Push

by The wicked hand of death

Payback is a hurtful thing.

Summary: This takes place post Sanguinarium. Alternate reality to Tunguska in December. MSR, Skipper, and out of character.

M/S S/K NC-17 for the dirty deed and language

Episode References: Sanguinarium, The Blessing Way, Anasazi, Duane Barry, Pusher

Anything in Russian is translated at the end. Using Russian as much as I could was the result of a dare.

Copyright: Obviously I don't own them…Chris Carter and Fox do. If I did, I would have ruined the show for the non shippers in season 4 originally lol. I'd like to think the actors also own their characters…If it wasn't for them, they wouldn't have been as good. I, however, do own Paul as he is my husband and I feel I owe him as I dreamt one night of him actually helping the Consortium. Part of the dream is where I got the inspiration for this and Osker Kilroy.

PUSH

Mulder's Apartment

7:30 pm EST Sunday

Mulder received a lead from unknown informant regarding Alex Krycek. A manila envelope was slid under Mulder's door.

Hearing a light knock on the door and a swoosh coming from the doorway, Mulder was startled back to reality after blankly staring at the television which was playing Miracle on 34th Street. 'How long have I been out?' he wondered realizing that the last thing he remembered watching was the news

'What really happened last night? Was it just a dream or was it real?' Were his thoughts as he stood up. He must have stood up too quickly; the blood rushed to his head and he felt lightheaded. Noticing his left leg had fallen asleep, he started to fall back to the couch. Rubbing his calf to get the circulation going in it again, he looked at the envelope once again wondering what was in it.

Once he was oriented, he stood back up, slowly this time, and walked over to the door. Halfway there he had kicked something across the floor. He couldn't see what exactly it was due to the only light being on was radiating from the television. Being that it wasn't heavy and that it sounded like plastic, he could only imagine what it was. The damned tape that 'isn't his'.

He flicked the light switch next to the black painted door and bent down to pick up the envelope. Hearing a gargling noise coming from the opposite side of the living room, he remembered that he needed to change the water in the aquarium. 'how are they even still alive' , he thought looking at the 2 large goldfish in the tank realizing they hadn't been fed since the day he and his partner left for case a few days prior.

He reached into the pocket of his blue jeans and found the pocket knife. Sliding it open with his thumb, he ran it under the orange flap rather quickly. Blowing it open, he knew what it was already; a map. Opening it, he saw a smaller white envelope.

He walked over to his black leather couch to sit down. Setting the smaller envelope on the table, he opened the map. It was of Russia. In the central part of Siberia was a large red circle with the coordinates 56.0167° N .and 93.0667° E written in red sharpie on the ride side of the circle near the middle.

Opening the other envelope, he saw a pair of plane tickets. Rolling his eye, he said, "Damnit Krycek. This is not what I wanted to deal with right now"

Mulder and Scully came back the day prior from a case in Chicago regarding a psycho doctor trying to gain "eternal youth". He had skinned 5 victims/patients. It was one of the goriest cases that he and his partner had worked on since being paired together four years ago. Unfortunately, the doctor is still at large.

They had decided on the flight back that they were going to take a few days off and then return to the office on Monday. It seemed to both of them that it was nonstop between the cases and the endless search for his sister.

Scully's Apartment

7:30 pm EST

Scully had decided that she deserved to finally have some 'me' time and take a relaxing bath. No chasing little green men, false leads, oh and have time to figure out what she was going to do about Mulder.

Pulling the silky tie from around her waist of the pastel pink bathrobe, she shimmied her shoulders a little bit and just let it slide off her creamy shoulders. It felt like a weight falling off of her. She checked the temperature with her toe. 'Just perfect' she thought as she sat down in the steamy bath and bent forward to turn the water off.

Sitting back all she thought about was what happened last night after she and Mulder had left the bar and how pissed off she was at his actions earlier that morning. She knew it was not his intention to get her drunk. It was supposed to be two regular partners just having a couple of drinks. The full intention was just to relax; neither talk of Dr. Cox nor anything else F.B.I related. It was just the two of them talking as friends.

The night before

10 PM

The Shadow room

Scully sat across from him in the small dark back corner booth talking about how she was missing her sister, Melissa. Mulder lightly stroked his hand across hers to offer some comfort and looked at the wine glass and then at the clear bottle. As he topped off her last glass and motioned to the waiter for another glass of Guinness, she smiled at him. Through the damp eyelashes, he could see a light flicker in her blue eyes and a slight smile creep through her lips.

"Scully, I have no words to describe how sorry I am. Because of me, she is no longer with us. There is not a day that goes by that I don't think of it." He said, his hand still resting on hers, taking a drink of his freshly chilled beer that the waiter was quick to bring them.

"Mulder, I'm sorry. This wasn't supposed to be a night for dredging up bad memories". She noticed how dark his eyes were and just saw the pain behind them. She knew he felt bad, and she also knew that there was nothing that he could have done to prevent it. It was her choice to remain in The X-Files, but she couldn't imagine being in another department of the bureau; especially with a different partner. In four years, they had been through more than her fellow agents had been in their careers of twenty years. "Muld-"

"Scully I think it's time we get going" He stood up and picked his black leather jacket up from the booth. When he did this, he accidentally knocked his glass over. In the process the rest of the red wine from her glass splashed onto his grey t-shirt. "Shit."

Scully grabbed a couple of napkins from the table and started to dab the stain. The first dab sent a warmth through him. He lightly wrapped his hand around hers to stop her. "It's fine. Let's go" he said smiling. This then sent a warmth through her.

They both stood there for what seemed like hours looking into each other's eyes, but in reality it was only a few seconds. The wine was working very well by this point. He didn't let go of Scully's hand as he spun around and started walking to the door. As they reached the door, he lightly squeezed her hand and she squeezed back.

By the time they had gotten outside, Mulder realized that he forgot to call a cab. They both had decided that it was best to not drive there. As he fumbled around in his jacket pocket for his phone, Scully glanced across the street and noticed a cab waiting. "Mulder, over there." She said pointing in the direction of the yellow cab.

"Good, cuz it's too damn cold to be waiting out here and that smoke is just getting to me in there. Just reminds me of that cigarette smoking son-of-a-bitch.", Mulder said tugging her arm in his direction walking to the curb. Looking both ways, he had decided that it was safe. He didn't see the car that was making its way around the corner. Thankfully the driver did though as he blared his horn for an extended period of time and slightly swerved around them. Mulder saw the driver of the beat up 80's Honda Accord mouthing obscenities and flipping them off, and it made him smile a little on the inside as he waved to apologize.

As they reached the cab, Mulder grabbed the rear door handle. As they both got in the backseat, Mulder said 3160 W 53rd, Georgetown. The grizzled old driver turned around and said, "You're the boss", as he pulled the gear shift down into drive.

Before the car had time to shift into gears, Mulder let go of Scully's hand and wrapped it around the small of her back. She was unsure what to do at this point and turned her face towards his with questions in her eyes. This was a different side to Mulder and she kind of enjoyed it…scratch that, she loved it.

Before tonight, they never truly gave a thought to anything like this. They've had their moments where they had crossed the barrier of just partners, but nothing like this. The ride to Scully's apartment was quiet to the outside world, but the looks that they had exchanged were very boisterous.

His eyes were drawn to Scully's bottom lip. She had a habit of biting it when she was thinking. Was she thinking the same thing he was? He decided that it was probably now or never, not realizing if it was him or the beer, but he didn't care. Tilting his head to the side just slightly, he followed through and lightly grazed lips against her lips. He could feel at that moment of contact the light airy breath protruding through those luscious lips of hers. 'What the hell am I doing? She's my partner' He knew this is what he should have been thinking, but what he was really thinking was, 'Oh Scully. If you knew how long I've wanted to do this', while wondering when the right hook was going to come, but it never did.

She had taken the bait. Opening her lips just enough for him to insert his tongue, she had placed her hand on the back of his neck pulling him even closer to her. 'Mulder, if you knew how long I've waited for you to do this.' Was all that should could think as their slippery tongues slid across each other. Running her tongue across his lips, her free hand moved to his back and pulled his shirt up just enough to feel his bare skin. It was soft and warm.

"Alright, we're here guys. That'll be $11.21" The cabby said looking in the rearview mirror and putting the car in park.

Mulder and Scully both forgot where they were for a moment. Pulling back, Mulder cleared his throat and grabbed his wallet out of his back pocket. Opening the billfold, he found three $5's and handed them to the driver and told him to keep the change.

Scully opened the door, got out of the car and looked back to see Mulder tailing behind her. This brought another smile across her face as she turned around to face away from him and he could mentally see it with her back towards him. Taking a couple of steps he realized that his jeans were feeling tighter than normal in the midsection.

As they walked up the steps, Scully was looking in her purse for her keys. The whole time, Mulder kept his hand on the small of her back. This wasn't out of the ordinary; this was very normal. But it felt different this time for the both of them.

Mulder stopped her just before reaching her door and grabbed her arm to twist her around. He needed more of those lips. He never really fully realized how much shorter she was compared to him until a few minutes into kissing, his neck started to cramp up. He didn't care, he wanted this moment for so long and ignored it until Scully stopped him and pulled back.

"Shit Scully. I'm so sorry. I think I may have had a little too much to drink-" He started to say when Scully interrupted him.

"Shut up Mulder, I'm cold and want to get inside". She said as she slid the key into the door lock. She unlocked and opened the door as she pulled him inside by his hand. Relief overwhelmed him at this point.

Once the door was shut behind them, Mulder pushed her up against the door and started kissing her again, this time with a little forcefulness, but not too much. He didn't want to ruin this, but the adrenaline was kicking in. Whatever he was doing must have been working because he could hear moans coming from her when he started to push his pelvis into hers.

She proceeded to bring her hands around to his backside and pull him as close to her as possible. She found the bottom of his t-shirt and pulled it up and then over his head. This was the point that she realized that the only light in her apartment was coming from the street light shining through her curtains. But, it was just enough to shadow each of his stomach muscles. She was rather surprised to find that he actually had a well defined abdomen. 'how does he find the time to work out' she wondered.

Interrupting her thought, he unbuttoned her burgundy cardigan as quickly as he could. Once unbuttoned, he started to kiss her skin in between her breasts. It was hot and soft to the touch; exactly as he had pictured it the many times he had thought about this moment. All at the same time he was doing this, he slid each sleeve slowly off, watching it hit the ground in a bundle and he kicked it to the side.

As he knelt down he started to kiss a trail leading down her midsection. She was so taken aback by what was truly happening that she almost didn't know what to do with her hands. Somehow, her hands found their way as she grabbed his hair and pulled him back, hearing a moan coming from him this time. It reminded her all of the times that she had dreamt of this.

He picked her up and her legs wrapped around him so tightly. She reached her hands up to his hair and started running her fingers through it. Starting to kiss her once again, he decided that it was time to make their way to the bedroom.

Their lips were intertwined the entire way, not once parting. When they reached the bedroom, he flicked on the light. As they reached the bed he fluttered kisses just under her ear and continued to the next one, causing her head to fall back. She sighed when she realized that he quit. Lifting her head back to see his face, "Mulder? What's wrong?"

The edges of his lips started to curl upwards, "Nothing Scully. I'm just taking this moment in and mentally recording it."

He sat her down on the edge of the bed and kneeled in front of her. Bringing up his arms to her sides and then to her back. She could feel him fiddling for a moment with her bra. As it unhooked, he slid the straps down her arms and dropped it on the ground.

She just smiled at him with the softest come hither smile, he'd ever seen. He had other intentions though, as he pulled her as close to the edge as he could and lightly pushed on her chest so that she was lying down.

As she looked up to the ceiling she could feel his kisses making their way until they halted just above her pants. He started to undo them and slowly pulled them and her black silk and lace panties off of her, and the kisses continued further down.

Every once in awhile she would glance in his direction to make sure it was indeed Mulder and that she wasn't dreaming. Contact stopped and she looked at him. "Mulder?"

He was just staring at her, still kneeling in between her legs. His eyes had the look of uncertainty in them. "Yeah, sorry. Are you sure you want to do this, Scully?"His hands were rubbing the outside of her thighs.

She sat up and placed his face in between her hands. All he could think of his how much he wanted those hands all over his back right now. "Mulder, I'm not going to lie to you. This is something that I've wanted for quite some time. I knew what would happen once you came in here. If I hadn't wanted this, I would have told you goodnight at the door. I am all yours to do with what you want."

This sent a rush of relief over him and he smiled. He knew that's how it was, but he had to hear it for himself to believe, wanting neither of them to have any regrets. As she fell back, she pulled him with her.

She rolled him over so that he was now on his back and stood; it was his turn. She was impatient and briskly pulled his pants off. "Hmm, no boxers today." She smiled and he winked at her.

After throwing them next to her clothes, she knelt down and placed her fingers around his thick cock. She was pleased to say the least and bit her lower lip maybe a little too much which caused it to swell just slightly.

She brought herself in closer and slowly slid her tongue down the length of the shaft. He inhaled sharply, held it for a moment and loudly exhaled as she wrapped her lips around the bottom and slowly slid her mouth up and then back down a few times.

He raised his hand to her head and her hair wrapped around his fingers. "Scully, I'm not going to last long if you….con…tinue…and…I…want…you…"

With a look of evil in her eyes, she pulled him out and she slowly slithered her tongue along him once more. He grabbed her around her waist and pulled her up so that she was now sitting on his face. Once his tongue slipped through and connected with her swollen clitoris, she knew it exactly what Mulder meant.

He could feel the moisture practically dripping which brought a smile to his face. A few more laps and her hips were bucking, and then "MULDER!" and she collapsed. He was kind of proud of himself knowing that the neighbors must have heard that and that he was conducive for this outburst.

She laid there next to Mulder panting, trying to catch her breath. He just rubbed his hands over her head trying to calm her down and she smiled. Her breaths were becoming less ragged and fuller. He was patiently waiting for her to regain her bearings, of which didn't take much longer.

Finally opening up her eyes, he could see the tension was completely dissolved. There was a glimmer of light that he hadn't seen in them in so long, if ever.

He flipped her over onto her back, crawled in between her legs and started to kiss her. She could taste the sweetness of herself on his lips. This was the first time and she didn't mind it too much. Her thoughts were broken when Mulder found the opening.

He slid in slowly and she inhaled deeply. Her legs were once again wrapped around him and they grew tighter with every thrust. He continued to kiss her neck and she nipped at his ears. Their moans were coinciding with each others' and her nails were starting to dig into his back even more.

They were both getting close and neither of them wanted this to end. Both of them started to feel that little tingling feeling. She tightened her legs, nails dug deep into his back, calls were getting louder, and finally they couldn't take it any longer. Within seconds, four years of tension escaped their bodies.

He collapsed onto her and then it was her turn to rub his head, and she kissed him on the neck. They were both so content and neither wanted to move, especially Mulder. She was so warm, and that meant by leaving her, he would be entering the cold atmosphere.

8:15

Mulder's Apartment

"Damnit Scully, pick up the damn phone" Mulder growled as he was leaving his apartment. "Don't be mad at me still."

Mulder jumped into his car and started the engine. Driving to Scully's, all he could think about was what happened earlier, and how upset she probably was when she woke up and all she found was the note from him laying on her nightstand reading 'I'm sorry I had to leave before you got up, but I have a couple of things I need to work out before I see you again on Monday'.

Yeah, it wasn't the best thing for him to do, but he panicked. He was unsure as to why he did this other than the fact that he wasn't sure it was what she really wanted or the wine working her.

He had tried to call her several times later in the day to apologize and to tell her he wanted to meet up again that night to talk, but no answer. He knew by this he had fucked up and that wasn't good. He hated knowing that she was hurt by his actions. Which in turned pissed him off more than anything.

Skidding to a stop in front of her place, he quickly jumped out of the car, slamming the door behind him.

He knocked on her door, but no answer. "Scully, it's me. Please open the door. I have some very important information."

Hearing nothing, he picked the keys out of his jacket and unlocked the door. He pushed the door shut and saw Scully coming out from the bathroom with a towel around her.

"Mul-"

"Get ready because we have less than an hour to check in at the airport. I received a lead on Alex Krycek. Someone slid this map and two tickets under my door. We can talk everything else on the flight"

She stopped and looked at the papers he was holding in his hand. "Mulder, is this an actual lead, or just someone leading you on again? I'm tired of being on the run constantly chasing false leads. You know that I want to get him just as bad as you do, but..." That's all she could muster up to say. She really was truly upset with Mulder, and the exhaustion of always running had finally caught up to her, and he could see it in her eyes.

Walking up to her, he cupped her cheek with his hand and said, "Fine Scully. I know you're upset with me and if you don't want to go, don't go. But, remember this, if we just let him go there is a chance he could still come back for you. And after last night, I don't want that."

She knew he was absolutely correct too. And she knew at that moment exactly what he meant with the last sentence. "Fine Mulder. Let me get dressed and I'll meet you at the car." He kissed her and left the apartment.

9:45pm EST

Mulder didn't know what to do once they boarded the flight. They needed to talk about what happened earlier, but he didn't want to make her more pissed than she already was. He could see the red embers in her eyes. She was infuriated; her physical demeanor showed it by sitting with her arms crossed and as close to the paneling as possible.

"Scully, I'm sorry for what I did. I wanted to make sure we, I mean I, made the right decision last night. I left because I was afraid you were going to regret it, and I couldn't bear to see that personally. I'll admit I'm an asshole for my actions." He noticed that she was still not looking at him. It was finally time to tell her the truth. "Leaving your place, I had no idea on where I was going. So I just walked around and I finally admitted to myself something if you even care to know what it was…"

Still looking toward the window, all she could do was mutter "What?"

He cupped his hand around her cheek to turn her face so that she could see him. "I love you, and would do anything for you; anything to make you happy. Seeing you mad due to my actions makes me infuriated with myself."

She knew his words were sincere. She felt the same for him. Not sure of exactly when she realized it on her behalf, but she had known that last night was not entirely due to too much alcohol. It just gave them both the courage to do something about it. She reached her hand up to his cheek, kissed him on the lips, and then laid her head down on his shoulder. Knowing what was going to happen in the next 48 hours, she knew they were going to need their sleep.

11:45am

Frankfurt Germany

They both woke up to the voice on the intercom welcoming everyone to Frankfurt. Mulder groggily grabbed the tickets from his jacket pocket to look them over. They didn't really have much time to get to the next flight. He'd always noticed that either you have way too long of a layover, or not enough time.

"So, Scully, we have 20 minutes to make it to the next flight, and then we have a 5 hour layover in Moscow and then to Irkutsk". He said. He looked down at her pale face and noticed the lock of hair that was hanging over her closed eye. So, he gently pushed back behind her ear. The corner of her lip raised just slightly at the feeling of his hand close to her face.

Once off of the plane they knew that they had to remain professional as they knew not who may be watching them. As much as it hurt, they knew that they could be close once they were on the plane. Thankfully it took less than 10 minutes to board.

Once they found their seats, they sat down and almost melted into each other. Scully was leaning against Mulder and his arm was around her back. He gently squeezed her, reassuring her that everything was going to be fine. Not needing words, they could sense everything that the other was thinking. Moving the hair out from in front of her eyes, he kissed her on the forehead and that was enough to lawl her to sleep.

End Part one

He had no idea why he was doing this. No idea what came over him last night. Was it Jealousy? Jealousy was an emotion. This man was purely emotionless on the outside. He always had the façade of a man on a mission; nothing more, nothing less.

*Flashback to the night before*

The dark haired assassin was standing in the corner of Scully's living room behind the curtains when he heard the sound of something hitting against the front door, followed by some heavy breathing and Mulder's voice.

"Shit Scully. I'm so sorry. I think I may have had a little too much to drink-"

"Shut up Mulder, I'm cold and want to get inside"

'Shit…I'm not going to fuck up again.' Alex Krycek thought to himself while remembering what happened a year ago with Melissa Scully.

He had just seconds to figure out what he was going to do. The Cigarette Smoking Man was very adamant that Mulder was not to get harmed if he was around when Krycek killed Scully. Imagining what would happen if he did shoot her, he decided that he was going to just sit back and enjoy the show until Mulder left.

As the key was unlocking the door, he decided to uncock his Sig and put it in the waistband of his blue jeans in the back. He stood there wondering what he was going to see once the partners crossed the doorway. He had an idea thanks to his imagination.

The apartment was dark until the door opened and he looked down and noticed the reflection on the floor pouring in from outside followed by the bodies of Mulder and Scully as one. 'Damn Mulder. It's about time.' He thought with a little grin covering his face.

Krycek wasn't blind. He knew that there was something between those two and had wondered how long it was going to take. In the back of his head though, he had always wondered if he, himself, may have had a chance with her. For instance, when she shot Mulder to prevent him from shooting him. Something clicked in his body at that moment. But being the hard ass he is, he just pushed it to the side.

Every once in awhile he would sit in his lonely dark apartment and her image would flood his thoughts. She was becoming his disease, and he really wish he could shake it. He had been taken more jobs just to keep himself occupied, but it just wasn't working.

The door closing broke him out of his reverence and he just stood there in the darkness. What he really wanted to do was pull out that sig and shoot the son of a bitch Mulder and have his way Scully and show her what a real man was. The only reason he hadn't was his order to not harm him.

By this time he had decided what cards played in the future and he had decided that he was going to play the king of hearts. Wasn't sure how, but as soon as the show was over and he could make his escape, he would be out of here.

1:00 AM EST

After deep consideration and time planning this, Krycek decided what the plan was. He made his way to Dulles.

Walking up to the ticket counter he noticed the tall blonde that almost resembled Gwyneth Paltrow just staring at him, biting her lower lip. Ignoring the come hither look she had about her, he asked when the next flight to Russia was and that he needed to go to Irkutsk. "And then I need two tickets for tomorrow night to the same destination."

She realized that he was either unaware of her physical flirting or he was probably just gay and quite disappointed. In a rude valley doll tone, she said "Ok sir. Well, there next flight out is at 3:30 am, will that be okay?" He nodded. "For tomorrow night, I have 2 seats left for the flight leaving at 9:50 pm. Do you want that one?"

"Yeah, that's fine. Do that one." Handing over his credit card while looking around. He felt like eyes were burning a hole in the back of his head and he couldn't figure out who it would be and the place was almost dead. He counted 13 fellow travelers waiting for the flights. Some just sitting there looking off into the distance and others with the heads buried in their books, newspapers, or cell phones.

In a snobby tone the counter girl said, "Alright sir, have a good flight"

Taking the tickets from her, he just nodded and looked at them to ensure everything was in place. With his guard down, he felt a slap on his upper right shoulder, dropped the tickets on the ground and started feeling around for his gun. He started to pull it out of his back from the belt, he heard a billowy laugh.
He could recognize that laugh anywhere.

"Shit Paul. You were the one watching me." He said while picking the tickets up.

"Oh damn Alex. You must really be messed up and twisted over something to be losing it like that." Paul said.

Paul was a great friend of Krycek's. They'd worked a few cases in the F.B.I prior to both of them going rogue and joining the Consortium. The 6'2" guy was looking a little worse for words these days. Krycek slapped his gut "Man, Paul something looked like it twisted in your gut and isn't going anywhere" noticing he had put on a few pounds and then chuckled.

Paul just laughed and said "Well, it's called sympathy cravings asshole. Remember that gal I met 2 years ago over in Scotland when I was hunting Osker Kilroy?" Krycek nodded "Yeah well Adair and I got married a year later, and well, bam she's now due any day with a boy. Still arguing over the names. I want George after George Patton and she wants Mason after her grandpa. So man what's up with you?"

Krycek just stood there in thought of what it may be like to have kids someday. 'Chto, chert voz'mi, ne tak so mnoy?' Again with the Scully shit.

"Hello? Earth to Krycek…you're not okay, are you man? It's a woman, huh? The last time I saw that look in your face that gal from Russia had just broken up with you just after we joined the academy.

"Nah. I just have a lot on my mind. So, you coming or going?" He was lying and Paul knew it…Paul also knew not to probe for more info. They used to talk about everything, and then one day the last week at the academy Krycek just went off the handle on Paul grabbed him by his shirt collar, pinned him against the wall and told him if "I wanted to talk about this shit, I would." Ever since then, Paul just let it be.

"I actually just flew in from Pakistan. You?"

"I'm going." A light flickered in Krycek's brain, and he had an idea, "But could I ask you a favor? If I give you the address, could you deliver something for me?"

"Sure man. You know I would do anything for you after saving my ass over there in Sri Lanka"

Krycek and Paul walked over to the duty free shop and then to the map stand and found one for Russia. Opening it, he wondered if this plan was really going to work. "Hey Paul, you got a pen on you by chance?"
"Yeah man, let me find it for you." He pulled his military style backpack off his shoulders and unzipped one of the side pockets. "Ahah, here ya go" as he handed the red Sharpie over to Krycek.

Paul stood there for a moment wondering what exactly Krycek was up to.

"Sir, you need to purchase that prior to writing on it." The cashier said. He had the look of 'here we go again' on his face. It had just been one of those days for the poor guy.

"Sorry. Do you have any envelopes you could sell me? I just need one large enough to fit this in." Krycek said as he held up the map and the envelope with the two plane tickets.

"Let me check in back." The cashier walked to the stock room and after a minute or two, brought one out and set it on the counter. "That's the only one I could find."

"That'll do. How much do I owe you?"

After pushing a couple of buttons on the register, "That'll be $4.19."

Krycek pulled out his black leather wallet from his jacket and put a $5.00 on the counter told the kid to keep the change.

"Hey Paul, stop looking at the nudie magazines and let's go" He said walking over to a table and chair in front of the shop. "Good thing to know you haven't changed in the last few years." As he got to the table, he unfolded the map, circled Siberia and wrote the coordinates 56.0167° N and 93.0667° E. He had been there many times and knew the area much better than he even knew the layout of his own apartment being that he was only there on average three to four days out of the month.

When he was a teenager, his dad would take him camping and hunting there at the beginning of winter. He said it was to harden him up and make him a man. The first year they went, he shot a 6 point Eurasian Elk with his Mosin Nagant 91/30 that his grandfather had given him for Christmas the prior year. His aim still needed much work as he had aimed for the heart, but hit the rear hindquarter. He just watched in terror as the elk had started to run off, limping.

Following the blood trail for 2 miles, they finally found it lying there, still alive. The closer they got to it, the more thrashing it would do, until his dad pulled his M44 Carbine from around his back and shot it in the head. Krycek just stood in horror as the elk was looking straight at him with pleading eyes. He would never forget the bugle and bark sounds that that poor guy was making just shortly prior to being killed warning all of the others to get the hell away or to save him.

"Hey Krycek, you gonna finish this, so I can deliver that for you?" Paul said as he got to the table. He knew something serious was on his mind and was almost worried for him. He had never seen Krycek this disoriented. He was the most alert person he knew, but it almost seemed as if he wasn't even on Earth anymore.

"Der'mo. Yeah, sorry Paul." Krycek double checked the airline tickets, slid them back into their envelope, refolded the map and slid them both into the manila envelope. On the front he scribbled 2630 Hegel Place #42 Alexandria and then handed it to Paul. "Please make sure this gets there. Just slide it under the door, knock once and walk away."

"What if this persons not home?" Paul asked taking the envelope from Krycek.

"Don't worry about. If he is, he is. If not, he'll see it when he gets home. Thanks for doing this for me."

The two shook hands, slapped each other on the shoulders and went their separate ways.

End Part Two

Tuesday

4:30 PM UTC

Irkutsk, Russia

While on the second connecting flight Scully took her jacket off. She heard a light plastic sounding thud. She looked down, and found a disk that just read Scully on it. The writing looked familiar, but neither she, nor Mulder could remember where they'd seen it before.

"Mulder, what is your plan?" She waited for a response and heard him sigh. "We flew for 24 hours, and you still don't have one." Scully was still upset and rightfully so. She knew that she would rather be laying in her bed watching some sappy chick flick then chasing Krycek half around the world.

She looked up at the welcome flag of Irkutsk. It was of a Siberian tiger with a dead sable in its mouth. She kept staring at it. For some reason she couldn't take her eyes off it. She kept looking at the sable, wondering if that's what was going to happen to Krycek once they found him. She was that irritated by this. Because of her trance, she didn't realize that Mulder had stopped to make a call.

"Ey yego Malder…khorosho, a vy…net, yap o delu…aga Scully's so mnoy…by dumayete, my mogli by priyti I proverit' chto-to na komp'yutere…khorosho, my budem tam primerno chas."

Scully was listening intently to the one sided conversation. She knew Mulder spoke some Russian, but didn't know he was fluent in it. She thought it was actually sexy. Russian to her was more romantic than French, Italian, or even Spanish.

"That was Anitchka." Mulder said, putting his phone back in his pocket.

"Anitchka?" A slight shudder of jealousy ran through Scully, but she tried hiding it from Mulder. Unfortunately, he did notice it and she knew it when he winked at her.

Mulder turned Scully around to face him and said, "We had a couple classes together at Oxford. We can check out the disk at her place and then we can get some dinner and a room for the night." He placed his hand around her wrist and pulled her closer to him to hug her, and that made her smile just slightly.

She pulled away when she spotted someone sitting in a chair intently watching them over the newspaper in his hands. "Mulder, Anitchka must be wondering where we are. We really need to go." She said as she turned around to walk towards the exit.

As the sliding glass doors opened, it felt like a frigid blanket was covering them in ice. They both gasped as the cold sensation of the Russian winter rushed over them. Mulder looked over at Scully and noticed that she was shivering once they got outside, so he took his jacket off and draped it over her shoulders as they were walking to one of the many waiting taxis. "Mulder, take it back. You're the one in just a t-shirt." She said, taking it off and handing it back to him as she noticed the digital thermometer overhead read -26.1°C.

"I was just trying to be nice Scully" He said, while he opened the door.

Once seated and the door was closed Mulder gave the driver the address and said something else to the driver that Scully was unable to understand. She loved it that he was able to speak Russian. It was so beautiful sounding.

Once he was done talking to the driver he started to put his arm around Scully when she told him that they were being watched.

"By whom?" he said retracting his arm back to himself.

"I'm not sure. I noticed an older gentleman in the terminal peering over his newspaper when you hugged me. That's when I made mention of Anitchka wondering where we were." She looked out the window. The Angara River was completely frozen over and she thought how beautiful it was.

"Okay Scully. We will have to be on the look-out then. It may have to do with the disk" He said as he felt around in his jacket pocket to ensure that it was still there. Once satisfied that it was, he pulled his hand out and patted Scully's knee, which sent warmth up to her belly along with memories of the last night they spent together.

The taxi turned left and Mulder glanced in the rearview mirror. "Scully, does the fox have a brown tail?"

The question caught her off guard, but she realized what he was really asking. "Yeah, with black flecks of hair in it."

Mulder padded the driver on the shoulder and said, "Voditel', by mozhete ostanovit'sya zdes'"

"Vam vse ravno pridetsy 8,5 kilometra. Ty uveren?"

"Da. Eto budet khorosho" He then handed the driver a couple of bills and opened the door as the car came to a stop.

"Spasibo…Spasibo…Spasibo" The driver got out of the car, ran over and opened the door for Scully. After she stood up on the curb, he ran to the back of the car and hugged Mulder. "Khoroshego dnya" Mulder said as the driver walked back to his front door and drove off.

"Mulder?" Scully had never seen any taxi driver that happy unless they received a generous tip. She wondered how much he gave him.

Looking in his wallet, he rolled his eyes. "Shit. I just made him a happy guy. I pulled out the wrong bills. He just got the equivalent to $300 for a $20 cab ride. Scully we need to get inside now" He said as he put his arm around her back and nudged her to the entrance of what appeared to be a high end department store resembling Nordstrom's.

Once inside Mulder looked at Scully and realized that she was entirely underdressed for a Russian winter. She was wearing her usual attire of black slacks, a green turtleneck, and long knee length felt jacket. It was her normal everyday garb for the states, but it was a minimum of 45° colder here than back in D.C. "Scully, we need to get you some warmer clothes. At the very least, a new jacket, or you'll freeze in about 20 minutes out there. While you're looking around, I'll call Anitchka and let her know we will be there as soon as possible."

She was walking towards the women's section and started looking at the jackets first. Mulder was right; hers was not close to being adequate enough for this Russian weather. At least it was barely ample enough for winter in D.C. But, when you're always chasing after Mulder, it didn't matter. That was your warmth.

She felt a hole burning in the back of her head like someone was staring at her. She turned around and saw two short brunettes holding tops up to each other laughing and talking to each other in Russian. Mulder was by the entrance talking on his phone looking out one of the main front windows. It was just the four of them and the cashier in the store it appeared.

She turned back to the jackets and found one that looked heavier than the others. It was a dark green with black inner lining. The hood had what appeared to be a fox faux border. She pulled it off the rack and tried it on. The arm length was a little long, but the overall length was good being that it went to mid thigh. She decided that this was the one.

Mulder came up behind her, "That one should work for you. Anitchka said she'll be here in about five minutes to pick us up since she was already in town on her way back to her house to meet us. She can't wait to finally meet you." He said with a grin and then kissed her on the cheek.

"Oh? What have you told her?" Scully asked wondering what Anitchka knew about her.

"Don't worry, Scully, nothing bad. Just that we have worked together for a few years and you have stuck around." Mulder said as they walked up to the counter.

Scully handed the cashier the jacket. As Mulder paid for it, she was looking around and noticed that the same black Landrover was still parked across the street with the same man sitting in the driver's seat looking towards the store.

"FOX!" Scully was shaken out of her thoughts when she looked over to see this tall blonde woman with her hands out to her sides walking up to Mulder to give him and hug. She was dressed in clothes that Scully knew she couldn't afford with her last five paychecks. Hell, her white Ushanka hat was worth more than Scully's car was probably. She was definitely dressed like the stereotypical Russian that Scully had seen in the movies with the hat, the long coat, and the furry boots all white. Her eyes were the color of emeralds, hair was pitch black and her skin was a deep bronze.

"It's been so long. Oh I'm sorry…you must be Dana." Anitchka said in a heavy Russian accent breaking her embrace from Mulder and then giving Scully one. She was strong enough that it made Scully feel as if she could easily be going to be diverted to hospital for a broken rib prior to going to Anitchka's house. After feeling what she thought were a couple of minor cracks, Anitchka let go. Scully looked at Mulder and started lightly rubbing her left rib.

Anitchka looked at Mulder and asked how long they were going to be in town.

"I'm not sure. Like I said, we're here just on business looking for a fugitive. Speaking of that, do you still have Natalia and Anastasia?"

"Yes yes. They are still right were you left them." She said smiling.

"Mulder, we need to go out through the back." Scully said glancing back and forth between Mulder and the SUV wondering how well the driver could see through the tinted windows.

"Ana, can you-"

Anitchka knew exactly what Mulder was going to ask, "You both go through those doors, walk down the hall past 3 doors on your left. That will take you into another shop. Go through their back doors and I'll be back there in a moment." She then looked at the cashier, "Oh, and Petra, turn off the alarm to the building please for 5 minutes."

Scully looked at Mulder with a raised brow in question. "She owns most of this town. Stay here and I will walk her out to the car. I'll be right back."

Scully stood there watching them and wondered how close they were before today and why hadn't Mulder never mentioned this woman before. Why did she feel a twinge of jealousy? It wasn't like he was all over her. It was just a friendly hug, oh and then the kiss on the cheek just before she got in her Mercedes SUV and shut the door.

Mulder walked through the door and then up to Scully. He placed his hand on the small of her back and gave her a gentle nudge to follow him.

They reached the hall and the door shut behind them. Scully was walking ahead of Mulder when she felt his hand wrap around hers. Her body swung around to face his. He looked into her eyes and kissed her with such force. Mental pictures of the other night flooded her brain and for a split moment she had the same feeling as she did then in the pit of her stomach. Mulder broke the kiss and cupped her face in between his hands and said, "I love you so much Scully."

She placed her hand over his and said, "I love you too, Mulder." Neither of them had to say it; they could tell just by looking into each other's eyes.

"Alright. Let's get the hell out of here and hope he's not following us. Anitchka's driving scares the hell outta me as it is. I'm afraid to see what it would be like if someone was chasing us."

They continued down the dingy hall barely able to see due to the lights flickering from the base of the music. The closer to the door they got, the louder the music got. As Mulder was reaching for the door knob, there was a loud thump and part of the drywall started to crumble and fall to the floor next to the door frame. 'What the hell are we walking into?' Scully wondered.

After waiting a moment to make sure they weren't going to be walking into a bar fight, Mulder opened the door slightly and looked in. The techno music was so loud that every beat caused both of them to flinch. It was another clothing store. This one accommodated ravers judging by the clothes and music.

Once inside Mulder looked down to his left side on the floor and noticed a young guy with a green Mohawk in all leather bleeding from his nose with what would soon be a black eye. He waved Scully in and said "Let's hurry up."

Once she got in she was taken back to a time when she was in college. It was rightfully called her punk stage. It only lasted one month, but that one month was the worst time of her life; a time that she never wanted to revisit ever again and then she would die a happy person.

Opening the back door, after getting some weird looks from the shoppers and cashiers, Mulder saw Anitchka's SUV waiting across the alley, still running.

As the window was rolling down, she said "Hey I lost him for you after he crashed his car into a light post chasing me." With a smile on her face.

"Thank you. I owe you big time." Mulder said as he got closer. He got in the back after he told Scully she could have the front.

"Alright kids, buckle up. It's going to be bumpy ride 'cuz I think there's another one looking for you two. Mulder, why is it that every time we've met after you joined the F.B.I. does something like this happen?" Anitchka asked as she started to squeal out of there like a bat out of hell looking in her rearview mirror and seeing another black Landrover barreling down on them like a WWII dogfight was about to ensue between a Yak-9 and a P-51 Mustang.

Scully had a death grip on the door handle by the time they reached the main street, of which Anitchka didn't even slow down for when she turned a sharp right. Hearing the screeching of another vehicles tires and the horn blaring, she could only imagine the words that were being spouted out of their fearless drivers mouth were obscenities, followed by a few hand gestures.

The city was becoming a zigzag blur. "Mulder, under my seat there is a case under the cover. Pull it out."

Mulder was getting jostled around trying to do this so much that it took him more than a full minute to get the case. He thought he had a tight enough grip on it, but didn't when the mahogany cigar box fell back to the ground and the lock popped open. Laying in it was a Tokarev TT-33 pistol. He loaded the clip and turned the safety off.

Mulder rolled the window down just in time to notice the other SUV was right next to them and the female passenger was aiming her pistol at him. He shot one round, and it ricocheted against the door frame. "Shit!" Shot another round hit her dead center of the forehead. Her body started to haunch down when he shot another round and hit the masked driver in the neck region. They started to veer into the oncoming lane and plowed into the barrier between them and the frozen sheet of ice which would be the Angara River.

End Part Three

5:30 pm UTC

Anitchka's Residence

Scully just closed her eyes, listened to the hum of the wheels, and prayed they would make it to the house alive. The humming must have been so calming because a while later, she opened her eyes and all she could see were white covered mountains that appeared to have pink twinge to them from the sunbeams bouncing off of the overcast sky.

Anitchka turned left on a road with trees on both side. At the end of 50 yards of unplowed road was a mansion hidden from the main road by all of the trees. 'Go figure the way she dresses and what she drives' Scully thought to herself.

As they three opened their doors they could hear baying from what Mulder and Scully figured were wolves. The closer they walked to the doors, the closer the baying got. Scully winced and noticed that they were in deed wolves when they got to the tree line.

"O vedut sebya mal'chiki. Oni s pe. They won't hurt you." Anitchka said as she pushed the code for the security system.

A couple of them retreated back to the woods while the other three walked over to Mulder and Scully nuzzling their noses in their legs. Mulder squatted down to pet the two which were standing in front of him. He absolutely loved dogs, but hell, the guy couldn't even keep goldfish alive. Whereas Scully was hesitant and just patted the one on the head.

"Vnutri mal'chiki." Anitchka said very commanding as she opened the heavy wood door and moved to the side so the dogs would go in.

"I'm sorry. I should have warned you about them. They are such deti, or babies as you say it. Please come in and make yourselves comfortable. Can I get either of you something to drink? I have anything that you would like, water, beer, wine, vodka, or whatever you're in the mood for." Anitchka said walking through the living room and into the kitchen. "Fox, you know where the computer is."

Scully was still trying to understand how everyone, but her, was able to get away with calling him Fox, but after 4 years, she was still calling him Mulder.

She figured that a nice glass of wine was called for. "Anitchka, I could use a glass of wine please." Scully said. She hadn't noticed Mulder going off into another room.

"Oh dear, please call me Ana. What kind would you like? Red, white, a nice zin?"

"Ok *Ana*, I'd like red please." Scully looked around the kitchen. It was very basic, which made it look spacious. She had always wanted a kitchen like this. The refrigerator doors were made out of the same deep cherry wood as the cupboards; the only way she knew it was that was because of the ice machine and handles. There was an island in the center made of the same wood and black granite or marble with cast iron burners for the stove in the middle of it. No appliances out in the open to speak of except for the coffee pot and microwave. The walls were a lighter shade of the deep red, but not grainey looking like the wood. "You have a beautiful house." Scully said walking to the two glass doors across from her.

"Oh thank you. It was given to me by my grandfather when he passed. I've only made 2 changes in the 15 years I've had it. It needed a walk in closet and a bigger master bathroom in my room. Other than that, it was perfect. Here you go." As she handed her a glass of red wine.

Scully brought it up to her nose, sniffed and then took a sip, "Mmm. Thank you." 'This is not the cheap stuff for sure.'

"Ok party girls, break it up. Scully, may I have a word with you in the other room for a moment?" Mulder said walking into the kitchen.

She took another sip and sat the glass down on the counter, "Sure Mulder." She followed him into the monstrous living room. This room had a different warmth about it. It wasn't bright, but it wasn't dark either. She cringed on the inside when she noticed the brown bear rug lying on the floor in front of the fireplace, which seemed to be the only light in the room now.

She followed Mulder to the bottom of the stairs in the corner. He held up the disk, "This was a word document. Most of it was in a language that I was unable to decipher, but then a portion came up in Russian. Your name was in it. It states 'Chip Skalli vyzyvayut rak nosoglotki yesli remived' which translates to 'if you remove the chip from your neck, it will create a cancer of the nasopharynx." He paused so that Scully would have a moment to think about the news.

Scully wasn't surprised to hear this, but it was disconcerting news to her. She didn't want that little piece of metal in her any longer. It was an easy way for *them* to track her. "Was there anything else on the disk?"

"It also had information regarding the black oil. There is a camp in Krasnoyarsk where they are performing tests on people. I looked the coordinates up on the map, and that is where they lead. It's about 660 miles from here. I've already booked us two flights. It leaves tomorrow morning at 10:30."

"Might I ask if you have come up with a plan, once we do get there Mulder?" She had a sense that something bad was going to happen once they got there. Maybe it was because they were in an area that was unfamiliar to her, or maybe it was because everytime they were involved with the conspiracy something bad did really happen. "And did you figure out where the disk originated?"

"Well, as always Scully, I don't have one. Just kinda going to go with the flow I guess." He covered her cheeks with his hands and kissed her on the forehead, which comforted her, "But, at the end of the transmission was 'P.S. I'm giving this to you because I'm trying to help. What they did to Scully was wrong –K.' I think we both know who K is. And since he left the syndicate, he's been hunted by them and maybe he wants to help us out now."

Scully sighed. "I don't know Mulder. I don't know what to think right now. With everything that rat has done to us, how do we know that he's being honest, if it is in-fact him? I know he hates the consortium now, but be reasonable. There has to be some alterior motive for him. You don't think he went back to them and this is just some ploy to get to us, do you?"

"I don't know Scully, maybe. But, then again, what if it's not? Then we lose our chance to help you and to get to him. Either way, I'm going. I can't lose this chance. So, are with me or not?" He embraced her so tight, fearing the worst.

Scully wrapped her arms around him. She knew he was absolutely right. If he did this alone, he would have no backup. She had more questions than answers. What were the chances that this was just a ploy to get them to the camp to infect them with the purity? What was in it for Krycek? There had to be something, and not just redemption on her behalf. But, what if he really was doing this for her? That was more believable than if he were to do it for Mulder, she thought as she remembered the time when she shot Mulder to save Krycek's sorry ass.

Mulder gave her a quick squeeze. "What do you say?"

Scully sighed once again. "Alright Mulder. I'll go. But, if anything happens, I'm going to say I told you so." She had to lighten the mood a little bit.

Mulder smiled, "Thank you. I don't think I can do it on my own. You know I would do something irrational. You're the one who keeps my head on my shoulders. When we get done here, I'll have Anitchka take us back into the city, and we can get a room for the night.", and he kissed her on the lips this time.

Anitchka came around the corner, breaking the kiss when she cleared her throat. "Oh sorry. I am just wondering if you guys would like to stay for uzhin…sorry I mean dinner. I was going to have Dimitri make Belarusian bitky with boiled potatoes and freshly made rye bread."

Scully looked at Mulder, and he knew what she was thinking. Two things; I am pretty hungry and what is bitky? Looking at Ana, he said "Wow, Dmitri's still around huh?" and then he looked at Scully and rubbed her shoulders, "I know you're not a big fan of meat, but you'll like it. It's basically hamburger patties coated in bread crumbs."

Anitchka looked at Scully, "I can have it made with tofu if you'd like."

"No, its fine. No need to go to the extra trouble. I need the protein right now." Scully said.

"Ok. If you change your mind, let me know." Anitchka said with a smile. She turned around and padded back to the kitchen.

"Come on. Let's go finish that wine, shall we?" Mulder said, pulling Scully with him to retreat to the kitchen.

"Fox, I brought you a beer and Dana, I refilled your wine. Dinner will be ready in about 15 minutes. So, go ahead and have a seat." She pointed to the stools that were on the other side of the island. "So, how long have you been together?" Anitchka asked from across the kitchen island, looking back and forth between the two.

Mulder and Scully looked at each other and both smiled. "Scully, I'll let you answer this one." He said, winking at her.

Scully's cheeks turned red almost matching her hair. "Well, I guess since Friday." There were always rumors floating through the bureau, but only they knew the truth. There was never anything to hold true to those rumors until Friday night. It was always strictly platonic.

"Well, that's when it became official anyways." Mulder said putting his arm around her shoulders giving her a squeeze. "I had always felt something for this plammenya malyishka, but never pursued it for some reason. I'm very thankful she did the other night. You know how I am with making the first move." He chuckled for a moment, and continued. "She keeps me on toes. Keeps me on the straight and narrow and pushes me. I love that about her. Oh and don't forget, she hasn't ran away in the four years I've know her." He leaned over on the stool to kiss her.

She was the first to break the kiss and took a large gulp of wine. She was wondering when exactly he had started to have those feelings, because she was unable to figure that out about herself.

"Such as Phoebe? I never did understand what you saw in that urodlivyye ved'ma. She was only using you, and you know I'm right." Ana couldn't understand what Mulder saw in her, and Scully could tell that she didn't like Phoebe Green neither. She didn't blame her. Scully absolutely detested that woman from the moment she met her. She remembered that night when she saw them kiss. The jealousy just rolled right through her with such fierce then that she wanted to grab Phoebe by the hair, pull her down to ground and stab her in the face with the heel of her shoe.

"Yes, like Phoebe." He waved Anitchka off and looked at Scully. He could see the wheels turning in the pretty little head of hers. He didn't mean for her to see them kiss that night, and honestly wanted to forget about that time. He cupped his hand under her chin and ran his thumb across her lips. "You have nothing to worry about. I'm yours now." He said smiling. She still continued to look down and away from him.

"Oh Dimitri, sposibo. That smells amazing." Anitchka said attempting to take the food from the elderly gentlemen who closely resembled Boris Yeltsen with a full head of hair.

"Net Ms. Ana. I take care of it. I still need to finish the table. It will be ready in a few moments." He said walking into another room off to left.

"Okay. Sposibo Dimitry." She said. She then looked at Mulder and Scully and said "He is the best. Been here since my grandmother hired him almost 60 years ago. I'm making him retire finally. Next Friday is his last day. I wanted to throw him a party, but he's very adiment about not having one."

Dimitri popped his head around the corner. "Ms. Ana, dinner is served."

"Sposibo, Dimitri. Shall we?" She asked walking towards the dining room. Reaching the door way, she looked back, "I figured you both would like to use the regular dining room. The formal one is too much for us regular people. It's just too big and much less, what is the word? Intimate."

When they reached the lavish room, Scully looked around. 'If this isn't the formal dinging room, then what the hell does that one look like', she thought. It was so beautiful. It was pure white. The walls, floor, even the drapes on the large bay windows were white. It appeared as if the snow had creeped its way in from the outside. The table cloth, napkins and high-back upholstered chairs were all deep purple.

The table was set for just the three of them, but it was a table for 10. Two place settings on one side, and one on the other. Anitchka sat on the side with just the one setting and directed Mulder and Scully to the other.

The three just talked over dinner and a few more beers and glasses of wine. Two hours went by when Mulder realized it was already 8:00. "Ana, would you mind giving us a ride back into town? We need to get a few things and then a hotel for the night?" He said followed by the last drain of the bottle of Klinskoye Svetloe.

Anitchka threw her napkin at him. "Oh please! You guys are staying here tonight, and whatever else you need, you can probably find here. The guest room across the hall from my room is ready, so you can stay in there. So, what are your plans when you leave here?" She said taking a sip of her wine.

"As you wish Ms. Kreshnik" Mulder winked at her, not noticing that Scully was looking over at him.

Jealousy hit her like a bolt of lightning. He had winked at other women in the past, but not like that. She was wondering if there was more to the story than them just being classmates in school. Trying to brush it off, she decided to have another glass of wine. Clearing her throat, "Yes Mulder, what IS the plan?" Irritation dripping from her words.

'Ah shit. What the hell pissed her off this time?' Mulder asked himself as he looked over at her and sat back in his chair. "Well Scully, like I said before, I'm not sure exactly. We're going to check out the camp and go from there. If you have any other ideas, please feel free." He was unsure what came over himself even, but he was highly annoyed by the tone of voice she took with him.

Scully consumed the rest of her wine in one quick sweep. She having second thoughts again about coming to Russia. 'When is this search of his ever going to end? What I'd give to take a vacation to some solitary beach for a week, or even just two or three days.' "Well, Ana, this was very enjoyable, but I think it's time for me to get so sleep. It's been a lengthy few days that have finally caught up with me."

As Scully stood up so did Anitchka and Mulder. "Let me show you to your room Dana. You will love it and the bed is so cozy. You will fall asleep very quickly." Anitchka said walking Scully upstairs.

Mulder stayed downstairs. "I'm going to take one more look at the disk before I come up to make sure I didn't miss anything." Scully just waived him off following behind. He was about to give her one last kiss, but wasn't how she would take it in this new found mood of hers.

All of the way up the stairs and down the hall to the guest room, Ana was explaining the architecture to Scully. She was trying to seem interested, but all she could do was think of how pissed she was at Mulder. He never had a plan; just went with the flow essentially, and she was tired of it. All she could do was reminisce of all of the times that something bad happened to them due to Mulder and his spontinaetity.

"Dana, are you ok? You seem stressed now.?" Anitchka was waiting for her in front of the door at the end of the brick red colored hall, reaching for the door handle to the bedroom.

Scully was just staring at a beautiful painting that resembled Vermont in the Fall. The gold was a good contrast with the red walls. "Sorry, Ana. I'm just concerned about tomorrow and what we are going to do. Mulder never has a plan, and that really messes things up sometimes." She said walking towards the golden brown door and Ana.

"Ah, well it's nice to know that he is still the same old Mulder. He was like that in England as well. We would always go on these trips to haunted sites all over the country side and got into trouble, and he was a fly-by-the-seat-of-his-pants type of guy back then. For me, it was a lot of fun until one time he had a lead about some alien activity. When we got to the site, it just happened to be some, what do you call them? Oh, a cult. They found us and attempted to use us as the sacrifice for the "alien king". I was scared senseless and was unsure we would make it out alive. Thankfully, he came up with a plan as they tied us up to some posts in the ground and were building a rock wall around us. I honestly don't remember what happened next or how we even got out of there, because in the middle of a tussle between Fox and their leader I was knocked uncounscientious by one of the rocks hitting me on the head. The next thing I know, I was back in my bed with a rather large headache."

Scully sighed realized that Anitchka was right. Mulder was like that; always had been and always would be. She loved the man more than anything, and would do anything for him, but it was taking its toll on her. But, why was this coming up now? She never had a problem with it until now. Now, when they could be even closer to finding the truth. The truth that Mulder was more adamant than she was to find.

"Thanks so much Ana. You have been so nice. And thanks again for saving our butts back there in Irkutsk." Scully said walking in to the bedroom, looking around.

Anitchka waved it off "No problem. I had a lot of fun and haven't been able to do something like that in quite a while. Now, if you want there is a nice Jacuzzi tub right through that door. Go ahead and take a nice relaxing bath. Towels are in the linen closet over there. And I'll make sure you have some fresh clothes in the morning." She gave her a hug and started to walk to the door.

"Ana, can I ask you something?" Scully didn't know if she wanted to know the truth, but she had to ask. Anitchka turned back around and nodded. "Did you and Mulder have a relationship in college?" She stood there with her arms crossed in front of her chest in her defensive mode.

Anitchka started to walk back to Scully and stopped two feet from her. "We were together for three years until that suka, Phoebe, came into the picture. I have so much pent up hatred for that woman, still to this day. But, that was a long time ago. I really need to stop holding grudges. Why do you-"

Neither of them had noticed Mulder standing just outside the doorway until he walked through the with a glass of wine in hand. "Scully, I brought you up another glass of wine. I have some more research to do. It'll take me at least another hour." As he sat it down on the chester drawer at the foot of the bed. He turned around to retreat downstairs, glaring at Anitchka and lightly shaking his head. She took this as the opportunity and just nodded her head one time.

She waited until Mulder was out of the room and heard his steps going down the stairs. She sat down on the deep purple loveseat that was across from the bed and padded it with her hand to signal Scully to sit down with her. As Scully sat down, Anitchka continued. "Why do you ask?"

Scully crossed her legs and hands on her knee. "I was just wondering. You seem closer than the average classmates, especially hearing the stories during dinner."

Anitchka looked across the room. "Well, we were very close. Close enough that he had actually proposed two months prior to when SHE came along. We were all that each other had, or so I thought, and we were inseparable when not in class. We had already started looking looking for flats and had planned on even living in England. No one had ever treated me as well as Fox did." She looked over at Scully who was looking towards the floor with a fire in her eyes, and Anitchka smirked.

She continued. "He met HER and he started backing off a lot. We went from seeing each other every second of the day we could, to every other day, to once a week, and then finally he told me the one thing that I thought was going to kill me. I slapped him and didn't talk to him for a few years until after he moved back to America, when he called me one night drunk as a, I think you call them skunk. Telling me how sorry he was and that he wished he had listened to me from the start. He even came here several times after that and even after you partnered with him. I would go into an absolute depression when we would separate. He would always tell me how much he loved and missed me, and I would always ask him to stay, but he never would saying that he had too much work to do with the X-Files. The last time was only a couple of months ago as a matter of fact" She started to tear up once Scully looked up at her.

Exactly what Scully didn't want to hear. "I'm sorry for dreadging these memories back up. I shouldn't have asked as it's none of my business."

Anitchka reached her hand over to pat her on the arm and got up. "It's okay Dana. I think I'm going to clean up downstairs and head to bed. Take my suggestion. Take that glass of wine, gets some of the lavender bubbles next to the tub, turn on those jets, and soak for a while. It will help greatly. And I will make sure to send Mulder up when I get downstairs." As she brought the glass of wine back to Scully who was fighting back the tears.

She looked up at Anitchka and stood up. "Thank you again. I think I will." She took the glass from her as Anitchka's hand came up to her shoulder, patted it a couple of times.

Anitchka turned around, walked to towards the door. As she was shutting it behind her, she said "You're welcome, and good night." Hearing the door latch, a crooked smile wandered over her lips and she wondered if the plan was going to actually work.

End Part Four

Scully slipped into the hot bubbley water. It smelled of not just lavender, but also vanilla, and was quite calming. The whole room itself was quite calming from the lilac colored walls, with the ivory colored accents.

Taking another sip of wine, thoughts of the conversation that she had just had were flooding her brain. 'A couple of months ago? Why hadn't he ever even mentioned Ana? I know that we don't tell each other everything, but why wouldn't he tell me about this? Was she the one that would call him and he would go into another room and be secretive about it? Did the other night mean anything to him?' A million other questions wrapped her brain until it was consumed by jealousy. Out of nowhere the song Push by Matchbox Twenty started playing in her head. She hadn't heard it in years, but it seemed to fit for the moment.

She was broken out of her reverie by hearing them both downstairs laughing incredibly loud. Each laughter fueled the fire even more. She had never been the jealous type, until now. Why was it so different with Mulder? Chugging the remaining wine, she had decided that it was time for the jets to kick in. As she was feeling around the tub for a button, she could hear one of them 'Shhhing' the other. The sound was definetly coming from the other end of the hall.

Scully heard the bedroom door open and a moment later Mulder knocked on the bathroom door which caused it to open. Peeking from behind, "Hey Scully, you doing ok? Do you need anything else?" He held up the bottle of the remaining wine which sloshed around the bottle like tiny crimson waves. Scully just held up her glass and he poured away. "Sorry, Ana and I got to talking and reminiscing, so I have just a little bit more research to do and I'll come to bed." And he walked out leaving her in more silence to just keep thinking. The way he practically stumbled out of the room, she could tell he was drunk.

'This was a mistake. I knew I had a bad feeling for a reason about this trip.' She thought, but figured that at first it was just the usual reasons. Not this.

She decided that the bath just wasn't relaxing her. She was way too stressed and noticed that the pruned fingers was decision enough to get out and try to get some sleep. Not knowing how late Mulder was going to be awake, one of them needed to be rested, not that it was likely she would get any.

Standing up she could feel the tiny bubbles popping as they slid down her slicken body. The wine had definetly gotten to her. She could feel it and the fact that she felt a warmth blush in her face as she pulled the towel down from the hook behind the tub. Wrapping it around her midsection, she climbed over the basin and picked up the glass and took another large gulp.

She reached the doorway and noticed on the bed was a grey satin and lace chemise. Walking to the bed, she blotted her moist skin with the towel. Picking it up, she noticed that there was still a price tag on it. She glanced at it, but her eyes just weren't able to focus. Biting down on the plastic, she pulled the other side and heard the snap and watched the little piece of thick paper fall to the ground. After picking it up, she put on the chemise and pulled the covers back, but not before drinking the rest of the wine.

After lying down, she pulled the thick duvet up to her chin. It wasn't that she was cold; she needed some comfort and the thick down comforter provided just enough for her to feel it.

End Part Five

The next thing Scully realized was that she was actually lucky enough to fall asleep, but for how long she did not know. She reached for the lamp switch on the nightstand, turned it on and looked at her watch. 2:45 and Mulder still wasn't there with her.

She pushed back the covers and stood up. Walking to the door, she could see the little crack of light coming through the space in between the door and the floor.

Opening the door, she noticed that the only light was coming from the one across the hall…Anitchka's room. The door was wide open. Walking down the hall, she peaked over the banister and there were no lights on downstairs, even ambient light from a computer screen. 'Mulder, please don't-'

Her thought was interrupted by him walking out from the one room she did not want him to be coming out of; especially with his shirt off and in his hand. He was looking towards the floor and didn't notice Scully.

She could barely hear Anitchka. "Fox, pozhaluysta, ostavaytes'. Ya dumal, chto ty vse yeshche lyubit menya?"

He turned around, "Ana I would love to, and I still do. You are making this incredibly difficult." And walked back into the room, leaving the door cracked open.

'No Mulder. Please. I just got you, I can't stand to lose you already.' Thinking as she walked closer to the door so she could see what she knew she didn't want to see. She peeked through the slit and a tear welled up. All she could see was Anitchka laying down looking up towards Mulder. And then it happened; she saw him lie down on top of her and kiss her ferociously.

That's all she could bear to handle before she quietly ran back to her bed. Tears were flooding her eyes so much that she barely was able to make it to the bed without tripping over anything. She crawled under the covers and sobbed herself back to sleep.

About an hour later, she woke up to Mulder rubbing her back, "Scully, what's wrong? Are you okay? Please, talk to me." She was still tremoring in her sleep so much that he thought that she was still awake.

Quickly sitting up and crossing her arms against her chest so she wouldn't feel easily accessible to punch him, "Are you fucking kidding me Mulder?! I know what just happened. I saw it clear as day. You and HER!" She couldn't contain herself nor the sobs. She felt so close to hyperventilating at this point.

"Shit! I'm so sorry Scully. I don't know what the hell I was thinking other than I wasn't. Between that and the beer." He tried to wrap his arms around her to comfort her, but it was of no use.

She pushed him away. "Get the hell out of here, NOW!"

And he did. The next thing she heard was Mulder yelling and Anitchka, all in Russian. She sat there with her knees to her chest, crying. She tried to contain herself, but the tears kept flowing like waterfalls. 'How could he do this?' She wondered over and over.

She had just started feeling whole, and now she was broken into a million little pieces. All she wanted was someone to love her; who would have thought it would have been him? And now that was lost.

She just wanted to go back home and let Mulder struggle over here in Russia by himself. But she couldn't bring herself to even face Anitchka at this point without wanting to shoot her head off. She would have if her gun wasn't sitting on her stand next to the door at home still.

Deciding to get dressed, she got up and went into the bathroom to find her clothes. The smell of lavender and vanilla soaked around her and for just a moment, she felt calm. She was startled to hear the slamming of a door coming from downstairs, when Anitchka called softly for her from the doorway to the bedroom. The rage came back, but not as much as before.

She looked in the mirror and saw Anitchka standing in front of the doorway, crying. "Dana, I am sorry. I know you can't forgive me, but, please forgive Fox. He had nothing to do with it. If I had known he loved you as much as he does, I never wou-"

Scully interrupted her. "Can you please take me to the airport? I need to catch a flight back to D.C." As she pulled her slacks up.

Anitchka looked down. Her façade was playing out perfectly. She was actually legitimate or a really good actress. Either way, Scully was completely blind to the fact that there was a dark side at hand and she had no idea what was really in play. Neither did Mulder.

"I completely understand. But, Fox just left. He said he was going to go for a walk and would be back when he felt calmed down enough and had given you the space that you really needed. I'm just concerned because it is still dark. Do you still want to go, or would you like to wait for him?"

Brushing passed Anitchka "I want to go now. Trust me, if there was anyone else in this house, I'd be having them take me."

End Part Six

4:00 UTC

Mulder was at the end of the snow covered driveway, unclear as to where he was actually going or how long he felt Scully would need. He was just happy that it was a full moon and clear out so he could see; and regardless of the temperature, his blood was boiling so much that he almost didn't need the jacket.

He felt like a piece of shit for doing what he did. Like he said to Scully, he didn't know what had come over him, except the alcohol, especially how much he had after Scully left him, and the years of missing Anitchka. And what he didn't know is that the beers that Anitchka kept bringing him had

He did love Scully. She had been his cornerstone for the last four years. She kept him grounded. And the fact that she hadn't ran after everything that she had endured during their short time as partners.

Remembering how happy he was when she made that first move a few nights prior, he smiled. He had to figure out how to make this right. He was lost in thought so much that he didn't even noticed the black Mercedes SUV come up behind him and turn down the driveway.

Mulder continued walking down there road, once again not having a plan. He was just going to continue walking for another hour and then he'd turn around. That should be enough time.

He started talking out loud to himself. "Maybe she's right. Maybe we should just go back to DC and work this out. Forget the whole thing. Hell, she's probably right about it being Krycek, and I am tired of his ass dragging us along. This is important for us to get those answers we've been looking for, but I can't stand to see her hurt anymore." He figured that that was the answer to it all, but knew she needed the time, just hoping that she didn't kill Anitchka while he was out.

End Part Seven

Anitchka told Scully that she would call her driver in early to have him come pick her up and that if she needed anything before she left, that she would be in her room.

Scully was waiting for the driver to arrive downstairs in the kitchen, alone, drinking a cup of coffee. She was so pissed that she didn't know if she could contain herself from bashing in that woman's head. And Anitchka knew what Scully was capable of, which is why she offered her driver to take her.

Scully heard the front door open. 'Oh thank God! I just want to get the hell out of here, away from her AND especially that son of a bitch.' She thought to herself when she saw him walk through the archway that separated the kitchen from the living room.

Almost dropping her cup of coffee on the ground, "What the HELL are you doing here Alex Krycek?"

He continued walking towards the coffee pot on the counter across from Scully. "Well, my sister told me that I needed to give you a ride to the airport. She said something about how it wouldn't be a good idea if she did it; something to the effect that she was afraid you would kill her on the way. And knowing you the way that I do, she has all rights to fear for her life, especially after hearing why. I really do love my baby sister and would hate to have to avenge her death by killing you two, so I agreed." He opened the cupboard door, picked out a coffee cup and proceeded to pour coffee into it, followed by something from a flask he had picked out of his inside pocket of his jacket.

"If you think that I am going to trust you to drive me, you're as insane as your sister, if she is in-fact your sister. Especially since you're putting alcohol in that. I would rather freeze walking there, even with the fear of the wolves attacking me." 'At this point, I welcome that thought.'

Krycek took a sip of his coffee and took a couple of steps closer to her. "Now, you know that's not true Dana." He took another step towards her. "Hey, I totally understand why you're pissed. Hell, I would be too. Especially after the fact that Mulder never told you about Ana. Kinda makes me wonder if he hid it from you on purpose, actually. I mean who brings, well whatever you guys are, to an exfiance's house?" He was now standing within inches of her. "I could never do that to anyone, especially someone like you, Dana. Everything about this is very inexcusable."

She could feel every breath upon her face. It smelled of whiskey, coffee, and a hint of peppermint even. She inhaled deeply as she was about to talk, and realized he, himself, smelled of Old Spice. It wasn't overpowering, but just a little more than a hint. She closed her eyes, hung her head and nodded. She then felt something brush her arm, but by the time her eyes opened there was nothing except Krycek handing her the cup. Sighing, she took it from him, and took another sip. Only then realizing there was a hint of whiskey in her coffee now.

"Trust me, moy malen'kiy krasnyy, you look like you could use some now too. If you want, we can go now, or you can go back upstairs for a little while and get a little more sleep." Taking her cup out of her hand and placing both cups on the counter next to her. He saw her eyelashes gaining slight condensation and had decided that right now was a good time to embrace her, and she didn't push him away either. 'It must have been worse than Ana had led on.' He thought to himself.

Scully actually took it in stride and just leaned into him. Fighting back the tears as much as she could, they still started to fall. She had already decided that she wasn't going to persue the lead that they had been given. "You know what, I think I will take your suggestion. 6 hours of sleep in two days and it's catching up with me. But, I do have a question for you first." She lifted her head up to look him in the eyes…the eyes that she had never actually looked into before. They were a dark green, something closely resembling moss in a dark forest.

As much as she despised this man, she was actually feeling comforted. And, that was something that she really needed right now as much as she hated to admit it. Part of the reason that she was exhausted was because she was always so trying to put on a strong front, especially for Mulder.

Krycek ran his hand through her soft red hair and kept his other on her waist. "What's that?" looking back into her eyes.

A warmth drifted from the side of her head all of the way down her spine and torso. She wasn't going to let him see the emotion that flooded her face and looked down. "Was it you that led us here? And if so, why? What's in it for you?"

"Honestly, I'm tired of seeing what you go through for Mulder; tired of seeing you in pain; tired of what the consortium are doing; and you deserve the truth. I still feel bad for what happened with your sister, and if I could, I would change it somehow." He reached around to the back of her head, pulled in so that he could kiss her on the forehead. He honestly meant everything he just said. Wanting to tell her more, he'd figured that this was enough for now.

"Dana, let's get you upstairs. You need some rest. I know what the plans for here in Russia are and will figure it out and expose them. I was just hoping to have a little help." He placed his hand on her back and pulled her away from the counter.

"I really don't know what to say right now, other than thank you." He was able to get her to finally calm down and she finally felt at peace. That was until they reached the top of the stairs and saw Anitchka retreat back to her room and shut the door behind her. The pain of earlier rushed through her all over again and the tears continued.

"Kryc-"

"Just call me Alex please."

"Alex, do you have any more in that flask?" She asked as they got into her room.

He pulled it out, unscrewed the top and handed it over to Scully. Looking at his watch, "Huh, It's already 4:30."

Scully chugged the remaining amount and looked at the silver flask, while feeling the burning in her throat still. She noticed that A and K were in the center and separating them was a hammer and sickle and on the outside of each initial was a star. "Why are there two stars on it, instead of just the one?" She asked sitting on the edge of the bed.

Krycek walked over to her and took it from her in a gentle way, "One for myself and one for Ana. My father gave it to me for my 16th birthday."

Scully sat there admiring the person she absolutely revolted for the past few years as he continued to talk. This was a different side of him that she had never seen, and she liked it. She brushed off the fact of the amount of alcohol consumed, but replaced the thought with that she had always found him attractive, and seeing that he wasn't just an asshole out to get she and Mulder.

Krycek took the flask and sat it on the dresser and walked back to Scully. "You need to get some sleep, Dana."

Scully got up to get the chemise she had been wearing earlier. She just couldn't sleep in regular clothes. "You're right Alex. But can you make me a promise please. Keep Mulder away from me. I have no doubt that Ana will be stearing clear…no offense." As she retreated to the bathroom to change.

"I will do my best. I'll be right back." He turned around to go talk to Anitchka.

When Scully got done, she layed her prior clothes on the chester drawer and could barely hear Krycek and Anitchka talking out in the hall. Not knowing Russian, she had no idea what they were talking about, but it started to become a debate judging by their voices growing louder. "Chert poberi Anitchka. Prosto ubedites', chto on ostayetsya v storone ot Scully" Then silence followed by the sound of footsteps.

He walked through the doorway and walked to Scully who was pulling the covers back. "I told her about your request. You know, from the sounds of it, it was deffinetly not all of her fault, but I can still understand." He said as she laid down, and he nudged her slightly for her to move over. Abliging him, she did, and he just sat on the edge of the bed and turned the lamp off.

"By the way Alex, what did you call me when we were downstairs?" She was still cocked up by her arm watching his silhouette.

"Moy malen'kiy krasnyy?" turning around to look at her.

"Yes. I know moy mean my, but what about the rest?"

"I don't think you want to know. It's nothing bad, I swear. Just a nickname I gave you later that day after you saved me when Mulder was about to kill me." Now that his eyes had time to adjust to the darkness lit by the full moon, he brushed the hair from her forehead and kissed her sweet, soft skin where the hair was previously. He couldn't see her turning red, but felt the heat radiating off of her, and he smiled. "Are you blushing, Ms. Scully?" As he proceeded to kiss further down her around to her cheek and then grazed her lips with his.

She didn't budge. In-fact, her lips parted and she took a ragged breath and held it in entirely way too long. This was exactly what she needed to forget about Mulder, and Krycek knew it.

"It means 'my little red one'." He whispered in her ear before returning to her lips.

She took a deep breath once again, "hmm." When he reached her lips, she pulled her hands up to the top of his head and scruffed his hair, bringing him deeper to her, whilst parting her lips again. She then reached down to pull his shirt off, which caused them both to moan in dissapointment when the kiss was broken to release the white fabric.

"Oh moy malen'kiy krasnyy." He said which turned her on even more. Her hands started to explore his upper naked torso. She then pushed him down on to his back and reached for his belt to undo it.

As it became undone, he pulled her on top of him and brought her head down to his. He started kissing her face, down to her kneck and then he sat them both up again. Her legs reached around him and he continued kissing her chest, and her head to tilt back.

She was more turned on right now, than the entire time she was with Mulder, and she started to hate herself for what she was about to do. But as he lightly grasped one her nipples between his teeth, all thoughts of Mulder just washed away, and she gasped.

He pushed her back down on to her back and pulled the satiny material up. Slowly kissing a trail to her belly button, and then continued further down. Each kiss of his lead to a moan from her. He could tell that she had completely forgotten about Mulder and was enjoying it very much.

Her hands clinched the blankets. No man had ever held this much power over her, excluding Mulder, but in a different way. This was the rebellious side coming out in her and it felt so good.

She was completely submissive to Krycek, and enjoying this. Her hands found their way to his head and just as she was about to grab his hair, he slid his tongue through her wet lips and against her clit. Her hands fell to her side and her hips started to buck with each passing of that beautiful tongue. And to think this was just the beginning.

After a few moments of him doing this, he inserted a finger into her and with two small thrusts, she let out a cry and came. Krycek thought to himself 'Wow Mulder, apparently you couldn't fulfill her wish as well as you'd hoped'. He smirked as he came up from in between her legs.

"You want some more? Or shall I quit now while I'm ahead?"

"Don't you dare Kry-" He put his finger on her mouth to hush her.

"Nuhuh, remember?"

She started to shimmy around on the bed, due to impatience. She wanted more; so much more, and it was hard to contain herself. "Ok, Alex, don't…" And he slipped his finger back into her, "You…" another thrust and she wiggled her waist, "Dare."

She wrapped her hands around his face and pulled him up to hers. Looking him dead in the eyes, "I want you NOW!"

He took full satisfaction in this. He wanted her just as bad, if not more. But, he was having a lot of fun with this.

"Alex, NOW. I mean unless you want me to change my mind." As she sat up and reached for his jeans to unbutton them.

He sat up, watching her hands with the grin equal to the Cheshire Cat, "As you wish. I won't stop you." And she pushed him down on to his back.

Seconds later, his jeans and boxers were laying crumpled up on the floor. She straddled him and started kissing him on the lips with such force. He then realized she wasn't going to be the good little agent Scully, that everyone had claimed when they called her the "Ice Queen".

He grabbed a clump of her hair from the back and pulled so that he could access her neck and started to nibble the tender skin just below her ear. She let out another moan and rubbed against him. That was the exact moment that she had realized that he was even bigger than Mulder.

With one swift motion she drew him into her, while letting a gasp out. "Talk…to…me…in…Rus…sian" She could barely say each word as she moved up and down feeling every inch of his cock sliding in and out of her.

He was totally enamoured by her at that moment, never thinking in a million years that this would happen. "Bozhe, ty tak khorosho seychas. Prosto ne ostanovit'" As he placed his hands around her hips assisting her.

That's all it took for her. She rode him faster and faster, everything exploding around her into whiteness. She collapsed on top of Krycek, panting, while he rubbed her back. "Shhh. Eto normal'no, moya malen'kaya krasnaya." He whispered in her ear.

That got her ready again, but Krycek decided it was his turn. He gently pushed her off of him, stood up on the floor and pulled her to the edge of the bed. Her legs were just dangling off of the bed until he brought them around his waist.

He didn't know how long he would be able to last. It'd been almost a year since he had last slept with another. A couple of pumps and Scully was almost yelling "OH MY GOD!" repeatedly, her legs tightening up around him. "OH GOD ALEX…NOW!"

"Kak…vy…zhelayu… moyu malen'kaya krasnaya" He was barely able to finish his words, before both of them came. He came too and saw Scully panting and bent down to kiss her on the forehead. As he pulled out, he picked up the box of Kleenex and handed a couple to her so that she could clean herself up.

As he walked to the bathroom to get a shower ready, he heard a couple of sobs coming from behind him. Knowing exactly what it was, he actually felt bad for just a moment.

Scully was sitting up in the bed with her knees to her forehead, crying. He walked back and sat down next to her on the bed and proceeded to rub her back. "Shhhh. I'm sorry. I didn't mean for it to end up like this. Come take a shower with me and clean up. You will feel much better afterwards."

She looked at him with immediate hatred in her eyes. Not so much at him as it was herself. 'How the hell could I do this? He's our enemy. I should have taken a gun to his head the moment I saw him. That's right…no gun.' Then the picture of Mulder with Anitchka flickered in her brain.

"Yes. You're right." She got up and Krycek followed behind. Before they reached the bathroom, Scully finally took off the chemise and let it fall to the floor.

She looked at herself in the mirror and disappointment enveloped her and her stomach tightened. He turned the shower on, and then she looked over at him, "Alex, I know you. You planned this didn't you?"

"You want the truth?" His naked body walking towards her, she still facing the mirror. He reached his hands up to her shoulders and realized how cold she felt. Her skin was almost like ice and he could see the tiny goose bumps rising above her porcelain skin.

Dropping her head down, she smiled sweetly, "You're probably right. I know how conniving you can be. But why?" She turned around to face him, his arms sliding down and resting on counter to pin her in.

"I don't know why, honestly. Part of it had to do with the fact that I felt you were unattainable, especially after the other night, when you and Mulder went back to your apartment. But, now I don't see it that way, for obvious reasons." raising an eyebrow and grinning. He then crooked his head down and grazed his lips across her neck just below her jaw. Her head falling back into his shoulder. .

Scully's head dropped down as she wondered if maybe her real reason was not just because of her emotions, but because she was tired of being the "good" girl. Her nickname "Ice Queen" was thrown around the bureau too much, and she was tired of it, not that this would change that, being that she and Krycek were going to be the only ones who knew.

It took her a moment to let those words soak into her mind. Her head turned towards him and she moved away from him slightly. "Alex, how do you know about the other night?" She asked looking at him with a glare in her eyes.

"I was sent there to kill you. Had everything planned out until I saw Mulder with you and then it all blew up in smoke. I knew what was going to happen to me and didn't care; just like I know what they will probably have in store for me now." He said as he turned around and stepped into the steaming hot shower.

"You joining me malen'kiy krasnyy?" Krycek was worried that she was regretting this. That's not what he wanted, but he knew it would end up happening. He wanted her so much, and couldn't figure out how else to get her, especially knowing that he would have to go through Mulder any other way.

Sighing, "Yeah…sorry. I was just thinking." She padded over to the shower. She stood there for a moment watching the water sliding down his chest to his torso, and then further down. She was surprised for some reason, even after remembering how he felt in her.

He grabbed her hand, which made her stomach tighten up from anxiety, and pulled her close to him. She stood there, water running down her body. Laying her head on his chest, all of the anxiety washed away with the water. She felt comfortable with him now.

His finger slid under her chin to raise her face to look at him. "What's on your mind?"

"I'm thinking of how pissed I am with you, although it wasn't fully your fault; I'm pissed at myself for being so spiteful; and I'm pissed that I have let everything build up for far too long and not doing something about it. And no, I'm not going into detail on the last part…other than I will say it's not about you or Mulder." A tear of anger fell from her eye and he brushed it away with his thumb.

He gave her another moment just in case she wasn't done talking. "I understand, and I do regret it happening like this. But, when you are always with him, what do you expect? Hell, honestly I was expecting you to put a bullet in my head. Thank God you don't know where all of Ana's weapons are around here. And frankly, I'm very happy to be still here, especially with you right now." He smiled slightly trying to lighten up the mood. She smiled back followed by her arms wrapping around his mid section, his following lead.

"So, should we act like this never happened, then?" He knew it needed to be brought up at some point, and he knew that she wouldn't be the one to do it.

The uncertainty came flowing through her demeanor when she tightened her grasp. She did enjoy what they had just shared, too much at that, but how could they continue? Could she even continue working with Mulder? She loved that man very much still, but how he hurt her was unforgivable. She wished this was just a nightmare and she'd wake up in her bed, by herself. But, on the other hand, she loved how she felt with Krycek. She felt like a different person. "Yes, and no." She figured it out. 'My how quickly the mind works when your decision is based on something you want so badly.' She thought to herself.

"Yes and no? Please elaborate, because I don't see this ending well if we continue." He had many doubts, and Scully could tell just by looking in his eyes.

"Hmm, well for starters, we just don't tell anyone. I will make sure that Mulder knows I have barriers now, and to not cross them or he will be sorry. This means not showing up at my apartment unexpectedly."

He stopped her, "So, you still want to continue with him AND myself?" He really didn't like that, but he also understood what the consequences could be if she left him and the X-Files. "I understand…was just hoping for him not to be included."

She tilted her head back under the streaming water to wet her hair and then grab the shampoo from the corner caddy, "You know, as well as I do, what could happen." looking at him She squirted some of the soap into her hand, put the bottle back, and started to raise her hand to her hair.

Just then Krycek pulled her wrist down towards his chest and rubbed it around. "Not shampoo." And he smiled, pulling the bottle of shampoo down, and squeezed some of the fragrant shampoo into his hand. He put the bottle back and started massaging it into her head.

Just then they heard Anitchka yelling "Fox, wait! I need to talk to you before you go in there." Both of their stomachs sank and their eyes became capacious. "Just let me give you a message before you go in. One that Dana told me to give you." Anitchka got his attention just in time.

Scully looked in the mirror and noticed that he was within arm reach of the door that was luckily cracked and not open all of the way. She looked back at Krycek, and he was already gone, along with the towel that was hanging by the door. Looking around for him, he had completely vanished, and she had started to wonder if it was her imagination, of which she would have gladly accepted.

End Part Eight

She had no idea what Anitchka was going to tell him, and honestly didn't care. She was more concerned on how to deal with Krycek. She knew how to deal with Mulder, and what exactly to say to him.

She finished rinsing her hair off and turned the water off. Grabbing the towel off of the hook where Krycek's was a moment ago, she wrapped it around herself. Mulder knocked softly on the door before entering.

The look on his face was of complete sorrow and pain. He walked over to Scully, and grabbed her shoulders gently. Looking straight into her eyes, he no longer saw the pain they held earlier. There was a glimmer of happiness in them; something he had not expected to see.

"Scully, please let me talk." She nodded. "I regret everything that happened this evening. It was stupid, and I understand if you never want to see me again. I had a lot of time out there in the blistering cold to think." That's when she noticed his cheeks were bruised looking, "Everything that we have gone through in the past four years came back, and I will admit that I fucked it all up. And for what? Too lose you? Just because I got drunk and was living in the past. I fully understand whatever you choose to do. But, just remember that I will fight to regain your trust." A tear started to fall from his eyes.

"Mulder, I need some time. I am planning on going back to D.C. as soon as possible. In my opinion this is not something you should be doing alone either, Mulder. And, if you choose to come back, please take a later flight out so that I may have that time." She was still looking around for Krycek, and finally gave up. "Now, if you don't mind, I'd appreciate it if you left the room so that I may get dressed."

The look of absolute defeat covered his face. However, he knew he wasn't fully defeated though because she left it open, and not once did she say anything to the effect of 'I never want to see you again'. There was a glimmer of hope, and he would play on that.

He moved to her side and watched her walk over to the Chester drawer. "Ok, if that's what you need, I won't stop you. Is there a set time frame, or should I just call you when I get back to D.C.? I still want to check the camp out and see what I can find." He asked walking towards the door.

"Mulder just give me some time. I'm not sure, honestly. But do give A.D. Skinner a call later today and let him know what your plan is, and also tell him that I'm flying back today. I would appreciate that." She said as he walked back over and embraced her, followed by a kiss on the cheek.

He placed his hands just below her ears and lifted her head, "Scully, look at me please." She did, "I love you, and will always love you. I am not going to rehash what happened tonight as I've already pleaded my case with you. I just hope in due time that you can trust and love me again. I can't fathom the idea of you not being in my life any longer. You are my everything." He gently kissed her on the lips.

She broke the kiss, "Mulder, I love you too. But, please." She covered his cheek with her hand.

He pulled it to his mouth and kissed the palm. "Ok. And just so you know, I am going to be leaving in about 10 minutes for Krasnoyarsk. Ana told me that I could just use one of her cars, instead of flying. It may be easier that way. So, I won't be here while you're not except to drop off the car when I get done. Does that sound ok with you?"

She nodded her head. "Just please be careful. I don't want any calls making me regret this, please."

He smiled and kissed her one more time before going to talk to Anitchka.

End part nine

6:45 AM UST

Scully sat on the bed hunched over, head in her heads. So many thoughts were flooding her brain and she was feeling slightly overwhelmed. Surprised when she heard the front door close, she walked over to the bay window, pulled back the curtain and watched Mulder get into the SUV from yesterday. As he looked at her she felt another piece of her heart fall to the ground and shatter. This was not a good idea, and she knew it.

Just then Krycek came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist and kiss her on the neck. She was thankful that Mulder was already half way down the driveway so that he didn't see her dirty little secret. "Well, that went pretty well I would say."

"Kry…Alex, please don't right now." She sighed and then broke free from his clasp. Walking over to her clothes so that she could finally get dressed, "Alex, I do want you to know that I do love him…I will probably always love him. And him being out there alone worries me. You know what could happen to him out there, especially on wild goose chases like this."

He sat down on the bed, looking out the window at what would soon be the sunrise. "Dana, you don't think I know that you will always love him. I saw the way you look at him, even after what happened. I'm not going to lie, it does disappoint me, but I came to terms with this even prior to tonight. You tell me what you want me to do, and I'll do it."

Brushing off the slacks after she got them on, she said, "I don't know right now. I'd really like it if this never happened, although I'm thankful in sorts for how you made me feel. Do you know how guilty I felt while he was here, Alex? Do you have any idea?" She sat on the bed, her elbows on her knees, and her fingers at her temples.

He walked over, crouched in between her legs and pulled her hands away from her face. "Honestly, yes, I do. Remember, I worked with the man, and my sister and he were together. She told me everything. I feel guilty for attempting to take you away from him seeing as you're the only one that is willing to deal with him. But, remember who did what first." As soon as those words poured through those lips of his, he saw red.

There was a slight knock on the door. It was Dmitri "Sorry. Ms. Anitchka said plane leaves in two hour and Sergei will have car back in pyat' minut."

Krycek stood up and kept his eyes on Scully who was looking out the window at the sun beating down on the glistening snow. "Thanks Dmitri. Tell her I'll be there in a minute please." Dmitri walked away after closing the door.

Scully stood up, finally looking him in the eyes. "Alex, I made my decision."

End Part Ten

8:45 PM UST

Wednesday

According to the map, Mulder was approximately 20 kilometers from Krasnoyarsk. He had no idea what to expect when he got there, but had hoped there would be a hotel and restaurant.

He saw what appeared to be a gas station up ahead and a hotel next to it. As he was about to enter the parking lot, the battery light came on the dash and the voice of the car started squawking at him in Russian. He knew that was a bad thing and hoped the there were mechanics on duty that could help him. Thankfully there was a mechanic shop attached to the gas station.

"Better time than any." He said allowed out of habit, thinking Scully was in the car with him.

He pulled into a parking spot in front of the garage doors, and a tall, beer bellied guy with a face full of beard came over and started talking to Mulder in Russian. Mulder explained the situation and asked if he could get a new battery for him.

The mechanic proceeded to explain to him that he would have to order a new one, which he couldn't do until the morning, but first he would need to do a diagnostic to make sure that was in fact the problem. Mulder approved and hopped out, handing the keys over to the grizzly looking guy.

Thankfully he spoke perfect Russian, accent and all, so the mechanic didn't think he was a tourist and overcharge him.

After the mechanic pulled the BMW into the garage for the night, Mulder walked over to the dilapidated hotel. It almost reminded him of the hotel that he and Scully had stayed at for their first case in Bellafleur, Oregon.

After getting the room for the night, he went in to the gas station where he noticed was a section of tables and chairs in the corner. The music was playing so loud that he knew he was going to take too long. But he didn't want to go back to the lonely room so quickly either, afraid that he would call her.

He walked up to the counter and asked the cashier for the last double cheeseburger left in the hot case and an equivalent to a pound of French fries; he was famished and would probably come back for more. No matter what country he was in, he still chose to eat good old' fashioned American food. As he paid what equaled out to be $12 American, he thought, 'This had better be the best damn burger I've ever had.'

He got the change from the cashier, picked up the tray of food and walked over to the condiment stand. He opened the aluminum wrapper and separated the top bun from the meat and started slathering ketchup and mustard on it; then added some pickles. There were some thinly sliced potatoes mixed with what looked like relish and he decided to pass. He smashed the burger back together after layering his fries in ketchup. It looked sloppy, but that was the way he liked it.

He walked over to a table in the corner of the room and sat the tray on the table. Half way through his dinner he couldn't take it anymore and decided it was a good time to maybe see if Scully was willing to talk, against his better judgment. He pulled his cell out of his jacket pocket and pushed 2 and the call button.

"I'm sorry the cellular customer-"

"Damn it." He thought that was going to happen, but wanted to try just in case.

After eating his meal and letting it settle, he threw the trash away and realized he was thirsty. He walked over to the drink cooler and opened the glass door and picked out an iced tea. Right then, the mechanic walked in and told Mulder that it was in fact the battery, and that he would order a new one from the part store at 8 am and should have it ready no later than 8:45. He told the mechanic he appreciated his help and went back to the hotel.

Opening the door to his room a strong musty odor wafted out. He had decided that the smell was better than the freezing air gnawing at his cheeks. "I'll just leave the window open slightly." talking to no one. He shut the door behind him and he examined the room for a moment. "Well, at least it looks better than it smells." He said as he shut the door behind him and flicked the light switch.

The room was definitely not updated since the 70's. Brown and gold flower wallpaper that was obviously in dire need to just finish falling off of the grey wall; linens matching. Oh and the grand brown shag carpeting. "Oh brother."

He started to walk over to bed to plop down on it when his phone screamed at him. "Please be Scully." He said as he nearly dropped it on the floor. Nope, it was Anitchka.

He let out a sigh. "Hi." "Sorry, I was just hoping you were Scully. I'm just outside of Krasnoyarsk now. The battery died as I was pulling into gas station." "No, it will be fixed in the morning. He has to order a new one in the morning. Did Scully say anything to you after I left?" "Ok. Well, we will talk more when I come back. I really don't know what I expect to find up here, so I shouldn't be more than a day or two. But, I'll give you a call when I'm headed back." "Ok." And click.

9:00 AM UST

Thursday

Mulder woke up to a phone in the hotel ringing. He looked around to gain his bearings. After realizing it wasn't a disco nightmare, he'd gotten up to answer it. It was the office manager letting him know that the car was ready. He told him that he'd be there in a few minutes to check out. After hanging up, he decided to hop in the shower.

Just as he was rinsing off, his phone rang. "Shit!" He just let the shower continue to run and quickly wrapped the towel around his waist.

Nope it still wasn't her. "Shit!" He flipped open the flap of his cell. "Mulder." He rolled his eyes wondering if he should just bend over and take it now from Skinner.

"Agent Mulder, I just received a call from Agent Scully explaining to me that she is on her way back from Russia and that you aren't with her. Now, I want answers as to why you were even over there in the first place."

Mulder could only image the shade of red Skinners face was during this. "Well, sir I received some information regarding Krycek and then we found a disk in Scully's jacket. When we checked it out there was information regarding the chip in her neck and the black oil? We felt it best that she return back to D.C. in case we received more information there." 'Yeah, that was really the best thing you could come up with?'

Mulder could sense that Skinner wasn't buying the last part. "You have 48 hours to get back here." And click from the other end of the line. He threw the phone back on the bed and proceeded to finish his shower.

This was about the time that he would think of Scully and take care of a certain need of his, but he was just too stressed to at this point. He turned off the water and dried off once again.

After he got dressed, he grabbed his phone and jacket and headed to the hotel office to check out.

He got done with that and walked over to the gas station first to grab some food and then went to pay for the car. When paying, the mechanic went into a detailed story about why he hated working on BMW's, even if it was just replacing the battery.

Mulder gave the guy a tip and the asked him if he knew anything about a camp near there in the hills. The mechanic told him about what he thought was a labor camp about 40 kilometers east of there and even showed him on a map. His brother was sent there to work out the rest of him sentence for a murder he supposedly committed 10 years prior and he hoped he got them sons a bitches. He had told him that his family had lost any and all contact with his brother once he was sent there, as with all of the prisoners. A few more heated words from the guy, and Mulder found a way to get out of there.

12:00 pm

Mulder had driven down a long unplowed road for what seemed like forever when the road y'd. He was unsure which way to go, but looking to the right, he noticed some covered footprints. With how much it was snowing, he would say that they were left there within the last 20 minutes.

Driving up the road that veered to the right a quarter mile, he found a pull off and parked there. He shut off the motor, and got out. Walking to the back of the SUV, he opened the back door. Thankfully earlier he stopped at a mercantile that carried hiking equipment once he reached the city limits for Krasnoyarsk. He sat down on the floor board and changed from his socks and loafers to wool socks and snow boots.

As Mulder was finishing up, he heard what he thought was the hammer of a gun being cocked and ready to shoot. He looked at the rear pocket attached the passenger front seat and saw the outline of his SIG. As he started to reach for it, he felt a heavy thud to his head and everything went white.

End Part Eleven

12:00 AM EST

Wednesday

Washington D.C.

Scully was waiting outside of the airport waiting for a cab, when one finally became free. Lost in thoughts and worries of Mulder, she was brought back to reality, "Dana, come on. If you want to save his ass, we NEED TO GO NOW!"

Krycek was holding the cab door open for her and was seconds away from picking her up and throwing her in the cab. She blinked, looked up, and sprinted the 15 feet to the car.

She slid over in the seat, and he jumped in and shut the door in one swift action. He then gave the driver the address to the Lone Gunmen's and told him that if he got them there within 35 minutes there would be a large tip in it for him.

"I guess it's a good thing that I was able to talk Ana into letting us use her plane. You know she really does feel bad about what happened, Dana?" He felt like he was talking to a wall.

20 minutes post take-off from Heathrow, Krycek received a call from a fellow informant regarding the danger that Mulder was in. He debated for a half hour whether he should tell her or not; then decided in his better judgment that it was for the best.

Krycek and his buddy both decided that the proper action to take would be to set off the radiation alarms. They just needed the correct codes for the coordinates.

Scully watched the rain drops fall down her window, such as the tears that fell from her face. "Krycek," That's when he knew it was over and that Mulder had won. He knew the time was coming, but was hoping for it to be later. "can you trust what he said?"

"Yes, Dana. He owes me, and he's also against them as well after they killed his wife and daughter last year." He put his arm over her shoulder and pulled her closer to him. He knew there wasn't a point any longer, but he felt the need to comfort her; after all it was his fault that Mulder was over there and possibly going to die. He was just thankful that Scully had decided to come back to D.C.

They both sat together in silence until reaching the small warehouse of The Lone Gunmen.

End Part twelve

Byers was awoken by the buzzer from the door. "Hold on!" He yelled as he padded to the door to let them in his plaid flannel pajamas.

"Hi. I have it all set up and ready to go. It's a good thing you had as much information as you did, since I'm the only one here. Langley would have been needed, if not." He said as Scully handed him a white crumpled up piece of paper with the coordinates and codes that Krycek's cohort gave him scribbled on it.

Krycek sat down in front of the dusty old computer and started tapping keys. Scully was standing over him wondering if this could actually be pulled off and worried that she would never see Mulder again.

Krycek could feel her presence standing over him. "Scully, go sit down. You standing over my shoulder like this isn't going to make it go any quicker." He said as he waited for the next page to pop up on the screen. All he had left was to punch in the codes, submit, and it would happen.

She sat down on the polyester couch that probably should have thrown out along with the 70's. Her face buried into her hands as she started to sob again. These were sobs of not just worry, but because of everything that had happened the last few days. She was passed exhaustion and hopeful that pending Mulder coming home safely they could go off on a small vacation for a few days.

Just then she was brought out of her daydream by some bleeping and buzzing. "It's done…Brian said that he'd call me after he got Mulder out of there are they were in the clear." Krycek said as he stood up and threw the phone to Scully. "Make sure you get rid of it, after the plans have been arranged by you and him." He proceeded to walk to the door.

"Krycek, wait." She got up and signaled to Byers, who was still watching the computer screen from across the room, that she'd return and followed him out the door.

The door shut behind them. He continued to walk until she grabbed the sleeve of his jacket. He immediately grabbed her wrist and turned around. "Scully, don't. I should have known better than this. I don't know what the hell I was thinking. You could never leave him and his psychoanalysis bullshit of how the aliens are out there. Just know that his "quest" will never be over." He took her face in between his hands and kissed her hard on the lips and turned around to leave. "Remember to get rid of that phone." He said running off.

Scully just stood there watching him as he left until he was out of sight. Turning around to go back inside the phone rang. "Hello?" She said with a shaky voice.

"Scully? Please tell me that's you." Mulder's voice sounded dry and lethargic.

A tear came to her eyes. "Mulder, are you ok?"

"Yeah, I can't talk long though. I'll be home as soon as possible. I'm sorry…I should have listened to you." Just then, the phone went dead. The concern set in again.

Byers opened the door. Scratching his beard, "Scully, is everything ok, besides the obvious?"

"Yeah Byers. Mulder just called. Said he'd be home as soon as possible and then the line went dead. Thank you for helping us. Would you mind giving me a ride home?"

"No problem. Let me change." He said as he held the door open so that she could come back inside.

The door closed behind her and the phone rang again. This time it was Brian. "Agent Scully, sorry about that. We hit a bad area. Mulder's passed out. I'm not going to sugarcoat it. He's in rough shape. But, he won't go to a hospital. You're the only one he is willing to see right now, but he will make it no problem. I'm about 10 minutes out of Krasnoyarsk where I'll be getting a flight to Irkutsk. And then I'll him back there for you. Now, get rid of the phone." Then there was the click.

Byers came around the corner in one of his many suits, no tie, and wearing tennis shoes. "Byers, can you get rid of this for me please?" She asked as she handed him the cell phone.

"Are you certain they won't be calling back?" looking at the phone in his hand and then back at her.

She turned and twisted the door handle, "Yes." As she was leaving she heard some banging and crushing coming from behind her. Buyers was in the middle of disposing of the phone. She pulled her own cell out to call A.D. Skinner to leave him a message to update him about Mulder and that they wouldn't be in the office until Monday.

End Part Thirteen

4:12 am EST

Scully's apartment

Scully was awoken by one of her neighbors slamming their door. It was night, either still or once again. Judging by her stomach growling, it was once again. She looked at the VCR and noticed the time.

She sat up and a chill crossed her, so she rewrapped the grey afghan around her and padded off to the kitchen to have a bowl of cereal. All she could find was some bran flakes.

She started boiling the water to make some tea, and went to get dressed. Deciding that it had been long enough, she decided to call Mulder again, and hope she could get through this time. After dialing his number, it started ringing, but there was still no answer.

Setting the phone down on her dresser, she started pulling stuff out to wear. She had decided on a grey sweatshirt and sweats that Mulder had left there a few months prior. Slipping the clothes on, a feeling of comfort passed over her. Hearing the tea kettle whistle, she quickly put on her socks and walked to the kitchen.

After making her tea and cereal, she turned the news on and sat down on the couch to eat; something about how Dolly, the first cloned sheep, was doing. She immediately tuned it out and continued eating her cereal. Just then she heard a knock at her door.

She quickly got up and went to the door, unlocked and opened it. Mulder looked like hell, but not as bad as she had envisioned it; a couple of black eyes, bruised bottom lip, and a light scar across his left cheek. He just stood there with a sheepish look on his face; Bryan nowhere around.

She quickly brought him inside and they sat down on the couch together. She wrapped the afghan around Mulder. He was hunched over, arms crossed, shivering. She could tell by the look of defeat that he knew he should have listened to her.

After a few minutes of rubbing his shoulders to get him to warm up, she asked him if he wanted to clean up and take a shower. "I just got back Scully and you're already trying to get me naked, huh?" he asked sarcastically. She just rolled her eyes and told him to get to the bathroom.

"Scully? Thank you." He said looking back at her half way to the bathroom.

The corner of her lips peaked slightly and she nodded. "I'll get some tea ready for you."

He padded off to the bathroom and as the door clicked behind him, she stood up and headed to the kitchen, taking her bowl of unfinished cereal with her. Just then there was a knock at the door.

Looking at her clock, it was nearing 5 a.m. The shower started and the knock came again, a bit louder this time. Looking through the peephole, she was unsure if she wanted to answer it. "Scully, answer the door please. I know you're there."

"Krycek, you need to go. Mulder's here now, and I don't need this. I do appreciate your help getting him back, but what happened needs to be left in the past. It was low even for a rat like yourself to even think that it would happen the way you wanted it. It was also low for me to fall for it too."

"Scully, Mulder saw too much. I'll leave it…" He stopped talking once the door lock snapped.

Scully opened the door, moved aside and motioned him to come in with her hand. He walked through looking around their surroundings and noticed Mulder wasn't around, the door shutting behind him.

"He's in the shower, so make it quick." She took a few steps away and he stood in front of the door. She turned around, her arms crossed at her chest, the hateful look covering her face. He could see the fire in her eyes. He wanted to take her in his arms so badly, but knew it wasn't a good idea. Hell, her gun was probably tucked in the waistband of the sweats in the back.

Scully could see what he wanted in his eyes and noticed that he was holding back for good reason. She was unsure what Mulder would do at this point and he was not in a physical state to take care of it and she was not in the mood to finish it.

He stepped closer to her. "Scully, you don't have to worry about me anymore after this. The consortium is hunting me now", the back of his hand brushed her opposite cheek, "so you won't have to worry about seeing me ever again. I already know my fate and have accepted it. What I've been told is that they have it out for Mulder now too after that little stunt in Russia at the camp. They have 3 guys heading over here now from Russia, so he has some time. They just left about an hour ago. I just wanted to make my peace with you and see you one last time."

He could see her lashes glisten from the tears she was fighting back. She was so pissed at Mulder for not listening to her and for taking her over there and was unsure as to what course of action should be followed. She just wanted to get the hell out of Dodge and not look back. Then she had almost thought of the fact that she had slightly fallen for Krycek and the fact that he was still willing to help them; her more than them of course. "What are you going to do Krycek? Where are you going to go?"

Her questions surprised him. Why would she want to know? She had Mulder back. He was chopped liver now. "I'm not sure, yet." When in-fact he knew exactly what was going to happen. He was a dead man. She knew it too.

Finally the tears poured out of her eyes. The ringing sound of the blood rushing filled her head and she didn't hear the shower turn off. Just then Krycek pulled her closer to him and he embraced her. She was lost in him once again somehow. How did he have this much of a reaction to her, when the man that she was in love with was right in the next room?

He slightly pulled himself from her, placed his hand under her chin and raised her head. Crooking his neck slightly, he placed his lips on hers. He was impatiently waiting for at least a knee to the groin, but nothing happened.

Her lips then parted. That was definitely not the reaction he had expected, but followed suit, and her arms reached around his midsection. His hand found its way to her face and he brushed the stray clump of hair that fell in front of her eye behind her hair then it slowly moved down to cradle the back of her neck.

Just then they both heard the bathroom door creak open and stepped back from each other. Mulder just stood there, a towel around his waist looking at the two of them in disbelief. This was the palest that Scully had ever seen him. She just looked at Mulder, 'What the hell was I thinking?' she thought to herself.

End Part Fourteen

"Alex Krycek. You are damn lucky I don't put a fucking bullet in your head." Mulder said, pointing his .40 right in the middle between Krycek's eyes.

Krycek just stood there staring Mulder down. "Go for it. I already have a death wish apparently by sending you up there. Because of your dumbass getting caught, it got me in a shit load of trouble and now they're coming after me. But, if you do kill me, know that I won't be able to help you if needed."

Mulder took a couple of steps closer to Krycek, gun still pointed at him. Looking at Krycek, he asked Scully, "And what about you SCULLY?! What the fuck was that all about? Didn't see you fighting him off at all. I knew I fucked up with Anitchka, but really?! You would stoop so low as to go for him? And for what? Payback?!" The look of fear and anger embellished his face and he became more rigid.

Scully looked at Krycek for a moment, his eyes still on Mulder. She then stepped close to Mulder with her hands up in front of her. "Mulder put the gun down, please. Let me explain." She took another step closer, "Don't do this. If you're going to be mad at anyone, be mad at me. And remember, if it wasn't for him, you wouldn't have made it back here alive, and you know it." She reached for the gun, and then it was aimed at her all of a sudden.

The memory of Mulder pointing the gun at her with Model flashed through her head and the same tears welled up, except she knew this time he had full control over himself.

Still eyeing Krycek, "But, if it wasn't for him, we wouldn't have gone over there at all. You planned that whole damn thing didn't you?"

"Come on old man, just fucking shoot me and get it over with already." Krycek said taking a step closer to Mulder. "It's quite sad that you couldn't even give her what she needed and you had all of the time in the world for four years, and I was able to in one night." Mulder cocked the gun. Krycek took one more step closer. He was almost bagging Mulder to do it. Knowing it was going to be the last time he'd see Scully and that it would be a much quicker death than if one of the syndicate were going to do it.

Scully saw Mulder's finger tighten on the trigger slowly. "Mulder! NO!" she yelled as she pushed Krycek to the ground.

Hearing the bullet zing past her ear, she and Krycek both fell to the ground. "You're one lucky son of a bitch Krycek." Mulder said as he laid the gun on the coffee table and walked to the bedroom.

Scully looked at Krycek, then back to Mulder as he was shutting the door behind him. "Are you asking for this Krycek? Do you really want your blood on his hands? If so, then do it; but not in front of me." She stood up and walked over to the couch.

Her head fell into her hands and she started to sob again. She didn't ask for this; nor did she want it. She could hear footsteps and looked up, Krycek crouching down in front of her.

"Dana, the answer is no and yes. I'd rather it be him than the torture I'd endure never seeing you again. That way he will also have retribution for what happened to his father and your sister. It's inevitable that it's going to happen." He took her hands into his and kissed her softly on the lips.

Neither of them heard Mulder come back out from the bedroom. "Well, when you put it that way you asshole, you can get that slow death penalty. Scully, don't believe a thing he just said. I just got off the phone with that cigarette smoking son-of-a-bitch. No one is coming after us, but they will be here in ten minutes for him." Mulder said looking at Krycek, pointing the gun at him. Scully could see his eyes burning red from the anger and dried up tears, and was unsure if it was due to just Krycek or her as well.

"I'd rather you die that slow painful death then you step foot into the same building as her ever again." Mulder spat.

Krycek looked at Scully, his hands still covering hers, "Alright Mulder, you win. Just remember that you never gave her a chance to even tell either of us what SHE wants. As always, just thinking of yourself."

Scully couldn't take it anymore. "Krycek, please leave before they get here." her voice so low that Krycek could barely hear it. He wiped away her tears and winked at her, "Mulder, let him go." And Krycek stood up and quickly hurried to let himself out.

Finis

Thank you for reading. All feedback is gladly taken at sugargoo

chto, chert voz'mi, ne tak so mnoy=What the hell is wrong with me?

Der'mo=shit

Ey yego Malder…khorosho, a vy…net, yap o delu…aga Scully's so mnoy…by dumayete, my mogli by priyti I proverit' chto-to na komp'yutere…khorosho, my budem tam primerno chas = Hey its Mulder…good, and you…no, I'm on business…yeah Scully's with me…you think we could come by and check something out on your computer…good, we will be there in about an hour

Voditel', by mozhete ostanovit'sya zdes'= Driver, you can stop here

Vam vse ravno pridetsy 8,5 kilometra. Ty uveren= you still have 8.5 kilometers. Are you sure?

Da. Eto budet khorosho= yes. This will be fine

Spasibo= thank you

Khoroshego dnya= have a good day.

O vedut sebya mal'chiki. Oni s pe=Oh behave boys. They are with me.

Vnutri mal'chiki= inside boys

plammenya malyishka= fiery little one

urodlivyye ved'ma=hag

Net= No

Fox, pozhaluysta, ostavaytes'. Ya dumal, chto ty vse yeshche lyubit menya= Fox, please stay. I thought you still loved me?

moy malen'kiy krasnyy= my little red one

Chert poberi Anitchka. Prosto ubedites', chto on ostayetsya v storone ot Scully= Damn it Anitchka. Just make sure he stays away from Scully.

Bozhe, ty tak khorosho seychas. Prosto ne ostanovit'= God, you feel so good right now. Just don't stop.

Eto normal'no= it's okay.

Kak…vy…zhelayu… moyu malen'kaya krasnaya= as…you…wish…my little red one