I do not own Highlander or the X-files

If I did Cory Raines would appear in way more episodes

Mirror Image

The FBI agent curled his fingers into a fist, clutching the digits so hard the knuckles turned white. It was tempting, so tempting to wipe that goddamn smirk of the rat's face. But Fox knew he couldn't. It was highly likely his former partner had some important info to share, and a broken jaw would make that quite difficult.

As it happened though, someone beat Mulder to it. An oddly familiar looking hand tapped Krycek on the shoulder. "Excuse me." The spy cum assassin turned just in time to catch a beauty of a left hook right across the face.

Mulder stared open mouthed at the new figure. Wide eyes went from Krycek to the other and back again. Since when did Alex have a twin? Or maybe, the more paranoid part of his mind put in. One of them was an alien shapeshifter.

Meanwhile, a scowl had spread across Alex's face. "What the hell Cory?!" he snarled, still clutching his nose. "I thought we agreed to stay out of each other's business." Having a doppelganger could be as inconvenient as it was useful. Things were just simpler when they stayed apart.

"We did," the immortal said pleasantly. "At least, until your business became my business."

Krycek paused, slowly lowering his hand. "What happened?" he asked.

Cory shrugged. "A group of thugs jumped me in London." He grinned. "Not the friendliest bunch of chaps, I'll give you that." He had not been happy. He had spent months planning that heist, only to have to cancel at the last minute. They were updating their security next week and then he would have to start all over.

A pair of green eyes narrowed. "And how do you know they weren't after you?" Krycek demanded, pulling himself to his feet. It wasn't like the immortal thief didn't have enemies of his own.

"Because," Cory replied patiently. "The last time I checked, my name wasn't Alex, Alessandro, Lex, Alexei, Alexander, or any derivative thereof."

Grudgingly, Alex conceded the point. "So what happened to them?" he inquired, his wary gaze searching the ally. If someone was gunning for him, he didn't intend to be caught with his pants down.

The thief shrugged. "They followed me into a forest, haven't seen them since." Cory tisked, clicking his tongue against the roof of his mouth. "It is shameful how ignorant some people are about wood lore nowadays."

Krycek wasn't fooled by the other's careless tone in the least. The immortal might not like to fight, but that didn't mean he couldn't. Cory had underestimation down to an art form. The spy nodded curtly, and was about to speak again, when Mulder snapped out of his shock.

"Just hold on!" Fox shouted, stepping between them. "Just what is going on here?!" He was a bit overwrought.

The doppelgangers shared a look, trying to decide just how much to tell the agent, when the sound of a gun being cocked echoed through the night. The trio spun to find themselves facing what appeared to be a firing squad.

"Ah boss," one of them turned to the man who appeared to be their leader. "What do we do? There's two of them."

The leader just scowled, eyes darting back and forth between Cory and Alex. "Shoot them both," he ordered. "We'll figure it out later."

Cory glared at his would-be twin, feeling a considerable amount of sympathy for Duncan McCloud. "I hate you."

Finis

Hope you liked and please review