WICKED GAME
By Mare
Chapter 4
Disclaimers in Chapter 1; Rated NC-17
Krycek couldn’t help but stare at the large envelope next to Scully’s dinner plate. He’d tried not 
to, but his eyes just kept wandering back there, no matter what he did to try to stop. It had to 
hold the test results; there was just nothing else that could’ve been in it. Besides, if it was 
anything else, Scully would’ve said something about it already. That envelope held the only 
remaining stumbling block to starting the deal.
Quit worrying, he told himself. If she found anything, you would’ve been out the door already. 
She’s not that good a poker face... is she?
Her behavior would’ve made sense if she hadn’t found anything. Clean tests meant she couldn’t 
stall on the deal anymore, and since she seemed to be having trouble warming up to the idea, 
she’d hold back clean test results as long as she could. And they just had to be clean. He knew 
there was nothing to find, so he figured it was time to get the ball rolling. He gestured with his 
fork toward the envelope and asked casually, "Test results?"
Scully met his eyes for a second and answered smoothly, "Yes."
When nothing more was forthcoming, Krycek prompted her again. "Well?"
She let him dangle for another moment before opening the envelope and scanning the sheets 
inside it. "Well... you are STD-free..."
"Told you." He just couldn’t resist saying it.
"...but there is evidence of a mild anemia you might want to keep an eye on."
That was something he hadn’t expected to hear. "Anemia?"
"Yes." Scully leaned back and studied him for a moment. "I can guess where you’ve probably 
spent the months since we last saw you," she finally said. "I know Russian hospitals aren’t the 
cleanest or best-equipped places on earth, so I suspect that you were probably pretty sick for a 
good portion of that time. I’m sure your diet wasn’t the best, either."
"You’re right," he admitted. "I didn’t start eating decently till I got here." The only reason he was 
eating decently was because he finally had the time and tools to cook. If it weren’t for the deal, 
he would have neither.
She looked at him speculatively. "You seem... more or less... okay... about the arm," she said. "I 
mean, I know it bothers you, but.. well... I know I wouldn’t be running around putting myself in 
harm’s way and making deals with people less than two months after losing an arm that way."
Okay with it? Okay with it? You ain’t seen nothin’ yet, lady. You haven’t seen what happens when 
I try to do something that this alien arm can’t do. You don’t live with the pain every minute of 
every day. You haven’t seen any of the bad spells. You haven’t been around for the nightmares. 
You haven’t seen it when the agony’s so bad I’m about thirty seconds away from eating my gun. 
You’ve never felt like less of a person because somebody hacked part of you away. Yeah, sure, I’m 
okay with it. Perfectly o-fucking-kay. "What was I supposed to do?" he finally said. "It wasn’t like 
I could find it so they could glue it back on, so I didn’t have a whole lot of choice but to move 
on. No sense dwelling on things you can’t change, is there? Besides, they gave me the next best 
thing to replace it."
"That’s a very philosophical outlook." She sounded surprised.
Drop it, Scully. Now. "Yeah, well, I had enough time to think about it. Even if you’re lucky 
enough to get it in hospitals, Russian TV really sucks."
To his great relief, Scully did drop the subject. She gave him a long look, then moved on. "You 
really were very lucky to escape there with only mild anemia," she told him. "Your resistance to 
disease is probably lowered since... that..." She nodded toward his left shoulder. "You could’ve 
picked up God knows what over there. This should resolve itself now that you’re eating better, 
but you might want to have a test occasionally and just keep an eye on it."
"Point taken." Krycek put his fork down as a thought struck. "Why do you care?"
"Excuse me?"
"It’s a simple question, Dana. The object of the tests was to make sure you wouldn’t catch 
anything because of the deal, right? Well, now you know you don’t have to worry. So why do 
you care about my health beyond that?"
Gotcha. Krycek smiled to himself as she took a long drink of mineral water, buying time to 
gather her thoughts.
She hadn’t expected the question, but she had an answer anyway. "Because of the nature of the 
deal," she told him. "Since you refuse to wear condoms, what affects you affects me."
"I wasn’t aware that anemia was transmitted sexually."
"It’s not, but your general welfare does affect how this deal plays out. If you get sick, the deal 
takes longer. And I’m not about to let you die or catch something life-threatening before I get all 
my answers."
He couldn’t help but smile. That was Scully, all right. Once she committed to something, she was 
in it 100%. It was only a matter of time until she kicked off the deal for real. Probably not much 
time, he thought. "What touching sentiments, Dana," he said. "You should write for Hallmark."
She shot him a nasty look and bent back to her plate.
"So..." Krycek continued, "I guess this clears the way for the deal to get started, right?"
"Not exactly," she said softly.
Oh, this was going to be good. Creative Stalling 101. "Now what? We’ve already established 
that you’re not going to catch some hideous disease just because we’re having sex. What else 
could possibly be standing in the way?" Besides the fact that she hated his guts and would rather 
kill him, of course.
"I don’t..." Scully cleared her throat and took another sip of water. "I won’t feel comfortable 
doing this unless we clear up a few things first."
Like she’d ever feel comfortable with the deal. It didn’t matter to him if she was or not, just so 
long as she held up her end. He arched an eyebrow and waited.
"First... can you just confirm where you’ve been since the last time we saw you?"
Didn’t we just go through this? Let the stalling begin. "You know most of that already. I was in 
various hospitals in Russia for most of that time. Sick as a dog for a while -- nasty infection 
from..." He couldn’t finish the thought, but she nodded in understanding. "All through that there 
were surgeries and fittings for this thing." He raised his left hand slightly, and was surprised by a 
sudden twinge of pain, sharper and deeper than the ever-present ache, in the shoulder. Trying to 
ignore that, he went on. "After that, I just worked on staying alive until I could figure out what I 
wanted to do."
"So coming here and blackmailing me was what you decided you wanted to do?" Scully’s voice 
dripped with sarcasm.
"No, coming here and making a deal with you falls under the heading of how to accomplish it."
"So what is it you want to accomplish?"
Krycek shook his head. "Sorry, that’s classified. For now."
Scully sighed heavily. "I was going to ask for the unvarnished truth tonight, but I forgot that you 
wouldn’t know the truth if it reared up and bit you."
How Mulderesque of her. "We all have our own truths, Dana. You’re not ready to hear or deal 
with a lot of mine, so for the time being, they’re classified. It’s really for your own protection. 
But I will tell you that I won’t lie to you tonight."
She sighed again. "Sure, fine, whatever. So tell me about my sister."
"I didn’t kill her."
"But you were there. You saw what happened, how it happened." She lowered her eyes and her 
voice. "Please tell me."
If it was truth she wanted, truth she’d get. Not necessarily the unvarnished version, but some 
semblance of it. "Cardinal and I were sent to kill you," he said, noting the slight shudder that ran 
through her at his words. "When the door opened, I knew it wasn’t you -- she was too tall, her 
hair too long. But... and this didn’t occur to me until later... Cardinal never saw you in person like 
I did. He didn’t know she wasn’t you, so he just shot. We high-tailed it out of here as soon as we 
both realized it was the wrong person. Naturally, Cardinal blamed me for his stupid mistake, 
which was why the Morley Man tried to barbecue me in my car a few days later."
Scully took a deep breath. "You said you should’ve fired that night. What did you mean by that? 
And... would you have? If it were me?"
Maybe there was something to this truth stuff after all. The truth would certainly shake her up. 
"If I was going to shoot anybody that night, it was more likely to be Cardinal than you."
She was surprised, but tried not to show it. "Why?"
Krycek shrugged. "Even then, I didn’t think you deserved to die. I always thought their plan for 
you was too extreme but there was no way I could stop it, so when a situation arose that I did 
have control over, I evened the score a little. Or would’ve, if Cardinal hadn’t been such an idiot."
She started to say something, then stopped. She obviously didn’t believe him. No surprise, really; 
neither she nor her partner had believed a word he’d said for years. Would she consider this a 
deal-breaker?
"When they took me," she finally said, "you helped. You kept Mulder away --"
"I kept him from getting killed," Krycek interrupted. "What do you think would’ve happened if 
he made it to the top of that mountain? Like as not, they would’ve killed both of you. I probably 
saved your life too. As you saved mine when you shot Mulder."
"I didn’t do that for you."
"But you did it anyway. We’ve both done things we’re not very proud of in the name of higher 
causes, haven’t we?"
Scully sipped her water again, letting his question go unanswered. He figured that if she didn’t 
even want to know what his higher causes were, she was very flustered indeed. He’d expected 
this conversation to take place eventually, but he’d thought she would’ve been a little more 
prepared for it.
Maybe it was the truth thing that was throwing her. She was probably prepared for the lies; 
probably thought she already knew what the truth was. Well, whether she believed him or not, 
there was still a deal to get started. How much longer was she going to take with this?
After a moment she took a deep breath and raised her eyes to his. "When they took me," she said 
softly, "what did they do to me?"
This was the potential deal-breaker. Complete truth? Half-truth? No matter; whatever he said 
was likely to piss her off. "The full details are deal-related," he said, "but I can tell you that they 
wanted you to contribute to their hybrid program. Don’t bother asking; I can’t tell you any more 
than that right now."
"Dammit, Krycek --"
"Alex," he said quietly. He closed his eyes and waited for her to blow up.
But she didn’t. She took a few moments, probably processing what she’d heard and weighing 
the deal again. He hadn’t told her she could back out now that she’d agreed twice, but that 
didn’t mean she wouldn’t try. If any issue was likely to make her do it, it was this one. But 
instead of throwing him out, she sighed deeply and moved on.
"Why this deal?" she asked. "You could’ve asked for anything in exchange for all that 
information. Why sex? And why me?"
Krycek quietly let out the breath he hadn’t even been aware of holding. No deal-breakers yet, 
and the really tough stuff was done with. But this question was another tricky one. There were 
several answers he could give, from the very simple to the hideously complex. She probably 
expected one of the complex ones, but she wouldn’t understand them. Not yet, maybe not ever. 
One of them might even be a deal-breaker. Maybe all but the simplest would. Best to go with the 
easy answer. After that first night, it wasn’t something she could argue, either. "Simple, Dana," 
he said. "Simply obvious. I want you. Have since the first time you blew me off."
Again she started to say something, but thought better of it. "You... you... had to blackmail me 
for that?"
He shrugged. "What was I supposed to do, call you and ask you out? You would’ve laughed in 
my face... if you didn’t arrest me on the spot."
"That was your ‘classified’ reason? You’re blackmailing me just because you want to sleep with 
me?"
Okay, maybe the easy answer was a deal-breaker, too. "Y’know, a lot of women would be 
flattered --"
"Flattered? You sick, twisted --"
"It’s not all about sex, Dana," Krycek broke in. "Do you really think I’m crazy enough to stick 
my neck out just for sex?"
Scully glared at him. "I think you’re crazy enough to do just about anything."
He sighed. "Okay, so I’ve done reckless things in the past, but even I’m not that reckless."
"So your classified reason is...?"
"Still classified."
She gave a frustrated sigh. "Of all the --"
"Look, you wanted a reason; I gave you a reason, and I didn’t lie." Krycek was starting to get 
annoyed with the discussion, too. No wonder Mulder ditched her so often, if he had to listen to 
stuff like this all the time. "This deal isn’t entirely about sex. Granted, sex is a large part of it, but 
it’s not the only part. And it is just sex. There’s nothing emotional or psychological about it; it’s 
purely physical. As I’m sure it was for you two nights ago."
Her cheeks flushed, but her eyes remained locked on his. "And that’s supposed to make me feel 
better about this?"
He shrugged. "Hey, at least now you know somebody wants you. It’s not like you’re hearing that 
from anybody else these days, is it?"
Now she bowed her head as her cheeks reddened more.
Krycek smiled to himself. Dana Scully might be an annoying bitch on occasion, but she was also 
a hell of a lot fun to play with, especially when she knew she was being manipulated. This deal 
might be even more fun than playing with Mulder’s head was. Sure, there were potential pitfalls, 
starting with what he’d just told her. That was no lie; he did want her. Very much. Just saying 
the words, acknowledging it, caused a pleasant stirring in his groin he very much wanted to act 
on. But he had to exercise control and make sure that the personal aspect never overshadowed 
the larger goals. He’d let the personal come to the forefront the previous night, when he had let 
slip that he knew of a cure for her cancer. He hadn’t meant to tell her that for a while; it was the 
mindfuck of last resort, so to speak. But she’d looked so helpless and lost...
He banished the thought from his mind. Telling her about the cure probably wasn’t all that big a 
mistake. For one thing, she didn’t believe him. Even if she did, it was probably in his best interest 
anyway, as well as hers. He couldn’t very well play with her if she was dead, could he? But she 
wasn’t going to die. When the situation became dire enough, she’d take that leap of faith and 
ask. He was sure of that. But for now, there was a deal to get off the ground. "Why do you have 
such a hard time believing it when a guy says he wants you?" he asked. "Or is it just because it’s 
me?"
Scully looked up, her blue eyes cold as ice. "What do you think?"
"It doesn’t make it any easier to start the deal?"
"You said the timing was up to me. I’m not ready."
"Clock’s ticking, Dana."
"Mulder’s father?" she shot back.
"Didn’t kill him. Cardinal did."
"Sure, easy to blame a dead man, isn’t it?"
"Truth, Dana. As is everything I said tonight. Have we cleared up enough things to make you 
comfortable yet?"
She sighed. "Everything else I was going to ask, you’ll tell me is deal-related, so yes, I suppose 
we have cleared up what we can."
"Then there’s nothing standing in the way of the deal, is there?" Krycek asked softly. She might 
not believe him, but she appeared to accept what he’d said. She couldn’t stall much longer.
"I... I still need time. This isn’t easy for me..."
He sat back. "You have time. But don’t forget what I said about keeping me waiting too long."
Scully sighed. "And how long is too long?"
He shrugged. "Guess we’ll have to find out, won’t we?"
"Of course," she sneered. "Exactly the kind of answer I’d expect from a man who has to 
blackmail women to get them into bed with him."
Krycek had to bite his lip to keep from laughing. He’d been wondering when she’d get around to 
throwing that back in his face. "I don’t have to blackmail anybody, Dana," he said calmly. "I 
could walk out that door right now and be in somebody else’s bed within a half hour -- without 
paying for it -- if I wanted to, but I don’t. This is a choice. I chose you. You might want to think 
about that and take what pleasure you can from the deal, because you’re only hurting yourself if 
you don’t. Living in denial and refusing to enjoy it isn’t going to hurt me, y’know. This can be a 
win-win situation... if you let it."
Angry blue eyes met his for a long moment, then she rose from her chair. "Fine," she said, 
flinging her napkin onto the table. "Just so you know, I’ll be taking a long, hot bath now. Leave 
me alone."
"Of course." Krycek listened to her stalk off toward the bedroom, then called out. "Oh, Dana?"
Muffled words, then footsteps returning to the kitchen. "What?"
"If you don’t want to help with the dishes, that’s fine, but you could at least clean off your plate 
and put it in the sink."
The only answer he got was the sound of retreating footsteps and the slam of the bedroom door.
Krycek had to smile as he cleaned up the dishes. Things had gone better than he’d thought they 
would. Scully was committed to the deal. He’d told her the truth, or a reasonable facsimile 
thereof, about all those old issues, and she’d accepted it. Maybe she didn’t believe it, but she’d 
accepted it. Moving to the deal proper was only a matter of time now.
Yes, just a matter of time.
**************************
The next few days dragged on endlessly for Scully. She didn’t want to go to work and face 
Mulder and his little comments. She couldn’t stay home and face Krycek, with the still-
unconsummated deal hanging between them. And she couldn’t stop thinking about 
consummating it.
Knowing that something had to give somewhere, she picked what appeared to be the lesser of 
two evils and stopped reacting to Mulder’s teasing. Two days after receiving the test results, she 
failed to deny, when Mulder mentioned it, that she had a new boyfriend. She knew that to him, 
lack of denial was as good as confirmation, but at least it gave him something to think about, and 
the teasing stopped. Unfortunately, the serious questions started. Although she’d had some time 
to come up with a plausible story, she maintained that her private life was still strictly private. 
She managed to get away with not telling Mulder too much, but wondered how long that would 
last.
The deal problem wasn’t nearly as easily taken care of. It was always on her mind, always at the 
edge of her thoughts, no matter what else she was doing. The whole idea of it repulsed her, but 
memories of that first night kept coming back, making part of her want to start the deal. She 
would get to the point where she almost thought she was ready to proposition her houseguest, 
but then she’d realize what she was about to do and retreat again. She wanted it, but she 
couldn’t do it.
Krycek didn’t make things any easier. Everything he said had a sexual innuendo buried in it 
somewhere; every look he sent in her direction was predatory. Scully wasn’t sure if this were 
actually true or only a product of her imagination thanks to endless thoughts of the deal, but he 
did seem to be waiting. Expecting something. She lived in fear of him deciding that her time was 
up, as she had no idea what he would do, but he never made direct reference to the deal. Never 
mentioned time passing. He didn’t need to. She was doing well enough reminding herself.
So he waited, but with growing impatience. Awakened in the middle of the night one night, she 
found the other half of the bed empty and heard him pacing around the living room in the dark, 
prowling with the restless energy of a caged animal. After a while she heard him leave the 
apartment. She had no idea where he went or what he did, but he was back in her bed, sleeping 
deeply as he always did, when the alarm woke her the next morning. Neither ever spoke of the 
episode, but Scully had the feeling that her time was running out.
Even the sense of impending doom couldn’t make her say the words Krycek wanted to hear. She 
eventually came to the conclusion that if the deal were to get off the ground, it would have to be 
under pretty drastic circumstances.
Six days after the test results came back, drastic circumstances presented themselves.
Scully came home that night to find the apartment empty. A quick search revealed dinner being 
kept warm for her and a brief note from Krycek, saying that he had things to take care of and 
he’d be back later that night. The note seemed a little odd after his disappearing act a few nights 
before, but at least she knew she had a few hours’ respite from his constant presence. So she ate 
her dinner in peace, cleaned up, then moved into the living room, intending to relax with a movie 
before bed.
She browsed through all her tapes and was about to pop an old favorite into the VCR when she 
noticed an unmarked tape sitting next to the television. She examined it, noting that it didn’t 
look like one of hers, and wondered where it had come from. Was it blank? Something Krycek 
had been watching? That idea was interesting. She had no idea what he did all day; for all she 
knew, he spent hours watching TV... or videos. What kind of things did he watch?
Thoroughly intrigued now, Scully slipped the unmarked tape into the VCR and pressed play. The 
image that came up was of a bedroom, where a partially-dressed couple, a copper-haired woman 
and a dark-haired man, lay on the bed, kissing. She watched with detachment as the man grasped 
his lover’s hand and sucked on her fingers. So Krycek had a porn habit too, she thought, though 
his tastes appeared significantly less hard-core than Mulder’s. She was about to turn it off when 
something caught her eye.
It was the quilt that the video woman had just kicked off the bottom of the bed. It looked just 
like the one on her bed...
The realization hit and Scully gasped in horror. That was the quilt at the bottom of her bed. It 
was her bedroom, and the couple was herself and Krycek. "Oh my God," she whispered, almost 
unable to process what she was seeing. "He... he videotaped himself raping me..."
Shame flooded through her as she watched the video woman hungrily kissing her partner. That 
wasn’t really her, was it? It couldn’t be. She hadn’t done that. Surely she’d fought harder...
Scully stared at the TV screen, unable to wrench her eyes away from the flickering images. The 
shock, horror, anger and shame she had initially felt slowly melted away, and she was left with 
disbelief. Was that writhing redhead really her? Was this really the way it had happened?
The disbelief slowly faded too, as she watched the tender, almost reverent way the woman’s 
partner removed her clothes. She felt nothing now, nothing at all. Her mind had gone completely 
numb, and she felt almost detached as she watched the video woman’s dark-haired partner slide 
her bra off. He softly, gently cupped one breast, but Scully wasn’t watching him anymore. She 
focused on the woman’s face... and the obvious enjoyment written there. The connection became 
clear to her now. She felt the hand cupping her breast even as the woman on the video did. The 
woman on her TV screen was undeniably her. And, as was clearly evident from the tape, she had 
undeniably enjoyed every moment of this encounter.
She watched as Video Alex teased Video Dana’s nipples with his tongue, and a small moan 
escaped her lips, matching that of her celluloid counterpart. She was instantly transported back to 
that night, and she vividly felt again his mouth on her breasts, kissing, licking, sucking. The all-
too-familiar warm heaviness settled over her lower body at the memory, and she became aware 
that her hand, seemingly of its own accord, softly brushed one of her still-clothed breasts. 
Closing her eyes, she knew what came next without having to see it. The memory of his teeth 
raking lightly across her right nipple made her gasp softly, right along with the woman in the 
video. Her hand rubbed a bit more insistently, and she felt the nipple stiffen even through the 
cloth. A jolt ran through her and she moaned quietly as she touched it again, then moved to the 
other breast, feeling not her own hand, but her lover’s lips and tongue.
Breathing a bit faster, she opened her eyes to see Video Alex focus his attention further south on 
Video Dana’s body. She watched his fingers teasingly explore the soft skin of Video Dana’s 
inner thighs; move slowly, agonizingly all around her most sensitive spot without touching it, and 
she felt her own lover’s fingers tracing the same path on her body. Video Dana let out a long 
moan that softened into a sigh as Video Alex finally flicked a finger across her clitoris. She cried 
out softly as he slid that same finger inside her, and Scully moaned with her, feeling the ache 
between her own legs intensify tenfold as the memory of that moment washed over her.
Acting again of its own accord, her hand moved from her breasts further down her body. The 
now highly sensitive muscles of her abdomen recoiled as she lightly brushed her belly. Her 
breathing grew faster still as her hand completed its journey, now stroking her most sensitive area 
through her clothes.
Her hand’s movements unconsciously intensified as she stared at the screen with rapt attention, 
where Video Alex had begun to repeat his hand’s exploration with his tongue. The memory of 
that moment hit her with the force of a freight train, and she stroked herself faster still, further 
stoking the fire of her arousal.
She was incapable now of conscious thought, but when her subconscious floated a suggestion 
(hot... too much clothing... in the way... get rid of it), she acted on it. Before she knew what she 
was doing, she found herself peeling off her leggings and panties, one part of her mind horrified 
at what she was doing even as her body demanded she do it. She was able to touch herself 
properly now, able to replicate to the best of her limited ability what she saw in her mind’s eye 
and on the TV screen.
She was panting now as her hand did its work. She was wet, so wet, so ready... and quickly 
getting desperate. She wanted, no, needed to feel something inside her. The memory of her 
partner’s wonderfully thick organ buried deep inside her body only made her need worse. Her 
hand was a pathetically inadequate substitute, but that didn’t stop her. She groaned aloud as she 
stroked harder, aching for release.
She opened her eyes again and stared, transfixed, at the look of absolute, utter abandon on her 
video counterpart’s face. She felt that way now, completely stripped of her inhibitions, her entire 
world reduced to the incredible sensations and desperate need centered in a few square inches of 
her body.
Until she heard the door open and Krycek call out softly, "Dana?"
Scully froze in horror, mortified that he would find her like this. She was unable to move as he 
slowly made his way around to the front of the sofa, and only recovered and pulled the hem of 
her large sweatshirt down to cover herself once he was standing in front of her. She could only 
gape at him, unable to speak and dreading anything he might say.
Krycek looked her over for a long moment, glanced at the TV long enough to recognize what she 
was watching, then turned his attention to her again. His eyes widened a bit at the sight before 
him and an unreadable half-smile played on his lips. "Getting squeamish on me all of a sudden, 
G-Woman?" he asked, his voice low and husky.
Scully couldn’t speak, couldn’t think, couldn’t do anything but stare at him. Slowly, very slowly, 
it started to occur to her that maybe this wasn’t such a horrible development after all. Wasn’t this 
what her fantasy was all about? Why should she be content with memories and her own hand 
when what she really wanted was right in front of her?
She swallowed hard and slowed her breathing as she dug into the sofa cushions to where she’d 
dropped the remote. It took her several attempts, but she was finally able to get words out. 
"Guess I don’t need this anymore," she said, and shut off the tape and the TV.
Krycek kicked his boots off. "Oh?"
She squirmed a little, the need for release growing again. He had to know what she was getting 
at... "Alex..."
He raised an eyebrow at her. "What?"
"Please..."
He was looking her up and down again, and the longer he looked at her like that, the more 
desperately she needed him to finish what she’d started. "You want something, Dana?"
How much more obvious did she have to be? "Alex, please!" She was almost sobbing now, 
writhing on the sofa, the need to feel him inside her more desperate now than ever.
"Please what? Is there something you need? Glass of water, maybe... a cold shower?"
He started to move around the sofa, toward the kitchen, and Scully let go of her shirt hem to 
reach out and grab his arm, dragging him back. She was breathing too fast, and speech had left 
her again. She could only squirm and whimper, begging him with her eyes and her body to do 
what she needed him to do.
Krycek allowed himself to be dragged back, and now knelt in front of the sofa. "What do you 
need me for, Dana? You were doing just fine without me." He took her hand, still fragrant from 
her own juices, and slowly licked her palm. He gently sucked one finger, then nibbled lightly at 
her palm, eliciting a soft gasp from her. Then, to her slowly dawning horror, he guided that same 
hand right back to where she’d had it before he came in. "I believe you were about... there."
She sobbed in desperation. She needed so much more than this, but at least it was contact. Her 
fingers automatically began to move again, but with his hand resting on top of hers, she couldn’t 
achieve the same rhythm she’d used before. He didn’t guide her, but he didn’t allow her full 
freedom, either.
She was just finding a way to work within the limitations he imposed when he leaned over her 
and plundered her mouth with ferocious kisses. She responded eagerly, hungrily, pulling him 
closer with her free hand. If she couldn’t have the part of him that she really wanted inside her, 
she would readily accept his tongue instead.
She was almost completely out of breath when he finally broke the kiss, letting his lips trail down 
her throat instead. She was panting hard now, but her breath caught for a moment when he 
kissed the hollow of her throat. The pressure between her legs had grown almost unbearable now, 
and she tried to stroke herself harder, to achieve some sort of relief, but his hand on top of hers 
stopped her. She groaned now with each breath, until he stopped the sounds with more kisses.
"Better, Dana, much better," he purred in her ear. "Time to get rid of this, though, isn’t it?" His 
hand finally releasing hers, he pulled at her shirt, and in a moment that and her bra were in a pile 
on the floor. Taking advantage of the regained use of both her hands, she tugged at his shirt, and 
soon it had joined her clothing on the floor. She tried to go further, but he took her hand again 
and guided it back between her legs, still resting his own on top of it.
His tongue trailed down to her breasts now, where he took one rock-hard nipple into his mouth, 
first circling it with his tongue, then sucking as hard as he could. She cried out as the incredible 
sensation shot right to her groin, bringing her almost to the brink of orgasm. She tried to rub 
herself harder, but he stopped her, gently guiding her hand to a less sensitive spot. She wailed in 
frustration as the realization hit that he wasn’t going to let her come until he was good and ready.
He turned his attention to her other breast now, licking and sucking more gently. He gradually 
allowed her to move her fingers closer to where she wanted them, but wouldn’t allow her the 
freedom she’d had before. She gave up at that point, knowing he was calling the shots now. She 
lay back and let him have his way, praying that he’d stop torturing her and just finish it.
The ache between her legs had just ratcheted up another notch, beyond unbearable now, and 
she’d just realized that he was no longer sucking her nipple, when his mouth came back to hers. 
His deep, hungry kisses left her breathless, and she responded eagerly. His lips moved to her ear, 
where he nibbled lightly before whispering, "Let’s see what’s going on down here..." And then 
he moved her hand out of the way and his head was between her legs.
She cried out at the first touch of his tongue on her clitoris. He licked first, then gently sucked, 
eliciting another cry and bringing her to the verge of orgasm again. Sensing this, he stopped, 
trailing his tongue along her inner thigh instead. He let her cool down a bit before returning his 
attention to her most sensitive spot, sucking even more gently. She moaned loudly and arched up 
to meet his mouth, inviting, begging him to let her come. She could think of nothing anymore but 
the sensations coursing through her body. How she’d never been more aroused in her life, how 
desperately she wanted him inside her, how much she needed to climax. Every nerve ending in 
her body tingled and she was sure she’d die if she didn’t get some release.
He brought her right to the edge of orgasm twice more, but pulled back each time before she 
could come. She absolutely couldn’t stand it anymore, and after the third time reached out to 
grab him, get his attention somehow. What her hand found was the bulge in his jeans. He was 
rock-hard, his stiff organ straining against the cloth. She felt a shiver run through his body at her 
touch, but she had his attention. She sought the zipper pull, tried to tug it down, but he captured 
her hand before she could.
Still holding her hand, he kissed her again, letting her taste herself on him. "Say it," he breathed.
She opened her eyes and found that he was staring intently at her, face flushed, breathing hard, 
eyes dark with desire. "Say it, Dana. Tell me what you want."
What the hell did he think she wanted? "Fuck me," she growled. "Fuck me NOW!"
That brought a gleam to his eyes. "My pleasure," he said, and a moment later the rest of his 
clothes were on the floor as he joined her on the sofa.
Without preamble, he drove into her in a single violent stroke. She screamed as her orgasm ripped 
through her, the pain of his forceful entry mixed with the utter ecstasy of finally being 
completely, wonderfully filled. He didn’t move at first, waiting as her screams faded to soft 
whimpers. She squirmed a bit, needed to feel him moving inside her. After a moment he did, 
setting a hard, fast rhythm. She moved with him, matching every thrust, feeling another climax 
building almost immediately. He slipped his hand between their bodies and began to stroke her 
clitoris in time with his thrusts. In just a few minutes that brought her over the edge again, and 
with a loud cry she came harder than she ever had in her life. The orgasm seemed to go on and 
on, and didn’t fade until his clitoral massage stopped. A moment later he gave one last savage 
thrust and cried out as he came hard, spilling his warm juices deep inside her.
After a long moment he pulled out and collapsed, panting, on top of her. "Oh... my... God," he 
breathed, and when she could speak again, the very same words escaped her lips.
"My God," she repeated, still breathing hard. "I never --"
He cut off her words with a kiss. "Don’t," he whispered, raining kisses on her face, her ear, her 
throat. "Just enjoy."
"Mmm," she purred, and brought his mouth to hers again for a deep kiss.
When she released him he pulled back a little, studying her face. "Y’know, Dana," he said, 
stroking her hair, "your vocabulary really deteriorates when you’re horny."
She smacked his arm. "Bastard! If you didn’t torture me --"
Again he stopped her words with a kiss. "Tell me it wasn’t worth it."
"Oh, it was worth it," she said. "But I’m not finished yet."
That got his attention. "No?"
Oh, no, she wasn’t finished yet. He couldn’t arouse her that much and expect her to get it all out 
of her system with just one good fuck, could he? Coming down now off the high of her second 
orgasm, she could feel the ache again, the pressure building between her legs again, the need to 
feel him inside her growing again. "No," she repeated, and claimed his mouth in a savage kiss. 
"Bedroom," she breathed. "Now."
"Whoa, there, Dana, slow down," he said, pulling away from her. "I don’t run on batteries, 
y’know. I need a couple minutes to recharge…"
She moved a bit, rubbing her body against his, and smiled when she heard his sharp intake of 
breath at the first stirrings of life in his penis. "Bedroom," she repeated. "Now."
***********************
Scully walked into the empty basement office in an unusually good mood the next morning, and 
took a moment to reflect on that mood as she sipped her coffee. Its source was no surprise -- the 
previous night had been incredible; unlike anything she’d ever experienced. She’d surprised 
herself with some of her actions, and she thought she’d surprised Krycek too. He was apparently 
as unprepared as she was for the intensity of what had happened; a realization that amused her. 
So the man thought he was so in control, did he? She wondered what it would take to make him 
really lose control...
She absently stuck her hand into her bag, fishing for a tissue, and found something else. She 
drew out an unfamiliar computer disk and stared at it. Where had that come from? Had Mulder 
stuck it in her bag yesterday and she’d missed it? Then it hit her. Mulder hadn’t put it there; 
Krycek had.
An overwhelming sense of shame came over her as she slid the disk into her computer. I had sex 
with someone who should be a mortal enemy to get this, and it was one of the most amazing 
experiences of my life. Dana Scully, prostitute. Ahab would be so ashamed...
Her good mood completely destroyed, she forced those thoughts from her mind and, with 
trembling hand, opened the file on the disk. In a moment she found herself looking at lists of 
names, dates, locations. What were these from? Nothing she saw looked at all familiar to her. The 
dates were scattered, ranging from the late ‘40’s up through the previous year. No familiar 
names. The locations appeared to be clinics of some sort. This was undoubtedly related to one of 
the Consortium’s projects, but which one?
Then she saw the title -- Merchandise.
So this was part of the file from the DAT. She scrolled through the file, looking for her name, for 
Duane Barry’s, but didn’t find either. None of the names that she knew of the Allentown women 
were there, either. So what was all this?
"You’re awfully early today, Scully."
Mulder’s voice made her jump. She quickly closed the file, then chastised herself for doing so. 
She was supposed to pass this along to Mulder, wasn’t she? So why was she trying to hide it 
from him? "Morning, Mulder. Just checking up on something." She was surprised to find that her 
voice sounded almost normal.
Her partner dropped into his desk chair. "Anything interesting?"
"Um... I’ll let you know." She slid the disk out of her computer and considered it. How to 
present this? How much should she tell him? If he knew what she was doing, he’d be furious 
with her; of that she was sure. He’d tell her to stop, make her stop, and despite how tawdry it 
made her feel, she wasn’t sure she wanted to. No, she knew she didn’t want to; knew she 
couldn’t. Krycek had tapped into a thus-far unknown side of her; a creature of impulse, need, 
and desire rather than thought, reason, and responsibility. Now that it was revealed, this side of 
her craved attention; this... whatever it was... with Krycek fulfilled that need. As cheap as it 
made her feel, she needed this deal, as much or even more for the sex than for the information. 
How the hell was she supposed to tell Mulder that?
Don’t, that little rebellious part of her mind told her. Just tell him you have an informant. He 
doesn’t need to know who it is or what you’re doing, does he? It’s just... easier that way.
Yes, it was easier. But Mulder being Mulder, he’d ask questions. Uncomfortable questions. And 
if she didn’t want him to blow up about this, she’d have to lie. Though she’d committed a few 
sins of omission, she’d never out and out lied to him before. And now she’d have to. She could 
no longer pretend that the first night was against her will; not after that video. And now she’d 
gone further and consented; no, initiated. Mulder would never in a million years understand that. 
Not with Krycek.
But... what if he did? What if she told him all about this deal and he told her to do whatever she 
had to to get the information? Sure, she was willing (reluctantly) to prostitute herself for the sake 
of the case, but... could she still respect and work closely with a partner who told her to do that? 
How could they maintain the close friendship they shared if he did that? And... how could she 
ever look him in the eye again? Or he her?
Still, she needed some sort of vote of confidence that what she was doing was right. Or, if not 
right, at least it was the best thing. Best for the case, that was. She wasn’t sure it was best for her 
on a personal level either, but it sure felt damn good...
"I’ll give you a hint. 42." Mulder’s voice cut through her thoughts.
She looked up, surprised. "What?"
"The answer to the ultimate question of life, the universe, and everything. It’s 42."
"Huh?"
"You looked like you expected that disk to... never mind." Mulder gave up when he realized that 
she had no idea what he was talking about. "Something wrong, Scully?"
Scully put the disk down and fixed her attention on her partner. "Mulder, would you ever do 
anything you found morally repugnant in pursuit of the truth you’re looking for?"
He arched an eyebrow at her. "What?"
She had his full attention now, and pressed on. "How far would you go for the answers you 
want? Would you hurt someone you loved? Would you sleep with someone you hated? Would 
you trust someone who’s done nothing but lie to you?"
Mulder eyed her speculatively. "What are you up to, Scully?" 
"Hypothetically speaking, of course," she added quickly. "How far would you be willing to go?"
"Hypothetically speaking..." He studied her face for a moment, and she got the uncomfortable 
feeling that he was trying to read her mind. "... I’d do whatever I had to. Wouldn’t you?"
"Even to the lengths I mentioned?"
"If I knew what I was getting in return would answer all the questions, I’d do anything. I’ve 
already done more than I ever thought I would... might as well go the rest of the way." Mulder’s 
answer was immediate, which made her wonder if any thought had gone into it at all. Or... 
maybe too much thought had...
"Anything?" she asked. "You’d even kill?"
This time his answer was slower in coming, and he wouldn’t meet her eyes. "Under... certain 
circumstances... yeah, I probably would," he said softly.
"Probably?"
Another long pause. "If I were pushed hard enough... definitely."
Well, at least that was an honest answer. Frightening, but honest. She wasn’t sure exactly what it 
would take to push him to that, and she didn’t really want to find out. "And how far would you 
let me go?" she asked.
Mulder looked up. "What?"
"Say I was willing to do absolutely anything to get to the truth. Would you let me?"
His eyes narrowed. "Define ‘anything.’"
"Anything," Scully repeated. "Would you let me do anything and everything that you’d do?"
Mulder sat up straighter. "Scully, what the hell are you getting at?"
"Maybe an example would help." She thought a moment. "What would you do if I told you I 
was sleeping with the cigarette man because he told me he’d cure my cancer?"
The emotions that played across Mulder’s face in the next few moments scared her deeply. The 
mixture of anger, revulsion and deep hatred that she saw in his eyes told her that she couldn’t 
possibly tell him what she was doing with Krycek. If the very thought of something 
approximating her deal with him did this to Mulder, how could he ever handle the reality? She 
suspected that with that announcement, she just might find out what it would take to push 
Mulder to kill. "Mulder?"
He took several deep breaths to calm himself. "I’d never let it get that far," he finally said.
"Too late; the deal’s made. I’m sleeping with him... hypothetically speaking, of course. He’s also 
told me he’ll tell me all his secrets and answer all our questions. I’m only telling you so you can 
tell me what questions you want answered. Are you going to let me continue?"
"And you believe him?"
"Yes, I do."
Again he studied her for a moment before replying. "This isn’t a one-shot deal?"
"No, it’s continuing. For as long as he says. Am I doing the right thing?"
"The right thing would be to kill that son of a --"
"Mulder, it’s my life," Scully said quietly. "He’s offering to cure my cancer. Can you in good 
conscience tell me to refuse that cure?"
"What the hell do you want me to say?" he snapped. "If I tell you to stop, I’m condemning you 
to death. If I don’t, I don’t respect you enough to keep you from prostituting yourself. So you 
tell me -- what is the right thing here?"
She should’ve known that Mulder would realize what she was getting at. He was unwilling to 
make the hard decision, but he’d certainly helped her make hers. Her deal with Krycek stayed 
between herself and Krycek. "The right thing?" she repeated. "Maybe the right thing would be... 
to let me do what I think is best, and to support whatever decision I made. Could you do that?"
"If you’re sleeping with Cancerman, I don’t want to know about it," he said flatly.
Even better. He wouldn’t want to know that she was sleeping with Krycek, either. "Fine. I’ll 
keep that in mind."
"How could you even think about something like that?" he asked, still incredulous.
"We all have our price," she told him. "I know mine. I was just wondering about yours."
Mulder shifted position a bit. "Scully, what prompted this? He didn’t contact you, did he?"
"No, no, Mulder, nothing like that," she told him, heaving an inward sigh of relief. "But I do 
seem to have acquired... an informant."
He stared at her as if he hadn’t heard her. "A what?"
"Informant." She picked up the disk and waggled it a bit. "You do remember informants, don’t 
you?"
Mulder shifted his gaze to the disk in her hand. "So, are you sleeping with this guy?"
Scully silently counted to three. "No." Bald-faced lie number one, she thought.
"He just gave you that disk? For what reason?"
"He didn’t just give it to me. We have... a deal."
Mulder’s eyes narrowed. "What kind of deal? Why’d he come to you instead of me?"
She took a deep breath. "He came to me because you can’t offer him what he wants. Even if you 
could, you wouldn’t make this deal." True enough, she supposed.
"You are sleeping with him, aren’t you?"
"No." That’s two now...
"So what does he want?"
How to explain this without giving the whole thing away? "Well... there’s something I can do for 
him that I thought... was probably worth the information he’s offering. In truth, both what I’m 
doing and what he’s doing will probably benefit both of us in the long run..."
"What kind of information is he offering?" Mulder asked.
Scully tossed the disk to him. "Information I think you’ve been looking for."
"How will giving it to you benefit him?" Mulder slid the disk into his computer and clicked the 
file open.
"If exposed, the truth you seek will benefit millions, won’t it?"
"So why can’t he just expose it himself?"
"He’s not in a position to do so. That’s where you come in."
"Me?" Mulder snorted. "Did you look at this file, Scully? There’s nothing here I can use!"
"Granted, that’s only a part of the whole file -- a small part. But doesn’t it offer at least a place to 
start?" She found herself intently studying her desk blotter, unable to look her partner in the eye.
She could feel Mulder’s gaze boring into her skull. "You trust this guy, Scully?"
She lifted her eyes to meet his. "No, not entirely," she sighed. "But I do think he’s sincere about 
this, and in any case, I reserved the right not to arrange the second part of the bargain until we 
see what kind of results we get with the information he gives us."
He raised an eyebrow. "You’re just full of surprises this morning, aren’t you? What’s this second 
part?"
Scully took a deep breath. "There’s something he needs, that he didn’t ask for," she said, "that 
I’m probably in a position to get for him. Assuming what he gives us is worth the effort, that is." 
He said immunity wouldn’t help him, but he needs it, whether he thinks so or not...
"You’re arranging something he didn’t ask for and doing whatever he did, and all you get is... 
this?" Mulder gestured toward his computer screen. "Doesn’t seem like a fair trade to me, 
Scully."
"I’m sure it’s... as fair as possible. That’s not all there is; more will be coming. Also, I’m not 
arranging the second part yet, and I suspect he’s holding something back too." Krycek’s words 
came back to her: The offer’s always open. All you have to do is ask... She shook the thought out 
of her head. He couldn’t really have a cure, could he?
"So what do you have to do in this deal?" Mulder’s question cut through her thoughts.
She looked up at him. "I’m not doing anything that’ll hurt me or anyone else," she told him. "Or 
anything that I haven’t done before. It was... difficult at first, but all things considered, it’s a 
trade-off that... has its good points..." That was so stupid. How can he not figure it out from that?
"Translation: don’t go there," Mulder cut in. "Are you sure this doesn’t have anything to do with 
that hypothetical scenario you laid out before?"
She favored him with a warm smile. "Not a thing." And that was only half a lie...
"And nothing to do with that new boyfriend of yours?"
"Mulder, how could it possibly have anything to do with my boyfriend?" She moved to the side 
of his desk and fixed her eyes on his. "He and my informant are two totally different people; not 
connected to each other in any way, shape or form." Up to three and a half now..
Mulder stared at her for a full minute longer, then turned back to the computer screen with a 
"Hmph." He waved his hand at it. "So, what do you make of this, Agent Scully?"
"Well..." She bent down with an inward sigh of relief and studied the screen. "See that title 
there? Looks familiar, doesn’t it? Maybe we can start by checking out some of these clinics..."
End Chapter 4
Chapter 5
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