~*~*~*~

Alex Krycek stared up at the rows of names engraved on the War Memorial. Carefully studying the names of the men that had fought and died in a war long ago. Nothing left of any of them now, all of them gone with only their names etched into bronze to remember that they had ever existed.

//I wonder if anyone will place my name on a plaque to commemorate me after I die?// The thought suddenly saddened him and slowly he moved away from the memorial, back towards the benches that ringed the park. Finding an empty bench, he sat down, settling his body against the hard wooden surface to wait. He watched as a few people strolled by, obviously enjoying the warm spring day. Two small children raced past, their laughter bringing a smile to his lips.

Of course there would be no plaque. No name engraved on any wall. No one to remember him. No, the war he was fighting was a secret one, a silent one and there would never be any acknowledgment. Not for him anyway, he worked alone, always alone-in the safety of darkness and he knew that he would die as he lived, unknown, unmourned and unloved. Abruptly he pushed the morbid thoughts away. After all, the choice had been made for him and he had been pushed into taking an active role in this war. For better or worse, this was his life so there was no use bitching and moaning about it.

"Krycek."

He turned around, rising up from the bench; his eyes narrowing slightly as he took in the sight of his favourite FBI partner standing a couple of feet away from him.

"You're late Mulder." He greeted the other man coolly. Mulder shrugged.

"I got caught in traffic, have you got the information you promised?"

"Hey it's great to see you too."

"Cut the crap Krycek." Mulder snapped, his mouth twitching impatiently. "I agreed to meet you here because you told me that you had some information on the Consortium. Now where is it"

"Not here Mulder." Krycek replied, pitching his voice low. "I don't have it here but it's in a safe place."

"Oh for the love of...Krycek I swear if this is one more of your fucking games..." Mulder's eyes were glittering dangerously now. He had first hand experience of Alex Krycek's manipulations and he was damned sure that he was not going to let the son of a bitch jerk him around anymore. He'd had enough of that from before.

"Look Mulder, this is shit that people would kill for. And I mean that in the literal sense. This info is dynamite, names, dates, locations. I have files that tell me where the bodies are buried and I mean that literally too. And there are men that would kill me in an instant if they knew that I had this, and you know why? Either to stop me from exposing those bastards, or to get this information themselves so they can use it to further their own goddamn cause. So do you honestly think I would be walking around with it tucked away inside my pockets...Jesus." Krycek lifted his good hand to run it through the mass of black hair that framed his face.

"Yeah, all right." Mulder muttered. "I guess even you aren't that much of an asshole."

"How do you think I've managed to keep myself alive all this time?" Krycek replied drily. "Not by being an asshole."

"So where exactly are you keeping this information?" Mulder asked. Krycek shrugged.

"I have a place just outside the city, it's a few hours drive from here. We could get there before dark."

Mulder sighed, god but this was becoming more complicated by the second, but then why was he surprised; after all this did involve Alex Krycek so that automatically complicated things.

Krycek noticed the expression on Mulder's face and sighed. "Look Mulder if this is a problem for you..."

"No, no problem." Mulder cut in. "I just hadn't planned to be traveling anywhere today that's all." And with you, he added silently.

Krycek grinned. "Hey Mulder, just look at it as an adventure."

Mulder pinned the other man with a look. "Yeah well Krycek, this kind of adventure, I don't need."

"But the information, you do need so let's get going shall we." With that, Krycek turned and started walking towards the street where he had parked his car, Mulder following him.

"We can take my car." Krycek said as he unlocked the driver's side door. "After we retrieve the information I can drop you back here to pick yours up."

"Great." Mulder mumbled as he slid into to passenger's seat. He had not bargained on having to leave his car behind while he went god knows where with Alex Krycek of all people. All he had expected to do, had wanted to do, was pick up the discs and files and whatever else Krycek had squirreled away and hopefully never have to see the ratbastard again.

"I am liking this less and less." Mulder said under his breath as Krycek turned onto the main street and began heading towards the outskirts of the city. The ex-consortium agent glanced at him cocking an eyebrow.

"Nervous Mulder?" He asked with a grin. Mulder lifted his head to level a cold look at him.

"Well considering that I am going to an undisclosed location with a treacherous son of a bitch would be enough to make anyone pause, wouldn't it."

Krycek chuckled at that. "It's all right Mulder, I promise I am not going to hurt you. Okay, cross my heart."

Mulder pressed his lips together tightly, already he was was beginning to have second thoughts about this little jaunt. The trouble was though that Krycek had once again been able to press all the right buttons. Promises of crucial information, information that would expose the Consortium once and for all, maybe even information about the alien invasion. Proof that he could finally take to the right people and stop these bastards permanently. Perhaps even proof that his sister was still alive. Quickly he pushed that thought away, it was too much to hope for. All the years that he had spent thinking about Samantha, wondering if she was still alive. The memories of that night still haunted him, crowded his waking world and invaded his dreams. But no, Mulder didn't expect to find any concrete proof that Samantha was still alive, not now, not after all this time.

"Penny for them."

"Huh?" Confused, Mulder turned his head towards Krycek.

"A penny for your thoughts." Krycek said patiently. "You had gone so quiet over there that I assumed great ideas must have been coursing through that brilliant mind of yours."

"Not really." Mulder replied somewhat abruptly. There was no way he was going to share what he had been thinking about with Alex Krycek. No damn way in the world.

"Oh." Krycek's eyes left the road for a moment to give the man sitting next to him an appraising glance.

"I would have thought that you'd be busy making plans, you know...working out your plan of attack on the Consortium. How you were going to expose them to the world. That sort of thing."

"Look Krycek, let me make one thing very clear to you." Mulder spoke with cold clear enunciation. "I am not here on some kind of half assed road trip with you, got it? We are not buddies. I am simply sitting in this car with you because you have something I want. The information on the Consortium, that is it. So keep the friendly chit chat to yourself because I am not interested....understood?"

"Understood." Krycek replied. "No more chit chat."

"Good." Mulder muttered, he settled back against the seat, staring out at the changing scenery. Beside him Krycek drove, steering the car using his one good hand effortlessly. Mulder could not help admire how well Krycek had adjusted to losing his arm. Having to wear a prosthetic had not seemed to slow Krycek down in the slightest. But come to think of it, anything hardly ever did. It seemed that life could throw just about anything at the son of a bitch and he always came through relatively unscathed. Well maybe not this time, Mulder amended, after all; losing your arm couldn't be thought of as exactly unscathed, could it? But still, here he was, still playing the same old game of treachery and deceit, it was as if nothing had ever changed.

"Mind if I turn on the radio?"

"What?" Mulder swung his head around, startled out of his reverie. "Oh yeah, whatever."

Using his prosthetic hand, Krycek pushed the button for the radio on, jazz, soft and mellow instantly filled the car.

"I hope you don't mind this kind of music." Krycek said sounding almost apologetic. Mulder shrugged.

"It's okay Krycek, I like jazz."

"Do you?" Krycek asked, surprised.

"Sure I do." Mulder replied. "Why wouldn't I?"

"Oh, it's just that I thought..."

"That what...I wouldn't like jazz? Or just music in general." Mulder sounded amused. "Just because I work for the FBI, it doesn't mean that I don't have a soul you know Krycek."

"That's not what I meant." Krycek replied defensively, this conversation was starting to go badly now, but then again, what conversation had he ever held with Mulder that had turned out well?

"What did you mean then?"

"I just didn't take you for the kind of guy that liked jazz is all."

"That so huh." Mulder replied with a smile. "So tell me Krycek, what kind of music did you think I liked?"

"Oh I don't know." It was Krycek's turn to shrug now. Mulder could not help but notice the awkward way that the other man's shoulders moved. The right hitching up higher than the left, and once again Mulder was reminded of the former Consortium operative's loss.

"Surf music, rock and roll, that kind of stuff, you know." Krycek replied.

"The Beach Boys, the Beatles, in other words." Mulder's smile had widened. Krycek nodded.

"Yeah sure, why not."

"I like Elvis."

"Presley or Costello?"

"Presley of of course." Mulder replied. "I went to see Gracelands once."

"Yeah?" Krycek glanced at him. "How was it?"

"Big." Mulder admitted. Then frowned at Krycek's sudden laughter. "What's so funny?"

"Nothing Mulder." Krycek replied with a grin. "Nothing at all."

"What? You think the fact that I took a trip to see where the King lived is a source of amusement?" Mulder asked coldly. There were many things that he hated, and being laughed at was definitely one of them.

"Oh no." Krycek replied with a shake of his head. "It's not that, I love Elvis too, it's just that..."

"What?" Mulder asked impatiently.

"For a guy that didn't want to spend the trip indulging in buddy-buddy type chitchat, you are sure doing one hell of a job at it."

"Krycek."

"Yes Mulder?"

"Fuck you."

~*~*~*~

"This is it?" Mulder was staring up at the small dilapidated looking house that was set on a corner block away from the rest of the street. The front yard was a tangle of yellowing weeds and crab grass that obscured the cracked path that led up towards the sagging front porch.

"Yep, home sweet home." Krycek replied, gazing up at the house.

"Christ, what a dump." Mulder muttered as he followed Krycek, forcing his way around the rusted half opened gate and up towards the front door.

"I don't come here very often." Krycek admitted as he pulled a set of keys out of his pocket. "I have an apartment in the city, I only come here when I really have to, otherwise..." He trailed off with a shrug. After keying the door open, both men stepped inside. The cool stillness of the house seemed to envelop them as they entered the dusty dimly lit living room. Dust and dried mouse dropping gritted beneath the soles of their shoes as they both walked across the floor. Any carpet that might have once graced this room was long gone, leaving only a faint shadow on the dull floorboards.

"Nice place you have here." Mulder could not help the ironic tone in his words, he was standing in the middle of them room, hands resting lightly on his hips as his eyes scanned over the windows, many of them shuttered, a few others sporting panes of broken glass, casualties of harsh winter storms and a few of the neighborhood children who often came poking around the house out of a mixture of curiosity and boredom.

"It used to be, believe it or not." Krycek replied with a smile as he looked around, taking in the pieces of old furniture scattered around, many of them shrouded by dustcovers.

"So how did you come to own a house like this?" Mulder asked.

"It used to belong to my parents years ago." Krycek explained. "They bought it after they emigrated here from The Ukraine. I was only a kid at the time."

"Yeah?" Mulder glanced around the room, taking in every detail, from the faded wallpaper to the cobwebbed dust covered furniture that sat around the room.

"You don't take very good care of the old homestead, do you."

"I'm not hear often enough, or long enough to make any housekeeping worthwhile." Krycek replied. "Well daylight's burning, so let's get the stuff and get out of here."

Mulder gave him a curious look, but said nothing. Instead he followed Krycek out of the living room and down along the hall towards the back of the house.

"This used to be my room when I was a kid." Krycek said as he pushed open a door. The bedroom was located at the very rear of the house, away from the main part. It was small, but the large windows let in a lot of sunlight, or would have if they had not been boarded up. The room itself was bare, except for a narrow bed and a small cupboard covered with bubbling leprous looking pale blue paint

Mulder's forehead creased into a frown as he looked around the bedroom, noticing the smoky brown stains that dappled the cream coloured walls. They gave the room a creepy feeling and for some inexplicable reason, made his skin creep. The whole vibe seemed...wrong somehow. Turning towards Krycek, he said incredulously.

"You actually slept here as a kid?"

"Sure did." Krycek replied with a nod. "Up until I was seven, then I ended up being sold to the Consortium."

"Sold?" Mulder frowned. "Your parents sold you?" His voice echoing his disbelief.

"It was a long time ago." Krycek replied and by his tone, it was clear that he wanted off the subject now. Mulder said nothing, he watched as the other man crossed over to the cupboard and pulled the door open. Reaching in, he pulled out a black briefcase, holding it up so that Mulder could see it.

"Everything thing that you ever wanted to know about the Consortium is all in here."

"Great." Mulder replied. "Now, let's get out of here."

~*~*~*~

"No, look everything's fine." Mulder said as he leaned forward to grab another slice of pizza. He was talking into his mobile phone, trying to calm a very anxious Scully.

"Yeah, I know that I said that I'd only be a couple of hours but something came up. Look, can you smooth it over with Skinner for me?" He stopped, listening to the voice on the other end of the line, aware that Krycek was watching him with amusement.

"I'll be back as soon as I can manage, okay? I'll see you tomorrow. Bye." With an audible sigh, he disconnected the line and tucked his phone back into his coat pocket once more.

"I've heard of being pussy whipped, but partner whipped? That's gotta be a new one." Krycek remarked with a chuckle as he lifted a bottle of beer to his lips. Mulder glared at him coldly.

"Scully worries about me, that's all," he replied. "That's what friends and partners are supposed to do and if you had any friends Krycek, you'd realize that."

"I have friends." Krycek replied. "Just not the kind that I have to report into every five seconds, that's all."

Without bothering to reply, Mulder finished the slice of pizza then sat back against the seat, replete. The both of them were sitting in a small motel room just off the main road. It had grown late and neither of them had wanted to do the long drive back to the city. So they had both decided to stop overnight at a nearby motel and order pizza and some beer instead.

"You know, in one way I kind of envy you." Krycek said suddenly. Mulder glanced up at him, surprised at the unexpected comment.

"What are you talking about" He asked. Krycek shrugged.

"The fact that you actually have somebody that cares. Someone that worries about you."

Mulder nodded towards the can of beer in Krycek's good hand. "Just how many of those have you had Krycek?"

"Not nearly enough." Krycek replied with a smile. "But seriously Mulder, you have to admit-you've led a charmed life, haven't you."

Mulder snorted at that. "What the hell's been so goddamned charmed about it?" He asked. "Trust me Krycek, the last thing you want is my fucked up life."

"You think you're life is so bad, Mulder you don't know jack shit." Krycek was leaning forward now, his face flushed slightly with alcohol and something else. His green eyes were glittering as he fixed them on Mulder intently.

"You want to know what fucked up is Mulder? Well, I'll tell you. Fucked up is having two drunken parents who didn't give a shit about you and sold you to the highest fucking bidder. Fucked up is having your entire life mapped out for you by evil sons of bitches who only keep you alive while you are worth something to them. Fucked up is having to live your whole life on the run because being a Consortium operative means never being allowed to have a normal life. Never being able to have a family or let anyone get close to you because you don't want to get them killed. Always having to live your life alone and never being able to escape the whole rotten mess that is your life because you belong to them. They own you and you know that you can never get away. So don't tell me how fucked up your life is Mulder. You have everything and you fucking well know it."

Tirade over now, Krycek leaned back against the chair he was sitting on, facing a now stunned Mulder. It took a couple of moments for him to recover himself. Finally he replied.

"What the fuck is your problem Krycek?" He asked hotly. Before the other man could answer, Mulder was up on his feet, fists clenched at his sides.

"So, you think I've led such a charmed life as you put it, that just goes to show how little you fucking well know about me. Okay, you had two rotten parents, well let me tell you, mine weren't much better. Maybe they didn't sell me, but I had a father who blamed me for my sister's disappearance and a mother who couldn't cope and decided to use pills and denial to block it and me out. After Sam was taken I suddenly became the invisible boy..."

"How many cocks have you sucked as a child Mulder?"

The question had clearly side swiped him. "Wha...?"

"Come on, how many?" Krycek pressed on. "Five, ten, a dozen? A hundred? Well after I turned fourteen, I had lost count. Yes, that's right Mulder, they forced me into having to sleep with them, they told me that it was all part of the training you see, but I had that tagged for the bullshit it was years ago." Krycek stopped for a moment, his face flushed and sweating now.

"They made you have sex with them? Jesus Christ." Mulder sounded sick. "Krycek, that's..." He let the sentence taper off, not quite sure what to say. For his part, Krycek sighed and lifted his hand, running it through his hair.

"It's just that compared to my life life Mulder, yours is...well, so much better. After all, you have Scully going into bat for you, and Skinner. Even those geeks, what do they call themselves, the Lone Gunmen? You have people that care about you, and who the fuck have I got? No one. You don't have to sleep with one eye open because you just know that some bastard is just waiting to put a bullet between your eyes like I do."

"But I thought you said that you have friends Krycek?" Mulder replied.

"Not the kind that would go looking for me if I disappeared." Krycek replied bitterly. "And not the kind that would follow me without question no matter where the hell I went. No, I'm pretty much alone, except for..." Suddenly he stopped, biting down hard on the last word.

"Except for who Alex?" Mulder asked softly. Krycek lifted his head, gazing at Mulder steadily.

"You Mulder."

"Are you saying that I am all you've got?" Mulder asked, taken aback. "I'm it?"

Krycek managed to raise a smile. "Yeah, pretty pathetic, isn't it."

"Fuck Krycek, what the hell do you want me to say?" Mulder lifted his hands helplessly. "Look; I'm sorry that your life has been so shitty. What you went through, what they put you through...I can't even imagine it, but I can't...I mean, I'm not the one that can help you."

"Yeah, I know." Krycek muttered, turning away. "After all, it's not like it's your responsibility. I'm a grown man, I can take the shit. Hell, I've been doing it all my life, what's going to change now."

"Well, there's the fact that we are here, together in a motel room eating pizza and drinking beer like two old buddies. That's changed things hasn't it?"

That made Krycek turn around again. "The only reason we are here is because I have information that you needed. Once you have it Mulder, you piss off like everyone else in my life. You'll congratulate yourself on getting the dirt on these bastards and once you have exposed them, you'll forget I ever existed and that's the way it is because I am disposable."

"Well, there's no way I can argue with that then is there?" Mulder's smile was cool and amused. He watched as the colour slammed into Krycek's face.

"You must think that I'm a prize asshole Mulder." He snarled. "I've told you things about me that I have never told anyone, and all you can do is stand there and look so fucking smug and superior. Well fuck you, you Armani wearing facetious little rich creep."

"Well sorry if I'm pissing all over your little pity party Krycek but as far as I am concerned, you made your bed and all that shit." Mulder's voice had hardened now, giving his words a sharp edge to them.

"You could have gotten out of it at any time, you do realize this don't you." He continued on, fully aware of the effect his words were having on the other man now.

"I mean, what the hell was stopping you from coming to me, or Skinner and telling us what the hell was going on. We could have helped you, gotten you the hell out from under. But no Krycek, you chose to stay with Cancer Man and his cronies. You lied, you murdered and you betrayed, and then you sit here whining to me how rotten your life is. Well fucking change it!" The words exploded out of Mulder's mouth, making Krycek flinch before softly replying.

"What the hell is it you think I am trying to do?"

"If you are serious Krycek, I mean really serious; then no more pissing about. If you want to change sides, then do it. Prove to me that you are genuine and this isn't just another Krycek mind fuck."

Krycek's green eyes settled on Mulder's hazel ones for the briefest moment. And in that moment, there was a clarity between the two men. A sense of discovery in that they were more alike than unalike in so many ways. It was then that Mulder came to realize that for all the time he had known Krycek, first as the heartbreakingly young, green agent in the bad suit and hair and then later as the cold eyed assassin-he had never really known Krycek the man, the fragile human that lay just beyond the facade.

"All right then Mulder, that's what I'll do. Starting from now, I am no longer going to play about with bits and pieces of information. I am going to cross over for real-and for good."

"And I'll help you." Mulder replied quietly. "And this way, you won't have to be alone anymore Alex. Welcome to the world."

"But can you put everything aside Mulder?" Krycek asked. "There's so much bad blood between us, so much fucking hatred. Can you put that aside, even for your crusade?"

"It won't be easy." Mulder replied, shrugging. "You're right, there's a lot of history between us, but that's what it is-history, and we are both going to keep it there. Right?"

Krycek's lips curved into a smile, a genuine smile this time with no trace of bitterness this time. "So what do you think Mulder?" He asked. "Think that maybe a new day has come-for the both of us?"

"Could be." Mulder replied easily. "It could be that a new day has come not just for us, but for humanity. What do you think Alex, want to rejoin the human race? It's all here for you-providing you want it."

"I want it." Krycek replied, noting that Mulder was calling Alex now, rather than Krycek. "And I want you."

The last was spoken so softly that at first Mulder thought he had misheard. But there was no mistaking the expression on Krycek's face. The closed watchful look had gone, to be replaced with something softer-more open...more trusting. And Mulder felt something inside him loosen. Something old and rusted from disuse. Suddenly a line from a song that he knew popped into his head.

//Through the darkness and good times... I knew I'd make it through. And the world thought...I had it all. But I...was waiting for 'you'.//

And that was when he knew he was making the right decision.

"Then if it's me you want- then who the fuck am I to argue."

~*~*~*~

It was late but still Mulder lay awake, unable to sleep. He could hear the gentle breathing of the man laying in the bed, curled up next to him, could feel the warmth of his body pressed up against his bare skin. The odour of sweat and semen still permeated the room, spicing the air with a peculiar tang all of it's own. The smell of love and lust and pure unadulterated fucking. The thought made Mulder smile. It was true though. Fucking women had a politics all it's own, but fucking men-well that was different. And not just for the obvious reasons. With men, there was very little bullshit, just hard cocks, open holes and hungry mouths. Simple really. But how simple could it be when the man that you had just laid was the same man that had killed your father. But then how could you blame him after knowing how cruelly he had been treated by the very same men that your father worked for and helped protect?

Uttering a soft moan, Mulder squeezed his eyes shut, trying to escape the thoughts that ran around his mind like frantic mice. How the hell can he be here, in this dingy little motel room having sex with this man? The very same man that had betrayed him. Betrayed his partner Scully and the X Files itself?

//It's so use having doubts now Mulder.// A tiny dry voice drawled inside his head. //After all, it's all blood under the bridge. And as for daddy dearest and Scully'd sister for that matter, well maybe it's better to let the dead bury the dead.//

"Let the dead, bury the dead." Mulder whispered, suddenly he looked down beside him. Krycek moaned softly, turning over to fling his good arm over Mulder's torso. Krycek had taken off the prosthetic arm before making love. It was now sitting propped up on a chair near the door.

"Are you serious Alex?" He whispered, reaching out to card his fingers through the thick sweat dampened hair. "Or are you just stringing me along so that your boss can finally get a bead on me. Get me in his fucking sights?"

A gently sigh escaped from Krycek's lips, his eyelids flickering. Mulder watched smiling fondly. The younger man was dreaming now. Slowly he traced the shape of Krycek's eyebrow while memories of earlier that evening crowded in on him. The way Krycek had looked when Mulder had crossed the room, gathering him up and kissing him soundly. The way Krycek's lips had tasted, the tiny surprised sound that he had made way down in the back of his throat. The way Krycek's erection had felt through the thin material of his worn jeans and then later, the way it had felt, his cock slipping into Krycek's hot tight opening, as though it belonged there. The way his skin felt under Mulder's fingers...the way his muscles had tightened and moved with each thrust.

//What if it's all a lie?//

"Then it's all a lie." He whispered. "And that's that, so you can just shut the fuck up you creepy little voice and leave me alone."

Just then, Krycek's eyelids fluttered open, large green eyes staring uncomprehending at first, then clearing as recognition and then realization set in.

"Mmm, Mulder, wha time izz ih..?"

"It's late Alex, go back to sleep." Mulder told him gently. Krycek blinked a couple of times, then yawning, rolled over, his butt pressing up against Mulder's side.

"Hmm, night Fox..." He mumbled sleepily. With a sigh, Mulder settled down beside him, wrapping one arm around Krycek's slender waist.

"Night Alex."

Gradually his eyes became heavy and finally closed, his last thought before drifting off to sleep was of old endings and new beginnings.

~Fin~

Song: Let the day Begin

Here's to the babies in a brand new world Here's to the beauty of the stars
Here's to the travellers on the open road Here's to the dreamers in the bars
Here's to the teachers in the crowded rooms Here's to the workers in the fields
Here's to the preachers of the sacred words Here's to the drivers at the wheel
Here's to you my little loves with blessings from above
Now let the day begin
Here's to you my little loves with blessings from above
Now let the day begin, let the day begin
Here's to the winners of the human race Here's to the losers in the game
Here's to the soldiers of the bitter war Here's to the wall that bears their names
Here's to you my little loves with blessings from above
Now let the day begin Here's to you my little loves with blessings from above
Let the day begin, let the day begin, let the day start
Here's to the doctors and their healing work Here's to the loved ones in their care
Here's to the strangers on the streets tonight Here's to the lonely everywhere
Here's to the wisdom from the mouths of babes Here's to the lions in the cage
Here's to the struggles of the silent war Here's to the closing of the age.
Here's to you my little loves with blessings from above
Now let the day begin
Here's to you my little loves with blessings from above
Let the day begin
Here's to you my little loves with blessings from above
Let the day begin
Here's to you my little loves with blessings from above
Now let the day begin, let the day begin, let the day start.

The Call