—"Leave You Far Behind" by Lunatic Calm
I knew the instant I walked into my apartment that something was
wrong, off. The darkness had a weird quality of studied stillness,
far too quiet and still to be that way naturally.
I heard a gun being cocked somewhere in front of me, then behind
me, and dove to the floor. The explosions of fire and flashes of
light ripping the darkness me left me disoriented but not enough to
keep me from reaching for my own weapon. Before I got it loose,
a gun poked into my spine.
"It's been a while since we had a nice chat," Krycek said.
"We've never had a nice chat," I answered.
"Then there's a first time for everything."
The bastard must have some kind of bizarre homing signal on me,
because he usually appeared when my life was the most fucked up.
A man's head had detonated behind me just a day ago. For hours
afterward, I couldn't help wondering if Scully would have thought
me less of a man if I'd asked her to hold me until the sound and
horror of Mr. Crump's head exploding didn't seem so loud in my
memory.
I hadn't asked, of course.
But now Krycek stood in my apartment with a gun on me, again,
while I wasn't at my best. Again.
"I just saved your life. Get up, turn on the light, and see, Mulder."
Since it would help me too, I did. A man who could have been
Everythug was slumped, very dead and quite bloody, over the arm
of my couch. Krycek had emptied a full clip into him, leaving
parts of his body looking like ground meat. It was bad enough that
he had tried to ambush me, but did he have to drip blood and brain
matter on my favorite piece of furniture?
This had to be numbness talking. Shock. Had to be.
I slowly turned to look at my "rescuer." Last time we'd met,
Krycek had been dressed for Casual Friday at an office. I buried
memories of him pinning me against an alley wall... Tonight, he
looked like a noveau riche, hip urban professional in a tailored suit
that had a bit of an edge, completely unlike the cheap, ill-fitting
suits he'd worn as my partner. The glossy black fabric of the pants
begged to be touched...
No. I wouldn't go there, and I wouldn't let myself miss the leather
jacket. I would tell myself that I preferred the leather jacket
because it marked him as the street thug he was.
Even aside from the expensive clothing, he looked g— healthy,
rested. He used to look haunted and worn, his life of selling
secrets to anyone while being hunted by everyone taking its toll on
his body. The Conspiracy must have taken him back in.
It didn't surprise me. How could that group possibly harp on
loyalty?
"I only have your word that he was here to kill me."
"Oh, sure, he could have been here to kidnap you and pick your
brain, which wouldn't be too bad."
I didn't answer. I wasn't up to a verbal duel with him, especially if
he really had saved my life, even if only for his own reasons.
Somehow it figured that if I had to have a guardian angel, it would
be Lucifer.
"I told you about factions in the Syndicate," he said. "This idiot is
from one that's too impatient to let the Smoking Bastard's plan
work."
"Which is?"
"Bore you to death until you give up. You can't handle doing a job
that doesn't challenge you. Welcome to the work life of 98.9% of
the world's population." Before I could protest that, he smirked
and asked, "What did you do to your hair? Fall into a hedge
clipper? And you sneer at my 'stupid-ass haircuts.'"
"Fuck you, Krycek."
"You should watch what you wish for." The gun traced a light line
down my back. "I have an offer for you, Mulder."
My stupid mouth asked, "You're propositioning me, Krycek?"
Maybe I should just cut out my tongue; it would make my life
easier.
He ignored that in favor of walking slowly around me in a close
circle. "Are you happy with your job at the moment?"
He wasn't even touching me, but I felt his presence on my skin like
an itch. "What do you think?"
Around and around... "Your talents are being wasted on
busywork. Your boss seems to get his main source of
entertainment out of fucking with you. It was fun at first ducking
out on Old Man Kersh to do X-Files anyway, but sneaking out and
watching your back all the time tires you out." I felt his gun stroke
down my arm for a moment. "I know what that's like."
"We have nothing in common."
"You know better, Mulder. We both know that it never stops on
its own; you have to take matters into your own hands."
I bit my tongue hard. I would not say it, I would not say it... It
would just needle him uselessly.
"You sure you don't want to say anything? Good. I think we can
come to an agreement."
"I don't make pacts with the devil."
"But they're so lucrative." He stopped behind me suddenly, and I
could hear him inhale. Warm breath stirred the hairs at the nape of
my neck. "What have you been into? You smell like blood," he
purred.
Still? I spent hours washing afterward. I shivered. "It's nothing
you need to know."
He shrugged. "Whatever. So, the deal is this: you keep flouting
Kersh's authority, and I'll take the conspiracy's leaders down from
the inside. Simple. Nothing you wouldn't want to do." I realized
that he wasn't walking around me in a circle, but in a spiral,
moving closer and closer in to me at every revolution.
Why was he suggesting this? Was it reverse psychology? Was I
supposed to become a good little drone for Kersh once Krycek told
me he wanted me to disobey my new AD?
My mind went into overdrive trying to figure out the angles. What
he wanted me to believe versus what the truth was. He always had
at least three separate agendas running at once.
He drove me crazy. But I missed the challenge when he wasn't
around.
This close, I realized that he still smelled faintly of leather. The
scent of that and gunmetal helped me remember that, no matter
how many different personae he took on, he remained the same at
the core.
"You can't expect me to believe that you're going to take down the
Conspiracy just to help me," I said.
His eyes echoed his sharp, gleaming smile. "There's nothing
wrong in killing two birds." He moved in closer just when I
thought he couldn't possibly. "I know a secret," he said into my
ear, sounding as if that was the greatest aphrodisiac.
Frighteningly enough, he was right. I shivered from the breath at
my ear and sneered, "Only one?"
"No, but this one's more important. You're not going to ask what it
is?"
"If I did, I don't think you'd tell me."
"Isn't it strange to be right for once?"
Then he was kissing me, and I was kissing him. To my surprise,
he tasted of peppermint. His gun, so close to being a little too hot,
stroked my cheekbone in a rhythmic pattern and spoke of danger,
pleasure, and near-pain. The fabric of his suit felt as good as it
looked, smooth and warm, almost stroking my hand back. Under
it, he felt solid and hard, strong.
I told myself that I was feeling vulnerable, looking for comfort
from any source available—
Fuck it. I knew why I was doing this.
As good as it felt to have him here, doing this, it seemed almost
anticlimactic. Inevitable. We'd been heading here too long for
this to be a surprise.
When he parted our lips a moment for a breath, he took advantage
of the break to rub his face against mine. Marking me? The catch
of stubble and odd sensuality of the move almost undid me right
then, but it also gave me a chance to realize that I was making out
in front of a corpse with its killer. I couldn't quite decide if that
was a turn-on or turn-off.
Eerily reading my mind, Krycek said, "I could close his eyes if
that's bothering you."
Or he could just have noticed the direction I kept glancing in. "I...
can't do this." Inevitability didn't mean I couldn't fight.
His smile looked only slightly patronizing. "Sure, you can.
Maybe not tonight, but eventually."
He smelled of secrets, danger, and sex. He made me tolerate
things I never should just to keep him with me. "No."
"Do you want me to go, then?"
No. Yes. Shit.
He wasn't supposed to give up so easily. It disturbed the hell out
of me. Was he really so certain that I'd come around sooner or
later?
He finally holstered his gun and crouched next to the body. "At
least help me dispose of the corpse. I made it saving your
worthless ass."
I hadn't had a corpse in my living room for... oh, almost a year
now. That time I'd used it as a stand-in for me, and I didn't
appreciate the reminder of the ruthless deceit I'd used then. I
didn't have anything in common with Krycek, but he just
couldn't be happy unless I was complicit.
I couldn't call the police on this; even if I explained the scene as a
break-in I'd foiled, I'd still have to deal with the questioning,
paperwork, and suspicious stares of cops who were called to this
apartment far too often. I also couldn't let the body rot here, and I
had no doubt that Krycek would walk away to let me deal with it
alone if I refused to help him.
I crouched down near the corpse, filling my eyes with the ravaged
flesh. This had been done for me.
"I have a plastic shower curtain in the hall closet near the
bathroom." Wonderful what uses I made of my profiler
background.
He nuzzled my neck, short hair caressing my ear, before he stood
and said, "That's my boy."
I'd forgotten that the devil always started to collect on his debts
immediately.
THE END Libra
Parallel Lines
by Viridian5
"I want to take you on a roller coaster.
I want to tell you that I'm feeling closer.
I want to push it right over the line,
I want to push it right over the line,
The line that you draw when you draw me near.
The line that you draw when you draw me near.
I want I want I want I want I want I want I want I want
I want to leave you far behind..."
Your career may not be headed in the direction you think it should
be. Your stellar performance may bring yawns from those you
hoped to impress. Don't take it too personally when someone
doesn't understand you. Keep doing the same thing, but take steps
to change the perceptions of others. Turn a problem into a
challenging solution! You could be in for a surprise if you haven't
been paying attention lately. Someone assumes that you made an
agreement, and is still waiting for you to perform. Just because you
don't think you've made a covenant is no excuse for ignoring it.
