Author's note: After such a long time, I've lost the password to my old email that I used for writing, and so this is my new account :D It's been seven years since 'Rovers,' and this idea was kicking around in my head on and off since then. This scene takes place after the fifth section in 'Rovers.'
Enso
The next morning, she lies awake in the tent, listening to the birds. It's strange that she wasn't woken up by the sounds of Krycek's usual routine, and she wonders if he had finally decided to part ways in the middle of the night.
Scully eases herself from the tent and finds him awake, sitting on the ground with a blanket wrapped around his shoulders.
Wordlessly, he looks to her before he is on his feet, and they begin to pack up their camp and set off for the day.
Several hours into their trek, Krycek clears his throat.
"Are you thinking of leaving?" he asks. He's looking straight ahead and not at her.
Scully bites her lip. "I don't know," she says, a bit embarrassed about last night. She takes a long step to avoid a muddy puddle.
Krycek grunts in response and continues to march.
They skip lunch, only pausing to rest and drink. It's late afternoon when Krycek suddenly stops.
"We can set up here for tonight," he says, looking to her for a response.
It's earlier in the day than their usual stopping point, but Scully can tell he is tired. She wonders how much he had slept the night before. "Alright," she agrees.
They sit around the fire when the sun begins to set. The air is unusually still. Idly, she watches the flames until Krycek's voice startles her.
"I saw you at the camp, a few days before they came to look for me."
Scully stares, dumbfounded.
"I watched you for a while. You were helping those people." Krycek's shoulders are slumped as he fiddles with his bootlaces. "I was going to leave you alone. But then they came, and I knew what they were going to do. I'd seen it before. I couldn't just let them-" He swallows and pauses.
"If you want to leave, Scully, I won't stop you." His voice is strained, and he can't seem to look her in the eye.
In all their time together, Krycek has never before uttered this many words to her unprompted. She doesn't know what to say.
They sit in silence until Scully moves to settle next to him. With one hand she reaches out, and her fingertips come to rest at his temple. He is staring at her now, his mouth slightly open in surprise. She wipes the dampness from his cheek with her thumb, and suddenly his arm is around her, pulling her up as he stands.
She nearly loses her balance, but he braces her against his core as he holds her. They stand for a long while, intertwined, and she can feel the swell of his breathing as he can surely feel hers.
When he kisses her on the top of her head, it reminds her so much of Mulder that she has to swallow the lump in her throat.
"Scully," he whispers, "look at me." He kisses away the tears on her cheeks before his lips meet hers, and all she can taste on his tongue is salt and pain and sorrow.
Somehow they end up inside the tent, and she allows herself just to feel again, to welcome the roughness of his palm against her hip and the way he uses his mouth to caress the delicate skin on her neck. She allows him inside her. She gives in to his desires and maybe hers too; she can't tell who wants it more when he's thrusting so hard that her fingertips are digging into the scars on his back as pain and pleasure ripple through her.
Krycek comes quickly, moaning like he does during his nightmares. He collapses on her, though she can feel him twitching inside her body. Trembling, she turns her face away, not wanting him to see her cry, but it seems he can always tell. In a single motion, he shifts her to her side so that they are facing each other, still joined at the hip. He wraps his one arm around her and pulls her so close that she can feel his heart beating.
"I'm sorry," he whispers over and over, almost as if he is pleading. "I'm so sorry."
Scully looks up, and in the faint light of the moon, she can see his face. He looks like the young agent she had seen so many years ago in that ill-fitting suit, self-conscious and a little too earnest.
"Do you want me to go?" he asks. There is something in his voice that makes her heart break.
"No," she murmurs, and brings her hand to his cheek. Tenderly, she kisses him as a small noise escapes his throat. He mirrors her movements, his lips grazing hers before moving down to trace her jaw.
"Scully," he says softly into her ear, making her to shiver. He removes himself from between her legs and holds her to his chest.
They fall asleep together.
In the morning, she wakes up alone and wrapped in blankets. She finds Krycek packing up their things outside the tent.
"Did you sleep okay?" he asks.
She nods, her skin flushing.
He lightly strokes her cheek. "Don't worry," he says. "The tent is yours. I'll still sleep outside."
"Krycek-" She scoffs and shakes her head. "It's not like that."
He shrugs. "I understand," is all he says.
Scully catches his arm and takes his hand into both of her own. She looks up at him, unsure of how things have changed. Or maybe they haven't.
But he merely squeezes her hand and leans over, laying a kiss on her forehead. He smiles at her in a way that she has never seen from him before. There is pain in his eyes but he blinks it away.
"You ready to go?"
Scully sighs. The birds have started to gather in the bushes near their site, waiting for them to leave.
"Almost," she replies and begins to pack up the tent.