"No. All we said was that we'd just closed a case in San Francisco,
where we had run into someone by the name of Alex Krycek, who looked
an awful lot like Mr. Gleason, which prompted Mulder to do a follow-up
on his case."

"Oh. Lemme guess: he foamed at the mouth, cursed me *and* San
Francisco, and wished that I *and* my fag city were irretrievably
buried in the next earthquake."

Skinner snorted. "Something like that. He also claimed you were a
child molesting pervert."

Alex jumped off the bed and started pacing nervously, muttering in
Russian. "He was always confusing me in his head with Vassily --not
that I  blame him. I couldn't tell him the truth without Papa
Wintersoul finding out; and then, when they were dead, when the truth
couldn't hurt us, he didn't believe me, " Krycek said. He abruptly sat
on the edge of the bed. "I don't want to talk about it anymore."

Skinner nodded. Michael may not have believed, but he had remembered
'the ludicrous lie' and had passed it along to Mulder. But if 'Mikey'
hadn't bought the story, Mulder had and, without another shred of
corroborating information, he had become convinced that Krycek was a
clone. Not one of the alien-human hybrid clones, but one of the
Russian Consortium's human precursor clones, which had been labeled
'The Gregor Project.'

Mulder was currently digging into whatever files he could unearth
about the project, but he had yet to find anything that connected
Krycek to the project. Which was why Skinner didn't feel obligated to
tell Krycek about it. What he *did* feel was a need to deepen his
relationship with Krycek *before* Mulder found something, because
Walter had the suspicion that this was going to turn out to be another
one of Spooky's 'quantum leap' type theories and, once Mulder
connected the dots, Alex would need all the emotional support he could
get. Walter was determined to be the one to provide the lion's share
of it.

"Considering Mikey's feelings about homosexuals in general, and you in
particular, I agree that a relationship with him is a lost cause, but
there's still Irene and Jack to consider," Skinner broached carefully.

"Mulder talked to Jack and Irene?" Krycek asked, nonplused. "They're
not even really related to me!"

"No, he didn't." Luckily, the puzzle of the look-a-like siblings had
captivated Mulder's interest so completely he had lost any interest in
finding Alex's non-blood 'siblings.' "*I did.*"

"Why?!" Alex demanded, bounding off the mattress once more. "I told
you I didn't want to put them at risk!"

"They're not at risk, Alex," Skinner said as he sat up and scooted to
the head of the bed. "And I did it because I knew you wouldn't, and I
thought you needed to, because, frankly, I think that Spender's
deprived you of your family long enough. Now, when you're ready, you
can have your family back."

"What? What do you mean?"

Skinner held up a placating hand. "Knowing Irene's maiden name, and
the year and state she married in, it wasn't hard for me to track her
down. Once I did, I called her --on a secure line-- on the pretext of
up-dating your personnel file. During that 'survey' I let slip the
fact that I had worked with you briefly, early on in your career, and
that I hoped to have the privilege of working with you in the future.

"Irene was thrilled to discover you were alive and living your dream
of being an undercover agent for the United States government, and she
promptly invited me out to Connecticut, where she's living with her
husband and three kids, expressly to talk about you.

"You --you told her I was working undercover? And --and that you
*wanted* to work with me again? Wh-- why? Why'd you tell her that?"

"Well, mostly because it's true," Skinner said. "Trying to take down
the Consortium is the most dangerous type of undercover work you could
possibly do, and I can think of nothing I'd like better than to help
you bring those bastards down.

"Anyway, I told her the reason you had ceased all contact with her and
Jack is that you knew your work could put her and her family in
danger, because the kinds of people you were up against would think
nothing of killing anyone close to you --a decision with which, as
your then supervisor, I had whole-heartedly endorsed. Then I told her
that, while I couldn't discuss most of your work, I could tell her
that one of your latest cases resulted in the neutralization of a
vicious serial killer; and that she had every right to be proud of
you."

"But-- she shouldn't be proud of what I've done! I-- I killed you! I
killed Bill Mulder! I-- I'm responsible for all the innocent lives
lost at El Rico Air Base! I'm a horrible person! How could you tell
her such lies?!" he raged.

"It's not a lie, Alex. It's a horrible war, and you've done horrible
things. That doesn't make *you* a horrible person.

"After that, I talked to Jack over the phone. He's still unmarried and
runs an art gallery in New Mexico. Alex, both Irene and Jack remember
you fondly. In fact, Irene made a point of explaining how hard you
worked to keep her and Jack out of Child Protective Services after
your parents died. She told me the two scariest times of her life were
when you ended up in the hospital and she and Jack had to spend time
in the orphanage. That's why she's never forgiven Mikey for
gang-banging and robbing you.

"That's also why she understands your decision to stay away, because
she knows that you know that worrying about you and wondering when
someone would show up to harm her family all these years would have
driven her crazy.

"But she made me promise to tell you that, when you're done saving the
world, you are welcome to come on by. That she has a chair in a corner
by the fireplace set aside just for you."

Alex sniffed, swallowing the tears lurking in the corners of his eyes.
"She said that?"

"She sure did. I told her that it would probably be a few years, but
to keep that chair ready. And she promised she would keep in touch
with me. Then she gave me a hug to pass on to you." Skinner held his
arms open invitingly.

Alex launched himself into Skinner's arms with such force, they rolled
clear to the other side of the bed.

"You did that for me? You did that for me!" Alex crowed. 

"I did. And I'll do more, if you let me."

"Oh, yeah? Seal it with a kiss?" 

Skinner latched onto Alex's mouth, sent his tongue over every tooth
and into every crevice, sucked Alex's tongue into his own mouth, and
shared a conjoined breath with him. Finally, Alex pushed him away.

"I thought you were going to get back at me, that you'd changed your
mind. That you just wanted to hurt me. But you --you really do want
me."

"Yeah. I guess there are more gays in the Bureau than even *you* knew
about, huh?"

Alex giggled. "Mr. Straight AD. You're just a big ol' Bear in a
straight suit."

"That I am. And I may not have a fireplace, but I will always have a
place for you here," Skinner said, touching his heart. "Oh, and one
other thing: Once we've taken care of Spender and company, I plan on
developing a *serious* fetish for white picket fences."

Alex grinned his million watt smile. "My very own Bear."

Skinner kissed his squirming bundle of frottaging triple agent on the
tear-swollen tip of his up-turned nose and reached for the condoms and
lube. "My very own Rat."

### 

END