“Is that the building?” Li Ann asked looking that the plain apartment building they were parked in front of.
“According to this file. This is where he lives,” Mac replied.
“Victor is not going to be happy about us ditching him like this.”
“We will deal with it later. Right now I want to deal with this creep.” Mac frowned as he thought about the man that he and Li Ann were waiting for.
“I think that’s him.” Li Ann pointed at a man just coming out of the building. He started jogging down the street away from the apartments. Mac held up the picture and looked between them.
“Yup. Sure looks like him. Let’s give him fifteen minutes and then I’ll go up to his apartment and wait for him. You stay out here and wait for him and let me know when you see him come back, then you follow him up about five minutes after he goes up.”
“You know the file says that this guy is an FBI agent. Are you sure this is a good idea?” Li Ann asked.
“You want to let him get away with what he has done to Victor?”
“Technically he didn’t do it to Victor.”
“He is responsible for Victor’s arm getting chopped off. Besides I want to explain a few things to him. Victor…Alex, is not his enemy. I don’t want to see Victor come back from having to deal with this guy with more bruises.”
There was nothing that Li Ann could say to argue with Mac. If she was truthful to herself, she agreed with Mac. She had been horrified when she heard what Alex had gone through dealing with the FBI agent. She had to admit that she wasn’t yet completely comfortable with Alex but there was no excuse for the brutality that Alex had been treated with.
“Okay. I agree, but if Victor finds out about this…”
“Victor isn’t going to find out about this unless you say anything to him. He thinks that we went out to find some real Chinese food to eat. I told him we might decide to go find a club after. He was fine with it and he didn’t seem to think anything other than that we were a little bit too picky for his tastes.” Li Ann gave him a slight smile and looked down at the file in her lap. “I still don’t see why Alex didn’t fight back. He let this guy beat the shit out of him and didn’t try to stop him.”
“I’ve stopped trying to understand Alex. I don’t think he is completely sane.” Mac looked down at his watch. “Well, time for me to go and visit the apartment of a FBI agent. Wish me luck.” He got out of the car, walked across the street and entered the building.
He walked up the stairs to the fourth floor. He found the apartment and quickly picked the lock. He shook his head at the ease. “Li Ann, you there?”
“Yes, Mac. He hasn’t shown up yet.”
“You know I would think that a FBI agent would have better locks on his door. This guy is begging someone to break in.” Mac started to look around the apartment. He thumbed through a few files that were lying around. “Jeez, this guy would get along great with Nathan.”
“Why?”
“You should see some of the stuff that is in these files. Nathan would be having a field day.”
“Well the file did say that he investigated strange cases. Wait a minute. Mac, he’s coming back. Get ready.”
“Thank you. I’ll see you in a few.” Mac looked around and decided that the best place to wait for the agent was on his own couch. He sat down on the well-worn leather to wait. It wasn’t long before he heard the door open. He watched the agent walk past the living room. He heard the man’s footsteps slow and then stop.
“It’s okay. You can come in. I just want to talk,” Mac called out. The agent came around the corner and pointed his gun at Mac. “Who the hell are you?”
“My name is Mac Ramsey, and you can see that I’m not holding a gun. I just want to talk to you.”
“About what?” Just then the door behind him opened. The agent soon felt a gun pressing into his back.
“Drop it,” Li Ann said.
“It’s about time you showed up, Li Ann. You are two minutes late,” Mac said getting up off the couch. He walked over to the agent and took the gun out of his hand. “Now, Agent Mulder, why don’t you sit down and we can have a little talk.”
“You know if you are here to tell me to stay away from the case I’m on, why don’t you just leave and tell that smoking bastard that you told me and save your breath. Since I’m not going to stop investigating this case,” Mulder said as Li Ann nudged him towards the couch.
“We aren’t here to talk about your case. As a matter of fact I have no clue who the smoking bastard is. We are here to talk to you about how you have treated our partner,” Li Ann said as Mulder sat down.
“Your partner?”
“I believe you know him as Alex Krycek,” Mac supplied.
“If Krycek is your partner, then you definitely know Cancerman.”
“No we don’t. See Alex, works with us for an Agency that is trying to do the same thing you are, only we deal with criminals that are considered untouchable by normal law enforcement. Alex was sent undercover to infiltrate the organization that I guess this Cancerman works for. He’s been on your side the entire time, and every time you see him, you beat him up. You are responsible for his arm getting cut off,” Mac growled trying to control his temper.
“Yeah right. He killed my father ‘cause it was the right thing to do?”
“He would have had a good reason to do it. He doesn’t kill because he enjoys it.”
****
Victor stepped out of the taxi and knew his hunch had paid off. He paid the driver and watched as he pulled away from the curb. He crossed the street and looked into the rental car. He saw Mac’s CD player sitting on the floorboard next to a few of the CDs that were currently Mac’s favorites.
He looked up at the building across the street. “I told you two to stay away from him,” he growled under his breath. He recrossed the street and entered the building. He was soon standing in front of apartment 42. He really didn’t feel like messing with Mulder at that moment so he leaned against the wall opposite the door and waited.
He couldn’t wait to see the look on Mac and Li Ann’s faces when they realized that he had found them. He was also looking forward to hearing the inventive excuses they came up with for disobeying the Director’s explicit orders to stay away from Fox Mulder. Not that any excuses they came up with would save them from the Director’s wrath. This was one case where Victor would squeal and would be very happy to do so.
****
“He only kills when it is necessary? Then he must live a very dangerous life, since a lot of dead bodies show up when ever he does,” Mulder sniped. He didn’t know who this kid thought he was, but he was either completely clueless about Krycek or his moral dipstick was a few drops short of bone dry too. “Krycek is a rat, a man who deserves to rot in prison for the rest of his hopefully short life. Now get the hell out of my apartment.”
****
Dana Scully parked her car and got out. She was in a bad mood. Mulder wasn’t answering his phones and she needed to clear up a few things on his report, so she drove to his apartment building. “He better be home, and have a very good reason for not answering the phone.”
She entered the building and noticed that the elevator was broken again. She trudged up the four flights of stairs. She started to turn the corner to Mulder’s hall when she stopped suddenly and jerked back around the corner. She pulled her gun and peaked around the corner.
She had hoped that her eyes were deceiving her but she could clearly see Alex Krycek leaning against the wall opposite Mulder’s apartment. He was in typical Krycek uniform, black leather jacket, black T-shirt, tight black jeans, black leather gloves, and black combat boots. She couldn’t see a weapon, but she couldn’t imagine Krycek without one or twelve.
She was tempted to try and arrest him on the spot but she didn’t really have a reason too. There were no actual warrants out on him and there was nothing illegal about standing in a hallway. She decided to wait and watch him.
****
“All right, Agent Mulder, we will leave. Just one last warning, if Alex has to deal with you again, and he comes back with bruises that I found out you caused… I will be back, and it won’t be as pleasant as this was. I happen to know two other individuals who are very protective of Vic, um Alex, even if they don’t admit it, and I know that they would love to get their hands on you. I hope never to see you again.” Mac and Li Ann turned to leave the apartment.
Mac was the first through the door and he suddenly found himself slammed against the wall of the hallway next to the door. He looked into the very unhappy face of his other partner. “Victor! What are you doing here?”
“I think that should be my line, Ramsey. The Director told you to stay away from here, I told you to stay away from here. You disobeyed both of us. Not only that, you dragged Li Ann into this, granted I’m sure it didn’t take much, but she wouldn’t have done this on her own. There is a reason you were told to stay away from Mulder, do you know, you might have just ruined an operation. Now, we have a meeting to deal with, then I will deal with the two of you. Let’s go,” Victor growled.
****
Scully watched Krycek closely and was still startled when he suddenly straightened and grabbed a man coming out of Mulder’s apartment and slammed him into the wall. She heard the other man call Krycek, Victor, and ask what he was doing there. She couldn’t hear Krycek’s response, but from the look on the other man’s face it wasn’t pleasant.
Krycek dragged him away from the wall and pushed him down the hall. The man stopped and turned to look at Krycek.
“Just what the hell do you think you are doing, Mansfield?” the man asked Krycek. “Who made you king?”
“The Director put me in charge of this operation. That means you are supposed to do what I say. Now move!”
From the discussion in the hall Scully wasn’t sure if the man with Krycek really wanted to go with him so she decided to step in. She came around the corner and pointed her gun at Krycek.
“Hold it right there, Krycek. Put your hands on your head.”
Krycek turned and looked at Scully. He smirked and said, “well, hello, Agent Scully. You don’t mind if I only put one hand on my head since the other doesn’t exactly do that too easily, I hope?”
“Shut up, Krycek and assume the position.”
“I really don’t have time for this. I’m not here to do anything to you or Mulder. I’m just here to collect my two partners who don’t seem to know how to follow an order. I’ll play this game with you next time I see you.” Krycek started to walk towards Scully dragging the man and being followed by a woman that had also come out of Mulder’s apartment.
Suddenly Mulder’s door opened and Mulder came out holding his gun. He looked around and saw Krycek.
“You son of a bitch!” He lunged at Krycek and slammed him against the wall.
“Hello, Mulder. Fancy meeting you here.”
“I thought I told you what would happen if you attacked my partner again, Agent Mulder,” Mac said exasperated.
“Shut up, Mac. I’ll deal with this. You’ve already done enough damage.” Krycek glared at his partner before turning to look at Mulder. “Well, I hadn’t planned on visiting you this trip and if you let me go you won’t have to see me again. I apologize for my partners, they were told not to bother you. Have a nice day, Agent Mulder.” Krycek shoved Mulder’s hands away and grabbed Mac again and started down the stairs.
Scully looked at her partner, who looked just as shocked and surprised as she felt. “What the hell was that about?” she asked.
“I have no idea. The other two, Mac and Li Ann, were waiting for me in my apartment. They wanted to talk to me about Krycek. They wanted me to leave Krycek alone. They said they were his partners, but that they didn’t work for Cancerman.”
“The man, Mac? He called Krycek, Victor, and then called him Mansfield. Do you think we should follow them?”
“I think that would be an excellent idea, Scully.”
****
“Victor, let go!” Mac tried to dislodge the hand holding the back of his collar.
“Not until we are at the car.” Victor’s voice brooked no argument.
Li Ann followed the two men quietly. She was hoping that if she stayed quiet and out of Victor’s sight he would forget about her until he had calmed down a lot. She had never seen him so pissed. It made her wonder if Victor was really in charge at the moment, he seemed to be acting more like Alex then anything. He even had the caged tiger prowl to his stride.
“Don’t worry, Li Ann, I haven’t forgotten about you.”
Li Ann jumped at the unexpected statement directed at her. “What are you now reading minds?”
“No. I just know you.” Victor looked back at her and she suppressed as shudder at the coldness in his eyes. He turned back to Mac. “Where are the car keys?”
“In my pocket,” Mac sulked.
“Get them out.”
Mac dug in his pocket and pulled out the keys. He handed them over to Victor, who held out his prosthetic hand. The mechanical fingers closed over the metal. “Good boy. So you do know how to follow instructions. I was wondering, since you failed to follow the ones I gave you earlier.”
Mac didn’t respond. He just looked off down the street. Victor unlocked the door and practically shoved Mac into the passenger’s seat. Victor looked at Li Ann who quickly opened the rear door and climbed in. Victor walked to the driver’s side and got in behind the wheel.
Mac started to say something but was stopped by a look from Victor. “I don’t want to hear a word from you. Is that understood? Nod if you understand.” Mac nodded and turned to look out the side window. “Good. Now we are going to our meeting.” Victor put the key into the ignition and started the car. With a quick look into the mirrors, he pulled away from the curb.
****
Mulder and Scully came out of the building just as Krycek pushed Mac into the car.
“I’m not sure if they are really working together or if Krycek is kidnapping that guy,” Mulder mumbled.
“Well in either case we better get a car before they take off.” Scully’s car was closer so they decided to take it. Mulder agreed to let Scully drive since it was her car and she had the keys. Scully started the car just as Krycek pulled away from the curb. She quickly put the car in gear and followed him. “Do you think we should call Skinner? I know he wants a piece of Krycek.”
“He should be told. Do you have your phone?”
Scully rolled her eyes and handed him her phone. Mulder dialed their supervisor’s home number.
“Should I be scared that you have his home number memorized? Or is there something you aren’t telling me, Mulder?”
Mulder just glared at Scully. “Sir, it’s Agent Mulder. I just thought I would let you know that Krycek is in town… Yes sir. Scully and I are following him now… Yes sir. We will let you know when he stops. Yes sir.” Mulder pressed end and passed the phone back to Scully. “He wants to know where Krycek goes and then he will come and join the party.”
Scully nodded and focused on the car in front of her. She didn’t want to lose him in the heavy traffic. Even though it was fairly late, the Redskins game had just finished and people were trying to find alternate routes to avoid the crowded beltway.
Krycek turned off the main road and started down a less crowded street. Scully was worried that if he chose anything less crowded that he would notice her following him, but he turned into the empty loading bay of an abandoned warehouse. She drove past the warehouse and pulled over two blocks past the building.
Mulder took the phone from Scully and called Skinner to report. Once he was done they headed towards the warehouse. When they got to the loading bay they saw that the car Krycek was driving was empty. They quickly found an unlocked door and entered the building.
****
“So who are we meeting, Victor?” Mac asked wearily.
“You’ll find out in a little bit.” Victor sat down on an empty crate. He was flipping a knife over and over.
“Would you stop that please?”
“Stop what?”
“That thing with the knife. It is irritating.” Victor smirked and continued to flip the knife. Mac sighed and looked around. “Where is Li Ann?”
“She’s taking a look around.”
“How come she gets to wander around out of your site but I’m in the shit house with you?”
“Because you are the ring leader, Mac. Li Ann would have followed my instructions if it hadn’t been for you.”
“Hey guys. Look what I found.” Li Ann’s voice came from behind Victor. Victor turned to look and saw Li Ann holding a gun on Mulder and Scully. “I should have known you would follow us. You really should have stayed out of this, Agents.” Victor gave Li Ann a signal and she hit Scully on the back of the head. As Scully fell, Mulder turned towards Li Ann and he was soon following his partner to the ground.
Victor grinned at Li Ann. “I hope you didn’t give them a concussion. You never know we might need them for something at a later date.”
“I didn’t hit them that hard. Just hard enough to knock them out.”
“Good. Well I’m sure they both have their handcuffs on them. Handcuff them to something. Mac, help her out.” Victor turned and walked over to a folding table that had a laptop computer sitting on it.
Mac gave Victor a sarcastic salute and then did as he was told. He took Mulder and dragged him over to a post and handcuffed him to it. Li Ann was handcuffing Scully to the post next to Mulder when a new voice rang out. “Hold it right there. Let them go.”
Li Ann and Mac turned and looked at the speaker. He was an older man who was going bald. He was also big and didn’t look like a person you would want to meet in a dark alley unless he was on your side, and definitely wasn’t on their side. They watched as Victor snuck up behind the man.
“Well, well. If it isn’t Assistant Director Skinner. I have to admit I wasn’t expecting to see you here. Mulder and Scully must have called you to let you know I was in town.”
Skinner turned around and found himself at gunpoint.
“Now, drop your gun and turn around.”
Skinner did as he was told. Mac and Li Ann covered him while Victor searched the AD. He was led over to a post and was handcuffed to it, just like the others.
“Sit down.” Skinner sat. “You know I think I owe you for a few things.” Victor hit Skinner in the temple and Skinner slumped, unconscious.
“Did you kill him? That’s not a safe place to hit someone you know,” Li Ann said looking at the AD.
“I didn’t hit him that hard. You must remember that the Cleaners trained me. They teach you how hard to hit to knock someone out but not to kill them. I know what I’m doing.”
“I’m sure you do, but I remember hearing somewhere that you didn’t get along well with Walter Skinner.”
“Well, yeah, that’s true, but I’m not going to kill him. As much as I would like too, Mulder needs him around too much.” Victor glared down at the man at his feet.
“You didn’t kill them did you?”
Victor grinned and turned around. “If we had killed them, Frohicke do you think we would need to have them handcuffed?”
“You do have a point. Why are they here?”
“My partners decided they had to have a talk with Mulder about the way he had been treating me. I had to go and collect them; Mulder and Scully saw me. They followed us and called Wally here. Didn’t have much choice. I didn’t want them to see you here. Mulder needs to trust you. Do you have the information?”
“Yup. It’s all right here.” Langly handed over a briefcase to Victor.
“Thanks guys. I know the Director will appreciate this. You better get out of here before those three wake up. I don’t think we want to have to answer any uncomfortable questions.”
“No problem, Victor. We’ll see you around. Take care of yourself, and I hope you plan on dealing with those two?” Byers asked.
Victor grinned. “Oh don’t worry. I have plans for them.”
The Lone Gunmen grinned back and then left. Victor turned back to Mac and Li Ann. “Get everything packed up, while I uncuff Scully. She can release the others when she wakes up.” Victor moved towards Scully without waiting for a response from the other two.
Mac glared at the back of Victor’s head. “You know I’m really getting tired of you bossing us around, Victor.”
Victor spun around, grabbed Mac, and slammed him into a post. “Too bad, Mac,” he snarled. “You’ll just have to get used to it.” He released Mac and turned back to Scully.
Mac straightened up and smoothed down his clothes. He gave one last glare at Victor and then turned to help Li Ann. They had just finished packing up the car when Victor joined them.
Victor got in the driver’s side and the other two had to scramble to get in the car before he took off.
“Hey! You almost left us back there,” Mac complained. He quickly shut up when Victor glared at him. The rest of the trip back to the hotel was silent.
The Director had booked them into a no-tell motel. Less conspicuous to be leaving at all hours of the day or night, or at least that was her explanation. Li Ann wasn’t sure about that. She thought that is was just one more way for the Director to show how much she owned them. Victor parked in front of his and Mac’s room. Li Ann was relieved that she wasn’t sharing a room with Victor. With the mood he was in, Mac was in for a very unpleasant night.
She started for her room and put the key in the lock. She opened the door and looked back and Victor and Mac. She caught a glimpse of Victor staring at her with a very unpleasant smile on his face. It disappeared the moment he saw her looking at him. The smile made her worry; she had only seen it when he was planning something that would not be nice for the person he directed it at. She quickly entered her room and shut the door and bolted it.
****
Mac glared at Li Ann’s closed door. *Coward* he thought. If he had to deal with Victor in this mood, so should she. After all she had agreed that is was a good idea to go and have that talk with Mulder.
Victor moved towards the door to their room. Mac followed reluctantly. Once they were in the room Mac prepared himself for another dressing down, but was surprised when Victor went into the bathroom without a word.
Mac gave a relieved sigh and sat down on one of the beds. He toed his shoes off and laid down. He hadn’t slept much the night before and the activities of that night only made him more tired. He closed his eyes and enjoyed the quiet while it lasted.
When he opened his eyes he found his hands cuffed to the bedpost and Victor unbuttoning his shirt.
“Uh, Vic? What’s going on?”
Victor just grinned at him and continued to undress Mac. Once Mac was naked, Victor leaned over him and kissed him. It wasn’t a gentle kiss, it was hard and demanding. Victor thrust his tongue into Mac’s mouth and Mac moaned at the sensation.
Victor pulled back and clasped Mac’s lower lip between his teeth. He gnawed on the flesh until Mac groaned. He released Mac’s lip and moved down to Mac’s throat. He nipped at Mac’s adams apple before clamping his mouth over it and sucking.
Mac knew that he would have a mark there for at least a week, but he didn’t care. All he was thinking about at that moment was how Victor was making him feel. He moaned when Victor moved down and took one of his nipples in his mouth. Victor brought up one hand to play with Mac’s other nipple.
“Oh God, Victor! Don’t… I can’t take this…” Mac wailed. Victor just ignored Mac and slowly moved down his chest stopping to lick or nibble whatever caught his attention. By the time he reached Mac’s cock, Mac was incoherent. Victor licked up the pre-come that was dripping down Mac’s hardened flesh.
Mac’s hips bucked at the sensation of Victor’s warm tongue. Without warning, Victor swallowed Mac’s cock to the hilt. Mac screamed at the suddenness of the move and the feeling of Victor’s throat muscles massaging his cock.
“Vic… Ah! Victor, fuck me… Please, fuck me now!”
Victor lifted his head until only the head of Mac’s cock remained in his mouth his head dipped until half of it was in his mouth. One hand held Mac down so he couldn’t thrust up and the other rolled Mac’s balls.
“Victor please! Oh God, please… I need you.”
Victor refused to move and then suddenly he went down on him until his nose was buried in the hair around Mac’s groin. His fingers trailed down to massage Mac’s anus. Mac tried to buck, but Victor’s grip prevented him.
“I’m going to…”
He screamed when Victor suddenly pulled off him and stood up. Mac looked at him in confusion.
“Victor, what…”
Victor didn’t respond. He just turned towards the other bed and took off his clothes and laid down on top of the covers. Mac could see how aroused Victor was.
“Vic, come on. You know you want this too. Why are you doing this?”
Victor’s only response was to run his hand down his own chest. He played with his nipples for a few minutes before moving down to his cock. One hand wrapped around it and the other hand drifted down to cup his balls. Mac whimpered as he watched Victor pleasure himself.
Victor’s hips bucked up in response to the stimulation and it only took a few pulls on his cock before he came, shooting onto his chest. He reached down and grabbed his discarded T-shirt and using it to clean himself. He rolled over to turn off the light. Before he turned the light off he looked at Mac. Mac could see an evil glint in his eyes.
“Sweet dreams,” Victor growled in a tone that he knew drove Mac out of his mind, and he switched off the light.
Mac swallowed and groaned. It was going to be a very long night.
****
Li Ann had just settled into bed and had started to drift off when a scream from Mac and Vic’s room jerked her into a sitting position. Once she realized that it was Mac screaming she laid back down. She really didn’t want to know what Victor was doing to him. From the look on his face it wasn’t going to be pretty, but she knew that Victor would never really hurt Mac. Even Alex would do no such thing.
Another scream came from the room and Li Ann dragged her pillow over her head to muffle any other sounds. The next thing she knew, she was being woken up by a pounding on her door.
She looked out from under the pillow and saw the sunlight shining through a rip in the curtains.
“Come on, Sleeping Beauty. Time to get up,” Victor’s voice came from the other side of the door.
“I’m up. Just stop yelling.”
Li Ann could hear the laughter in Victor’s voice when he answered. “Okay. Mac and I will meet you down at the Mickey D’s. Don’t take all morning. We have a plane to catch you know.”
Li Ann sat up and rubbed her face. She wasn’t sure what to think about how Vic was acting. She was still waiting for him to decide on her punishment. She looked at the clock and decided that lounging around and keeping Victor waiting was not a good way to make the punishment lighter.
She showered and dressed in record time and was walking through the door of McDonalds’s thirty minutes after Victor knocked on her door. She saw Mac and Victor sitting in a booth in the back of the restaurant. After one look at Mac she decided she wouldn’t ask what Victor had done to him. He looked like he had not gotten any sleep the previous night and she looked at his wrists as she got closer and they looked as if he had spent the entire night in handcuffs. She looked at Victor and then quickly looked down at the table. He was giving her the same smile that he had last night. She swallowed hard and tried not to think about what that look meant.
“Well, boys and girl, what do we all want to eat? My treat,” Victor said, his voice rolling over the other two. They tried not to flinch at his tone, it was clear that he was still very angry with them.
“Pancakes,” Mac mumbled, not looking up from the table.
“Egg Macmuffin.”
“Coffee for both of you? O.J.?” They both nodded. Victor got up and headed for the counter.
Li Ann looked at Mac. “What did he do to you last night?”
“You don’t want to know, Li Ann. Trust me, you don’t want to know.” Mac still wouldn’t look up at her.
“He didn’t hurt you, did he?” she asked tentatively.
Mac gave a short laugh. “No Li Ann, he didn’t hurt me. Not the way that you are thinking. It was just a very frustrating night. I didn’t get much sleep.” Li Ann’s brow furrowed. Surely what Mac was talking about wasn’t what was going through her mind. Mac looked up and saw the question in her eyes and he gave a short nod. She gasped when she realized what Victor had done to him. The both looked back down at the table and didn’t move until Victor returned. They ate in silence and soon were on their way to the airport. When they checked in to get their tickets they found that none of them were seated next to each other because the flight was full. Both Mac and Li Ann gave a sigh of relief. They looked at each other and decided that they would use that time to try and get some sleep, since they both had a feeling that they wouldn’t be getting much once the Director found out what they had done.
Victor sat in his seat in the front of the plane grinning. He knew what was going through Mac and Li Ann’s thoughts and they were right. Victor was going to squeal to the Director and give her some pointers on just what she might want to do to them to make them as uncomfortable as possible. He settled back and closed his eyes. He really hadn’t gotten much sleep the night before, Mac had been moaning too much.
Once they got to the airport in Toronto, Victor told Mac and Li Ann to head home and to be at the Agency at seven in the morning. He watched as they took off as quickly as possible. He headed for his truck and the Agency.
****
Li Ann and Mac were sitting in front of the table waiting for the Director when Victor walked in and took his seat. Mac looked at him and leaned towards Victor. “Vic, what was all that?”
Victor looked at him confused. “What was what?”
“All that in D.C.? You weren’t acting like yourself. I mean I know Alex or Cory could have taken over but don’t you have better control over them then that?”
“D.C.? Did we go to Washington D.C.?” Victor asked.
“You mean you don’t remember?” Li Ann asked.
“Uh, no. When where we there? What were we there for?”
“We just got back last night and we were there to pick up some information from the Lone Gunmen. You don’t remember at all?”
“No. Did I do something?”
“No, Victor, you didn’t. Your partners however are a different matter,” the Director’s purr came from behind them.
“What do you mean?”
“They went and talked to a certain FBI agent that I told them not to.”
“Mulder?”
“Yes.” The Director took her seat and looked at Li Ann. Li Ann shifted in her chair when she realized that the Director was giving her the same smile that Victor had been in D.C. The Director then turned her gaze on Mac. She let her gaze travel from his head to feet. She was hard pressed not to smile when he squirmed in his chair at the predatory look she was giving him.
She reached into her folder and withdrew two envelopes. She slid one to Mac and the other to Li Ann. “These are your punishments. Don’t enjoy them too much.”
Mac groaned when he opened his. “Washing and waxing all of Dobrinski’s cars again? And his MOTORCYCLES! He has like fifty of them!”
“And you don’t come back until they are all done. You better get started, Mac.”
Li Ann opened hers. “Working with Nathan until Mac is finished? Are you punishing me or Nathan?” she whined.
“Well go. Get to work boys and girls. Victor you stay here. I need to talk to you.”
“Okay,” Victor said still looking confused about what happened. Mac and Li Ann walked out of the room. The Director hit a button and their conversation came over the speakers.
“Did you see the looks she gave us?” Li Ann asked.
“Yeah. I swear they were the same ones that Victor gave us. He’s becoming more and more like her every day. It is spooky.”
The Director grinned and turned the speakers off. She got up and went to a concealed cabinet and pulled out a bottle of wine and two glasses. She opened the wine and filled the glasses. Then she climbed into Victor’s lap. “They are right about one thing you know. You are becoming more like me every day,” she said handing him a glass.
“What ever could you mean,” Victor said with a smirk.
“Are you ever going to tell them that you remember everything and that you were in charge and not Cory or Alex?”
“I don’t see any reason to. It would just weaken their confidence and trust in me out in the field.” Vic took a sip of the wine. “Good vintage.”
“You know I think that soon you will be ready to be a Director yourself.”
“Well, if that is what it is like to be a Director, I think I would enjoy the job.” Victor smiled at her and they touched glasses and then gulped down the rest of the wine.
END