Adjustments

He could hear them through the bedroom wall, hot sweaty gasping, groans of pleasure, the slap of naked skin against skin.

Shit, he thought as he rolled over, pulling the warm quilt up around his shoulders. They have been going at it all night.

Finally the sounds of lovemaking stopped and Alex closed his eyes. Great, now maybe I can get some sleep.

He had been living with Walter Skinner and Fox Mulder now for nearly a week. They had picked him up from the hospital and taken him straight home.

He had slowly recovered from his injuries, and with the help of good food and rest, he slowly regained his strength.

Walter and Fox had made the trip to where Alex's rusty old Ford had been parked, by some miracle, it had not been towed away and they managed to salvage some of Alex's pitifully few possessions.

They left the car where it was, Walter later calling a car wrecking yard to haul it away.

Alex had been touched by the fact they had gone to all this trouble for him, after all, Walter and Fox owed him nothing. In fact it was him that owed them both a great deal, a fact that was not last on any of them.

Alex could hear the gentle snores coming from the next room and he smiled. Who the hell would have thought it? The surly Assistant Director and his most troublesome but brilliant agent, setting up house together. Alex wondered what Dana Scully, Fox's partner made of all this.

He knew that he had had stunned when he had first seen them together that fateful night when he had accidentally chosen their house to rob.

But still, all that was in the past now, he was never going to wind back out on the streets again. He knew that his time here was limited, but he did not mind, he would stay as long as they let him. Eventually something would turn up, after all, something always did. Then perhaps he would be able to start his life over with a clean slate

Yes, he thought with a smile of satisfaction, as he drifted off to sleep. Things are starting to look up again.

Old Friends

Alex finished vacuuming the carpets, then put the vacuum cleaner back under the stairs where it belonged. He felt a little tired now so he decided to rest for a while. He took a book off the shelf, it was one of his favourites that he had read a long time ago. The Shining. He liked reading stuff by Stephen King.

He curled up on the window seat, preparing to immerse himself in the sinister doings of the Overlook Hotel, when the phone rang.

He sighed, probably Fox or Walter calling to check up on him. He lifted the phone off the hook.
"Hello?"

"Hi Alex."

He froze at the sound of the familiar voice. "What the hell do you want Luis?"

Luis Cardinale chuckled. "You know, when I heard that you had set up house with Walter Skinner and Fox Mulder, I didn't believe it. But there you are. How about that huh?"

Alex's hand tightened on the handset. "I asked you, what do you want?"

"Nothing at all, can't an old friend call and say hello?" He sounded aggrieved.

Alex drew a deep breath. "How did you find me here?"

"Wasn't that hard Alex, a few calls here and there." Cardinale chuckled. "Last I heard, you were living rough for a while, guess your luck had changed huh?"

"Look Cardinale, whatever it is you want..."

"I told you Alex, I don't want anything....yet." The implication heavy in the sentence. Alex bit his lip, then a sudden flutter caught his eye. Two sparrows outside, had started building a nest in an apple tree near the kitchen window.

"Are you still there Alex?"

"Yeah...I'm still here."

"Good, that's good." Cardinale replied. Alex closed his eyes, hating the sound of that smooth oily voice.

"Cardinale, just tell me what the fuck it is that you're after." Alex asked, almost pleading, Christ, how he hated this prick.

"I told you Alex, nothing yet, just calling to say hello, checking in on you, so to speak." With that, the phone went dead. Slowly Alex replaced the handset back onto the cradle, his arm felt like it was filled with lead.

The two sparrows were fluttering near the window ledge, one of them had a piece of what looked like cotton wool between it's beak. Alex watched them, his green eyes filled with despair.

What am I going to do? He wondered miserably. What the fuck am I going to do?

Taking A Chance

"Well I think it's a good idea." Fox said almost defensively. Walter looked up at his agent, and lover, his face thoughtful.

"I never said it wasn't a good idea Fox, it's just that, will Alex go for it?"

They were both sitting in Walter's office, they had been going over some missing persons reports together. Some of them were quite a few months old now.

Suddenly Fox's eyes had lit up. "Walter, I have just had the idea of the century."

Intrigued, Walter had set the reports to one side. "What is it?"

That was when Fox had made his great suggestion, that Alex take up private detective work.

Walter had pursed his lips, thinking it over. Well, it might work, after all, when it came to covert work, Alex was an expert. The little rat could get in anywhere and not be detected, and there was always a call for that kind of work, runaway kids, testing security systems.

"We could suggest it to him tonight." Fox continued. "It could set him back up on his feet and hopefully back on the right side of the law."

Walter laughed at that. "Well why not, miracles have been known to happen."

"Great, we'll ask him about it tonight." Fox replied. Walter was pleased to see his sweet young lover so excited about this.

"You know, we are taking something of a chance here." Walter suddenly reminded him. "After all this is Alex Krycek we are talking about."

Fox grinned. "Tell me about it. But I think that maybe, he might be willing to give it a try."

"Well it has to be better than him living back out on the street again." Walter said softly. "And, now, back to these reports."

Night Thoughts

Alex lay on his back, staring up at the shadows as they chased across the ceiling. He had been lying in bed unable to sleep. Everything had been looking great, up until now.

Why had Luis Cardinale chosen this particular time to step back into Alex's life. He hated the man, hated the way he thought he could lord it over all the younger operatives. Alex had been forced to work with him several times. And it had been Cardinale that had helped set up the car bomb that had nearly killed Alex. The bastard was treacherous and downright dangerous as well.

Restlessly, Alex turned over onto his side. Outside, a cold wind had sprung up, rattling the branches of the trees. An ill wind. The thought turned lazily over in Alex's mind, like a slow song on a jukebox. "An ill wind that blows no good." He whispered, but what direction was this wind going to take him?

After a while, he closed his eyes, but sleep would still not come.

Conversations

"Well what are you planning to do about this?" Fox asked as he handed Walter his cup of coffee, they were both sitting in the kitchen, Alex was still asleep upstairs. Early morning sunlight slanted in through the half open window, a light breeze fluttering the curtains.

"Find Luis Cardinale and scare the living hell out of him so he stays away from Alex." Walter replied. "Look Fox, since Alex has been living with us, he's changed, he's seems to have come so far from the little rat bastard that he used to be. He's different now and I don't want anything to change that."

"I agree." Fox replied as he sat down at the table, nursing his own cup of coffee between his long sensitive hands. "The last thing that Alex needs is anyone from his Consortium days turning up in his life, especially now."

"Good, then it's settled." Walter replied, his voice filled with firm resolve.

"I guess we will just have to shelve my idea for a while." Fox said, rather sadly. "Damn."

Walter chuckled. "Just until we handle this little problem first, then you can tell Alex about your idea, although picturing him as a private detective..." He shook his head, grinning at the thought.

"I don't know, he could be another Sam Spade." Fox replied. Then doing his best Bogart, he said. "Here's looking at you kid."

Walter looked at him, exasperated. "That's Casablanca, not The Maltese Falcon."

Fox shrugged. "Whatever." He lifted the cup to his lips, carefully sipping the hot black liquid. Then suddenly he said. "He really has changed, hasn't he."

"Alex? yes I think he has." Walter replied, his face had taken on a serious expression now.

"I don't know if it's because he's no longer working for Spender and the rest of those bastards, or maybe it was through living on the streets, or maybe it might have had something to do with him being brutalized and winding up in hospital, too be perfectly honest, I'm not sure, but yes, I think is some fundamental way, he has changed and that is why I think we need to protect him."

Alex stood at the bottom of the stairs, his hand still lightly touching the polished wood of the bannister. He had woken up and decided to come down stairs for a glass of water and had overheard Walter and Fox talking. He bit his lower lip, tears glimmering at the corners of his eyes. Protect him, from a man like Cardinale? He doubted that was possible, Cardinale was a cold blooded killer. Just like you are Alex. A little voice piped up inside his head.

I can't let them do this. He thought suddenly. I can't allow them to put themselves in the line of fire for me, it's not right....it's not fair, this is my mess and it's up to me to clean it up.

With that, he turned and went back upstairs.

A Note On The Door

Walter sat in his office, phone in hand. It was getting late and he was tired. He had placed several calls to old friends, people that owed him a favour or two. It had been hard work, but he thought he had finally tracked down a lead on Luis Cardinale. It would be a pleasure to bust that little bastard, for Scully's sister if nothing else. He was not an easy man to track down though. The FBI database did not have anything on him at all, it was almost as though the man did not exist.

Still Walter sensed he was getting close, and that was enough for him.

There was a knock at the door, and Fox entered. "How's it going?"

"I think I may have something, but I'm not sure." Walter replied. "Cardinale seems to be dammed good at covering his tracks."

Fox smiled humourlessly. "That's how these guys survive Walter, you know that. They hide in the dark, down in the sewers, like rats, avoiding the light."

Walter glanced up at his agent, his eyes astute. "Sound like someone we know."

Fox shrugged. "That was the life he used to live." He pointed a finger towards the ceiling. "Emphasis on the past tense there."

Walter sighed and stood up. "Well, ready to go home?" It had been a long day. Fox nodded. "Ready when you are boss."

Sins Of The Past

Alex sat at the bar, shoulders hunched over. He had been there now for a couple of hours, waiting for Cardinale to show up.

A couple of phone calls to some old contacts had led him here. Cardinale was supposedly staying in one of the dingy hotels across the street, he came in here every afternoon for a couple of beers, and sometimes a game of pool.

The bartender, a hugely fat man moved over to where Alex was sitting. "Another beer buddy?"

"Yeah, why not." Alex replied. He handed the bartender a couple of note. The bartender took it with a grunt, then went to pour the beer.

Over in the corner of the dingy bar, one of the other customers pushed some buttons on the juke box, an old song began to play.

Looking out of my lonely room, day after day,
Bring it home baby, make it soon,
I give my love to you....

Alex listened to the words, the velvet chords of the guitar washing over him. He sipped the beer, keeping one eye on the front door of the bar. A couple of women walked in, thigh high mini skirts, clinging to well shaped legs. One of the a tall blonde looked Alex up and down, obviously sizing the good looking young man up.

She leaned over and said something to her friend to broke into a fit of giggling. Alex's face reddened and he turned away, the last thing he wanted now was to draw attention to himself.

"Hi there, get you your usual?" The bartender said to someone who had just walked up to the bar.

"Yeah, that would be great."

Alex shot a glance at the stocky figure standing just a couple of feet away. It was Luis Cardinale, and he had not seen Alex yet.

Alex smoothly got to his feet and walked over to where the other man was standing, fists clenched at his sides.

"Hi Luis, long time huh buddy."

Cardinale spun around, his face darkening. "Alex." He replied his voice cold. "What an unexpected surprise."

"Really, that's strange, considering the phone call, and the note that you left me" Alex replied, a small smile quirking the edges of his mouth.

Cardinale shrugged. "A little...incentive, that was all." He chuckled. "After all, we are old friends aren't we."

Alex's eyes flickered darkly. "Sure, sure we are."

"How about we sit down, have a drink together, you know....catch up on old times."

"Yeah, sure." Alex replied. "Why not."

He followed the other man over to a booth set against the dark panelled wall, hands stuffed deep into the pockets of his jacket, fingering the gun that he had taken from Walter's desk. The gun that he found accidently when he had been looking for a pen to write the note that he had left them that morning.

Ground Rules

The drive home was silent, Alex sat in the back seat wondering just how angry Fox and Walter were with him. They would more than likely kick him out onto the street. He sighed and stared out of the window, looking out at the passing buildings, wondering where he was going to go now.

I don't want to leave. The thought hit him like ice, Alex closed his eyes. It was the truth, he liked it where he was. Oh he always knew that it was not a permanent arrangement and he accepted that, but the truth was, he was comfortable living with Walter and Fox...and now through his own thoughtless impulsive actions, it was all over.

Unbidden tears pricked and the corners of his eyes and his bit his lower lip, unwilling to admit the hurt and despair that suddenly threatened to overwhelm him.

Walter pulled the car into the gated community and soon they were pulling up into the driveway.

Alex slowly climbed out of the car, a sudden whirring motion caught his eye. The sparrows were fluttering around the apple tree. Still building your nest little guys. He thought sadly. Well I hope you guys have better luck than I have.

"Coming inside Alex?"

The younger man looked up unhappily, both Walter and Fox were standing on the front porch, waiting for him.

"I'm coming." He mounted the steps like a man going to his doom.

More Night Thoughts

Walter and Fox lay sleeping in each others arms, warm and completely at peace, fully sated after their love making.

Alex lay awake in the next room, staring up at the ceiling, thoughts turning lazily over in his mind. He wondered what it would be like to feel Walter's strong arms around him, Fox's soft sweet lips against his own. He closed his eyes wondering if there was ever a chance for him to find out.

What would it be like to be loved, gently, tenderly loved by someone that cared about you, not just seeing you as a warm body to fuck.

It would be like heaven. Alex decided, a little ache echoing in his heart. Then he smiled to himself. Who knows, maybe one day I'll be able to find another heaven...one day...