Krycek was ticked off. He was sitting in the middle of a ton of paperwork that he had finally found in the bottom of a locked cabinet hidden in the last known residence of the smoking man. Included in the mess of files was everything from Walter Skinner's birth date to CSM's real name. Krycek could not have cared less about the true identity of the black lunged bastard, but he had to begrudgingly give the son-of-a-bitch credit for keeping his records so well organized.
This was one of the good things about leaving the FBI as quickly and easily as he had --no paperwork. "Sometimes the paperwork comes to find you," he told himself bitterly.
"Aha!" he thought when he came across information on Scully, muttering the words aloud without realizing it. "I must be getting warmer. At least with this I can maybe bribe the red head into releasing some info..." A part of his libido woke up at the idea of seeing the short doctor again. "She definitely is aging gracefully, better than a certain former partner of mine," He shook his head remembering the monstrosity that had greeted him at Skinner's apartment.
There, in a mix of boring papers about Skinner's nanocytes and the box scores from a dozen different World Series games, was a reference to having a child...a child that was of good strong Spender stock...Krycek cringed at what he read. He knew he could use this information. He put the paperwork into his duffle bag and was about to shove the rest of it away when something caught his eye. There was a key that he hadn't noticed before hanging up on the side of the cabinet. "The man was slicker than an oilien..." he thought, and then shivered at the memory of the black worms that had infected him. He still had nightmares about it and that missile silo. He quickly grabbed the key and, after determining that there were no locks in the room into which it would fit, he pocketed it. He looked around some more, making sure there was nothing left of any use to him, then left, shaking off the last claustrophobic oilien thoughts and wondering what he now held the key to.
******
Dana was practically giddy at the thought of having a whole day off. Spending time with little Jenny was so thrilling. Having the busy life of a family practitioner was not always so rewarding when it came to spending time with her family. She sighed wistfully, wondering if some day she would be able to have the complete family she longed for, with a husband and a house of her own. She loved the support her mother and brother had given her but they were not the best substitute for the fuller and richer environment a father could offer to her child. She knew there were plenty of single mothers who didn't even have any family at all to help and she wondered how they managed. She felt thoroughly selfish for wanting more and she wished she could be thankful for what she had. She shut her eyes thinking of what it would have been like to be with Mulder in a house in the suburbs with a cat and a dog...being with him and Jenny together, growing as a family, growing together. She had fantasized of that a lot during her pregnancy and afterwards...Then when Mulder had been returned, her concentration and concerns had been solely on helping Mulder to heal, and she had set aside her domestic dreams. But it had been so hard.if Skinner hadn't been there to help her out-she didn't even want to think of that.
As she shook her head to release her mind from its dark musings there was a knocking on her apartment door. She looked over at Jenny playing with her toys with a mother's instinctive concern before answering the door.
"Out!" she growled out as low and menacingly as she could, hoping not to upset Jenny, even as she wondered if shooting the bastard at the door would distress her child as much as it would relieve her.
"Sorry, my dear, but there is something I must show you."
The velvet voice did nothing to soothe her nerves.
"Krycek, first of all, I am not your dear, and second of all, this is one of the few times I have to be with my child!"
"Jenny won't mind me...I'm good with kids..."
"No--I don't believe you, please get your leg out of the door and go..." Her voice was pleading as she pushed futilely at the door he was holding open, and she sensed Jenny coming over to take a look at the funny man in the door way. "Jenny, go and play--"
She was cut off abruptly when Krycek pushed the door open and swooped Jenny up in his good arm.
"Hey, sweetheart. I'm Uncle Alex and I've come to speak to your mother for a short while..."
Dana just stared in frustration as Alex played house with her child, and did a pretty good job of it too, if Jenny's giggles were any indication. She was horrified with herself when she thought the baby looked good in his arms, and then wondered how she'd look in them herself.
"Shit, I need to get laid!" she growled to herself, angry at her thoughts and afraid for her baby.
"Baby," Jenny called to her baby doll and Krycek bent and picked up the doll and let her hold it.
"Come on, sweetie. I will take you to your playpen," his silky voice was strangely soft and seemed to hold less than it's usual malice as he spoke to Jenny.
He took her over to the playpen and set her in it, distracting her until she was busy playing before leaving her. He suddenly took a handkerchief out of his pocket and sneezed loudly into it once, twice, then put it away and muttered snuffling: "Damn allergies..."
Dana just stared at him as if he had suddenly turned into Jeremiah Smith.
He shrugged, seeming embarrassed. "I seem to be allergic to babies..."
She snorted looking at him incredulously, "I think you are allergic to responsibility!"
He smiled. "Probably, but there really is something here that I have to show you. Something about the paternity of your child and her genetic makeup."
Dana sighed loudly, wondering what he was up to despite the small thawing of her emotions. "Fine...would you like anything? Tea, coffee, a cookie?" She laughed out loud when she said that, realizing that once you became a mom, you never stopped, even when your child wasn't with you.
She motioned him over to the living room where there were toys scattered liberally across the floor, and a plate of cookies on the coffee table. He ignored her offer of a drink, he stepped over the toys, and he moved the plate of cookies aside to spread the papers from his duffle bag onto the table.
"This is something you will be highly interested in, Dana."
Dana put her hands on her hips looking down at the paperwork, ignoring for the moment the familiarity. "And you want to tell me about whatever this is for what? An exchange of information about Mulder?"
He smiled as sweetly as he remembered how to, hoping to sway her. "Well, yes, but then again, I wonder if you could really tell me anything significant." He pulled the key out of his pocket and held it out for her to look at. "I found this in with the files, and I'm wondering if this will get me more information about Mulder than you could provide. We need to know what he was going through, and for what purpose -why the aliens nabbed him, and what effect it's having on him now. I, or possibly, we could find the lock this key fits into and-"
She stared at the key, stunned, and gasped, "Krycek, where did you get that?"
"You recognize it?"
She nodded, but wasn't sure if she should tell the rat bastard any thing more, no matter that his eyes were causing strange flutterings in her stomach that were becoming more and more difficult to ignore.
*~~~*
Mulder groaned in pain and frustration. He hated that he was bloated and fat and he wanted nothing more than to just sleep all day. How dare Walter not understand him when he said he was too tired to get up and go get the newspaper in the morning? In the past 3 days someone had swiped Skinner's morning paper and, as Walter had been out of town, he had expected to come home and be able to catch up on the news. When he discovered that Mulder hadn't managed to retrieve the paper before the mystery thief could abscond with it, he was upset, maybe more than was warranted. Frankly, Mulder could have cared less about the stupid things.
"If you want the paper that badly, go see Frohike.he keeps them stacked up in his room. I think he has every issue dating all the way back to 1990," Mulder had told him when he complained, trying to sound nonchalant about it and coming off slightly peevish instead. "You could at least kiss me, or am I that repulsive to you now?" he whined to his lover.
"Oh, babe, I am so sorry. I have missed you." He put strong arms around Mulder to emphasize his point. " I just didn't think. You know I like to look at the paper. I couldn't read the New England Herald, it's just not the same as the Washington Post."
Mulder finally got his 'I'm home and I missed you' kiss, and then there was a knock at the door, and Walter went over to answer it. Mulder watched his strong, muscular lover's backside, felt a sudden unexpected rush of lust, and wished he had the energy to sneak over and give it a squeeze. He froze when he heard the neighbor's voice come wafting through the door.
"Mista Skinna, I am so glad to see you safe and sound back from your trip. I have kept your newspapers over at ma place. I hope you don't mind," she lisped thickly.
Mulder was certain the old bat loved to spit on people, which was why she kept that ridiculous heavy southern drawl. He knew for a fact that "Miss Eloise Weatherby" had been married at least three times and moved about ten times more than that all over the states. He had looked into her background with the aide of a certain old friend, namely, Frohike, when he noticed her continually coming by to see Skinner as often as she could, and often with no particular reason at all...
'The damn bitch thinks she can steal Walter away from me. Ha!' He thought. 'I will show her!' For a moment he was surprised by the harsh jealous streak that ripped through him, but then he felt more frustration than envy as he sighed and realized that he didn't even have the strength to get up and prove to the witch how much Skinner was in love with him and no one else. A glance down at his ever increasing bulk, and he added disgust and a little self pity to the stew of his emotions. Having nothing left to wear that felt comfortable, he had simply draped himself in Walter's robe, which was loose even on the larger man. Walter told him it looked great and had given him permission to wear it whenever he wanted, but now, as he ran a hand over his thickening middle, he thought the hunter green terrycloth made him look somehow deformed and slightly amphibious.
'I probably look like a fat bullfrog next to her,' he thought bitterly. 'And a fat pregnant bullfrog at that.'
He sighed and waited until Walter extricated himself from the neighbor's clutches, thanking her profusely, telling her he was very glad she kept them for him, and how kind it was of her. Mulder rolled his eyes as he listened to his lover pour on the charm. 'Yeah, I know, Walter, rub it in some more, why don't you!' He thought unkindly. Rationally, he knew that Walter's courtly act was simply his way of being polite to the old girl, and that his lover's concern for the feelings of others was one of the many things that made him so special to him, but at this point, he really didn't feel like being rational.
When Walter turned around, slightly flushed and smiling, Mulder growled, "Why don't you just go over there and put her out of her misery once and for all, Walter."
"Fox, what are you talking about?"
"I know you want to sleep with her. And she practically takes your clothes off with her eyes."
"Don't be ridiculous, Fox! Aside from the fact that she is at least 10 years older than I am, what would I want with her anyway? And how do you know what she does if you aren't there to see?"
"Because I can tell!" Mulder grumped.
Walter shook his head. "Baby, you just need to relax-"
Mulder staggered up on his spindly legs and 'bopped' Walter on the nose. There was no other word for it. It wasn't a slap, or a hard right, or anything resembling a boxing move. It was a 'bop.'
"Do not tell me to relax, damn it! I know what I heard just now, and I know what she is like around you all the time, simpering and pouting like some second rate Scarlett. You can't hide that! You like it, I can tell"
"Mulder, there is nothing to hide." Taking Mulder's hands, Walter tried to ease him back into the new chair that he'd had delivered especially for his pregnant lover, the recliner with the built in massager. He didn't know if it would help, but it most certainly couldn't hurt, and he really wanted only the best for Mulder, physically and mentally, during this incredibly odd and wonderful time.
"Stop placating me, Walter. The way you're defending her, it's almost like you are sleeping with her!"
Skinner couldn't stop the laugh that slipped out of him at the thought of himself in an amorous embrace with the old lady next door, and got bopped in the nose again. Skinner knew this was just Mulder, highly frustrated and emotionally fragile, because the bops were little more than love taps. They actually sent his libido soaring in a way he remembered from chokeholds past.
"Mulder, if you don't stop, I don't think I can be responsible for my actions." The warning was growled, but the smile remained intact, and his eyes darkened in sudden arousal, but Mulder was in the throes of a serious tantrum, and failed to notice.
"Ha! You are an FBI AD, being responsible for your actions and the actions of your subordinates is-"
Mulder's tirade was cut off by a mouthful of Skinner tongue. Mulder melted for just a moment but the minute Skinner's mouth pulled away, he continued again, albeit after a second or two to regain his breath.
"And then there's the fact that every time you see her, you always want to fuck me, Walter! Every time she comes over you are as randy as a goat afterwards! What's that all about?"
"That's because of how jealous you get, it's so hot!"
Mulder laughed. "Yeah, I believe that one. How many times did you tell Mrs. Skinner that?"
Skinner winced. He hated when Fox referred to his ex-wife as Mrs. Skinner. But he realized it was just jealousy, that he was getting over emotional from all the hormones in his body, and chances were it would get worse before it got better... Scully had sat him down the first time the hormones had turned Mulder into a raving shrew and explained in great detail the effects of hormones from pregnancy on normal, healthy women. But on a man, she had warned, and a man with what Mulder had been through, it was definitely going to get worse. Skinner had groaned at the news, but he knew there was little or nothing he could do. It was up to him to keep Mulder as happy and healthy as he could, just thinking about the new life that was a part of both of them currently forming in his lover's body was enough to make him do anything in his power for the man in his life.
"Would you rather we were married, Fox?"
Mulder laughed. "And what? I become Mrs. Skinner?"
"Don't be ridiculous, Fox. I would be Mrs. Mulder, of course." He got a smile for that, and was pleased, but still concerned. "I just wish you weren't so.upset or worried. I love you and only you, baby."
Mulder was mollified, but only slightly. He sighed heavily, pressing himself against the strong muscular body still half holding him upright and continued, "I just wish this was all over with and we could go back to normal."
Skinner smiled softly and gave him a gentle kiss on the forehead. "I don't think that will be possible, Fox. You are going to have a baby and we will have to take care of it."
Mulder groaned, not even wanting to contemplate that.
The phone rang and Skinner felt like the bell, able to take a moment away from the minefield that was his lover's emotions right now, saved him.
"Skinner," he answered.
"Sir, may I please speak to Mulder?" Dana's voice was a little tremulous.
"Dana, is everything all right?"
She said automatically, "Everything's fine, Walter. Um, I just need to ask him a question."
"Ok. Here he is." He handed the phone to Mulder who took it anxiously.
"Dana, is Jenny OK?"
"Jenny's fine, Mulder. She's having a ball playing with Krycek."
"What?!" he shrieked, pulling away from Walter's comforting arms.
"Calm down, Mulder. I am sure your neighbors would be grateful. Or at least their dogs will be!"
"Why is Krycek playing with our baby, Dana?" he asked impatiently through his gritted teeth trying to stay calm when all he could feel was the insane urge to beat his former partner to death with the phone he held in a white-knuckled death grip.
"Mulder, he came here with some information from Spender."
"So, why did you let him near Jenny?"
She sighed. "He forced himself in, Mulder. It's not as if I could do much about that."
"You were an FBI agent, Dana. You are also a medical doctor. You could have done something!" He was feeling nauseous and angry and frightened, and thinking 'I will not kill her, I will not kill her, I will not kill her.'
"Listen. This is important. Krycek has a key that looks like it could fit that locked cabinet you found in your mother's house."
"What is he doing with it?"
"I think the more pertinent question would be what was Spender doing with it?"
After a long pause she asked, "Mulder are you still there?"
When Mulder did not respond she continued, "Mulder, Krycek brought information with him as well as this key. Documents that he says claim that you were experimented on as a boy and that whoever did these tests, these experiments, had no idea if it had affected your ability to conceive. These documents also mention that the only way for you to conceive would be for you to be abducted by the aliens for further study."
Mulder paused. That was the first he heard of that information. As the full implications of what she was saying sank in, he closed his eyes and groped blindly with his free hand. Walter was there, gripping his hand tightly, and he took a deep breath, before asking in a small, tired voice, "Dana, does that mean Jenny really isn't mine?"
Dana sighed. "I don't know. I wish I knew. I want Jenny to be yours, Fox. I don't think I can take learning otherwise, even if it turns out to be the truth. But, if you want...Krycek has this key. Maybe to that cabinet, and maybe to more."
Mulder sucked in his breath. "He wants information doesn't he?"
"Of course."
"About me."
"Yes."
"Shit."
Mulder thought quickly;, he could always destroy the cabinet, without ever finding out what was in it. It was iron, though, and would take some doing, but he was sure the Gunmen would help. Even Walter, if it was what he wanted. But was it what he needed? To let it go, to never know for sure? For all he knew there could be something else inside the cabinet. It may house more information that had been kept away from him. He didn't know if he wanted to face it. But he knew that whatever it was inside that cabinet was information about his father-his birth father. He put his forehead onto the phone handle, trying to decide.
"Fox, what's wrong?" asked Skinner, concerned, "What is it?"
Mulder shook his head. He had to be the one to decide this on his own. Just then the baby inside him seemed to move and he gasped, his hand going to his stomach instinctively. He had never felt that before and he was stunned. His legs became wobbly and he nearly fell. Skinner took the phone out of his hand barked gruffly into it, "Dana, he will call you back."
Without further ado, Skinner hung up the phone, then scooped Mulder up and laid him on the couch as if he weighed nothing. Mulder knew he had gained a good 20 pounds at least since the beginning of his pregnancy and he had the stretch marks to prove it, but Walter lifted him with ease, and somehow his lover's strength seemed to soothe him.
"Baby, tell me, are you hungry, thirsty? Are you in pain?" Walter looked worriedly into his eyes and stroked his hair, which helped even more.
Mulder just shook his head. "I think I fully realized that I am carrying a life in my body. I am carrying a child. A child that will be ours, Walter. I don't care who knows about it. I want to be proud of this pregnancy instead of hiding it. I want to shout it out loud and tell the world about it." He felt that quiver in his abdomen again, and he grabbed Walter's other hand and laid it across his stomach. A moment later there was another movement, and Walter stared at him with something akin to wonder. Everything else was forgotten for a moment as they grinned stupidly at one another, and waited for another sign of life. But apparently, whoever was residing inside Mulder had decided the show was over for now, and after another moment or two of warm silence, Mulder continued with what he had been saying.
"I think the next step will have to involve a certain rat we all know and despise being let in on our little secret. Then we can decide how to go on from there."
"You're talking about Krycek?! Again?! Why is he always popping up at the weirdest and most inconvenient times?"
"He found out that I might not be Jenny's father, Walter."
"Wh-How? And why would you trust him?"
"He has documents from Spender. I am fairly sure it is legitimate-" he snorted, wondering at the word he had just used. "I have a feeling I will finally know who my real father was but I have to tell Krycek about this-" he indicated his stomach. "And then he's willing to deal, once he knows what is going on with me." He shrugged. "Who knows why he's interested, but the bottom line is, he has the key to a locked cabinet that may contain everything I-we-need to know. It may even have information that reveals what is happening to me and how or, at least, why."
Skinner listened patiently the entire time he spoke, but after he finished, he rose from his crouch beside the sofa and growled, "I think I will take care of the rat myself, Fox. It's about time!"
"Walter-wait!"
But Walter had risen and was walking out the door, his keys in hand, before Mulder could finish.
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