Sinful 5 / Tulips 5
Attachments

Orithain

January 1999

Disclaimer: All X-Files characters belong to CC, Fox and Universal, and everything Once a Thief belongs to John Woo and Alliance. But Sin and her family and friends are all mine!

Once again, Vic, Mac and Li Ann sat listening to the Director brief them on a new case without Jackie. Li Ann could barely restrain a gloating smile when she thought about the reason for the other woman's absence. Jackie had disobeyed the Director's order to stay away from her former associates, and the Director was expressing her displeasure by putting Jackie on KP for the next four weeks. Li Ann felt a warm glow whenever she thought of the blonde up to her elbows in dish suds.

"If I might have your attention?" The Director's cold purr cut across her thoughts, drawing her back to the present. Li Ann started and threw her an apologetic look.

"What do you mean, the perpetrator was carrying arms? Isn't that a given for a murderer?" Vic asked in confusion.

The Director sighed. "You misunderstand. The witness saw someone run away carrying arms, actual human arms. We are currently assuming that the...thief, for want of a better word, had nothing to do with the murder, simply took advantage of an opportunity. He seems to be in the business of harvesting body parts, not creating the bodies."

"Eww!" Mac was revolted.

"That seems to be this person's trademark. He keeps pieces, different each time, of each victim. So far," she tossed down a folder full of pictures that made even Li Ann turn green, "he has taken two arms, one foot, a heart, a pair of eyes and three legs." "Is the pattern to what he takes from each consistent?" Li Ann recovered quickly.

"Not that we've been able to discover. And we've found out that there have been similar crimes in various areas of the States over the last seven years, each time eight to ten thefts before they stop, only to start again several months later somewhere else. When we started looking into these crimes, we discovered that there is an active FBI case. I've spoken to the agent in charge, who happens to be a top profiler and whose partner is a forensic pathologist. The two of them will be arriving in an hour to work with you on this case."

"Graverobbing and stealing body parts? This sounds like something out of Frankenstein. How is it any of our business?" Mac still looked repulsed.

"Because I say it is," the Director replied coolly.

No one had any more to say.

An hour later Vic and Mac were waiting at the airport for the two agents, Fox Mulder and Dana Scully, while Li Ann had gone to check out the scene of the latest crime. Vic and Mac wondered how they were supposed to recognize the Americans. Then they noticed a tall man, expensively dressed, heading directly toward them accompanied by a short redhead in a tailored suit. As they approached, Vic's cell phone rang, and he turned away to answer it, so he missed the way Mulder and Scully stared at his back. Mac, on the other hand, noticed immediately and moved closer to Vic, eyeing Mulder challengingly.

Mac's show of territoriality was wasted on Mulder, who was watching Vic with an expression of increasing confusion. When Vic finally turned around to find himself the focus of three pairs of eyes, Scully gasped, and Mulder took a step toward him.

"Alex?" he asked in confusion. Despite appearances, this man didn't feel like Alex, didn't emanate that air of danger that he'd come to associate with Alex.

Vic looked at him blankly. "Agent Mulder?" he asked, wondering if these were actually the American agents or two escapees from the local home for the insane. At Mulder's nod, he continued, "I'm Victor Mansfield. Mac, our other partner and I are going to be working with you on this case."

Mulder continued to stare at Victor in disbelief, making the younger man uneasy. "Is something wrong, Agent Mulder?"

Mulder shook his head slightly. "I'm sorry, Mr. Mansfield - Victor? - it's just that you look amazingly like a friend of mine."

Mac relaxed slightly at the explanation, but Vic just looked like Mulder was nuts. "It's always possible to see some resemblance between any two people, Agent Mulder, but-"

Mulder cut him off. "Just Mulder. And it's not just a resemblance. It's uncanny; you could be him. You could even fool me based on appearance alone."

Vic didn't seem convinced, so Mulder pulled out his wallet and offered a photograph to him. Vic found himself staring at a picture of Mulder, a gorgeous blonde, and -- himself! "What is this?" he demanded suspiciously. "Some kind of trick?"

"Well, much as I've often considered Alex Krycek to be some kind of joke on the universe," Scully spoke up finally, "what you see is quite real, no trick photography involved. As Mulder said, physically, you seem to be absolutely identical. When this case is over, we should really get the two of you together to compare. I'm sure there must be a logical explanation."

Mulder just rolled his eyes at the idea that he would be here for an unknown length of time without Alex and Sin showing up. He'd be willing to bet that they were already somewhere in the city, just waiting for the right moment to let him know they were there.

Mulder would have won his bet. Even as he and Scully were meeting Vic and Mac, Alex and Sin were checking out the scene of the latest crime. They'd split up to cover more ground, so Alex was alone when he came face to face with an attractive Asian woman.

"Vic? What are you doing here? I thought you were going to the airport with Mac."

Alex stared at her in confusion.

"Victor?"

Alex spun around at the sound of the new voice, finding two odd looking men staring at him.

"Was there some reason you decided to join us here, Victor?"

Again with the Vic and Victor thing. Who the hell were these people, and why were they calling him Victor?

"Who are you people?"

"Vic? Are you okay? You're acting really weird." The woman reached out to touch his arm, and Alex jumped back, pointing his gun at her.

"Vic, what's wrong? Did something happen?" Li Ann was getting worried, and she could see Murphy and Camier moving into position to take him down.

"Look, there's obviously some kind of misunderstanding here. I don't know you, and my name isn't Vic or Victor; it's Alex Krycek."

Li Ann exchanged concerned glances with Murphy, and she slowly moved closer to Vic.

"Okay, that's enough! Everyone just stay where you are."

Li Ann and the Cleaners stared in the direction of the new voice, seeing a blonde woman pointing a gun at them. Taking advantage of their momentary distraction, Alex moved back, putting his back against the wall, and covering the three lunatics. Once he was situated, Sin moved down to his side, both of them staring at the other three. Sin automatically moved closer to Alex so they touched.

"Vic! What are you doing? Who is this woman? How could you do this to Mac?" Li Ann was stunned; she'd never have believed that Vic would cheat on Mac.

"Once and for all, my name is Alex Krycek! I don't know you or anyone named Mac!!!"

"Oh my god!" The shocked exclamation drew everyone's attention to the doorway where they saw...Victor. Victor, who was staring in total amazement at his double. Vic slowly paced forward until he was standing in front of Alex, whose jaw was hanging. Sin, still nestled against his side, stared from one to the other. Even at this close range, they were absolutely identical.

The two men stared at each other, even more shocked than everyone around them. Weird theories about alien conspiracies and alien cloning experiments raced through Alex's mind. Vic was too stunned even to think. Li Ann came up with the most logical explanation.

"Are you guys twins? Were you adopted, Vic?"

Vic shook his head, and when they compared birth dates, it turned out that Alex was almost a year older than he was. So much for the simple explanation. Obviously, they weren't going to figure this out here, so they put the problem aside and tried to concentrate on the case after everyone was introduced. They soon realized that there was nothing to be learned in the empty warehouse and decided to head back to the Agency to inform the Director of ICIN's interest in their case. Mulder doubted Sin would do more than announce their presence no one ever really questioned ICIN.

On the way back to the Agency, Vic was nearly completely silent while Mac drove. Glancing in the rearview mirror, Mac started to laugh, drawing Vic's attention. "Check it out, babe. We look like a parade." Vic glanced behind them and had to laugh. Scully was directly behind them in her and Mulder's rental car, followed by Sin and Alex, who had been joined by Mulder. Then came Li Ann, with Murphy and Camier close behind. They did look like a small parade.

"It's a good thing we're not trying to be secretive." Vic was still grinning, and Mac was pleased that he'd managed to draw him out of his introspection. Then Vic sighed heavily. "We really do look alike, don't we? This is so weird. I don't know what to think or how to act."

Mac reached over, putting one hand comfortingly on Vic's knee. "You don't have to do anything, Vic. So he looks like you. He's not you, and he'll be gone soon."

Vic looked over at Mac in frustration, though he did put his hand over Mac's on his knee. "It's not that simple, Mac. We look too much alike for it to be a coincidence. There has to be some kind of explanation, and the only people I can think of who might be able to provide one are my parents. God! I swore I'd never go back there, but now I'm going to have to."

"Is it really that important, Vic? It could just be a coincidence, you know. I'll admit it's weird, but I can't see how it could be arranged."

"That's just it, Mac, I think it could be. Didn't you notice how Krycek and Mulder reacted? They were surprised, but they were also suspicious. Hell, for that matter, so were Agents Scully and Soldat. They obviously came up with a few explanations and just as obviously didn't like them. I need to know, Mac, and maybe at the same time I'll finally find out why my parents, who clearly can't stand each other or their children, have stayed together all these years." Vic threw his head back against the headrest and stared at the roof of the car.

Mac tightened his grip on Vic's knee for an instant before withdrawing his hand, knowing that Vic needed some space just then.

The Director surveyed the group before her, noting the cool stares she received in return from the two American women. This should be interesting. Her gaze paused when she reached Alex, flicking from him to Vic and back. When she looked at Mulder moments later, she found him staring back at her, gaze slightly unfocused, eyes narrowed. Having read his file, she wondered just what he was finding out about her. She wasn't left in suspense for long.

"You already knew." It wasn't a question.

"I have no idea what you're talking about, Agent Mulder."

"You weren't really surprised to see Alex. To see him here yes, but not by the sight of him like everyone else was."

"And your point is?" Mulder was treated to the silky purr that intimidated her agents into silence. Of course, Mulder was well-known for not respecting authority figures.

"My point, Director, is that you know something about this, and I will find out what it is eventually." Mulder treated her to the smug smirk that had infuriated assistant directors at the FBI for years.

Matching stares with him, the Director decided that this was one battle she wasn't going to win just then. She turned her attention back to the case file, telling them to interview the witness before she left.

Li Ann and Scully headed for Nathan to intimidate him into researching the previous mutilations or thefts or whatever they were. The other five decided they might as well work together and set off for the home of the witness.

Mac requisitioned a van from the Agency when it became obvious that they were going to be spending most of their time together, and on the drive he and Vic watched the other three curiously. From what they had seen back at the warehouse, Alex and Sin were a couple, but right now Alex and Mulder were looking pretty chummy. Staring into the rearview mirror, Mac met Sin's amused gaze.

Knowing that the two in the front seat were watching, Sin unfastened her seat belt and slipped back to the seat that Alex and Mulder were sharing, settling in Mulder's lap with her legs over Alex's. Ignoring their startled expressions, she started to kiss Mulder, who didn't actually put up much of a fight. Then she pulled back with a final nip at his lower lip and shifted over so she could kiss Alex. Mulder helped her reach Alex by twisting around some himself until he was angled toward the younger man and putting an arm around Sin to support her. He leaned his head back, watching as Sin and Alex kissed.

Sin started to nuzzle into Alex's throat, and Mulder took possession of his lover's mouth, tracing the damp lips before probing inside. Alex moaned his pleasure into Mulder's mouth, thrusting his tongue forward to tangle with Mulder's even as he arched his throat into Sin's bite. He brought one hand up to Mulder's face, gently cupping his cheek while they continued to kiss. When they finally had to separate for air, Mulder leaned into that caressing palm for an instant before turning his head to drop a tender kiss in the center. Sin released Alex's throat with a final lick and leaned to the side to rest her head on both their shoulders, her back resting against Mulder's chest, and both men's arms around her and each other.

Alex rubbed his cheek against the top of her head. "What brought that on?"

"It had just been a while since I kissed you both." Sin shrugged and snuggled closer.

"Sin?" Mulder sounded less than convinced.

Sin couldn't restrain a grin any longer, and she nodded toward the front of the van. Both men looked up to find Vic twisted so far around in his seat that he was nearly falling on the floor and Mac about to drive off the road while he watched them in the mirror. Alex snickered and Mulder blushed. Mac returned his attention to the road barely in time to avoid running over several pedestrians who hadn't expected to find a van careening up the sidewalk, and Vic spun forward so fast he almost gave himself whiplash. Sin buried her face in Alex's shoulder to smother her laughter.

Fortunately, they arrived at the witness's home only moments later, and they all got out of the car. Vic and Mac kept throwing quick glances at the other three, so Mulder stopped before they reached the door.

"Do you have something you want to say?"

"Are you... the three of you... " Mac couldn't figure out how to ask the question politely.

Mulder just stared back inquiringly, not making it any easier on the Canadians.

Sin sighed and stepped up to Mulder's side, drawing Alex with her. "Yes, the three of us are. Do you have a problem with that?"

Vic laughed, sliding an arm around Mac's waist. "Hardly."

The other three grinned when they realized that Vic and Mac were a couple. Li Ann had mentioned something about that back at the warehouse, but neither Sin nor Alex had really registered her words, being more concerned with the Cleaners who were circling around behind Alex.

Alex watched Mac out of the corner of his eye, curious about this man who was his double's lover. Vic noticed Alex's inspection, but he wasn't in any position to object since he was checking out Sin and Mulder for the same reason. They finally looked at each other and grinned. Alex had to look away as an idea occurred to him.

At that moment, the door of the house opened and a man peered out, wondering why all these people were standing in the middle of his walk. Mulder was the first to notice him and stepped forward. "Mr. Veldin? We're sorry to disturb you, sir, but we'd like to ask you some questions about what you saw last night."

Mr. Veldin regarded them suspiciously. "I already told the police everything I know."

"Yes, sir, we understand that, but we're not with the police. I'm Special Agent Fox Mulder of the FBI, and I've been asked to work with the Canadian authorities on this case."

"FBI? Why would the Americans be involved." Veldin seemed to be growing more suspicious by the minute, so Sin stepped in.

"Because this case seems to be connected with one already being investigated in several states, sir. Would you be willing to answer our questions?" She smiled sweetly at him.

Mr. Veldin smiled back, motioning for them to come in. He led Sin into the living room, offering her a drink, and barely even noticing the four men who followed and who watched in awe as Sin got every detail of the previous night from the man just by smiling at him.

Once she had gotten every scrap of information from Mr. Veldin, Sin thanked him and stood up to leave. She was startled when he leapt to his feet and grabbed her arm to hold her, but not nearly as startled as he was when Alex shoved him away from Sin and Mulder punched him. He found himself lying flat on his back in the middle of the living room floor with five faces staring down at him.

Sin herded her two lovers out of the house, and after a moment's thought grabbed Vic as well, leaving Mac to calm the man and make sure he wasn't going to sue any of them.

"What did you grab me for?" Vic wanted to know. "I didn't do anything."

"No," Sin sighed, "but Alex did. I have trouble telling the two of you apart, so I doubt Mr. Veldin can."

Vic, his mouth already open to argue, subsided at her comment. This having a double was going to take some getting used to.

Mac joined them after a few minutes, saying that he had managed to convince Mr. Veldin that it had all been a misunderstanding and he shouldn't sue anyone. "Of course, mentioning that Sin could countersue for assault helped."

"Assault? He barely touched my arm!"

Mac shrugged. "It worked, didn't it?"

The five of them piled back into the van to drop the Americans off at their hotel, then Vic and Mac headed home to change before meeting Li Ann at their usual bar

When they got home, they found Allegra in the living room with seven of the nine Henderson children, apparently babysitting, and they fled to their bedroom for a quick shower.

Locking the bedroom door behind them, Vic glanced over at Mac wryly. "So much for any plans we might have had. Sorry, Mac, I know you never expected Alice to end up living with us."

"I happen to like Allegra, Vic. I'm just worried about the missing two kids. They could be anywhere." He looked around suspiciously. "Let's just hurry up and shower and get out of here."

After a relatively quick shower where they contented themselves with washing each other, they returned to the bedroom to get dressed. Watching Vic reach for his usual jeans, Mac suddenly spoke up.

"Vic?"

The other man grunted in response.

"Would you mind wearing something else tonight?"

Vic turned to stare at him. "What's wrong with my jeans? Just because I'm not a clothes horse like you..."

"A clothes horse?! What do you -- No! Good try, Victor, but you're not distracting me that easily." He stared mournfully at his lover. "You know perfectly well you look incredible in jeans, but I just want to see you in something really nice for a change. Please?"

Meeting the big brown eyes, Vic sighed, wondering why he bothered arguing. He could never manage to say no to Mac when it was something he really wanted. With a last wistful glance at his comfortable jeans, he put them aside and pulled out a pair of black dress pants and a green silk shirt that matched his eyes. At least that's what Mac had told him when he insisted on buying it for him. Then he had to rummage in the bottom of the closet to find his black loafers while Mac watched, wondering if they really had to meet Li Ann. Finally finding the shoes, Vic emerged from the closet, seeing the look in Mac's eyes.

"No way, lover. We are going to meet Li Ann. I refuse to have any more Vic and Mac jokes going the rounds of the Agency! Think cold thoughts and get dressed." Vic hurried to follow his own advice, much to Mac's disappointment.

Half an hour later, the two men were settled in the booth in the back corner of the restaurant, nursing two beers while they waited for Li Ann to join them. As usual she was late.

Vic was facing the rest of the bar, and he could see that no one was nearby, so he decided to have some fun. Sliding one foot out of his loafer -- he had to admit that they were a hell of a lot easier to remove than his usual boots -- Vic placed his foot in Mac's lap.

Mac froze in place with the beer bottle half way to his mouth, staring at Vic in disbelief.

Vic began to move his foot around, tracing the hardening outline in Mac's pants, making the other man gulp and hastily replace his beer on the table. Vic smiled wickedly, meeting Mac's eyes and stroked him rhythmically.

Mac bit down on his lip to prevent a moan from escaping. By now, both hands were clenching the edge of the table, and he had shifted forward on the seat. He suddenly realized that Li Ann was standing beside the table watching them -- again! He looked at her helplessly, unable to say a word as he held back the sounds of his pleasure.

Li Ann shook her head, grinned, and sat down beside Mac, turning her body slightly sideways to block him from the rest of the room. Seeing that, Victor suddenly slid under the table after a quick glance around the room to make sure no one was watching.

Mac's eyes shot wide open when he felt Victor's fingers unfastening his pants and drawing out his erection. He could feel warm, moist breath on the head of his cock, and he nearly whimpered when Vic pulled him forward to the very edge of the seat. He couldn't see under the table, so he was entirely dependent on his sense of touch to tell him what Vic was doing. Just as Vic drew the head into his mouth, suckling on it, the waitress came over to ask Li Ann what she would like.

Glancing at the empty seat on the other side of the booth, she asked, "Will your friend be coming back? Shall I bring him another drink?"

Li Ann chuckled faintly. "Yes, he'll be back in a few minutes. Something -- came up." She coughed to cover the sound of the snicker from under the table and hoped that the waitress hadn't noticed Mac's convulsive jerk at the vibrations of Vic's amusement. As soon as the woman left, Li Ann leaned toward Mac so she could watch Vic sucking him.

Vic had the entire length of Mac's cock down his throat, and she could just imagine what his nimble tongue was doing to it.

Mac didn't have to imagine it; he could feel it. Vic was stroking his length with his tongue, easing it in and out of his throat, massaging him with his throat muscles, occasionally backing off just enough to lap at the head with his tongue, probing gently at the slit before sinking back down on him. Mac gasped, knowing that he couldn't last much longer.

Li Ann recognized that gasp and suddenly kissed Mac, covering his mouth with her own and muffling his cry of completion as he exploded into Vic's mouth. Vic stayed with him till he had milked every drop of come from his lover, then licked him clean just in case he'd missed any and tucked him back into his pants. He then crawled back up into his seat and was sitting serenely when the waitress returned with their drinks.

Mac just stared at his lover in disbelief. He was supposed to be the uninhibited one, but Vic kept making love to him in public places, never seeming to care in the least that they might get caught. And Li Ann always seemed to be there for the -- climax. Mac groaned out loud at that thought. They might as well just offer her a ringside seat beside their bed.

"Vic! Why...what... how could?" Mac sputtered.

"Didn't we already have this conversation? I wanted you. I like looking at you after you've come and knowing that I made you look that way." Heavy lashes shielded green eyes for an instant. "I like knowing that I'm the only one who can do that to you."

Mac just smiled back and covered Vic's hand with his own briefly. Then both men turned their attention to Li Ann, curious to find out if she'd managed to pry any information out of Nathan.

Unfortunately, after two hours with Nathan, Li Ann and Scully had left with little more than they'd arrived with. There quite simply was no more information to be had. It was going to be up to Mulder's profiling abilities to help them.

Mulder went up to Alex and Sin's room after Vic and Mac dropped them off at their hotel, stopping just long enough to cancel the room he had already reserved. Now that the other two were there, he had no intention of staying in a room alone, not that they would have wanted him to. Of course, since Sin had made the reservations, they had the penthouse. Looking around, Mulder could see that they were not going to suffer any discomfort from their accommodations while working on this case.

Mulder headed for the larger of the two bedrooms to put away his suitcase and unpack. He briefly wondered if they should offer the second bedroom to Scully, but the thought of an audience didn't interest him. For that matter, Scully would probably refuse for that very reason.

Placing his suitcase on the table at the foot of the bed, Mulder leaned over to unpack, only to find that Alex had followed him into the room. He could feel the younger man pressed up against him, his hardening cock nestled between his cheeks. Keeping his head down, Mulder grinned and decided to have some fun. He pushed back against Alex and reached both hands back to cup Alex's ass and pull him in tightly. He straightened up, rubbing against his lover, and felt Alex's hands clench convulsively on his hips. Satisfied that Alex wasn't going anywhere, Mulder released his grip on his ass and leaned his torso just enough forward to shrug off his jacket. Then he rested back against Alex again, turning his head to lick at Alex's throat while he unfastened and removed his tie.

Alex moaned at the sensation of Mulder's tongue stroking over his throat, and his hands tightened again.

Mulder hid his grin against Alex as he unbuttoned his shirt and again leaned forward to take it off. Alex's hands moved up over the newly exposed flesh, stroking Mulder's torso, tracing his muscles, lightly scratching ever upward until he reached already hardening nipples. It was Mulder's turn to moan as Alex teased his nipples, gently circling around them without ever actually touching them. Finally, unable to stand it any longer, Mulder grabbed Alex's hands and dragged them to his nipples, pressing them against himself.

Alex chuckled into the soft hair pressed against his cheek and plucked at the rigid buds of flesh, enjoying Mulder's sounds of pleasure. He kept that up for a little while even when Mulder removed his own hands, dropping them down to his belt.

Mulder toyed with his belt buckle while he toed off his shoes and socks and kicked them away. He could feel Alex's fingers hesitate in their play, waiting to see if he would take the next step. He paused a moment, teasingly, until Alex pinched his nipples, making him arch into the touch and gasp. He fumbled at his belt, taking several attempts before he managed to undo it and his pants. He pushed his slacks and boxers over his hips, stepping out of them with a little unnecessary squirming that had Alex rigid as steel against him.

Once Mulder was naked in his arms, Alex walked him over to stand in front of the cheval mirror, holding him there until he opened his eyes. "Look, Fox, watch yourself while I touch you. See how beautiful you are, what I see when I'm making love to you."

Mulder whimpered at his words, rubbing his head against Alex's shoulder while he watched one of Alex's hands stroke his cock and the other one come up to cup his throat, pressing lightly. Mulder arched into Alex's touch, begging for more with his eyes. He stared into the reflection of Alex's eyes, watching them dilate as he touched Mulder. The sight aroused him even more, and he shuddered. He was so hard he was aching, and he didn't think he'd be able to hold out much longer. He always wanted Alex, and watching him like this was making him crazy. He could see Alex's hand moving faster on his cock, feel it, feel his teeth nip at the side of his throat which he still cupped in one hand, holding Mulder tightly to him. A slight motion caught his eye, and he looked into the mirror again, seeing Sin standing in the doorway watching them.

When she saw that he had noticed her, Sin smiled at him, letting him know that she was happy just to watch for now.

Mulder turned his attention back to Alex, again meeting his eyes in the mirror. He could see Alex's total concentration on pleasuring him, and he felt his balls tighten, knowing that he was about to come. He pressed his ass back against Alex's denim-covered erection, whimpering at the feel of the rough fabric against him. He lowered his eyes, watching Alex's hand moving on him, tugging at him, his thumb rubbing over the head of his cock and spreading the fluid that was dripping from the tip. When Alex lowered his other hand to cup his balls, it was too much for him, and he exploded, the sticky white fluid meeting its own reflection as it splashed across the mirror, looking for all the world like two Mulders coming on each other.

Alex continued to stroke him until the last drop was forced from him, supporting him when his knees weakened momentarily, then reaching around him to scoop up some of his semen on one finger, bringing it to his mouth to suck it clean. Mulder watched in the mirror as Alex closed his eyes to better concentrate on the flavor, an expression of sheer pleasure on his face. When Alex scooped up some more, Mulder intercepted the finger, drawing it into his own mouth and licking it clean, nibbling on it, sucking it deep into his throat to show Alex what he wanted to do to him.

Alex moaned and stepped back, tearing his clothes off, heedless of buttons ripping off his shirt, pressing his naked body against Mulder's only seconds later. He pressed down on Mulder's shoulders, urging him to the floor. When Mulder was down on his hands and knees facing the mirror with Alex kneeling behind him, Alex reached out and scooped up more of Mulder's come from the mirror and the puddle on the floor, stroking it into Mulder's ass. He easily slid a finger inside the pleasure-loosened muscle, hooking it over his lover's prostate, bringing him arching up against Alex. He rubbed that pleasure point several times, drawing a series of moans from Mulder, before pulling the finger out to replace it with the head of his cock.

Mulder could feel Alex pressing against him, sliding inside him, and despite his explosive orgasm only a few minutes earlier, his cock twitched at the pleasure of the feeling. He bucked back, wanting Alex now, needing to feel him deep inside, howling at the sensation when Alex rammed into him, hitting his prostate and pulling back to do it again and again. He raised his head, watching Alex fuck him in the mirror, dropping down to his elbows so he could see Alex's cock pumping in and out of his ass. He spread his legs farther apart, trying to let Alex go even deeper inside him.

Alex opened his eyes, seeing Mulder watching them in the mirror, and when Mulder wet his lips with the tip of his tongue, Alex reached down and yanked him up, seizing that tongue between his own teeth, then biting down on his lip as the pleasure exploded through him. With one last jerk of his hips to bury himself deep inside Mulder, he came, crying Mulder's name. He collapsed over Mulder's back, and the other man slowly sank to the floor, enjoying the sensation of his lover draped over him.

After a few moments luxuriating in the feeling and smell of Mulder under him, Alex pushed up, staggering to his feet and drawing Mulder up after him. They moved over to join Sin on the bed where she had settled down to watch them. Alex grinned down at her, seeing how she was flushed and panting. "Enjoy the show?"

She almost growled as she yanked him down beside her, rolling against him to claim a kiss. She could only whimper when she felt Mulder lie down on her other side and both her lovers turned their full attention on her. Alex seemed determined to kiss her into unconsciousness, with her full cooperation, while Mulder was stroking her body, his hands closely followed by his mouth. Within moments, she was as naked as the two men, and four hands and two mouths were exploring every inch of her. She gasped when Mulder settled between her legs, his tongue lapping up her moisture before settling on the rigid pleasure point while he easily slid three fingers inside her. Alex had returned to his exploration of her mouth, his tongue stroking over every surface, and he swallowed her cries of pleasure. He had one hand clenched in her hair while he supported himself on that arm, and the other hand was caressing her breasts, teasing her nipples to aching hardness. After having watched Alex and Mulder together, it didn't take long for Sin to come under their combined attentions. When she lay limp again, Mulder slid up to kiss her, letting her taste herself in his mouth.

Alex pulled Mulder over for a kiss of his own before they all lay back, soon falling asleep in a tangle of limbs.

Mulder, Scully, Sin and Alex were still having breakfast in the hotel restaurant when Vic and Mac arrived to pick them up the next morning. The two newcomers pulled up chairs and ordered toast and coffee while they waited.

"Where's your partner?" Sin wanted to know.

Mac shrugged. "She'll meet us at the Agency."

"But you two travel together?" Scully asked curiously.

"Well, yeah, since we live together," Vic replied, momentarily forgetting that Scully hadn't been with them when they explained that. Her startled blink reminded him. He waited tensely to see if it was going to be a problem for her, although considering the relationship her partner had with the other two agents, it seemed unlikely.

Scully looked from Vic to Mac, then from Alex to Mulder, sighed and shook her head. "It's really not fair," she muttered into her coffee cup, prompting a snort from Sin.

"I'll be sure to tell Skinner you said so," Sin teased, earning a blush and a glare from Scully.

Scully turned back to Vic, ignoring the snickers coming from her partner and Alex. "So you two are partners?"

Vic grinned and explained the tangled relationships between him, Mac and Li Ann. Scully decided it was even more confusing than Mulder's love life.

"So how'd you go from both being in love with Li Ann to living together?"

Vic laughed. "It's a long story involving a leather bar, a nutcase with delusions of grandeur and tulip bulbs. Let's just say that we finally realized that we wanted each other, not Li Ann, and leave it at that."

After that description, Scully wasn't sure that she wanted to know more, so she was quite happy to drop the subject. Since everyone had finished eating, they headed out to the van to go to the Agency.

When they arrived, they found Li Ann and the Director waiting for them. "So nice of you to decide to grace us with your presence," the Director purred.

Scully simply arched an eyebrow before sitting down. Sin, however, purred right back, "I'm glad you recognize the honor." The four men threw hunted glances at the door.

A faint chuckle escaped the Director, and she waited till everyone was seated before continuing. "There's been another... theft. This time, our body snatcher raided a local funeral home, stealing the head of a young woman who was to be buried tomorrow. As you might imagine, her family is somewhat disturbed by this development.

"There is, however, one positive aspect to all this. The funeral home, for reasons I do not care to contemplate, has video surveillance of every room, so once we get the tapes, we'll see just who we're looking for."

"Once we get the tapes?" Mulder asked. "Haven't you already confiscated them?"

"Unfortunately, the management is not admitting to the existence of the videotapes, so we have no official recourse." She looked at Mac and Li Ann as she said that.

"Then how do you know they exist?" Mulder pressed.

The Director merely looked at him.

The Americans and Vic spent the next hour trying to get some information from Nathan, a process that wasn't helped by his reaction to seeing Vic and Alex together. He practically fell to his knees in front of them, which irritated Vic and amused Alex. Mulder was grateful when Mac and Li Ann returned with the tapes since he didn't know how much longer he'd be able to keep Alex from playing up to Nathan's belief that he was some kind of prince. He forcibly pulled Alex behind him on their way back to the conference room to view the tape.

Watching the tape, even the Director was momentarily struck speechless by what they saw.

"Are you sure you didn't steal a copy of the Hunchback of Notre Dame by mistake?" Vic wanted to know, still staring in disbelief.

Mac just shook his head since that was a pretty good description of the man they were looking at. About 5'5" in his stooped over position, with deformed features, mousy brown hair that looked like it had been cut with a weedwacker, and with abnormally long arms, the man was hardly someone you'd miss in a crowd.

"How could he get away with this for so long? He'd have to be noticed where ever he went," Scully pointed out.

"He must live a very reclusive life, have an independent source of income or work in some field that allows him to work from home, software design or testing perhaps," Mulder said. "Human nature being what it is, I doubt that he has much positive interaction with his neighbors, which probably explains why he moves so often. I'd guess he remains in one place until his anonymity is threatened, and then he moves on."

"So he must live in some relatively unpopulated district, somewhere where it's possible for him to come and go unseen, where he doesn't have to worry about neighbors dropping by for a friendly chat," Li Ann added.

"Exactly," Mulder nodded. "This man is a complete loner, though I'd guess he's starving for human companionship. We're fortunate that he's essentially nonviolent by nature or he'd be killing people to get the parts that he wants. I very much doubt that he's been given much reason in his life to revere human life." "This is all very nice," Mac said, "but how do we find this guy? Tell the police to watch for Quasimodo?" He flinched under the glares he received from all the others. "What did I say?"

Vic shook his head in disgust. "Sometimes, Mac, you have all the sensitivity of a turnip."

After discussing the matter fully, the Director set Nathan to searching through property records for any purchases between the time of the last theft in the most recent series in the States and the start of this one, with a focus on out of the way areas.

With nothing to do until Nathan came up with some addresses, Vic invited everyone back to his and Mac's house for lunch. Scully, wanting to see the body that had been vandalized, declined, but everyone else accepted.

Pulling into the driveway, Vic and Mac were amused by the others' reactions to their neighbors. They'd gotten used to them, but they supposed the sight of Mr. Zaminsky standing in a crater he'd dug through the snow and ground, swinging an axe at tree roots in a treeless yard, was a little startling.

Alex did a double take at the Henderson's front yard, staring at the Nativity scene with the life-size elf that still stood there.

Sin's attention was held by the three mewling kittens stuck to the adhesive outside the Zaminskys' side door.

Following Vic and Mac to the front door, the three Americans glanced back one last time, just in time to see Katey and her tribe of children troop out the door. Mulder practically pushed the others inside in his haste to put distance between himself and the children, and he wondered if someone had drugged him again. From the moment he'd met Vic, things had just kept getting weirder. Maybe he'd wandered through the looking glass without noticing.

They all went into the kitchen where Mac made coffee while Vic started preparing lunch. Everyone offered to help, but he said he had it under control, much to the relief of those who knew Mulder's abilities, or lack thereof, in the kitchen. They sat around the huge kitchen table talking while Vic chopped vegetables and grated cheese for omelets.

Alex kept eyeing Mac curiously when he didn't think anyone was looking, and Vic checked out Mulder and Sin at every opportunity. Both were extremely curious about the other's lovers, not to mention each other. Of course, everyone was aware of what they were doing and was entertained by it.

Finally, Mac decided he'd had enough, stood up and walked around the table to Alex. He pulled Alex to his feet and into his arms for what started out as a quick kiss to appease both their curiosity but which quickly turned passionate. Mac was shocked to find that Alex even tasted like Vic, but he had a very different style. Vic was sexy as hell and liked to take the lead as often as Mac did, but Alex was downright primal. He threw his whole body into a kiss, turning into a purely sexual being.

Alex slowly leaned back against the counter, maintaining contact with Mac's mouth the whole way so the younger man ended up sprawled over him, off balance. Then Alex spread his legs so that Mac settled into the cradle of his hips, their burgeoning erections pressed together.

Vic very calmly put down the ingredients he was chopping and the knife, turned off the stove and walked over to Mulder. Meeting his eyes and seeing Mulder's agreement, Vic straddled Mulder's lap and sat down, leaning in for a kiss. He licked Mulder's lips, nibbling on the full bottom one, as fascinated by it as Alex always was.

Mulder made the same discovery that Mac had already made, that Vic and Alex tasted the same. He opened his mouth wider, inviting Vic in so he could make a more thorough comparison. He reached down to cup Vic's ass, pulling him in closer, and Vic cooperated by scooting forward on Mulder's lap. They explored each other's mouths, exploring every ridge and hollow while pressing close. Finally, with a last caress of his tongue over Mulder's, Vic withdrew and stood up to go back to making lunch.

Mac pulled away from Alex, moving behind Vic and wrapping his arms around the older man while he prepared the omelets. Alex took Vic's place on Mulder's lap, kissing him to make sure he remembered who he was supposed to be in love with. Mulder certainly had no complaints about his lover staking his claim.

Sin and Li Ann had ignored the men, discussing the case over their coffee while they waited for them to finish their experiment. Their conversation came to a sudden halt when Alex reached over and grabbed Sin, dragging her onto Mulder's lap with him. She laughed and curled into the space between their bodies contentedly.

Vic carried the steaming omelets to the table, eyeing the trio as he did. Seeing that they didn't seem in a hurry to separate, he placed their lunches together at one place.

About an hour later, the agents were done eating and had cleaned the kitchen. Nathan hadn't called yet, so they decided to go back to join Scully while they waited for his call.

While Mulder and the others headed back to the Agency, Nathan, trying to help two princes of the Illuminati, was in a taxi heading for Vic's home with the information he discovered about their body part thief. Due to his attempts to make sure no one followed him, backtracking and changing taxis no less than eight times, it took him well over two hours to get there.

When he rang the bell, he was surprised to see a young woman open the door. He flinched back, clutching the files to his chest and staring at her suspiciously. "Who are you?"

"Allegra, who're you?" She unobtrusively grabbed hold of the marble vase on the table beside the door.

"Nathan."

Allegra stared at him suspiciously. "Yeah, and?"

"I work with," he paused, looked around to make sure no one was near enough to hear, and lowered his voice conspiratorially, "Victor."

Allegra looked at him like he was nuts. This was a secret agent? No way. "You work with my brother?"

"Your brother? You're one of them? I'm sorry, I didn't know. Here, I have information that Victor wanted," he brandished the file, "I came to bring it to him."

Ah, a research geek. But he's kind of cute. Allegra stepped aside, motioning to him to come in.

She's so pretty. But she's a princess of the Illuminati; I couldn't dream of reaching so high. But the sunlight on her hair looks just like light reflecting through a beer bottle. Nathan followed her into the living room, sitting on the couch and nearly jumping out of his skin when Allegra sat beside him.

Allegra leaned toward the cute but jumpy guy. "Would you like something to drink?" When he nodded jerkily, Allegra jumped up and went into the kitchen for a beer. She brought it back to him, but she tripped over a toy that had been forgotten the day before when she was babysitting the Hendersons' kids. The beer ended up all over Nathan, who yelped at the cold shower and jumped to his feet.

When he leapt up, he banged into Allegra, who stumbled back, falling over the coffee table and landing on her ass. Nathan ran around to help her, but he skidded on the wood floor and ended up falling smack on top of her.

The two of them stared at each other in stunned amazement from their prone position. Neither of them could ever be sure who moved first, but the next thing they knew, they were kissing.

"Nathan? Are you here? The Director said you came to bring me a file. Nathan?" Victor's voice was growing more impatient as he walked into the living room.

Nathan and Allegra turned their heads, staring in amazed dismay at Victor. Vic stared back, his jaw hanging slack at the sight of his only sister lying on the living room floor in the arms of Nathan. This was worse than anything the Director could ever imagine doing to him.

Mac followed Vic, stopping dead at the sight that met his eyes. He grabbed Vic and the file he saw lying on the table, hustling his partner out of the house before he could shoot Nathan. Whatever was going on could wait till later.

"They...she...Allegra...Nathan!!" Vic might not be managing sentences, but his horror was clear.

"Later, Vic. Allegra's a grown woman, and we have a case to solve."

"But Nathan!!"

"Later!"

Vic subsided, trying very hard to wipe the image from his mind, but he couldn't. It was Nathan! "You saw it too, right?"

"What did you see, Vic?" Mac asked cautiously.

Vic glared. "You know damn well what I saw! Nathan lying on top of my sister, kissing her!"

"Oh. That. Uh, yeah, I saw them, but it looked pretty mutual to me."

Vic growled.

Mac decided silence was the better part of valor and pressed harder on the gas as he drove them back to the Agency.

Everyone eyed the silently fuming Victor curiously from time to time, but they concentrated on the contents of the file Nathan had unearthed. Their culprit, Quasimodo as Mac still insisted on calling him, was one Beau Larkin, originally from a tiny town in Tennessee. The man was a genius at designing software, and that coupled with his unfortunate physical appearance had prompted him to leave home as soon as he could. As far as anyone could tell, he'd never been back. He also seemed never to have gone out on a date or even had a friend in his entire life.

"So what's he doing with the body parts?" Alex asked in total confusion.

"Maybe he's trying to replace his own disfigured parts?" Li Ann hazarded.

Mulder stood silently, staring at the photograph of a man who'd been alone his entire life. Who are you, Larkin? What need do you think that you can fulfil with these pieces of dead bodies? Why do you keep trying to do whatever it is you're doing? What do you need? He frowned, unconsciously kneading Sin's shoulders where she stood slightly in front of him and pressing his leg against Alex's beside him. Suddenly he froze, his automatic touching of his lovers, his need to touch and be touched, consciously registering. "Love." Can it really be that simple?

Mulder blinked and looked around, finding himself the focus of seven pairs of expectant eyes. "Love," he repeated. "The one thing Larkin's never had and everyone needs. I'd say he's seen Frankenstein one too many times."

Li Ann was the first to follow his reasoning. "You think he's trying to build a lover?" She sounded faintly queasy.

"A friend, a lover, maybe both. This guy has been alone his entire life. Even his parents tried to hide him away. Maybe he figures that building a person who belongs to him is the only way to have a friend."

"But putting dead body parts together is not going to reanimate them," Scully pointed out logically.

"I doubt he's stopped to consider that." Mulder shrugged.

"Okay," Sin said, "assuming you're right and Larkin," she emphasized the name with a glare in Mac's direction, "is trying to create companions for himself, how does that help us?"

Mulder frowned, still trying to get inside Larkin's head. "Well, we know he's not going to be interested in badly injured bodies." He hesitated, then continued, "Probably not attractive people either. I'd bet that if we check all his previous 'victims', every one of them will have some kind of handicap or disfigurement. He'd want someone who'd understand how he felt."

"But he's taking pieces of different people! How can he expect the -- er, finished product -- to understand anything?" Mac was baffled and repulsed.

"I never said he was sane," Mulder pointed out. "I'm actually amazed that he manages to function at all in society."

"So what do we do now? We don't even know if he's keeping the parts at his home. And if he never goes out, how are we supposed to search the place?"

The Director spoke up finally. "You will watch his house in pairs until he leaves. Then, one of you will follow him, hopefully catching him in the act, while the other breaks into his house and searches it." She split them into pairs, separating all the lovers. With them being alone in a car for six hours at a stretch, she had no intention of tempting them to pay attention to something other than Larkin. So Mac ended up teamed with Mulder, Vic with Sin, Scully with Li Ann, and Alex got Dobrinsky. That last pairing had Mac nearly killing himself laughing and wondering if he could get a camera in the car. The combination should be explosive.

Li Ann and Scully got the first watch, so they left right away. That left the others, except for Dobrinsky who would join Alex when it was their shift, to research Larkin's victims, which meant bringing Vic into the same room as Nathan. Mac wondered if he could steal Vic's guns without him noticing.

They found Nathan cowering in a corner, trying to hide. He absolutely refused to meet Vic's eyes, scurrying behind Alex and Mac for protection. Vic glared at him and caressed the butt of his gun, but he made no other move. First, he knew that the little research geek was useful, and second, if his sister really was interested in the guy, she'd kill him if he did anything to him.

Despite frequent fearful glances thrown Vic's way, Nathan quickly pulled up all available information on Larkin's victims, and they found that Mulder was right. Each of them had had some kind of birth defect, injury or disfigurement, and it was the 'defective' parts that he took. He was obviously trying to create someone from what society rejected.

Vic paced back and forth, darting the occasional glare at Nathan, who cringed each time. The Director entered in time to see this performance. "Why, Victor, you're entering the running for Most Intimidating." Without waiting for any response, she sashayed out again, leaving the Americans baffled.

Vic groaned, buried his face in his hands momentarily, then dropped heavily into the nearest chair. Mac moved to his side, putting a hand on his shoulder. Vic unconsciously covered the hand with his own, pressing it into his shoulder.

Having gotten all the information they were going to, the agents returned home or to their hotel until their shifts. Shift after shift was completely uneventful, Larkin never so much as peeking out a window, never mind leaving the house.

Mac, of course, got bored, but Mulder, used to Alex, either ignored him or gave back as good as he got. It wasn't quite the reaction Mac was going for, but at least it wasn't boring and helped pass the time.

Li Ann and Scully discussed many things during their hours in the car, but they always seemed to return to their partners, how cute they were together, and how often they had to be bailed out of trouble by a sensible woman. "Unfortunately, Sin's no help," Scully added. "She's even crazier than Mulder and Krycek put together. Nothing fazes her."

Sin and Vic spent their time discussing his amazing resemblance to Alex and comparing details of his and Alex's life, hoping to find some explanation.

Alex, however, had fun when it was his turn on stakeout with Dobrinsky. He spent his time pretending to be putting the moves on the other man, who reacted with suspicion and dismay. He didn't think the Canadian was homophobic, but he was straight and very uncomfortable when Alex started touching him. With a few light fingertip touches on Dobrinksky's knee, Alex had the other man backed into a corner of the seat like a Victorian virgin defending her honor. He was hard put not to burst into laughter, especially when Dobrinsky realized what he was doing.

He moved back to a more comfortable position, but the whole process was repeated as soon as Alex started leaning toward him as he spoke. Alex wondered if he could bring the man home with them for his sheer entertainment value.

Eventually, however, Larkin did leave his house one night after dark while Vic and Sin were on watch. Vic followed the deformed man while Sin easily broke into his house. She checked out the ground floor, noting that it was immaculate and nicely decorated. Larkin apparently liked to surround himself with attractive surroundings to balance his physical deformities. Nothing appeared out of place, no spare body parts lying around waiting for her to find them, so she headed down to the basement next.

Everything looked normal and aboveboard, but Sin noticed that the room was much smaller than the area of the ground floor. After a bit of searching, she found a concealed entrance to the other half of the basement. Walking through, she found herself in what looked like Frankenstein's laboratory. Mulder was closer to right than he knew with that movie reference. She was startled when her cell phone rang.

Answering the call, Sin found that it was Vic, calling to tell her Larkin was heading home again. Before she could make her way back upstairs, Vic told her that Larkin was at the front door, letting himself in. Cursing Vic for waiting so long to call her, she told him what she'd found and told him to call the others. Then she heard Larkin coming down the stairs, and she hid.

Larkin stopped when he saw the door open, dropping the bag he was carrying and pulling out a very large knife. Watching from her hiding place, Sin winced both at the size of the knife and the two heads that rolled out of the bag.

While Sin watched Larkin uneasily, the various other agents converged on his home, bursting in and charging down to the basement only a few minutes later. None of them had been far away, all feeling that it was going to come to a head soon.

Seeing them come through the doorway, Larkin yelled and started throwing things, beakers, test tubes, body parts, whatever he could reach. Mac gagged when a liver hit him in the chest, getting a sudden flashback to a van full of lungs and other assorted organs from the time he and his partners were investigating what turned out to be illegal organ transplants. He hastily shoved the liver off him, remembering when he and Vic got locked in cold storage with the harvested organs later. It was a pity that had been before the two of them got together; they could make much better use of the time now.

Mulder was the first to get close to Larkin, and he reached out to grab the man, causing Sin to yell out a warning, too late. Larkin's hidden hand flashed forward, the knife in it slicing deep into Mulder's arm.

Alex and Sin both yelled Mulder's name and ran to his side, firing off a couple of blind shots in the direction Larkin had fled. They dropped down beside him, relieved that only his arm was wounded, but still worried by the amount of blood.

"Fox?" Alex sounded terrified.

"I'm okay, Alex. Give me a few stitches, and I'll be good as new."

Alex still maintained a deathgrip on his lover even after pulling off his shirt and tying it around his arm. Mulder tried to sit up, but Alex held him down across his lap while Sin stroked his hair over and over.

"God, Fox, you scared the hell out of me. We almost lost you," Sin said shakily.

Meanwhile, the others were still trying to apprehend Larkin, who was now armed -- with an arm. He was laying about with the disembodied limb, hitting the agents with it whenever they came in range. The agents were more repulsed than injured, but he was still managing to hold them off.

Alex looked up, saw what was going on, saw the man who had just injured his lover holding off the other agents, and completely lost his temper. He pulled out his gun and shot him in the knee, dropping him where he stood.

"Why not kill the sonofabitch?" Sin snarled.

"Because he suffers more alive than he ever could dead," was Alex's icy response.

Sin nodded her agreement before completely ignoring Larkin in favor of getting Mulder out of there. She and Alex helped Mulder upstairs, ignoring his protestations that it was his arm that was injured, not his legs. They took him to the hospital, leaving the others to finish up with Larkin. Several stitches later, Mulder was free to leave, his lovers insisting that they go directly back to the hotel.

Mulder had fallen asleep from the painkillers as soon as he hit the bed, and Alex and Sin sat on either side of him, leaning against the headboard, watching him sleep. They were more shaken by Mulder's injury than he was, having thought they'd lost him when they saw the bright flash of the knife blurring toward him.

Mulder woke up, wincing at the pain in his arm. His eyes fluttered open at the sense that someone was watching him. He found both Alex and Sin watching him unwaveringly. "Have you two been sitting there watching me all this time?"

Both nodded silently. Mulder frowned up at them, wondering at the continued silence. "Is something wrong?"

"Why did you rush against Larkin when you knew he had a knife?" Sin asked sternly.

Mulder blinked. "That's my job. Was I supposed to let the others go after him while I hung back to protect my own skin? I won't do that, not even for you. Either of you," he added, glancing at Alex.

"We're not asking you to shirk your duty, just not to throw yourself heedlessly in the line of fire. You nearly got yourself killed unnecessarily today." Alex still hadn't said a word, and it was starting to make Mulder nervous.

"Alex?"

Alex met his eyes directly, and Mulder flinched from the rage burning there. Never taking his eyes from Mulder's, Alex stood up and shucked his clothes. Since Mulder had stripped down before lying down to rest, there was nothing between them when Alex straddled Mulder at the waist.

Alex had never in his entire life been more terrified than when he'd seen that knife heading for Mulder, and his fear had turned to anger when he saw that Mulder would be all right. Now he needed to release that anger, and where better than on the person who caused it? He reached under the pillows, pulling out some silk scarves they'd left there previously. He tied Mulder's wrists to the two bed posts, then blindfolded him with another.

Mulder gasped at the loss of vision, now concentrating utterly on Alex's touch. And Alex gave him a lot to concentrate on. As soon as Mulder was blindfolded, Alex bent down to bite him on the shoulder, hard. Mulder jerked when he did, a cry escaping him. Alex continued biting his way along Mulder's body, occasionally drawing blood. Despite the pain, Mulder was hard under Alex, turned on by his lover's roughness.

Not to be left out, Sin straddled Mulder's face, pressing his mouth into her. "Come on, Fox, make me come. If you do, maybe then we'll let you come. Or maybe not," she laughed.

Mulder opened his mouth, stroking his tongue over and into Sin, making her squirm as he fucked her with his tongue. He alternated long, languid strokes with short, hard thrusts, drinking the wetness he brought from her while she moaned above him.

Alex was still nipping and biting every inch of Mulder's body, slowly working his way to the straining cock, leaving his marks everywhere. He retraced his path to the reddened, hard nipples, biting down on one while he tweaked the other viciously, drawing a muffled scream of pleasure-pain from Mulder. Alex nipped Mulder's inner thighs, tugging on the hair there as he had done along Mulder's belly, then raised Mulder's ass, licking the length of the crevice between his cheeks and up to his balls in one long stroke. Then without warning, he withdrew completely.

"Do you like that, Mulder? Huh Fox? Answer me!" He punctuated his demand with a hard nip on Mulder's belly.

Mulder yelped, arching off the bed, and managed to gasp out a "yes" despite being muffled by Sin.

"Good boy," Alex praised. "And you'll never put yourself in danger like that again, will you?" He waited, then scraped his teeth the length of Mulder's cock.

Mulder cried out and promised to do anything Alex said.

"Very good, Fox. Just for that, I'm gonna give you a reward. You want your reward, Fox?"

Mulder could only whimper his affirmative, desperate for anything Alex would give him.

Alex reached under the pillows again, this time pulling out a tube of lubricant. He applied a very little bit to Fox's ass, just enough to ease his entry so he wouldn't hurt Mulder, but little enough that this would still be a rough ride. He slowly pushed inside, feeling Mulder's heat. As soon as the head of his cock was past the ring of muscle, Alex started to thrust hard, taking Mulder roughly. Alex's anger required it, and by now Mulder wouldn't have been satisfied with anything else.

Sin turned around, remaining on Mulder's mouth but now facing Alex, able to see his pleasure and anger as he slammed into Mulder. Sin bent forward, taking Mulder's cock into her mouth, sucking hard while her tongue fluttered along the ridge beneath the head.

The sudden stimulation proved too much for Mulder, and he screamed his pleasure as he came, biting down on Sin, making her come too. As she did, she straightened up, grabbing Alex by the back of the neck and dragging him into a kiss, sharing Mulder's taste with him. Alex thrust into Mulder a few more times, pinching his nipples hard, then came deep inside him, filling his belly. Mulder groaned in sympathetic pleasure when Alex shuddered against him. Finally, Alex collapsed on top of Mulder, panting, and Sin rolled off to lie beside him. Alex reached up a trembling hand to push Mulder's blindfold off and unfasten his wrists.

"Fox?"

"Mmm?"

"Fox, wake up." Alex's voice grew sharper.

"What?"

"I meant what I said, Fox. You promised not to endanger yourself like that again."

Mulder pushed up onto an elbow to stare down at Alex. "I won't stop doing my job, Alex." He frowned at the younger man.

Alex stared back unwaveringly. "And I will not watch you die needlessly. I can't do that, Fox. If you don't care about your own life, care about mine. If you die, so will I."

Mulder stared, remembering that he'd realized that about Alex when he'd been captured by Cancerman. "Alex --"

"Mulder, I'm not trying to threaten you or to make you give up your job. Just...don't take unnecessary risks. Please."

Mulder nodded slowly. That was fair. He gathered his lovers into his arms, and all three lay quietly, just enjoying being together.

Scully flew back to Washington the next day, but Mulder put in for three weeks vacation. Alex wanted to try to find out why he and Vic looked so much alike, and if they managed to figure it out in a shorter time, they would take some time away for the three of them.

Vic and Mac also asked for some time off, and surprisingly received it. They invited Alex, Mulder and Sin to stay with them, and the Americans accepted, deciding it would make more sense. So after seeing Scully off, they brought their bags over to Vic and Mac's just in time for lunch.

They settled into the guestroom upstairs, then went down to join Vic and Mac, stopping surprise at the sight of the young woman sitting at the table with them. That was nothing to her reaction when she saw Alex. She dropped her glass.

"Moose?"

Vic realized he'd forgotten to warn her. "Sorry, Allegra. This is Alex Krycek, Fox Mulder and Sin Soldat. Guys, my sister Allegra."

"Sister?" Alex couldn't keep the wistful tone from his voice.

"Who are you?" Allegra was still shocked.

"Alex Krycek, like Vic said. If you mean why do we look alike, we have no idea. We hope to figure it out though."

Allegra shook her head in amazement, tossing her bag on the table. As she did so, her wallet fell out, landing in front of Mulder. When he picked it up to hand to her, the inside ended up facing Alex, who gasped and grabbed it.

Everyone stared in surprise, but Alex wasn't paying any attention. "Where did you get this picture?" he demanded.

"Those are my parents," Allegra replied, eyeing him warily.

"That's impossible! These are my parents." Alex inspected the picture closely, looking more and more bewildered. "But this can't be. They're too old, and wearing recent fashions. My parents died when I was nine, more than 25 years ago." He stared around in bewilderment. "What's going on here?"

Mulder took his hand comfortingly.

Vic sighed in resignation. "I don't know, but I know who can give us some answers." He hung his head for a moment, unable to believe he was about to say this. "We have to go see my parents."

"I'm coming too," Allegra stated emphatically. Since it was her family involved, no one felt they could deny her.

The next morning, bright and early, the entire group of them arrived at the Mansfield home, Mac and the others somewhat startled by the opulence of the mansion they saw. They'd never realized that Vic came from such a wealthy background.

Vic took a deep breath and moved out of sight of the door. Alex stepped up to the door and rang the bell, wiping his sweating palms on his jeans. Mulder and Sin stood to either side of him, each with a hand on him to calm him. Alex watched nervously as the door opened, nearly falling over when his mother appeared. No, not his mother, this woman was older than his mother had been when she died, but this was how she would look if she were alive today.

"Victor? What are you doing here?" she asked coldly.

Alex opened his mouth, but nothing came out.

"Well, Victor? Did you have something to say, or are you just wasting my time again?"

Alex frowned. She might look like his mother, but she acted nothing like her. This woman was already irritating him, and he eyed her as he would a target. The woman flinched, gazing at him in confusion, obviously registering the dangerous aura Alex radiated.

"Victor?" This time she sounded tentative.

"I'm not Victor, I'm Aleksei."

Mrs. Mansfield reeled back, a hand to her throat. "A-Alek-leksei?"

"Yes, Aleksei Krycek."

"Gospodi."

"Kto ty? Kto ya?" Alex pleaded with her to explain.

Vic stepped forward to stand beside Alex, staring at his mother. "What did you just say?"

"It was Russian. I asked her who she was, who I am," Alex replied.

"You speak Russian?" Vic stared at his mother.

"I am Russian." Seeing the stares she got from the entire group, she stepped back. "You'd better come in."

Once everyone was seated in the living room, Alex between Mulder and Sin, and Vic with an arm around Allegra and beside Mac, Alex turned his attention back to Mrs. Mansfield. "You knew who I was as soon as I said my name. How?"

She sighed and looked down at her hands in her lap. "Because I saw you born. Your mother was my twin sister, and your father, my husband's twin brother. We were both identical twins."

"And it was sheer coincidence that two pairs of identical twins chose to get married?" Mulder sounded less than convinced.

"No. Aleksei's parents fell in love and wanted to marry. When he realized that we were two pairs of twins, he decided that it was the perfect experiment. He insisted that Paul and I marry as well and have a child as soon as possible to see how similar our children would be. When he saw Aleksei and Viktor, he was amazed. He wanted us to keep having children to see if it would keep happening, but Irena had difficulty becoming pregnant again. Then she lost a child, and then the accident. After that, he decided that it was best to keep Alyosha and Viktor apart, so we were sent here, and told that we must continue the marriage."

"So that's why you always hated us," Vic realized, "you never wanted us. You never even wanted to be married."

"Who's he?" Mac wanted to know.

"I never knew his name, he was just the man in charge, who smoked constantly."

"Cancerman!" the Americans chorused.

"What the hell does he have to do with me?" Alex snarled.

"Don't worry, love. We'll find out," Mulder stated.

"I have answered your questions, now please leave." Mrs. Mansfield had recovered her composure, and with it her coldness.

Alex, Mulder and Sin left Toronto the next day, promising Vic that they would keep him posted on everything they found about his and Alex's births. Sin invited them to come down and visit whenever they wanted, suggesting Easter as a good time for a family get-together.

With hugs shared between newly discovered relatives, the Americans left to hunt down Cancerman and find out just how he was involved in Alex and Mulder's lives.

END

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