r2-Jo-p2

The Loft
October 18, 1999
11:30 a.m.

Mulder looked around quaint dining room. It wasn't very large and had a homey feel to it. He was surprised they were able to get in after only a short twenty-minute wait. The waiter showed them to a corner table draped in a floral-print, linen tablecloth with a lovely bouquet of flowers in the center. The smell of fresh pastries and spices made Mulder's mouth water. He was going to order eggs Benedict, but now he was in the mood for something sweet. Speaking of sweet, he looked across the table at Alex who was studying the brunch menu intently. He slipped his shoe off and slowly ran his foot up the inside of Alex's leg, until he got to his groin. The tablecloth conveniently hid his intimate caress. Alex raised his eyes from the menu and gave him a smoldering look...

"Good morning, Gentlemen. I'm Brendan, your server. Can I bring you something to drink? Coffee or perhaps a glass of champagne?" Brendan's eyes were focused admiringly on Krycek's strong body and he attempted to catch a glimpse of his beautiful green eyes, but Krycek kept his attention focused down on his menu. The host who had seated the pair immediately informed everyone in the kitchen of the incredible good looking sable-haired man with the greenest eyes framed by the most sinfully thick lashes he'd ever seen. He said the other man he was with was cute, but a little too young for his tastes.

"Ah, yeah, I'll have coffee with cream and a bloody Mary," Krycek replied absently, looking down at the menu, trying to keep his arousal from showing as Mulder massaged his groin with his toes.

"I'll have the same," Mulder said loudly, trying to get the college-aged waiter's attention. He removed his foot and sat up straighter in his chair. "Hey, Brendan, bring me the same!"

The waiter turned, annoyed and faced Mulder. "I'll need to see your driver's license."

Mulder glared and was about to reach into his pocket for his license when it occurred to him that the picture showed him as being much older. Their server would never buy that it was really he. He sighed; he'd need to have a new picture taken. "I seemed to have left my license at home. Just bring me a cup of coffee."

The waiter got a smug look on his face, and turned back to Krycek to make sure he didn't need anything else.

Krycek looked up from his menu and leveled the waiter with a menacing stare. "Fox, if you want a bloody Mary, you'll get a bloody Mary. Brendan will bring you one. Won't you, Brendan?"

The young man swallowed nervously. "I...I'll be right back with your drinks, gentlemen."

"Alex, I can fight my own battles, besides do you want to get us kicked out of here?"

"You don't have to take any bullshit, Fox." Krycek reached across the table and placed his hand on top of Mulder's. "Just don't expect me *not* to stick up for you," he said, squeezing his lover's hand reassuringly. "I love you too much to just stand by and do nothing."

Mulder turned his hand so he could squeeze Alex's fingers back. "Thanks, I appreciate the sentiment, but I can take care of myself. It's just going to take a little getting used to being this young again."

"Fox, you don't have to go it alone. I'm here for you, don't forget that."

"I won't, Alex."

Brendan came back with their drinks. He set the two cups of coffee and the bloody Marys in front of them. "Have you decided what you'd like?"

"I'll have the breakfast skins," Krycek said. "Can you substitute the cinnamon bun for the two caramel rolls?"

"Yes, sir." Brendan jotted down the order and turned back to Mulder. "And what can I get for you?"

"I'll have the apple crepes and a side of bacon."

Brendan took their menus and headed back to the kitchen to put in their orders.

"I wonder what the rooms are like here?" Mulder said, again admiring the décor.

"If you're interested we can always make reservations and stay here some weekend."

Mulder smiled wistfully. "It looks like the sort of place that would be fun to stay at during the winter. Most inns this age have fireplaces in the bedrooms and those large claw-foot bathtubs."

"How about over the Christmas weekend?"

"Alex, I'm sure they're already booked solid."

"Maybe not. I'll check at the desk when we're ready to leave." If they were booked, he'd just see to it that they had a cancellation.

After thirty-minutes of waiting for their food, Mulder glanced anxiously at his watch.

"Calm down, Fox. We have an hour before your doctor's appointment."

"Sorry, I'm just nervous. Skinner won't release me back to active field duty until I have an okay from my doctor. If I miss this appointment Doctor Brenner doesn't have another opening until next week. I was lucky he could fit me in this afternoon."

"You won't miss it, his office is only ten minutes away."

****

Hoover Building
October 18, 1999
2:10 p.m.

"With all due respect, sir. Just because Agents Mulder and Scully look younger, that is no reason to reassign them to vice," Skinner growled, glaring between the Deputy Director and Assistant Director Flanagan.

"It's not a permanent transfer, Walter," the Deputy Director said, nodding toward A.D. Flanagan. "Mick only needs them for the interstate, teenage, prostitution case."

"That is just great! Isn't it bad enough that they've just suffered a life-shattering event? We don't need to take advantage of them!" Skinner paced angrily. "At least give them some time to get use to being young again."

"Walter, there isn't time! As we speak, kids are being forced into prostitution! Agents Mulder and Scully are our closest chance to nailing those bastards once and for all!" Flanagan protested.

"You already have younger agents assigned to the case. My agents won't make any difference."

Flanagan wasn't about to be put off. He got to his feet and confronted Skinner. "I saw your agents in the hallway yesterday, and believe me, Walter, no pimp would be able to resist either one of them. None of my people come close to the sweet, innocent, good looks that Mulder and Scully have."

"Agent Mulder doesn't look young enough...there is no way he'd pass as a teenager!"

"With the right hair style and clothes my people can make him look fourteen!" Flanagan shot back.

Skinner turned back to the D.D., realizing that this was one argument that he wasn't going to win. "Sir, you have to give them some sort of guarantee, that this will only be temporary. The X-Files mean everything to Mulder and Scully, they need some assurances that they will still be able to continue working on cases for that section."

Flanagan grinned smugly; he wasn't about to give up Fox Mulder, once he had him under his command. He always admired Mulder's brilliance, and thought it was a waste of an incredible mind and talent that he was working on the X-Files. He reasoned that Mulder just needed someone with a firm hand to supervise him, it was apparent that the young man had Skinner wrapped around his finger. He pulled his attention back to the Deputy Director who was reassuring Skinner that Mulder and Scully would both be back under his supervision within two months.

"Thank you, sir. I'll inform my agents of their *temporary* reassignment when they report to work tomorrow," Skinner said, heading toward the door. He wasn't sure if he'd wait until tomorrow to break the news to Mulder and Scully, he might just give them a call later tonight.

***

Georgetown
Dana Scully's apartment
October 18, 1999
3:20 p.m.

Scully had just gotten off the phone with her brother Bill. It seemed her mother had called him after she and Mulder left her house yesterday. Now Bill was getting all-protective. He wanted her to quit her job and move out to San Diego to live with him and Tara. She'd be damned if she'd do any such thing. Just because she looked sixteen, that didn't make her sixteen. Bill had effectively dampened her mood. She had been excited after the initial medical tests. The x-rays had shown that her ovaries had grown back. She just needed to wait for the results of her blood work to know for sure.

She walked into her kitchen to fix herself a cup of tea, but found that there wasn't any milk. It looked like a trip to the grocery store was in order. Scully grabbed her purse and car keys and headed out the door. Her elderly next-door neighbor was just getting home. She stopped and stared at Scully suspiciously.

"Good afternoon, Mabel," Scully said cheerfully.

Mabel squinted her eyes, wondering if she needed a new eyeglass prescription. "Hello, Dana. You look different...younger...much younger."

"It's amazing what a little Retinol A can do for a woman," Scully replied over her shoulder as she headed toward the door.

"Yes, it is, dear," Mabel said, deciding to head back to the dime store.

***

World Market
October 18, 1999
3:30 p.m.

"Alex, maybe we should just go home. I really don't think it is wise to go grocery shopping together," Mulder said, sitting in the car and refusing to move. His arm was a little stiff from where the doctor had taken a blood sample, and all he really wanted to do was go home.

"We just need a few items, Fox, we'll be in and out in ten minutes."

"The famous last words," Mulder muttered, opening up his car door and reluctantly following Krycek into the store.

Scully steered her car into the World Market's parking lot. She received several wolf whistles from the teenage boys smoking and hanging outside the arcade next door, she was half-tempted to pull her badge and confiscate their smokes.

She walked into the grocery store and grabbed a cart, steering it into the produce section first. There were two young men with their backs to her arguing in front of the bin of pineapples. One had his hand casually in the back pocket of the other's very tight jeans, unconcerned about how it would look in public. Scully was appreciating the view, as two old women walked by muttering their outrage. She watched the old women make a wide path around the two intimately behaving men.

One of the men sighed impatiently. "Alex, if you really have a taste for pineapple, I don't see why we don't just buy the already skinned and sliced pineapple from the deli, it is a lot less work."

It took her a moment to recognize the youthful voice and the much lankier body as that of her partner. Then she caught the profile of the second larger man whose hand was in Mulder's back pocket, and she went for her gun.

"Freeze, FBI!" she shouted. "Krycek, raise your hands where I can see them and step a way from Agent Mulder." She held the gun steady in two hands, her feet spread slightly apart. "NOW! Move it!"

Mulder and Krycek turned slowly and stared at her with wide eyes. Then Krycek freed his hand and raised them as he stepped away from Mulder, not wanting to chance his lover getting shot. Mulder quickly stepped between him and Scully. "Ah, Scully, put the gun down."

"Mulder, get out of my way!" she growled.

"Fox, get out of the way!" Krycek shouted.

"Scully, don't."

"He's wanted..."

"No, he isn't. Alex's not officially wanted for anything."

"That's only because they've erased all his records and destroyed any evidence we had against him! In my book, he's still wanted in connection for Missy's murder and that of your father. We won't even mention the part he played in my abduction!" she seethed. It was slowly sinking in that Mulder was *with* Krycek, that they were... "Mulder, what's going on here?" she asked, waving her gun back and forth between him and Krycek.

"Alex and I are lovers," he said quietly. All of a sudden aware of the crowd they were attracting. Several customers had fled the store while others peered out behind various aisles.

"How long?" Scully's voice was tight and dangerous.

Mulder swallowed, nervously licking his lips. "Would it make a difference?"

"How...fucking...long?" she repeat slowly with more venom.

"Three months." His knees felt weak, he'd never seen that look of hatred in Scully's eyes directed at him before. He was losing her...he couldn't lose her. Scully was his anchor...his best friend. "Scully, I was going to tell..."

"Damn you, Mulder," her voice trembled as she holstered her gun and turned on her heels and fled the store. The sound of distant sirens filled the store, until the doors closed behind her, dampening their wails.

Mulder unfroze and started after her, but Krycek grabbed his arm stopping him. "Let go, Alex."

"Let her go, Fox."

"NO!" Mulder struggled to break free, but Krycek pinned him against the orange bin causing several oranges to fall and roll across the floor. "NO! She's leaving me. Damn it, Alex, let go!"

"Give her some time to calm down first," Krycek growled, holding him tighter. "She's not going to listen to you as angry as she is!"

Mulder slowly stopped struggling, realizing that Krycek outweighed him by at least twenty-five pounds now. Not to mention how much more muscular his lover was. Mulder felt Krycek loosen his grip and pulled him up into an embrace, he rested his head dejectedly on Alex's shoulder. "This really sucks, Alex."

"It's going to be okay, Fox. Just let Scully cool down, she'll come around. You'll see." Krycek hoped she would for Fox's sake, but deep down he didn't think she would.

Two police officers came rushing into the store with their weapons drawn. The old gray-haired manager rushed over. "She was crazy waving a gun all around, threatening the customers...she left through those doors not four minutes ago." He pointed at the door then made a gesture with his hand indicating height. "She was a pretty, little thing around fifteen or sixteen, red hair, blue jeans, and a gray sweatshirt."

"Did you get a look at the vehicle she was driving?" the officer asked, jotting down everything the man said.

"I...no...I...no, I don't think she had a car...she was so young."

Krycek had steered Mulder out the door while the cops attention was focused on the manager. "C'mon, we have leftovers in the fridge and there is a pint of vodka in the cabinet above the sink. I think we can both use a drink."

"I'm not hungry," Mulder said sadly, sliding into the passenger side seat. He closed his eyes and leaned his head back against the headrest, wondering what else could go wrong? These things usually happened in threes.

***

Dana Scully's apartment
October 18, 1999
5:30 p.m.

Scully paced back and forth across her living room. She couldn't believe that Mulder would betray her and their seven-year partnership in such a manner. "Damn you, Mulder," she muttered. Krycek was *their* enemy, how could Mulder have taken him for a lover? She had always suspected that Mulder was attracted to men, but why did he have to choose Krycek of all men? The man had killed his father...was behind her sister's murder and her own abduction. Did this mean nothing to Mulder? Did she mean that little to Mulder?

Scully jumped as the telephone rang and she walked over to check the caller ID box. No way was she about to answer it if it was that rat-loving partner of hers. She frowned when she read Walter Skinner's name and home phone number on the display. "Scully," she answered.

"Agent Scully. This is A.D. Skinner. I'm sorry to disturb you at home, but I didn't feel that this could keep until tomorrow."

"What is it, sir?"

"I wanted to inform you that starting tomorrow you will be reporting to SAIC Rosa Ramirez under A.D. Michael Flanagan's division. This is only a temporary transfer..." Skinner started.

"Thank you, sir, I was going to put in for a transfer tomorrow anyway, so you just saved me some paperwork," Scully said. Her mind was trying to remember the type of cases that Flanagan's division handled, but she felt, at this point, anything would be better than continuing to work with Mulder.

"Is there something wrong between you and Agent Mulder?" Skinner voice was a mixture of concerned and bafflement.

"Yes. However, it is personal and doesn't pertain to anything involving our jobs," she lied, still feeling protective of Mulder and not wanting to be the one to out him to Skinner about his relationship with Krycek.

"Are you sure? He hasn't tried to take advantage of you?" Skinner asked cautiously and was surprised to hear the bitter laugh on the other end of the line.

"No. I just can no longer continue to remain partners with him. I hope you can just leave it at that, sir."

"Mulder is being transferred under Flanagan, too. I don't think it will be a problem to assign you each new partners. But, you'll have to decide what you want to do in two months after your temporary assignment is over. I hope it will give you enough time to reconsider and remain with the X-Files section...you and Mulder do excellent work together."

Scully swallowed. "Thank you for your kind words, sir, but I doubt that I will change my mind. Do I report to you tomorrow or directly to SAIC Ramirez?"

"Report to Ramirez." Skinner hesitated he didn't know what else to say, instead he hung up the phone. He got up and poured himself a scotch. He needed a little fortification before calling Agent Mulder. Damn what was going on with those two now?

***

Mulder's apartment
October 18, 1999
6:30 p.m.

Krycek watched his lover's face drop as he spoke on the phone. He knew it was Skinner on the other end and wondered if that bitch had ratted on Mulder? He walked over to Mulder and put his ear up against Mulder's and the receiver, and Mulder turned it slightly so he could listen in.

Mulder grumbled loudly, "Sir...not Ramirez! She's in charge of juvenile crimes. Her agents are referred to jokingly as the liddle kiddles." He felt Krycek's arm wrap around his waist holding him tenderly, he continued to protest his reassignment while leaning against his lover's supportive body. "Sir, I'll never pass for a teenager...can't you get me out of it?"

"I'm sorry, Mulder, my hands are tied. The transfer orders come directly from the Deputy Director, and Flanagan seems to think with the proper clothes and hairstyle you could easily pass for a seventeen or eighteen years old," Skinner said.

"Oh, goody! So, what style are they going to dress me in? Goth...grunge...gang banger...nerd...?" Mulder snarled sarcastically.

"Agent Mulder, enough! Now why don't you tell me what is going on between you and Agent Scully. She's requested a new partner," Skinner growled.

Mulder sighed, he was afraid she'd leave him. Might as well alienate Skinner as well, he had nothing else to lose. "She didn't like my choice of lovers."

"She's ending your partnership out of jealousy? That doesn't sound like Scully."

Mulder reached down with his free hand and placed it over Krycek's where it rested on his waist. "No. She leaving me because my lover is Alex Krycek." They waited for a reaction, but all they heard was dead air. "Sir?"

Skinner was dazed, he wasn't sure if he'd heard Mulder right. "Did you say Krycek?"

"Ah, yes, sir."

"You're sleeping with Krycek? Are you nuts? He's a hired assassin! That bastard killed your father! How could you be so irresponsible?"

"Alex didn't kill my father, and who I date is no one's business but my own!"

"How long has this been going on, Mulder?"

Oh God, why is that everyone's favorite question? "Only three months."

"And you finally got around to telling Scully? No wonder she was pissed."

"I never told her...we sorta ran into her by accident at the grocery store."

"Didn't it occur to you that there was a possibility that you'd run into someone you know?" Skinner growled.

Mulder turned his head and looked accusingly at Krycek. "Yes, sir, it did." He sighed, "I never meant to hurt Scully. I was going to tell her. I was just scared of how she'd react."

"Is Krycek worth more to you than your partnership with Scully?" Skinner asked quietly.

"Scully is my best friend, but I'm in love with Alex. I won't give him up, not even for her."

"Okay, Mulder, we'll discuss this further tomorrow, report to my office in the morning."

Mulder hung the phone up and walked over to the sofa, sitting heavily he leaned forward burying his face in his hands.

Alex sat down next to him and rubbed his back. "Fox, it is going to work out."

"She didn't even try to talk to me, she just left me." Mulder sobbed. "I thought we had something special...something stronger...we've been through so much together."

Krycek pulled Mulder into his arms and just held him. He was going to have a talk with Scully. He'd make her understand for Fox's sake. One way or another, he'd make her realize that he was not her enemy.

***

Cerulean Blue's next.