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A Gathering of Scoundrels
by Carla Jane

Book IV
Meet the Family


Dana Scully's feet hurt. Her tidy leather shoes with their towering heels were not made for running through back alleys. Unfortunately hairy, semi-human killers seldom gave her notice enough to change into track shoes. Occasionally Scully considered switching to flats but then she would stand beside her partner, looking way up, and the rumination would shatter into dust.

Dana locked her car door and forced her feet to carry her just a little further with a promise of a bath and slippers. A shower would require standing, besides which, Scully had taken three within the last eight hours...one with flea shampoo.

Mulder and Scully, freak magnets. Dana laughed softly to herself. They couldn't even stay out of trouble checking into the mailing procedures of a perfectly normal business.

"So I guess you don't need cheering up after all." A long, slender figure gracefully unfolded on her doorstep.

Scully had her gun out and aimed as quickly as her fingers would work. "Don't. Christ, Li Ann you scared me half to death." Recognition came a short breath behind the physical reaction.

"A little on edge, are we?" Li Ann's hands were held palm out, a clear sign that she meant no harm. The oriental woman offered up a smile, inviting Dana to share in the humour.

"It's been a tough couple of days." Dana explained, holstered her weapon. "Killer critters in Detroit. How did you know I was coming home?" She dug out her house-keys, shifting her carryall to the other shoulder.

"I hacked in and got your flight information. No big mystery." Li Ann knelt and picked up two insulated bags. "I come bearing food and drink." She followed Dana inside and to her apartment door. "I figured after a week in Detroit with the ever-challenging Agent Mulder you could you some down time."

Dana nodded, pushing open her door. "But I thought you were in Los Angeles."

"I was, and then Atlanta." Li Ann walked confidently to the kitchen. She sat the bags on the counter and began un-zipping the lids. "I got back in yesterday." Li Ann shouted over one shoulder. "I meant to e- mail you but I never got round to it. I've been playing catch-up at the office. Victor manages all of the company's practical work without any trouble, but he can't seem to keep up with the paperwork when I'm not here. I think he does it on purpose just because he hates filling in forms."

The microwave's door dinged as it popped open. Dana stopped in the kitchen doorway. She watched Li Ann move about extracting what she needed to reheat the meal without having to ask for directions or look anywhere twice. Scully admired the other woman's unconscious grace. It was like watching a dancer move, or a thief, her unconscious mind provided petulantly. "So, where are all your boys?" Dana asked the traditional question that hung between them with more that a bit of trepidation. The answer had proved dangerously argument provoking in the past many a time.

Li Ann dumped some vegetable and rice concoction from its cardboard box in to a deep dish. "Victor is home with his sister tonight. She officially moved into our basement apartment last week." The oriental woman added with a pleased smile. A layer of bite sized chicken pieces joined the rice. "Victor's hilarious. He is so hyped up about becoming an uncle. It's adorable. Allegra has him painting the smaller bedroom with a border of ducks and kittens." Li Ann laughed. "He tried it free hand but they came out looking like fish and pigs."

Dana smiled at the image that built in her mind for several reasons. Victor was so sweet-tempered, completely unlike his twin in so many ways.

"So he switched to stencils." She finished. A tall cup of sauce joined the dish in the microwave. "Mac is away doing some job with one of Alex's sisters." The hesitation was noticeable. "Far south of here." Li Ann stabbed some buttons on the control panel of the appliance then returned to the counter.

"And Krycek?" Dana prompted when the silence stretched too long.

"Lexi is in Europe on business for the Director. I don't know any more than that." Li Ann sighed at the petty lie she had just told and lifted a small bottle of wine from the second cooler bag.

Dana Scully turned, pressing her forehead into the wall next to her. This evening could turn sour so easily. "What were you doing in California and Atlanta, Li Ann?"

The other woman deserted the food to go to her friend's side. "Just designing a couple of security systems. They were both strictly legit jobs, Dana. I don't need to play dirty to turn a profit." Long fingers settled on the shoulder of Scully's trench coat. "I'm not doing anything that either you or I need to be ashamed of."

"No, you leave that to the boys. Mac's in Cuba, isn't he?" She asked wearily. Scully was quickly learning to see through the younger woman's code of vague references and careful silences.

"Why don't you get changed?" Li Ann declined to answer, confirming the guess. "I'll finish up here."

"What's he doing in Cuba?" Scully persisted.

"A job for Nicki." The taller woman admitted. "I didn't come here to hash out Mac, or Alex's..." She forestalled. "...dubious morality. Tonight isn't about the boys, yours or mine. Go get into something more comfortable. I brought dinner, a really fine wine, a video and my own charming self. Surely one of those things will cheer you up." A long nail flicked a lock of red hair and Li Ann smiled invitingly.

"What video?" Dana teased, downplaying her pleasure at simply being with her companion.

"Gone with the wind. When in doubt go with a classic...besides I was in the mood for it after looking at all those fancy manors for the last three days." Li Ann backed off. " I have a box of rocky road brownies."

Dana pushed herself away from the wall. "Okay, for that alone you can stay, but I get control of the remote and you do the dishes."

"Aren't you tired of playing power games after time in the field with Mulder." Li Ann baited gently but the other woman looked unmoved. "All right, but only if you promise not to burp and scratch yourself during all the mushy parts. My last client maxed out my Macho tolerance for the week."

"Deal." Dana shrugged out of her navy-blue overcoat then dragged her light carry on into the bedroom. The larger piece of luggage was abandoned. She would deal with in the morning. The shower vs. bath question was reconsidered yet again. She and Li Ann didn't get to spend much time together. Wasting an hour of that time in the tub no longer seemed like such a good idea. A quick shower, some silky pyjamas next to her skin and a pair of fuzzy socks for comfort seemed the way to go now.

Li Ann was just dishing the food onto the plates when Dana emerged from the bedroom. The dipping sauce made the meal too messy for the sofa so they settled in the dining room.

"How is it that you manage to find such wonderful takeout?" Dana asked around a forkful of tender meat.

"The other woman was deft with her chopsticks. She used them to eat and to punctuate her words. "I have a food taster." She laughed softly. "I swear Mac has tried every restaurant within thirty miles of Atlantic City by now. The man can barely make toast." Li Ann took a sip of wine. "He doesn't even have an oven...just a stovetop and a microwave."

"Men." The redhead snickered.

"You know that's not exactly true, Dana." The admonishment lacked force. "Victor cooks, better than I do when it's for more than two people. I've never gotten past stir-fry, pre-packaged food and salads."

Dana nodded agreement. "Omelettes and frozen food. The single woman's staple." She added wryly.

"You work too hard." Li Ann settled back and really studied her dining companion. "What are you doing for Christmas? Tell me you're taking a bit of time off."

Dana shrugged. "Mom's going to Bill's, baby's first Christmas and all, you know." Sadness tainted her expression. "I don't want to go. Not after what happened last year." Emily's death would be too heavy in her thoughts if she went back to California at Christmas time. It would suffocate her. "I thought I'd hang out here. Just have some quiet time. Maybe I'll touch base with some friends I haven't had a chance to see for a while."

"You're going to brood." Li Ann translated. "Or let Mulder drag you about after some slime monsters or a demonic Santa impersonator. No way Dana." The younger woman protested. "How about you come stay at my place for a week? Victor and Allegra are all charged up over Christmas. Maybe it's a Canadian thing."

The temptation was strong but Dana stared down at her plate. "Is Krycek coming home for the holidays?" The objection was clear to them both. "If he is, I just can't. You know what he's done to me."

"He didn't shoot your sister." Li Ann said softly, catching Dana's eyes and holding them with the intensity of her gaze. "That's one of the things I've made sure of."

"But he was involved." She shoved her plate away. "He worked with 'THEM'. He still does I suspect. He's a criminal, a murderer, a poor excuse for a human being."

"He's my friend."

"Don't count on it, Li Ann." Dana crossed, her blue eyes studying the other woman. A thought that had been preying on her mind for some time demanded to emerge. "Are you still sleeping with him?"

"Damn it." The oriental woman stood abruptly. "I don't want to fight Dana, not with you, not tonight."

"You are." Scully deduced. Her expression was icy. "Christ, Li Ann."

"You don't understand how it is." An open palm forestalled another protest. "The guys and Allegra are my family." She put weighty emphasis on the last word. "Can't you try for some kind of peace treaty? Come over for a few days, for me. You're welcome to ignore Alex completely, just, try not to kill him."

"That's not my style."

"Then don't arrest him." Li Ann sensed a weakening in Dana's resolve. "Victor's cooking a turkey dinner with all the trimmings."

"Why are you sleeping with him, Li Ann?" The older woman needed to hold on to her anger. She wanted answers. "He's an absolute whore. You've told me as much yourself. God knows whose bed he's coming to you from, or how many there have been even in the last year."

"It's really complicated." She shoved her own plate to one side, studying her companion's face. Dana's expression was a mask of determination. "Lexi's got a lot of problems." Li Ann hesitated, trying to balance Alex's privacy against the need to have the FBI agent's understanding. "Sometimes after Mac has passed out Lexi comes downstairs to talk."

Scully nodded. She'd picked up references to those encounters before.

"Lexi can't separate intimacy and affection from sex." Li Ann explained. "If I want him to talk to me..." She winced at Dana's disapproving frown. "I'm trying to pull his life, his experiences, out of him. I need to understand him for so many reasons. Victor and even more so, Mac, they've grown too dependant on Alex. He's holding most of the power in our family and that's just not safe for the rest of us, especially since he's so terribly fragile in some ways. The three of us just got out of a situation like that. The Director tried hard to control us by keeping us in the dark. I hated it." Li Ann floundered. "It's for Lexi's benefit as well. I'm also trying to find out how he's put together so I can repair the worst of the damage Nicki has inflicted on him. I get the impression she thinks of him as a weapon not a person. No one deserves what she's done to him over the years." Her head shook and she repeated herself. "You don't understand. I need to make sure her control doesn't overpower his affection for us. Admittedly, sometimes I feel guilty, using whatever method I have to ensure his loyalty but it's a battle for his soul."

"That's such a load of garbage." Scully accused unimpressed by Li Ann's justifications for the relationship. "Can't you just admit that the sex is good and you like it?"

Dark eyes rolled in defeat. Dana wasn't in any mood to discuss this rationally. "Is that what you want to hear? Fine. The sex is phenomenal. He goes down on me like no man ever has. His tongue practically shoots sparks." Li Ann snapped out, her temper breaking loose. "How does that feel, Dana? Do you get some sense of satisfaction from knowing Lexi is a dream in the sheets? No one he's ever made a run at has turned down a chance to do him. Even Mulder can't keep his hands to himself around Lexi despite all his ranting and raving on Alex's contemptible character. Maybe you'd understand better if he tried out his wiles on you."

A sudden remembrance of how he had affected her during that fiasco with the diplomatic pouch assaulted Dana. She hadn't allowed it to show but being in the car with him on the way to the airport had been a brutal exercise in self-control. Dana had been disgusted with herself for reacting that way to Krycek's proximity. "I think you should leave, Li Ann." Scully pushed away from the table. She needed distance. "Maybe we can get together some time in the New Year." Dana lied coldly.

"No." The younger woman stated flatly. "I'm sorry, that was completely out of line. I really am sorry. I'm just on edge and I took it out on you." Her tone was sincerely regretful. "But I won't let you push me away. You're almost as bad as Lexi. You're just looking for an excuse to end this, end us, and go back to your nun- like existence." She was out of her seat and catching at Dana's arms in an instant. "I don't give up on important relationships that easily. The fact I live with three of my exs is proof of that."

"And how is that a good thing?" Scully crossed. "Sometimes you have to let go in bad situations." She grumbled. "And Krycek is the worst of a bad one."

"Black and white." Li Ann sighed. "He warned me."

"Pardon?"

"This thing between us, I want it. You want it, but it's uphill all the way because you insist that everything be black and white, Dana." Li Ann elaborated. "I've been on the shady side of the street ever since I was a kid. That's why I loved Mac. That's why I can understand Alex." She acknowledged. "But white is like a magnet to me as well, you and Vic are proof of that, but we, Alex, Mac and I, we've got all these ambiguous colours in our backgrounds that you can't seem to appreciate." She closed her eyes, emphasising the heavy darkness of her make-up. "I know you want me in your life, you need me and what I represent. Expand the realm of what's acceptable and what's not. You've taken a few baby steps but you're going to have to come a little further."

Glossy red hair shook. "Why am I always the one who has to change?" Dana's expression was harsh. "I've bent so far already for you, for Mulder."

Li Ann swooped down and placed a kiss on the corner of her companion's mouth, shorting the argument out. Long fingers slid over Dana's shoulders and down her back. "It's your decision, Darling. How about we skip the movie, get some rest, then in the morning you can think it over with a clear head?" A twinge of guilt bit at Li Ann. This was the Alexei way out of an argument and she hated it when he used it on her. Still, if she were going to get dumped, Li Ann would rather have it happen in the morning.

"Cheat." The older woman accused. "You argue like a man."

"I don't spend enough time with women." Came the excuse. "Maybe you could take me on as a scientific project if you can't deal with me as a lover."

Heavy lips brushed over Dana's forehead. Thinking became a chore. "I need you to stop sleeping with Krycek." That demand still managed to emerge. "Maybe we can work on the rest, but I won't share your body with HIM."

"In the morning." Li Ann reminded. "How do you feel about brownies in bed?" A black brow lifted devilishly. "Without a plate?"

"You said they were rocky road. Ouch." Dana's nose wrinkled.

"It's all in the technique." Releasing her lover, Li Ann smiled. "Trust me."

xx

"What are you looking for Victor?"

The inquiry caught the man in question completely by surprise. Victor's gaze, which had been wandering about the dimly lit club, snapped back to his drinking companion. "Nothing really." He lied. "It's an occupational habit. I spent too many years as a cop, then as an agent." He shrugged. "I can't stop scanning the crowd, checking for potential trouble. You must do it too, Mulder, what with all your years at the Bureau." Victor Mansfield turned his half-empty glass absently in his hands. "Right?"

A brief chuckle was the immediate response. "You should have figured out by now that I'm hardly a typical example of the best the Bureau has to offer. My paranoia tends to be towards less tangible threats." Mulder took a sip of his now-warm beer.

The small blues band had wrapped up a few minutes ago and left the stage. The emotionally loaded silence between the two men had become more pronounced since the music no longer masked it.

"So, what are you really looking for?" Mulder repeated the question. A corner of Mansfield's mouth twitched at his insistence, speeding up the older man's heartrate. It was such a temptation to do nothing but stare at Victor's face to the exclusion of all else. Jeez, not the lashes. Mulder protested internally as Mansfield's eyes dropped to the cluttered tabletop. His cock hardened in automatic response to the sight.

The younger man leaned slightly forward. "I was wondering if you want? I got us a room tonight." The words blurted out, not in the seductive tone he'd intended but in a rather breathless panic. It didn't get much better than this. There was no sign that they were under surveillance this evening. Victor's extremely obsessive and less than stable brother, Alex, was supposed to be in another country. Lastly, a mission was threatening on the horizon that would drag Vic and the team out of town and away from Mulder. Damn, but he wanted a bed for a change, not the chill interior of one of their cars or the smelly, damp darkness of some out of the way alley or park. There was no way they were ever going to get beyond heavy groping and blowjobs without a locked door and sturdy surface.

Neither of them would dare to suggest going back to either of their apartments. Mulder's was probably under constant surveillance by some faction or another and Victor shared a building with a couple of people who might not take Mulder's presence very well. Alex, the most volatile ingredient in the mix, would likely go straight to Mac's apartment when he did come home and it was a mere two stories above his brother's.

"You sure?" The federal agent hid his body's enthusiastic tremor of reaction behind reaching for an unwanted handful of peanuts.

"Quite. What about you?" Victor Mansfield shifted until he caught Mulder's eye. "Have you got a tight enough grip on who I am and who I'm not?" They'd gone two encounters now without Mulder slipping into reacting to Victor like he would with Alex, Vic's twin. That had been the main stumbling block to their taking their budding relationship any further.

A smile lit up the older man's face. "You're fun, gorgeous and just being with you makes me feel good. Your integrity is intoxicating. You're absolutely perfect. Yeah, I think I'm well aware of who you are." His mind no longer had to chant 'NOT KRYCEK, VICTOR!' in the background constantly, but he wasn't about to tell his companion that's what he'd been doing all this time, not right now anyway.

Victor's cheeks heated and his head ducked. "I want..." A chuckle gusted out. "Let's get out of here." He rose to his feet. A battered brown leather jacket was snatched off the back of the chair and shrugged on. Victor went out of his way not to wear black around his lover. His jeans were always blue. He avoided stark colours in favour of soft cotton shirts of greens and blues. Victor even left the boots he preferred at home in the closet and wore running shoes instead. "I already booked a room in a place down the street, one that didn't look too sleazy. Come on."

Mulder took in the view for a second, denim straining across lean hips, before following suit. All of a sudden he couldn't pull his own coat on fast enough. Mulder followed closely but was careful not to make contact, certain that actual sparks would fly if they accidentally touched.

The cold air slapped them as they stepped outside, taking the sharp edge off their nervousness.

"You can leave your car here. It's only a block down." Victor tipped his head to the right. A fleeting smile was shot Mulder's way then the younger man led the way. He walked swiftly, confidant that the agent's long legs would close the distance between them easily enough. His breath puffed steam in the chilled air, betraying how shallow and quickly his lungs were working.

They traversed the distance to the motel in complete silence. Victor stepped forward as they approached the brightly painted doorway. He dug a key with a bulky plastic fob out of his jacket pocket. Victor then waited with one hand on the knob and caught Mulder's eyes with his own. "What's my name?" His tone was dead serious.

"Victor." The older man leaned in. His mouth almost brushed up against the other's diamond earring. "Please Victor. I'm so ready for this. I'm dying for this." The pause lengthened and Mulder had to fight against the impulse to push, knowing the delay was one last test. He would have thrown Krycek face first into the door and torn at his clothes by now. "Vic." His voice was strained. "Come on don't torture me."

"I'm sorry." Mansfield whispered. "I just had to know." He shoved the door open. "He said..."

"Nothing HE said matters." Mulder assured, following the object of his affection into the dimly lit room, slamming the door behind them.

The key landed with a clank on the bedside table. Victor turned in place slowly, shrugging his jacket off and letting it fall to the floor. "Watch me, Mull-dhar."

His drawling whisper cut the older man to the core. All Mulder could do was nod and stare. They'd yet to see one another completely nude. Only necessary bits of flesh had been displayed, as the act required.

Victor toed off his sneakers one at a time then lifted his feet to pull off his socks. Straightening, he slowly dragged the flat of his hand up across his crotch, letting out a hiss of air at the contact.

"Christ Victor." Mulder took a step forward.

"No." Came the warning. "Just stand there and watch me, damn it." He pumped his hips slightly and let out a shivery sigh. The spectre constantly loomed between them. Vic realised that he wasn't a match in skill to Alex so he needed to make his own unique impression on Mulder. A bit of rough friction up his zipper sent a quake down his legs. Victor had to pop the top button on his jeans in order to keep breathing. A smooth movement pulled the tail of his shirt out of the waistband of his pants. One by one Victor flicked open the buttons, pausing between each to stroke the skin that the action had revealed. The urge to close his eyes pressed at him but Victor gave in only halfway gazing through heavy lashes. He needed to watch Mulder's reaction to the strip show.

"Victor please." The other whispered his plea. "Just let me come a little closer." Mulder inched forward when no refusal was voiced. He stopped just before touching, falling to his knees in front of his lover and inhaling deeply.

Victor finished with the shirt buttons and coasted his palms down until they were braced on either side of the taut fabric before Mulder's face. He bowed his back slightly, thrusting forward until he could feel the older man's shallow breath through the damp denim.

"Victor." Mulder whispered, provoking a violent tremor when his bottom lip made accidental contact. "Take your pants off." He requested.

"No." Strong fingers shifted to tickle Mulder's nose. "You do it." Victor suggested.

The jarring trill of a cell phone startled them apart.

"Fuck!" The younger almost fell over in surprise.

Mulder, knocked back on his heels, dragged absently at his jacket to locate the source of the noise. When the ring came again he glared at Victor's discarded coat. "It's yours." He frowned. "Ignore it."

"I can't." Victor scrambled after the intruding presence. "It wouldn't ring if it wasn't important." Everyone knew he disliked the cell phone. "Yeah." He fumbled, almost dropping the thing. "What is it?"

"Viktor darling." A feminine purr slipped into his ear. "You need to come home. Right now."

The faint Russian accent in her voice was enough to send a trickle of fear down Victor's spine. That one of the core family members would call HIM rather than the house boded no good. "Catherine?" He tested.

"Riene." She specified. All four of the Catherines sounded identical. "Mac is back. Kiska, Alexei and Anastasia are here at the house too. Something very big has suddenly up, Viktor sweetie. Get yourself home right away."

"Alex is home?" He sat down hard on the edge of the bed, tossing a nervous, involuntary look at the door to the unlocked motel room.

Mulder was frowning up at his lover. Those simple words had the power to destroy everything he was desperate to experience this evening.

"I'll be home in..." Victor began.

The promise was cut off. Mulder lunged forward, grabbing after the phone. "Don't! Please." His tone was frantic. "Don't you leave me like this."

Distressed shouts were coming from the dropped cell phone. Victor grabbed it with one hand, laying the fingertips of the other against Mulder's heavy lips. "It's okay. Hush." He cautioned, raising the phone. "I'll be home in three hours. That's the best I can do." Pushing the disconnect button silenced Riene's protests.

Mulder wrapped his arms around Victor's waist and buried his face into warm, bare flesh. "Thank you." The words blurred into kisses on the hot skin. "...left me like this...think I'd die. You could never be so cruel." Mulder's mouth dragged up as the kneeling man straightened himself out. "Not my sweet Victor." Teeth threatened to mark but never actually pressed hard enough to break the younger man's skin.

"Mulder, first lock the door, then get your gear off." Victor suggested. He wanted the slick sensation of bare skin that they had yet to feel. Those changeable eyes were blurred with need but eventually the words penetrated. Mulder shoved reluctantly away. He crossed the room in three steps and was back again before Victor had time to catch his breath. Mulder pulled off his clothing with a hurried lack of artistry and practically threw himself down beside his lover. "I'm not going anywhere, not for a little while." Victor assured the other. "Relax."

"I just..." Mulder shook his head and set to skinning the ex-cop out of his jeans.

When the frantic actions grew too rough Victor attempted to help, only to find himself shoved back down on the mattress. "Ease up!" The younger man protested loudly, bucking his lover off.

Mulder froze in place at the sharp complaint. "God, I'm sorry." He rolled off to land down beside Victor on the mattress. His hands dropped flat on the rough bedspread. "I'm sorry. Don't leave. Please, don't leave."

"Just take it easy." Victor shifted up onto one elbow and leaned over his lover. "Relax. We're gonna do this, you and me. Victor Mansfield. Remember me." He smiled briefly then bent to take a kiss, pleased when Mulder accepted the brief contact without grabbing and trying to hold him down despite the trembling he saw in the older man's hands. "It's okay to touch me." Victor allowed.

Mulder's hand came up cautiously, resting against Victor's neck to keep him from pulling too far away. The delicate touch at his neck held him over Mulder, forcing their eyes to meet. "Please Victor."

"I've got you." The younger man squirmed down just a bit and he lowered his mouth to the curve of Mulder's shoulder. His parted lips brushed over the skin provoking shivers of anticipation. First Victor painted his lover's throat with damp kisses then his mouth moved to tease across hard nipples. When his teeth threatened playfully Mulder's breath caught and held. "I'm not going to hurt you." Vic murmured into the other's chest.

"Whatever you want." Mulder offered with a moan.

"No pain." Victor insisted. His fingers skimmed the older man's chest, soothing. "That's not us." He sucked at a nipple making Mulder's breath hitch with pleasure. Victor looked up through his lashes to enjoy the sight of his lover's flushed face. He pulled off with a faint chuckle of amusement. "You like?"

"Oh yeah."

"Pay attention. It gets better." Victor wiggled even lower, dragging his mouth along skin as he went.

xx

They were waiting for Victor when he let himself in the front door. He hadn't even closed the outside entrance when Mac's door opened at the top of the stairs.

"Victor, c'mon up here." Li Ann called down.

"Let me just get cleaned up and changed."

"No." Another head poked out. "You'll just have to shower again when we're done with you anyway." Anastasia, Alex's foster sister, argued. "Come." She commanded imperiously before disappearing.

An urge to ignore the order had to be fought down. Stacey was obnoxious but her presence indicated serious business. Alex's adopted family wasn't much for hollow social visits.

Victor wasn't prepared for the view when Li Ann finally caught his hand and drew him into Mac's living room.

Alex sat, bare to the waist, backward on a metal kitchen chair. Two identical teenage girls hovered over him. The first of the petite, dark-haired beauties was just stepping away from Victor's brother to lay aside a buzzing razor. She flicked it off and dropped it into Mac's outstretched hand.

"I hate it." Mac criticised immediately, his attention locked on Alex's newly shorn, newly midnight black hair.

Alexei looked up at the complaint, his brow furrowed with dismay.

"It'll grow out soon enough." The slender girl shrugged, negligently petting Alexei's slightly damp hair. He leaned blindly into the caress. "It's easier than trying to match an existing..." The explanation faded out as she noticed the new arrival. A smile broke across her lips like dawn. "You must be Viktor." Bottomless, dark framed eyes devoured him. She crossed the room with the slinkiest prowl Victor had ever seen a female use. He could practically see Alex's training in the girl's every move. "I'm Riene. We've talked." She sidled right up to his chest, bringing her face close enough to smell the sweat and sex on him.

Victor took a step back, bumping into Li Ann. The four Catherines were the second tier of the Romanov family hierarchy. He'd seen a picture of one of them about a year ago. That image didn't do credit to the living girl standing in front of him. This tiny beauty absolutely burned his eyes despite having just come from Mulder's bed. She was also, Victor reminded himself, still a teenager. "Riene." He extended a hand. "I'm pleased to finally meet you."

Inky, green-black eyes glanced down then dismissed the offered gesture in favour of pushing snug and hooking her wrists behind his neck. She used the grip to lift herself and meld her mouth to his. The girl's tongue darted between Victor's surprised lips.

With a yelp of distress Victor shoved, knocking the teenager away. Disbelief brought his brows together and he wiped at his mouth with the back of his hand.

"Yum." Riene whispered. "You taste like Lexi too. That's what took you so long, right? Who were you fucking around with, Viktor?"

"Shh." His hands gestured.

Li Ann looked from the young girl to her ex-lover with a frown of annoyance. She had been close enough to hear the question.

"Sukin syn, Kiska!" Alexei snapped, breaking into the suggestive situation. "That hurts."

Victor looked over, pushing past Riene to get a better sight of what the other Catherine was doing to his twin brother.

"Big baby." The girl accused, scolding, as she stepped back. The light glinted off the brand new jewellery that hooped through Alex's ear.

"Oh shit." Victor cursed, suddenly realising what was occurring. An empty chair was placed right at Alex's side waiting for Victor.

"It's important." Li Ann caught hold of his arm and urged him into the centre of all the activity. "They wouldn't insist if it wasn't so important. I appreciate what it means to you that there be some differences between you."

Any of the others he would have evaded but Victor allowed his former fiancee to ease off his jacket and settle him down into the chair beside his twin brother. "No. No way." Victor protested as he saw Riene pick up a bottle of black liquid from the nearby coffee table.

"Lives are in the balance." Li Ann bent down and with a brief pinch removed the diamond stud from Victor's ear. "Thousands of lives."

"We need two identical teams." Anastasia cut into the conversation. Her long pointed fingernails flicked from Riene to the other Catherine. "You and Kiska. Alexei and Riene." She said. "We need you to be Aleksandr Nicolavich and we need the pair of you to be 'absolutely' identical." She repeated.

"What are you going to do? Cut off my arm?" Victor snipped then instantly regretted the flippant remark when he noticed Alex's pained flinch.

"No, but we will need to brace and wrap it so it moves and feels more like Lexi's, through your shirt at least." Stacey said calmly. "And leather gloves will be the order of the day." Alex was seldom seen without a pair of black gloves in public to minimise the chance of his handicap from being noticed.

Riene flicked a large towel once, then moved to wrap it around Victor's shoulders. "The dye will wash out in about a month." She leaned closer than she needed to tuck the fabric into his collar. ''Should we pierce his nipple so he sets off the metal detectors properly?" The girl teased, holding him down when the joke threatened to raise him out of the chair.

"Hah. Hah." Victor tried to sound unaffected. Fingers slipped through his hair reminding him so much of what Mulder had done to him not two hours ago that he had to shiver in reaction.

"Not so much to cut off this time." Riene observed.

"What's going on? What's the mission?" Victor asked Alex. His twin was more likely to know all and tell the most. Anastasia hated giving up information. Mac and Li Ann wouldn't likely have as many details.

"Aleksandr Nicolavich..." Alex began, referring to one of his many aliases. "...received an invitation to bid on a set of computer discs." He noticed Stacey's annoyed moue of disapproval but continued on regardless. "I'm Aleksandr Nicolavich in old guard European circles. 'Nicola's protÈgÈ' to her old time associates." He explained. "A contact has offered me the chance to buy the complete personnel files of the British secret service and Interpol. The American DEA, CIA and FBI are also up for grabs as well as a few other organisations."

"Personnel files? As in names and addresses of all their employees?" Victor hissed half in reaction to the news and half because cold liquid had just been poured over his scalp.

"As well as service records, clearance levels and personal information like next of kin and health reports."

"He's yanking your chain." Victor protested. "I'd believe if it was only one organisation, but..."

"This man." Alexei let out a calming breath. "He isn't the type to promise things he can't deliver. He's been in the business since Nicki's time in the trenches. He's a cold war graduate." The Russian scratched at his nose, brushing away bits of hair clippings. "We can't afford not to take him seriously."

"And what are Nicki's intentions?" Victor wiggled as gloved fingers rubbed through his hair. "Are we trying to buy the discs?"

The Catherine, Kiska, who stood off to one side, let out a bark of amusement. "We can't afford to buy them all. Nicolavich has been invited with the expectation that he will want the Interpol files."

"We're going to steal them." Alexei said softly. "All of them. It's just going to take a colourful mix of deception and confusion to accomplish the task while maintaining Aleksandr Nicolavich's impeccable reputation within that community."

Victor looked around the room. Li Ann had settled on the couch, her hands clasp in front of her. She nodded her encouragement, sensing what his next question was. "To what end purpose, Alex?" Victor looked right into his twin's eyes as he voiced the question. When the other threatened to look away Victor narrowed his own eyes in warning. "What are we going to do with the files once we have them, brother of mine?"

"Lexi!" Stacey warned from somewhere off to one side.

Victor didn't dare release Alexei's gaze even to blink. "Sell them?" The ex-cop prompted as the other squirmed in discomfort.

"I don't know." Alex finally admitted.

"You've got to find out, Lexi." Victor said softly, using the nickname on purpose. "Or maybe we should just tell Mulder. He'll be on one of those lists." Vic reminded. A thin, venomous stream of Russian profanity nibbled at the edges of the connection Victor had pulled his twin into. It sounded as if Anastasia was nearly spitting with anger. "Alex." The ex-cop whispered to hold the other's attention. "We can't do this for profit, to sell the information on the open market. Think about it, Alex." He repeated.

"Victor's right." Li Ann joined the effort now that the topic she had been impatiently waiting to breach was opened. "We need more information about Nicola's intentions, Lexi, my love." She coaxed sweetly.

Much to Stacey's frustration, Alex looked decidedly confused. His eyes darted back and forth between the two factions and his eyebrows had drawn together until they almost met. "It's not really our place." Sharp teeth bit into his bottom lip.

"These people and their families would be exposed. It isn't right. I can see stealing them to secure them, but if Nicola is planning on something else?" Li Ann persisted. By herself she hadn't dared to call the head of the their family's motives into question but between her and Victor, Li Ann was certain they could ground Alex. "We need to know her intentions."

"Nicki doesn't need to explain herself." Anastasia snapped. "She knows what's best."

"It can't hurt to ask?" Mac joined the cause. His own loose sense of morality kicked in now that his partners had pointed out the problem. "I mean, Alex and Victor are taking the risk. The least she could do is give them a rough idea of what her big picture is."

"Lexi." Stacey flipped into Russian, needing to take the argument out of the control of Alexei's playmates. "Since when do we question Nicki's orders? She looks after us, for god's sake. We don't have time for this kind of hesitation when it comes down to the crunch. We have to trust her without reservation. That's the only way the family can function."

"Nicki knows what she's doing." Kiska seconded her mentor, Anastasia. "These three are not inner family, Lexi honey. They don't give orders. They carry them out."

"Victor's my brother." Alexei countered in a less than convincing tone. He fidgeted under Kiska and Stacey's intense scrutiny. The idea of disagreeing with his sister was an almost physically painful situation. Anastasia was such a commanding figure in psyche. He shifted uncomfortably.

"Nicola is more than our mother." Stacey crossed her arms, glaring at Li Ann and Victor. Mac wasn't a problem. Challenging Mac's sense of fun and adventure invariably shorted out any ethical doubts the young man was troubled with. It also helped that Mac was slavishly devoted to Alexei's sexuality. But Anastasia was learning to actively dislike Victor's twin and the oriental woman. They were a dangerous influence on him. "I worry about you sometimes. You've been spending altogether too much time with your trio. It's bending your priorities out of shape, baby brother."

"Alex." Victor ran a calming stroke down his twin's arm, attempting to pull the disagreement back into his realm of understanding. "In English, please."

"Victor's my real brother." He switched languages, complying without thought to the physical persuasion. "And he does have a valid point." Alexei pushed up off the chair and groped after a cell phone. "Riene, finish up Victor. I'm just going to make a quick call." He confirmed the phone was his own and set to pushing the unfamiliar code to reach the recently occupied family compound.

"Fine." Stacey threw up her hands. "Piss Nicki off. It's your pretty hide, Lexi-baby. But if you can't trust Nicki, who can you trust?"

"But I just want to know what we're going to do with the information once we have it." Alex hesitated with his finger on the last digit, looking miserable.

"It's a righteous question." Victor supported.

"Nicki's not stupid." Anastasia turned all her attention on Victor. "Some of it may get sold. It's what we do. But you can be sure her buyers will be carefully chosen. That's more than you can expect from the old bastard who's running the auction."

"So you're saying that we're the lessor of two evils. That's not good enough." Victor complained. "We could always turn the discs over to the authorities. I could call Mulder and Scully." He trailed off at the sight of the snarl those names brought to Anastasia's face.

"I'm getting so sick of hearing about that damned man." She began, but the tirade cut off when she noticed the look of dismay on her foster brother's face. He took it personally when Stacey dumped on his favourite Federal agent. "Besides your pet drones would have to pass the lists up the food chain." Came the reminder. Her tone dripped bitterness. "Of course, we all know that officials would never take advantage of each other's lists, or that leaks don't exist. Garbage. We don't have time for this." Stacey persisted.

"Call Nicki, Alex." Li Ann urged delicately, crossing the room to wrap her arms about the confused Russian's shoulders. It was a cheat, she knew, but now wasn't the time to waffle over the ethics of using the flaws that his harsh upbringing, had created. It was Nicki's own fault that Alexei was so receptive to this kind of persuasion. The physical contact soothed him immediately. "Just explain to her that we'd like to have some input on the distribution of the information. That's not much to ask. We'll earn as much with our share of the work on this project."

Alexei practically burrowed into the contact. Not daring to meet Stacey's frigid stare, Alex completed the call. "Eh-ta Alexei."

Li Ann squeezed his good arm to bolster his confidence and smiled.

xx

Mulder and Scully were crushed into a spot near the rear of a crowded surveillance van. The hum of electronics all about them was almost as annoying as the trails of sweat that ran down their foreheads and inside their clothes.

Mulder couldn't help but wish he had waited to put on the kevlar and F.B.I. windbreaker that had been thrust at him but AD Skinner's authoritative frown had suggested otherwise. He didn't dare make any cracks about the situation either. Skinner had greeted his last remark about the air-conditioning with a curt 'save it Agent Mulder' and a glare.

"Movement." The agents huddled over the video equipment all shifted awkwardly, making room for the Assistant Director to see the specified monitor. "Another limo." One of them said aloud for the benefit of everyone who couldn't see what was happening.

"How original." Scully murmured in a voice too soft to reach anyone but her partner after making sure her microphone was pushed well back.

Mulder smiled. She had been tossed off pace far worse than him but she recovered twice as quickly. AD Skinner had sent for them just as they were leaving for the day. They barely recognised anyone on the task force that they had been drafted into. Far too many of the other FBI agents looked as green as new grass. Mulder suspected it was a matter of trust.

"One arrival." The default announcer supplied, into his mike as well as to the occupants of the lead van. "He's approaching the entrance. Caucasian. Late fifties."

"Aren't they all?" Mulder tried to duplicate the tone of voice Scully had gotten away with. He failed. Skinner's laser beam glasses flashed his way in the subdued light. Mulder kept from flinching, barely. He really was trying to behave, wanting to remind everyone that he was good for more than jockeying a telephone and poking about fertiliser stockpiles. If Skinner would just take them back from AD Kersh's control permanently, Mulder was certain their situation inside the Bureau would improve. At least it couldn't get any worse.

"He's pissed about the hand scanner, no surprise there." Every one of the attendees had balked upon sighting the fingerprint equipment. "He's waving his invitation in the guard's face." The tech said. "This is an absolute dream come true." He commented on the system.

Discovering the location and purpose of the gathering had been a gold mine. That so many organisations were willing to pool their resources and share the bust-in-the-making was extraordinary. When Interpol's hackers managed to worm their way into the mainframe of the building's security system most of the people involved decide that there was a god and he was smiling down on this joint venture.

"These guards are amazing. They haven't lost their cool once." The comment came. "Guard one isn't budging. The perp is settling."

The perfection of Roderick Stalward's security system was now the most powerful tool the combined task force had ever laid hands on. Stalward's paranoia would assure that every criminal attending the auction would be identified and accounted for by the united forces waiting to swoop down on them.

"And there's the hand-print. Gotcha." Necks strained waiting for the delicate series of up-links and connections to relay the identity of the man their attention focused on.

"The CIA is calling on this one, Sir." The young woman sitting nearest Skinner's left hand covered the mouthpiece of her equipment. "We've got an open file. His name is Quentin Page. But we've nothing solid we can pin on the man."

"They can have him." The Assistant Director allowed after a brief glance at the information on the database screen. "What are we up to...in number of claims?" He asked aloud.

"Seven for sure. Two in dispute." Scully provided promptly.

Mulder mouthed 'suck-up' but he was privately proud of his partner's quick response.

Skinner nodded. They still had a few agents to spare but, then again, participants were still arriving.

"He's strapped." Someone provided. "Christ that equipment is sensitive. It's picking up a heart murmur on the guy." The man marvelled. Each of the attendees was given a sealed on bracelet that monitored their heartbeat and location in side Stalward's building.

"He's the CIA's problem." Skinner reminded. "We don't need to monitor him. Clear that device for the next arrival. Who's still free?" He looked about, checking to see which agents weren't glued to the screen of a hand held tracer.

"Diaz and O'Conner in van two." Came the response over everyone's earpiece.

Dana flicked her mike forward and made sure it was on. "Mulder and Scully. Van one." She announced to everyone including her temporary supervisor.

"Hackett and Pinkerton. Van two." Another female voice crackled in their ears.

Skinner looked down the list of felons that they had laid claim to. If no one else that they wanted showed up he intended to shift one of the newer teams to back up another and hand Isaak Colton off to Mulder and Scully. That slippery son of a bitch might be a bit too much for an inexperienced team. Skinner regretted having to use so many rookies on this job but he couldn't risk a move of this magnitude on anyone he didn't trust implicitly. All in all the lot of them were steady enough considering how the assignment had ambushed and pulled them from all over the Bureau.

"No way." A whisper of disbelief came from one of the monitor jockeys.

"What?" Skinner demanded, bending.

"It's got to be just passing by." The agent began. "Nope. It's a motorcycle and it's heading for the door. Two riders."

"DEA." Someone muttered over the radio.

"No chatter." Skinner warned. He peered at the screen that showed the outside steps.

"Two riders dismounting." Agent Caspian took up the play by play yet again. "One male. One female. Both are Caucasian, dark-haired and dressed in leather. The male is maybe early-thirties. The girl is young. A teenager, I'd say."

Puzzled looks came from all about the stuffy van.

"At the doors. Inside." Caspian moved his attention to a different monitor. "The guards are not impressed. Ah...we have an invitation. Guard one is calling for verification. Guard two is leering at the girl."

"I don't blame him." Another viewer peering intently down at the screen mumbled, earning a hard look from Skinner.

"Guard one is off the phone." Caspian swallowed a smile without a hiccup. "I think motorcycle man just figured out the palm scanner. He's going ballistic. Christ." The tech squinted hard. "I think the perp is carrying. That's a first."

Every other attendee had come unarmed according to the barrage of metal detectors that they had been required to pass through.

"Definitely DEA." The mutter was repeated in another voice.

"I think he's getting the 'take a hike if you don't like the rules' speech." Agent Caspian continued. "The perp is handing over a gun. Guard two's got out the wand." He paused. "We have strip search." Caspian chuckled before recalling who stood beside him. "No, I was wrong there. Just the shirt is getting pulled open." He corrected. "Ouch. The perp just clocked guard two on the chin. Two's shaking it off." He frowned. "The girl is palm printing."

A few tense breaths of silence filled the van.

"Nothing." The female agent informed them. Her head cocked to one side. "Nobody wants her, Sir." The radio in her ear was silent.

Skinner nodded, watching the reception room. Something about the way the suspect stood seemed familiar but the clarity of the picture left much to be desired.

"Motorcycle man is still trying to avoid the print ID. Guard one is back on the phone. No clemency. One is pointing. It's give the print or use the door time. Come on, butch, do it. Uh...sorry Sir. He's pulling his glove off. We have contact."

The database monitor lit up like a Christmas tree three seconds later. "SIR?"

Skinner whirled, seeing the name in his head almost before he read it off the screen. "Jesus Christ. Call it Agent!" The Assistant Director roared.

She tried to obey, shouting into they system that connected all the different agencies. "Interpol, DEA, CIA, British secret service, even the rep from the RCMP is screaming Mr Skinner. What do I do, Sir?"

Skinner straightened up. "Mulder, Scully, Diaz, O'Conner. Your target is Alex Krycek. Get him for us if you have to mow through everyone to reach him. Lock your locators in as soon as they bracelet him. Hackett and Pinkerton. Tune into that girl Krycek brought in with him. The rest of you defer to Mulder and Scully's experience with this man."

"We have a heartbeat, Sir. It's racing."

Scully accepted the tiny computer they passed to the back of the van. Mulder looked down at the small graph with blips running across it.

"He'll ditch the bracelet." Mulder said with his fingers covering his mic. "Krycek won't let them track him like this." His nerves were more than matching their target's level of excitement.

"He's in there unarmed. If he does ditch it it's open season and there's guards all over." She responded in the same fashion. "They'll have his last location and something tells me his tag will be monitored closely after that scene he just pulled."

"Diaz." Mulder went back on air, braving Skinner's glower of warning. "Hackett. Join agent Scully on channel six." He took one half of each partnership private.

Scully inclined his head in approval and switched over her own radio. "Check in." She requested of them.

"Hackett here." A young woman's voice offered.

"Diaz." Came a man's.

"You need to know what we're up against." Scully began. "Alex Krycek is a completely amoral killer who will do anything to anyone to preserve his own skin." She warned. Her eyes flicked over her own partner as she listened to them relaying words. Mulder was all but vibrating with contained energy. She knew how he felt. If Krycek was here, so close to Atlantic City, then there was a better than average chance that Li Ann was ghosting about somewhere behind the scenes. They had parted on less than amicable terms the other night and this definitely wasn't the stage Dana would have chosen for their next, crucial interaction. "Agent Mulder will take point when the time comes to approach the target." Krycek might cut her down without blinking, but if Li Ann was to be believed Mulder was safe from harm.

He looked away, wiping absently at a trickle of sweat to cover some of his discomfort with Scully's weighing gaze. "That would be safest." He admitted, concentrating on the monitor she held. His mind continued to howl Krycek's name, but he managed to keep evidence of his disturbance off his face. Oh fuck, Victor went out for a big job. Alex came home for the same job. His lover couldn't be too far away. Li Ann and Mac too if they kept to pattern. Oh please don't let Victor be mixed up in this, Mulder wished desperately. Concentrate, damn it. Krycek's heartrate had slowed down but it still wasn't normal and he was moving. It was Alex in there, not Victor. They had proof positive, fingerprints. It was Alex.

"Hackett. Diaz." Scully pursed her lips. "Get next to each other. Let us know if the girl separates from Krycek." She covered her mic. "Why would Krycek bring a bimbo to something like this? As a human shield?"

"That's a bit harsh, Scully."

He had forgotten to muffle the reply. "No chatter on the air." Skinner grouched.

With a sheepish look Mulder flicked off his microphone. "I don't think so. She must serve a purpose. He's a lot of things, but he's not a stupid man."

Scully nodded, bound to agree. "One of his sisters?"

"She's too young. I got the impression the women he worked with were all older than him, besides, I suspect any member of Krycek's extended family would set off alarms, with Interpol, if nowhere else."

"Agent Scully." Diaz' voice interrupted. "O'Conner says you're a doctor."

"Pathologist." She amended.

"Krycek's heartrate, it's higher than the girl's and it's not settling down to the same level." Diaz questioned vaguely.

"Nerves?" Hackett suggested.

"Could be." Scully examined the information that the palm-sized tracer was providing. Their target was now in the centre of the building. A glance across at another screen showed roughly their man in a similar position.

A blueprint was tossed their way. "Everyone is gathering in some kind of convention room and staying there." One of the other Agents explained.

"Not our target." Scully countered a few minutes later. "Krycek's moving.

"So is the girl." Hackett offered. "With him."

"Does anyone else have movement?" Mulder asked, earning nothing but denials. "He's up to something Scully."

She fumbled with the blueprint. "I can't place him exactly...he's not far down..." Her finger trailed over the detailed plans. She circled a bit of the hallway absently. "A closet of some kind maybe." She guessed, fighting the urge to shake the tracer in an attempt to get more information.

"Pulse rate jump." Diaz mentioned.

"On the girl too."

"Maybe the guards are hassling them." Mulder suggested. They waited for the blips to either end suddenly or slow down but neither occurred. Instead the moving lights showed an inevitable rise. "If they were fighting with someone?" He asked.

"It's too gradual. Too..." Scully's cheeks suddenly flooded with colour. "Hackett, is the girl's pulse-rate even with Krycek's yet?" It couldn't be.

"It's not as fast, but it is up there."

"Scully?" Mulder questioned when the silence stretched on too long. Krycek's heart was continuing to speed up. "What do you think?"

Her tone was a whisper. "I think they're having sex." Scully finally admitted with a certain amount of distaste. Jesus, the man had all the restraint of an alley cat.

A couple of snorts came from the other teams. Hackett spoke first. "The girl is up, but not as far. If that's what's happening he's not very good." She criticised.

"Is a blow job from a juvenile statutory rape?" Mulder wondered aloud causing a few agents to stare in their direction.

"Krycek's skirting a cardiac arrest." Scully marvelled. "The girl must..." She couldn't finish the sentence. Christ, where was her mind these days. Li Ann must have set some kind of contamination in place. It was rotting her brain from the inside out. "Mulder." She frowned at the rapidly moving blips. "He's going to stroke out."

Her announcement had even Skinner looking their way now. Scully's mouth dropped open in surprise.

"Flatline!" Mulder almost screamed, shaking his head in disbelief.

"NO. No." Scully grabbed at one crumbled sleeve, steadying her partner. "He's back. What the hell was that?" the red-haired agent lifted her eyes to discover the two of them were the centre of attention. "Sorry sir."

"Is your target all right?" Skinner asked calmly.

"Yes Sir." She wondered if it was possible to melt into the metal of the back door that they sat against.

The Assistant Director's chin shifted abruptly as if he was loosening a crick in his neck then he returned his attention to the overpowering flood of information laid out before him.

xx

Alexei took one look at the palm scanner beside the reception desk and considered walking out. There was a chance that Victor and Kiska could still pull off the job if he and Riene blew it off.

"It's Mr Stalward's orders." The uniformed goon stared across, implacable as a brick wall."

"I'm not giving you my prints." Alex decided, thrusting his chin forward and glaring the other man down. His good hand cut the air violently. "No fucking way. If Stalward wants my money then you'd best stand aside." His upper lip curled.

"Aleksandr." Riene said softly, her eyes taking in the unfavourable odds. "Boot't'ih ah-stah-rohzh-nuh."

"Nyet! Yah doo-muh-yoo, shtuh-nyet." He shook his head, lifting his voice. "If you morons think I'm going to hand over my fucking fingerprints for you to do Christ-knows-what with you're even stupider than you look. Now get out of my way or I'll turn the lot of you into cold meat." Alexei's threat ended in a full-voiced shout. His gun was out of his holster and in his hand in an eye-blink. "Stand aside, Frankenstein." Alex aimed right between the guard's eyes.

"As to your prints, Mr Stalward collected them some time ago. They are already entered into our database. This is just confirmation that you are who you say you are." The target reasoned. "And killing me won't open the door."

"No? But it'll make me feel better."

The second gatekeeper interrupted. "You were told to come unarmed, Sir."

The cool behaviour of these men on infuriated Alexei more.

"We will return your weapon when you leave." The guard Alex was pointing his gun at calmly extended his hand. "If you don't wish to comply with guidelines that Mr Stalward laid out you're welcome to leave, Sir." His head inclined to the outer doors. "But you will not get passed this point armed and unidentified."

Alex let out an annoyed huff of air. He thumbed the safety on and let the pistol curl forward on his finger. If that bastard of a guard even attempted to look smug he was going to loose a tooth. Goon one took Alexei's weapon while the other came over to swing a metal detector over Alex. Of course the thing went nuts.

"You're still carrying." The guard swept the Russian's chest and left arm to illustrate his point. The equipment whined annoyingly.

Alex reached across his chest and tore open the domes on his shirt. "Metal buttons." He shoved the material back of his shoulders and down, exposing both his nipple ring and the joint of his artificial arm to the guard's view. "Some things I just can't throw in the dish with my keys." He snapped. "All I had was the gun."

A smirk blossomed on goon two's face. "I guess you are unarmed."

Alex's swung without thinking, sick to death of that joke. His right fist connected with a satisfying rush of pain.

"We don't want any trouble." Riene spoke up, trying to draw some attention away before this got even nastier. She paced over and dropped her hand onto the glass screen.

Still rubbing his jaw, the second guard walked over to look at the computer screen. "She wasn't invited." He announced gravely, as if that was some kind of surprise.

"Well DAH!" Alexei straightened out his clothes. "You get Stalward down here. He'll fix this misunderstanding. I'm Aleksandr Nicolavich, damn it. I don't need to do this." He gestured to the scanner. "And if I feel like bringing a toy along, it's allowed."

"Mr Stalward will greet you inside. Your 'property'" Riene drew lecherous scrutiny from both the men. "will remain here until you leave. We'll take good care of it." Goon two looked about ready to start licking his chops.

"Get him on the phone then, you imbecile. Let me talk to him and I'll fix it." Alex didn't completely understand his own hesitation at offering up his fingerprints. It's not like his prints weren't scattered over the world and catalogued in dozens of places but this whole set-up struck him as hinky.

"Mr Stalward permits you to bring your lady friend inside." The guard sat down the telephone after only a brief interchange. "But there are no exceptions on the security procedures. Bracelet the 'lady', Calvert."

The second guard approached Riene, his sore chin forgotten in order to admire the way the leather pants she wore wrinkled and strained over her narrow hips.

"What's this?" Riene asked softly as her wrist was lifted and encircled by tight flexible plastic.

"Just something to keep track of your movements while you're visiting us." The uniformed man's fingers lingered, stroking up the inside of her wrist as he tightened the flexible band until it almost but didn't quite dig into her skin.

"Ooo! Look Alek." Riene held up the device. "I saw something like this on a nature show. They want to monitor if we migrate."

"Fuck." Alex stood before the scanner, even more hesitant about getting inside through the front door. He and the trio should have tried a straight up 'break and enter'.

"You can always leave." Goon one reminded him.

"I hate this." Alex pulled off his right glove with his teeth and slapped his hand down. "Remind me to rip Stalward a new hole when this is over, Bodkin."

"Don't mind Alek. He's just a bit tense." Riene flirted to downplay Alexei's foul behaviour.

Alex watched through slitted eyes as the first guard nodded at the identification that followed, then took the device that attached the locator cuff from his partner.

"If you take this off while you're still in the building it will set off alarms and our people will be instructed to shoot to kill. We're monitoring your heartrate, Sir. We will know within seconds of the bracelet's removal." He warned.

Alexei's sneer grew more vicious but he refrained from snapping. Kiska and Victor should be waiting inside. The mission and how to elude this tracking system now took their places in the forefront of his thoughts. "Come on Bodkin." Alex opened his arm absently and felt Riene slip up against him.

They made their way into the interior, security doors slamming shut behind them. While Alexei guided their path Riene fussed and examined the strap around her wrist. "We're not wired for sound at least." The girl concluded in Russian. "Not that it's necessary." The place was crawling with security guards, all holding tracers and radio connected to each other by the looks of it.

"I should have expected something like this." Alex grumbled, continuing on in the same language. "Stalward is a cautious son of a bitch at the best of times. Of course he's going to go cracker-box, sitting on the damned discs." Green eyes took on a bit more focus. "So we take a quick turn through the crowd then head for the rendezvous."

"They're watching us." Riene rose up to her tiptoes to nibble at Alexei's ear. "You want to give them a show?" Her hand slid down his stomach to cup his crotch. "It'll give us a reason for ducking into the broom closet."

"That's my girl." He praised, pulling her through the thin crowd to where Stalward stood near a buffet table.

"It's young Nicolavich." The gaunt old man offered up a smile so sharp that it cut the air. "I'm so glad you could join us this afternoon. How is you enchanting mentor, Nicola, son?" He asked. His gaze flicked down Alex and up Riene with a faintly sour expression creeping onto his face.

"Resting in the southern warmth." Alexei lied. "Retirement agrees with her. She's never been so comfortable. She sends her compliments on your 'impressive' choice of merchandise. When will the bidding begin?"

Stalward turned to the old man beside him. "You see the impatience of today's youth. Thirty years ago I would have been criticised for not turning this in to a weekend affair. We'd be gathering a casino in Monte Carlo, chatting over cocktails and squiring beautiful ladies about the blackjack tables." He sighed. "Nicola in a floor-length sapphire gown was a sight to make a grown man weep. She sets us a good example. I grow weary of the game, don't you Kruegar?"

"I resent having to come to this filthy city. New York is a toilet." His portly companion complained. "You should have done this in Switzerland."

Alexei, sensing a dismissal, drew Riene away. He guided her confidently enough although he made a show of peering about curiously as if unfamiliar with the building.

The teenager set herself to providing entertainment for the guards watching them. Her fingers wandered and Riene clung, squirming against his legs and hips. Her escort made sure that the nearest sentry was concentrating on them before sliding a fingertip over her brightly painted lips, pressing. Riene obligingly sucked the digit in with a dramatic moan of pleasure.

"Impressive Bodkin." Alex murmured, stepping closer to his destination.

"You want impressive? Let me crawl in with you and Mac one of these evenings and I'll show you what I'm capable of." She offered in a low seductive tone. "Stacey says you yowl like a cat in heat when a man shoves into you while you're pumping a woman. I'd like to hear that." Teeth snapped at his cheek. "Besides, Lexi lover, I'm your apprentice. You're supposed to teach me everything you know. I've only ever watched you with a man on tape. I consider that a massive gap in my real life education."

"I'll ask Mac."

"Oh Baby." Riene said loudly, grinding against him. "You know what soaks my panties."

The observing guard laughed as Alex grabbed after the doorknob that was now digging into his back. "Knock if they start the auction, will you Sport?" The Russian requested casually, dragging Riene into the closest.

"Turn on the light, Alek. I want to see you." Her palm scraped the wall to the left of the door as they shoved the portal closed. "Tight quarters." Riene's voice dropped down to a more normal level.

"Rattle the door a little, Bodkin." Alex suggested, easing her against it. He then picked up a mop and popped up a ceiling tile a couple of times.

On the third lift eager fingers caught the edge and pulled it aside. Kiska dropped down out of the darkness a few breaths later. Victor followed close behind her, landing awkwardly, his balance thrown off by his strapped arm.

"Shh." Alex warned, motioning Victor to join Riene in creaking the door. "Take a look at this." He presented his encircled wrist for Kiska's inspection. "Location and heartrate they claim." His lips were right at the girl's ears. "Can you and Victor do the work while Riene and I run interference down here?"

"Victor's good, Lexi, but..." She fiddled with the locking mechanism on the cuff. "At last contact Stacey and your thieves told us that there are altogether too many unmarked vans about for such a deserted neighbourhood. If one of you has to be tied to a surveillance device I'd rather it was Victor. Besides..." Her voice dropped even lower. "Making this work is going to require a few 'casualties'." She hid the declaration in Russian, worried about the ex-cop having an attack of conscience.

"So what do we do?" Alex shook his wrist.

"Your heartrate huh?" Kiska smiled and pushed, shoving Alex up just to the left of Victor. "Riene." She whispered. "Give our Lexi a blow job. Victor, give me your right hand, please."

Victor's mouth opened to protest but nothing emerged. He simple watched, wide-eyed, as the teenage girl dropped obediently to her knees and began tugging at Alex's black jeans.

"This needs to be shattering Lexi-honey." Kiska elaborated. Her face was the only thing that separated the twins. "Let that perverted mind of yours run wild." She instructed. Her left hand trailed down Alex's good arm, catching and lifting his hand then she looked to Victor. "This is important, cousin." Kiska stroked her right hand up the black leather of Victor's jacket. "Turn a little, Vicka darling." She requested, catching at his right hand. Very carefully, wary of Victor protesting, Kiska brought their palms together.

"What the hell?" The ex-cop's expression was confused.

"Hush." Kiska warned. "They're listening outside the door." Came the gentle reminder. "THIS needs to go..." She presented Alex's bracelet to his twin. "Here." Kiska kissed Victor's wrist as she pulled off his right glove.

"Fuck!" The curse hissed out of Victor. This was not something he was comfortable participating in. He would have pulled his hand away but Alex's grip tightened.

"Give it up, Lexi-honey." Kiska encouraged, manipulating Alex and Victor's joined hands so the knuckles didn't stand out so prominently. She wiggled the bracelet's lock about until it was easily visible then pulled out a delicate lockpick.

Riene's harsh breathing stalled out for a moment and Alex let out a low groan. His lips spilled urgent, unintelligible speech.

"Tell me when you're close, Lexi." Kiska requested, poking at the tiny lock.

"Victor." Alex gasped out, demanding the other's attention. "Look at me."

"Jeez Alex." His brother complained. "I can't." Victor stared up at the pitted ceiling. Bad enough to stand here holding hands while far- too-young Riene performed the erotic service...He had to look away.

"Vicka please." Alex pleaded, tugging at the hand he gripped The movement caused Kiska to hiss that he 'be still'.

She needed just the right moment before interrupting the heart monitor's signal. "Make some noise for the audience, Lexi-darling." No doubt the guards on the other side of the door had reported the situation and were watching their tracers as well as eavesdropping.

Riene yanked his jeans down further so she could get a hand on his ass.

His head thumped impatiently against the door. "S'not enough." Alexei croaked out. "Not enough to explain a flatline." He realised what Kiska had in mind.

"What do you need, Darling?" Kiska purred, shifting so Victor was forced even closer. "Tell me what you want." Even as she voiced the question she suspected the answer and jostled Victor against Alex yet again.

"Bodkin." Alexei prompted, then shuddered in response as fingers shoved roughly inside him. "Sukin syn! Nearly." A dangerous gleam escaped his slitted eyes.

Kiska, watching for it, felt a cold chill run down her back. She saw Alexei's artificial arm lift and reach. Victor's ear was caught in the pinch of those fingers hard enough to make him squawk in pain. Alex levered his twin over and into a kiss before Victor even registered what exactly was happening. "Twisted fuck." Kiska muttered without heat, flipping the now unlocked catch. As soon as Alexei hit the peak of the convulsions that began when he pressed mouths with Victor she slipped the cuff loose from one wrist and onto the other. With luck only a few heartbeats were lost before Victor was properly adjusted to take up the rhythm.

As soon as Kiska released him Victor used both his hands to break loose and shove Alex away. "That's not what's between us." Victor hissed at his twin. "Don't do that again."

Alexei didn't respond. He lay against the closet door, breathing deeply. A quaver shook him as Riene tucked him away and did up his pants. She climbed to her feet, wiping the back of her hand over her mouth and chin. "You okay, lover?" Riene cuddled up to Alex's heaving chest.

"Can the afterglow, kids. We've got work to do." Kiska interrupted the embrace. "Victor, Riene try to stay in here another half hour if they let you." She whispered. "Fifteen minutes after that see if you can draw some attention and a few guards, but don't actually cause any trouble. Aleksandr Nicolavich is one of the most invaluable covers any of us possess. Under no circumstances should you tarnish it with those men out there. He's arrogant, impatient, and deadly but he is one of them. They trust him as much as is reasonable considering everyone's profession. This theft is going to fuck with that situation enough as it stands. Don't let them know we've made this switch or our whole organisation will suffer. Nicolavich has to be right there, with a solid alibi as the centre of everyone's attention when the job goes down so the blame for this doesn't come snapping back at Alex when contrary reports surface from the folks upstairs. Do you understand?" She glared. "Lexi, come on. Time is wasting."

"Da." Shaking himself into order Alex looked up into the ceiling space.

Without being asked Victor made a stirrup of his joined hands to boost his twin. First Alexei, then Kiska disappeared up into the darkness.

"You know," Riene lounged against the door. "This would be a lot more convincing if we could speed our heartrates up again." She offered up an imp's smile.

"Trust me, Kid." Victor rubbed his palms, one still gloved and one bare, across his face. "My pulse is racing quite nicely as it is."

"Yeah. He's a good kisser."

"That's not what I mean." The ex-cop crossed.

"Ooo!" Riene cooed. "S'that a tender spot, Vicka darling?" Her eyes glittered, the brown taking on a definite shimmer of emerald in the harsh light of one hanging bulb. "You must know that Lexi-lover would drop and spread for you faster than you could un-zip, if you asked. You're the only one in the whole damned family that he hasn't played with. Christ, you're probably the only person he's met who hasn't sized him up for sex since he was fifteen."

"Knock it off, Riene." Victor warned. "That's not even true." Anger was only a short breath away.

"You are so naÔve, Vicka darling. It's delectable." She teased. "But Lexi can tell with a glance when someone is considering him. That's part of his training." Riene continued. "And you're the first one to show a complete lack of interest since Lexi's precious G-man ignored him back in '95. He said it himself. Even your little sister played kiss and flirt when she first met our Lexi."

Victor had the teenage girl shoved hard to the door before she got another word out. "I don't like hitting women. Don't tempt me, Riene. My sister, Alex's sister..." He fumbled after words. "Alice would never consider doing anything with our brother. That's just plain wrong."

"None of our lives are exactly private, Vicka. We gossip horribly among ourselves. He told Marie." The girl persisted. "Marie mentioned it to me." She shrugged. "Alexei had his tongue down your Alice's throat and her hand was inside his pants when they got interrupted. They just never got back to it again."

"You lie." Victor jarred her backwards causing her to let out of squeak of distress. Riene's breath was shallow and hot against his neck.

The teenager's body arched against his, squirming slightly. "It happened in India a day after he popped round to introduce himself." Her hiss was venomous. "If a couple of kids hadn't come looking for your Alice to help with an emergency Lexi would have fucked her against the wall of the shack she was staying in just 'cause that's what he thinks is expected of him."

"You lying little, brat." Victor had to back away or he was going to strangle the girl.

Riene let out a throaty chuckle. "Now that's a heartrate to justify us staying in here, Vicka sweet. How about you thump me against the door a few more times to add to the illusion? I enjoyed that part."

"Bitch!" It came out louder than he had intended but no doubt the listening guards would dismiss the gritty roar as an endearment. "You made that all up just to get me going." Victor accused, more quietly.

Narrow shoulders shrugged. "Maybe." Riene looked at her watch. "Maybe not. You can ask them yourself. Little sister might fib to cover it up but Alexei will tell you the truth, if you want to hear it." She turned a bit more thoughtful. A smile tipped her lips. "I was thinking that I could flirt with Raymond Dulang." Her thumb hitched. "He's hot-headed enough that the two of you could bluff and bluster. That'll get some attention. He's a squinty-eyed man with a big, hooked nose. I'll point him out."

Victor gulped in air, trying to find the business-like attitude that Riene had flipped into so easily. "Yeah, fine. You do that."

Mulder and Scully went in right on the heels of the heavily armoured first strike force. They would have been in the leading edge but Krycek was their primary target not the defending security guards.

According to the wrist tracers everyone had gathered in the massive conference hall, so that's where all the agents were converging. The unassigned portion of the task force would see to clearing the staff from the hallways and the rest of the building.

Fox Mulder pinpointed his quarry as soon as he stepped into the cavernous room despite the changes in Krycek's appearance. Let everyone else fuss and bother with tracers and demands of producing identification. Mulder was certain that he was feeling a magnetic pull.

Set apart by his black leather amid the crowd of expensive suits Mulder's target stood near the back wall with his bimbo cowering behind him. A butter knife from the buffet table was already digging hard at the cuff that identified him. The Federal agent tore across the carpet while most of the other law-enforcement officers were still catching their bearings and pointing guns. He trusted Scully to mind his back since his own vision had narrowed to a tunnel.

"Krycek!" Mulder collided with the younger man, catching at the glossy black of his jacket and heaving him to the wall. The knife skittered away across the floor with a metallic rattle. "You son of a bitch. You're trying to buy peoples lives."

"Mulder!" Victor forced himself to hold onto the role that had been set for him. He scrambled after Alex's usual air of playfulness. "What a nice surprise. I wasn't expecting to see you here."

"Leave him alone." Riene launched herself at Mulder's back, nails digging in, only to be shrugged off like a pesky fly. The petite teenager hissed and hit Mulder between the shoulder blades rather ineffectively.

"FBI." Scully arrived, gun drawn. "You're both under arrest. Don't move."

"It's just me and you, Krycek." Mulder closed the distance between them until their faces almost touched. "No tame thieves to watch your back here. One wrong move..." The elder warned, digging his gun barrel into the other's still left arm. "...and we'll find out what kind of warrantee your spare parts carry."

"Behave yourself." Victor cautioned. "I'm not carrying and we've got an audience." He pointed out.

As more agents filled the hall a small crowd began to angle their way. Scully handed Riene off to a thin blonde woman and her partner then moved to shield Mulder and his captive from the growing group of men flashing their various badges and demanding that they surrender custody of the fugitive.

"Actually." Victor pointed out. "If it's all the same to you, Mulder, I'd rather go with Interpol. The accommodations are always so much nicer."

"Shut up Krycek." The Federal agent thumped him against the wall again to make his point.

"Ease off." The temptation was strong to find out some things about Alex and Mulder's relationship while safely in disguise. "Victor isn't going to like it if you cave in my skull for no reason."

"Anything I do to you right now is my word against yours, you little whore. Who do you think he's going to believe? Now shut up and stop squirming." Mulder rattled him harder, but not before grinding his groin into the younger man's body. "Slut." The Agent accused as if he was the target of the action rather than the one pressing his stiff erection forward.

Victor, shocked by the Mulder's blatant sexual arousal, let himself be manhandled without saying a word. He had hoped that his lover had progressed beyond this kind of warped behaviour with Alexei because of their growing relationship.

Handcuffs were extracted. "Turn around." Steel locked on with a satisfying clink. "Now that's the only way to play safe with you isn't it?" The sentence was hissed right into Victor's ear, lips brushing sensitive skin. "Somebody testing out their dog-clippers on your head again, Krycek?" Mulder said more loudly, turning him roughly forward again. "And the earring is pretty lame."

Victor wanted to pull back from the violence and wild arousal he saw smouldering in his lover's eyes, especially knowing that it wasn't meant for him, but he also desired to punish the betrayal that Mulder's behaviour suggested. Mostly he needed to hold onto the impersonation that had been thrust upon him for as long as possible. "I know what you like, Fox." That was a classic Alex line. Unfortunately, too classic. Victor could see Mulder's control crumble away. The blow made his jaw creak and his head ring.

"MULDER!" Scully left Diaz and O'Conner to arguing their claim on Krycek and stepped into the conflict between her partner and the prisoner. "Get a grip, Mulder. Everyone is watching." Her voice lowered. "You're practically rutting against him, for gods sake."

Mulder glared. "He..." The defence faltered under her cold glare. "I'm sorry. He just does something to me, Scully." The excuse was barely loud enough to reach her ears.

"You're crazy." Victor shouted, wanting away from Mulder and this whole messy situation. "Son of a bitch." The ex-cop licked his lips, tasting blood. How the hell did Alex put up with this crap, let alone enjoy it? The Agent's behaviour was all the more distressing considering Victor and Mulder had only just taken their relationship to the next physical level. "Get away from me. I'll talk to Interpol. I'll ONLY talk to Interpol." He repeated loudly.

That drew a shout of triumph from the surrounding crowd. A tall, black man shoved his way into the small clearing. He presented his credentials to Scully. "LaSalle, Interpol. I'll take over with this one."

"No way." Mulder snapped. "We've got him. We're keeping him."

"I can present you with a case file, Agents, quite severe enough to justify extradition. Our organisation was promised consideration for participating in this effort."

"Take your consideration out on someone else." Mulder caught the chain between his captive's cuffs in a proprietoral grip.

Riene, who had been standing docile between the pair of agents assigned to her chose that moment to eel loose and throw herself across at Victor. "Alek!" Her arms whipped around his neck. "His first name is Urbain. You've known him for years." She whispered urgently. "Offer him info on the ESCAR project."

Scully and Hackett both stepped in to drag the writhing teenager off.

"Let me go!" Riene protested in a high-pitched whine. "Alek, do something."

Victor pulled in a deep breath and tried for his twin's most seductive tone of voice, gravely and low. "Urbain, do you want to hear about ESCAR?"

Mulder frowned.

LaSalle's posture went board stiff. A grin spread over his face. "We'll pass on every other suspect here if that's what it takes." The black man offered. "We need Nicolavich."

"Nobody but LaSalle gets anything from me." Victor stated for the record.

"We've got your girlfriend, Krycek." Scully attempted, testing the loyalty that Li Ann swore the man possessed.

"You've got nothing, Scully. She's clean." Victor shot back.

LaSalle backed off to whisper urgently into the headset he wore in privacy. Most of the other agencies had withdrawn to pursue other possible arrests. LaSalle looked up. "Give me something Aleksandr. I need to convince my people you're worth fighting for."

Victor sifted through what he'd been told of Alex's Nicolavich alias. "You know better than that. Not here. If it gets back to Nicola that I'm talking to you she'll clean me before you can get me out of this country." He improvised.

"What have you got on ESCAR?" LaSalle demanded.

Victor forced out an amused laugh. It tore at his throat. All he wanted to do right now was shout out his distress to his lover and demand an explanation...but this game had to be played out. His voice quavered but Victor managed to sound professional. "Everything, of course. I know you wouldn't take anything less, Urbain. Come on, don't tell me you're scared of the FBI's spook squad?"

Dark eyes judged Mulder and Scully's determination. "Who's in charge of your contingent?" Urbain LaSalle demanded.

"That would be Assistant Director Skinner." Scully provided, confident it would do the man no good to try going over their heads.

"I'll be right back. Stay here." The tall man ordered before stomping away in the direction of the main door.

Victor shifted his shoulders restlessly against the pull of the handcuffs unconsciously trying to gain a fraction of distance from the man holding him.

"Don't move." Mulder whacked the restrained man across the back of the head.

Patience strained to breaking. "Christ! Enough with the hitting already, Mulder." Victor snapped in annoyance. "You're pissing me off."

Mulder froze, hazel eyes gone hard. "Krycek?" Doubt coloured his voice. One hand reached out to squeeze the younger man's left arm, testing its solidity.

Victor swallowed panic, trusting the wraps Kiska had secured his arm with. "Hey, if you're gonna play nice, Foxy, I can think of spots I'd prefer you to put your hand." Too many of Alex's contacts were still in the room. He couldn't blow the cover story yet.

The sneer returned to Mulder's face. "I'll do anything I bloody well please to you. I know you enjoy it, slut." He seethed.

"Agents." Assistant Director Skinner strode towards with LaSalle in tow. "It seems as if we're having a small jurisdictional scuffle here." He observed blandly.

"New York is outside of Agent LaSalle's usual sphere of influence, Sir." Diaz dared. "I think we should retain custody."

"But this task force was assembled on the premise of co-operation." LaSalle countered. "In the interests of possible future joint endeavours I must insist that you surrender Nicolavich to Interpol's custody."

"Nicolavich?" Skinner questioned.

Scully clarified. "Krycek."

"A name for every day of the week, Krycek?" Mulder grumbled.

"YOU can call me whatever turns you on, Foxy." Victor quipped coldly.

"How about prisoner number 1013, cell block B?" The elder suggested.

"Kinky, Mulder. Prison role playing, not my favourite game but hey, I can deal that if it's what you need to get off." Victor returned the jab. "Been there, done that." Came the honest admission. Lord, but falling into this game of snarl and bait with Mulder was more than a little sexy even as it made him angry. Victor shook his head, squashing that thought ruthlessly. This wasn't the kind of relationship he wanted with anyone, especially Mulder. It could twist from an occasional game into something much more dangerous, far too easily. Mulder, Alex and Mac's disturbing interactions were proof of that.

Skinner started to speak but he halted mid-syllable, pressing his earpiece tighter. "Retrieval team, repeat that." He ordered. His mouth hardened into a thin line. "What do you mean 'gone'? Where are they?" The AD's grim expression was frightening to behold. "Don't tell me that." He warned someone.

Victor exchanged a quick look with Riene, who smirked. Alex and Kiska had pulled off the heist.

"Mulder, take Agent LaSalle along as you process Krycek. We'll work this out later. I've got bigger problems right now." He growled.

"What's wrong, Sir." Scully asked.

"The material that's up on the auction block has been..." He hesitated. "Misplaced." The AD explained obliquely. Mulder and Scully were among the few people present aware of what Stalward had been attempting to sell today. Skinner stilled again, listening. "I'm coming up." He announced to the people on the second floor.

"Diaz, O'Conner." Scully addressed the junior agents. "Can you clear a path out of here? Hackett, get on the radio and find us some transportation." She took charge. "We should think about a safehouse, Mulder. I'm afraid Krycek won't last fifteen minutes in lock-up considering his fluctuating loyalties and the information he has."

Victor shuffled impatiently. "Either way, could you get me out of here?" Too many of the attendees of the auction were giving him curious looks over how much attention he rated from the authorities. Besides, the sooner he was out of their scrutiny the sooner he could blow off his Alex impersonation and demand some answers from Mulder about his bizarre behaviour.

"YOU are not in charge here, Krycek." Mulder shoved him sideways to make a point.

"Agent!" LaSalle glared. "That kind of treatment is un-called for. Don't hit the prisoner again." He warned the other man.

Scully noticed that Mulder's hand twitched at the satisfied expression their captive assumed upon hearing the reprimand and she reached out to casually touch his arm. "Maybe I should take custody of Krycek for a while." Dana suggested.

Mulder stepped reluctantly away.

Scully wrapped her small hand around the warm, damp handcuff chain. "Behave yourself Krycek and you may wind up in the safety of solitary confinement." She said softly. "Cause trouble and I'll put a bullet in your brain myself."

"We both know that I'm not going into lockup, Scully, one way or another." Victor countered calmly, feeling decidedly safer with the woman than his lover. "If you had one piece of solid evidence that you could use in a court of law I'd be behind bars already. You've got nothing but a web of suspicions and circumstantial fluff."

"I'll stand as a witness." She threatened.

"To what, Scully?" He asked in a level tone. "Breaking and entering? Trespassing? Every charge you have against me starts with 'suspicion of' or 'wanted for questioning in regard to'. I've seen the file. Actual, physical evidence just doesn't seem to be something your labs can keep proper track of. Where did the bodies disappear to, Scully?" The cache of tangible evidence against Alex was slim to absent, no doubt due to interference. Li Ann had broken into the FBI database almost a year ago and discovered the surprising lack of substantiated facts. "At least Interpol has a rock solid theft charge. Maybe you should give me to LaSalle." Victor wanted away from Mulder and Scully.

"Be quiet, Krycek." Scully said wearily. "Nothing you say is going to do you any good."

Fairly quickly, Hackett announced there was a prisoner transport van at the front doors for them and the group began pushing their way out of the room. Diaz, with his broad shoulders and foreboding manner, took point.

"I feel like royalty." Victor mumbled as they held him back at the outside doors to check the area.

"O'Conner." Mulder instructed. "Take over for the driver." They didn't need a stranger involved in the transport.

"Where to Agent Mulder?"

"I think we should take him up to Quantico. THEY won't expect that. We'll keep him with us until we've got a secure place to stash him. What do you think, Scully?" He asked his partner.

"Sounds good. Let's go."

xx

"It looks like there's seven of them." Li Ann relayed over the cell phone. "Two of them are climbing in the front. Five in the back with our people. I can't be sure but it looks like some kind of security van. Odds are there's a bulkhead of some kind separating the driver from the transport area." She provided. "Mac." Li Ann paused to get his full attention. "It looks like Mulder and Scully are in on the bust. You better make sure Stacey goes easy on them. You hurt Dana and I'll hurt you." She threatened.

"I hear you, Doll." Mac assured her. "Nothing more than bumps and bruises. Trust me. Have you got a direction yet?" He quizzed.

"Li Ann peered intently through her binoculars. "They're at the street. Left, southbound." She amended. "We could just let them start processing him. They don't have anything to hold Victor on." She reminded her ex-boyfriend.

"That's plan 'c', but let's try and keep Victor squeaky clean by freeing him before he blows his cover or before Mulder starts breaking bones." Mac's voice on the last part was virulent. "We've acquired the target." He announced as Anastasia pulled out onto the nearly deserted road. The clunky grey van wasn't going to escape with Stacey behind the wheel of the pursuit car. Mac had got a heady sample of her driving skills earlier. "You sit tight until it's time to extract Alex and Kiska. We'll take care of this." He glanced over at Anastasia, who grinned as he disconnected from Li Ann.

"Agent Mulder is in the van?" Stacey questioned, flicking her eyes back to the street before them and the not-too-distant smudge of grey.

"And Scully too. Kid gloves, Stacey. I mean it." He cautioned. "Li Ann has grown rather attached to her redhead and you know how it is with Mulder." Mac almost grumbled. He tugged briefly on his seat belt, tightening up the slack. "It's Vic, Riene and seven suits. You got a plan in mind, gorgeous, or are we winging it?"

"I could force them off the road and hope for the best." The refined blonde suggested in a carefully bland voice.

Mac frowned at the Russian woman. "I know you're joking." He said emphatically, earning a dismissive shrug from her. "Seriously, have you got any ideas?"

"If we had some equipment..." Stacey pursed her carefully painted lips. "There's a few gas grenades in the trunk. Maybe running them off the road isn't such a bad idea." She supposed. "I could beep a warning. Riene should understand. She might be able to clue Victor in. She must know we're close behind them."

"Victor is going to kill us." Mac groaned in complaint. "Can you get ahead of them before they reach the Interstate? It would be a lot messier at highway speeds."

"Piece of cake." Anastasia assured him. "The grenades are on the right side, just against the outer wall. I've got a gun under my seat that will punch a hole through the windshield but let's hope they haven't locked themselves inside. As soon as we stop I'll pop the trunk. Grab at least three grenades. As soon as you see an opening I want you to gas the guys in the front. Stay out of sight, Mac. They know you too well." All the while Stacey spoke the distance between them and van narrowed.

"What if they won't open the back door?"

"I'll persuade them." Anastasia bared her perfect teeth. "You got a problem with blowing out kneecaps?"

Mac winced but he didn't object aloud.

After coming up on the grey van's bumper Stacey let out three blasts on the car's horn, each one a little longer than the one before it.

"Ready Pet?" Anastasia bent forward and extracted a massive handgun from under her seat. The car surged forward, throwing a frowning Mac back into the leather cushions. Using her knee to steady the wheel Stacey rolled down her window as they drew up beside the other vehicle.

The passenger looked across, noted the weapon and ducked in mid- shout. The van swerved as expected. Stacey fired and it halted as she gassed her own car and cut them off.

"Mac. Grenades." Came the curt order.

While he scrambled to obey, Anastasia got out and sent two rounds into the windshields, knocking open a hole up near the roofline.

It was tight aiming but Mac lobbed an already hissing missile through the opening a few breaths later.

"Nice work Pet." Stacey shot him a tight grin.

"You want to 'Pet' me." Mac's nerves were thrumming. "Get our people out and you can call me anything you want."

Anastasia headed down the driver's side of the van, reaching up to crack open the man's door as she passed. "Amateurs." The woman said scornfully to the bent over, swooning man. "Get the other one out, Pet. Disarm him and make sure he's going to be out for a while." Mindful of the streams of knockout gas, Stacey pulled the door the rest of the way open and dragged out the woozy driver. A search turned up only one gun which she sent sailing.

The van was rocking between Mac's activity and some restless movement in the back.

"Oh Agent Mulder..." Anastasia sang out sweetly, rapping on the back panel with her gun butt. "You all need to sit quietly in there so both these boys will stay alive." She shouted. "Now we're a trifle pressed for time." Stacey continued as all movement halted inside. Voices were whispering frantically however. "Pay attention pretty Fox." Anastasia called.

Her hostage wailed as she shot into his foot.

"That was something less than vital. His hip goes next, boys and girls." She warned.

"What do you want?" A deep voice demanded from inside the van.

"I don't want to hurt you, lovely Fox, but I will if you make me." Anastasia warned. "Open the back door and let your prisoners go. Very calmly. No fuss. I'm not alone out here. NOW!" She rapped the side of the van again, then moved to a different position in case they decided to take a pot shot.

Mac ghosted down the passenger side of the vehicle and waited for the door to crack open. His attention moved constantly, aware that help could arrive at any moment.

"We're coming out." Riene's voice warned.

The back door pushed open slowly. Mac dropped to his stomach and crawled, preparing to heave the gas grenade into the back. Riene stepped away, taking passing notice of Mac just under the bumper, who motioned with his hand that she would need to step aside. Victor was only halfway out when the girl exploded into action. She caught at his jacket, heaving them both sideways and down. Mac pulled the pin and tossed the gas inside from below then clawed at the door near the hinge to try and close it.

Curses and gunfire erupted as the door started to swing closed.

Stacey shot past, knocking the portal shut tight. "Riene! Get the car over here." She ordered.

Mac, still flat on his back on the road shoulder, kicked at the back door as it started to open again. "Breathe it in you bastards." He hissed, more to himself than anyone else.

Three more bullets pierced the metal before things grew quiet inside the van. Riene pulled around with the doors to Stacey's car wide open. She and Victor crawled immediately into the back seats.

"Come on Pet." Stacey dived for the driver's seat leaving Mac to scramble after the other side.

The van and its occupants remained quiescent as they tore away.

"What the hell was that about?" Victor found his voice finally. "You shot a Federal agent."

"So he loses a toe...big deal." Stacey popped the sunroof and headed for the highway. "How angry was Lexi's luscious G-man?" She quizzed.

Riene started to respond but Victor's dire expression convinced her to keep silent.

"Was that necessary?" Victor demanded. "Mulder and Scully know where we live, damn it."

Anastasia rolled her blue eyes. "Did you blow cover, Victor? Or did we just bust Alexei free?" She questioned.

"They still thought I was Alex." The ex-cop admitted. "I was trying to figure out the best way to tell them." Actually, he had been rather preoccupied, brooding about his lover playing him false and how to deal with the situation.

"Then what's the problem?" Stacey laughed, laying her head back. "They already know Lexi is a very bad boy. They didn't see Mac. Deny everything, Gorgeous. For all they know you, Mac and Li Ann were doing phone-taps in Pisshole, Nebraska for Nicki while this went down." She met his glare in the rear-view mirror and broke into a trilling laugh. "Besides, it's not like you're going to be seeing Pretty-boy or the marble saint anytime soon. The four of us are airport bound."

"What?" Both Mac and Victor roared almost simultaneously, frowning at each other when they realised the co-incidence.

Mac raised his flattened hand, stilling the man in the back seat. "What's going on, Stacey?"

"Don't worry. Victor's little sister has packed up everything the lot of you will need for a few weeks." Anastasia glanced at her wristwatch. "Marie should have swung by and collected dear Allegra and the baggage about three hours ago."

"Alice." Came the reflexive correction from Victor.

Stacey ignored it. "By now they should be checking your luggage and themselves in. Your house is locked up tight and the staff at Roman security has been told that you're all going to be out of state for a while. They run the office without Mac and Li Ann actually in town all the time while on business trips. Covering for Victor too shouldn't be that much of a stretch, especially with everything shutting down for the holidays." She rambled.

"Stacey!" Victor lost patience and thumped the back of her seat. "Get to the point. Where the hell are we supposed to be going?"

She sighed. "Why 'home', my darlings. After all that's happened, especially over the last day and a half. It's about time the lot of you actually met Nicki and the rest of the family. Don't you think? Why, simply everyone is gathering at the new compound. This hasn't happened in over ten years and it's all because of you and Li Ann, Victor dear. Doesn't that make you feel special?"

Something about Anastasia's tone filled Victor with a subtle, bone- deep chill. "And where is the new compound?" Victor asked. "Alex just said it wasn't in Russia anymore. He never told us where exactly Nicki has moved to."

"Alaska, Darling." Anastasia laughed, a brittle sarcastic sound. "And it's so lovely this time of year. We're all just thrilled to pieces that Nicki thought to collect us together. Thank you, Victor."

Mac slumped down in his seat with a whispered string of curses.

"But..." Victor began.

"But what, Vicka?" Riene asked softly. "If Nicki asks everyone is to come home for a debriefing, we go. If we don't, we're not family." She advised.

"We'll let you walk. We'll stop this car and let you out right now." Stacey offered. "But make sure that's what you really want because Nicola has issued this command with every bit of authority she holds. The FAMILY is going to Alaska."

"What about Alex?" Victor's question was ambiguous.

"Pick your side, Vicka. It's loyalty test time." Riene's whisper was husky. "Alexei is going. Allegra is already en-route." She shifted her focus abruptly. "What about you Mac? Are you in or out?"

The lanky thief let out a shivery breath. "I go with Alex." He declared finally. "You all know that. I have to."

Anastasia laughed at some internal jest. "Of course you do, Poppet. You're addicted."

Mac scowled, but didn't bother to voice a retort.

"Where's Li Ann?" Victor asked.

"She'll be heading north with Kiska and Alexei as soon as the pair of them squirm their way out of Stalward's place." Anastasia surmised.

"I'd like to know for sure." He leaned forward. "Give me your cell phone, Mac."

Mac dug it out of the cubby it had fallen into but before he could pass it back Stacey snatched the device away and sent it sailing out the sunroof. "Shit or get off the pot, Mansfield." Her voice carved like a razor. "Make a decision for yourself. Are you fucking in or out?"

Riene cowered into a corner of the cramped seat.

Mac covered his eyes with one hand and pushed to his own door. Sheltered in Atlantic City, Victor hadn't had much contact with any of Alex's foster family. Mac, however, had worked with Stacey on a few less than legal jobs. He had seen the beautiful blonde garrotte a man on a balcony rather than shoot him so she wouldn't muss her ball gown with blood then immediately return to the party and trade quips with the unknowing widow. Poor Victor had no idea what the icy bitch was capable of.

"Alaska." Victor considered, green eyes boring a hole in the back of the carefully coifed head.

Mac almost laughed. Then again, Stacey had only ever seen Victor in his boy-scout mode. Maybe she didn't realise what she was up against either. The ex-cop was absolutely fearless when it came to protecting his own and Nicki was all but taking Vic's pregnant baby sister and twin brother hostage.

"I can do Alaska." Victor decided with a too casual shrug of his shoulders.

It was going to be one hell of a Christmas, Mac decided, with a muffled curse that everyone in the car chose to ignore.

xx

By the end of their voyage Li Ann had gone from admiring Kiska's surprisingly stubborn maturity to actively disliking the teenage girl. For someone so young she had handled Li Ann and Alex like a pro.

It seemed sensible enough that Li Ann and Alex should take the controls of the two waiting motorcycles. After leaving Stalward's Kiska had hopped onto the seat of the larger of the two bikes and slid back...of course Alexei had chosen to drive that one. The stop for food was perfectly logical too. Kiska had been hiding out in Stalward's venting since late the night before with minimal supplies and Alex was desperate for an after the job chocolate rush.

Looking back on it Li Ann now recognised the hushed conversation that the pair of Russians had while waiting in the restaurant line as something important. Lacking incessant moral support from Li Ann or Victor, Alex had, of course, fallen easily into his well-established 'just following orders' mindset over the course of the mission. That left Kiska free to turn her full attention on Li Ann when Alexei took what appeared to be a bathroom run and never came back. Once separated from Alex and the discs Li Ann became a much easier target.

Kiska had waited long enough to be sure that Alexei was beyond recall before informing the older woman of Nicki's demand that everyone report in. Calling Mac's cell phone had been a dead end and calling Alex's was a waste. Kiska had extracted the chirping phone from her own pocket wit an insincere 'oops, he must have forgot it'. Victor's cell was home on his dresser and there was no answer at Allegra's apartment.

The teenager had thwarted Li Ann's attempts to leave a paper trail with equal skill, sticking to the older woman like a determined tick. First class tickets were already waiting at the airport. Cash was produced whenever Li Ann expressed a need for anything from coffee to a paperback. Toward the end of the lengthy trip Kiska had even trashed her helpful faÁade and actually threatened retribution when Li Ann had attempted to call the office. Their disappearance was so clean it squeaked. The best Li Ann was able to manage was to leave her private investigators badge and one of Scully's business cards with the word 'help' written on it in the bathroom of a coffee shop in Anchorage. It would take a wild stroke of luck for that clue to reap results. The mascara writing wasn't the best and the chance of it being thrown away was high.

Needless to say, Li Ann's mood was as pitch black as the sky by the time a chauffeured four-wheel drive delivered her and the annoying teenager to a massive, snow-covered lodge in the middle-of-nowhere Alaska. The drone driving was no help either. He made it clear right from the start that he didn't understand English, only responding to Kiska's smooth Russian.

"Are the others here?" The oriental woman glared at Kiska, repeating the question she had asked at least a dozen times already.

"Pavel says most everyone is home." The teenager finally admitted, pushing open the van door. "Alexei isn't but he was taking a different route, with more connections. He's the one with discs after all and he has the highest profile. We had to be certain that Lexi wasn't followed. Kiska fixed Li Ann with a flat, dark green stare. She forced a smile. "So, what do you think of it?" Her hand lifted, sweeping across to indicate the artificially illuminated lodge as she climbed out of the vehicle.

Li Ann raised her eyes.

The place was magnificent, a classic hunting retreat with a sprawling timber lodge and dozens of small outbuildings, surrounded by an impenetrable forest of shadowy pines. It was every inch a medieval Prince's summer home except for the set of satellite dishes mounted on the highest point of the roof.

"It's...impressive." Li Ann pulled her coat tight against the frigid air. Her breath plumed. "But isn't it a bit too ostentatious for a covert base?" The numerous gold-tinted floodlights had to pinpoint this place from miles around.

"Hide in plain sight." Kiska crunched through the crusty snow heading for the wide entrance stairs. "All these lights aren't usually on. They're only lit up for our sake. Besides, it's not like we could hide completely, what with the generators and the communication system, not to mention having to buy supplies and all. This place used to be a place for company teamwork retreats and overpriced hunting vacations but the owners met with some unexpected reversals of fortune." Her chuckle was heavy with smug satisfaction. "It suits most of our needs rather well."

Li Ann followed in the girl's footsteps, cursing her lightweight footwear and inadequate clothing. There was little chance that she would be wandering around outside unless she turned up something else to wear.

"They know we're here. The van set off motion detectors about two miles back. We've got a short-range radio system set up, although it isn't as secure as we'd like, so word will have been passed about the compound of our arrival." Kiska caught hold the door handle and tugged, pulling one side of the huge double portal open.

Behind her Li Ann heard the van that had brought them here rumble away. Ahead of her a wash of invitingly warm air broke over her face. She followed Kiska into the heat eagerly.

A woman bearing a passing resemblance to the driver stepped up to push the heavy door closed. She bubbled out what sounded like a greeting and set about helping the teenager out of her coat.

"This is Bela. I'm sorry Li Ann but she doesn't speak English either. None of the domestic staff do." Kiska specified. "One of the techs and Dr Vladovna are fairly bilingual...and of course all the family are." She explained.

Bela gestured, requesting Li Ann's outerwear.

"Find out where everyone is." The oriental woman demanded. "I want to see Victor, Mac and Allegra. Now."

"Don't worry. We'll turn them up shortly." Kiska assured the elder before turning to the servant. They lapsed into Russian although every sentence or two a recognisable names crossed one or the other's lips.

"Kiska." Li Ann's voice raised and she glared daggers at the teen. "Either tell me what I want to know or I'll go exploring without you." She threatened.

"I'm just finding out what you need." The young girl placated. "Just a few moments." Finally she dismissed Bela, sending their coats off with the servant. "It seems that Allegra has placed all your things in the guest suite nearest the back of the house." Kiska crossed the expansive entranceway, heading for yet another curving staircase. "We'll just get you settled in and cleaned up."

Her speech was interrupted by the arrival of a tall, handsome woman with rich brown hair. The statuesque woman came striding out of the archway to the left. A long burgundy skirt of heavy wool fluttered about her long legs. "Kiska." She greeted loudly. "It's good to see you. We were just starting to worry about the pair of you. Pavel was gone so long." The elegant woman came to a halt in front of Li Ann with a toothy smile. "Miss Tsei, I doubt you recall it but we've met before. I'm Tatiana Romanov. Lexi was fucking you against an alley wall in Hong Kong several years ago when I interrupted." She prompted.

Li Ann's colour drained away, more from anger than embarrassment at the inaccurate reminder. They hadn't been that far along in the act and besides it was just crude to refer to the meeting that way.

"I knew that Lexi-baby had taken a fancy to you then. He was frightfully later than acceptable meeting me the next day and he was absolute drained." The towering brunette continued. "But I never foresaw the day when he would bring you home to Mummy." She teased with a hint of malice. "Welcome to the our home, Cousin."

Li Ann's answering expression was tight with annoyance. "Where are Mac, Victor and Allegra?" She persisted in her quest, choosing to ignore all the false pleasantries.

A corner of Tatiana's mouth hooked into a smile. "Allegra is downstairs in the medical bay. Olga is running a few tests on the fetus that she's carrying. I believe Victor is with her. Mac is upstairs with Cathers and Riene in one of the bedrooms listening to some electronic excuse for music loudly enough to wake the dead." Her shiver was purely theatrical, too expansive to reflect any honest emotion. "He's a handsome enough creature but hardly the kind of company I'm accustomed to."

"Where's Stacey, Tati?" Kiska interrupted the glaring contest that the other two had going.

Wide-set blue eyes turned on the teen. "Debriefing with Nicola and Kate last time I checked but that was hours ago." Tatiana considered. "I suppose that's everyone important. Oh, except for Peter and Marie. He's chained to a computer in one of the outbuildings I suppose." Her chuckle was resonant. "And she left to collect Lexi. Baby brother is supposed to be coming in the back way." Tatiana turned in place, her arm extended to indicate the stairs. "I'm to show our cousin where she's going to be staying while you get your tail to Nicki's office, little sister."

Li Ann valiantly attempted to sort out and assign all the names that Tatiana had tossed out so casually but what stuck in her mind was that someone was mucking about with Allegra's pregnancy, yet again. The poor kid had gone through enough poking and prodding back home. "Forget my room. I'll find it later." Li Ann announced. "Take me to the medical bay right now." She demanded.

Tatiana's carefully plucked brows lifted slightly. "Whatever you want, Cousin. Come this way."

xx

Alex slumped down into the passenger seat and dug around in the box beside him for a blanket to pull over him. The heater in the cab wasn't nearly up to the task of keeping the chill completely away, especially considering how he was dressed. A few odds and ends of supplies tumbled loose as he extracted the grey material.

"You're the last one in." Marie's usual soft tones wouldn't work in the noisy cabin. She had to almost shout to make herself heard even with Alexei right next to her. "Nicki's been rather impatiently waiting on those discs."

"She's the one that sent me the long way around." He reminded. "How are our new cousins taking to the situation?"

"I've only met the one so far." Marie smiled. The oddly coloured dash lights didn't do her pretty face justice. Her lit-from-below expression looked more evil than reassuring. "Allegra's a sweet thing...so bright and enthusiastic. She's still at the stage where this is all a grand adventure." Her heavy fall of dark brown hair shook. "Olga's taken the pregnancy on as her new project. She's trying to figure out the baby's DNA and what exactly those consortium butchers were trying to prove."

Alexei shot his foster sister a dark look. "I don't want her hurt. She's a good kid."

"Don't worry, Dearest." The elder soothed. "Nicki likes Allegra best of all the strays you've adopted. She's the most impressionable." She paused. "You must realise that you're in for a rather extensive debriefing. You've been misbehaving, even more than usual."

"I've done my job." Alex argued quickly, pulling the cover up around his chin. "More than my job. I got a line into the Pacific Agency...something we haven't had since that quick stint I did in the late eighties. I salvaged all of the Englishman's papers and connections. I even picked up a contact with the rebels. Do you know how hard that was?"

Marie seemed unimpressed. Her large, brown eyes blinked twice. "I don't envy your job, Dearest. It's nasty. I'm content handling drug- lords, banana republics and gunrunners, thank you very much. Those I understand. That stuff you muck around in is surreal."

Alexei spidered his fingers over the frosty glass of the window. They looked even paler than usual against the gloomy darkness outside. "I'm sorry everyone got dragged home on my account." He began. "But I am glad to see you, Angel. It's been too long." He shifted his neck, attempting to loosen up his muscles. "Has Nicki told you how long we're going to stay up here?"

"A few weeks, I think." Marie didn't have to concentrate too hard on the road. No other vehicles should be within miles and she'd driven this route a couple of times now. "Until after the new year begins for certain. That should be interesting." She laughed. "Then I suspect that Nicki's going to send the Catherines back out with us. None of us are getting any younger and they're ready for practical training." All the tutors had been left behind when Nicki had pulled out of St Petersburg; a sure sign that further in-house training wasn't likely. Marie noticed his frown. "Which bothers you more? Spending New Year's here or taking on a full-time apprentice?"

"Riene's no trouble." Alexei answered obliquely. "Anything would be better than taking that BOY out."

"Peter." She corrected. "Not that he's ready for the field, but when the time comes, I thought I might get him as a replacement for CC although he's a bit bookish for my kind of work. I suppose information is the future rather than hardware." Marie mused, pausing often to consider her words. "For now Olga is sending her Kate out with me to give the kid some life lessons." The Catherine that had been marked as Marie's understudy had been unexpectedly retired the year before. Nicola had replaced the faulty Catherine by recruiting a teenage boy, but breaking and training him took time. "Olga isn't going to have the energy to spare, what with taking over Nicki's out of country workload, which she hates, and helping Nicki to program Peter."

"I know. Olga would be happy to stay in at headquarters and delegate for the rest of her life. I suspect if it weren't a matter of tradition the family leadership would skip over Olga and go straight to Kate if Nicki lived long enough." Alexei didn't want to get into a discussion about the new kid. For a reason he couldn't quite pin down the idea that Nicki had taken in another male, after all these years, infuriated him. "Still, with the network we've been setting up Olga won't need to do nearly as much jetting about as Nicki did. That should make her happy."

"I don't understand your distaste for Peter, Dearest. Didn't you once have a thing for another English blonde?" Marie dragged him back to the hated topic. "Rick or Dick or some-such name, wasn't it?"

"Ebat'-kopat." Alexei shuddered violently. "Pazhaluysta! Nyet." He pleaded. "Please, don't ever mention HIM, Marie. Not ever." Alex warned as a pre-programmed headache threatened him.

Marie studied his reaction for a moment then nodded as a stray memory clicked back into place. Alex had been put through some rather strenuous avoidance conditioning on the topic of that Englishman after the mess in Switzerland. That was likely a potent factor in his adverse reaction to young Peter. "Nicki wants you to play nice with Peter while you're home, Dearest." She swerved back to her point. "There are a few things that only you can teach him. No, not just that either." She laughed. "You're the best we've got with knives and his hand to hand isn't nearly up to the quality we require. Then there's that silletto-ice pick thing you brought home. We all need lessons with that."

Alexei wasn't listening with his whole attention. His brows were tight together and he was pinching the bridge of his nose. "He's too old." Came the complaint finally. "Nicki said I was almost too old when she got me and I was twelve. He's what? Sixteen? He'll never completely absorb the programming, not like the Catherines did. Not like we did."

"There isn't time to start with a child this time." Marie countered, amused at his unconscious jealousy of Peter. "He'll take it, what with Nicki's complete concentration on him, and Olga's too. They're done with the Catherines. He'll be the centre of their attention." She shook her head. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed Alexei's scowl of irritation at her choice of words. "They'll have him completely assimilated by this time next year. He's already so far along it's scary."

"Are they trying to chemically enhance him?" Alexei had his suspicions, but Marie had seen more of what was going on where Peter was concerned. Alex tended to avoid the boy on the occasions he was home unless Nicki insisted he interact with the kid.

"After puberty and without Vasili to supervise. They might want to, but it isn't likely that Olga would dare. You're a one and only in that regard, Dearest."

His nod was curt. "I didn't think so, either. Not even the Catherines have been tampered with much. Olga can't seem to grasp the intricacies of Vasili's research. She's hard pressed enough to maintain the work he did on me. She's heavy handed. My blood chemistry is so screwed up I can't even take a regular transfusion without going into shock. I found that out a few years ago." He shifted in his seat. "Vasili was a genius."

"The man was a lunatic." She shouted out her disgust with the man. "If Nicki hadn't held him back he would have turned you into a complete psychopath. He screwed you up pretty badly as it was." Marie snapped, sensing that her foster brother was on the edge of rather melancholy mood. "He was some unholy combination of the Marquis de Sade and Dr Frankenstein reborn with the scientific morals of a Nazi doctor. You did the world a service when you killed him." Vasili had possessed the ability to give Marie the creeps just by looking her way. It was if the man was trying to see right into her soul when he fastened his disturbingly intense attention on her.

"The monster always turns on his creator eventually, Angel. Mac's got me watching old horror movies. It's a reoccurring theme that Nicki should keep in mind." His tone was more brittle than the air outside.

"Don't." His companion warned. "We're not monsters and we would never..." Her eyes judged him. "You must know, that's the kind of nonsense talk that worried Nicki enough to call us all in from the field. She brought your little coven inside the family to make you happy, Dearest. Nicki spoils you shamefully. She always has. Now you're making her regret her generosity."

"This isn't about them." He pouted. "It's been building for years."

"I know. I've been watching." She acknowledged. "More carefully than Nicki sometimes. We've always been the closest, Dearest. I saw the cracks start years ago, after your stint with the FBI. Now the others have finally realised. Anastasia blew the whistle loud enough to break eardrums. You should have been more discreet."

The look they exchanged was sombre. Alexei swallowed heavily. "I should be scared." He finally said aloud. "But part of me..." His head fell back. "It's gotten so complicated that I'm almost looking forward to Nicki knocking things back into perspective. Just, if they retire me, Marie, can you..."

"They're not going to retire you." She interrupted with sharp sincerity. "You're too valuable."

"I said if."

"They won't."

"Try and get my thieves out, Angel. Suggesting tossing them to the wind over killing them, for me."

"Damn you, Lexi. That's just the kind of shit that's at the root of the problem." Her curses were vivid. "I saw it coming. It's the fault of your fucking G-man."

"Leave Mulder out of it."

Marie hadn't ever met the Agent, but she had seen surveillance video and photos. The first thing she had noticed about Mulder was that he had eyes just like Vasili's, so melancholy and yet unreasonably demanding at the same time. Poor Alexei never had a chance. Vasili had seen to it that Alex was designed to try and please the man at all costs. Nicki should have known better and yanked him out as soon as the assignment with Mulder came to her attention. Alexei's post in the consortium hadn't paid off well enough to justify the damage the young man sustained by simply being in Mulder's company. "People like us should never stand that close to pure integrity. It makes us see our flaws too clearly. I should have spoke up back then."

"You don't understand." Alex argued petulantly.

"I understand better than any of us, Dearest. Remember I told you about Isabel." Marie prompted, mentioning a rebel leader from a long ago failed coup. "If she had lived I might be the reason for this call in rather than you, Dearest." She stared straight ahead as she admitted her own weakness. "Nicki never found out, but I armed Isabel's company for free."

Alexei winced. "You shouldn't tell me that. Nicki might pull it out of me during one of my debriefings."

"I should have told you that four years ago, Dearest. I wanted to tell someone but..." The quilted shoulders of her jacket shrugged. "New Years is going to be a kick." She forcibly changed the subject, noticing how tensed up he had become.

Alexei's laugh was strangled. "A wealth of choices. Maybe this year I'll actually see if it's possible to satisfy myself after my booster."

"You won't find a closed door anywhere." She teased.

Again his mood crashed into darkness. "You're wrong, Angel. One door will be barricaded." Alex picked absently at the tab of his coat zipper.

"What's wrong?"

"I hit on Victor." He admitted. "Frenched him on the last mission. He wasn't impressed. In fact he's more than a little annoyed with me."

"I don't know what Nicki hoped to accomplish by that particular subroutine? Nothing makes you want someone more than disinterest." She sighed. "I remember you on your knees begging Anastasia to just look your way. You were falling all over yourself and jumping through hoops to get her attention." Stacey's hesitation had been an act, of course. It was just another part of the conditioning that Nicki had put him through. First she made him completely frantic over gaining her affection, then Anastasia's and Olga's. Dark-haired Marie and Tatiana were under instructions to be much more obliging. Marie had developed into more of a pal than a lover right from the beginning.

"It's an implanted personality flaw." He said negligently. "Nicki needed a sure method to reduce me to crawling on the floor begging for her to notice me, and even though I know what's happening, I can't help myself." Alex sighed. "Thanks to my pheromone tampering no one should be able to refuse me without taking the block Vasili developed and Nicki has never shared that formula with anyone but Olga. Nicola should have the market cornered on refusing me. I don't know the hell Mulder did it for so long and Victor mystifies me."

"Damned if I know." The elder giggled softly. "You make me crazy and I don't go for guys outside the job. Sometimes I think you ruined me for other men."

"I turned you into a lesbian. I like that." Alexei threw his head back and let loose a laugh that filled the cab. "Luckily women can fake it so much easier than men or Nicki would have kicked both our butts for letting such a calamity devalue you, Angel." That was especially true considering the other mistake they had made together around that same time.

"Pig." She accused, without malice. "My business does not pivot on my sexual liaisons. Some of us actually do things like work hard and deal harder."

"How incredibly dull that must be." His voice was an honest mixture of regret and disbelief. It was simply beyond his ability to grasp the concept that his sisters' methods didn't involve sex.

xx

After years together Li Ann knew the expression that Victor turned on her when she entered the small medical centre, complete and utter relief.

He pushed away from the narrow berth his sister was sitting on and gathered Li Ann into a crushing hug. "We need to talk, privately." He whispered into her ear before they separated to simply hold hands.

Tatiana remained in the doorway to the small, sterile looking room. "I suppose I'll see all of you at dinner this evening. Do try and make it to your rooms before then, cousins. We dress for dinner."

The oriental woman was still in her black, multi-pocketed work clothes from the day before. Victor hadn't changed either and it didn't look as if he'd had any rest or taken time to shave. The tall brunette withdrew. Li Ann let go of her former fiancee and looked over to the young woman sitting on the examination table. Victor's sister appeared relaxed and comfortable despite the suction cups and wires connecting her to some nearby equipment.

"Hey Li Ann, you look wiped out."

"Well thank you very much." Li Ann offered up a carefully crafted smile. "How are you doing, Kid?"

"I'm great." Allegra shifted. "Everyone here is going out of their way to make sure that I'm comfortable." She glanced at the monitor near her shoulder. "And they're all really cool about the baby. The Docs back home never did seem convinced that I didn't just have an accident in India. Olga's told me more in a day than they did in two months...although her bedside manner leaves a bit to be desired. She's kind of brutal in her honesty." Allegra grinned. "And the food...the cook, Mrs Uritski is catering to my every whim. She's even trying to make apple pandowdy...and she'd never heard of it before."

Victor leaned heavily against one wall. "Olga and Dr Vladovna have admitted that the baby's DNA isn't entirely human." He cut right to the heart of the matter. "That's something the hospital back home wouldn't acknowledge."

Allegra shot her brother a frown then brightened back up again. "It's a boy." She announced.

"Have they been able to pinpoint a due date?" Li Ann asked carefully, casually looking over the electronic equipment all around the young woman and wishing desperately that Dana were here to help her understand all of it.

"Not exactly, but it seems as if I'm about five months along so the baby was already about eight weeks when they popped it into me." Her brown eyes clouded over as they always did when that experience was mentioned.

Victor moved immediately to wrap one arm over his sister's shoulders.

"Maybe we should unhook you and take you upstairs." Li Ann suggested, picking at one of the many wires fastened to Allegra's belly. "I should think you've had enough experiments done on you lately."

"I'm not experimenting." A cool voice came from one of the doorways. "I'm analysing. There's a difference." The woman's hair was almost as white as the lab coat she wore. "You must be Li Ann. I'm Olga." Came the introduction. "I assure you that all this," long fingers flicked about the room. "is needful. Your young friend is carrying a rather remarkable baby and the situation needs monitoring." She settled on a stool near a small computer. "The fetus is in need of some odd nutritional requirements that Allegra's system isn't providing." A few keystrokes brought up a screen filled with calculations. "One of the doctors or nurses that have been treating you must be affiliated with the project that did this to you." She informed Allegra. "Luckily I recognised the components. I've seen variations on the formula before. Alexei sent me an almost perfect match a couple of months ago."

Allegra chewed on her bottom lip. "So you can make some more then?" She asked anxiously.

"If you want me to." Olga confirmed. "If I don't then you'll miscarry within two weeks." She laid out the alternative. "It's your choice."

"Make it." Allegra showed no hesitation. She reached out and caught Victor's hand. "I've already wrestled my way through this decision once when this was first done to me. Nothing you've told me has changed my mind."

Olga nodded. "Good." Her stool swivelled. "I have to admit I'm terribly curious about the baby. It seems odd for the Consortium to have gone to such...public...lengths to procure host bodies when their artificial environments had sustained the developing subjects before that quite adequately."

With every chill word Allegra unconsciously burrowed a little tighter into the security of her brother's embrace.

"Daria, that's Dr Vladovna ..." Olga registered the girl's distress but it didn't seem to concern her. "...seems to think that by implanting the fetus in a human host the doctors hoped to regulate the peculiarities of it's blood chemistry and allow it to alter to a more recognisably human composition. That's the largest problem with engineered life, making it blend in."

"That sounds like the voice of experience." Li Ann cut into the woman's lecture. "Is Allegra's baby a clone, like the Catherines?"

"The Catherines aren't exactly clones, not at a molecular level, at least. Slight alterations were made as each model was taken from the original." Olga corrected. "I don't see any gene pattern flaws that suggest that this baby is a clone, but then again, it could just be a very good copy. Unless I saw the original template I couldn't venture a statement either way."

Li Ann scowled. There was no answer anywhere in that convoluted speech.

"Are you done?" Victor pointed at the electronics. "Alice has had enough."

"Allegra." The young woman corrected with a weak smile. It was a running battle between them. Her older brother refused to comply with her choice to change her given name.

"I can be." The blonde rose and began disconnecting all the monitors. "Daria and I should have a dosage of the supplement ready by tomorrow. I think we have all the components on hand."

Now they were closer together Li Ann could see that Olga was very carefully made-up to disguise an older, much plainer face than Li Ann had first realised.

"You should take it easy until we have the injection prepared, Allegra." She cautioned. "Go rest until dinner. Your brother and Li Ann can use the time to clean up and change." A sniff of mild distaste at their appearance escaped the older woman.

The pregnant girl nodded. "Okay. Say good-bye to Dr Vladovna for me."

"No need. Daria usually joins the family at dinner. She's a 'cousin' as well." Platinum blonde hair was brushed absently back from Olga's cheeks. "With all the people that will be at dinner tonight I'm sure a fascinating evening is in the works."

xx

It didn't surprise Alexei when Marie ignored the massive, brightly lit structure that lorded over the compound. Instead she pulled up behind a small outbuilding at the absolute edge of the treeline where the artificial illumination began to fail. Marie shut the engine down and silence descended on them like an avalanche.

"If you behave..." Marie began. "You may still get to spend Christmas Eve with your friends. Nicola is aware of the significance that occasion holds for them."

Alex had to think to recall what day it was. He needed to rest. His mind was beginning to slow down to the point that Marie supplied the answer before he came up with it.

"That's two nights and three days. Not that it really matters in this perpetual darkness." She clarified. "In the meantime your little group thinks that you've been delayed in transit with an emergency."

Alexei nodded. The cab was already growing uncomfortably cool. "Are you going up to the main house?"

"I might be. I don't know yet." Narrow shoulders lifted and dropped.

"Li Ann is the most 'difficult' to handle. Keep a close eye on her." He provided unnecessarily. When his foster-sister made no attempt at further interaction Alexei shoved off his covering, heaved open the door and got out. The bitter cold sucked the air right out of his lungs. His jacket and skin-tight jeans were no match for this weather. Luckily, the door was only a few short steps away. Another extreme temperature change halted him just inside the portal. Alex leaned back against the rough wood and studied the room. It was pretty much the austere cell he had expected. A low wooden bench stood in the centre of the plank floor. Over by the fireplace Nicola sat in the only other piece of furniture, a dark-patterned wing-back chair. One of the Catherines lurked in the shadows behind the elderly woman. It was probably Kate considering the magnitude of this encounter.

"Alexei, my pet." Nicola shifted her spare frame, settling further back into the cushions. "You must realise that I'm annoyed with you." She warned in a dangerously silken whisper.

"Da." He fumbled his jacket open. "I brought the discs." Alexei extracted and offered up the black case as a distraction. He managed two steps before Nicki raised her hand.

"Stop!"

The low hiss was enough to freeze Alexei in place. "Nicki..."

"T'ee-Khee." She demanded his silence. "Kate, take the discs from Alexei." Nicola flicked a finger. Her eyes glittered in the dancing firelight the illuminated the room.

The teenager emerged from the half-light and crossed the room. Her left hand reached up and plucked the soft-sided case from his fingers. They barely acknowledged each other since Alex's eyes were still fixed on the old woman by the fire.

"Please Nicki I..." A hard slap across his face stopped the words and Alexei shifted his attention to the tiny girl in front of him for the first time.

"Nicola told you to be quiet." Kate reminded him evenly. She seemed completely unconcerned by the fact that he towered over her. The teenager glowered fearlessly up at him. "If you want to live through this I would suggest that you shut up and follow orders." The menace in her voice more than made up for her lack of stature. Kate backed away gradually, keeping Alex in her sights as she handed the packet to Nicki.

Up until now Alexei hadn't considered the Catherines as much more than students or assistants. Kate, not requiring much training from him, had barely made any impression at all. He had the distinct feeling that she was about to radically change his perceptions of her. Alex should have expected this. Kate was second in line and Olga had never been fond of doing hands-on disciplining.

"You're clever enough, pet." Nicola tapped the package of discs with one lacquered nail. "What have you done wrong? Why am I angry with you?"

"I questioned you." He admitted quietly. "I had no right."

Her smile was only the slightest baring of teeth. "Undress and kneel by the bench, Alexei." She instructed. "Kate." Nicola pointed to the small pile of supplies by the hearth. "Give Alexei his shot, please." Pale eyes narrowed as she realised that he wasn't moving. "If you make me repeat myself, pet, you won't enjoy the consequences." Nicki warned, rising slowly to her feet. She hadn't had to physically coerce him into obeying an order since he was sixteen years old, a good thing considering how muscular Alexei had grown. She had disciplined him often enough, but persuasion was another matter entirely. Nicola didn't dare let the absolute fury she was feeling right now escape her control.

"Nicki, if we could just talk."

"Not one more word!" She cut him off with a raised finger. Her glare was colder than the drifts of white outside. "Undress and kneel." Nicki locked eyes with her disobedient protÈgÈ and held the stare as Alexei pulled off his boots, socks and leather jacket. The material of his T-shirt blocked his vision for a brief moment as he pulled it off. Nicola took the steps required to stand right beside him while he was blinded. Her hand casually slipped into the deep pocket of the long cloak she wore. Alexei's jeans peeled away with a certain amount of squirming, pulling his underwear down with them. Nicki's thumb rolled the dial of the tiny device in her pocket as she watched his face. She registered the exact second that Alexei noticed the restraints embedded in the top of the low bench.

He looked up, lip curled in annoyance. "Nicki, this isn't..."

The taser was out before he finished her name. She shocked him two words into the protest, dropping Alexei in place. "I warned you, pet."

Kate was quick to come over. It took both of them to wrestle Alexei's arms into place.

"This is why I prefer working with women." Nicola complained softly. "It's like heaving a dead horse around."

"Then why bother with Peter?" Kate closed the wide metal bands about Alexei's wrists and locked them down. "He's going to mature to this size eventually."

"It's a sad fact..." Nicki retrieved the hypodermic needle that Kate had dropped in her rush to help. "...that there are some things only a male can accomplish and some places where females are not allowed even in this day and age. Olga and I held a false hope that the world was changing when we created you Catherines." She jabbed the point into Alexei's hip more viciously than was requisite. "We should have known better and seen to producing a boy back then. We had the building blocks on ice. We still do. It was a mistake in judgement."

Alex struggled, moaning slightly at their rough treatment of his body. Kate squatted on the far side of the bench to examine their captive's face. "How high is your taser set?" She peeled back one of his eyelids.

"Too high." Nicki admitted. "I'm angry." She adjusted the charge intensity back down to a mild shock. "Here." She passed it over. "I hope you realise the profound psychological power that this session is going to give you over our Lexi. I'm handing you dominion over one of the powerful tools at my disposal, you had best not misuse him."

Alex groaned again, tossing his head in a vain attempt at clarity. Tingling sensations were spreading rapidly from his waist. "What did you give me?" He asked in a mumble, resting his head briefly on the smooth wood before attempting to look up at them.

"A truth serum and a hallucinogen." Kate answered honestly. "Just enough to loosen your grip on reality a bit." She steadied him with a hand in his hair. "You've been a very bad boy, Alexei. Nicki says I can kill you if I want to." Kate laughed, testing his reaction.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. NICKI!" His head swivelled awkwardly, looking for Nicola, who had strategically moved to stand between him and the fire. All he could see was her blackened outline. "Nicki please." The cuffs rattled as he tried to reach out.

"I no longer want anything to do with you, Alexei. You have proven a tragic disappointment." Nicola announced, imperiously pulling her cloak tightly closed. "I leave your fate entirely up to Kate's discretion." She glided to the cabin door.

"Nicki! Nyet! PAZHALUYSTA NICKI!" Alex strained to rise, screaming his panic. The metal cut into the skin of his good wrist but the bolts anchoring the bench to the floor held. "I'll be good. I'll do anything. Don't leave me, please." He continued attempting to free himself, heedless of the damage he was doing to himself.

The elderly woman paused at the door. "Tell me, boy. If I hand you a gun and set you free will you kill your pet thieves for me?"

His mouth worked, trying to voice the promise but thanks to the chemical cocktail they had given him the easy lie eluded him. "I've killed for you before." His muddled brain compromised.

Kate padded over to where Nicki stood.

The silver-haired woman glared at Alex, shaking her head at his shuddering reaction to their exchange. Her voice was a bare whisper. "Find out exactly how strong his allegiances actually are to those 'playmates' of his then shatter them. You've studied his file. You know all his weaknesses. I can't accept his apology until you've reduced him to crawling naked through the snow, vowing to tear out that oriental bitch's throat with his teeth if I ask him to."

"You can depend on me, Nicki."

She nodded once then pushed out into the frigid darkness without another glance Alex's way.

Kate twirled, scooping up his discarded jacket and slipping it on over her sweater. It helped with the chill and gave her a mental step up on Alex by taking it. Of course her tiny frame swam inside the large garment. "How's the head feel, traitor?" She kicked out at his legs, spreading them further apart to mess up his carefully held balance.

"It hurts." His response was a weak mumble.

Kate detoured over to the fireplace in order to snatch up a wide leather strap. "What's the name of the first man you ever killed?" She tested. His hesitation was punished with a stinging blow across the shoulders.

"Vasili Bohdanovich." That was no secret within the family. Alex let the drugs push the name across his lips.

"See how easy this is." Kate petted his dark hair. "How old were you the first time you got drunk?"

"Sihm-naht-tsuht." He admitted. "It was an accident. I didn't know what I was drinking. I didn't realise what was happening."

Seventeen, Kate mused. It must have happened during army basic training. She trailed a finger down the back of his neck and onto his spine provoking trembles and a pained whine. The temptation to get information that wasn't in the file Nicki had given her was strong but she fought it. No doubt this session was being recorded. "Have you ever fathered a child." Of course she knew the answer to that one as well.

"Da."

He was sagging, relaxing into the easy questions just as she had hoped he would. "How old were you?"

"Fifteen. It was a mistake." He offered in a blurred tone. "Then Vasili snipped me to keep it from happening again. The bacteria in my system. It'd be dangerous."

Kate smiled at the free flow of information. He was ready for harder questions. "Have you ever been in love, Alexei?"

A violent tremor racked his frame, pushing her away. "Hundreds of..." He choked on the response, tossing his head restlessly. "Yes, a few times, maybe." Tears were beginning to leak from the corners of his eyes. "I don't know anymore."

The teenager sat down the strap in favour of the palm-sized taser. "Do you love Li Ann, Alexei?"

Part of his brain screamed, warning him not to answer but it couldn't be contained. "Da." The word tore at his throat.

"Nyet." Kate zapped him on his lower back making his spine snap and the bench creak as his weight suddenly shifted. "Do you love Li Ann?" She repeated the question. At his reluctant confirmation she stung him again, this time on his earlobe. "No, you don't." Kate instructed.

Alexei whimpered, tugging at his bonds.

"Tell me, handsome Lexi..." She caressed his heaving chest, giggling when he tried to shrink away from the contact. "Have you shared information with Li Ann that Nicki would disapprove of her knowing?"

Alexei was crying. "Some things."

"Which things?" Kate continued to pet him.

He swallowed, unsuccessfully attempting to edit what came out of his mouth. "About Vasili and my training. About Father, the Ambassador, Arntzen, I mean. Where..." He stalled out a moment, rocking helplessly. "Where the money goes, how we clean it."

"BAD ALEXEI!" Kate swiped the taser up his ribs, leaving a trail of fire. He screamed, writhing desperately but she was unmoved. That titbit of information was enough to earn the interloper death. The money flow couldn't be jeopardised.

xx

Mac flipped the CD case he was studying on the stack at the foot of the bed. Lying stretched out, stomach down on the narrow bunk he had a good view of the bedroom door. He saw the knob turn before either of the girls did. No one seemed to have any privacy in this place from what he'd seen so far. None of the doors he had come across so far had working locks. He didn't know how they handled the lack without driving each other insane. The newcomer to their small gathering made his head hurt. It was bad enough dealing with two identical teenage girls. He did not need a third one. Mac automatically registered this one's damp hair, black tights and long grey sweater. Riene had the little pink dress on and Cathers wore the velvet jacket and green pants. He could deal. He just had to keep their clothes straight. "Which one are you?" Mac asked without finesse.

"Really Mac, your manners are appalling." She sighed, leaning in the open portal. "Kiska."

He was half off the bed before her open hand registered. "Nyet. Lexi isn't here." Kiska protested. "We separated back in New York. I came in with just Li Ann and she's busy with 'pregnant girl' and 'morality man'. Don't waste your time." Kiska inclined her head to the stereo. "It's too loud. Take it down a few pegs before everyone starts drifting this way to dress for dinner or change it to something Olga won't complain about."

"Alexei and the ladies might like it, but Mozart makes me gag. It must be an age thing." Riene's mouth pinched. She reached over to turn the dial. "So you come to join the party?"

"Maybe." Kiska dropped down on the bed beside Mac. "Anything up...besides the volume on your boom-box?"

"Mac's trying to interrogate us." Cathers observed. "But he's doing a piss-poor job of it." She shot a grin at his startled reaction to her words. "You're not subtle enough. We've been trained by the best, Mac-dear."

"So what tactic do you suggest." He challenged.

"Just ask, oh gorgeous one." Riene reclined into a provocative pose. "Since we like you we may even tell you the truth."

"Or at least our version of it." Kiska qualified, making herself comfortable.

Mac ran a considering gaze over the three, trying to decide if they were simply playing with him. It was eerie. Alex and Victor actually made an effort to separate themselves from each other. Their postures, hair styles and facial expressions distanced the twins but these girls blended into each other on purpose. Even their make-up was copied face to face. "What's it like, being a clone?" They wanted blunt. He gave it to them.

Cathers laughed, leaning forward over the desk chair she was straddling. "You should see the look on your face. It's like you've just eaten sour grapes."

"It's nothing to get strung out over, Baby." Riene slid closer, catching his arm and snuggling in. "We like it. We've been held safely within each other's company since we were babies. We've never been alone unless we wanted to be."

"In the beginning there were nine copies and an original." Kiska was intimately close to his other side. "I actually miss every one of my sisters. I wish sometimes that we'd all survived. It was so wonderful having all those playmates, having so many others that actually understood me."

"What happened to them?" Mac tried to judiciously free his arm but Riene refused to release him.

"Some fatal flaws had crept in during the cloning process." Cathers took up the question. "Some rather severe mental and physical problems surfaced as we grew, mostly physical ones. The others had to be put down when they became more of a problem than Olga's science could handle."

"Only the best and the brightest remain." Kiska bragged.

"Which of you is the original?" Mac watched as all three faces took on varying degrees of annoyance. Glares were exchanged between them.

"We don't know." Kiska finally admitted. "It's been a matter of some speculation although Kate is arrogantly convinced that it has to be her. Only Nicki and Olga know for sure. It's not on file anywhere."

"We looked." Riene's finger traced absently up and down his sleeve. "I thought Marie might know but she swears that they never told her and she couldn't tell us apart even when we were babies." Her caress slid up and across to toy with the bare skin showing at his throat.

"Why should Marie know?" Mac questioned as he pushed Riene's fingers away. If he understood correctly, Nicki and Olga were in charge of the family. Marie was just another operative, like Alex.

"She's the Mother." Cathers said softly. "She got to help care for the original for a few months before Olga began the experiment, then the nannies took over so Marie could get back to work."

"So you know who your parents are." He frowned mildly surprised at that bit of information. "Which one is Marie?"

"Dark-haired, works out of South America." Kiska outlined. "Short, little lesbian who sends Alex chocolates all the time." Her hand suggested a height of about five foot three. "Why do you think we're all so tiny? Olga sure as shooting wouldn't have designed us this way if she'd had a choice. It was unexpected, all things considered. It's such a pain sometimes."

"But Lexi's pretty baby hasn't met Marie." Riene interrupted. Her hand ruffled through his hair. "Marie left before you, me and Vicka got in. She went to find Alexei."

Mac let out a hissing breath. He squirmed under Riene's disturbing attentions, tempted to simply shove the girl away. "Why is Alex taking so long to get here?"

"I heard he was coming in the back way." Kiska fluffed up her almost dry mane. "You miss him. How sweet."

"Mac-baby loves Alexei." Riene corrected.

"Oh my God. Don't we all?" Cathers sighed heavily before pushing up and off the chair to plug another CD in.

"Not like Mac." The pink clad teenager continued, teasing her fingers up and down the nape of his neck. "Mac's an incurable Lexi-junkie. Aren't you Gorgeous? Withdrawal kicked in some time ago and Stacey never gave you time to score a proper fix during the mission."

He thrust the girl away, tired of her behaviour and not liking where the conversation was now going. "Don't." He warned.

Riene's smirk was annoyingly familiar. Alex had to have taught the girl that just-so crook of the mouth. "You complained to Stacey when you found out that Allegra had stowed your gear in the big three bedroom suite with Li Ann and Vicka's rooms. I heard you. You asked for Alexei's bedroom instead then got mad when she wouldn't even tell you which one it was."

"I just though that Allegra should have the third bedroom so she could be closer to Victor." Mac defended.

"We've enough spaces to spare." Riene reasoned. "This was a resort. Allegra's got a big room with an en-suite. You just want to stake your claim before he gets here." She accused. "The competition is a bit more fierce than back in AC, right?" Riene stood up, smoothing her skirt. "Mac-baby, the fact is you aren't likely to be the first person he fucks when he finally gets home." She grinned. "But since I'm such a sweetheart, you can come with me and I'll show you which one is our Lexi's personal abode."

"Riene, you shouldn't." Kiska's tone was low.

"Posh!" She scoffed. "It's not like Mac-baby couldn't find it with a certain amount of poking about. There's only a few guys here and Lexi's wardrobe couldn't be mistaken for anyone else's."

Mac practically jumped off the bed to follow the teenager out the door. She might be a terror to deal with but from what he'd seen and heard so far Riene was the most devoted to Alex out of the lot of them.

The long hallway stretched both ways with unidentified portals lining either side. Surprisingly enough, Riene led him to a stairwell he hadn't even noticed. Even more of a shock was that they climbed up. Mac was unaware this place even had a third floor.

"Now pay attention." Riene spoke softly. "You do not want to barge in on Nicki or Olga by mistake." Her hand lifted, tapping the dark green rectangles as they passed. "Tatiana's. Anastasia's. Marie's." She named each entrance. "Kate's. Olga and Daria's. Yakob and Nadya's. They're our two techs." She clarified. When they reached the last two doors her finger indicated carefully first to the left and then to the right. "Nicola. Alexei. Do not, as you wish to continue living, ever mix them up." Riene opened the right hand door and stepped inside.

The light flickered on to reveal a cluttered but comfortable sitting room with a computer centre nook off to the side. Mac didn't get an Alex sort of impression from the place but then again, he wasn't even sure his lover had even visited this place yet. The only piece that really struck him as Alex's choice was the long, black leather couch, although the patterned throw tossed over the back of it didn't seem to fit in. His lover had shown a rather unhealthy fascination with leather couches on many occasions.

Riene grinned, watching his face for a reaction. "I decorated it for Alexei and yes he's been here briefly. He adored it." She giggled at some inner jest.

"It's kind of dreary." Mac observed. The lighting was pathetic everywhere except at the desk area. "It looks like you bought all the pieces from a garage sale." He peered at the brightly illuminated fishtank off by one wall. It was filled with water and plants but no fish swam within the thing.

"Thank you." She seemed strangely pleased by his show of distaste for the room. "That ridiculous billiard ball coatrack had to be custom made." The girl giggled at some internal joke. "It cost a pretty penny."

"Why bother?" Mac shook his dark head and pushed through to the door on the far wall. The bedroom was definitely more familiar territory, or so he thought until he opened the portal. Expecting something near the clean, modern lines of their room at home the massive poster bed and heavy dark wood caught him by surprise.

Riene pushed past the startled man and jumped, throwing herself onto the centre of the huge mattress. "All this stuff used to be Bohdanovich's. I had it packed up and shipped over. Alexei always used the old man's rooms when he was in St Petersburg."

"Who's Bohdanovich?" Mac fingered the open, red velvet draperies that surrounded the bed. This archaic monstrosity looked like it belonged in a museum.

"Vasili." She sprawled out, wiggling into the thick covers.

Mac shrugged, moving to pull open a long sliding closet door. The scents imbedded in the clothing hit him with the force of punch. It was almost like coming home. "Is that name supposed to mean something to me?" He pulled one of the leather jackets off its hanger almost absently and ran his fingers over the supple blackness.

Riene stopped squirming about and sat up. "Bohdanovich was the man who instilled Alexei with all that mondo-twisted obedience training that you accidentally tripped across and have so skilfully invoked." Large eyes studied Mac. She climbed off the bed and began rooting through one of the dresser drawers. "Here." She produced a small photo album from its fabric wrapping. I don't know if Nicki realises that he has these." Riene flipped open the little book as she sat back down on the edge of the bed. She patted the spot beside her invitingly. "This is Vasili Bohdanovich."

Mac dropped into place, still holding Alex's jacket. The old black and white picture that Riene indicated showed a slightly gaunt man in his late forties with a decidedly Mulderish look about him. The eyes, especially, looked frighteningly familiar. Mac took the album away from her and began flipping through the pages. A picture of himself and Li Ann caught his eyes. It was a surveillance photo that had been enlarged and clipped by the look of it. He recognised it as about a 1995 shot but he was unable to place the background. Mac couldn't help but marvel at how innocent they looked. Another photo made him shake his head. It was Mulder and Scully but a black pen had turned the female agent into a stereotypical Halloween witch, complete with peaked hat and a wart. He turned the page with a sniff of amusement. "Who's this?" Mac pointed to a rough looking blonde sitting beside a fresh-faced, twenty-something Alex. Both young men wore shabby army fatigues and big grins.

"Someone he trained with, I suppose. I don't recognise him." Riene slid the picture out of its plastic pocket. "It says 'me and Dickin' on the back." She read before replacing it. "Oh yes, that must be that English operative 'Richard something or other' that Lexi hung around with on and off after they did a stint in British special ops together. I haven't heard him mentioned in years though." Riene frowned. "Nicki absolutely hated that guy. She ordered Alexei to keep his distance after some mission fell through in '92 because they crossed paths unexpectedly in Switzerland and Lexi wouldn't take the guy out." She pursed her lips. "I don't know what happened with him. I'd have to check our database to get details."

"Don't bother." Mac dismissed. "I've just never seen him so completely... That's just such a happy grin." He flipped again, finding two more pictures of Mulder, one of Allegra and a score he didn't recognise. Alex himself was noticeably rare in the book. The one nice photo he almost mistook for his lover was Victor, if the earring could be believed. "What's this?" Mac stopped again at a new-born baby lying on a pink blanket. It was the only child he had come across.

"The first Catherine." Riene muttered, taking the album away she snapped it shut. Her expression flitted from a grim frown back into its incessant smirk quickly. "I've got stuff to do. Are you going to stay here and sniff his clothes or do you want to come back downstairs?" She teased.

Mac self-consciously shoved the jacket aside. "I'm going to poke around here for a while if that's okay." The computer in the next room was a strong temptation. He couldn't help but wonder if it would give him access to the Family's mainframe.

"Behave." Riene warned.

"Always." He bounced tentatively on the bed. It was amazingly soft. "I'll see you at dinner. Go." As soon as the girl left him alone Mac began a careful search. First he'd do the bedroom then the other rooms. His conscience pricked at the invasion of Alex's privacy but the urge to pry was more powerful. No surprise there. His dangerously strong curiosity had been the subject of countless lectures over the years.

The hidden cubby behind the tiles in the bathroom shower stall concealed several vials of some pale green concoction. A sheath of papers were stashed into a slit in the bed's canopy. Unfortunately the writing on those was all Cyrillic. He found a few hiding spaces that sat empty which made sense considering how little this place had been used.

The best hiding spot had to be where a narrow band of wood slid out of the tall wardrobe that held Alex's best suits. The handful of letters hidden there were a mixed bag. Some were Russian, some were in other languages and a very few were written in English. Mac tucked the others away and with only a slight twinge of guilt he took the ones he understood back to the bed so he could read them. The ones with addresses had been sent to a post office box in New York and date stamped years ago. One was from someone named Danny who mentioned going to Quantico with Alex and spent the first page apologising for using what Alex had called 'the emergency address'. The second page was devoted to pleading that the other man call him so they could work out their problems. There was even a vague offer of 'Bureau information' if Alex would just come back.

Seven of the letters were from England and signed 'Dickin'. The contents of those notes seemed purposefully lacking in identifying details, almost as if the writer assumed someone would examine them other than Alex. Coded references suggested future meeting places and times like 'that green bar on the second of Lamb'. The paranoia made Mac laugh while the intense sentiments expressed pissed him off. The ending of the last brief note, the only one with no obscure coding in it, set his teeth on edge. It read:

I don't understand how this happened but I think I love you too. Isn't that a kick in the head? You claim you'd come clean just to be with me. Would you really? I wish I could believe you this time. The crap you're into is so fucking deep but I might be able to get you amnesty if you'll give up Nicola. I've spoken with the Commander and it looks promising. We've got to talk in person. Christ, I miss you, my Xander. Dickin

Mac had to fight down the urge to scream with rage and tear that particular letter into tiny pieces.

The final paper in the pile, surprisingly enough, was a surveillance log. His and Li Ann activities for the month that everything went to hell in Hong Kong were carefully detailed. The news of Mac's death and Li Ann's disappearance ended the report. It was interesting that the paper looked as if it had been crumbled then flattened and folded again. Maybe, just maybe, Alex actually cared enough to be upset by the erroneous death announcement. Mac fell back into the cushioning mattress, pulled Alex's jacket close and let himself drift off into a mixture of memory and fantasy.

xx

It was with only the tiniest flush of shame that Kate would acknowledge she was having fun. The power of altering people's lives with a few keystrokes on the computer wasn't immediate. Neither were the carefully orchestrated moves that she helped Nicola plan on their own person chessboard, the world.

Alexei and the women of the Romanov family had flitted in and out of the lives of Kate and her sisters like royalty visiting the palace servants. Kate had been watching the family and staff trip over themselves to accommodate Alexei since she was old enough to reason.

Power, Kate had decided over the last few hours, was the ability to reduce an object of lifelong reverence to the shivering wreck kneeling before her. Of course a certain amount of cheating was involved. It wasn't fair that a point by point list of Alexei's weaknesses had been provided but time was at a premium so exploration and discovery were skipped over.

The blindfold had surprised her. It was such a simple fear, darkness and silence. Kate wouldn't have guessed at their dilapidating effect on a man who could shake off a whipping under normal circumstances. Kate knelt down, quietly unfastening the top on a container of motor oil. She waved the open bottle near his nose and was rewarded by a frenzy of attempts at flight. His verbal protests had lapsed into hoarse whimpers a half-hour ago. Kate capped it and sat the container aside. When she ran a hand through his short, sweat-soaked black hair he tried to cringe away, making Kate tighten her grip.

"The family got you out of that nasty place, dear Alexei. You would have slowly died there, ALL ALONE, if we hadn't found you." She reminded him quietly. Easing closer she picked at the knot in his blindfold. "The family has always taken care of you."

"I know."

His faint response earned him a kiss on the forehead. Kate peeled the darkness away, making sure her face was the first thing his squinting eyes found. A caress tickled down his cheek. "You must realise that it's Li Ann's fault you ended up in the silo. Lexi-dear" She laid out a line of conjecture. "The Tangs turned on you because she wouldn't leave you alone. Your defences were weakened from protecting yourself from her family. That's why Mulder was able to catch up to you. That's why the oil alien found you." Kate continued to stroke him until he leaned into the attention. "The oil alien would never have got you if you had stayed away from Mac and Li Ann, Darling." When a particularly brutal shudder wracked him at that memory Kate kissed the bridge of his nose. "Li Ann and Mac are bad for you, Alexei. It's one thing to fuck around but it's never safe to trust someone outside the family." Her monologue continued ceaselessly next to his ear like a stream of liquid poison. "We know you have needs, Lexi. No one minds if you play with outsiders but love is such a dangerous emotion."

Alex was collapsing into the physical comfort his tormentor was now offering. Every muscle in his body ached from tension. His wrist was slick with blood and both his shoulders throbbed from his useless struggles. His prosthetic connection prickled, suggesting that he had damaged some of the more delicate connections during his exertions. The sweat running down his back stung in the places Kate's strapping had broke the skin.

"It's not like pretty Mac actually loves you either." Kate's battering whisper didn't relent. "No more than an addict loves the heroin that he craves."

It crossed his mind to object. Mac was constantly swearing his devotion but then again, Alex knew how easily that sort of lie came to the lips. He had spoken it himself more times than he could recall and had seldom meant it. Besides, arguing with Kate wasn't something he wanted to do right now.

"Nicola loves you, Dearheart. Your sisters love you." Kate snuggled against him. "I love you but you've been a disappointment lately."

"I'm sorry. I'll do better."

"I want to believe that, Lexi." she drew away to reach for the box she had carried over from the hearth. Yet another needle was extracted and uncapped. She checked the label Olga had put on it carefully. Because of the weird chemical stew Vasili had contaminated Alexei with only certain obscure drugs still worked on him. "But I'm having trouble accepting your word. Hold still, Sweetie." Kate jabbed the point into his ass so she didn't have to worry about being precise with her aim.

Alex groaned and dropped his forehead down once more. The action was too abrupt and he could feel the bruising from repeated thumps grow more severe.

"I want you to listen to my voice." She tossed the now empty tube aside. "Nicki wants you to do a little job for her." Kate levered his head up and used a thumb to hold one of his eyelids open. She could tell the moment the drugs hit his bloodstream. The green in his eyes all but vanished as his pupils dilated. "You in there, Lexi?"

"Da." His head lolled.

"I'm going to give you a gun, Alexei." Kate mimed setting a weapon between his bound wrists. "Nicki needs a body, Lexi." She explained carefully. "It's completely up to you, Darling. You can kill anybody you want from among the family or your little coven...but someone in the group has to die."

"Don't do this." Alex pleaded, twisting in her grip. "Don't make me chose."

"Baby, baby." Kate laughed. "You've killed before. What's one more body. I won't punish you no matter who you chose. Tell the truth now." She shifted to murmur right by his ear. "The family, ours and yours. Pick a victim. No repercussions." Kate licked away the tear running down his cheek. "Whom can you live without? Who matters the least?"

"Peter." Alex hissed, giving up the new kid Nicki had taken in wasn't hard.

"There's a good boy." True to her words Kate didn't reprimand him over the choice. Her finger tapped his forehead gently. "Three more bullets, Darling. Use them."

He flinched with each tap. Any sense of what was expected of him shredded away with an audible rip. "Kiska, Cathers, you."

Kate swallowed her annoyance. His priorities were completely outside the family line. The next three taps on his forehead held a bit more force, no doubt causing pain.

His hesitation was in making his choice, not in understanding what she demanded of him. "Olga, Tati, Stacey." Alex declared in a dull monotone.

Kate wanted to scream into his ear. His programming was so fucked up she couldn't begin to guess how long it was going to take to fix it properly. Olga was supposed to be a primary subject for defending and he still hadn't started on his little coven. "Another two." Her knuckle tapped out the demand.

Finally Alex began to struggle against the order. His voice was a gritty rasp when he finally spoke. "Allegra and Mac."

It was about bloody time. Kate mentally ticked off who remained in Alexei's fabricated hell. It wasn't good. "Another pair." She hit him a bit harder this time.

His throat worked hard against the words. "Riene." Alex choked a moment. "Li Ann." He was panting shallowly.

Three left. Kate frowned. As a soldier Marie should have gone down near the beginning of the recital. Herself and Olga were supposed to be among the last few he gave up. They were the commanders. "Another." One tap. Kate held her breath as he tormented himself.

"Nicki." He finally spat out.

Kate had one hand on the taser. "One more." She had to knock the back of his dark head. He was attempting to curl in on himself.

Alexei's head thumped off the wood. "Marie." His whimper was pitiful.

Kate flicked the taser on but Alex didn't flinch. He was too wrapped up in the hallucination of all the piled bodies. "Oh baby." Kate said sadly, cranking up the electrical charge. "This is the last bullet. You need to use it too. I'm sorry. Who's left?" She needed to make him say it aloud before they could move on.

Alex's hand spasmed on the imaginary gun. Only a squeak emerged.

"Last one, Lexi dear. Pull the trigger and end the game." Kate encouraged. "What's that, Love?" His mumble wasn't even near audible. "Say it loud."

Against all expectation Alex lifted his face. "Me." He repeated softly. "I shoot myself."

Kate rocked back on her heels. This was not how the scenario was supposed to go. "We've got a problem, Lexi. We've got a big problem here." She considered the body before her with a scientific distance before adjusting the taser yet again. "We need to have a little chat about the order of value within the family and your brother, Victor." Kate aimed her weapon carefully at the point where his arm turned artificial. Nicola did say she had complete discretion on the handling of their wayward Alexei.

xx

The suite had only one bathroom so while Li Ann took a turn in the shower Victor shaved. Only a little over a year ago this kind of intimacy would have drove Victor to distraction but now it was comforting.

The water in the stall shut down and a lean arm emerged to snag a pair of towels. The curtain shoved aside a moment later and Li Ann let out a gasp of surprise. "What happened to you?" she stepped out and edged closer.

The harsh bathroom light and his half-dressed state weren't flattering. Dark bruises marked his arms and his wrists were chafed almost raw. When he was unshaven she hadn't seen the darkness on his cheek and jaw. A bit less noticeable were the hickeys about his collar line and a bite mark on his shoulder blade.

"Mulder." Victor sat aside his razor and stared at his reflection. "I don't think you want to get into it not if you want time to rest before dinner." His voice was weary.

"Screw resting. What happened?" One long fingernail pointed out the largest of the hickeys. "Don't tell me you're playing Lexi's game with him." She warned.

"No. No. It's not like that." He grabbed up a washcloth to clean away the remains of the shaving cream. "The bite was a mistake. We got caught up in the moment. The hickeys..." Victor's face tinted red under her scrutiny. "I was with Mulder when the mission got dropped in our laps. After the call we got a little frantic, rushing things. I marked him in a couple of spots too."

"This..." A gentle touch brushed his jaw. "...is not frantic. This is abuse." She corrected.

He turned in place, leaning back against the sink. "That was meant for Alex. Mulder and Scully were in on the bust at Stalward's. I held cover against them."

"I know. Oh." Li Ann's dark eyes widened. "I'm sorry Victor. That had to be difficult, coming so soon after you two finally connected." She sympathised.

"Actually..." His breath escaped in a sigh, almost deflating him. "Mulder and I have been dating on and off since that mess back in September."

"Scully and I too." Li Ann encouraged. "No big deal."

"Maybe not for you." He teased. "But we've been trying to work through the Alex issue."

She nodded. Their problems seemed similar at first glance but the particulars were completely off. Scully simply hated Alex. Mulder hated him and wanted to fuck around with Alex at the exact same time.

"I honestly thought he'd worked past it." Victor continued. "Mulder swore he had it under control so we took what we had all the way the other night." The ex-cop caught a glimpse of himself and Li Ann in the mirror and had to laugh at the picture they presented. He felt like a high-school kid all of a sudden. They should be standing in a locker room and Li Ann should be one of the guys from his old hockey team.

"Victor?"

The woman he had once intended to marry slid right up to his side and took his hand. The joke shattered into a million icy fragments. "Mulder went into full 'rub his crotch then backhand me' mode at the bust." Victor resumed his explanation. "What does that say? Not even 24 hours after he's made love with me the bastard is onto it like a stray dog on a bitch in heat and it wasn't even Alex. It was me, damn it. I know for a fact that I didn't encourage him. I barely had time to realise who he was and I've got a steel rod erection digging into my hipbone." He scrubbed at his forehead.

Li Ann rested her head on Victor's thick upper arm. "Are you writing him off then? Maybe he's not worth the energy you're expending on him."

"I don't know." His hands scraped up into his hairline and through his too short black hair. It was brittle, not having been washed since just after the hasty dye job. "When it's just him and I it's fabulous. He's so careful of me." Victor stated. "But the world doesn't work that way. I know that."

"Are you in love with him?" Li Ann asked cautiously.

"Are you in love with the beautiful Agent Scully?" He countered in an arch tone.

"Ah, stalemate." She squeezed a little before pulling away. "Finish getting cleaned up." Li Ann suggested. "I need you sharp to guard my back at dinner."

Victor shook his head. "They're not that bad." He scolded softly. "They're just not comfortable with outsiders, which is what we still are. It's only been a year."

"You are altogether too nice a person, Victor Mansfield. You're just lucky that Mac and I are nasty enough to make up for the difference."

"Mac's nasty." Victor chuckled, shoving off his jeans. "You're simply cautious." He grinned at her. "So, you staying for the floor show?" His fingers hooked suggestively into the band of his underwear.

Li Ann broke into an uncontrollable case of the giggles as she dropped her eyes to his crotch.

"Oh thanks." He complained. "That just caps off a wonderful day."

"No." She gulped air, trying to get control of her breathing. "It's just..." Li Ann bit at her lip in an attempt at sobriety. "Besides the arm." She forced a serious expression onto her face. "There's always one sure way to tell you and Alex apart." Another giggle cracked her calm.

"What?" Victor glared impatiently. "I am not going to get my nipple pierced. No how, no way."

"That's not it either." She had to turn away and stare down at the floor. "I don't suppose it's come up before."

"Spit it out."

"All that detail getting him ready as a mole. I can't believe they missed something so basic." Li Ann broke into a snort. "Russians don't circumcise their baby boys."

"Eww, yeck!" Victor's lip curled. "Go. Shoo. I have to shower from just listening to you talk." He teased half-heartedly. "That's the very last thing I need kicking around in my head right now."

"Sorry Vic." Li Ann padded out the door still chortling to herself.

xx

When the women had told them that dinner was formal they had understated the situation. The long table, set with delicate china, was covered with a white cloth and lit by four huge candelabras. A woman in an immaculate uniform served them. Every lady at the table except Li Ann wore a dress that wouldn't have been out of place at a tie and tails event. The elderly woman at one end of the table, Nicki, actually had on a floor length gown and jewellery enough to buy a life in most cities of the world. She had let out a slight sniff of annoyance when Victor and Li Ann appeared last in simple slacks, tidy shirts and sweaters. The conversation so far had been overtly polite as well, touching on the difficulties of the move from St Petersburg, the political climate back home and the exchange rates of world currency.

Since they were closest to Olga's end of the table the trio were also gifted with some incomprehensible dissertation on DNA and genetic manipulation. Li Ann wrote off the chance of gaining any useful information from dinner conversation and set to visually studying the people present. With the exception of the three Catherines she was able to match a face to each of the names that had been thrown at her.

Nicki was a bit of a surprise. She was much more aristocratic and delicate than Li Ann had expected. She had supposed the taskmaster of the family to be a rather stern, hard-edged woman. Nicola, however, was every inch the elegant, ageing Empress that the setting suggested. Occasionally the elderly lady would look Li Ann's way, intercepting the younger's gaze. No information passed between them. Nicki could have been an ice sculpture for all the honest emotion her expression disclosed.

Li Ann was also curious about the two noticeable absences from the family dinner. There should have been a fourth clone and the boy, Peter, that Alex had mentioned a few times was missing as well. Mac, Victor and the driver were the only males she had seen so far in this strange place.

Victor, sitting across from her, gave the impression that he wanted to say something to her but wasn't comfortable voicing it aloud. Mac was the one that surprised her by whispering to Li Ann.

"There's a third floor." Mac began, choosing not only to use his quietest voice but Cantonese as well. "I was up in Alex's room for a while. The older women are all lodged up there."

"Anything strange?" Li Ann asked in the same language.

"Not at first glance but I only checked out Alex's rooms. You want to go prowling later tonight after everyone calls it a night?"

The two Catherines sitting on either side of Mac and Li Ann were beginning to frown at them.

"That might be nice." Li Ann flipped back to English to ease their minds.

The dinner plates were being collected. Victor was gently chiding his sister about how much she had packed away over the course of the meal while Olga insisted that Allegra wasn't eating nearly enough for a woman in her condition.

"There's dessert too." Allegra looked across, noticing Mac was fidgeting in his chair with the urge to leave. She grinned.

"I couldn't eat another bite." Li Ann protested. If she wanted the energy to prowl around tonight she needed to lay down now.

The Catherine beside Li Ann chose that moment to address a stream of Russian at Nicola.

"If you will all excuse me." Li Ann began to push back from the table.

"Li Ann." An imperious tone cut through the air silencing everyone present. "Are you leaving us already?" Nicki asked. "I had hoped for a chance to speak with the three of you after dinner." There was no need to specify which three. Mac and Victor's heads lifted immediately.

"I'm sorry." Li Ann attempted. "I really am quite exhausted from all that's gone on over these last few days. Perhaps in the morning." She looked up the table in time to see one carefully plucked, silver brow lift.

"Then I shall only keep you briefly." Nicki countered. "We will take hot chocolate in the other room." She announced as the servant returned with yet another trolley. The old woman climbed gracefully to her feet. "The rest of you finish without us." With that she began walking to the door, confident that they would follow.

"It is her house." Victor pushed upright.

Mac sighed once but followed suit, offering an arm for Li Ann. "When in Rome." He mumbled to himself.

Li Ann stood but avoided the courtesy in favour of walking boldly after Nicki. She felt an intense need to present an independent manner about this gathering of odd women. She let the guys trail her.

The 'other room' that Nicki led them to was a strange mixture of a traditional old world parlour and an office. The desk was ornately carved and two tall wall units held a collection of computer equipment but the utilitarian parts were overwhelmed by vases of dried flowers and fussy red velvet and polished wood furniture.

Nicola settled into a chair that bore more than a passing resemblance to a throne. Her hand gestured to the two nearby couches. "It will take a little time for Marianna to bring the chocolate but I won't try your patience by waiting."

All three of them settled onto the same long sofa, Li Ann between the two men.

"I just wanted to make sure that all of you were clear on the few simple rules that govern our home." Nicola adjusted a pillow at her spine.

"Rules?" Mac asked. "Are we guests or something else?" His voice hinted 'prisoners' but he didn't use the word.

"You are cousins." She smiled. "But even within a family some concessions must be made for the consideration of other family members." Nicki's hand's folded on her lap. "If a door is locked, although few here are, you are not to enter uninvited. That's just common courtesy, yes?" She didn't wait for a response. "The same with any information that is password protected on our computer system. I suspect neither a lock nor a password is capable of holding you three out but polite regard may."

Several appraising looks were exchanged between Nicki and her guests. Mac leaned back with an innocent smile on his face.

"I would like access to a telephone." Li Ann announced. The lack of phones in clear sight made her especially apprehensive. "I need to make contact with my office before it shuts down for Christmas vacation and I'd like to give them a way to contact me if anything important occurs."

"Would e-mail access suffice?" Nicki counter-offered. "The authorities have taken an unhealthy and less than legal interest in your phone lines."

"I'll manage if that's all I can have." Li Ann allowed. "I will also be checking in with a few friends who are no doubt worried about my sudden disappearance."

Nicola's pale eyes narrowed. "Agent Scully is not to be given this location." She announced, obviously aware of Li Ann and Scully's relationship despite the fact that they had been quite secretive. "I don't want the FBI turning their attention to my home. Surely you can understand that."

"Where is Alex?" Victor leaned forward to take the spotlight away from Li Ann's outraged expression. His arms rested on his knees. "I don't think he should be this far behind the rest of us and I doubt you're unaware of his exact location, considering what he's carrying."

Nicola locked gazes with her Alexei's twin. It annoyed her enormously that those intimately familiar green orbs didn't immediately drop to the carpet. She had expected difficulty from Li Ann. The oriental woman's will was too strong to bend quickly. Finding insolence wrapped in Alexei's form was beyond frustrating, especially after the trouble he had been giving her. "I'm afraid Lexi has been intercepted." She threw them something to gnaw on.

"Who? Where?" Mac jumped to his feet.

"SIT!" She shouted. "Calm down. All of you." Nicki added seeing Li Ann and Victor poised for action as well. "Marie and Kate have been dispatched to deal with the situation. If it's beyond their capabilities they will request aid. Until then we will not froth ourselves into a state of alarm."

"When were you planning on telling us what happened?" Victor demanded, earning another hostile look from the elderly woman. It was strange. As simply a voice on the phone over the last year he had gotten the impression that Nicki liked him but he saw no sign of that now.

Elegant shoulders lifted briefly. "I hadn't decided." She said honestly. "I have the problem in hand and it needn't concern you."

"I want to go and help." Li Ann persisted. "Mac and I can go, Victor will stay here with Allegra." Unspoken, 'as hostages' was obvious in the offer.

"It's under control."

A quiet tap warned them before the door opened and a plump old woman wheeled a cart inside. Nicola continued on as if the servant weren't even there. "Kate and Marie assure me that Alexei will be back in your arms tomorrow or the next day. If they need help I will hear of it."

"Still, an extra set of hands..."

"Young lady." Nicki cut her off. "You forget your place. Alexei belongs to me first and the three of you only as I allow. I hold the power of final decision in this family. If and when I see fit you will receive further information." She accepted a shell thin cup from the servant. "Don't press my tolerance, Children." She warned in a mild tone.

"We are not children." Victor waved off the drink. "And we don't belong to you." He had taken enough of that kind of attitude when he worked for the Director. "We work for you, that's it."

"I want a phone. Now." Li Ann reiterated her demand. With Victor running interference there was no better time to attempt the request.

"E-mail." Nicola insisted, flipping her attention from one challenge to another without a fluster. "The computer in your suite will suit your purpose.

"Car keys and Alex's location." Victor asked.

"No."

"Marie's cell phone number." Mac leapt into the fray. "Let us talk to her ourselves."

Nicki's carefully painted lips pursed. "I can not contact her safely. Her position may be delicate. If and when she calls into us one of you may speak to her briefly."

"Me." Mac claimed the opportunity.

The servant withdrew, having been unable to provide any of the trio with a drink.

Mac stood up. "If that's all." The others were following his example.

Nicola surveyed them over the rim of her cup. "I had a few more bits of information to pass along." She said.

"I got the 'common courtesy' speech when I was five years old. If you've got nothing else I'm out of here." Mac headed for the door.

"But you obviously didn't absorb much of it, young man." Nicki's temper almost slipped its leash. "Let me make it perfectly clear. If you do not respect the privacy of our business and stay within the boundaries you've been shown I have it within my power to make your lives even more complicated than they are now."

"Are you threatening us?" Li Ann almost growled.

"Yes." Nicki subsided back into the chair, looking completely content with the world. "Yes, I am. Now...you're all excused." Long fingernails flickered, dismissing them.

Victor could almost see the urge forming in Li Ann's head so he caught hold of her wrist and pulled before the words could reach his ex-fiancee's lips. They got out the door without a screaming match because she was too angry to be articulate.

Alex awoke from an especially nasty nightmare to find his situation had finally changed. On the up side the cuff around his good wrist was cushioned by bandages and padding. He had also been sponged off and now lay wrapped in soft white sheets on a real bed. The down side was a noticeable lack of weight at his left shoulder. He had hoped that he'd imagined that particularly painful sensation, but no, Kate had taken his arm or rather he had fought so hard against his restraints that it had torn loose so it had to be removed.

A body settled next to him on the mattress and Alexei flinched uncontrollably. Fingers skimmed up his ribcage making him whimper. There was no way he could go through another interrogation session with Kate. Alex just knew it would drive him absolutely insane. "No more." It was a cracked shadow of his usual voice.

"Have you learned your lesson, Lexi? Have you got things straight now?" Kate's whisper tickled his ear. "Because it's not too late. I can still end it for you. End all the pain." She seduced, her hand caressing even as she offered him death. "Shall I kill you, Lexi darling?"

"If you want to." He tried to lay passive under her attention.

"That's our special boy." Kate praised. She pushed up and placed her hand across the slight arch of his throat. "Lay still, sweet one. You just be still and take it. Goodbye Alexei." The pressure against his windpipe increased while Kate's kiss sucked the air right out of his lungs.

It wasn't the most difficult thing he had ever done but it was harder than he expected. Alex's fingers spasmed about the chain holding his wrist to keep himself from attempting to throw her off. At this point he wasn't even sure if he hoped this were another test or if he wished Kate was serious. Alexei was still undecided when stars began to explode inside his eyelids forcing tears out.

The pressure abated at the very last moment and a hard thump on the chest reminded him to breathe again. Kate was whispering praise in his ear but the words refused to make sense. The light kisses she was scattering over his chest, shoulders and face were a reward he could process even half-conscious.

"There's our very good boy."

Alexei finally began to comprehend Kate's voice. He swallowed, testing the damage to his throat. The best Alex could manage was a hoarse croak. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." He began despite the pain of speaking. "Please, can I see Nicki? Please."

"You owe us so much it's staggering, Lexi." Kate reminded him. "You owe Nicki and the family some major concessions."

"Anything." The promise was heartfelt. Living without Nicola's sheltering protection wasn't an option. His entire life outside the family was built on one set of lies or another. It would drive him crazy if he didn't have some one who understood exactly what he was and accepted it. Only once in his life had he ever seriously considered defecting and that was years ago, back when he'd been young and stupid.

"IF I manage to convince Nicki to grant you an audience..." Kate sat up. "...and she sets you a loyalty test..."

"I won't fail." Alex assured.

"You're not the spoiled baby of the family anymore, Lexi. There will be no more chances after this. You've used up the last of Nicki's patience up with this fiasco." The teenager climbed off the bed. "No more questioning or complaining. Your little coven is an indulgence that only exists under the limitations that the family allows. If Nicki says their time is up..." She looked expectantly down at him.

"I'll kill them myself." Alexei finished the thought.

"She might ask you to do one of them now as proof. Which one would you pick?"

Alex kept his expression blank not daring to betray the tight pain across his chest. "Whichever one Nicki chooses."

"Your choice. Make Nicki happy." She tossed it right back at him. No drugs were pumping through his system right now. Kate watched his shoulders and chest for any betraying tension. Lexi was too good for his expression to give him away.

"Li Ann. She knows too much. Do you want me to do her now? I'll need a weapon. She's too good at hand to hand, unless she's asleep." He considered. "I'll try it if you want but a knife would be more reliable." He squirmed as close to upright as his chain would allow. "Especially with..." Alex looked pointedly down at his left shoulder.

"Why not Victor?" Kate continued to study him as if he were an experiment near completion. "Or Mac? Or Allegra?"

"Allegra's baby needs to be investigated. Mac is harmless. Victor's malleable, if a bit naÔve. Nicki could break him in a week if she put her mind to it. As far as risk management goes Li Ann is the most dangerous in knowledge, personality and level of independence." He outlined blandly.

"Very nice, Lexi. Very logical." Kate smiled. "So, you think Victor is good material for assimilation."

"As it stands now he's a land mine. We should either pull him in the rest of the way or push him out to the fringes."

Kate took a step backwards. Her eyes narrowed as she looked for some sign of guile in his manner. What he was saying did make sense. In fact a rather elaborate plan was beginning to form in her head even as he spoke.

"Victor wants to belong somewhere badly. Given the right atmosphere of acceptance even his sense of morality can be subverted. His years with the Pacific Agency are proof of that. Although I would suggest any removal of Li Ann be set up to appear as an external act if Nicki wishes to suck Victor in. The Agency or, if possible, Mulder and Scully would be the best to take the blame thereby shattering his faith in any source outside the family." Alex stared up at his tormentor with a carefully bland expression. If Kate caught even a whiff of deceit from him, whether real or imagined, he was toast and Victor wouldn't be far behind.

"I'll be back shortly." Kate announced. She had a tentative scenario she wanted to present to Nicola.

It wasn't until the plain wooden door closed behind her that Alex allowed himself to break out into nervous shivers.

xx

Victor left the more delicate work inside the lodge to Mac and Li Ann. Acting on a gut level instinct that he didn't completely understand Victor chose to bundle up and attempt to investigate some of the smaller buildings that he'd caught sight of in the half-light of the compound. Because of the cold the locks outside were of a more primitive mechanical kind rather than fancy electronics. Of course if the first two shelters were any indication the contents weren't terribly interesting either. The first was full of boxes and sacks of chemical compounds and dry goods. The second had been packed with household supplies liked canned food, candles and everyday necessities. Victor had opened a few crates in expectation of weapons or files before realising that sort of thing had to be in a more secure location.

Shivering, he persisted. The next door opened just as easily as the first two. Li Ann and Mac had taught him well. The interior of this cabin, however, was entirely different. A fireplace glowed on one wall of the simply furnished room. Victor noted two old-fashioned chairs and a bed before his eyes reached the extravagant computer desk that took up one entire wall.

The chair in the centre of the massive sprawl of electronics swivelled around and a very young man jumped to his feet. He stared across at Victor, clearly surprised at the intrusion but not angry. "Umm. Hullo. I wasn't expecting you quite..." The baby faced youth stalled out, subserviently dropping his gaze to the floor. Strangely enough a strong British accent had flavoured the words. "Sorry."

The next sentence was made up of stumbling, hesitant Russian words of which Victor recognised 'please' and 'Alexei'. "It's okay. English is fine." He had impersonated his twin a few times before around casual business associates. The ruse came easily.

"Nicola told me you were on your way home but not that you had arrived." The slender kid shifted nervously under his visitor's scrutiny, daring finally to peek up at his visitor. "It's good to see you again." Hands bunched against the fabric of his loose trousers.

That was as big a lie as any Victor had ever heard. The young man was obviously terrified. "I just got in." Victor's mind raced trying to place the other. Maybe the youth was one of the family's pet hackers. It was also odd to see someone in this place that wasn't eagerly excited by Alex's arrival. "What are you doing?" The ex-cop made a sit-down motion with his hand and the kid obeyed instantly, like a well-trained puppy.

"Banking." The young man turned in place and reached for the mouse. "It's a trifle awkward moving big lots of money about through Canadian banks." Narrow shoulders shrugged stiffly. "But I've found enough back doors and loop-holes to shift a fair chunk of it to where Nicki wants it."

Victor leaned, putting enough weight on the back of the kid's chair that it wouldn't turn about suddenly. He memorised the account number on the screen to give Li Ann a start point for hacking into the family's banking records. "How long have you been at this? It's late." Victor observed.

The young man's spine tensed straight. Soft spikes of short, sandy blond hair tickled Victor's cheek when the kid shivered. "You're here for my first lesson, aren't you?" The question ended with a worried squeak. "Nicki says I'm overdue. I knew this was coming. Olga left some 'supplies' in the dresser drawer." He rambled, showing his upset emotional state.

"What are you afraid of?" Victor questioned vaguely.

"Kate said it's going to hurt but Riene swears I'll like it. I don't know what to think. I don't do pain well. You've seen that already. I don't want..." His breath shuddered out. The teenager's head tipped forward to rest against the computer monitor. "I'm sorry, Alexei. I'll shut up. You know I'll do whatever you want. I'll try really hard. Please don't tell Nicki I'm acting up."

Peter, the new kid, Victor finally decided. No one else would toss family names around so casually and of course he would be expecting Alex to do instructor duties. For God's sake, the boy wasn't any older than the Catherines were. He was still a child as far as Victor was concerned. "I'm not going to hurt you." Victor assured the other. To stay in character he dropped a kiss on the top of Peter's head. The downy texture and pleasant scent was a temptation that Alex certainly wouldn't have bothered to resist. "Not tonight anyway. I'm just checking in." He leaned closer. "Do me a favour." A smile tugged at his lips. Tonight's work wasn't going to be a total waste of time. "I want to sent a message to a friend but I don't need the girls teasing me about him. You can get it sent without Nicki seeing it, right?"

"Uh, yeah, but..." The younger squirmed.

"Then do it." Victor ordered arrogantly. "Open me a message and give me some space."

Fingers flew at the command and in seconds a blank e-mail stood ready.

"Wait on the bed." Victor tapped the seat, chasing the kid out of it then took his place. Using only his right hand Victor typed out:

"landed in Anchorage "took a little plane for an hour then drove for another hour "we're in serious shit "we need some help "V

"Will 'send' get this out cleanly?" Vic asked over his shoulder. Luckily he'd memorised Mulder's address. Arguments aside, they needed help and Victor couldn't think of anyone else to ask.

"Yes Alexei." Came the timid response.

"Great. Thank you." Victor stood up. He had to get out of here before the kid realised that he wasn't Alex and blew the whistle. "I've an appointment." He lied. "I just wanted to touch base with you." Victor headed for the door. "Don't work all night. Even at your age you need to sleep." He joked then let himself out.

xx

Li Ann and Mac were both in a foul mood and had been all day. Their explorations had been close to useless. Interesting information trails had sent them in circles. Altogether too many people had been moving about in the most promising areas despite the late hour. Their night's work had accomplished little of value. It occurred to them that their rooms were quite probably bugged and they had been anticipated.

The day dragged, with Allegra choosing to remain quietly in her room after pleading exhaustion and the Romanov ladies seemed to be avoiding them. A servant brought meals to the trio's suite and announced that the formal dinner was cancelled for the evening.

Victor was rapidly joining his roommates' emotional state. "We're in the middle of nowhere." The ex-cop threw himself down on the couch beside Li Ann. "No Alex, no tree, no clues. Happy bloody Christmas."

Mac looked up from the keyboard he was slaving over. His expression wasn't hopeful. All he'd done was confirm that none of Li Ann's e- mails had actually left. Some kind of buffer server had intercepted them by the looks of things.

A knock on the door made all three of them jump. It opened without invitation. Nicola took one step into he room and gazed down at them, chin high.

Li Ann stood to make them level. "We've had about enough of this garbage." She started.

A thin, be-ringed hand lifted. "Such tempers and glares. How rude when I come bearing a gift." A flick of her wrist brought Alex forward into the light. "Be gentle with our darling. He's a bit fragile right now."

It didn't matter that he had the most distance to cover. Mac threw himself across the room in an eye-blink. Li Ann almost laughed with delight until Mac's voice strangled out an exclamation of "Your arm!"

"Our Lexi suffered some damage at the hands of his captors and discs were lost." Nicola explained in a chill tone. "But at least we recovered him. Olga will see to replacing his arm in a day or two when it isn't quite so tender." The elderly woman looked to Victor. "Can I trust he'll be handled carefully or should I take him back down to the infirmary?"

"We'll take care of him." Victor stated, curious as to why she had singled him out.

Nicola nodded and left them.

Mac was guiding his lover to a space on the couch. Nonsensical soothings fell from the younger man's lips. Alex looked rough, battered and bruised, and his movements were stiff.

"Alex, what happened?" Li Ann questioned. "Who did this to you?"

"Don' wanna talk about it." As soon as he realised where he sat Alexei pulled away from Mac's touches and burrowed into Victor instead. "Don' wanna talk at all."

"I know it's painful." Li Ann persisted. "But you need to get it out."

The lanky thief stared at the scene in shock, a protest forming on his lips. He laid a hand against his lover's back causing Alex to whimper and draw even further away.

Li Ann motioned him off. "Alex, I'm not going to hurt you. I just want to see." She coaxed. The long sleeved shirt he wore was far too large. It hung loose on him. "It's important, Love. Let me..." She caught the back tail and lifted. What Li Ann could see of his skin was covered with wide welts. A peek at the hand Alex had fisted into the front of Victor's sweater told her that his wrist was thickly wrapped. She sat back. "Someone has beaten him badly. Be careful how you touch him Mac. Alex, who did this?"

Mac seemed offended by the suggestion on how to treat his lover for a brief moment but his face cleared. "Alexei." He crouched down in front of the sofa. "Love, has someone seen to you? Checked over the damage?"

Alex nodded silently without removing his face from the curve of his twin's shoulder.

Victor winced at Mac's obvious distress but Alex had chosen and showed no sign of relaxing the death-grip he had fastened on with. Victor squirmed a little, turning into the embrace and cupped the back of his brother's head. "It's okay, Alex. It's all over now. You're safe with us."

Mac's mouth opened in protest and his hand lifted to catch hold of his lover but Li Ann blocked the touch. "He's probably sore there." The oriental woman explained, indicating Alexei's shoulder. "Step back a bit Mac. He needs to talk not be mauled right now. Alexei darling, you have to tell us what happened. Where have you been?" She began.

"Step back?" The other repeated in a disbelieving monotone. "I...should step back?" Mac's head shook. "I'm just trying to show MY lover that I'm glad to see him. Maybe someone else here should be stepping back." His lips tightened into something near a frown.

"Don't." Victor caught their attention with one whispered word. "Not now." He warned before turning his attention to his brother once more. "Alex, how about you lay down on one of the beds and let me see your back. You'll feel better if you're not crunched up on a couch." Victor coaxed his twin into standing up. "No interrogation." Vic informed Li Ann. "No groping." Mac was told.

"I would never." Li Ann seemed appalled at having her intentions questioned.

"Come on Alex." Victor gently drew his twin over and through his bedroom door. With a twinge of guilt he kicked the door closed behind them, shutting out his partners.

"Thank you." Alex mumbled briefly.

Victor ran an appraising stare over his brother. "You don't want them to see you like this, do you Alex?" Without waiting to be asked Vic stepped up to undo the small buttons that held the other's shirt closed. The fabric pulled slightly at the salves his back was coated with but only briefly. "Christ." The exclamation squeezed out of Victor's lungs. The evidence of a whipping wasn't actually too bad. The skin was only broken in a few spots although some vivid bruises criss-crossed Alex's back. The thing that disturbed Victor was the multitude of small angry red marks all over his brother. Normally he would have been puzzled by the tracks but he'd seen another smaller copy of these and it helped him place the evidence. Dobrinsky had once tasered Mac on the hand while Victor had watched. The result was similar, if less severe. "Would you like something to drink, some ice water?"

Alex shook his head. "Throat hurts." He whispered. "Olga medicined me."

"Okay. Lay down and I'll get your shoes off." Victor suggested. His stomach did a quick rollover at the sight of a stark white bandage covering one of Alex's nipples but he didn't want to press for details. More gauzy wrappings covered the stump of Alex's arm and his remaining wrist. "You okay in those pants? I think I've got some sweats kicking around you could sleep in if you wanted to."

"I'm 'kay." Alexei mumbled. "Keep me company, Vicka. I don' wanna be alone."

After dealing with Alex's shoes Victor toed off his own and lay down beside his brother. He suspected what was going to happen and had chosen Alex's undamaged side. As expected the injured man's hand extended and fisted into the wool of his twin's sweater once more. The muscle in Alex's arm twitched but he did no more than hold tight.

Victor considered. "It's all right." He slid closer, allowing Alex to press against him. "I'm not going to leave, I'm never going to hurt you and I don't want anything from you." Victor qualified when he noticed the shift in the other's hips. He kissed Alex's too-short, dark hair. "Let me talk instead." It had to be a harmless subject, which was hard. No Mac or Li Ann. No cop stories. Family was tricky too. "What do you know about hockey, Alex?" Victor didn't wait for a response. "I've got a hell of a slap-shot. I once made all four goals in a semi-final. It was the best game I ever played."

xx

Victor might have slept through the urgent whispering beside him but the odd jolting of the mattress was too rare an occurrence for his dreaming mind to dismiss. Now, he lay quietly trying to decide what to do about the situation and missing the insistent clinging warm of his twin that he had enjoyed for several hours now. Victor heard laboured breathing and moist suction of what he hoped were kisses.

"Don't. You're going to wake Victor." Alex's complaint was soft and lacked any sense of authority.

"So stop squirming." Mac's voice chastised. "We should go to my room, Lover." Weight shifted and Alex moaned softly. Mac's laugh was faint. "But that's not what you want, is it Demon?" Fabric rustled and Alexei's breathing hitched erotically. "I know what you're thinking. I know I'm a stand-in for who you really want, just like always. Open your eyes, damn it. Do you think I'm stupid?"

More damp suckling almost made Victor speak up. The next sentence put a severe dent in his ability to reason, however.

"If I fuck you right here whose name will you call out when you come, Demon? Does Victor know, Lover? You're such a sick slut. What you want. It would disgust him. You must realise that he won't ever do 'this'..."

Alex's moan was choked. The body beside Victor was shivering violently.

"...to you." Mac let out a laboured hiss. His voice was on the edge of cracking with emotion. "Jeez, I don't even care at this point. I've missed you so much." A lengthy kiss interrupted the declaration. "Come to my room, Demon. You can bury your face in the pillows and pretend it's him if that's what you need. I won't complain. But if I don't have your ass in the next ten minutes I think I'll die."

"Bastard." Alex accused weakly.

"Yeah, but we need each other."

The balance of the bed shifted. Mac's voice was higher above them the next time he spoke. "I had him Alexei." The younger man taunted. "You come with me and I'll tell you about it. I'll tell you what all his bedroom noises sound like. Vic liked it on his back with all the lights on so we could stare into each others' eyes."

Victor's stomach and fists clenched but he couldn't see a way out of this that wouldn't turn nasty enough to hurt them all except to continue to fake sleep.

"He came to relieve me on a stake-out." Mac confided. "I had nothing to go home to but an empty apartment so I hung around to mess with his head. Vic flusters so nicely if you hit the right topic. I know you want to hear about it, Demon. You want details. Come with me right now."

More shifting. How could someone so badly injured move so quickly? Victor wondered. Maybe if he thought about that hard enough he could block out the lovers' whispered conversation.

"I'm so fucked up." Alex's voice was muffled.

"I don't care." Mac declared vehemently. "Anything you want I'll be it, I'll do it. Don't you ever leave me, Demon. You need me. I need you. Nobody else would ever put up the garbage we inflict on each other. You remember that."

"I know. I know." Was the mumbled response.

Victor caught a glimpse through his lashes as the outer door opened illuminating the pair. Alex was leaning drunkenly into the taller man with his forehead pressed against Mac's shoulder. Mac's fingers dug harshly into the curve of the Russian's ass provoking a whimper of excitement from Alexei and they ground their crotches together.

As soon as they were gone Victor rolled over onto his back. His palms scrubbed at his face. He should have expected Alex would take a sexual interest in him. Alex took a sexual interest in everyone he met it seemed. Hell, within their odd squared tangle he and Alex were the only pairing that hadn't had a physical relationship and they made up for it by both chasing after Mulder. Maybe Li Ann had the right idea. Although Agent Scully was still at the edge of their incestuous muddle at least Alex had never shown any interest in the attractive redhead. The problem was in finding a partner outside of the tightly entwined world that he, his partners and his siblings inhabited.

Now, however, wasn't the time to plan changes in his social life. First they needed to get out of the odd 'fortress of solitude' and back among normal people. Hopefully Mulder would make his destination known to the right people so they'd have some leverage against simply disappearing without a ripple of protest from the outside world. Maybe he should have contacted the Director instead. Her resources would be more expansive but then again Alex and his family would go ballistic if he revealed too much to that particular government agency. Mulder investigated stuff like this all the time and never seemed to expose his conclusions. The Director would plunder and exploit the discovery.

xx

Riene rousted them all out of bed and into their clothes with a giggling announcement that Saint Nicki had made sure they would have a proper North American Christmas after all. She insisted that all four of them shower and put on comfortable clothes. It was an awkward twenty minutes before the four of them were ready to descend the stairs.

The teenage girl earned Mac's annoyance at every possible step of the way. She hung on him, grabbing at his arm and fussing so much that Alex was practically shoved away. The injured man, of course, turned to Victor for aid with his buttons and shoes. The Russian also chose to lean on his twin for the trip down since Riene had a death-grip on Mac's arm as they left the suite.

Once they reached the lower floor she dragged them down a side hall and into a room the trio hadn't noticed before. The sitting room was dominated by a massive evergreen festooned with garland and illuminated by tiny candle-like lights.

Allegra stood to one side of the bush tree almost bouncing with excitement. She reached behind the greenery as soon as the group entered and with a cheery 'Merry Christmas' she dragged an annoyed looking Fox Mulder into their line of sight. Scully was a step behind him, carefully avoiding the younger woman's grabbing hands. Both the agents were dressed in rumpled looking work-suits and neither seemed well rested or at all comfortable.

Mulder shook off Allegra's light touch and stalked across the room to stop in front of the twins. "If this is your idea of fun..." He let the threat hang without directing it at either man. After a split- second's appraisal Mulder turned all of his fury straight at Alex. "Where are the discs?"

"Please explain to me..." Alexei's posture straightened and he gathered sarcasm about himself like a cloak. "How could I have been upstairs stealing the bloody computer files at the same time as you were smacking me around in the reception room?"

Mulder's changeable eyes shifted to Victor, taking note of the bruising on his face. "I know of one way, but I'm hoping there's another explanation." He stated levelly.

"Victor, Mac and Li Ann were already headed up here when that crap at Stalward's went down. They had nothing to do with it." Alex lied smoothly. "Riene and I made a brief stab at the discs but they were too well secured." He glanced over at the teenager and she nodded confirmation.

"Nice to see you again, Agent Mulder. How's the head?" Riene recalled the man had taken a thump during the van break. "We weren't properly introduced before." She padded forward in an attempt to draw some of the attention. "I'm Catherine Alexander. You have no idea how much I've heard about you."

Mulder ignored the girl, pushing past so he could get even closer to Alex. "You are under arrest." His hand shot out to grab at the Russian's shirt.

Victor batted the reaching fingers away. "Back off Mulder." He warned in a low growl. "You're in hostile territory now and strong arm tactics won't cut it here." Victor moved to keep his brother protected from the older man. Alex was damaged enough right now. Strangely, considering past experiences Alex let himself be walled away from Mulder without protest.

Mulder turned a curious stare on his lover. "You brought us here." He reminded.

"Not to bluster and threaten." Victor clarified. "Things are complicated. If you can stay rational and official you'll do a damned sight more good at this point." He'd wanted to improve the odds against the Romanov women but he now saw Mulder's flaring anger and Scully's harsh stare Victor couldn't help but wonder if it was a mistake bringing them into things.

"This is simply too-too awkward." Riene pouted. "Why doesn't everyone just settle down somewhere while the tea and coffee are fetched and we'll have a civilised chat over opening Christmas presents." She coaxed. "Now some of the gifts were scrounged up at the last minute but I'm assured Santa Nicki has done miracles."

All around the room incredulous expressions turned the teenager's way. As if on cue one of the wide doors pushed open and the elderly Mrs Uritski pushed a large silver trollycart into the room. The old lady halted it right beside Scully then abandoned the cart to bustle across the room. First she shooed Allegra onto one of the long couches, propping pillows all about the pregnant girl. After that she bustled over to Alexei and confidently extracted him from Victor's shadow. He was installed on a different sofa as the woman spouted a stream of Russian chatter that sounded suspiciously like scolding. The elderly servant then fetched two already prepared cups of hot chocolate and plates of little cakes for each of the two. Her words directed Riene's way eventually.

"Mama Uritski says everyone should help themselves." The girl translated. "There are sweetrolls and fresh bread. The coffee is very hot so mind you Americans don't burn your tongues." Riene grinned. "She's got work to do but we should shout if we need anything." She flipped into Russian to address the woman, thanking her and promising she would keep close tabs on what Alexei and Allegra required.

Scully eyed the wheeled tea tray. "This is not a social call." She spoke for the first time. "Agent O'Conner lost two toes thanks to that little stunt down in New York. Valuable information is missing and the surveillance equipment suggests that you and Krycek are responsible. On top of all that I get the distinct impression that Mr Mansfield and Ms Tsei are here against their will." Scully outlined. "And we have a valid warrant for Krycek's arrest which we intend to carry out, young lady. So let's forget all these hollow platitudes and tend to business."

Riene's thin brows lifted and some comment in Russian snarked out making Alexei laugh.

"Da. I told you that Bodkin." He reminded her.

"Lexi." Li Ann's upper lip curled slightly in warning. She had recognised only one of Riene's words but she suspected that it was a rather vicious insult.

"I was just commenting on Agent Scully's impeachable sense of official standards." Riene's falsehood was glaring. "Perhaps to put the esteemed doctor in the festive mood." The dark-haired teen walked over to the tree, knelt and withdrew a brightly wrapped bundle. "Merry Christmas Agent Scully. Olga chose this out of her files especially for you." She offered up the parcel.

"How absurd." Dana eyed the gift with disdain.

"Open it." Li Ann suggested. The comment about it coming from the scientist's files was intriguing. The oriental woman had been itching for a chance to dig through the family's information archives since she'd first heard about them. "It might be useful Dana."

Using the woman's first name earned a frown from Mulder but no one else seemed to notice. Victor had set himself to the task of pouring and handing out the aromatic coffee in an effort at keeping the gathering civilised. He started by offering a mug to his lover who accepted it with a distracted glare.

"It's a simple Christmas present." Riene continued to hold it ready. "No strings attached."

Scully took it cautiously. She untied the ribbon and unwrapped the fabric to reveal a three ring binder crammed with densely printed pages. Flipping through also revealed diagrams and tables among the text.

"That's everything we know about the composition, design and programming of that chip in your neck Agent Scully." Riene informed her in a level tone. "Lexi's been pestering Olga about passing this your way for months now."

Scully's blue eyes flicked briefly Krycek's way before returning to the binder she held. "How do I know any of this information is valid?"

"You're welcome, Agent Scully." Riene's laugh was sprightly. She turned back to the small pile of gifts. The next parcel was delivered to Mulder. "Again, it's not comprehensive but we did have copies of some of your destroyed X-files."

Mulder tore open the package to discover a folder with several CDs inside. "How did you get my files?"

"Aren't they just a wealth of good manners?" Riene observed sarcastically.

"That's why we all adore them." Alex responded with a hint of his usual amusement. "Hand out the rest of the presents Bodkin. I'm sure we'll be much more gracious."

Nicki had chosen wisely even if the gifts were all on the odd side. A box, done up like a floral presentation of a dozen roses, contained a new arm for Alexei. Mac got a case full of audio phone-tap recordings. Victor's little sister received a packet of paperwork and documents declaring her to be Allegra Romanov a native of St Petersburg.

Li Ann was given a file filled with information on the Tang family's activities both before and after the time of her and Mac's association with the Hong Kong crime family. The note inside the cover said 'to help satisfy your bountiful curiosity' in Cantonese but, much to her discomfort, it wasn't Alex's handwriting. Someone else in the family obviously was literate in the Eastern language as well. Li Ann stared down at the bulging folder as she sipped her coffee and a vision tantalised her. Stacks of information on nearly everything she could wish to know waited just a few locked doors away. She could find out all she wished to know on Alex, the consortium's plans for alien invasion, the extent of her former employer's control in the government or even how to clone a human being, for goodness sake. Li Ann glanced up a Dana's pinched expression. She could easily earn her estranged lover's happiness with a few picked locks and deactivated alarms. Another swallow of the strong brew in her hand started her mind off down the path of considering exactly how to break into the Romanov archives.

Victor's gift was the most tangible, traditional present of them all. He stared at the large gold-framed picture for several moments before turning it about so the rest of the room could see it.

"Cathers is just a whiz at photographic manipulation." Riene said quietly. "She took Nicki's favourite painting and tricked it around so the whole clan was represented. Look, Vicka Sweetheart." She was leaning over him with her fingers ruffling an absent caress through his short hair. "She even put that adorable moustache you used to have into it so you and Alexei aren't exactly the same."

The portrait looked like it had been painted about ten years ago. Nicki sat on an ornate antique chair with the elder generation of girls standing to her right, Alexei to her left, and all the Catherines aesthetically arranged on the floor before them. Somehow Victor's image had been added in beside his twin's and Alice sat down amid four cloned girls looking just a touch more mature than they did, at about nine years old. There was also a sweet-faced, young blonde boy standing in front of Alex and Victor that Vic was fairly certain represented Peter. Every one of them wore extremely formal clothing that would have been well suited to a royal family from a hundred years in the past.

"How?" Victor stared at the family portrait. If he didn't know for a fact that he and his sister had never sat for the picture Victor wouldn't have known the thing for a composite. "It's incredible." His eyes were wide. This courtly portrayal was nothing like the family pictures that his mother had herded him into all those years ago.

"Like I said Cathers did it. I don't know how exactly." Riene leaned on his shoulder. "It's comforting to have a representation of our entire family, Vicka, my dear. She's making a few others for the rest of us. Still, we should talk to Nicki about staging an authentic one over the next couple of days. As long as the pictures never leave the manor our security won't suffer." She casually kissed the top of his head. "Or maybe we should wait until the baby comes so we'll all be in it."

"This is all quite 'festive' but we're not here for cookies and party games." Scully interrupted the quiet moment with a sharp complaint.

Riene sighed and exchanged an amused glance with Alexei. "Drink your coffee and have a ginger cake, Agent Scully, then we'll attempt some civilised negotiations. You've been given a distorted image of what's been occurring over the last little while and it needs to be addressed." Heavily lashed eyes swept the room. "It's supposed to be a happy day, Christmas is. Surely all of you can contain your quarrels and objections long enough to have some breakfast. Mama Uritski has worked so hard to provide all of this. The coffee is her own special blend. She grinds it fresh at every brewing."

No one but Riene caught Alexei's brief frown of suspicion but then again she was waiting for it. His green eyes caught her's immediately. Alexei's brows raised in inquiry then his gaze dropped purposefully to his cup as he tilted it towards her. When Alex looked back up Riene offered him the most dazzling smile in her repertoire and a hint of a nod. His only reaction was to close his eyes and tighten his grip on his hot chocolate. Unless he was reading the situation completely wrong, Alexei decided, everyone in the room except himself, Allegra and Riene was in the process of ingesting a sample from Olga's vast array of chemical supplies...and he doubted any of them were going to be happy with the results.

Alex had hoped that whatever was spiking the food and drinks would perhaps soften the moods of his guests. He couldn't have been more wrong. The tensing paranoia showed up in Mulder and Scully the quickest but Li Ann and Mac's expressions began to sour right on the heels of the Feds. It was being directed just like a stage play. As soon as Li Ann started to grow waspish Olga showed up to haul Allegra away from the impending unpleasantness. To Alexei's surprise Mrs Uritski re-appeared a few moments later with a note requesting that Victor come away from the parlour. The ex-cop's brow furrowed and Alex had to reassure him several times before the twins could be separated.

"Are Mulder and Scully still carrying?" Alex whispered the question to Riene between fending off some rather furious accusations from Fox about Alex's role in the consortium's activities. Scully and Li Ann, on the far side of the room, had fallen into a whispered but intense discussion of something.

"Only partially." Riene's thick laugh drew glares from all about the room.

Li Ann dropped the file she had been given on a sidetable with a resounding smack. "This is nothing, simply bread crumbs." She yelled in Riene's general direction. "They've got piles of information filed away downstairs that puts these scraps to shame." One long nail poked at Scully's binder. "It's not right to hoard it all like that, to sell it to the highest bidder."

"What kind of information?" Mulder's attention snapped her way.

"It's their coin of trade." Li Ann's voice was growing more biting with every word. "It's what this family supports itself with. Buying and selling information and influence."

"Li Ann you forgot our lucrative sideline of assassinations and drug trafficking." Riene teased, although the humour seemed to beyond the grasp of their four remaining guests. "Oh and prostitution." The teenager added flippantly. "How much a night are you going for Lexi my lover."

Alex wanted to protest, to ease the fire that was starting to burn in Mac's eyes, but he didn't dare do anything but play along. They were under surveillance, he was certain of that. "Bodkin!" He forced amusement. "You know I never charge for it, not with anyone attractive at least."

"Liar." Mulder snarked. "It only costs our self-respect."

"And the occasional death in the family." Riene giggled. "But his sweet ass is worth overlooking patricide for, right Foxy?"

She pushed too far with that remark. Mulder was across the room with his hands at Alex's throat within a breath of the taunt. Alexei went limp in the clinch, having neither the strength nor the inclination to fight back.

"Ooo, Foxy." Riene cooed. She shifted, shoving her hand between the two men. Her fingers forced down to cup Mulder's groin and squeezed. "Which is it this time, lovely Fox? Are you going to fuck him before or after you beat him bloody? Can I watch?" Riene licked at the Agent's stubbled face.

Mulder's surprise at the teenager's actions loosened his grip enough that when Mac dragged the older man back Alex gagged only briefly. Mulder was flung almost into the tree.

"MINE!" Mac roared the single word then went on the attack.

"What the hell was in the coffee?" Alexei demanded of Riene as he noticed Li Ann dragging Scully out of the room. Neither woman seemed to even notice the battle their partners had begun.

"A pinch of this. A twist of that." Riene winced in sympathy as Mulder landed a solid hit on Mac's jaw. "It'll make them paranoid, prone to suggestion and scramble their thought processes a bit. Nothing permanent, Love." The brief exchange in Russian was being ignored by the fighters. "Ouch. I thought your Mac-baby was a marital arts expert?" Riene tsk-ed as the Fed landed another blow.

"Give him a minute to size Fox up." Alex forced himself to remain seated. "There he goes. See."

Mac let out a cleansing shout and went on the offensive.

"He's going to hurt Mulder." The concern escaped in his tone. Alexei's body was tensing to stand and interfere.

"Mulder still has his spare gun in his ankle holster." Riene reassured Alex. "As soon as he gets angry enough. There it is." Her fingernails dug into the tender skin of Alexei's neck, holding him back.

"JUST BACK OFF, YOU BASTARD!" Mulder shouted. The hand holding his back-up piece trembled. His other hand wiped a drip of blood from the corner of his mouth. "Just give me an excuse Ramsey and I'll splatter what little brains you have over the wall behind you." The older man was sweating profusely. "Do you understand?" The question almost screamed out.

"You'd better not blink, Fibbie 'cause it'll only take me a second to snap your neck." Mac shifted, unable to keep still. His skin was on fire and his muscles twitched with urge to kill the man who had laid hands on his mate. Even as the thought formed he halfway recognised it as primal nonsense but the power of the emotion refused to be denied.

Mulder was pressing the heel of his left hand to his wrinkled forehead. Something was definitely wrong. The anger that had seized him was too sudden, too strong. It had to be an unnatural sensation. "Krycek! What have..." The blame could only rest in one place. "What have you done to me?"

"Not half so much as he's wanted to do to you, Pretty-pretty." Riene answered for her mentor. "You must realise that Alex would happily ditch skinny Mac-baby and spend the rest of his life chained to your bed if you simply nodded his way, dear Agent Mulder." She carefully noted Mac's stance growing more aggressive with every breath. "Not that dumping Mac-baby would be a stretch. You were planning on throwing him over for your handsome Englishman come the new year anyway, weren't you Lexi-love?" The teenager's claws threatened, demanding agreement.

What Englishman? Alexei made an effort to keep his confusion at the new variable from showing. "It's the accent." The Russian ad-libbed. "The accent simply destroys me. I wish we'd met while you were still at Oxford, Foxy. I'm told you picked up the pattern of it over the course of your stay. The sound of that would've had me coming in my jeans in two seconds flat."

Mulder frowned, shaking his head in confusion.

Mac, having heard enough, couldn't resist the urge to strike out at someone. Mulder seemed the most likely target despite the still waving gun. Without any further warning the lanky young man launched himself at his rival.

The gunshot that immediately followed made Alexei cringe but the vivid emotion he felt at the look of absolute malice Mulder turned his way put that slight quaver of fear to shame.

"You have to taunt him into hurting you badly, Lover, and see if you push him into raping you too." Riene distanced herself after the brief instruction, backing away.

Alexei dragged himself to his feet. His eyes locked onto Mulder's face, completely dismissing Mac's crumpled form. "I'm impressed." Alex announced sarcastically as Mulder's gun barrel swung around to point his way. "I must scare you pretty badly, Foxy, if you've got to use a gun to keep me in line." He purred out the boasting statement. "Even when I had two arms you used to be able to handle me without a weapon. You're getting old and tired, Mulder."

The Federal agent let out an incoherent roar of anger and charged across the separating expanse. Alexei tried to direct the impact so they tumbled to the floor without bashing their brains out on the nearby furniture but he couldn't exhibit much control. They rolled to a stop nearly under the tree.

Mulder dug his fingers into Alex's shoulders and shook the man under him violently. "What have you done to me, you Bastard?" Came the demand.

"What haven't I done to you, Gorgeous? I've been fucking with your lovely head since the day I walked up to your desk and you haven't been able to protect yourself or anyone around you." Alexei bragged. "I own your ass, Foxy baby." The blow that Mulder slammed across his cheek and the heavy weight of the other man holding him down sent Alex's head into a familiar spin.

"SHUT UP, YOU FILTHY EXCUSE FOR A PIECE OF CRAP!" Mulder screamed into his captive's face, dripping spittle.

Alexei had to stifle the urge to laugh out loud as they began a repeat performance of what had happened so many times during the trip to Tunguska. He thrust his hips up and threw back his head to bare his throat to Mulder's fury. There was only a split second's hesitation before Alex felt the cleansing pain of Mulder's teeth breaking his skin. Alexei groaned out his excitement. Attempting to shift his shoulders, however, earned him a hard slam to the cold wooden floor. The magnitude of the agony from his damaged left side was startling, almost making him pass out. "Don't!" the protest escaped involuntarily but it didn't matter.

Between the wash of drugs, memory and anger Mulder was well down the path that they wanted him on. Anytime now Alex could begin fighting in earnest and screaming his head off without provoking a guilty reaction from Mulder. Riene had fled, to fetch Victor, if Alex's guess was right. He really should start fighting back if he wanted his twin to get the right impression of the encounter. Cloth was tearing, Alexei realised through the haze. He shook his head to clear it. He didn't want to miss any of this, especially since it was going to be interrupted all too soon. Cold air assaulted his skin helping to focus his attention. Mulder's hands, which had vanished for a moment, returned and blunt nails dug in trying to turn Alex over. Too fast, Alexei realised. It would be finished before the intended audience arrived. He purposefully began to struggle against the action. "Mulder, NO! Not like this!" The younger man twisted suddenly in his attacker's grasp. He almost broke free because of Mulder's shock at the novelty of Alex protesting. Still, even as the words fell from the Russian's lips his body squirmed seductively pressing into the older man's groin.

"Lying little cock-tease." Mulder concluded. With a snarl he dug his fingers into the pale skin below him, forcing Alex over onto his stomach. "WHORE!"

Alexei felt a slam to the back of his head bouncing his forehead off the floor. Christ, he was hard enough to cut diamonds at this point. It was difficult to keep wits enough about him, to keep from whining and presenting himself for mounting like a bitch in heat. "I don't want to do this, Mulder!" Alex shouted the lie at the top of his lungs so it would carry out the door. "Don't do this to me." The cry for mercy had to be forced past a clenched jaw.

Mulder was dragging his ass up into the air by his hips. "Deceitful Bastard!" A hard bite punctuated the accusation drawing another trickle of blood.

More wet heat hit Alexei's asshole. With only that dribble of saliva it was going to be a rough ride. The scream torn from his throat as Mulder shoved in with one quick stroke was genuine pain. "NYET! Stohp! Pazhaluysta Mulder, nyet." Alex lapsed momentarily. If his beautiful bastard didn't slow down Alexei was going to need stitches. Damn Riene for springing this on him without giving him enough warning to slick himself this morning. "Mulder, no. Don't. You've got to stop, Mulder. You're tearing... FUCK!" How could such sawing torment feel so damned good at the same time? Alex screamed, letting out his suffering, confusion and arousal in a single word. "STOP!"

When the smothering heat and pain was dragged off his back Alexei didn't have to fake the wail of despair and shaken collapse that followed. Mulder was raging somewhere behind him and the sound of furniture breaking touched his ears. Alex really wanted to turn and watch the battle that was beginning but the best he could manage was a glimpse before Riene's small hands were there sticking him with a tiny dart that froze up his body's responses to all that was occurring around him. Alexei was dragged down into the darkness but he took with him the sight of Victor standing over a sprawled Mulder looking the very image of an avenging angel so it didn't scare him so much as usual.

xx

Li Ann had thought they'd been careful. She'd seen no evidence of triggered alarms or that she and Dana were under surveillance. When the faint click of a gun cocking roused them from their exploration of a room crammed with over-flowing file cabinets it took Li Ann by complete surprise. Anastasia and one of the Catherines had them covered. The choice of personnel made sense. Scully had already had dealings with Stacey, briefly. There was no need to 'out' another member of the family to the federal agent.

"Ladies, a locked door does not mean 'Come on in and feel free to look around'." Anastasia's most annoying tone of voice grated out. She flicked her gun barrel, instructing them to return to the barren hallway.

Li Ann stalled, attempting to judge their chances against the two women. She could disarm one of them with ease and perhaps the other as well. That would give her and Dana guns and a margin of time to explore.

"You underestimate how precarious your situation is, Deary." Stacey's voice grew even more nasal. "But then you're thinking isn't very clear right now."

Li Ann tensed to spring.

"Perhaps, Agent Scully..." The Catherine began. "You might want to offer Olga a hand in the medical bay." She took a different approach from her elder, attempting to coax rather than issue orders. "Olga and Dr Vladovna are both competent but with three different patients and only two doctors I'm afraid Agent Mulder's less than life- threatening injuries are being ignored." She passed off the facts as if it were merely incidental. "In favour of operating on Mac's bullet wound and repairing poor Lexi's damage."

Scully reached out to lay a steadying hand on her lover. Li Ann didn't seem to be even registering the information. The part about Mac being operated on should have caught the younger woman's attention. "Take us to them." Dana tossed the sheath of papers she was holding aside. She'd been busted enough times during an illegal search to know when to give up.

Li Ann, however, was still poised on the balls of her feet.

Scully squeezed gently trying to get the other woman's narrowed attention off the guns and onto the situation. "Li Ann, they're saying that Mac has been shot. I think we should go along and see what's happened." Dana stated clearly, watching Li Ann's wide dark eyes for some sign of understanding.

"We'll never get another chance at these files, this information." Li Ann was almost shivering with tension.

"I know." Scully's regret was clear. "But I need to check on Mulder and this stuff isn't going to do us any good if we die without even reading through it. I followed you down here, Li Ann. Follow me back up. Trust me."

Li Ann shuddered then reached up to scrub her palms into her eye sockets. "I think there's something wrong with me, Dana. I feel really strange."

"It's okay. I'm feeling a bit odd myself." Scully admitted. "How about we go check on the guys then I'll look you over too?"

"Fine. I give up." The oriental woman's hands dropped to her sides, still fisted.

xx

Li Ann had a piercing headache perched between her eyebrows and her stomach was knotted into a tight ball but relief didn't appear to be in sight. The three injured men were all separated by stairs enough to make her calves ache.

She had left Scully to patch Mulder up in the sitting area of their suite.

Mac was down in the sterile confines of Olga's laboratory-medical bay with enough equipment gathered around him to seriously frighten Li Ann. Olga had made it quite clear that Li Ann wasn't welcome near the patient so she had gone looking for Alexei and Victor. It was odd that the pair of them weren't hovering near Mac's bedside.

Only after cornering a Catherine and threatening physical violence was Li Ann taken up to the third floor and pointed to the correct door. Alex was cocooned in the centre of a monstrous bed in a museum of a room with Victor and Allegra sitting guard on either side of him. Her occasional lover was a mess of bruises and bandages. His throat was decorated with blue and green marks, one eye was swollen shut, and he looked paler than she had ever seen him. Allegra sat quietly, petting Alexei's cropped black hair, while Victor held his twin's hand.

"What happened Victor?" Li Ann had yet to get an explanation from anyone. The Romanov women weren't talking and Mulder was making no sense at all when he did try to speak with his badly bruised jaw.

"You'd know..." Victor's voice was harsh. "If you hadn't gone haring off with Scully when you should have been watching out for poor Alex. What were you thinking?" He demanded of her. "Leaving him there with Mulder and Mac was just asking for trouble."

Li Ann winced. Her reasoning, which had seemed perfectly logical at the time, looked rather silly in retrospect. There was no reason to believe that the Romanov women would allow her to wander around freely, especially with a FBI agent in tow. "I'm sorry." She didn't even try to explain what she couldn't understand for herself. "Could you just tell me what happened Victor?"

"What usually happens..." He grouched. "Alex and Mulder started snapping at each other. Mac took offence." Victor frowned. "Mulder and Mac got into some kind of fist-fight that turned really nasty and Mulder shot Mac with the gun he had hidden in his ankle holster then turned on Alex. Riene came and got me. By the time I made it back to the room..." He hesitated. "Alex was on the floor under Mulder. I guess I lost it and started wailing on him. I may have broken Mulder's nose. I'm not sure. It all seems kind of distorted now." Victor continued to stare down at his twin rather than meet Li Ann's eyes. "Nicki's driver and some of the ladies showed up after that. They hauled Mac out on a blanket and separated Mulder and I. The driver and I carried Alex up here. One of the women, a short dark haired one, patched Alex up. She took off a few minutes ago to go get an update on Mac for us."

"Mulder's nose isn't broken." Li Ann offered. "Scully's with him. She says he's had worse and still walked away from it."

"I don't even know if I care." Victor mumbled. "Alex was screaming for Mulder to stop. I heard it from down the hallway. It was bad. You know Alex has never tried to push him off before no matter what Mulder's done to him but that." The ex-cop mused aloud. "Alex's arm, umm, his stump, I mean. Christ. It was bleeding but that woman..." His free hand gestured absently to the doorway.

"Marie." In a faint whisper Allegra offered a name for the woman that had been caring for Alex. "That one is Marie. She and Alex are close, I'm told."

"Yeah, Marie. She's quite the medic. She wrapped it tight, cleaned up the rest of his injuries and gave Alex a shot to stop him from thrashing around. Alex hasn't regained consciousness since I pulled Mulder off him but he was tossing in his sleep."

"You called?" The door, which had been standing opened, now contained a woman of about thirty-eight with long brown hair and a sweet face.

"How's Mac?" Victor didn't bother with pleasantries. "Shouldn't we be taking him into a hospital?"

"There was no time for that before Vicka, and now it's just a matter of waiting. A hospital wouldn't help." Marie countered. "I'm sorry." The woman's mouth pressed into a line. "He's right on the edge. The bullet seems to have torn through some tricky areas. Olga says we won't know for a few hours if he's going to be okay." Marie walked over to lay a soothing hand on Victor's shoulders. "Try not to worry too much, Vicka honey. Olga may be more of a lab tech than a practising surgeon but Daria, Dr Vladovna, is excellent at practical surgery. She's the one who attached Lexi's arm." She settled beside him, keeping her arm around him in a cosy manner, as if they were family.

Li Ann took an unconscious step backwards. She couldn't help but feel, for a fleeting moment, that they were closing ranks against her as SHE was the outsider rather than this Marie person.

"Alla, Darling." Marie addressed Allegra with a nickname Li Ann had never heard before. "Lexi looks a bit warm. Maybe you could get a damp cloth. The bathroom is through there." She pointed to a door without loosening the possessive embrace she had Victor enclosed in.

"Victor." Li Ann began. "Can I have a word with you in private?" She ventured. Something was definitely wrong.

He didn't even look up to acknowledge her. "Later, okay? I don't want to leave Alex alone right now. Why don't you go keep Agent Scully company?" He suggested in a rather distracted tone of voice.

Maybe talking to her lover was the right way to go. A bit of scientific detachment might be just the thing to help figure out what was going on around here. "I won't be long. I'm going to ask Dana to come up here and take a peek at Alex. She's a doctor too."

"She's a pathologist, a coroner." Marie corrected with just a touch of smugness. "I don't think Alex is liable to need her anytime soon. Best she simply keep an eye on Agent Mulder. No one else has the time or temperament to deal with him right now."

When no support came from Victor, Li Ann frowned and backed out of the room. She needed some help.

xx

Li Ann vaguely recalled dozing off on the couch as she was trying to explain her sense of discomfort to Dana. Both of them had been yawning enough to make their jaws sore. She'd hoped to awaken to discover her headache gone but that wasn't to be. It was cutting into her brain even more sharply than before. To make things worse a phone was ringing right beside her ear. She'd best grab it before it woke Dana. Her lover had been so terribly tired.

The receiver came away from the base of the phone with a clumsy rattle and Li Ann lifted it to her face. "Yeah?" She was in no mood for phone etiquette right now.

" Good morning. This is your ten am wake up call." A too jolly voice informed her.

"Yeah, fine. Whatever." Li Ann dropped the phone back in place. All she wanted do was cross the narrow space between her own body and where Dana lay sprawled out beside her. If she moved across the bed carefully enough she wouldn't wake the other woman and it had been almost two weeks since they'd had a chance to snuggle. Li Ann missed that even more than the sex.

Wait a minute, the bed, Li Ann's mind protested. She reluctantly dragged herself upright and looked around the room. How dare they move her about in her sleep like a sack of rice? The bedroom was completely unfamiliar. It was decorated in tasteful but non-descript modern furniture. Mulder was stretched over the other double bed snoring slightly. All three of them were still dressed in the clothes they'd been wearing since this morning. Mulder's were stained with blood.

Strangely enough most of the illumination in the room came from wide balcony doors near the foot of Mulder's bed. Li Ann wasn't aware any of the lodge's rooms had sliding glass doors. It seemed completely impractical in the chill of Alaska. Besides which, wasn't it dark all the time at this time of year?

Cursing the pounding headache still assailing her, Li Ann dragged herself off the bed and over to the bright doorway. It opened easily letting the oriental woman out onto a long balcony with an extraordinary view. "NICKI, YOU ABSOLUTE BITCH!" Li Ann screamed at the horizon. Her stomach fell to somewhere down near her toes. In the face of the scene laid out before her the wake-up call that she had listened to with only a half an ear suddenly clarified. Cantonese, the cheerful man on the other end of the phone had been speaking Cantonese.

Li Ann caught hold of the balcony railing and stared across at the skyline of Hong Kong wondering how the hell she was going to explain this to Dana and Mulder when she didn't even understand it herself.

The End

xx

Evil, I'm evil.
Milk and cookies time

Mangled Russian translations: Boot't'ih ah-stah-rohzh-nuh...be careful
Yah doo-muh-yoo, shtuh-nyet... I don't think so
Stohp... Stop (I'm not sure about this one)
T'ee-Khee... quiet
Pazhaluysta... please
Sihm-naht-tsuht... seventeen

A Gathering of Scoundrels V: Three points on the globe

Email—yes please, Jimcarla@hotmail.com
Other websites—http://members.dencity.com/CarlaJane/homepage.html
Rating: NC-17 m/m, me/f, f/f relationships... plus... and some barely under-age participants.
Classification—C (crossover)
Spoilers—just the arm thing
Keywords—Krycek, slash, crossover with 'Once a thief'
Summary: Some lovers fight, some stuff gets stolen, and the crew gets to meet Alex's charming foster family.
Date: September 1999
Disclaimers: Chris Carter, Fox, John Woo, Alliance entertainment, and the various actors and writers own everything... no profit... etcetera, etcetera. So what else is new?
A beta reader! I've finally got a beta reader, woo hoo. This story never would have been written this year if RazZadig didn't do such a wondrous job on cleaning up the worst of my boo-boos and listening to me prattle about possible plot points. The 'Alexei' who lives inside my head insists that I toss virtual kisses (and other naughtier images) down to Raz for all she's done. Thank you.
Notes: Okay, imagine this...The trio of former shadow-government agents from 'Once a thief' (Li Ann, Mac, and Victor) have a house and a business in Atlantic City, courtesy of Alex and his rather powerful crime family. Alex lives with them, and sleeps with Mac...on and off. The thieves met up with Mulder and Scully about two-three months ago and a couple of relationships are developing. This follows the timeline from my story 'Crossing Paths' which followed some other stories but you could dive in here without being too confused since the plot-line of this piece stands alone and I've done a fair lot of explaining. Victor and Alex are twins, separated at birth (an old stand-by, but useful) by a Russian spy network and reacquainted as of a year and a bit ago. I suppose the one advantage to 'Once a thief' being cancelled is that canon can never again disagree with what I want to happen. My stuff is going to clash with the sixth season of the X-files. I can't help it. So off we go into alternate universe land.
December 1998

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