ONE

It had been snowing steadily all morning, the wind had picked up and drifts of snow lay against the cabin in bright glistening mounds.

Alex stood at the window watching the large intricate flakes of snow as they ticked against the frosted glass of the window pane.

Natty was curled up on the window seat, delicate nose tucked under her tail in a canine rather than feline fashion.

It had been two days since the three of them had arrived at the cabin and Natasha had spent every minute prowling around the spacious rooms, thoroughly exploring her new environment.

Finally the large comfortable cabin had met with her approval and she had settled in, claiming the large well padded window seat as her own.

Alex reached down and petted the beautiful animal that had so thoroughly claimed him as well.

She lifted her head briefly to give her human a golden sleepy eyed stare, then settled back down to her cat nap once.

"Okay, I'll quit bugging you." Alex told her with a grin and moved away from the window and over to the couch. A cheerful fire was blazing away in the large rustic stone fireplace, giving the room an air of homey comfort.

"What's up?" Mulder asked as he entered the room, several logs clutched in his arms. Both he and the logs were covered with a fine dusting of snow.

He walked over to where a large wicker basket sat next to the fireplace, and dumped the logs into it.

"There, that should do us for now." He said, satisfied.

"How about I make us some fresh coffee." Alex offered, he was starting to feel a bit guilty now, ever since they had arrived at the cabin, it seemed that Mulder was doing all the work, getting the wood for the fire, preparing the meals and doing the dishes. Granted, there was not a lot that Alex could do while he was healing from the stab wound in his side, but he was beginning to feel bad that he was not pitching in more to help out.

"Sounds great to me." Mulder said with a grin. Alex nodded, then headed to the kitchen, Natty seeing that her human was headed towards one of her favourite parts of the cabin, nimbly leapt down from her perch and padded after him. Usually when her human, or her other human were in this particular room, a bowl of milk was more than likely in the offering.

Alex plugged in the coffee maker, humming a tune under his breath, he started taking the thick stoneware mugs down off the shelf and set them onto the counter. Suddenly he felt something rubbing around his legs.

"Hi there baby." Alex said, scooping the cat up into his arms. "What are you after hmmm, I hate to tell you this but cat's don't drink coffee."

"That's right, only human's do." Mulder replied as he walked into the kitchen, he had taken off his thick sheepskin jacket and hung it up near the door, now he was dressed in a dark blue woolen jumper and jeans.

Alex grinned at him, his chin resting lightly on top of Natty's head.

"I'd say at a rough guess, she's after some milk...isn't that right girl." He crooned, turning has attention back to the golden eyes feline in his arms.

"You give her any more milk and she's going to get so fat she won't be able to fit through the door." Mulder replied with a laugh, his hazel eyes twinkling.

Natty lifted her head to give her other human an outraged glare that made both men crack up.

Finally Alex handed her over to Mulder. "Here, take her Highness here so I can pour us both some coffee."

Mulder gathered Natty into his arms and carried her back out into the cozy living room.

TWO

Both men sat side by side on the low comfortable couch watching the flames lick at the blackened logs in the grate. Natasha was snuggled up in between them, sleepily listening to their voices as they spoke.

"So what made you want to get out of the Consortium?" Mulder was asking as he sipped the hot liquid in the mug that he held between both hands.

Alex shrugged. "A whole lot of reasons to be honest." He replied. "The main one is that I just don't believe in what they are doing anymore. Oh I did once, a long time ago when they first recruited me." He smiled slightly. "I remember Spender approaching me when I was walking across the college campus one day. He said that that he represented a special interest group that could help further my career."

"Your career?" Mulder asked. "What career was that?"

Alex sighed and stared down at his half empty coffee mug. "I wanted to go into law, I was studying for my law degree. Spender said that my field of studies where perfect for what they had in mind for me...the fucking liar."

Mulder heard the bitterness in the younger man's voice and said nothing, waiting for him to continue.

"He told me that they were helping mankind, it was only later that I found out the truth. They were willing to sell out mankind to the aliens simply to protect themselves. Bastards."

"Why didn't you come to us sooner Alex?" Mulder asked. "We could have helped you Alex we could have..."

"Helped me?" Alex replied heavily. "After everything that I had done, your father, Scully's sister, the nanocytes that Skinner was infected with? Come on Mulder, how could I have possibly come to you for help, it simply wasn't possible at the time."

Mulder sighed and stared into the fireplace. "I know that there's a lot of bad history between us Alex, there's a lot of unresolved shit, but I am willing to put it aside if it means getting your help to finish these sons of bitches once and for all."

Alex glanced at him. "I don't understand Mulder, what's your stake in all this, what's your reason for putting your ass on the line?"

Mulder lifted his eyes to meet the younger man's steady gaze. "My sister Samantha, I owe it to her, and to all the others that have been abducted, taken away from their loved ones and handed over to the aliens, Scully included. That's why I'm doing it."

Alex nodded thoughtfully, then lifted his mug in a toast. "To us, the fearless avengers."

Mulder laughed and returned Alex's toast with one of his own. "To truth, justice and the American way."

"That's already been done Mulder." Alex replied drily.

"Oh, really?" Mulder asked, giving Alex his best innocent look. Who by?" He laughed as he ducked a mock punch, spilling a little of his coffee onto his jumper.

"Oh shit." He said, looking down at the brown stain spreading over his jumper. "Better get changed."

Alex watched the other man get up and walked over to the staircase, heading upstairs to the bedroom to get another pullover. He glanced down at Natasha, who was now wide awake and stretching her long sleek body full length.

Alex smiled fondly as he picked her up and settled her down on his lap. "Mulder and myself against the Consortium, an unlikely alliance or what? Tell me what you think girl."

Natasha yawned, petite mouth opening wide, then she began to groom herself, paying particular attention to her paws.

Alex grinned. "Yeah I agree with you." He said, then glanced up as he heard the creak of the stair treads, it was Mulder coming back down into the living room. He had changed into a pair of old gray sweat pants and a pullover.

"Agree with what?" he asked as he picked up both the mugs. Alex shook his head. "Nothing." He replied. "I was just...thinking aloud."

"Okay." Mulder carried the mugs back into the kitchen, leaving Alex to his own thoughts.

THREE

Dinner was finished and both Alex and Mulder carried the dishes in the kitchen. Mulder had whipped up some kind of tuna and noodle casserole that actually had not been half bad.

Alex was hopeless in the kitchen so by tacit agreement all the cooking was done by Mulder.

They washed and dried the dishes, working side by side, neither one of them speaking, neither wanting to break the fragile peace that was between them.

After the dishes were done, they both walked into the living room, Alex yawned, tired, but not unpleasantly so.

Mulder glanced at him. "Why don't you go upstairs and take a nap, you look done in."

Alex shook his head. "No, I'm all right, I might watch TV for awhile, see if there's anything good on."

"Okay, you're the boss." Mulder said easily. "But just remember Alex, you are still an invalid." He pointed towards Alex's side.

"I've survived worse than this." The younger man replied. "In fact, you'd be surprised at what I have survived."

Mulder returned his gaze evenly. "You know, somehow I don't think I would be."

Alex laughed. "Yeah, maybe not."

He settled himself down onto the couch once more picking up the remote, then looked up as Mulder took it out of his hand and set it down onto the walnut coffee table.

"Hey Mulder I was going to..."

"No Alex, the TV can wait." Mulder told the younger man firmly. "We need to talk."

"Talk about what?" Alex asked.

"About you Alex." Mulder replied. "About what you are going to do afterwards."

Alex frowned, puzzled. "Mulder, what are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about what plans you have after we bring down the Consortium." Mulder explained.

Alex stared at him for a moment, then laughed. "Mulder, don't you think you're jumping the gun a bit, I mean, we haven't even started to bring them down...oh apart from a couple of you're own little ventures, but that's not even scratching the surface. You have no idea how big the Consortium is, how powerful."

Mulder settled back against the couch. "So what you are saying is that we may as well give up now because there's no way in hell that we will succeed."

Alex shook his head. "No Mulder, that's not what I'm saying, it's just that I know these bastards, I know them well. I used to work for them. I know that if we take them on, then we are in for the long haul, that's what I am saying."

Mulder sighed. "Then that's what we do Alex, we bunker in and we get these bastards and we don't stop until the Consortium is smashed wide open, we don't stop until they are finished once and for all."

Alex smiled across at him. "Fine, then that's what we do, but where do we start?"

"We start with you recovering from your wound first." Mulder replied. "And then, you keep your side of the deal and tell us everything that we need to know to bring them down. That's what you agreed to."

"And then I disappear." Alex said softly. He glanced down at Natty who was now curled up and snoozing on his lap. "We disappear, for good."

"And go where, exactly?" Mulder asked. Alex looked up at him, his eyes dark and unfathomable, Mulder noticed, and not for the first time, how startling those eyes were. How beautiful.

"There's a place I have, an old farm I bought a few years back, a place where I could hide out and lay low if I needed to. As far as I know, it's the one place that Spender doesn't know about, Christ, at least I hope he doesn't anyway." He gave a short humourless laugh.

"That's where I was going to go, you know before those assholes fucking ambushed me."

Mulder nodded, this face thoughtful, then he turned back to dark haired assassin. "Don't you get tired of it Alex?" He asked softly.

"Tired of what?" He asked.

"Of constantly running." Mulder replied. Alex looked at him for a moment, then quickly looked away. His hand resting on the warm thick fur of the cat, as if seeking comfort there.

"Well?" Mulder pressed on. "Don't you Alex. Don't you long to stop running, even if it's only for a little while?"

"Sometimes." Alex's voice was muffled, he refused to meet the other man's eyes. "Sometimes I get so tired of it, so...very tired." His voice had dropped to a whisper now, Mulder strained to hear.

"The night that Natty turned up at my window, that Christmas eve, I was all alone, more alone than I had ever been in my whole life." Alex continued, speaking softly, as if Mulder were no longer in the room.

"I mean, I have been alone before, in fact that's the way I spend most of my time." He smiled bitterly. "But this was different, this was, like I was at the bottom of a well and I couldn't find my way out."

Mulder did not speak, he sat, watching the younger man sitting, cat curled up on his lap, speaking in a cold monotone that he had never heard Alex use before.

"I decided to find my way out, I had the gun in front of me, it was loaded, I remember what it tasted like when it was inside my mouth." He turned his vivid green eyes on Mulder, his gaze unwavering.

"I was going to pull the trigger Fox, I was going to find my way out of that well."

"It was Natasha that stopped you, wasn't it." It was not a question.

Alex nodded, swallowing hard. "Yes Fox, it was. She turned up at the window and I let her in."

"And she stayed." Mulder added gently. Alex turned to look at him, tears glistening at the corners of his eyes.

"Yes Fox...she stayed, and I have decided to stay. I may still be at the bottom of that well, but at least I'm no longer alone."

Mulder reached out and grasped the younger man's hand, holding it in his own. "No Alex, you're not alone, and if you want...I'll help you find you're way out, I can do that much."

Alex smiled at him. "Thanks Fox...that means a great deal to me, you know." Suddenly, before he realized what he was doing, he leaned forward and kissed the other man on the mouth, his lips touching Mulder's. Then horrified, he drew back.

"Oh god...Mulder, I,...I'm sorry, I don't know why I did that...I shouldn't have. I'm so sorry." He stammered, appalled at what he had done.

Mulder's smile turned into a grin. "Why are you sorry Alex, I'm not, and what happened to Fox all of a sudden?"

Alex's mouth dropped open almost comically. "You, you're not going to hit me?"

Mulder chuckled. "No Alex, not this time."

"Wha, well, what are you going to do?" Alex asked nervously.

"Just this." Mulder leaned forward and kissed the younger man deeply, his lips infusing Alex's with an incredible warmth that left the younger man gasping.

Alex drew back, stunned. "Wow."

"Wow indeed." Mulder replied, suddenly he reached over and gently lifted Natasha off Alex's lap, noting with satisfaction, the bulge that had appeared in the front of his jeans.

"Ever made love to a man before Alex?" Mulder asked, his voice husky.

Wide eyed, Alex nodded. "I have, well not love exactly, it was just sex, a way of furthering my career within the Consortium, it never meant anything but...oh hell, you don't want to hear this...I don't want to hear this. Fox, can we fuck...please?"

"No, we are not going to fuck." Mulder told him gently. "What we are going to do it make love, right here, on the rug in front of the fire."

Alex swallowed hard. "Yeah, that's what I want...but what about Natty. He glanced over at the cat as she wandered over to the window seat.

"She'll have to find her own partner, won't she." Mulder replied. He took both of Alex's hands and lifted him up off the couch, leading him over to the large colourful rug that was stretched out in front of the cheerfully blazing fire.

Slowly, taking his time, Mulder removed every stitch of the younger man's clothes, until Alex was standing naked, the light of the fire casting bright patterns over his smooth skin.

Mulder quickly shed his own clothes, his cock already erect and bobbing between his well muscled legs. Gently, he drew Alex into an embrace, kissing him once more.

To say that Alex's response was ardent would have been an understatement, it was as though a dam had broken. Alex kissed and nipped and lapped at every inch of Mulder's body, making the other man moan and writhe in front of the fire. Finally they coupled, Alex sitting astride Mulder's lap, his cries of pleasure reaching the high beamed ceiling as Mulder thrust into him while he in turn pumped Alex's cock.

Finally, spent and sated both men lay in each other's arms, the sweat of their love making already drying on the flushed skin.

"Well, hope that was better than a fuck?" Mulder said teasingly. Alex chuckled, the afterglow of their lovemaking leaving him feeling delightfully tired and lazy.

"Much better." He whispered. He snuggled into Mulder's arms, resting his head against the other man's shoulder, his eyes closing.

"How's your side feeling?" Mulder whispered into his ear.

"What side?" Alex mumbled sleepily.

"Your wound?" Mulder replied with a chuckle. "Is it okay, I don't want to think that I have torn any stitches or anything."

"Hmmm...fine." Alex murmured. "Juss...fine..."

Mulder watched as the younger man drifted off to sleep, then became aware of a dark shape nuzzling at his back. It was Natty.

She was gazing at both her humans, the smell of their sex strong on them both.

He grinned at her. "Hey there girl." He said softly. "Whatcha doing there?"

A soft meow, then she jumped up on the couch, settling down, contented and happy in her own inscrutable cat like way.

Outside the snow continued to fall and inside the warm cabin two figures lay stretched out in front of the fireplace, the leaping flames casting shadows on the cream coloured walls.

Mulder and Alex lay, cocooned within that warmth, and each other.