"Krycek. I see you've already made yourself comfortable. Good."
The lady smiled and sat down at her desk. Krycek glared suspiciously.
"I'm not comfortable. I'm just giving the impression of being comfortable to trick you into a false sense of security which I will eventually use to my advantage when killing you."
The lady's smiled froze for a few seconds, then returned with laughter.
"Oh, I see. Your kind of humour, is it?"
Krycek smiled with only his mouth.
"If believing that would make you feel safer, then yes."
They eyed each other for a few seconds, each testing the other. The lady broke contact first, giving in to the penetrating stare coming from the emerald-eyed man. Krycek smiled evilly to himself as though a unspoken game of wits had just been won.
"This is not a competition, Krycek," the lady said. "It is just a test of your personality."
"Sore loser, hey," Krycek baited mockingly "Mulder's just like you, you know. Can't stand to lose. He gets a bit violent though when he loses." He smirked cheekily. "Not that I mind, because I work that boy like a puppet. Always have, always will."
The lady smiled.
"He thinks he has the upper-hand over me," Krycek continued on. "He can be so naïve sometimes, it's amazing he's still alive."
"You really like talking about Mulder, don't you?" the lady inquired, poker-faced.
Krycek snapped his head up to stare at her accusingly.
"What do you mean by that?" he spat out.
The lady smiled slightly.
"You know what I mean, Krycek. I didn't even mention Mulder, but you just managed to talk about him for the last few minutes."
She stared at him defiantly. Krycek glared at her in response.
"Why do you help him?" the lady continued on. "Why is protecting him to your advantage?"
Krycek began to look like a cornered animal.
"What's it to you, lady? I have my reasons and I don't need to explain them to you." He began to feel slightly flustered. "Mulder means nothing to me. I'm just using him like I use everyone else."
The lady continued on in her interrogation, not willing to give in just yet.
"I think you are lying, Krycek. I think Mulder means a lot to you. I don't think you have any... 'profitable'... reason for helping him."
She paused in her accusation, and smirked.
"I think you have feelings for him."
Krycek face heated up as he spluttered out an indignant response.
"You think I like him?! Mulder?!" He snorted in ridicule of the idea. "Don't be stupid. I haven't stayed alive this long by letting personal feelings affect my work."
"So you admit that you have 'personal feelings' for him?" the lady baited.
Krycek tried desperately to keep his temper on a short leash.
"What? I didn't say that. Don't try and trick me, lady. You will regret it," he warned convincingly.
The lady just smiled sweetly.
"I am just judging my conclusion from the available evidence."
Krycek gave her a questioning glare.
"Explain. Now."
The lady settled into her chair and stretched her hands out, placing them behind her head as she relaxed back. She stared him directly in his eyes.
"You kissed him."
Krycek opened his mouth to respond, then shut it again suddenly as he realised only a carefully thought out reply would make him feel on safer ground. His eyes stayed on the lady for a moment, then darted around the room nervously in a quick reflexive search for available escape routes and potential weapons. The lady acknowledge his reaction by ticking a few boxes on her pad of paper. Krycek, by that time, was halfway out of his chair and eyeing a nearby letter opener with a homicidal look. The lady, in one swift movement, pulled a gun out of her desk drawer and clicked the safety off. Krycek froze.
"Take a seat, Krycek," she ordered. "I think you should feel at home with guns being pointed at you."
Krycek gave her a twisted smile and slowly returned to his seat.
"Now respond to my statement, please," the lady said. "You kissed Mulder. Why?"
Krycek's expression froze as he silently cursed her in both English and Russian for having a good memory. Suddenly he smiled in overdone innocence.
"Kiss of Judas," he replied. "I kissed him to fool him into believing that I was his friend. Now I will betray him." He smiled at his quick thinking. "Simple as that."
He leaned back in his chair and began to imitate the lady's relaxed pose, before suddenly realising that his prosthetic arm wouldn't allow him to reach both his hands behind his head. He silently cursed all plastic aids. Meanwhile the lady had leaned forward in her chair and met his stare.
"You lie," she stated simply.
"How would you know?" replied Krycek, slightly put off. "You're a shrink, not a psychic."
The lady smiled.
"My job involved being able to tell when someone is deceiving me. I am also an expert in reading personalities. I conclude that you are lying."
Krycek opened his mouth, but for a lack of response, he closed it again. Suddenly his expression changed.
"Maybe you're right. Maybe not," he said with a carefree attitude. "Maybe I could convince you to never raise that subject again."
The lady raised an eyebrow.
"Is this a threat or a bribe?" she inquired sweetly. Krycek smiled seductively.
"A bribe to begin with. A threat if necessary."
He batted his impressive eyelashes at her.
"What do you have that I should want," the lady asked, interested to hear his proposition.
Krycek grinned.
"State your need. It will be done."
The lady smiled, impressed.
"I'll take a rain-check for now," she responded after a moments contemplation. "But don't worry," she continued on. "I will not forget."
Krycek grinned while rising from his chair.
"Of course not. I didn't doubt it for a second."
Indicating to the lady that their interview was over, he strode more confidently towards the door, and after turning to shoot her a conspiring glance, he exited. The lady paused in the room long enough to tick boxes down her sheet of paper, then followed him into the waiting room.
*******
The remaining one to be interviewed raised his head on their return, and grinned evilly at the lady. Krycek, meanwhile, strode over past the recovery bench, pausing only long enough to give Mulder a flustered look, before taking a seat next to Methos. They swapped smug grins. The lady looked down at her notes.
"Kronos. Last but not least," she stated.
Silence followed. The lady glanced up from her notes to notice the chair that the man have previously occupied was now empty. Her forehead creased. Suddenly she heard a noise behind her.
"If you don't get in your office and interview me now, I will use the fifty-three possible weapons in this room to make you die slowly and painfully."
The lady smiled without turning around.
"Ah. Kronos. I should have known."
And with that, she turned and strode into her office, pausing only long enough to tick the first box on a fresh piece of paper.