him and crossed her arms instead, trading foot tapping for finger tapping.

"One more floor," Alex said gently.

"We could have walked up faster," Katie grumbled. The elevator's chime dinged, announcing their arrival on the fourth floor. "Finally!" She bolted out and down the hall to the apartment door and threw it open. "Tyler, I'm...mmm."

Tyler slid the spoon slowly out of her mouth. "Does that work for you?"

Katie smiled and savored the creamy peppermint taste in her mouth. "Oh God, yes." She pulled him into a bear hug. "Marry me?" she joked.

"Hey!" Alex and Matthew exclaimed in unison.

Tyler smiled smugly and held up the container of ice cream. "Behold the power of peppermint stick ice cream, gentlemen."

Alex sighed loudly. "I knew it was too good to last."

"Oh, poor baby," Tyler crooned. He slipped out of Katie's arms and crossed over to Alex. "Here, let me make it up to you," he soothed, scooping up a spoonful of ice cream and popping it into Alex's mouth.

Alex closed his eyes. "Oh God, that is good!" He opened his eyes. "Marry me, Tyler?" he asked, trying to keep a straight face.

"Hey!" Matthew and Katie exclaimed.

"Oh brother!" Tyler laughed. "Two days without getting any and these two go soft in the head." He handed Matthew the ice cream and pushed Katie and Alex toward the bedroom. "Get in there and don't come out until you've fucked each other sane again."

"Bossy little prick, isn't he?" Katie asked Alex.

"Yes, and you'll thank me in a few hours," Tyler retorted, as he closed the door behind them.

Alex pulled Katie into his arms and smiled down at her. "I'm already thanking him," he said quietly.

"Me too," she admitted. "Do something for me first?"

"Anything."

"Wash my back for me?" she asked, biting her lower lip. "As much as I want to follow Tyler's orders, I really want to take a shower first. That test left me feeling...well, less than fresh."

Alex chuckled softly, then kissed her. "Go start the water. I'll be in a few minutes."

"Where are you going?"

"Don't be nosy. Get going; I'll be there soon," he urged.

She nodded and backed slowly into the bathroom. He stood still, until she finally closed the bathroom door. As soon as he heard the water come on, he left the bedroom.

"Don't tell me you're done already," Tyler said with a smirk.

"Not a chance," Alex answered, resisting the urge to hurl something in Tyler's general direction. "Katie wanted to take a shower first; I'm just sneaking out to stock up on a few provisions. I don't suppose we have any..."

"Way ahead of you," Tyler said, cutting him off mid-sentence. "In the fridge."

Alex went into the kitchen and opened the refrigerator. On the top shelf, he found a plate loaded with assorted, bite-sized, goodies. Next to the plate, a bottle of white wine, Katie's favorite Riesling. "Tyler?"

"I know, I'm wonderful," Tyler sighed. "I'll bet you're thinking 'I could just kiss him' about now. But no, you can't do that. You're going to have to wait until your wedding day," he sighed.

Alex rolled his eyes and shook his head. "Actually...I was going to say thank you and ask if we had any real wine glasses."

"Oh," Tyler huffed, clutching his chest. "Shot down again." He reached up into the cabinet and produced two wineglasses. "Here," he said, handing them to Alex. "Need some help carrying this into the bedroom?"

"No, I can manage," Alex answered. "And Ty...seriously...thanks for doing all this."

"You're welcome. Now get out of here before she comes looking for you."

Alex gathered everything up in his arms and returned to the bedroom. He put the wine and glasses on one side of the bed, the food on the other. The cork had been loosened earlier, so he simply removed it to allow the wine to breathe. When he was satisfied that everything was where it should be, he stripped off his clothes and started to go into the bathroom. He reached the door and realized that he'd left his arm on. Once inside the bathroom, he removed it and hung it on the hook behind the door.

Katie poked her head out of the shower. "I was beginning to think you'd ditched me," she teased.

"Not a chance," he said with a smile. "You're stuck with me." He stepped into the shower and pressed up against her. Cupping the back of her head in his hand, Alex leaned down and kissed her. Katie's hands went up to his head, holding him in place. She opened her mouth a little, giving him just enough room to slip his tongue inside. He deepened the kiss, taking her breath away. A few brief moments of bliss, then he pulled away. "Bathe. We're in here to bathe," he reminded both Katie and himself. "Besides, I need a little more elbow room to work with."

"Says the man with only one elbow," Katie teased.

Alex's eyes widened in surprise at her remark. A wry grin spread slowly across his face. "Oh, I see how it is. Go ahead, make fun of the amputee. I have another offer on the table, you know? If I'm not good enough for you, maybe I should consider it," he said, turning his back to her. He suppressed a snicker, wanting to see how far he could take this.

Katie reached out and touched him tentatively. "Alexei," she said quietly. When he didn't turn around, she stepped closer, resting her head against his back. "I'm sorry, that was in poor taste. I didn't mean..." she whispered, letting her words trail off. Her arms slowly snaked around his waist and she turned her face to press her cheek against his shoulder. "I'm sorry," she repeated.

He knew she was upset. He knew she didn't realize he was playing head games with her. He also knew he had her over a barrel and he made the decision to use it for all it was worth. "How sorry?" The muscles of her mouth formed a smile against his shoulder and he knew she'd caught on.

"Very sorry?" she offered.

"Not good enough," he answered.

"How sorry do you want me to be?"

Oh yes, she was definitely on to the game. "Sorry enough to relinquish all control?" He turned and looked her in the eyes. "Sorry enough to do what I say, without question?" She nodded slowly.

"Be very sure, Katya," he warned. "I might not even grant you amnesty, this time."

She shifted slightly at the sound of their safe word and looked at him questioningly, not sure if he was serious. Her mouth opened to ask, but closed before she could form the words. Of course he'd stop, if she used the word, she assured herself. Wouldn't he? This was just a game. Wasn't it?

While he gave her time to think about what he'd said, Alex grabbed the washcloth and soap. He turned her around and began to scrub her back, as previously requested. Tension showed across her shoulders, and nothing he did eased her discomfort. Too much? Had he pushed a little too far? He rinsed out the washcloth and hung it back up. He'd almost decided to give up the game, when she answered his questions with a single word.

"Yes."

"Yes?" he asked, not sure he'd heard her correctly. "All control, no questions, no amnesty? You're sure?"

"Yes," she confirmed.

"OK." He reached back, turned off the water and opened the shower curtain. "Dry off," he ordered.

Katie complied, getting out of the tub and reaching for a towel. Alex followed, then stood and watched as she rubbed the towel over her body, drying every spot.

After she'd dried her hair and hung the towel back on the rack, he said "my turn". She reached for the other towel and set about her task, touching everywhere with the terrycloth, until he was dry as well. "Hand me the comb," he instructed. She did. "Now turn around."

Katie was surprised to feel the comb being dragged gently through her hair as he worked to untangled her locks. He sighed, put the comb down on the counter and took a step toward the door. She thought he was going to leave, then she saw him remove his arm from the hook and strap it on. Before she knew it, he was back behind her, combing her hair. The tangles now gone, he took the drier of the two towels and squeezed out the excess water from her hair and redried her back. He bent down and opened the cabinet, pulling out a hair dryer and plugging it into the socket. Katie felt her head being pushed forward, so she allowed her neck to relax. Alex turned on the dryer and ran his fingers through her hair as the hot air blew on her. Every few seconds, his body, hot and hard, brushed up against her backside. Her legs went weak with each occurrence. Until that moment, she'd never realized how erotic it was to have your lover dry your hair. The dryer turned off and the comb was again being pulled through her hair. It was still damp, but apparently dry enough for his taste. He unplugged and put the appliance away.

She waited for his next move. Seconds ticked by, but he did nothing. Wanting to look, but afraid to break some unknown rule, she stood still and waited. Just as her resolve to keep her eyes forward was about to break, she felt his fingers on the back of her calves.

Alex traced a curvy line up the back of her legs, from her calves, slowly up to her bottom. He placed a quick kiss on the small of her back, before pressing against her. One leg pushed between hers, urging her legs apart. His other leg moved to join the first, opening her up even more.

Katie felt him poised and ready. She rocked slowly against him and he backed away.

"Too easy," he murmured in her ear. "If I take you right here, right now, you'd think I wasn't serious." He nipped at her neck, leaving a small red mark. "And believe me, baby, I am serious." As if to prove his point, he latched on to her neck, this time leaving a hickey the size of Kennedy half-dollar. He grinned evilly at her. "This will probably heal by morning," he chuffed. "Too bad, I'd like to see the look on Mulder's face when he caught a glimpse of this one."

"You could always fix it before he shows up," Katie suggested.

"I might just do that," he replied. Alex took her by the hand and opened the door. "Come on."

As they left the bathroom, Katie saw the wine and the tray of food on the tables beside the bed. "Is that what you were doing?"

"No questions," he said firmly.

"Sorry."

He walked her to the bed. "Sit down." She sat. He watched her for a second, then backed slowly over to the dresser and opened the top drawer. Pushing a few things aside, he found what he was after and pulled them out. The long scarves dangled from his fingertips as he closed the drawer and returned to her side. He touched her left hand, wrapped his fingers around it and brought it to his lips. Alex kissed each knuckle tenderly before letting go. "Keep your hand right there." He took one scarf and tied her upper arm around her body, just under her breasts. Then he took the second and tied the middle of it around her wrist, leaving the ends dangling. Bending her arm at the elbow, he said, "touch your shoulder." When she did, he took the ends and wrapped them around her arm, tying them off securely. "This is going to be uncomfortable, but remember, it's not...forever," he stated pointedly.

Katie tested the range of motion left to her by the restraints. The scarves kept her from being able to move her arm more than an inch in any direction. It was a little strange, not uncomfortable from a pain standpoint, just a weird feeling of being confined.

Alex pulled back and looked at his handiwork. The scarves were secure, Katie didn't look too disturbed by the current chain of events, so why was he suddenly uneasy with what he was doing? He watched as she looked at her newly bound arm. She didn't seem upset, just curious. The sight of her attempting to move the arm up and down made him frown. He reached out to remove the scarves and end the game before it had a chance to go any further.

"What's the matter hotshot? You're not giving up, are you?" Katie challenged. He tugged on one of the scarves, but she slapped his hand away and stood up, looking him straight in the eyes. "Stop it! Don't back down on me again," she said angrily. "You do this every time, Alex. Why can't you trust me enough to keep going?"

"It's not a matter of trust," Alex began. "It's..."

"Bullshit! It is a matter of trust. You think I don't want this, you think I'm doing this for you out of some misguided need to make you feel good at the expense of my own comfort. Well sweetheart, I am uncomfortable, but not the way you seem to think I am." She grabbed his hand and shoved it between her legs. He found her wetter than he'd ever felt before and it caught him by surprise. "Are you catching on yet, Alex? I like this; I want this. Take control. Finish what you've started." He hesitated a moment too long and Katie pulled away, obviously annoyed. "Fine. Forget about it. I'm not going to push you into something you're not ready for." She shook her head with a sigh and turned away from him.

"Don't you turn your back on me," Alex snapped, whirling her back to face him. "Don't you ever turn your back on me."

"Why not?" she fought back. "It's not like you're gonna do anything about it."

A hand roughly pulled her head back by her hair. "Shut up. Who said you could talk? All control, no questions, no amnesty; those were the rules, or don't you remember?"

His eyes were dark, his jaw set. Katie bit her lower lip and waited, hoping that she'd finally gotten through to him. Hoping that this time he'd keep going. Her hand dropped, she wrapped her fingers around him and made one long stroke, before he pushed her hand away. He was right on the edge; she tried not to smile. "Don't touch me." He pushed her back onto the bed. "On your stomach," he ordered. When she rolled over, he climbed on top of her, not touching, but straddling her hips. "Now, on your hands and knees." As she struggled to comply, he snickered in amusement. She tried to balance herself with one hand, but failed, falling back to the mattress. "Not easy with one hand, is it? On your knees first. Now get up and try again." Katie pushed back up, her left arm struggling against her restraints as she tried to achieve balance this time. Her instinct was to rip the scarves off her arm, but no amount of movement would loosen the bond. "They don't come off," Alex chuckled. "You're stuck with using what you've got. Frustrating, isn't it?" She fell back down with a groan, then tried again and again without being told. As she hit the mattress for the fifth time, her hand smacked the headboard in annoyance. "Get on your elbow," he coached. "Let your hand push back against the mattress; that'll give you some leverage. Spread your legs apart a little more." She wobbled, but achieved a tentative balance. His left hand stroked her ass, then his fingers slipped inside her wetness. He generally reserved this pleasure for his real hand, but this time, he was trying to make a point; one he knew wouldn't be lost on her. Katie quivered at his touch and had to push harder against the mattress to keep from toppling over. Alex removed his hand and positioned himself against her. "Brace yourself, baby," he growled, then drove home. Katie faltered, but Alex caught her before she fell. "Push back hard," he snarled. "I have no intention of falling down until I'm done with you."

Katie smiled at his words and pushed back with all her might. Whatever it took, she promised herself she would not hit that damned bed again, until he'd emptied himself inside her. Suddenly, he sat back and grasped her hips with his hands, changing the angle of entry. She shifted her weight just in time to keep from breaking that promise. A few more thrusts, then he slowed down until he was barely rocking inside of her. She took advantage of the change in pace to relax her hold a bit. He slipped out of her and she whimpered until his fingers found their way inside.

"Alex?" she asked softly.

"No questions, no talking at all." He drew his fingers away, dragging them upwards, circling her anus. Pressing firmly, but gently, he pushed one inside. She stiffened, but he knew it was a reflex, not a fear response, so he kept going. When she relaxed a little more, he added a second finger.

"Oh God," she murmured, when she understood his intentions. They'd never tried this before, mainly because she'd been afraid to ask. His revelation of the attacks in Tunisia had made her shy away from the subject; afraid to bring back the nightmare he'd suffered. His fingers eased out of her and she felt him move again.

"Hush." 'Should I say something?' he wondered. 'Let her know I won't hurt her?' Katie bumped against him, ever so slightly and he realized he'd drifted off for a second. 'Take control, man,' he chided himself.

Katie braced herself, planting her hand in front of her, praying for stability as Alex slowly penetrated her. Too slowly, as far as she was concerned. Between his careful ministrations and her less-than-sensual experience with the business end of a barium enema tube earlier in the day, she was more than sufficiently open to the invasion. A demand to 'just do it' died before it ever reached her lips; to voice it would have broken his rules and defeated the purpose, so she waited, nudging back every so often, to encourage him further. When at last he was fully inside her, Katie put her head down and smiled.

Alex stopped moving, giving his body a chance to adjust the incredible heat and tightness surrounding him. Katie's head went down and she clenched around him even more. "Don't do that," he hissed.

"Sorry," she whispered, with just a hint of a giggle behind her words.

"No talking. That's two, Katya." Alex smiled in spite of himself, at the devilish undertone in her voice. No more Mr. Nice Guy. He pulled back as far as he dared, then slammed into her. She faltered, but didn't fall. "Good catch," he growled in her ear. "Don't let me hit the headboard," he warned, slamming into her again.

"I won't," she answered, under a moan. "Just don't stop." Ooops. Too late she realized her mistake.

Alex stopped dead in his tracks. 'Shit!'

"Excuse me?" he asked. "Did you just tell me not to stop?"

She nodded, then dropped her head back to the mattress. A sharp sting on her ass woke her up quickly. 'Well, this is new,' she thought, surprised at his actions.

"I said, no talking," he reminded her. "And I meant, no talking." He remained still, waiting to see if she what she was going to do. When she didn't respond, he began to thrust in and out of her at a leisurely pace, heady from the rush of power. He'd forgotten how good it felt to be completely in control, to be the one holding all the cards. On the rare occasion when he had been the one in the dominant position, the final outcome had always turned against him somehow. In that instant, a moment of clarity. This is what she was giving him, the opportunity to take the upper hand and win. His hand, the real one this time, drifted down to her clit, brushing lightly. She half-whimpered, but cut the noise off quickly. "That you can do," he said. "In fact, I insist," he added, teasing her again. The ensuing whimper sent a charge through his system, warning him that his reign of power was nearing the end. He stepped up his caresses. Her whimpers turned to moans, soon followed by a rapid-fire delivery of 'don'tstopdon'tstopdon'tstop' before she arched her back and came, crying out his name. She pulsed around him, taking him with her mere seconds after.

Katie's head crashed down, but she willed her elbow to hold on just a little longer. Her neck and shoulders were begging for relief, but she wasn't going to give in, until he gave her the OK to collapse completely. Fatigue set in and she began to shake.

Alex felt Katie tremble beneath him as he lay draped across her back. He knew she was tired, but waited until he felt himself slip from her body, then cradled her against him and helped her roll onto her back. She grunted in discomfort as he eased her legs down, then helped her move her arm to restore circulation. He noticed that she made no attempt to remove the scarves, nor did she ask him to. Propping up on one arm against her right side, he brushed the hair from her eyes. "Talk to me, Katya. Are you all right?"

"Yes," she whispered. "I want to touch you, but..." she looked at her bound arm, then back at him, "you're on the wrong side."

"So I am," he answered, making no move to change his position. "I realized a little while ago, what this was all about, why you pushed me." He leaned down and touched his lips to hers.

"Thank you," he whispered against her mouth, before kissing her. "You were right to push; you saw what I needed and you forced me to take it."

"Good. I didn't know any other way to give your power back to you. I love you so much, Alexei; I couldn't stand by and watch you give yourself away any more. You may not have liked who you were, but that person had some valuable qualities and you needed to be reminded of that."

"Can I call an end to the game then?" he asked.

"If you want to," she replied.

He took the ends of the first scarf in his hands, untied the knot and pulled the scarf free. Red welts marked her arms where the fabric had held her. She winced and tried to relax the muscles. Then he untied the scarf from around her chest and let it fall free. Alex rubbed them gently, carefully encouraging her elbow to unbend. He tried to massage her elbow, but she jumped when his fingers hit a tender spot in the joint. Alex lifted her arm and saw a large bruise forming there. "Oh, baby."

"No. Don't you dare apologize," she warned him. "This isn't your fault; it's a result of a mutually agreed upon act. Besides, I heal quickly these days."

Alex chuckled. "Yes you do." He took a look at the already fading hickey on her neck. "Too damned fast," he said, tracing the outline with his finger.

"So fix it before Mulder shows up tomorrow, if it means that much to you," Katie giggled. "Won't bother me at all."

Alex grinned and glanced down. What he saw caused him to do a double take, then laugh out loud.

"What's so funny?" Katie asked. Alex laughed harder and pointed down. Katie lifted her head and looked down. "Oh gross," she laughed. His penis was covered in a thin layer of barium, making it closely resemble a large piece of sidewalk chalk. "I forgot about the coating effects of the barium," she giggled. "Stephen said I'd be seeing it for the next day or so. It didn't occur to me..."

"Me either," Alex said, in between laughs. "Shower?"

"Gee, ya think?"

=============================

"She's going to be pretty annoyed with us for leaving without telling her," Tyler said.

"Probably, but are you going to knock on the door and tell her right now?" Matthew snickered.

"Personally, I'd kill anyone who tried to bother me, if they heard those noises, coming from our bedroom."

"True enough, but still, we should have told her before shoving them in there," Tyler explained.

"I've got to be at the hospital tomorrow afternoon and I'd rather travel now than drive straight in to work tomorrow. We're leaving a note; everything will be fine." Matthew grabbed his suitcase.

"You ready?" Tyler grabbed the other bag and the cardboard tube. "Let's get going."

"What's that?" Matthew asked, motioning toward the tube.

"Oh, just something Mulder asked me to take a look at. We can talk about it in the car."

=============================

"I should have known," Katie chuckled.

Alex came out of the bedroom, tugging on his shirt as he walked. "What?"

Katie held up Matthew's note. "They've gone home." Alex made a face. "Matthew has to be at the hospital tomorrow afternoon," she explained.

"Oh. Well, I guess its dinner for two then. You want to stay in or go out?"

"Actually," Katie said, biting her lip. "I want to call Dana. If she doesn't need me to stick around for any reason, I'd like to go home tomorrow myself."

"I thought you might say that," Alex grinned. "She said go home, she'll let us know if anything unusual shows up. Well, anything more unusual," he chuckled.

Katie's mouth dropped. "When did you talk to her? We've hardly been apart in the last twenty-four hours."

"While you were getting cleaned up in the hospital," he answered. "I had a feeling you'd be ready to go."

"You had a feeling? Isn't that my line, Alexei?" Katie teased, kissing him on the cheek.

Alex laughed. "Yes, I guess it is. Um...is it all right if we don't go straight home tomorrow?"

"What did you have in mind?"

"A side trip."

"A side trip to where?" she asked suspiciously.

"PNC Stadium," he replied.

"Alex, the Pirates are in Bradenton for spring training and construction on PNC isn't due to be completed for another six weeks. I love Pittsburgh, but why do you want to go now?"

He held up one finger and disappeared into the bedroom, leaving Katie staring at him as he walked away. A few minutes later, he reappeared with an envelope in hand. "This was supposed to be a wedding present," he said, handing her the envelope. "But after the last few days, I thought you should have it now." She tapped it on her hand, eyeing him warily. "It won't bite," teased. "Open it."

Katie hesitated, then looked at the envelope in her hand. She turned it over and lifted the flap, pulling out the letter inside. Her eyes went wide as she read page. "Oh my God." She read the letter again. "Oh my God, Alex. Home Plate Club? I have...I mean...we have season tickets?" She read a little closer. "Four season tickets? You bought tickets for Matthew and Tyler, too?"

Alex smiled as she looked from his face to the paper and back again. "I couldn't very well leave the children behind now, could I? Besides, we may only have a few more years left to watch the game, might as well enjoy it in style," he said ruefully.

His remark hit home. "I could have gone a long time without hearing that," she said quietly. "No baseball?"

"We'll bring it back, even if it means breeding a whole team ourselves," he said with a grin.

"We're not even sure I'll be able to have one and you're already planning an entire team? I love you, sweetheart, but if you think I'm gonna pop out a dozen kids, we really need to talk," she said, eyebrows raised.

"Ah, c'mon, Katya," Alex pleaded with a grin. "You mean you don't want to be the mother of post-invasion baseball? We'll name a stadium after you," he offered, putting his arms around her.

"A stadium? Hmmm. Well, since you put it that way..." She chuckled at his amused expression. "So, when do we leave?"

=============================

Katie woke up at 3, unable to get back to sleep, so she crawled out of bed and logged on to check her email. Miranda's name was up on her buddy list, so she sent her and instant message.

HEYES: What are you doing up so late?
MIRA7: Katie?
HEYES: In the cyberflesh.
MIRA7: Just checking. Last time, Tyler was on using your screen name.
HEYES: I know. I asked him to check on my email. He said you two talked for a long time.
MIRA7: Yeah, we did. I like him; he seems really sweet.
HEYES: Ty's the best. He enjoyed talking to you, too. Don't you just love his screen name? He says there's no story behind it, but I think he's full of shit.
MIRA7: LOL! So, how are you? Tyler said you were having some tests run. Is everything all right? You still in DC?
HEYES: Everything's fine. Better than fine, actually. Thanks for asking. Yeah, still in DC. We're heading to Pittsburgh tomorrow to take a look at construction on the stadium. Alex bought us season tickets to the Pirates this year.
MIRA7: You're coming to Pittsburgh tomorrow? I'm there now! My mom had to leave town, so I didn't have to go to NY this weekend.
HEYES: Are you thinking what I'm thinking?
MIRA7: That Barney really is the anti-Christ?
HEYES: LOL! Well, that too. I was thinking more along the lines of meeting for lunch or something. I'd like you to meet Alex.
MIRA7: Lunch wouldn't work; I have school. How about dinner? I know my dad would love to meet you. He's a big fan.
HEYES: OK. Are you sure he won't mind? This is pretty short notice.
MIRA7: No, he won't mind. I'll let him know when he wakes up.
HEYES: Tell you what; talk to him first. If he's ok with it then call me tomorrow. We have the cell with us. Still have the number written down?
MIRA7: Yeah, still got it. OK, I'll call you tomorrow, but it's going to be fine.
HEYES: All right. I'll tell Alex he's finally going to get to meet you. Now go to sleep! You have school in a few hours.
MIRA7: Yes mother. See you tomorrow.
HEYES: Rotten kid. Sleep well.
MIRA7: You too.

Katie signed off and went back to bed. Alex was wrapped around her pillow, so she slipped in on the other side and snuggled up against him.

"You all right?" he asked, sleepily.

She kissed his shoulder and put her arm around his waist. "I'm fine. Go back to sleep."

=============================

"There it is," Katie said, pointing to the red brick house with beige shutters.

Alex parked on the street in front of the house, then sat there, tapping his fingers on the steering wheel.

"What's wrong, Alexei?"

"I don't know. This just feels so weird," he answered.

"You'll survive," she laughed. "This is what regular people do, sweetheart; they go to each other's houses, have dinner, talk. We do this all the time with Matthew and Tyler; we did it with Mulder and Dana, so what's the problem?"

"I know them. I don't know Miranda or her father," he said, shrugging his shoulders. "This is just a new experience for me, most of my previous visits to households have been work related and definitely not social calls, you know?"

Katie reached over and stroked his cheek. "It'll be fun. Miranda's a sweet kid and I'm sure her father will be nice as well. Relax. If it gets to weird, just remind me about our early appointment with the realtor or something and I'll get us out of there in a flash."

Alex turned his head to place a kiss in the palm of her hand. "I was serious about buying a place here, you know? Beats having to make hotel reservations every time we come here for a game."

"Agreed. So, if you get uncomfortable, the realtor ploy won't be a complete lie," she said with a wink. "Come on, Miranda's peeking through the curtains at us."

Five hour later, Katie and Alex said their good-byes to Victor and Miranda. The first half-hour had been a little strained between the two men. Alex was having a hard time loosening up and Victor was trying to figure out what to say to get some kind of conversation going. Then Alex noticed a photo on the mantle; an old black and white shot of a castle in England. Victor was surprised that Alex recognized the castle and the two began comparing notes about the country. From that moment on, there was no lacking for conversation. The evening ended with an invitation to the wedding and a promise from Victor that they would attend, as well as the name of a good realtor in town.

=============================

Tyler rested his elbows on the papers in front of him. It had been so long...The geological survey showed the area to be sound, so if the structure had been built in accordance with the plans, it should be perfect for Mulder's needs. IF the structure had built the way it was supposed to have been built. In his mind, that was a big if. Exhausted, he put his head down on the table and dozed.

Matthew found Tyler, sound asleep at the dining room table. He looked at the papers spread out around Tyler and shook his head. 'So that's what Mulder gave him,' Matthew thought. He ruffled Tyler's hair. "Hey you, wake up," he said gently. "You're drooling on the blue prints."

Tyler sat up and pawed at his mouth. "Am not," he replied sleepily.

Matthew chuckled and kissed Tyler's head. "I know, I just like to watch you check." He began rolling the papers up, to Tyler's weak protests. "No more. You fell asleep on them, which tells me that you've been looking at them for far too long. Whatever Mulder wants you to do with these, I'm sure it can wait until morning."

Tyler nodded. "It can. Besides, there's nothing more I can do, based on the paperwork. I'd have go out there and physically look at the facility before I could give Mulder any solid information. The plans are good, the survey looks to be in order, but without a physical inspection, we have nothing but speculation."

"Good, then you won't mind putting it away and coming to bed." He stepped closer and put his arms around Tyler's waist. "I was kind of hoping for a little 'physical inspection' myself."

"Oh, I think that can be arranged," Tyler smiled.

=============================

"Come on, Mulder," Scully urged. "It'll be fun."

"Scullee," Mulder whined.

"It's a wedding, not root canal," she said, crossing her arms in front of her. "You know Katie will disappointed if we don't show up. Do you really want to call her and tell her you're not coming because the Knicks are in the playoffs?"

"But Scully, it's the Knicks," he tried to explain.

"The wedding's at 2, the game doesn't start until 8," she countered. "I'm sure you can slip out and be back at the hotel before the game starts."

"Think Katie would mind?" he asked.

"She'd mind a lot more, if you didn't show up at all," Scully countered. "Besides, Matthew tells me that the Pirates are playing that day, so they'll all be slipping back into the kitchen to catch the score during the reception."

"There's going to be a TV in the kitchen?" Mulder asked. "Maybe this won't be so bad after all."

Scully's hand shot out and punched Mulder's arm. "Ouch! Kidding, I was just kidding," he chuckled.

Alex knocked on the bathroom door. "Katya? Scully's here, so I'll be leaving now. Aren't you going to at least kiss me goodbye?"

"No I'm not. Get out of here, it's bad luck for you to see the dress before the wedding," Katie yelled out.

'Yeah, yeah, yeah, so I've been told," he muttered. "I love you, baby. See you in a couple of hours."

"I love you, too," Katie answered, opening the door just a bit. "Alexei? You are going to be there?"

Alex smiled and chuckled softly. "Are you ever going to stop asking me that question?"

"No," she answered.

"I'll be there," he replied. "Today, tomorrow, and every day thereafter."

Katie smiled and shut the bathroom door, waiting until Dana declared it safe before coming out of the bathroom.

"So?" Scully asked expectantly.

"No, not this time. I thought it was just nerves, but I was hoping..."

"It's too early," Scully said reassuringly. "Your body still has a few more months to go before the rest of the damage is undone."

"I know. This is first time I ever allowed myself to think it could really happen. We talked about it, but until I started feeling sick the last few mornings, it was never a tangible thing, you know?"

Scully put her arm around Katie's shoulder. "I know. Don't expect anything to happen for another four or five months, at least. Enjoy being a newlywed first, then concentrate on adding a baby."

"It's really going to happen, isn't it, Dana?"

"What, the baby or the wedding?" Scully teased.

"Dana," Katie huffed.

"Yes, to both," she smiled. "Now, let's get you ready. I don't know if you got a good look at Alex before he left, but he's slightly green and shaking like a leaf. I don't think it's a good idea to leave him alone with Mulder, Tyler or Matthew for very long when he's that nervous, do you?"

"Probably not," Katie agreed. "I'm going to need your help though; Alex isn't the only one shaking like a leaf." She held up her hand to illustrate the point.

=============================

"Will you cut that out, Alex!" Matthew exclaimed. "The ceremony's not for another half-hour, she'll be here."

Alex nodded, but continued to pace and look out the window. "What if she doesn't show up? I mean, why would she? Look at what she's getting; at what I have to offer her. Hell, I wouldn't blame her if she ditched me."

"Krycek, will shut the fuck up?" All eyes turned to look at Mulder, who had been quiet throughout Alex's nervous yammering. "The woman knows everything about you and she's still here, isn't she? She's subjected herself to the vaccine and every medical test Scully and Matthew could come up with, for you. She holed up with the two of us for hours to get us to start talking to one another, all because of you. Try having a little faith in the woman, for God's sake. She'll be here."

Tyler walked over to Alex and patted him on the back. "I couldn't have said it better myself. You should listen to Mulder; he's a smart man."

"If he's so damned smart, how come he hasn't married Scully yet?" Alex growled.

Matthew and Tyler turned to Mulder. "He's got a point," Tyler stated. "How come you haven't married her yet?"

"This is about him, not me," Mulder grumbled.

Alex opened his mouth for a snappy reply, only to be cut off by a knock at the door. Matthew pulled it open and let Scully in. "She's here," Scully stated. "You all right, Alex? You're looking a little pale."

"Yeah, I'm fine," Alex said quickly. "How's Katie?"

"Looking a little pale herself," Scully smiled. "Oh, Lisa said to tell you that Elijah's here, so anytime you men want to leave the sanctuary of the stock room, we can get this show on the road."

Tyler clapped Alex on the back. "This is it, darling. You ready?"

Alex took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Oh yeah."

=============================

Tyler stood next to Miranda. "Glad you could make it, kiddo," he whispered.

"Me, too," grinned Miranda. "They look good together."

"They are good together."

=============================

Mulder squeezed Scully's hand. "Interesting ceremony."

"I think it's nice. It's not traditional, but it suits them," she answered.

"Think it would suit us?" he asked.

Scully turned. "Mulder, we can't..."

"I know, not yet anyway," he shrugged. "I just wanted you to know that I think about it sometimes."

"I know," she smiled. "Me too."

=============================

Elijah grasped Alex and Katie's hands in his. "Now there will be no rain, for each of you will be shelter for the other. Now you will feel no cold, for each of you will be warmth for the other. Now there is no more loneliness. Now you are two persons, but there is only on life before you. Go now to your dwelling to enter into the days of your life together. And may your days be good and long upon the Earth." He placed the rings on their fingers and linked their hands together. "Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you Mr. and Mrs. Alex Krycek."

 

 

 

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