"Phantom Shadows"

R5-Jo-P1

Walter Skinner stared out his balcony window at the snow floating down from the gray afternoon sky. He blinked back the tears streaking down his flush cheeks as he brought the tumbler to his lips and took a sip, tasting the strong flavor of bourbon mixed with his salty tears. The alcohol helped to ease the pain in his heart and soul. He'd been using it as a crutch for nearly every night for close to a year. He thought the pain would go away with time, but it only seemed to grow stronger.

Tomorrow night was Christmas Eve. It was the first year Skinner hadn't put up a Christmas tree. Even after his divorce to Sharon, he still decorated a tree for the holiday. This year, a tree would have been too painful a reminder of what he lost.

His memories were raw; they felt like a giant weight pressing down on his heart. Christmas a year ago he had been so happy. He had two beautiful lovers, a career in the FBI, a lovely home, and...a reason to live. His career at the bureau ended the same time he was, just barely, cleared of murder charges. Detective Saunders had been determined to nail his ass, but thankfully Krycek's testimony cleared him. With all the publicity, Skinner had become an embarrassment to the FBI according to D.D. Kersh. The Deputy Director offered him a nice severance package if he resigned without a fuss. Skinner didn't make a fuss; he took it only because he could no longer bear to be in the same building as Fox Mulder.

Fox—he was still deeply in love with the man. He ended their relationship because he could never be anything more than a third wheel between Fox and Alex. God, Alex—he never expected to fall in love with Alex Krycek too, but he did. During those few short months they were together, he'd come to respect and admire the green-eyed assassin. The three of them had made such sweet love.... Skinner downed his drink and went to pour himself another.

The room was swaying and his hand shook as he refilled his glass. Something didn't seem right. Skinner staggered over to the sofa to sit before he fell down. He couldn't be this drunk after only one drink. Hearing the murmuring of voices behind him, Skinner discovered he didn't have the strength or ability to turn his head to see who was there. The voices sounded distant—muffled.

"Fox, what a lovely Christmas gift. Thank you, babe," Alex purred, kissing his lover softly on the cheek.

"He was the only thing on your Christmas list," Mulder quipped, touching Krycek on the shoulder and looking deeply in his pretty eyes. "Are you going to be all right?"

"I'm fine, Fox."

Mulder gazed fondly at Walter's still form. "I need to be sure, Alex. It won't do you or him any good if you have a panic attack."

Krycek smiled and nodded. "Don't worry, sweetheart. Getting him back means as much to me as it does to you. I'll be fine." Mulder had spent months helping Krycek recover from what the smoker had done to him. He still wouldn't allow Mulder to top him. Giving up that kind of control was more than Krycek could handle at this point.

It had hurt them both when Walter left them without so much as a word. Only a letter informing them that he could no longer be a part of their lives. He wished them the best, then refused to answer any of their calls or letters. Skinner had even resigned from the FBI. They both assumed it was to put as much distance between him and them as possible. Unfortunately for Skinner, it was a wasted effort, since Mulder was kicked out of the bureau only a few days after Skinner had resigned. Mulder had been pissed off at Skinner for leaving them when Krycek needed Skinner most.

It was four months later that Scully informed them the real reason behind Walter's leaving them. Mulder and Krycek had been scheming ever since to get him back. Walter needed to be reassured that he was as important to their relationship as they were to each other. They decided the only way they could convince him was to kidnap him and force him to have sex with them. They were literally going to ram their love home. Krycek chuckled every time Mulder would refer to Walter as their beefy sex slave.

Mulder moved around to kneel in front of Skinner. "Hey, big guy, I know you're not understanding a word I'm saying, but we're doing this for your own good."

Skinner stared blankly at Mulder's blurry image. He found himself rising as blurry Mulder took hold of his arms and pulled him to his feet.

"Alex, the movers will be here any second. You handle them, while I take our beefy sex slave to his new home."

"You sure you don't need any help?"

"No. The concoction you mixed up for him is doing its job."

"Don't forget to give him another dose in two hours."

"Don't worry, beautiful, I have the syringes." Mulder tapped his pocket. Keeping a hand on Skinner's arm, he led him to the door, stopping only briefly to snag the larger man's car keys off the desk.

Mulder guided Skinner down to the parking garage and to the older man's Lexus. He helped Skinner into the front seat. "You know, Walter, if you don't get a new job we might have to sell this baby," he teased while buckling him in. He knew that Walter would have no trouble finding a job at some law firm with his law degrees and experience. That is if Walter didn't want to go into business with him and Alex. It was hard for Mulder to picture his former boss as an equal partner in their investigation business, instead of their boss.

It was late evening by the time they arrived in New York City. Mulder didn't want to give Walter another shot, so he was relieved when he finally pulled up outside their Brooklyn home. The building had cost him and Alex all of their savings and the money he made from selling the properties he had inherited from his parents.

The whole building had exquisite brickwork and woodwork, plus high twenty-foot ceilings throughout. They were leasing the entire second floor to the LGM. The bottom floor was being renovated for his and Alex's private investigation agency. They had set office space aside for Walter, hoping he would want to go into business with them. The third floor they were turning into a gym, a workshop, and storage space. The fourth and fifth floor was their apartment. They had removed a large part of the ceiling on the fourth floor opening the space up to the fifth floor and installed a new staircase with a railing looking down at the space below. It still needed a lot of work.

"Hey, Mulder, do you need help?" Frohike said from his seat on the front stoop, leading up to the building's main entrance.

Mulder and Krycek had informed the gunmen of their plan to abduct Skinner. "No. Isn't it a bit cold to be sitting outside?" Mulder held Skinner's hand as he stopped to talk to Frohike. The big man swayed slightly and had a blank look on his face.

"Langly and Byers decided to paint our new digs. The fumes drove me out." Frohike looked Skinner over. "He's really out of it, isn't he? Are you sure that stuff's safe?"

"Alex assures me that it is, and I'd trust him with my life." Mulder prayed Alex was right about there not being any side effects. He didn't look forward to cleaning up any vomit if the drug made Skinner sick.

Frohike nodded. "Well you better get the Skinman tied down. He's going to be fucking mad when he wakes up."

Mulder chuckled. "Yeah, I better do that. It wouldn't do for him to kill me before Alex gets here."

Mulder led Skinner inside and over to the freight elevator. They took it up to the fifth floor. From there he steered Skinner across the balcony that over looked the lower floor to their huge loft bedroom. He stripped Skinner and removed his glasses, placing them on the nightstand. He then made him lay on his back on the extra large King-sized bed and attached fur-lined cuffs to his wrists and ankles. The room was chilly, so he covered the large man with a down blanket. Mulder leaned down and kissed Skinner. "Walter, I love you as deeply as I love Alex, remember that."

Skinner assumed he was dreaming and didn't want to wake up. Mulder was in his bed kissing him.

Placing his hand over Skinner's eyes, Mulder closed them. "Sleep, Walter. You're going to be busy the next few days."

***

Something heavy was pressing up against Skinner's sides. He felt very warm and tried to move away, but discovered his hands were cuffed above his head and his legs were chained, too. As full awareness came back to him, Skinner realized the weights against his sides were nude male bodies. Not just any men, he'd recognize Fox's and Alex's scents anywhere.

"Wh-What's going on?" he asked gruffly. His mouth felt like it was full of cotton.

Krycek lifted his head off Skinner's chest and stared down at him. "Are you thirsty?"

Skinner nodded. "Yeah."

"Hold on." Krycek shook Mulder awake then climbed out of bed. He came back with a bottle and a straw.

Mulder wrapped his arm around Skinner's shoulders and helped him to sit up, while Alex put the straw against his lips.

Krycek spoke as Skinner drank. "Fox and I took a vote and we decided that you couldn't leave us. So we're prepared to keep you chained to our bed as our personal love slave, until you come to your senses."

"You drugged me!" Skinner was pissed. He tugged on the chains holding him bound to the bed until the heavy wrought iron headboard rattled.

Mulder smirked as he reached under the blanket and stroked Skinner's penis. He felt it expand beneath his fingertips. Skinner soon stopped moving and glared at him.

"You know, Walter. You're going to have to be punished for leaving us without the courtesy of talking to us face to face. I think ten swats of the paddle are in order. Don't you? Then Alex gets to ride your red hot behind." Mulder continued stroking.

Skinner hadn't had sex since he left them, he moaned and said half-heartedly, "You can't keep me here against my will."

"I think we can. Who's going to miss you?" Krycek asked, pulling the quilt off and exposing Skinner's muscular body.

"I have family—"

Mulder leaned down and took Skinner's right nipple in his mouth, while Krycek continued reasoning with their captive.

"You have a younger sister whose invitation to spend Christmas with her and her family you turned down. You also have an older brother you haven't spoken to in thirty years, since he announced that he was gay. Wouldn't he be surprised to see you now?" Krycek said, caressing Skinner's chest. Mulder chuckled around Skinner's tit, nipping it lightly.

Skinner moaned and said sadly, "I was a senior in high school when West came out. You wouldn't believe the flack I took from my friends. When my folks disowned him, I went along with it. I enlisted into the Marines a few months later and was off to 'nam." Skinner sighed, "I probably should have contacted West years ago, but he dropped out of sight."

"You have us, Walter," Mulder said.

"I don't want your pity, Fox. You can never love me as much as you love each other."

"You've just added five more swats of the paddle for telling us what we can and can't feel." Mulder stood and walked over an armoire across the large space. "Turn him on his belly, Alex," he said, pulling a paddle off the top shelf.

"You're in for it now, Bear." Krycek slipped a cockring on Walter's erection to keep it hard, then he uncuffed his feet and manhandled him onto his belly.

"Fox Mulder, you can't be serious about spanking me," Skinner growled.

"Why? You've paddled both Alex and me. I think turnabout is fair play. Besides, I've been dying to see your buns of steel a nice bright red." Mulder leaned down and ran his tongue over Skinner's right buttock. The larger man trembled at the intimate contact.

He was still trembling when the first stroke landed on his ass and a sharp pain engulfed him. "Fuck! Do you have to hit so hard?"

"Yes. Tell me why you're being punished?"

Skinner turned his head and glared at Mulder. "Fuck off, Foxy."

"Okay, for ever minute that you remain silent, I'll be adding one more stroke to your punishment," Mulder said, smacking him three more times hard.

Skinner whimpered and bit his lip.

"Stubborn, bastard." Mulder swatted him on his tender upper thigh.

"Ugh. Okay! You're punishing me for not talking to you and Alex face to face—"

"And?"

"And for telling you how you feel."

"Good, now let's get this finished. I know Alex is dying to fuck you." Mulder laid another two strokes across reddening buttocks.

Skinner groaned, rubbing his erection into the mattress. "Fox, I never figured you for a sadist," he muttered into the pillow.

"And I never figured you for blockhead." Mulder gave him ten more swift swats, distributing them evenly over his buttocks before finally laying the paddle. "I love you, Walter Skinner, and don't you forget it."

"You have a strange way of showing it," Skinner growled, continuing to rub his swollen erection into the cool sheets, seeking release.

Krycek sat on the bed and started rubbing cool gel on Skinner's flaming red bottom. "He's the bad cop...I get to be the good cop." He smoothed the soothing gel into Skinner's crease, stroking over his anus, he purred, "I'm going fuck you now. If you're a good boy, I'll consider letting you come." Krycek pushed a finger into him, twisting it around until he was massaging over Skinner's pleasure spot.

"Oooh."

"You like that, bear? Just think how much better my dick will feel."

"Y-You're both sadists."

Mulder chuckled as he walked across the room and started water filling into the Jacuzzi. The space was divided from the bedroom by a low glass block wall.

Skinner twisted around to see what Mulder was doing. He hadn't paid too much attention to where he was, being too focused on who he was with. He gazed at the old brick walls and high windows. The ceiling was painted tin with several ceiling fans hanging down from it.

"You have a bathtub in your bedroom."

Krycek inserted a second finger, scissoring them. "In our bedroom, Walter. Yours, Fox's, and mine. Fox wanted the space to be open. We still have a lot of work to do, but we thought you'd like it. You should see the patio up on the roof. We have an excellent view." Krycek inserted a third finger, twisting them.

Skinner moaned and buried his head in the pillow. He caught his breath and stared under his armpit at Krycek. "Where exactly are we?"

"Brooklyn. Raise your hips," Krycek said, removing his fingers and slapping Walter's sore ass.

"Auugh."

"Oops, sorry, bear."

"S'kay," Skinner sighed. "Brooklyn—New York?"

Krycek chuckled, "Yeah. We weren't particularly interested in staying in Washington D.C., but we really didn't want to leave the East Coast." He positioned his cock and shoved in.

Skinner groaned with pleasure at being filled and pushed back. "So good."

Krycek slowly thrust in and out, picking up his pace as Walter started moving his hips to get more of his cock inside him. Krycek was sure it was because of him that Walter had left them. Because he never really told Walter how he felt. After his ordeal with the smoker, Alex became terrified he'd drive Fox away, too. He had a hard time allowing Fox to touch him. He couldn't help his reaction at the time. It was only Fox's patience and love that helped them overcome those dark months. Alex still found it impossible to allow Fox to top him; he needed to be in control.

Mulder strolled over and leaned against the bedpost, watching the two men fuck. "Alex loves you, Walter. When he needed you the most, you weren't there. I was so pissed at you for deserting him—"

Skinner gasped and looked up tearfully at Mulder. "Fox, you had each other, I didn't think you needed or wanted me to be in the way."

Krycek smiled at Mulder, knowing his lover was purposely laying down the guilt trip on Skinner.

"We love you, Walter. If we didn't, we would never have stayed with you." Mulder looked lovingly at Krycek. "Do you feel how much Alex loves you, Walter?"

"Y-Yes. Oh God—" Skinner tugged on the handcuffs as Alex hit his prostate. "Let me come."

"Promise us you'll stay here with us," Krycek growled, stroking Walter's erection in time with his thrusts. He wanted Walter to know that he was loved.

"You really want me to?"

"Hell yes!" both men growled.

Krycek thrust in harder. "Dammit! We didn't go through the trouble of kidnapping you as a lark," he said, trying to drive home his point with each thrust.

"Okay, I'll stay. Just free my hands."

Mulder held up the handcuff key. "First promise me, you won't try to get revenge on me for spanking you?"

"I promise," Skinner said.

Mulder unlocked the cuffs at the same time Krycek snapped off the cockring. Skinner came with a roar. His anal muscles milked Krycek to release. The younger man collapsed briefly on his lover's broad back, then gently pulled out.

Skinner rolled over, groaning as his bottom touched the sheets. He pulled Krycek into his arms. "I'm sorry, Alex. How have you been?"

"Hmm, fine. Fox, was very patient with me. He'd make a halfway decent psychologist."

Mulder hit him in the head with a pillow. "Be nice, babe."

Skinner grabbed Mulder's wrist and pulled him down on the bed. Alex quickly slid off as Skinner straddled Mulder holding his wrists pinned down on the mattress. "You're going to pay for paddling me."

"Hey, you promised!"

"I had my fingers crossed." Skinner started, tickling him.

"No! Walter, don't! BWAHAHAHAHA— No tickle! Stop! HAHAHAHAHAHA—"

Skinner stopped tickling him and swooped down, devouring his mouth in a deep passion-filled kiss. Mulder sighed and wrapped his arms around Skinner's broad shoulders and looped a leg over the top of Skinner's shins as he sucked on the larger man's tongue. Skinner's stomach growled, interrupting them.

Mulder looked up at him questioningly. "When was the last time you ate solid food, instead of that liquid diet you've been on?"

"I had toast this morning—"

"Yesterday morning you mean...that's nearly twenty-four hours ago. Alex, why don't you and Walter share the Jacuzzi, while I whip us up something to eat."

"Fox, wouldn't it be better if Alex made us something. After all, he knows how to cook."

"Walter, while you were hiding out in your apartment feeling sorry for yourself. I was taking cooking classes," Mulder smirked, kissing him gently on the lips then climbing off the bed. He pulled on his robe then stepped into his slippers and headed for the staircase.

Skinner climbed out of bed and walked over to the balcony looking down. "Wow. How much did this place cost you, Guys?"

"Cost *us,* Walter. You're up for a third of the cost," Krycek said.

Skinner looked at him thoughtfully. "I do have couple hundred thousand in stocks and bonds, and my condo. I should see about selling it." He wandered over to the partitioned off bathroom and knelt down to test the water in the large Jacuzzi.

"I already listed it with an agent. Your furniture should be arriving this morning. It's costing us extra to have it moved Christmas Eve."

"You what?"

Krycek smirked at him and stepped into the tub. "Relax, Walter. We were prepared to hold you against your will, no matter how long it took. You just came to your senses sooner than we expected. As you can see, we're in need of some decent furniture. My lawn furniture is up on the roof. We've kept some of Fox's stuff including his leather couch, which is downstairs in his office."

Skinner climbed into the tub next to him, sinking up to his neck in the warm water with a contented sigh. "Alex, I—"

"Shh, just accept that we love you and want you as a full partner in our life."

"Does Fox really know how to cook?"

"Yeah, and he's even better than me. That eidetic memory really comes in handy. If our private investigation agency falls through we might open a restaurant." Krycek turned up the heater in the Jacuzzi.

They soaked for thirty minutes before Mulder entered the bathroom carrying a tray.

Skinner's mouth watered at the aroma. "God, that actually smells good. What did you make?"

"A frittata." Mulder knelt beside the tub and passed Walter a plate loaded with food.

"What's in it?" Skinner probed the egg dish with his fork before taking a bite as Mulder passed a plate to Alex. Then he set a glass of orange juice on the ledge next to each of them.

"Zucchinis, mushrooms, crab, and Parmesan cheese." Mulder shrugged off his robe and slipped in the water next to Walter.

"Mm, it's good. You really did learn how to cook."

"I still burn the occasional meal, but I'm getting better."

"Alex, did you tell Walter about our tenants?"

"I thought our goal was to convince him to stay, not to scare him off?" Alex took a bite out of a slice of melon.

"You have tenants?"

"Yeah. The building is five stories—"

"Don't tell me—you've rented part of it to those wacko conspiracy friends of yours." Skinner reached behind him for the glass of juice.

"The boys are good for the money...and they're relatively quiet," Mulder said. "Besides, they'll come in handy once we get our private investigation agency going."

"I'd like a full tour of the building, since I'm chipping in a third." Skinner wanted to take back a little control over the situation. He was overjoyed that Fox and Alex went to this length to make him part of their lives, but he didn't want to be beholden to them. He wanted to be a full partner.

Mulder nodded. "Keep in mind that it still needs a lot of work, but at least it's not haunted. I hired a medium to scan the premises. She went from the sub-basement up to the roof and gave us an all's clear."

"Well that's something," Skinner said.

They finished their meal and climbed out of the tub to dress. It was still a few hours before sunrise, but they were all exuberant at being together again.

Skinner looked at his clothes that were in the armoire and dresser.

"The movers are packing your suits. I just threw a few things into a bag that I'd thought you'd need," Krycek said.

"Thanks, Alex." Skinner pulled on a pair of jeans, a T-shirt, and a sweater, then slipped on a pair of well-worn sneakers.

"Shall we start the tour up here?" Mulder asked.

"Sure."

"It was once a garment factory at the turn of the century. The company outgrew its space, so the owners turned into a warehouse for storing fabrics and yarns. In the sixties some artists took it over. They lived here and did their artwork here. They moved on eventually. The building sat empty for the last nine years. We got it pretty cheap, since it was in need of repairs and updating," Krycek said.

"Updating?" Skinner questioned.

"We had the whole place rewired and we're in the process of replacing all of the plumbing."

Skinner whistled. "That's not cheap—"

"The gunmen helped us with the rewiring in exchange for their first two months rent. Frohike's pretty handy," Mulder said as he stopped by some rickety metal steps leading up to the roof. "We want to replace these steps eventually. Once the suns up, we'll show you the roof."

Skinner estimated that the loft space was at least eighty feet wide by forty feet wide. The opening overlooking the space below was at least eighty by eighty feet. "Guys, you did hire a professional builder to come in to remove the walls and floor didn't you? You know, you have to be careful about removing load bearing walls, the roof will cave in if you aren't careful."

"Don't worry, Walter, we hired a contractor to gut this space. Those columns were put in to replace the load bearing walls." Krycek pointed at several marble columns that went from the forth floor straight up to the ceiling. They were symmetrically spaced, working well with the design of the apartment.

"Those columns look more decorative than functional," Skinner said.

"Walter, they're quite capable of supporting the roof and then some. Wait 'til you see the view from the roof. You'll love it! We can even see the harbor."

Mulder added, "The neighborhood isn't the greatest, but we're walking distance from some nice restaurants and a park. Not to mention that we can take in a Broadway play anytime we feel like it."

Skinner wandered around the large space. He stopped at the railing looking down at the space below and smiled. "You have a Christmas tree up."

"Yep. Check out the ornaments."

Skinner squinted his eyes, narrowing in on one small ornament. "Hey, they're mine. You actually went back into that house to retrieve them?" Skinner asked, surprised. He had hired a company to bulldoze the old house down over the summer. He couldn't bring himself to take anything out of it. The last thing he wanted was some haunted piece of furniture. "Are you sure the ornaments are safe?"

Mulder chuckled. "Don't worry, Walter. They're not possessed."

"C'mon, lets go downstairs." They walked passed the freight elevator and took the curving staircase down.

Once downstairs, Skinner was amazed at the space. He checked out the two by four walls that they had up. The walls still needed sheet rock. "Extra bedrooms?" he asked.

"Yeah. We want to install another couple of bathrooms down here, too." Mulder led Skinner over to living room space off the dining room. There was masking tape on the wood floor in a large rectangle. "This is where the fireplace is going to go. It will separate the dining room from the living room."

Skinner walked over to look at the Christmas tree. It seemed dwarfed in the large cavernous space. "You don't have much furniture in this place do you?"

"We will when your stuff arrives later this morning," Mulder quipped.

Shaking his head in wonder, Skinner walked into the kitchen. They had professional restaurant style appliances. "I think I'm going to like it here," he said, grabbing a mug from the cupboard and pouring himself a freshly brewed mug of coffee, which Mulder had put on earlier. "Why don't you tell me about this business you're starting?"

Mulder and Krycek each grabbed a mug of coffee before sitting down with Skinner at the counter. Mulder was visibly excited.

"It's going to be a private investigation agency. We're specializing in missing person's cases. Consulting with the local law enforcement agencies for a fee and handling unsolved cases. It will allow us to investigate alien abductees on the side. With the gunmen's help I want to start a database tracking aliens movements on this planet. We'll also be able to obtain licenses for carrying concealed weapons," Mulder said.

Skinner started laughing. "Damn, I'm in! This will drive D.D. Kersh nuts. We'll be able to investigate cases that the bureau would never touch or ones they'd want to cover up."

Mulder smiled brightly. "I've already had a call from a detective out in San Francisco. He wants me to take a look at a year old missing person case. I'm heading out there the day after Christmas. The San Francisco PD is picking up my travel and accommodation expenses, plus our eight hundred-dollar a day fee. If we can build a name for ourselves we should be able to double or quadruple our fee."

"How do you see me fitting into this new venture?" Skinner asked.

"You have the legal background, Walter. We need you to keep us out of jail, deal with the clients, and assist on the investigations when you have time. We'll also need an office administrator to do the paper work and answer calls. You can see about hiring someone," Mulder answered.

"Sound right up my line. And I know just the person for the administrator job. We just need to work out a salary for her. We'll need to get her in right away, so she can set up the filing system and help organize the office," Skinner said, rubbing his hands together. He glanced over at Krycek who remained quietly sipping his coffee. "Alex?"

"Hmm? Oh, I'm the muscle. Fox stays clean, while I get down and dirty where needed. I'm also going to be doing most of the legwork on tracking the aliens and their movements."

Mulder nodded solemnly. "That the most important part of our agency. We need to get solid evidence of the existence of aliens and the threat they pose."

"We're not going to be able to survive on only eight hundred dollars a day. We may need to hire other investigators—"

"There's also the reward money, Walter. The missing person's case I'm going out on is offering a thirty thousand-dollar reward for the recovery of the missing person dead or alive, and the person or persons responsible for his disappearance. We're no longer public servants and we will be eligible to collect any reward." Mulder shrugged his shoulders. He didn't particularly like collecting rewards for what he saw as helping his fellow man, but they needed the money if they wanted to stay viable to pursue the real goal of the agency. It wasn't missing persons, but to fight and expose the alien threat to this planet.

"Good. Alex will be flying out to San Francisco with you on Saturday and, Mulder, I want a daily status report," Skinner stated.

"Yes, sir." Mulder gave him a slow lazy smile that went right to Skinner's groin.

"Oh God, this is going to be some partnership," Skinner sighed.

"Do you want to know the name of our agency?" Krycek asked.

Skinner stared at him, wondering if he really wanted to know. "What?"

"Grays Investigation Agency."

"As in little gray men?" Skinner asked, rolling his eyes and feeling right at home.

Mulder and Krycek chuckled. They lift their mugs, waiting for Skinner to lift his. "To us. Partners for life." They clicked their mugs together knowing that today they became more than just lovers and business partners. They became this planet's last chance.

***

The end.