Double Indemnity
Round 3 Part 3
Demi-X.

After a considerable drive - mostly in silence – Byers slowed the limo down and turned right off a deserted gravel road and started up a long driveway. The ragtag group had finally arrived at the gunmen's 'safe house'.

"Were here." Byers stated quietly.

Mulder looked down at to the sleeping Alex - whose head lay cradled within the safe borders of his lap.

Krycek looked so serene laying there that Mulder couldn't find the heart to wake him. Eventually though, his right thigh, gone to sleep beneath the heavy brown head, forced him to decide. He gently shook the slumbering Russian.

"Hey Alex..." cooed Mulder softly.

"Huh? What?" Murmured Alex. Slow to wake; sleepy lids eased open.

Anson, to the opposite, was instantly alert at the sound of the hushed voices. Green eyes stared out at Mulder from across the leather seats, holding him captive with an accusing stare, as if Mulder might have tried to do something to Anson as he slept and he'd woken up and caught him in the act. Anson could see that Mulder had never moved from his place with Alex, but that still didn't stop the distrustful man from glaring.

Finally, Anson pulled his suspicion filled gaze away from Mulder and rested them on his brother. The scowl immediately lost out to a tiny smile. "Brother, how are you?" Asked Anson, reaching out to squeeze Alex's left hand.

His twin gave him such an earnest look that Alex could not refuse his newly found brother a small smile and a re-assuring squeeze of the hand in return. "I'm fine Anson, just tired." Alex started to slowly sit up, and Mulder laid a protective hand under his lover's elbow and supported his accent.

The limo braked to a stop then the motor was shut off. Byers turned around in the seat and said, "Why don't Scully, Anson and I check things out before you two get out?"

"Not necessary. I'll check it out..." Protested Alex attempting to climb out of the back door. Suddenly, a tornado of dizziness hit the Russian, he fell back to the seat and rested his head against the cool leather. Closing his eyes to fight of the nauseating whole-body ache. "Shit." He complained.

Anson climbed out of the car and before shutting the door he leaned in and said, "If there's any sign of trouble, just get out of here."

"Everything will be fine Anson," predicted Mulder, running soothing fingers over Alex's hot forehead.

~x~

"What time is it?" Alex asked, the instant the door clicked shut. He opened his eyes, stretching and yawning at the same time. "God, why do I feel this bad?" Another wide-mouth yawn escaped and this time, Alex smothered it with his left hand. "They healed me right?" He said, holding his new hand out and in front of his so he could look at again. Alex was overwhelmed by his 'gift' from the healers, but that still did not remove the sting of feeling sick and vulnerable. "If I'm healed why do I feel like I'm on a spinning ride at the fair and can't get off."

Mulder flattened his palm to Alex's forehead, his chilled skin easing the pain slightly.

"The healers may have put you back together Alex, but the process isn't pain free. Your body is in flux, right now your brain is still trying to reconcile the growth of your arm. In essence your body is trying to acclimate to the speed of the restoration process."

Mulder pulled his hand off of Alex's forehead. "You've got a fever." Diagnosed the un-practiced agent.

Fever or not, Mulder's explanation sounded good to Alex. "I hope it passes soon, I hate being sick."

"I bet you do." Agreed Mulder, rolling down the window a couple of inches. A brisk breeze of cool forest air hit Alex in the face, instantly cooling the man down.

Alex stretched again, still fighting of the dizziness, though it was considerably less in velocity now. "What time is it?" He asked again, reaching for a bottle of water. As he stretched his left arm, Alex noted how 'normal' it felt to do so. Ambidextrous his entire life, Alex was used to being able to use either hand freely; the loss of his left one had hit him harder than most; though typical of his personality, the Russian internalized all of these feelings.

"Late or early depending of your perspective." Replied Mulder, leaving Alex to his own devices while he massaged some life into his still sleeping leg muscle. "How are you really feeling?" Asked Mulder, concerned.

"Well, I'm still dizzy and exhausted. I'm hot and nauseous. But otherwise," The Russian clenched his left fist, "I'll be all right. I just need to sleep." He smiled weekly at his lover, raising his head, he twined his fingers into the silky hair at the back of Mulder's head and pulled the man to him for a kiss.

Mulder leaned down and pressed his mouth against Alex's lips. The Russian's ardour was apparent, his eager lips greedily parted Mulder's, gently pushing his tongue into the agent's mouth.

And Mulder, just as eagerly accepted Alex's offering.

The two kissed for several more seconds before Alex broke the spell, not quite able to co-ordinate breathing and kissing just yet.

"Thanks for rescuing me from the hospital, it was stupid of me to take off on you," acknowledged Alex. "The healer made me remember my life before..." he gulped quietly, "...before when my dad was alive."

"Alex, if you need to talk..."

Alex shook his head at Mulder's offer. "Before we can deal with the ramifications of having just discovered that I've got an identical twin brother I didn't remember existed, we have to deal with the colonist factor," stated Alex, matter of factly, cutting his lover off. The Russian adeptly tucked away his emotions, locking them up tightly, deep inside of himself, as was his custom to do when dealing with feelings like insecurity and defencelessness. Both of which at the moment, Alex felt acutely. Quickly bringing himself under control, he sat up straighter and looked Mulder in the eye. "We have to find away to stop Colonization. I don't fully trust the rebel faction, they have their own agenda, but I'm willing to work with them while they are providing useful information. We need to find the lab where they were making the vaccine, once we have it, then we can figure out a way to kill the aliens, both the greys and the faceless ones."

Mulder grasped Alex's left hand and held it, the appendage was cold. "Is the vaccine being produced in America?"

"Was being produced, yes." Alex sat up breathed deeply, no longer dizzy, but still very tired. "Production quit when the elders burned up." He looked his lover in the eyes, "What was made is still there though, in cold storage just waiting to be used." And finally, Alex felt hope. "The consortium had property in Northern Maine, a rustic cabin with a state of the art lab hidden deep below it." He squeezed Fox's hand.

"What will you do after defeating the Aliens?"

"Your optimism is uplifting Fox, but one bridge at a time, we have to deal with the bad guys before we can contemplate any future, let alone yours or mine." He leaned in and kissed Mulder again."

As they kissed, Mulder ran his thumbnail up the back of Alex's left hand. The two men pulled apart at that point. "How does that feel?" He asked, curious.

"Dull." Replied Alex.

"Dull?" Mulder queried.

"Yeah, like a scab feels before it falls off."

Before Mulder could ponder his lover's description, Scully's voice carried through the pre-dawn air "Would you two hurry up and get inside already," she grouched, bone tired herself.

~X~

Once inside, the five of them settled their gear, then Byers phoned the other two gunmen. After that, he set the alarms then declared that he was going to bed. The other four decided to get some shut-eye too.

The safe house had enough bedrooms for all five occupants, only Alex and Mulder had plans of sharing. Scully took the master bedroom that had it's own small ensuite, Byers claimed his usual room on the main floor while Anson took up residence in the bedroom across the hall from Alex and just down from the main bathroom on the upper floor.

Door safely closed, Mulder and Alex put what meagre belongings they had into the small dresser. Once that was done, Fox, tired but not ready to sleep said, "I'm going to down to make something to eat, you want me to bring you a snack?"

Alex smiled and pulled his shirt over his head, throwing the garment into the corner. "No, I' think I'm going to grab a shower while you eat."

Mulder leered at his bare-chested lover, "I'll eat quick." He said, his eyebrows rising to emphasize his dirty thoughts. "Then meet you in bed."

Yawning again, Alex replied gamely, "It's a date." Going for the button on his jeans.

Mulder kissed Alex on his forehead before leaving the room. Alex watched his lover depart and moved to shut the door behind him. He sat down on the bed intending on pulling off his socks, and without realizing he'd done it, he shut off the small lamp at the bedside and lay back on the pillows, Alex was asleep immediately.

From down stairs, Mulder heard the shower start, he quickly wolfed down a couple of cookies, chased them down with bottled water and shut off the kitchen lights. The house was still, the sounds of the night forest could be heard in the distance and the calling frogs cheered Mulder on as he made his way up the heavily carpeted stairs. He stopped at the bathroom and stripped off all his clothes before opening the door and sneaking in. Only the red heat lamp was on, keeping the room just barely lit with eerie red light. Alex was standing still in the shower, letting the hot spray rain over him. 'He still must have a headache.' Though Mulder, assuming that was why there were no normal lights on in the bathroom, only the heat lamp. Encouraged by the sight of his naked lover, Mulder parted the curtain and climbed into the shower with out speaking. He wrapped his arms around the slim waist before him and nibbled the well muscled neck so invitingly exposed to him.

"I want to make love so bad..." Mulder murmured.

His right hand started to slowly creep downwards over the washboard stomach, but before he could touch Alex's privates, a hand stopped his descent and the words "Touch my dick and I'll rip your hand off." Filled his ears.

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