D.C Rain II - Double or Nothing
by Aries
November, 2000
Fandom: XF
Pairing: M/K
Rated NC-17 for language and m/m sexual situations
Spoilers: teeny tiny ones from Tunguska and Anasazi
Summary: The search for Alex is on, and Fox won't stop until he finds him. Turns out that'll be the *easiest* part.
Feedback: You betcha! As always, I can be reached at MMCUSN@AOL.COM
Archive: RatB, Den of Sin, Slashville I'd appreciate a quick shout from anyone else who wants it, okay?
http://www.squidge.org/terma/aries/aries.htm
http://denofsin.slashcity.net/aries/ariestitle.html
D.C. Rain II - Double or Nothing
Another night slowly closes in,
And I feel so lonely.
Touching heat freezing on my skin,
I pretend you still hold me.
I'm going crazy, I'm losing sleep.
I'm in too far, I'm in way too deep over you.
I can't believe you're gone.
You were the first, you'll be the last.
Wherever you go, I'll be with you.
Whatever you want, I'll give it to you.
Whenever you need someone to lay your heart and head upon.
Remember: after the fire, after all the rain,
I will be the flame.
I will be the flame.
Watching shadows move across the wall,
I feel so frightened.
I wanna run to you, I wanna call,
But I've been hit by lightning.
Just can't stand up for fallin' apart.
Can't see through this veil across my heart, over you.
You'll always be the one.
You were the first, you'll be the last.
Wherever you go, I'll be with you.
Whatever you want, I'll give it to you.
Whenever you need someone to lay your heart and head upon.
Remember: after the fire, after all the rain,
I will be the flame.
I will be the flame.
I'm going crazy, I'm losing sleep.
I'm in too far, I'm in way too deep over you.
You'll always be the one.
You were the first, you'll be the last.
Wherever you go, I'll be with you.
Whatever you want, I'll give it to you.
Whenever you need someone to lay your heart and head upon.
Remember: after the fire, after all the rain,
I will be the flame.
I will be the flame.
The Flame By Cheap Trick
********************
Middle of the day.
The petite woman wove her way through a mass of bodies as the lunchtime crowd hurried through the halls of the Hoover Building. The hulking form of her boss moved steadily beyond her reach despite her efforts to catch up with him. She hated to shout at him, but...
"Sir? A.D. Skinner!"
The man stopped in his tracks and turned around to find the owner of the voice he recognized as that of Agent Scully. He stopped and let the agent approach, peering down into dull blue eyes.
"When did you get back?"
"This morning."
"I take it you had no luck."
"No, sir."
Skinner released a heavy sigh. "I don't know how much longer I can let this go on, Agent Scully, before I have to write him off."
"Please, sir, just give him a little more time."
"How much more? He should have been back five weeks ago. Five, Scully."
"I know, I..."
"I should've canned him long ago, considering the reason he's disappeared," Skinner grated under his breath, looking around the hall to make sure no one was listening. "You explained it to me yourself, and I still can't believe it."
"I know," Scully whispered, moving closer. "But legally, there's nothing we can do about that. Krycek is free and clear."
Skinner shook his head and looked away.
"One more week, sir. Please. Give me one more week to find him."
"I don't understand how you haven't found him by now."
"He must be on the move."
"Which means he could be anywhere. So, how much good do you think another week will do?"
Scully looked down at her shoes. "I honestly don't know. I just can't believe he's disappeared off the face of the earth."
"Did it ever occur to you that he found Krycek, and the two of them have taken off together? You did say he'd pretty much washed his hands of you, so you can't think he'd call you to let you know where they are."
"Yes sir, that thought has occurred to me. But what if that's not the case? I have to keep trying."
The A.D. thought for a moment then gave Scully a curt nod.
"Very well. One more week. If you don't find Agent Mulder by then, I'll have no choice but to take action."
"I understand. Thank you sir."
Skinner watched the woman turn and retreat back down the hall, and he closed his eyes, massaging away the beginnings of a throbbing headache.
//Come on, Mulder. Show up. I don't want to have to give up on you.//
********************
"I can still hear those bells in my head," the middle aged man laughed, walking
into the hotel room he shared with his lover of two years. "Fifty thousand! Damn!"
"I know," the other man sighed as he fell onto the bed. "It's hard to take it all in. We gotta spend some of it on something totally frivolous. Maybe then I'll believe it."
"*Yeah*. Like what?"
The man on the bed thought a minute then grinned.
"We've been talking about a threesome..."
"You, Michael. *You've* been talking about a threesome. With *Jack*, no less."
Michael folded his hands behind his head. "Yeah, that was dumb. It could get complicated with someone we know."
"No shit."
"But what about..." Michael crawled to the end of the bed, then rose to his knees, rubbing his hands over the other's chest. "...a total stranger?"
"What're we gonna do, Mike? Go trolling for a good looking guy down in the casinos? What if he reacts badly to our proposal?"
"We've got money, John. If we get us a professional, we won't have to worry about that."
"You...you mean a hooker?"
"Yeah. This joint is crawling with them. I'm sure we can find one we can both agree on."
John thought for a moment then smiled.
"It's actually not a bad idea." He wound his arms around the kneeling man. "No attachments, no uncomfortable moments afterward...and how much could it possibly cost?"
********************
"There he is again."
"Who?"
The heavily made up hooker nodded to the tall, somber looking man, who wandered the strip, searching the crowds.
"Been here three nights in a row."
"Fussy shopper?"
"I don't know. Never seen him walk away with anybody."
"He's cute," the other hustler commented, looking the man up and down. "Think I'll go talk to him."
"Go ahead. I could use a good laugh."
Hands on his hips, the other looked his friend up and down. "What d'you mean by that, miss thing?"
"You're not what he's lookin' for."
"What, you think you are?"
"If I thought that, I would've hit him up by now. I think he's lookin' for somebody in particular."
"Yeah," the other leaned down to look in a car window and smooth his eyebrows. "*Me*." He straightened up and snapped his fingers in his companion's face. "Watch this."
Sashaying across the street, he approached his target and stood in front of him, smiling.
"Hey, handsome."
Dull, hazel eyes met sparkling brown then slid away.
"Been hangin' around a lot lately. What're you lookin' for?"
"Somebody."
The hooker slithered closer, skimming the tip of his tongue over his teeth. "I'm somebody."
"Somebody else."
The hustler stepped back, clearly irritated. "What's wrong with me?"
The tall man closed his eyes. "Nothing, I..." He pulled a picture out of his wallet and showed it to the hooker. "Have you seen this man?"
The hooker's eyes flicked too quickly over the photo then rose to other's face. "Nope."
"You didn't really look at it. Please."
The prostitute heaved a hard sigh and had a longer look.
"Ain't seen 'im."
"You sure?"
"Look man, I said I haven't seem him. I'd remember a face like that."
The man turned an adoring gaze down at the photo. "Yeah."
The hooker stared. "Yeah. Right. Very sweet. Look baby, you must be lonely. How 'bout some company?"
The man looked down and shook his head.
"Come on," the hooker purred, letting his fingers glide over the other's arm. "It'll take some of the edge off. You know...to tide you over while you look for your baby."
The man backed away. "No."
"What if you never find him? You never gonna fuck again?"
Hazel eyes blinked rapidly as the man's brain tried to wrap itself around that very real possibility.
"Body like that's too good to waste," the hustler murmured, looking the man up and down. "Let me put a smile on that gorgeous kisser. I'll give you a good price...anything you want..."
"No." The other man backed off another step. "No, I..." His voice trailed off as he backed up and, never having finished his sentence, turned and walked away.
********************
"Who the heck is..."
The bearded man belted his robe and looked down at the familiar face through the peephole of his front door. He quickly undid the various locks and swung the door open.
"Is something wrong?" he asked as the diminutive redhead swept in. "Mulder? Did you find him? Has something happened..."
Scully spun on her heel and faced Byers, cutting him off. "No. No, I haven't found him. That's the problem."
"It has been for weeks now, so..."
"Skinner's reaching the end of his patience. I have one more week to find Mulder before he takes official action."
"Damn."
"Yeah, I..." Scully looked around the room. "Where are Langly and Frohike?"
"Those two morons are at a Red Dwarf convention in Vegas."
"What in the hell is a Red…" Scully stopped and shook her head. "You know, I don't even…never mind. Byers, I need your help."
"I'll help in any way I can, Scully, you know that, but what more do you think I can do than I've already done?"
Scully raked a hand through her hair as she began to pace. "I don't know. I really don't know. Damn! How could he just have disappeared? Doesn't he care about his job? Doesn't he care about anything other than that slimy bastard he's chasing?"
Quietly, Byers watched Scully stalk the length of the room.
"Transparent snake. All that contrite, subdued, starry-eyed...*crap*..."
"Starry-eyed?"
"Oh, yeah. He'd give Mulder this sappy, 'I worship the ground you walk on' look, and Mulder'd just melt into a puddle of goo at his feet. It was disgusting. It...it was vile."
"Maybe it was genuine?"
"*What*? Oh, God, Byers, not you too."
"Just think about it, Scully. I know that Mulder is impetuous, and I'm as shocked as anyone else about this, but would he literally throw the rest of his life away on Krycek if there wasn't really something there between them?"
"If he thought there was something as deep between them as Krycek has led him to believe, then, yes. He would. He is. The man is a deceitful, smarmy, low down, good looking, sneaky worm, and Mulder just fell under his spell."
Byers looked down at his hands and said nothing.
"Byers?"
"Hmm?"
"Are you going to help me?"
"Umm…yes. Of course."
"Good. Now...he had withdrawn money a little over a week ago in Palm Springs. By the time I got there, he had disappeared. Now, I've been thinking about this. And if I know Mulder," she sighed, removing a map from her pocket and spreading it out on a nearby table, "he's thinking that Krycek is pretty screwed up, and he's gone back to walking the street, and he's hitting every red light district in the state of California."
"That could take a very long time."
"And that's time he just doesn't have. Not if he's going to have a life left after this."
"Scully, I know how close you and Mulder are, but...don't you think there comes a time when you have to step back and let him make his own decisions?"
"Mulder makes all his own decisions, Byers. That's why he's in the predicament he's in now. Ordinarily he's a brilliant man. Intuitive and clear-thinking...but in certain cases, most especially this case, it all goes to hell. I will not stand by and watch it happen without at least trying to do some kind of damage control."
"You're risking your friendship."
"As of the last time we'd seen each other, there wasn't much left to risk."
"Then, why? Why kill yourself trying to find him?"
"You don't just stop caring about someone because they're being an idiot. He could never speak to me again, and I would live with it if it meant I'd saved him from turning his life into a disaster."
Scully looked back down at the map, playing her words over again in her head. She was right. She was right, and she would find him.
"Now, let's get a plan working..."
********************
John trudged behind his lover, wearily searching for a man they could agree on.
"How about that one?"
"He's kinda scrawny."
"C'mon, Mike, you've shot down all my choices. I'm getting tired."
"Hey, you didn't like mine either." Michael stopped and sighed. "Maybe we're not gonna find one tonight. Wanna give up for now and try again tomorrow?"
"Yeah, okay. Too bad. I was really getting excited about it."
The two men turned back toward the hotel, traveling not more than a few yards when a black limousine pulled up, and a dark figure emerged from the vehicle. A very well dressed man got out after him, and as John and Michael passed, the man pulled a few bills from his wallet and stuffed them into the inside pocket of the hustler's leather jacket.
"A little extra for you. Talent like yours should never go unrewarded." He smiled at the other man. "Perhaps we'll see each other again soon."
"I'll be here," the hustler murmured flatly then turned and walked away.
"Now *he's* nice," John said, nudging his companion. "And if you tell me he isn't, you're insane."
"I'd *have* to be insane to say that. He's *very* nice. "Michael smiled at the other man. "Want him?"
"God, yeah."
"Okay, let's go for it."
The two approached the man, who had since made himself comfortable on a bench several feet away. Michael sat down next to him, and emotionless, green eyed drifted in his direction. When the hooker made no effort to speak, Michael cleared his throat and attempted to engage him in conversation.
"Hey."
No answer.
"We're uh...we're looking for a little three way action tonight. Think you can help us out?"
The dull eyes looked from the seated man to his standing companion then back again.
"Maybe," the gruff voice responded. "Think you can afford me?"
"Oh, I think so. Name your price."
"Tell me what you want first."
Michael shrugged. "Johnny here has always had this thing about sucking another man's cock while I fuck him..."
The hooker shot the one called Johnny a cold look.
"Ain't all it's cracked up to be."
John shifted uncomfortably from one foot to the other.
"Mike, maybe it's not such a good idea..."
"What, you're gonna take the word of a hooker? Come on, babe." Michael reached out and stroked his lover's thigh. "I'm hotter than hell just thinking about it."
"Yeah?"
"Hell, yeah. I love you, babe. You know I wouldn't let anything happen to you..."
The hooker snorted.
//Noooo. You just want to see him suck a total stranger's dick. That's love, man.//
John smiled down at his lover.
"Okay."
"Great. Are we all set now?"
Michael turned to face the hooker.
"Then we want to do you."
"No kink? No cuffs, no floggers, none of that crap?"
"No, no kink. I don't think John'd survive it." Michael smirked at the other man and blew him a kiss. "Just fucking."
The third studied the two for a moment then quoted his price.
"Fifteen hundred."
Michael blinked, clearly unprepared for such an amount.
"Fine."
Sable eyebrows arched then immediately dropped back down into place, and the other bowed his head.
Michael leaned over, looking into the downturned face.
"Okay?"
The dark head lifted, and the hooker focused on Michael.
"Cash up front."
Michael started to reach into his pocket, but the soft, rough voice stopped him.
"Not here. When we get to where we're going."
"Oh. Sure." Michael rose as did the third in their newly formed albeit temporary party. "Well...let's go."
The three started off in the direction of the hotel, Michael and John leading the way, and their hired companion following at a leisurely pace. Less than fifteen minutes later, they were standing in the middle of a large, ornate room.
"All right, gentlemen," the hooker rasped. "I believe we have some business to get out of the way."
Fifteen hundred dollars was counted out and handed over, and the hooker removed his jacket, draping it over the chair he stood in front of.
Two pairs of brown eyes watched hungrily as he undid the first few buttons on his shirt and stepped forward.
"It's your show," he informed Michael softly then looked to his lover. "Make a move."
Licking suddenly too-dry lips, Michael reached out and stroked the exposed, smooth skin of the hustler's chest. "Soft," he murmured. "Touch him, John."
The other man hesitated then timidly raised his hand to join that of his lover, caressing the other. His mouth trembled up into a smile, and he looked to Michael.
"Nice."
Michael pulled the rest of the prostitute's shirt out of his pants and finished undoing the buttons. Nodding his approval, he moved around to the third man's rear, pulling the shirt down and off while John continued to touch the bare chest and abdomen.
Sable lashes fluttered shut, and John immediately jumped to the wrong assumption.
"Feel good, gorgeous?"
The other gave no answer. He was too deeply immersed in memories of the one he'd left behind.
God, it hurt. It hurt so fucking much.
He'd been so close to heaven he could taste it. So close to that perfect life. The one he'd neither expected nor deserved. And now it was gone. He was gone. The one who had loved and protected him. His beautiful, sweet...
"God, what a fox."
Green eyes snapped open and turned up to John's face.
"What?"
The older man gave him a weak smile. "Guess I'm showing my age, huh? It just means that you're beautiful."
The hooker willed his heart to stop its wild thrashing.
"I know what it means."
"You okay?" Michael asked, massaging the man's taut muscles. "You don't look so hot all of a sudden."
"Fine." The dark man breathed deeply and released it.
"You sure?"
"You gonna stand here asking questions, or are we gonna fuck your bitch?"
Michael's mouth twitched as his lover moaned at the crude question.
"By all means...let's fuck my bitch. Johnny...why don't you finish undressing our friend, here?"
John bit down on his lower lip and let his fingers skim over the waistband of the hooker's jeans, then he undid the top button and pulled the zipper down.
His own cock throbbing, he was more than a bit surprised to find the other's completely unaffected. He threw Michael a quick look that implied that something was peculiar, and Michael followed his gaze downward.
Masking his surprise, Michael gave his lover a reassuring nod of the head and motioned for him to continue.
Fox...
The asshole had had no idea what he'd said, but the innocent mention of the word struck an agonizing blow to the hooker, and at this moment all he wanted to do was crawl into a dark corner and let the pain have him. But he'd been hired to do a job. And besides, he deserved this. He deserved it for being so fucking stupid.
He never should have let him in. Never should have dared to believe that it could work. He could never be what his love deserved. He'd tried so hard, and he'd talked himself into believing that it was okay. But reality had struck in the form of a little red headed bitch, whom so rudely had intruded on his fantasy and smacked him back into the real world.
And now it was all over. And he was back to this.
"*Hey*."
The vacant green eyes blinked and refocused on the man in front of him.
"Are you sure you're all right?"
"...Yeah."
John ran his hands over the broad chest and shoulders.
"Undress me."
The hooker complied, attempting to get his mind back on the job at hand.
He worked slowly at the first couple of buttons, and before he could reach the third, Michael walked up behind him and pressed against his back. He was, the hustler discovered, completely naked, having removed his clothing only seconds before.
Michael leaned in, his lips only a breath's distance from the younger man's ear.
"Rip it off of him," he whispered. "He'll go nuts."
The other closed his eyes, giving himself a quick pep talk then grasped the edges of John's shirt and gave each a violent pull. Buttons scattered, and the older man sucked in a sharp breath as the shirt was tugged from his body and thrown aside.
"Like that Johnny?" Michael called over the hooker's shoulder.
John nodded, panting softly.
"Of course you do, you slut. Go ahead," Michael murmured, stroking the length of the younger man's back. "Finish undressing him then go lie down on the bed."
The prostitute did as he was told, and Michael approached his lover, wrapping one arm around his waist and grabbing a handful of hair with his free hand.
"I want you to go over there, kneel between his legs, and suck him like you do me."
"But Mike...he's not hard. How am I going to get a rubber on him?"
"Good point." Michael gave the other man a fast kiss, then the two walked toward the bed, sliding up along either side of the hooker.
"We'd really love to get this show on the road," Michael began, lightly caressing the younger man's chest and abdomen, slowly working his way south, "but we seem to have a little problem here." He pointedly eyed the other man's limp cock. "Are you tired? I know you had just come in from another job..."
"Yeah," the other answered softly. "Yeah, I uh...guess I'm tired."
John smiled at Michael and lowered his head, kissing a moist path down the hooker's body.
"Maybe we can help," Michael whispered, nuzzling the other man's jaw. As he moved over the bowed lips, the hooker jerked his head away.
"What is it?"
"No kissing," the younger man breathed, avoiding the deep brown gaze.
"Okay. Uh...just relax. Let John and me take care of you."
//Alex...whatever's wrong...whatever's got you out here doing this...let me help you. Let me take care of you.//
"Shit, he just tensed up like a spring." Michael turned the hooker's face to his and looked into glazed eyes. "What happened? What's wrong?"
The younger man looked up at the ceiling, respiration becoming shallow, an expression of sheer grief on his face.
"Hey." Michael tapped the smooth chest. "Say something." He looked across at his lover. "It's like he's completely zoned out."
John tried. "You in there?" he asked, rubbing the other's cheek. "Jeez, Mike, what the hell's wrong with him?"
"I don't know," the other man mumbled.
"You think he's on something?"
The prostitute let out a shuddering breath.
"I'm sorry, Fox..."
"What the hell is he talking about...what's this Fox?"
No answer.
"Mike, he's gone," John whined softly. "Damn, damn..."
Michael shushed his partner then turned back to the tormented man between them.
"Is Fox a person?"
Sable lashes squeezed shut, and a drop of moisture spiked the tips, but the man said nothing.
"Michael..."
"Shut up a minute, John." He turned his attention back to the man between them. "Listen, I sympathize if you're having personal problems, but we paid you for a job here, and if you can't do it..."
Nothing.
Michael looked up at his lover and shook his head.
"Christ. We were so close."
"What're we gonna do now?"
"What the hell can we do? Try to snap him out of it and get him out of here."
John heaved a disappointed sigh and carefully placed a hand on the hooker's shoulder, shaking gently.
"Hey. Come on, you're in no shape for this. Go home and get some rest."
No sound but the erratic respiration of the man fighting to suppress his sobs of despair.
John tried again.
"Go see this Fox, whoever he or she is. Get your shit straightened out."
The moisture that had been gathering on the prostitute's lashes accumulated enough weight to drop onto his cheek and roll away. Startling the two men, he jerked himself up and slid to the end of the bed. He stood up and began gathering his clothes.
"So, you're leaving?"
No answer.
"Hey."
"See any..." The hustler paused, trying to draw a steady breath. "...any point in me staying?" He retrieved the fifteen hundred from his jacket pocket and shoved it at John, who was now sitting on the edge of the bed. "S-sorry I wasted y-your time."
"Why don't you keep it?" Michael asked, incurring a surprised stare from his lover. "Use it to get yourself home."
"Don't have a home."
The younger man dropped the cash on the seat of the chair to his right then finished dressing.
"Everybody's got a home," Michael argued softly, "My guess is, yours is with this Fox..."
The hooker stopped and drew a deep breath in through his nose as his eyes dropped shut. "Stop," he whispered, his crackling voice barely audible. "Just shut up, okay?"
The two men watched, at a loss for what to do next as the third finished dressing and moved to the exit. He slipped quietly into the hall, then closed the door behind him.
********************
Another long, hot, fruitless day.
The exhausted man sat at the small table in his motel room, picking at the dinner he'd picked up on the way in. He picked his head up, looking out the window into the gathering darkness, eyes scanning the desert.
Where the hell was he?
Five weeks, and he'd turned up next to nothing on his missing lover's whereabouts. He knew from experience that Alex Krycek was the master of the disappearing act, but he was a pretty damn good detective when he had to be.
And he had to be now. He would find him or die trying. He couldn't go back to D.C. and the life he had before. Not after the few brief weeks he'd spent loving Alex.
Closing his eyes, he reviewed the past few weeks again.
When he'd finally arrived in town the day Alex had taken off on him, he'd rented another car and canvassed the area, giving Alex's description to everyone and his brother, but no luck.
Deciding Alex might have headed back to L.A., he'd hit the road. When he'd reached the city, he'd driven straight to the younger man's apartment and found all of Alex's clothes gone. He'd picked the lamp up off of the end table and hurled it at the wall, cursing Scully to hell and back then headed to the place he'd first seen Alex.
An hour later, no one had seen the one they knew as 'The Executioner', and Fox had really begun to worry. When he'd found his first rental three hours after that, parked in the lot of a nearby bus station, his hopes had soared. He'd strode into the station, flashed his ID and got all the cooperation he'd needed, but to no avail. No one had seen anyone fitting Alex's description boarding any of the buses. He had obviously gone to a fair amount of trouble to cover his tracks.
And so Fox had done the only thing he could think to do. He'd checked every bus and train station and airport in the area, finally hitting pay dirt early the next morning at the fourth bus depot he'd checked.
A desk clerk took a look at the picture he'd shown her and nodded. Said that a man looking very much like Alex had boarded a bus the day before for Palm Springs. A quick check had revealed a large gay community there, and Fox had headed out toward what he'd hoped would be an end to this nightmare they'd both been plunged into.
As soon as he'd reached Palm Springs, he'd checked the terminal Alex's bus had come into and learned that the younger man had likely not boarded any other buses out of that station, so he'd checked every other terminal he could find in that area. There had been no reports of a man fitting Alex's description buying any tickets to anywhere, leading Fox to the only conclusion he could make. Somewhere in that city, his despondent, disconcerted lover was wandering around, and he had to find him.
Fox had spent over a week there, searching high and low, day and night, driving himself to exhaustion, and still no luck. If Alex had been there, he'd stayed well out of sight.
In the meantime, he'd kept checking the stations, and then one day he'd gotten a break. A porter at one of the bus depots recognized the man in the picture and told Fox that he'd gotten on a bus two days before. Unfortunately, he couldn't remember precisely which bus. There had been two departing buses going in almost the same direction in the time frame he'd indicated, but he'd had no idea which one Alex had taken.
Fox had gone back and grilled everyone else inside, but absolutely no one could give him any information. He'd obtained the routes of both buses and began to zigzag between the two, and now, here he sat, in this tiny, depressing motel room on the road to Las Vegas; no closer to finding his missing love than he had been five weeks ago.
The last lead he'd received was over a week ago, and he'd had nothing since. But he'd been led this far, and instinct told him to go to Vegas. Plenty of action. Plenty of horny men with more money than they knew what to do with...
It killed him to think that Alex had returned to hooking, but it was a logical assumption. The younger man had been so stuck on thinking that he wasn't good enough, and then, just when Fox had thought that they'd finally had a breakthrough, Scully, damn her to fucking blazing hell, had swooped in and made him doubt himself all over again. And then he'd disappeared.
Fox leaned over, burying his face in his hands.
//Jesus Christ, why'd you believe her and not me? What the hell did she say to make you run away from me?//
He lifted his head and again stared into the darkness, whispering to his absent lover.
"Where are you, Alex? I know you know I'm looking for you. You have to know I wouldn't just go back. Christ, how can you not know?"
********************
"...Now, he seems to be moving in a north easterly direction, heading toward Nevada. Which..." Scully stopped long enough to sip at the coffee Byers had made for her. "...is a likely place for him to look. Vegas is crawling with hookers." She looked up from her map. "Hey. Didn't you say Langly and Frohike were there?"
"Yeah." Byers picked up the phone and started to dial before Scully could ask him to. "I don't know what good it's going to do, but I'll try and reach them and have them be on the look out for Mulder."
Five rings later, a chaotic sound assaulted his ears, and he winced, yelling into the phone.
"Frohike? Huh? Oh, Langly? It's Byers....*Byers*. Look, I've got something important to talk to you about. I said I've got something to talk to you about! Can you tear yourselves away from the slots for two minutes so we can hear each other?" He looked to the woman and nodded.
"They're going to go outside where it won't be so noisy....Langly? Yeah, that's better. Listen, I need you guys to do something...yeah. Scully has reason to believe that Mulder might be out there. Could you just keep an eye out for him? I know you're surrounded by a gazillion people. Just keep your eyes open, okay?"
"Come on, Langly, what's he saying?"
The skinny blonde waved at his diminutive companion as though he were nothing more than an annoying fly.
"Yeah, Byers, we'll do that, but it'd take a miracle for us to find him."
"Find who?"
"*Mulder*. Now would you shut up so I can hear?"
"What?"
"Not you, Byers. I was talking to Frohike."
"Mulder's here?"
The blonde heaved an exasperated sigh. "Scully thinks he could be heading in this direction...if he isn't already here...or been and gone..."
"I know, Langly," Byers said, "that's a very real possibility. Just look around, though, okay?"
"Yeah, sure. We'll definitely keep a look out, and let you know if...I'll be a..."
"What? Langly, what?"
Langly hit Frohike on the shoulder, and before the other man could complain, the blonde pointed to the man just walking out the front door.
A bit slimmer and the air of arrogance he'd once worn, undetectable, but...
"*Langly*."
"Byers, you're never gonna guess who we're looking at."
"Mulder?"
Scully perked up, waiting for confirmation of what she'd just heard.
"No," Langly spoke softly into his cell phone. "The other half of this freaky equation."
"Huh?"
"*Krycek*, Byers, Alex Krycek."
"*What*?"
"Byers," Scully demanded. "Byers, what the hell's going on?"
"They just spotted Krycek."
"*What*? Do they see Mulder?"
"You guys don't see Mulder anywhere?"
"No." Langly looked around. "No, just Krycek."
Byers relayed the message.
"No, they just see Krycek."
"Tell them to tail him. Don't let him out of their sight. I want to know every move he makes, and more importantly, where he goes."
"Langly, you and Frohike follow Krycek. Don't let him see you. Tell us what he does and where he goes."
"Okay, got it. I'll contact you soon."
Langly disconnected and smiled down at his friend. "Let's go."
"Where?"
"To follow Krycek."
A pair of bushy eyebrows arched in surprise. "*Follow* him? What if he sees us? He could snap both our necks before we even have a chance to scream for help!"
"He's not going to see us," Langly snapped, dragging the small man along with him. Just keep your head down and your mouth shut."
For over two hours they followed their quarry while he wandered the streets, discreetly checking in with Scully and Byers from time to time. Finally, they tailed the other man to a low-rise apartment complex and watched him go inside. Langly called D.C. again and gave his report, and Scully instructed him to keep an eye on the building and contact her on her cell phone should Krycek move again.
The moment Scully hung up, she called the airport and booked the first flight to Las Vegas. That done, she turned to Byers and asked if he wouldn't mind giving her a lift.
"But," Byers sputtered, "you've got no clothes, so..."
"No time. I gotta go now. There's a flight leaving in two hours. I'll pick something up when I get there."
"All right, but...why are you going? They saw Krycek not Mulder."
"But maybe Krycek can lead us to Mulder. This is the biggest lead I've had, Byers. As much as I'd like to just let the bastard drop off the face of the earth, I can't. I have to find out where Mulder is."
"Even if he knows, what makes you think he'd tell you?"
"He'll tell me," Scully vowed, gathering up her things. "He'll tell me or he'll be the sorriest son of a bitch on the face of the earth. Now let's get to the airport."
********************
Alex moved through the dark apartment, not bothering to turn any lights on as he headed into the bathroom. Once there, he hit the light switch and reached into the shower to turn the water on, then began to slowly strip away his clothing. He dropped everything into the clothes hamper in the corner then stepped into the tub, letting the warm water flow over him. As he washed, thoughts of the two men who had been surprisingly kind to him seeped in.
Decent guys, Michael and John. More so than he'd first thought. He hadn't met anyone who'd displayed any kind of concern for him. Not since...
He closed his eyes and fell back against the tiles, gritting his teeth against the wave of pain that had just washed over him.
God, when was it going to stop hurting? When was he going to stop remembering those few weeks of heaven, and when was he going to stop wishing every night that things could have been different?
And when was he going to stop feeling Fox's mouth, so soft and sweet on his own, his hands, teasing and caressing...his cock, filling him...driving him to incredible, joyful madness...
Whimpering the name of the man he'd never see again but loved more deeply every day, Alex's hand dropped down to his throbbing erection and began caressing the rock-solid shaft, imagining it was Fox's hand on him. His head rolled from side to side as he touched himself the way Fox would have, and his mind conjured up images of his love, wet and slick with soap, pressing him into the wall, whispering soft words of encouragement as he took him ever so slowly to the outer edges of satisfaction.
His body trembled and rocked, pushing his cock into his curled fist while his other hand clawed at the wall. He could feel Fox's mouth grazing his ear, and his tongue playing lightly along the outer ridges and curves, then working its way deeper, sending hard jolts of electricity thundering along his sensitive nerves, pushing them toward overload. He could feel the heat of the other man's body, warming him in a way the water could not, and as ecstasy approached, the image was lost, drowned in a sea of blackness, and all he could do was hear Fox's voice, telling him that he loved him and demanding sweetly that he surrender...
His cries of completion quickly turned to ones of despair as reality descended, and he found himself alone.
"Fox," he sobbed, letting go of his withering cock and bracing himself against the tiles as he pressed his face into its smooth coolness. "I miss you..."
He stood motionless for a while then pulled himself together and continued with his shower. When he was finished, he dried himself off then crawled naked into bed, curling himself into a tight ball of misery.
More than making love with Fox, he missed the time they spent afterward, lying wrapped in each other's arms, his lover's gentle embrace bringing him a sense of peace and love he'd spend the rest of his worthless life missing.
He closed his eyes and fell asleep wishing that he would never open them again.
********************
Morning.
Gray-green eyes blinked sluggishly, and Fox moaned as the light stung them.
Three hours sleep on top of the seven hours he'd had in the last two days added up to not nearly enough to keep a rational thought in his head, yet somehow he functioned. He walked, and he talked, and he drove. And drove. And Jesus, he drove. Toward what, he wasn't sure. He might have been just chasing his tail these past weeks, searching for that which might never be found. He might spend the rest of his life alone, knowing what it was like for one brief moment to truly love and be loved, and knowing that that moment would never come again.
"No."
He pushed himself out of bed, forcing his body to wake up, and he got moving, showering and preparing for another day on the road. If he stopped only for gas, he thought he should make it into Vegas by early evening. Then he could spend quite a few hours searching.
Making one last check around the room to make sure that he hadn't forgotten anything, he picked up his keys and exited, closing the door on yet another empty expedition.
********************
"Where is he?"
"Hey, Scully, how are you? We're fine. Having a good time out here in Sin City..."
"Sorry, Langly. I'm just a little anxious. You haven't lost him, have you?"
"No, we haven't. Frohike's still outside of the apartment building we saw him go into. You know how many hours we've been staking that joint out?"
"I'm sorry, Langly. I really appreciate it."
The man led Scully to the blue compact at the curb and gave her an inquisitive look.
"No luggage?"
"Didn't have time."
"Okie dokie."
As soon as both were settled inside the car, Langly headed away from the airport and straight to the place where they'd trailed Alex to. When they arrived, they found Frohike sitting across the street from the building, dozing against a rock.
"Frohike!"
The small man practically jumped out of his skin, losing his glasses in the process.
"*What*?"
"You're asleep?" Scully screeched. "What if he's left?"
"Hey doll, look, I'm sorry," Frohike replied, readjusting his glasses. "But you sit out here all night and not get tired."
Scully exhaled sharply. "Okay, look. I'm going to go see if I can find out which apartment he's in."
"You want us to stay here?"
Scully stopped in her tracks and turned around. "I've got no car, remember? Of course I need you to stay here."
As the redhead stalked across the street and into the building, Frohike shook his head.
"God, she's even hotter when she's pissed."
Langly rolled his eyes and said nothing.
Frohike rested his chin in his hand and emitted an exaggerated sigh. "Hey, how about you give me the keys to the car, and when she's ready to go, I'll drive her."
"What the hell am *I* supposed to do?"
The small man shrugged. "Walk. It's good exercise."
"I had my exercise last night. We walked all the way here from the casino, then I had to walk back for the stupid car. I ain't walking a damn place."
"How the hell do you expect us to go parking with you in the car?"
"You're insane, you know that? What the hell makes you think that Scully would make out with you?"
"She wants me," the other man grinned.
"She hides it well."
"She's afraid of her feelings for me. She knows that if she lets herself go just once, she'll never be able to live without me."
Langly sighed and looked toward the building.
"Freak."
Go to Part 2
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