Freeze
by Te
6/98
thete1@earthlink.net

(with thanks to Alicia for title and beta, wotta gal she  
is...)

******

//Too late I'm too late again...//

Mulder pounded breathlessly into the abandoned penthouse 
apartment, snagging his trench on the splintered remains of 
the door his quarry had

//How did he *do* that?//

shattered on the way in. 

"Krycek, freeze! I won't hurt you!"

//much...//

He was rewarded with a snort of pure amusement from the  
younger man, impossible to interpret it otherwise even with  
only a view of his back. Alex was perched half-in, half-out 
of the window.

"I suppose the gun is merely a formality, then, not to be  
taken seriously?"

Mulder glanced at his SIG and tucked it away irritably. "Do  
we *ever* take them seriously?"

//Did I really just say that?//

Alex finally turned to face him, then, but did not move 
from the window. The moonlight was strong tonight, and the  
younger man's face was a mass of shadows and moon-struck  
marble. The eyes were wide and unreadable.

//As if they ever told me anything I could understand...//

A low chuckle, a smile of swords, and the agent wondered if 
holstering his gun had been very wise...

"Very true, Mulder... but I have places to be."

Without another word Alex leaped, and for a heart-stopping  
moment all Mulder could see was the flap of useless leather  
wings, denim rippling and shifting in a killing wind...

"Alex!"

The older man broke his paralysis and rushed for the  
window, barking his hips as he searched the ground far 
below for signs of carnage. Nothing.

//What the fuck?//

An impossibly strong hand grabbed him by the back of the 
neck and hauled him to the roof.

"Alex, eh?"

"Wha--"

Cold... those lips were cold and absurdly harder than all 
of  his shameful imaginings and yes that must be why his 
nipples were suddenly brittle shards and he was shaking 
himself apart had to get closer find the heat so cold but 
when the arm  slipped around his waist and brought him 
close there was no warmth to be had ice ice in his soul and 
it was right...

He felt a growl against his throat and waited, panting, for  
whatever truths would be revealed tonight. A wet, sharp  
tongue lapped chill sweat away before finding his ear.

"No, Mulder. Not tonight. Not from me."

And the arm was gone, and he was alone.