WICKED GAME
By Mare
Chapter 8
Disclaimers in Chapter 1, rated NC-17
 
"You’ve been in D.C. off and on for a while, haven’t you, Alex?"
Krycek lowered the newspaper he’d been reading. "Yeah, I guess. Why?"
"Have you ever done the whole tourist thing? You know, museums, sights, that sort of thing?"
Scully watched as a look she couldn’t identify crossed his eyes. "No, not really. Never had time."
"You’ve never been to the Smithsonian? The Capitol? Ford’s Theater?"
Now she could identify the look in those green eyes. He had something to hide. "No... Why?"
Dammit, why do you keep doing this to me? "You were seen last night near Ford’s Theater," she 
said quietly.
"Dana, I was here last night," Krycek said smoothly. "With you. Remember, we --"
"I went to sleep afterwards," she interrupted. "And I know you’re a night owl. I have no 
knowledge of what you do after I’m asleep."
"You think I leave here and go carousing every night?" His tone had just the right degree of 
indignation.
"You were seen by a veteran agent, one who knew you when you were with the Bureau. Was he 
mistaken too?"
"Probably. I don’t know about you, but I’d like to know who this is who keeps masquerading --"
"Don’t." Her quiet word stopped him. "Don’t lie to me again, Alex."
His gaze challenged hers for a long moment, but he sighed and gave in. "I had a meeting, okay? I 
thought nobody saw anything..."
"You might as well have had that meeting in the lobby of the Hoover building!" Scully cried. 
"Didn’t you think you’d be seen?"
"At that hour? Besides, I didn’t pick the venue," Krycek muttered.
"Never mind," she sighed. "Thanks to your meeting, Skinner’s making the hunt for you official. 
He’s organizing a task force. You have got to stop putting yourself in danger like that! It’s 
important now."
"Frankly, I think I’m doing a remarkable job of not being seen," Krycek said. "Two sightings over 
five weeks is a pretty low percentage..."
"Not low enough. Can’t you conduct your business outside the city?"
"Does it really matter? You’re covering for me, aren’t you?"
Scully sighed again. Would he ever get it? "Not if you don’t take better precautions. I can only 
do so much. If you get caught, it’s your own fault, and don’t you dare try to lay it on me."
"Don’t you have a vested interest in keeping me out of custody?"
"Yes, but I need your help. Why do you have to make everything so much harder than it has to 
be?"
Now he sighed. "Look, I’m trying to get a lead on somebody. When I do, I won’t have to have 
all these late night meetings. Can’t you hold Skinhead off until then?"
So that was what his mysterious business was all about. "Who are you trying to locate? Maybe I 
can help."
Krycek started to say something, then thought better of it. "Never mind," he murmured. "You 
wouldn’t believe me if I told you."
"Try me."
He shook his head. "Can’t. Not yet."
Did that mean he would confide in her someday? "Are you even close to locating this person?"
He thought that over for a second. "I think so," he said slowly. "I got some new information last 
night. With any luck it might lead somewhere."
That thought stirred up a vague unease in her. "What if you find... him? Does that mean the end 
of the deal?" Oddly enough, she didn’t feel the relief she thought she’d feel at that idea. She 
wasn’t sure exactly what it was she felt.
"Not necessarily. That depends on you."
She let out a breath she hadn’t even realized she’d been holding. "But it does mean an end to the 
nocturnal activities?"
"One kind, at least," Krycek said with a leer.
Scully had never found such an expression arousing before, but now, after the tension of the day, 
she found it very much so. Besides, there was no point in arguing anymore. They knew each 
other’s viewpoints already; further discussion would only annoy both of them. Nothing would 
change anyway, no matter how much they argued. And since she knew he could follow through 
on what that leer promised...
He seemed to pick up on this. "You seem a little tense, Dana," he said casually. "Anything I can 
do to take your mind off your troubles?"
A sudden idea sprang into her mind. What a way to take her mind off things... "Yes, as a matter 
of fact, there is." She stood up. "Remember what I said about the videos?"
"Ours?" At her nod, he continued, "You wanted to make more."
She turned and moved toward the bedroom. "Now?" she heard from behind her.
"Now, Comrade Director."
This time he didn’t make her wait.
*****************************
"So tell me," Krycek said, nuzzling at her ear, "why tape tonight?"
Scully allowed her head to fall back, exposing her throat to his lips. "Why not? Maybe I need 
some new material for when you’re out on your late-night scavenger hunts."
He chuckled softly. "Tell me next time you do that. You’ll score big deal points if you let me 
watch."
She raised her arms, allowing him to take her shirt off, then lay back against the pillow. "Make it 
good and I might."
He took a moment to remove some of his own clothing, and when he sat down next to her, he 
was down to t-shirt and boxers. "So," he said, stroking her cheek with a fingertip, "tell me what 
you like."
Just get to it, that’s what I’d like... "What?"
He gently slid her pants off, leaving her in just her underwear. "It occurred to me that all this 
time, I’ve just assumed I knew what would make you feel good," he said, now running his 
fingertips around her ear and down her throat. "Maybe I’m wrong. Maybe there’s something you 
really like that I haven’t done yet. Is there?"
She gasped softly as he left a trail of soft kisses over the ground his fingers had covered. "You’re 
asking... asking what I like?"
"Mm-hmm." His fingers danced lightly across her collarbone. "C’mon, share."
"Mmm... That. I like that," she sighed softly as kisses again followed touch.
"Good choice. We sort of let foreplay fall by the wayside, didn’t we?" Fingertips drew a feather-
light trail between her breasts. "What else do you like?"
"I like..." She arched her back, allowing him the access to unhook her bra and lift if off her. 
"Like... I like most of what you’ve done... Mmmm, like that," she sighed as his fingertips lightly 
traced circles around one nipple. "Both, do both..."
"All in due time, Dana," he chuckled, then lapped gently at the same nipple. She moaned softly, 
arching upwards, wordlessly asking him to do more. He sucked briefly on that nipple and lightly 
bit it, drawing a gasp from her and sending a spark right to her groin. She was sure she’d come if 
he just kept doing that, but he moved on, his fingers now gently tracing the left side of her body, 
from armpit to hip and back again.
"Like that, huh?" he murmured softly, touch giving way to feather-light kisses again.
"Mm-hmm. Do the other side too?"
"Mm... no, that’s a little awkward." His fingers -- fingers of his right hand only -- now skimmed 
down her torso. "Let’s just stay in the middle now, okay? All the fun stuff’s there anyway." He 
covered her abdomen with kisses, licked lightly at her navel. "If you can’t tell me what you like, 
can you tell me how you like it?"
Krycek was tracing little circles on her inner thigh now, and she felt herself growing wetter with 
each circle. "How I like it?"
"Mm-hmm. You like it slow and gentle?" He licked lightly at the thigh he’d already set on fire, 
his tongue inching ever so close to where she wanted it...
"Mmmyeah, slow’s good. Anything’s good..."
She could feel his breath now between her legs, through the cloth of her panties. She felt rather 
than heard him speak.
"You like it rough, don’t you?" His tongue darted out and found her clitoris even through her 
panties. She cried out softly, so close to orgasm, but not over the edge yet. Not unless he did that 
again...
"You do like it rough, don’t you?" he repeated, now licking around the edge of her panties. "You 
like to be fucked fast and hard, don’t you, Dana? I know you do."
"Ohhhh, yeah, like it," she sighed. "Like it rough. Just like it."
"Thought so." His tongue touched on her clit again, but moved away too quickly. "So tell me 
how you want it tonight. Tell me what you want to do for the camera."
Camera. Camera? Her head snapped up and she looked toward the closet, but she didn’t see 
anything. Where had he said the lens was? Was it on yet? "Camera on?"
He kissed his way up her body, dipped his tongue into her ear as he reached toward the bedside 
table. "Is now," he breathed. "C’mon, tell me what you want."
"I, um..." Suddenly it didn’t matter that he was sucking on her nipple, or licking at her thigh. All 
she could think of was the camera, recording for posterity her every move, every action, every 
little thing he did to her, every little thing she did in response. Every little thing, like allowing the 
man her partner hated most in the world to remove her panties and... and...
"Dana?" Krycek was looking at her expectantly. "What do you want me to do?"
"Oh, um... do whatever you want," she said, letting her head fall back on the pillow again. "Just 
get on with it, okay?" Get on with it and don’t make me think about what I’m doing...
He shrugged. "If you insist," he said, and then his head was between her legs.
It was good, it was always good, she always came when he did that, came quickly... but it didn’t 
feel right this time. Every time she tried to relax and feel what he was doing, the image of the 
small camera sprang into her head, its little red light blinking in the darkness of the closet. She 
could see what the camera saw; could see herself allowing Alex Krycek, liar, traitor, and 
murderer, to take her clit into his mouth. She could see it, but she could no longer feel it.
She shook the image from her head and tried to concentrate on what he was doing, what he was 
supposed to be making her feel. It worked at first, as she felt the pressure inside building, 
building... but the camera came to mind again. She was about to have an orgasm on camera, 
thanks to the ministrations of a wanted felon. On tape, where anyone could see it, see her 
behaving like the whore she’d become.
With a small cry she jerked away from Krycek and sat up. He looked up at her, confused. "Dana? 
What --"
"Nothing, Alex, it’s nothing," she said quickly, stretching out again. "It’s just... I’m not in the 
mood for that, okay?"
"Not in the mood for... since when?"
"Just not tonight, please?"
"Want me to stop?"
Scully looked up at him, seeing the animal lust in his eyes. Would he stop if she told him to? Not 
likely, not if he really felt what his eyes showed. And she knew he did; that erection didn’t lie. 
How could she make him stop?
Maybe she didn’t have to. Maybe she could make it through if it was over quickly. She had to; 
this was all for her partner, for the case. She had to do it. What made this time so different from 
the hundred or so other times she’d allowed him inside her body?
Don’t think about the camera, she told herself. Don’t think, just do it. "No, don’t stop," she said 
softly. "Just... just not that, all right?"
His eyes locked on hers for another long moment before he shrugged and took off his t-shirt. 
"Whatever you want," he said, slipping out of his boxers.
It occurred to her now that the brain was without question the most important sex organ. Her 
preoccupation had all but destroyed her arousal, and she felt dry as a bone. Her gaze moved over 
his large, very hard penis. She knew it could hurt even when she was very wet and desperately 
wanted him. There was no way in hell this was going to work.
Krycek noted her hesitation. "You sure?" he asked.
For the case. For Mulder. You can do it. "Yes, but... I don’t think... Do you have..." Her voice 
trailed off. What in the world made her think he’d have anything?
He looked at her a moment longer, then leaned across the bed and rummaged in the drawer of 
what he obviously thought of as his table. He came up with a small bottle, and was about to pour 
some of the contents into his hand when he looked up at Scully again. "Are you really sure?" he 
asked again. "If you’re not, I need to know right now."
Stop asking me and get on with it! "Yes, I’m sure." She held out her hand. "May I?"
He relinquished the bottle, and she squeezed a little of the lube into her hand, warming it. With 
long, light strokes, she coated his organ with it, inducing shivers in her partner and reducing him 
to soft moans. The sounds and the effects her hands had on him struck a chord in her too, and 
she found her arousal coming back. It was just sex, wasn’t it? Not something she’d never done 
before. Getting through it would be easy.
And it was easy, at least at first. He slid effortlessly inside her and started moving with a quick 
but smooth rhythm. Her body responded, opening to him, moving with him, moving swiftly 
toward an inevitable climax...
On camera.
Scully shook her head, unable to get the image of the blinking red light out of her mind. She 
could even hear it; the soft whirring of the machine as it recorded their every move. Her body 
stiffened again and she pushed at Krycek, but he took no notice. He shifted position, riding high 
now, giving her the clitoral stimulation she needed to come, but again, she barely felt it. All she 
felt was the glare of the lens, focused on her.
It wouldn’t work. She wasn’t going to come. She couldn’t, not knowing that the tape was 
running. All she wanted now was to get this over with, get the tape out of the machine and 
destroy it.
Krycek was holding back, waiting for her. Now, how do I know that? she asked herself. Oh, God, 
what’s wrong with me? How could I know something like that about somebody like him? How 
could I let this happen?
She wrapped her arms around him and drew him down closer to her. "Not gonna come," she 
whispered. "Finish."
His pace picked up, and she just lay back and closed her eyes as he slammed furiously into her. 
This is how the professionals do it, she thought. They don’t feel. Just take what’s dished out and 
accept payment later. No feeling at all.
But she did feel something. His frantic strokes were starting to hurt now, and she knew she’d be 
very sore in the morning. Finish, she silently begged. Just finish, end it, get this over with, get out 
of me, get away from me... As if on cue, he gave one final, savage thrust and with a low moan, 
emptied himself inside her.
Still breathing hard, he barely had time to pull out before she shoved him away from her and 
curled up on her side near her edge of the bed, pulling the blanket up to her chin.
"Dana?" She could hear confusion in his voice, but she only gathered the blanket more tightly 
around herself.
"Dana, what the hell happened?"
His hand fell on her shoulder, and she jerked away from him as if burned. "Don’t touch me!"
"C’mon, Dana, what’s going on here?"
He touched her again, and again she recoiled from him. "I said, don’t touch me!" she hissed.
To his credit, he didn’t. But that didn’t make it any easier not to cry.
*************************
She was much too quiet.
Krycek stole a glance to the side, at Scully’s motionless form on the other side of the bed. Still 
recoiling from him post-sex. He knew now that that practice wouldn’t change any time soon.
She was often quiet after sex, if for no other reason than to get some sleep before work. But 
there was a different quality to this quiet. Waves of something else -- frustration? anger? 
humiliation? -- were coming off her, and he wasn’t quite sure what to do about it.
Surely part of it had to be sexual frustration. For the first time in their shared history, she hadn’t 
come. Even on that first night, when she turned around and called it rape, she came. She had to 
be harboring some pretty deep-seated inhibitions to be so self-conscious just because she knew 
she was being videotaped. What other reason could there be for her not coming? It couldn’t have 
been any failure on his part; she was tense, practically shaking, from the moment he turned the 
recorder on, and he couldn’t seem to get through to her no matter what he did. And she 
wouldn’t let him touch her afterwards, after he turned off the tape and offered to finish her off 
if she wanted.
So this time it hadn’t been good for her. Only because of the tape? If so, there was a simple 
solution. They could agree that it was better if he chose which sessions would be taped, and do 
so without her knowledge, the same way the first two tapes were made.
Of course, that would require that they talk. Didn’t look like there’d be any of that in the near 
future. Still, it didn’t hurt to try.
"Dana?" Krycek said softly. No reply, but he continued anyway. "I’m sorry it didn’t work out."
She didn’t move.
"We can try again if you want..."
"No."
The word was soft and sort of muffled, but at least it was a start. "I don’t mean the taping, I 
meant --"
"I know what you meant. No."
He gently touched her shoulder, but she wrenched away from him. Okay, bad idea. Words 
seemed to be all right, so he tried again. "Really, if I’d known it was going to freak you out like 
that, I wouldn’t --"
"Shut up," she said, her voice still muffled. "Just shut up, will you?"
Okay, maybe it wasn’t sexual frustration. But something was definitely up. "Dana, what’s 
wrong?"
Her body was shaking gently now, and he knew she was crying. It wasn’t that bad, was it? 
"Dana --"
"Everything!" she burst out. "Everything’s wrong, okay? This whole deal..."
Back to that subject again. "Dana, we’ve been over this," he said patiently. "You led me to 
believe you were okay with the deal. If you feel differently about it now, I don’t know --"
"Okay with it?" she broke in. "How am I supposed to be okay with something that makes me feel 
like --"
Her words abruptly stopped, and it didn’t look like she was going to finish the thought. "Like 
what?" he asked.
No answer.
Krycek thought he knew what she was going to say, but needed to hear it. "Dana? Like what?"
The reply finally came, in a tiny voice. "Like a whore."
Bingo. Not a surprising sentiment, but a little unexpected that she still felt that way. Hadn’t her 
attitude been very different since her trip? Shouldn’t she be over this by now?
Maybe it was the tape. That really seemed to screw with her head. But she was the one who 
wanted it... "I’m sorry," he said.
"I just bet you are!" she snapped.
"I am sorry. If there was any other way to structure this deal, I would’ve done it. Don’t you 
know that?"
"No. It didn’t have to be this way." Her voice was muffled again.
"It did. I’m not about to give away information for nothing, and there’s nothing else you can 
offer me." That was actually not far from the truth. 
"How about immunity? Isn’t that how deals like this usually go?"
Krycek sighed. "That’s not in your power to give. I doubt if you could even arrange it."
"Why me? Why not go to Mulder? You usually do."
"Not for the big picture. I don’t want him. I want you."
"So you ask me to prostitute myself." Her voice was soft and shaky.
A little spike of guilt stabbed at him. "You knew what you were getting into," he said. "You 
knew how it would be. You agreed to it. You said you could handle it."
No answer, but he could see her trembling lightly.
"And that was a bad analogy."
That got Scully’s attention. She turned halfway toward him. "What?"
"The whore thing. What you’re doing is different."
She turned a little more. "Excuse me?"
"I’m serious. Let’s look at this, shall we? Hookers get only one thing out of what they do -- 
money. You --"
"I get one thing, too. Information."
"Oh, come on, Dana. You know you get more out of it than that. Information wasn’t the only 
reason you agreed to the deal."
"Oh?" He could almost see the upraised eyebrow that went with that tone.
"Yes, oh. Think about it. Do you think hookers enjoy what they do? Do you think any of them 
ever has an orgasm when they do it for money? Well, you enjoy it. You come all the time... well, 
most of the time. They do it because they think they have to. You do it because you want to. 
You’re in this as much for the sex as for the information."
She turned over and curled up again. "I’m in this because you wouldn’t let me out of it." Her 
voice trembled a little again.
Krycek sighed, trying to beat back that sliver of guilt. "I’m trying, Dana. I’m trying to make this 
good for you. I want you to enjoy it." He laid his hand on her shoulder and she shook it off, but 
not as violently as before. "I really am sorry," he said softly.
"That doesn’t make it any easier. This is just so... it’s still very difficult."
He didn’t know what else to say, so he said it again. "I’m sorry."
Neither of them moved or spoke for what felt like a long time. Finally Scully sighed heavily. "I 
had a really bad day," she said, very quietly.
Krycek turned toward her, but didn’t speak.
"And the tape... I can’t, Alex. All I could think about was the recorder. I can’t do it if I know 
you’re taping."
That sounded encouraging. "What if you didn’t know? You didn’t know about the others and 
you were okay."
Another long silence, followed by another long sigh. "It might be better if I don’t know when it’s 
happening."
Very encouraging indeed. "Okay, we can do that. So... what happened today?"
"Mulder was asking questions. He asked about you."
"Me?"
"Well, my boyfriend. My informant. I had to make up some things."
"We’ll have to go through that some other time." He touched her shoulder again, and this time 
she didn’t draw away. He ran his hand gently up and down her arm. "I really, really am sorry 
about this, Dana," he said. "Are you going to be okay?"
Another sigh. "I suppose so."
"Can you handle this deal? Really handle it?"
Krycek held his breath while she considered his question. Finally she repeated, "I suppose so."
"If you’d just admit to yourself that you like it, you’d feel a lot better about all this."
Now she pushed his hand away. "Don’t push it, Alex."
For a change, he took her advice.
*************************
Mulder accepted the disk Scully gave him several days later, but didn’t dive right into exploring 
it, as he usually did. This time, she felt his gaze follow her to her desk, and when she looked up, 
his eyes were firmly fixed on her. "What?" she asked.
"Scully," he said at length, "something about this whole setup stinks. In fact, everything about it 
does."
A feeling of unease settled over her, but she made an effort to sound normal. "The information 
isn’t any good? You haven’t even looked at it yet."
He shook his head. "Not the information, the setup. Are you sure you know what you’re doing?"
"I know exactly what I’m doing, Mulder," she said patiently. "Everything’s fine."
"Has it occurred to you that this informant of yours could be dangerous? Think about it. He’s 
obviously in with them, the smoker and his group, or he wouldn’t have this stuff. How do you 
know they -- or he -- won’t take you again?"
"Why would they do that? What else could they possibly do to me that they haven’t already 
done?"
"They could kill you this time."
"They already have!"
The words came out sharper than she’d intended, but they had the desired effect on Mulder. 
They had an effect on her too; the fear that she usually managed to keep at bay suddenly started 
gnawing away at her insides. She took a deep breath, trying to calm herself, but the fear only 
receded part way.
"Why come to you and not me?" Mulder asked after a moment.
"Maybe he knows your track record with informants, bothering them at all hours of the night and 
demanding information. Maybe he knows you wouldn’t be patient and abide by a deal --"
"Maybe the guy knows I wouldn’t sleep with him."
That again. "Mulder, I’ve told you time and time again that my boyfriend is not my informant. 
Why is that concept so difficult for you to grasp?"
"Maybe because the timing’s just a little too perfect," Mulder said. "You meet this guy. Suddenly 
a week later, you have this informant and a mysterious deal. What are you doing for him, 
Scully?"
"Maybe I’m giving him tango lessons," she said smoothly.
He arched an eyebrow. "Horizontal tango?"
She sighed heavily. "Do you honestly think I’d go that far just to get information? Do you really 
think that little of me?" You don’t have to, Mulder, I think little enough of myself already.
"I think you’d go that far if your informant said he could cure your cancer. That hypothetical 
scenario wasn’t so hypothetical, was it?"
Can he cure me? "Come on, Mulder, there isn’t any cure! You and I both know that!"
"No." Mulder shook his head. "There is a cure. I know it, and somebody in that group knows it -- 
and knows what it is."
"Tell me something, Mulder. Tell me why somebody in that group would give me information 
and cure my cancer? Doesn’t that sound a little one-sided to you?"
"Maybe it’s not so one-sided if you’re sleeping with him."
"I’m not sleeping with him," she said flatly.
"Okay, let’s move on... for now." Mulder moved around his desk and sat on the edge of it. 
"What about Krycek?"
Uh-oh... "What about Krycek?"
"You tell me, Scully. You don’t seem particularly motivated to catch him."
That feeling of unease grew stronger. "What do you mean? I want him in custody as much as you 
do."
"Do you, Scully? That’s not how it sounds to me," Mulder said. "All I hear from you is let’s wait, 
we have to be careful, take it slow, make sure we don’t waste the taxpayers’ money. If I didn’t 
know you like I do, I’d almost say you were stalling, maybe covering for him."
"Mulder, I --"
"And there’s only one reason I can think of for you to do that."
She fixed a steady gaze on him, hoping that the extreme discomfort she felt didn’t show. 
"Mulder, what are you suggesting?"
"What does it sound like I’m suggesting? Sure looks like you’ve had some contact with him. 
What is it, Scully? Is he your informant?"
"Why would he come to me? He goes to you. He likes to mess with your head."
"Nice try, Scully. Want to answer the question this time?"
She should’ve known avoidance techniques wouldn’t work with Mulder. "No, Krycek is not my 
informant," she said, realizing as she spoke that she had unconsciously crossed her fingers behind 
her back.
"Why wasn’t your boyfriend at your birthday party?"
Mulder had obviously been thinking about all this for a while. His mind was moving quickly, 
skipping around between subjects, and Scully felt like she was swimming against the current 
trying to keep up. "I told you, he was home in bed with the flu."
"Yet you came to work the next day wearing that very lovely gift from him."
"I went to see him after the party." At least that much was the truth. "I wanted to make sure he 
was all right. He gave me the earrings then."
"Just handed you the box? Just like that?"
She crossed her arms over her chest and leaned against her own desk. "He wanted me to have 
them, even though we couldn’t celebrate until he felt better."
"Mm-hmm." Now Mulder paced slowly around the office. "Or maybe there’s something about 
the guy you don’t want other people to know. Maybe that he’s a wanted felon?"
"How dare you?" she cried, letting just the right note of indignation into her voice. "How dare 
you even suggest that! He tried to kill me! What on earth makes you think I’d even touch that 
man, let alone sleep with him?"
"You think I liked coming to that conclusion? You think I like the thought of you having any 
contact, of whatever type, with him?"
"Then don’t think about it," she said, calming down. "It’s not true, Mulder. My boyfriend and 
my informant are two different people, and neither one of them is Krycek. I haven’t seen him 
since right before you dragged him off to Russia and lost him."
Mulder shook his head slowly. "The pieces fit together just a little too neatly, Scully."
"Haven’t you ever heard of coincidence?"
"There’s no such thing as coincidence."
"How about trust, then? You say you trust me, Mulder. Don’t you trust me to tell you the truth 
about something so important?"
He didn’t answer for a moment; just looked at her. Finally he said, "Who’s your informant?"
"I don’t know his name, or anything else about him. He’s just a contact. No information."
He nodded. "And if I called Mr. Alan Keller about a new security system for my apartment, 
would anybody know what I was talking about?"
Scully smiled faintly. Thanks to Krycek’s computer skills, Alan Keller, security consultant, now 
existed -- at least on paper. She had no doubt that Krycek could make him exist in the flesh too, 
if it became important for him to surface. "Of course, Mulder. Please do," she said, betting that 
he wouldn’t. "I’ll get you his card if you like."
The soft snort told her he wasn’t going to call her bluff... yet. "And you really haven’t seen 
Krycek?"
"No, Mulder. Not since November."
"You’d tell me if you did?"
"Of course, Mulder. I just don’t want him to slip away like he’s done the last few times."
Mulder came to rest at the edge of his desk again, fixing anxious eyes on hers. "Can you look me 
in the eye and swear to me that you haven’t had contact with him?"
She gazed serenely back at him. "I haven’t had any contact with Alex Krycek. Satisfied?" Her 
fingers were crossed behind her back again.
He looked at her a moment longer, then rubbed at his eyes. "Okay, if you say so, Scully. It’s all 
just coincidence."
"Yes." She moved closer and gently touched his arm. "You’re paranoid, Mulder. You see 
conspiracies in everything. Sometimes they’re just not there."
He chuckled softly. "I’d have a hard time imagining Krycek giving gifts, anyway."
Scully smiled. "See, Mulder? There’s also a lot of things about your speculations that don’t fit, 
that don’t make sense. There’s nothing to it. Nothing at all."
Mulder smiled too. "I guess you’re right. Thanks for clearing that up."
They both sat down to work, but the gentle chill that crept up Scully’s spine suggested to her that 
Mulder wasn’t completely convinced.
*************************
Krycek slipped smoothly inside the back door of the bar and eased into the last booth in the 
back. He didn’t realize until he was safely hidden in the corner of the booth how wary he had 
been coming here. All the old instincts were coming back; his senses seemed sharper, more acute 
than they had at any time since he’d taken up residence at Scully’s, and he felt the presence of 
that heightened sixth sense that had allowed him to survive in the past when he shouldn’t have. 
That sense had been dulled, practically non-existent, lately, but on this night it came readily back 
and fit him like an old, familiar glove.
He took a moment to scan his surroundings. Casey’s was never the most popular hangout, but it 
was still the choice of discerning Fibbies, which was probably why Skinner had chosen it for his 
team. The work was underway now, stakeouts were scheduled, and the hunt was on. There they 
all were, off duty now, gathered up front around the bar and the first few booths. There were a 
lot of them, but there were also enough casually-clothed patrons around that his jeans and leather 
jacket wouldn’t stand out among all the suits and topcoats up front.
As he surveyed the area, Krycek asked himself for about the fifteenth time that night what the 
hell he was doing. This was crazy; there was just no other word for it. He used to take chances 
like this because he had to, just to stay alive. Now he was taking them because he wanted to get 
laid. Alex, my friend, he told himself, your priorities have really gone to hell.
But that assessment wasn’t quite right. If all he wanted was to get off, he reasoned, he could’ve 
gotten out those videos he’d recently made and jerked off all night. No, what he really wanted, 
needed, was the excitement; the thrill of the chase. He’d lived on the edge for a long time; long 
enough that it would take more than just a few weeks with the little redhead to domesticate him. 
He wasn’t sure he even could be domesticated. He was safe and comfortable at Scully’s, but he 
still felt the need to venture into dangerous territory on occasion, testing those old skills, seeing if 
he still had it. Seeing if he’d still be able to survive in the hard, unforgiving world if the deal 
somehow went wrong. And reminding himself just how nice "safe and comfortable" could be.
So here he was, in the lion’s den. Not the most dangerous situation he could put himself into, but 
pretty close. Dangerous enough to make the sex really hot...
Pushing that thought to the back of his mind, he tuned back in to his surroundings in time to flirt 
with the waitress while giving her his order for a double vodka. One more point in favor of these 
occasional excursions to the danger zone: ego stroking and confirmation that he could still bag 
somebody other than the Ice Queen if he so chose.
Krycek sat back, sipping his drink and keeping an eye on the two young women at a nearby table 
who were checking him out, making a bet with himself about which one would approach him 
first. Would he ever choose to bang somebody other than Frosty the Fibbie? The deal didn’t 
provide for that, but didn’t prohibit it either, and sometimes he just thought he could use a break. 
After all, the deal was strictly a sexual thing. When they weren’t having sex, Scully treated him 
at best as a roommate she didn’t particularly like, and at worst... well, that didn’t bear thinking 
about. Granted, things were more often at the better end of the spectrum, but he sometimes 
wondered what it would be like now with someone else. Someone who didn’t make him feel 
guilty. How would it feel to lose a few hours with someone who didn’t hate his guts; didn’t care 
who he was or what he’d done? How different would it be to be with someone who’d happily 
do things solely for his pleasure?
Different, without a doubt. Maybe even pretty good. But worth the trouble? There were risks to 
getting involved with anyone else, including the fact that he could unwittingly run into a 
Consortium assassin or some psycho. There were other drawbacks too -- Scully would laugh if 
she knew he found the necessary condom use to be one of them. But two major things held him 
back from encouraging those two young women or doing anything more than flirting with the 
waitress. The first was that there was no woman on earth he wanted more than Dana Scully, thus 
rendering any outside-the-deal excursions both meaningless and unsatisfying on so many levels. 
The other was the knowledge that he could never have the kind of control over another woman 
that he had over Scully.
That wasn’t to say that the deal didn’t have its advantages. Krycek watched Scully, perched on a 
bar stool just at the edge of a group of agents, a group that included Mulder and Skinner, who 
were engaged in conversation. She listened absently, making an occasional comment, but she was 
mostly lost in her own thoughts. He allowed his gaze to sweep over her, taking in the brilliant 
blue eyes, near-perfect figure, shapely legs. She was easily the most beautiful woman in the room, 
that don’t-mess-with-me vibe only adding to her allure. Hell, he was getting hard just watching 
her. Just watching her sit there. Dana Scully, Ice Queen, could make breathing sexy.
What he hadn’t known, what nobody in the place could’ve known, was that she was pure fire in 
bed. Despite, or maybe because of, her relative inexperience, she was outrageously responsive, 
much more so than any partner he’d ever had. Practically everything he did got her off; 
something he’d never been able to do before. He knew he was good, but she had to be really 
starved for that to happen. That being the case, was it really him she wanted, or just his dick? 
Would anybody else’s dick do just as well?
Evidence suggested otherwise. Starved or not, she turned all suitors away. That was probably a 
good thing at this point. Krycek was pretty sure he’d have to beat the shit out of any guy who 
dared to approach her. She was his territory now; his to play with however he chose. He was the 
one in her bed every night, the one who belonged there. He was the one who broke down all her 
walls; who gave her what she needed; who made her scream with pleasure every night.
The only problem was that breaking down her walls and unleashing her inner hedonist had been... 
too easy. And he was probably enjoying it far too much.
Or maybe he was just bored. Maybe that explained the waitress and the two girls. Maybe that 
was what was behind those uncharacteristic thoughts about sex that was more give-and-take, 
instead of him giving and his partner taking. Sure, there were things that he didn’t, couldn’t get 
from Scully, but was it worth it to look for them in somebody else’s bed? In the long run, no. He 
could give and not take with Scully because it was all part of the mindfuck. He wasn’t sure he 
could do it in another situation; one that he didn’t have full control over. Besides, he suspected 
he wasn’t wired to provide the required emotional component. He was too busy looking out for 
himself; when did he have time to care about anybody else? Better to forget other women and 
get what he could from Scully.
She didn’t give a whole lot, but she had indeed surprised him more than once since the deal 
started. The biggest surprise? That she couldn’t get enough. Going into this, he hadn’t expected 
that her sex drive would be anywhere close to as strong as his, but it seemed to match and maybe 
even surpass it. Picky as she was, she had somehow managed to put aside her personal issues 
regarding him and what she thought he’d done in order to get the deal moving. She could’ve 
said no, but she’d made those personal compromises in order to sleep with him. With him. She 
couldn’t get enough of him. What would she do if he ever said no to her? Could he ever say no 
to her?
Krycek pushed that thought out of his mind. Scully might be getting in deeper than she’d 
intended, but he wasn’t... was he? He was as much in control as he’d always been. That was why 
he was even in the bar in the first place. The inevitable sex would be only a highly enjoyable by-
product of his real mission. His true objective was to engage in some mindfucking. He’d 
managed to melt the Ice Queen in private -- and oh, how gloriously and thoroughly she had 
melted -- so now it was time to up the ante a little. Could he melt her in public as easily as he’d 
done in private?
The taller, blonder of the two women nearby had just risen and started to approach him (thus 
allowing him to win his mental bet) when Scully’s gaze fell on him. He raised his glass and 
winked at her, noting with some satisfaction that her facade cracked and her jaw dropped for at 
least ten seconds before she recovered. She leaned forward and whispered a few words to 
Mulder, then stalked to the back of the bar and slid into the booth, across from him. "What the 
hell are you doing here?" she demanded.
Krycek smiled to himself. The little redhead was good and pissed already. If he played his cards 
right, this could be one hot encounter... "Having a drink. What does it look like?"
Scully glanced over her shoulder, making sure nobody had followed her. "You had to leave the 
house just to drink?"
"Drinking all alone at home, all by myself? You want to turn me into an alcoholic or something?"
She wasn’t amused. "Alex, get out of here," she hissed. "Now."
"Afraid one of your colleagues will see you with me?" he purred. "It’d be very, very easy to get 
out of that, y’know. All you have to do is arrest me." You could blow this deal straight to hell any 
time you want to, Little Red, he thought. Why don’t you? Or don’t you know that you can?
He watched her mentally process his words for about thirty seconds before rejecting the idea. 
"And let you tell them all about our deal? Not on your life!"
Did she have any idea what she looked like when she was riled up? He had to close his eyes and 
think of something, anything, other than her for a moment, or else he’d get too hard, too fast. He 
took a deep breath and focused on her again. "Go back to your friends and let me finish my drink 
in peace, okay?"
"No. Home. Now."
Home? His home, too? Krycek laughed softly. This was going too well. Time to push another 
button... "If I’m going home, I’m not going alone."
"I’m not ready to leave yet," Scully said firmly.
"Who said anything about you?" He let his gaze drift to the two young women at the table, 
knowing that Scully would look too. He nodded toward the taller one. "How ‘bout if I take her 
home with me? She’s kinda cute..."
He heard her sharp intake of breath and expected her to lash out at him, but she didn’t. She took 
another deep breath and said quietly, "You can’t. We have a deal."
He shrugged. "So? The deal doesn’t prohibit --"
"And just where do you think you’re going to take her?" Scully seethed quietly, cutting him off. 
"My bed?"
Her bed. Their home, but not their bed, her bed. Well, at least now he knew that the little 
redhead was susceptible to the green-eyed monster, too... "Okay, so we’d go to a motel. I bet she 
wouldn’t mind at all." He stole a glance at Scully, noting the flush across her cheeks and her 
increased respiration rate. "She’d probably suck me too, if I wanted," he continued, knowing that 
was one thing Scully’d never do for him. The request was on the table; she could do with it what 
she wanted. Time to start moving in for the kill. "I bet she’d even fuck me right here if I asked 
her to."
He heard her small sigh and smiled to himself. Arousing her was just too damn easy. Making her 
want what he wanted, even if she found it abhorrent, was only slightly more challenging. Now 
he just had to get her to say the words... "Want me to tell you what I’d do to her?"
No answer, but he could hear her breathing faster and saw out of the corner of his eye that she 
couldn’t look at him anymore. Wouldn’t be long now. "I think I’d start with the jeans," Krycek 
said, still facing the girl but watching Scully. "I’d leave the shirt alone for a while. Sure, I’d start 
off with a little nipple attention, especially since she’s not wearing a bra, but that’s just 
preliminary. The actual start would be the jeans. They’d come off real fast."
A small sound came from the redhead, and he turned a little more toward her. She was probably 
playing the scenario out in her mind. He wouldn’t have to push her much further at all before she 
caved. "See, sometimes it’s incredibly sexy to give a woman oral sex while she’s still half-
clothed. Makes you feel like you’re doing something you’re not supposed to; kinda like her 
husband or boyfriend is going to walk in on you or something. So I’d do that. I’d start slow, 
teasing her. You know all about that teasing, don’t you, Dana? Think she’d like it? I bet she 
would. Bet she wouldn’t come as fast as you, though. But that’s okay; it lets me experiment. 
Nothing too fancy for starters, just a lot of licking. Lots of tiny, light little licks, eventually 
concentrating on her clit. That’d make her come. I wonder if she’s a screamer. Do you think she 
screams when she comes, Dana? I wonder if she comes as easily as you. Think she’d like it as 
much as you do if I --"
"Alex."
The single soft word stopped him, and he looked fully at her. Her eyes met his now, the feral 
glare practically burning through him, her chest heaving with every breath. She sat perfectly still, 
but her entire bearing suggested a panther about to pounce. The Ice Queen was gone, replaced by 
his fire goddess. Aroused as he already was by the images his story created in his own mind, that 
look was almost enough to send him over the edge, but he managed to get himself under control 
and return her gaze calmly. "Yes, Dana?"
"Me."
"Excuse me?"
"Not her. Me. Do that to me. Take me home now and do that to me."
He took a deep breath to calm himself, willing his erection, already uncomfortable, not to move 
on to painful. "I was going to have another drink," he said nonchalantly.
Paydirt. Scully leaned across the table, grabbed him and kissed him hard, savagely... 
possessively. He returned her kisses just as hungrily, only stopping when neither of them could 
breathe anymore. Between kisses he managed to gasp, "You want it right here?"
More kisses. Damn, the way the woman sucked on his tongue it was a damn shame she didn’t do 
blow jobs...
"Car..." she breathed.
"Hallway." More kisses. "In the back."
"Alley?"
More kisses. "Bathroom."
"Stall..."
His hand, which had been tangled in the hair at the back of her neck, slipped forward and found 
her breast. "Sink."
She moaned softly and arched into his caress. "Sink. Now."
Somehow they were able to slip away toward the bathrooms without anyone noticing, and 
without running into anyone. Without being aware of running into anyone, at least. Two minutes 
after their negotiations were concluded, Krycek had Scully perched on the edge of a sink in the 
ladies’ room, skirt hiked up around her waist, her legs wrapped around his waist, greedily kissing 
him.
They tore at each other’s clothing, succeeding in banishing her suit jacket and his leather jacket to 
the floor. He barely felt her scrabbling with his zipper as he tore at her pantyhose, unable to find 
any way to get rid of them. She wasn’t helping either, grinding herself against his hand. "Now, 
Alex," she moaned into his mouth. "Now, I need you in me now..."
God, he needed to be in her, but the damn hosiery... "Fuck!" he growled, tearing at the things. 
She gasped and opened her legs a little more, and finally he felt a hole in the nylon. He took hold 
of the edge of the hole and yanked fiercely at it, finally creating a space big enough to get his 
hand through. He ripped further, stopping only when he heard Scully yelp.
Her kisses assured him that he hadn’t hurt her... or, if he had, that she didn’t care. Her trembling 
fingers finally managed to free his cock, and without further ado he shoved her panties aside and 
drove frantically into her.
He set a fast, furious pace, slamming roughly into her, half expecting her to tell him to stop, but 
he couldn’t. He couldn’t stop now if his life depended on it.
It didn’t look like she could stop either. She opened herself further to him, hooked her legs 
around his body and pulled him deeper inside her. He felt her hands roaming over his chest, his 
back, as he kissed her, driving his tongue into her mouth and eagerly accepting her tongue in his.
This was too intense; sensory overload. He knew he wouldn’t last long, he was close already and 
knew she was too by the sounds she was making. Come for me, Little Red. Right here, right now, 
with all your friends just a few feet away...
Suddenly she gasped slightly and her body stiffened. It wasn’t an orgasm, he could feel that. 
Pulling back a bit, he looked at her face, and saw that she was staring at a point behind him. He 
shifted his gaze up into the mirror, seeing the reflection of the door... and the two girls he’d been 
flirting with frozen in front of it.
An audience? Must be time to put on a show. "Ignore ‘em," he whispered to Scully as he licked 
her ear. With one hand he ripped at her blouse and pulled her bra back, then bent his head to suck 
on her nipple. He quickened the pace of his thrusts at the same time, drawing a breathy moan 
from Scully and laughter from somewhere behind him.
The laughter abruptly stopped, and all he heard was Scully’s sounds of pleasure. They were alone 
again, she was into it again, and suddenly she was coming, the strong spasms inside her 
caressing, squeezing his cock. He was close already; could feel a mother of an orgasm coiling up 
from deep in his balls, and Scully’s climax was all it took to send him over the edge, too. He 
pulled her closer, burying his own cry of pleasure in her kisses as he felt himself explode deep 
inside her.
He cradled her limp body close to his, unable to tell which of them was trembling. It had been 
good before, but this... Fuck all that stuff she doesn’t give, he thought, covering the top of her 
head with small kisses. Just fuck it. Don’t need it. Just let it always be like this, always feel like 
this...
Her head still buried against his shoulder, Scully’s muffled voice reached his ears. "I really, 
really, really hate you, Alex."
That’s my Little Red. "Hate me all you want," he whispered, "just keep fucking me like that."
Now her head came up. "What?"
Shit. Too much information... "The old men," Krycek said quickly. "The faster they go down, the 
better."
Scully pulled back a little and studied him. "I should just kill you and get it over with," she 
finally said.
With my cock still inside you? You little deviant, you. You’re learning... "You don’t want to do 
that." He bent his head and captured a nipple between his teeth, through the fabric of her blouse, 
and was rewarded with a gasp as she arched up toward him.
"Oh, God, I hate you," she moaned, her hands slipping around his neck.
"That’s good. Hate’s a good thing..."
"You’re only in this for the sex..."
He nudged her clothing out of the way and took her bare nipple into his mouth. "This surprises 
you?"
"This is all your choice. You goad me into it when you want it."
"Like you need goading..."
"It’s true! Like this..."
"I wasn’t the one begging for it out there in the booth."
"I wasn’t begging..."
He turned his attention to her other breast, eliciting a long moan from her. "So what are you 
going to do about it?"
Her breath caught for a moment, then she nudged his face up to hers and kissed him. "Nothing," 
she whispered.
"Nothing?"
"Nope. But you’re going to do something about it."
"And that is...?"
"Take me home and do to me what you said you wanted to do to that girl."
True paydirt now. "Home?"
"Home."
"Uh-huh. And where at home are we going to do this?"
"In bed, where else?"
Say it, Red... "Where?"
"Bed. What’s the matter with you?"
He gave a sharp thrust of his hips, making her throw back her head and cry out with a surprise 
climax. "Where?"
"Bed. Our bed," she breathed. "Our bed."
"Since you put it like that, let’s go." He slipped out of her and got dressed, but paused when he 
saw that she hadn’t moved. "Dana, come on. Unless you want it again here. Maybe we can do it 
right on the bar this time."
"Alex..." She pulled at her clothing, trying to rearrange it. "Look what you did! I can’t go out 
there like this!"
He took a good look at her, and had to admit that she was right. Her skirt was a wrinkled mess, 
her silk blouse was savagely torn in the front, rendering her unable to sufficiently cover herself, 
and there was a big run in one leg of her pantyhose.
He picked up her discarded jacket and handed it to her. "If you put this on and button it up, 
would it hide most of the damage?"
She tucked in what was left of her blouse and put on the jacket. "I guess so... as long as nobody 
looks too closely."
"You’re not going to see anybody anyway. We’re leaving, remember?"
"But I have to see Mulder. I left my things with him."
"So... keep the jacket closed, grab your stuff, and tell him you had a nosebleed. He leaves you 
alone when you have those, doesn’t he?"
"Usually, but..." She pulled at her pantyhose, succeeding only in lengthening the run. "I think you 
scratched me."
"Sorry."
"Also, I don’t rip my pantyhose when I have a nosebleed."
"Don’t linger. Just get your stuff, tell him you have to go home, and leave. How hard is that?"
He watched from the back hall, outside the bathrooms, as Scully picked up her coat and bag and 
spoke with Mulder. Mulder stood, like he’d offered to drive her home, but Scully put him off. 
Krycek waited until she was moving toward the bar’s front door before turning toward the back 
door.
He suddenly came face to face with the two girls he’d been flirting with. He flashed them a 
smile and a wink as he moved past them.
The shorter one started giggling. The taller one flipped him the bird.
Krycek left the bar through the back door, whistling.
*************************
Scully’s hands were shaking as she tried to fit her keys into the lock. She didn’t know if it was 
because she thought too much, because she’d been having so much out-of-this-world sex lately, 
or maybe because of PMS, but she was almost desperate. Sex had been on her mind all day, all 
week since the bar incident, and she wanted it, needed it right now.
She finally managed to unlock the door and was ready to pounce on Krycek... until she noticed 
that he wasn’t paying attention to her. He was sitting on the sofa, having a beer.
With her mother.
Scully just stood there in the doorway, gaping at the tableau before her, until Krycek rose and 
approached her. "There you are. Missed you..." he said, as he swept her into his arms and greeted 
her with a kiss that threw her even more off-balance than she already was. She was still trying to 
catch her breath from that when he released her and breathed into her ear, "Play along."
Wondering what the hell he meant by that, she hugged her mother. Maggie Scully returned her 
pleasantries with, "Dana, honey, why didn’t you tell me you were seeing someone?"
Scully plopped onto the sofa, where Krycek immediately snuggled up to her and started a very 
distracting nuzzling of her neck. "Seeing someone?" she asked dumbly.
Krycek chose that moment to start raining feather-light kisses on that little spot behind her ear 
that drove her crazy. Especially since she was already primed and ready, the sensation turned her 
insides to jelly. She pushed him away gently. "Stop that," she hissed.
Maggie smiled indulgently. "Yes, Alex has been telling me all about it. He’s quite the charmer, 
isn’t he? I’m so happy for you, Dana."
"Um...thanks..." Scully grabbed Krycek’s hand, stopping him in mid-grope. She squeezed it just a 
little too hard, finally getting his attention. "A word please, Alex?" she asked, leveling a stern 
gaze at him. "In private."
"Anything you say, G-Woman." He matched her gaze with a steady one of his own. Then, to 
Maggie, "Excuse us, please."
Scully led him to the bedroom and closed the door behind them. She was about to light into him 
when he pinned her against the door and claimed her mouth in another one of those heart-
stopping kisses. "Which word would you like, Dana?" he purred between kisses. "I kinda prefer 
‘foreplay’ myself. A highly underrated word..."
It would’ve been the easiest thing in the world to give in to those demanding kisses, to that not-
so-gently exploring hand. This was what she’d been thinking about all day, and she was about a 
nanosecond from pushing him down on the bed and ripping his clothes off... until she heard her 
mother moving around in the other room. She pushed Krycek roughly away from her, and held 
him at arm’s length when he resisted. "Knock it off!" she commanded. "What is the matter with 
you? What the hell are you doing?"
Krycek shrugged, still leering playfully at her. "I was just having a nice conversation with your 
mother. What’s wrong with that?"
She held him off as he moved into her personal space again, and he finally gave up and started to 
pay attention to her. "What in God’s name did you say to her? She thinks we’re dating!"
"Is that really such a bad thing?" He was the picture of innocence.
"How could you do that to me?" she wailed.
"What do you want from me, huh?" His playfulness had instantly changed to annoyance. "She 
came in here, using her key... I was here... What the hell was I supposed to do, tell her I’m the 
plumber?"
"You were not supposed to tell her that we’re together!"
"Then tell her that," he said. "Go ahead and break your mother’s heart. All she wants is to see 
that you’re happy, Dana. She wants to know that you have someone with you in your time of 
need. She wants grandchildren... did I tell you she asked me if we’ve considered marriage?"
Scully gaped at him in horror. "What did you tell her?"
He backed off a bit, giving her his best wounded-puppy look. "What, don’t you trust me?"
"Like you’ve given me reason to?"
Krycek sighed. "I told her it’s too soon to think about it, okay?"
She relaxed a bit. "Still, you didn’t have to say you’re my boyfriend," she admonished.
"You would’ve liked it better if I said I was your live-in lover?"
"Lover?" she cried. "We’re not together! Get that through your head! This is not a normal 
relationship!"
"It might as well be!" he shot back. "We live together, we sleep together... you came home and 
begged me to fuck your brains out before dinner every night last week... and we’re not 
together?"
"It’s not the same thing," she hissed.
He just looked at her.
"It wasn’t every night," she mumbled.
"Okay, four out of five."
"Three."
"Oh, right, we managed to make it through dinner the fourth night."
"That was the third night!"
He shrugged. "Whatever."
Scully took a deep breath. "It’s just sex," she said in a low voice. "Just sex. Completely 
meaningless. Only sex. Nothing more --"
He caught and held her eyes with his intense green ones. "Tell me you don’t want it to be."
She gulped. "Of course not. Do you?"
He held her eyes a moment longer, then chuckled softly. "What do you think?"
"I, uh... think..." She took another deep breath. "I think we’d better get out there before my 
mother gets the wrong idea."
Now Krycek smiled and traced the line of her jaw with his fingertip. "Wrong idea? We’re 
thinking about marriage, remember?"
Scully brought his exploring finger to her mouth and gently sucked on it. "Please be a good boy 
and don’t say anything to embarrass me in front of my mother, okay?" she asked, figuring that 
he’d only behave if she gave him incentive. "Then... as soon as she leaves..." She reached down 
and gave the bulge in his jeans a firm squeeze. He gasped in surprise as she slipped out the door 
with an angelic smile.
**********************
"Honey, is everything okay?" Maggie asked, as Scully joined her in the living room.
"Fine, Mom, everything’s fine," she assured her. "I’m afraid you caught us at a bad time, though. 
I’m so sorry, but Alex and I..."
At that moment Krycek appeared at her elbow. "Crotch-grabbing, Dana?" he murmured into her 
ear. "Two can play at that game... and never forget that I’m better at it than you are."
He straightened up and favored Scully’s mother with one of his megawatt smiles. "Maggie, 
please say you’ll join us for dinner."
End Chapter 8
Chapter 9
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