Title: 1a. Dog Days of Summer
Author: Ursula
Written: December 2002
Pairing: Skinner/Krycek/Mulder
Rating: NC-17
Series: Gone to The Dogs
Classification: Hurt/Comfort Slash
Disclaimers: Chris Carter, Fox TV, yawn, yadda, yadda, own the characters.
Timeframe: Another version of what happened after Season 8

Summary: This is Segrid's Katrina Donation story. She wanted to see the first time between all three.

Damn, I wasn't dead. Unless death involved a whole lot of aches and pains, combined with the smells of a hospital. My throat was dry and sore and my lips were chapped. I opened my eyes and saw worried Walter and worried Mulder.

"Hey," I said in a voice a frog could have envied.

"You're awake," Walter said.

Duh, good powers of observation, Walter.

"I'm back," Mulder said. He smiled.

I must have fallen into a pit of obvious. "Why?" I asked either of them.

The two of them looked at each other and then Mulder said, "You mean why are you alive?"

"Yeah," I croaked.

"It's not your time yet," my lover said.

"Thank God," my other lover added.

Oh oh...

At the time, it made sense to go to find Walter. I figured Mulder had run out on me. He wouldn't have done it on purpose. He would have hidden the truth that he couldn't handle watching me die in absolute misery. Mulder would have told himself that he wasn't with me because he was out there looking for a cure. I didn't think I had any more lives left. I must have used them all up before I was thirty. Must have had one up my sleeve.

I wanted to see Walter before I died. Part of me wanted to make up to Walter for the past, make sure he was as safe as I could leave him. The rest of me just wanted to feel his hands on me one more time. I wanted all that power driving into me. I wanted to see the way his eyes devoured me as he screwed me. I wanted to see him helpless with the lust he felt for me and I wanted to see the love he begrudged feeling for me conquer him despite his anger.

I had it all planned. I had it under control, the way I liked it.

Looks like it worked out the way a lot of my plans did. I had screwed up big time.

There was no way I could have what I really wanted, both of them. They were going to make me choose. Damn. I don't think I could do it. I could go back and forth between them, but eventually they would catch my ass. That could be really bad.

I hid my eyes behind my lashes and sighed. "So tired," I murmured, doing my best Camille imitation.

"You rest," Mulder said. "The cancer is gone. You're going to be fine."

I felt Mulder's kiss, knowing the full lower lip anywhere. Then a harder kiss, cheek rough with stubble, Walter, my Walter.

The hell of it was that I knew I was going to live long enough for the sheer grief of losing one or the other made me worse than dead.

Yeah, I'm greedy. I wanted them both. I knew that if they would just bend enough to try it that it would work. I've always thought there was something between the two of them. They both thought of themselves as straight men with a few walks on the wild side. They both mostly topped. I didn't mind. I'll take sex pretty much any which way it's offered. I like fucking. I like being fucked...sucked...stroked off. You name it and I've probably tried it. Sex didn't make you fat. It didn't cloud your mind like drugs or alcohols. I could use whatever it was I had that could make two sexy men fall for me over and over. I'd get what I wanted and have the bonus of enjoying myself as well.

Spender called me a whore. Well, my Mother was one and I loved her. I don't feel like a prostitute though. I think of myself as an opportunist. This was more of a quagmire than an opportunity though.

I heard a nurse shooing them out of the room. Good. I needed more time to think and scheme.

You know, it was about fucking time I got a happy ending even if I have to beat one out of fate.

I woke up with the sun shining on my face. I could feel I was getting stronger. Damn. I wished I wasn't such a good healer.

Doctors had been in and out, poking and prodding. They didn't know what had been wrong with me and I wasn't telling them. My cancer had been diagnosed under a different name and apparently there wasn't a trace left in my body. Wow.

Mulder and Skinner walked in together. I didn't know if that meant they were getting along or if they didn't trust each other enough to have one of them alone in the room with me. I had been propped up, about to give some broth and Jello a try. Now I wanted to sink down into that hard mattress and hide.

"Alex," Mulder said, sounding happy.

"Me," I said. "You mad at me for taking off."

"You didn't trust me."

Duh, trust was not a word that fit into my vocabulary. Mulder and I had a thing together and we worked well as partners when we weren't trying to kill each other. That didn't change a whole lot of history. Mulder didn't have any reason to have faith in me and I didn't have the kind of life history that gave me the ability to trust anyone. These two guys looking at me with such mixed emotions were the closest thing I had to friends and both of them had tried to kill me at one point or the other. Not that I was shy about returning that favor. Yeah, our relationships were pretty damn tangled.

"I..." I didn't know what I wanted to say. For some reason, I didn't feel like lying to Mulder. I said, "Mulder, I couldn't just lie there and wait. I needed to make it up to Walter."

"I guess I should have given him a chance when I took off," Mulder said, glancing at his former boss. "It was selfish of me, presuming."

"Mulder, don't kick yourself. If you had come to me, asking me to help Alex, I would have said 'no'. I didn't want to believe I still loved him until I knew in my guts he was dying."

Wow, Walter said the love word and he knew I was going to be okay. Damn, Mulder hadn't blown out of town the minute he knew about my cancer. I blinked as it suddenly hit me. I got so used to the idea of dying that.... Oh, shit, I was going to live and I didn't have a plan. You always have to have a plan.

My eyes started leaking. I just lay there with tears flowing.

"Alex?"

"Alex?" deeper voice on that one.

Together. "Are you all right? Does something hurt?"

That was the hell of it. Nothing hurt. I had to get used to functioning with pain, little gnawing pain, glazed over with narcotics. Big devouring pain that took over all of me until nothing was left but suffering flesh.

The day I had an outlaw doctor cut the chip from my neck, I knew what I was buying. Freedom comes with a big price tag. I was going to pay with my life. I knew I had very little time even with the best of medical care. Time enough to revenge my own death before it happened. Oh yeah, save the world too, but that might have come second in my priorities.

I hooked up with Mulder about the time the first far away tweaks of pain announced themselves. The clock was ticking and he needed help as much as I did. He was alone and Mulder only thought he functioned best on his own. He did his best work with a partner, but he had forced Scully to go back, put her under the protection of Doggett, Reyes, and Skinner.

Scully went. That was the difference between us. Scully would always be Daddy's little girl somewhere deep inside her. She needed that world where there were rules. I respected who she was, but sometimes the world needed a bad boy more than a good girl.

"I'm your man," I said to Mulder when I crawled out of the gutter to announce that I was alive and ready to be his partner.

Lies work, but this time the truth was better. Mulder raved around a little but he couldn't hide his relief at my reappearance. He didn't know what he knew. He couldn't put the pieces together without me.

Going to bed with him...that was more frosting, my reward for doing the right thing.

And now...

Now I was going to live. Of course, if I was lucky I could get killed in one of the mopping up operations. That was the other thing that finding Walter was about. A bloodhound breeding and training farm was the last place anyone would think to look for me. Every scheme, every dream that Mulder and I had was falling into place.

The contagion engineered by the rebels was spreading through the Greys. The raids on both the Greys and the Project had them killing each other. My information was outing one bad guy after another. I clung to life not only to have those last few days with Walter but to enjoy the fruits of my labors.

The other players were pulling out. The rebels were going to take the fight to the stars. What was left of the Greys had headed home....no warm reception for them I was sure. The Greys don't reward failure and they have no sentiment.

Most of the Healers left with the rebels. They were a different race, one that the Greys had preserved as tools. I remember Jeremiah telling me that. After I heard what happened between Mulder and me, I finally knew what kind of alien DNA was spliced with Teena Mulder's. Weird, weird, weird! I had a feeling it couldn't have happened to a better man.

I was strong enough to leave the hospital. Kind of had in mind crawling out the window the first chance I had, but I found out that I wasn't really in that good of shape. Best I could do was get to the bathroom and even that was a tossup whether I would make it. I lay in the bed and sulked in between panic attacks.

I woke up with something soft and warm against my face, then the lap of a rough tongue just about rearranged my features. I opened my eyes to a big brown eye right next to mine. Snuffle, snuffle, snuffle,

Pluto and Mars...

The pups had grown even in the two weeks I spent in the hospital. I could hardly breathe with all those doggy kisses. I got my hand up to pet first one and then the other. Too bad Mulder couldn't fix my arm. I'd like to have two hands to pet these dogs.

Thinking about it, I felt like crying. When I was dying, I enjoyed the pups without worrying about the future. I knew they would be sold to some police officer, but I didn't expect to be around to see it. Now, I was jealous. I remember when I was a kid how much I wanted a dog. The closest I came to it was the neighbor's pup. When I was waiting outside for my mom....when she had a john inside, I would sit with the neighbor's pup. He appreciated the attention and I appreciated the company and the warmth of his furry body pressed against mine. I used to pretend he was my dog. Maybe he used to pretend I was his boy.

Pluto lay his head next to mind on the pillow, doggy breath in my face. I didn't mind. It was good. I moved closer, his soft fur next to my cheek. Oh, I wanted him. I wanted these dogs to be mine.

A rough tongue wiped away what might have been a tear.

Mars crept up on the bed. I knew that was not allowed, but I didn't care. Maybe if the dogs disobeyed enough rules they would not be usable as police dogs and I would be able to buy them.

I patted the bed and Pluto crept up too. Now I felt warm and safe. A stray thought flickered before sleep put me down. Wouldn't it be nice if I could sleep like this between Walter and Mulder?

Waking, I heard the rumble of Walter's voice.

"Gina, he's been very ill, nearly died. If he wants those dogs in his bed, I'll buy you a new bed and all the sheets in the world."

A voice I didn't know replied, "Walter, the point isn't that a dog is in one of my beds. The point is that police dogs don't get to sleep with their masters."

"Yeah, well, sell them to me. I'll pay you twice what the academy would pay you."

The woman sighed and said, "I don't sell my dogs as pets. They would be bored."

"Then teach me to work them," Walter said.

I think I fell in love with Walter all over again when I heard him say that.

"Alex will learn too," Walter said.

I guess I would. I was so tired that it seemed like a great idea. Walter and I working with my dogs...okay, our dogs.

Did Mulder even like dogs?

Oh, hell.

"Walter, you need to think about this. Are you sure that's what you want to do? What about the FBI?"

"The FBI isn't much into same sex relationships. I'm not willing to hide," Walter said.

Wow. He was giving up his career for me?

The woman, Gina, said, "All right, Walter, but you better be serious. You sign a contract with me. If I ever find out that the dogs are not being trained and worked, I can take them back. Also, they will be neutered."

"Neutered?" Walter asked, his voice sounding as panicked as if his own balls were in danger. "Why neutered? They're pure bred. You raise some of the best bloodhounds in the country?"

"I raise the best ones," Gina said. "And the reason they are the best is because I only breed the ones that meet every standard. Pluto and Mars are bigger than they should be. Their hips are great, but I can't risk having huge, outsized dogs. The pups will make find search and rescue dogs, but I won't breed them or let them be bred. I'm neutering the entire litter and I won't breed the sire and dame to each other again."

Walter and Gina went off somewhere, still arguing. I petted the pups, giving them some sympathy in advance. I like kids. Surprise. Never took a hit involving a child, not as a witness or as a secondary target. Still, I didn't want to be a father. It was too tough a job for me. I said, "Believe me. It's a rough world out there. Better you don't have pups to worry about."

My bladder didn't want me to stay in bed any longer. I got up and peed then realized I felt well enough to take a shower. That about finished my energy. I sat down on the bed and put on slippers. Someone tapped on the door and I said, "Come in."

Mulder walked in and grinned at me.

I winced. I said, "I should have explained about Walter."

"I knew."

That made me take a long look at Mulder. He wasn't bullshitting. He was telling the truth.

"I saw it in his head."

I didn't have to ask. I knew what he meant. Spender had tried to take that gift and damn near killed Mulder.

"Mulder, I didn't expect to live long enough to have things get this complicated."

"Pretty damn funny watching you squirm. Walter and I have done a lot of talking. Neither one of us are good at sharing, but we both love you so we are going to share. If you're willing. We've already started looking for a house."

"What about Scully?" I asked.

"Scully is fine and she...she is with Doggett and Reyes."

"I know she's with them.:"

Mulder blinked at me. He said, "No, she's with them as in, Dana loves John loves Monica."

I think my jaw dropped down to my belly button. "Scully?"

"Yeah, I guess she found her wild side."

No kidding. "So you figure if she can do it, you can do it."

"Maybe. I know I don't want to be alone." Mulder replied. "I thought I liked it, but on the road with you, it was good. Even before we started to fuck, I was nearly happy."

"Walter agrees?" I asked. I had always seen Walt as the chest beating type. Territorial as hell. But I also had always thought that he had a thing for Mulder. I was just easier to get.

Maybe I did have a plan.

"Walter and I are going to learn how to train dogs so I can keep Pluto and Mars," I said.

"I'm going to write books," Mulder said.

That made me snort.

"Seriously," Mulder said. "I'm going to get the word out there. It's not like writing reports. I can tell the entire truth and have people pay me for it."

He looked as if he meant it so I nodded.

I said, "You better get Walter. I have something to say to you both."

Mulder looked worried and I said, "It's not about being together. I want you both, anyway I can get you."

I wasn't saying that I wanted them both at the same time. That would be the long term plan, but first there was another hurdle.

Walter's expression was enough to send me out the window. I had gone back to bed, still feeling exhausted. Pluto and Mars had followed Mulder out so I was alone. I took a deep breath as my lovers entered.

"What's wrong, Alex?" Walter rumbled, turning me into a little green agent like magic.

"Before you guys go house hunting, I have to tell you something."

"You have another lover?" Mulder said, his familiar wry tones in full evidence.

"No," I said. "What I have is the coding to a lot of money, dirty money, Consortium money."

"It had to be turned in," Walter said.

Mulder kept his mouth shut. We had used that money to fund our missions. I guess some of my ambiguous morals wore off on him.

"I'm not turning it in," I said. "It's untraceable. I have plans for it."

"Alex, I have enough money to keep you in comfort," Walter said.

"It's not my comfort," I said. "I need that money to help me clean up as much of the mess the project made as I can. I can't give Mulder back Samantha, but I can give back as many of the kids as I can find. What I want to do is track down the parents of the project children. I think some of the people will want their children. I'm going to build a place for the ones I can't find a parent for or whose families deny them."

Walter started to open his mouth and then he nodded. He said, "I'll help you whatever way you can."

Mulder sat down on the bed and kissed me.

I think he agreed.

It took me a couple weeks to build up my strength. I spent the time reading up on dogs. I was a quick study, but there was a lot to read and think about. Gina supplied me with a huge variety of dog books. I'm telling you. Dog training isn't simple stuff. There are as many conflicting theories as there are religions. The different groups felt about as strongly about their beliefs as if they were churches too.

When I had my head stuffed with training manuals, Gina gave me fiction to read. Susan Conant. Albert Payson Terhune. Virginia Lanier, a pantheon of dog authors. I had never read much fiction. I was too hungry as young child and it wasn't encouraged by the Project. They didn't want their future soldiers to get ideas.

Other than that poor pup I dreamed about being mine, my life hadn't included a lot of dogs other than a few used for security. They never had much personality and I was too busy trying to save the world without losing my own skin to worry about whether they were happy.

I hardly even remembered the dog of my childhood until I crawled into that dog kennel to keep warm. Pluto and Mars seemed to bless me with their innocence. They accepted me, gave me friendship without judgment. I had nothing to give them and they still liked me. There hadn't been much of that in my life.

When I was strong enough to start dog training, I was worried that the dogs wouldn't like me if I gave them commands. Gina laughed at that. She said, "They will love you more. Dogs get bored. They love training. That's why my contract is written the way it is. I never want one of my dogs sitting around in a house with nothing to do. They want a job and company."

I guess she knew what she was talking about. Pluto and Mars seemed to love their training times more than play times. Walter and I didn't do much talking about who would train which pup. Pluto moved to Walter's side as if he had his own plan. Walter had a little edge on me because he had been training along with the kennel staff in Gina's absence. We didn't want to leave Mulder out, but he opted to start writing his book. He was really serious about it. If he had worked so hard on his reports, Walter might have more hair left.

When we weren't training, we were house hunting. We wanted a place near enough so Walter and I could continue our dog training lessons. Walter wanted a wraparound porch and talked about a porch swing. Mulder wanted a place to run. I didn't much give a damn except I wanted a place that was defensible. The three of us had quite a collection of enemies.

The aliens might be defeated, but they left behind both human allies and human enemies. I did what I had to, but I didn't expect people to understand. I had amnesty. I had it all along, but that wouldn't protect me from the families of people I killed. I didn't expect the world to understand me. I needed Mulder and Skinner to accept what I had done. The rest of the world could go get fucked.

The pups were resting up from being neutered. I felt like I had betrayed them. Karen, the vet, had explained that the dogs would need to be crated when they weren't being observed. They looked doleful with their heads imprisoned in big white cones. Gina told me they would be fine and she had paperwork to do. They were crated in her office, looking sleepy and bored.

I didn't want to leave them, but there was a house that just came onto the market that sounded like the answer to our dreams. The elderly owner had not wanted to sell, but she had passed away. Her niece would have preferred to have parceled the estate out, but the terms of the will said she had to put it on the market and specified a reasonable price. It was high enough to suit the niece, but we would be able to afford it. It was midway between Gina's kennels and the piece of property I bought for my institute. That alone was a pretty good selling point.

My eyes studied the road. There was a nature preserve on one side of the property. There were farms down the road on the other side, but the nearest one bordered the old estate with fields. The least thing I liked was the little bridge that ran over the stream that formed one boundary. The bridge was not heavily frequented, but I know I wanted a fence between it and the house if we bought the place.

When we drove down the road, I could hear Walter let out his breath. There was his wraparound porch, a big one. There was a fenced pasture beyond the lawn. I could see a shed that needed to be rebuilt next to the garage. That would be a good place for a grooming shed. Even if we only had two dogs, I wanted a great place to give them baths and to comb them.

I could see Walter was in love already. Mulder said, "I hope it's haunted."

The real estate agent was game. She said, "I can't guarantee a ghost, but it was a way station on the underground railroad."

"I want it," Mulder said.

"I think we might want to see what the inside looks like first, Mulder," Walter said.

The inside was great. The wainscoting in the living room was worth half the purchase price. I don't suppose the niece knew that. I only knew that because my old boss, Mannerly, once waved his cane in his face and lectured me on why I should keep my thug boots off his walls. He covered price, antiquity, and inability to replace it. I didn't say a word to the niece. I said, "Place is old fashioned."

"I always thought these walls were dreadful," the niece said. She was dreadful herself, pinched and thin, clad in designer everything, but nothing holding her look together. Old money doesn't always result in taste.

We traveled through the house. I had to keep nudging Mulder to keep him from jacking the price up even higher. When we had a look at the secret passage, Mulder had puppy dog eyes. I knew the house was sold.

The niece seemed torn between happiness that she would have her money so soon and chagrin that she wouldn't have a chance to parcel up the property to sell to a developer.

We wouldn't be moving in immediately. Walter wanted to have the plumbing and electrical system updated. He said, "Antique floors and walls are fine, but old plumbing and wires are nightmares not collectables."

Gina was in no hurry for us to move. Eleanor was on full bed rest and her lover, Penelope, was taking family leave to care for her. Walter and I were filling in. Good thing we were both quick learners.

Mulder was nearly done with his first book. Although he seemed distractible, he could be incredibly focused when he found something worth his attention. The book was already sold. Enough information has leaked that Mulder was becoming well known and lionized. Honestly, he could have written pages of drivel and still been a bestselling writer. I was allowed to read some of his draft and it was great stuff. I would have bought the book myself despite the can of worms it opened for me.

Work had already started on my institute. I drove up every couple of days to check on it. Meanwhile, I had hired Mulder's lone gunmen to start assembling computer records of abductions. I had a feeling that I would be spending the rest of my life picking up the pieces that the project had left. What a surprise...I didn't expect to live a year after I had the chip cut from my neck.

We had all picked out bedrooms at the house. Walter's was the master bedroom with the closet that led to a hidden stairway. I chose the room next to Walter's with a connecting door. I hoped I would have little cause to use it. Mulder's room was more of an office. He didn't even have a bed in it, just a couch.

I hadn't had sex with either of them yet. I know they were both wondering why. We were all moving in together, but I saw things a little different than they did. From what they had said, Walter and Mulder saw our life as connecting through me. They were bonding, cementing past friendship into something solid enough to allow them to live together. Both of them had in mind sharing me. They thought I would ping pong between the two of them, sharing one bed and then the other. That wasn't what I wanted.

I wanted them both. That was going to take the best planning I ever did in my life.

"What are you doing today?" I asked. I was hanging out on Gina's porch in between training sessions. Jimmy Barnes' girlfriend, Mandy, had made me oatmeal cookies and fresh squeezed lemonade. I was living it up.

Mulder was stretching on the steps. My eyes followed his legs down and then back up. His shorts didn't cover much and I was drooling. Too bad I didn't have a way of leaving myself out of the sexual frustration!

Walter was coming in from the kennels. He stopped short and I saw his eyes checking out Mulder's ass. His pupils grew bigger and I bet something else did too. I smirked. Yeah, I could stand it for a while. The chemistry was there. It had always been there. I just had to let some tension build then strike.

Mulder gazed around at Walter, tawny hair falling in his face. Mmm, damn, I wanted that.

"Taking a break?" Walter asked brilliantly.

"Yeah, thought I would take a run."

Mulder bobbed up and down as he did his stretches. Just before I thought Walter was going to lose it and throw him down on the porch to ravish him, Mulder finished and bounded off for his run. I could see Walter's eyes following every bounce of his butt.

"He's got a great ass," I pointed out.

"I've never noticed," Walter lied.

I was dressed in shorts too. Not as brief as Mulder's running shorts, but they fit me nicely. I said, "You must be blind then."

Shooting me an irritated look, Walter said, "Alex, you and I must have different ideas about how this relationship is going to work. Mulder and I are friends, just friends."

Giving Walter my most angelic look, I said, "Yes, I know. I think you are both wonderful for loving me enough not to make me choose."

"Thank you," Walter said. He said, "Why don't we lie down for a while? You're working too hard."

I don't really think that Walter had sleeping in mind. I said, "I'm just taking a break between classes. It's sweet of you to worry, Walter, but I'm fine."

Another angelic smile.

Walter let out a ragged sigh. He turned away in defeat.

Watching him turn away from me was hard to do. I loved his body. I loved the way he made love to me, but I wasn't going to spend the rest of my life moving back and forth between him and Mulder. I knew they cared about each other. I think they loved each other already. I just had to get them to make the first move.

Since Pluto and Mars were sidelined, Gina had me assisting with her pet training classes. This one was not my favorite. It starred the arguing couple with the standard poodle, the nervous elderly lady with the German Shepherd she bought for protection and couldn't control, and the stout woman with the very smart red merle Australian Shepherd. The last said tried very hard but she didn't know her left from her right.

I was learning new skills, not only how to train dogs, but how to handle people with patience. Walter said I was going to need that skill to run my institute.

As I redirected, Elaine, the stout lady for the third time this hour, I reflected that it was considerably easy to blow things up than build them up. I said, "Elaine, Rose seems to know. Why don't you look at her when I say which direction to turn."

Elaine's broad features looked almost beautiful as she gazed down at her brilliant little dog. She said, "What a good idea, Alex! I will."

The arguing couple were a bigger hurdle. I said, "Positive voices."

They stared at me and said, "We always use happy voices with Rajah."

"I know," I said. "Try the same voice with each other. Rajah is responding to the way you talk to each other."

Milly and Dan stared at their dog. As irritable as they were, they really loved that dog. They said, "If you think it will help. Do you think that's why she's so nervous."

"I know so," I said.

For the rest of the class, the two of them stopped quarrelling and stopped criticizing. Damn, maybe I should be a marriage counselor. They left the class still looking puzzled, but talking to each other instead of snarling.

As for the little old lady...there was nothing much I could do. It was the wrong match. Charm needed a home with someone who could be his master. He had a lot of drive and would make a good canine cop, but Susan would have to come to that conclusion herself.

I was tired after the class. I borrowed Mars since Gina said if the pups were together that they might start wrestling and break their stitches. I hated leaving Pluto, but maybe Walter would take a nap with him later.

Silken fur, Mars sighed as he snuggled close to me. I loved this dog. Mars and Pluto looked a lot alike. Both were red dogs, but Mars had a few of what Gina called badger hairs, hairs lighter than the reddish yellow of their coats. Pluto was a tiny bit larger and had a deeper frown than Mars.

I had thought of the pups as both being 'my' dogs when I was sleeping in their kennel. It was funny. There were four pups, but from the first, Pluto and Mars seemed to pick me. Venus and Saturn put up with me, but they never really bonded to me. Now though, Pluto seemed to prefer Walter. I wasn't jealous. It was really funny to see Pluto with Walter, both of them with that identical expression of needing to keep the world safe by worrying about every detail.

Mars was a perfect bloodhound, despite being a bit too large for the standard. He had the deep set eyes, the pendulous and beautiful ears to waft scent, the meaty jowls and the ridged head. His expression was kind. Some people are afraid of bloodhounds because of their name and because of their size. Blood has no reference to how they tracked. It referred to their pure bred nature. You would really have to be afraid of dogs to be afraid of Mars. His puppy call name might have been the god of war, but I think he was more like the candy bar, sweet.

Half asleep, I wanted to ignore my cell phone. Sighing, I hit send after seeing it was a call from Jeff Spender.

"How are you feeling, Alex?" Jeff asked.

Jeff was one of the first people I contacted when I realized I was going to live. Poor kid had begged me to let him take care of me. I told him to finish his doctorate and left the information for him to access the money I had hacked from the project. He knew what I wanted done and promised me that he would do it.

"I'm fine," I said. "I told you the cancer is one hundred percent gone. The only thing wrong with me is that I need to bulk up a little."

"It's a miracle," Jeff said.

I suspect the miracle is named Mulder. Walter and I hadn't talked about it, but I can see it in his expression. He doesn't quite believe the antiviral Mulder shot into my nearly dead body was what cured me.

"What's up?" I asked.

"You missed my graduation," Jeff said.

I could hear the hurt little boy in his voice. He had graduated while I was dying. "I'm sorry."

"You couldn't help it," Jeff said. "What I was trying to say was, I have my doctorate. I'm ready to go to work."

"You don't want to take a break first?"

"I wasted enough time trying to be an FBI agent," Jeff said. "He manipulated me into that even though I hated his guts. Now I want to start living for myself."

I laughed and said, "Well, why don't you come down and start apartment hunting? It will be a while before the institute is ready."

Jeff planned to live on campus. Eventually we would have several cottages with permanent foster parents living in each. I would screen the couples myself. I wanted warm, loving people caring for the kids. Nothing like the people with whom I lived when Spender was putting me in place to eventually become the Alex Krycek that Mulder had met.

I hated my 'adoptive' family and they liked me no better than I liked them. They weren't abusive, but they were assholes. They were paid to take care of me, show up for parent-teacher conferences and make sure I kept my nose reasonably clean. As to the last, we had an agreement. No cops, good grades, and whatever I could do without public disapproval was mine. You would be amazed what a smart kid could do without getting arrested.

My adoptive parents looked fine to the public. They had a nice house, nicer that they could afford on the salary of a university professor and a department of transportation supervisor. Of course, that was covered by the little inheritance from Uncle Charles.

I can't say they were abusive. I got whipped once or twice. Mostly it was how clear they were that not in the least interested in me. I spent holidays alone in the house while they vacationed or visited extended family. I ate my meals in the kitchen alone when I ate at the house, which I did as little as possible.

Throughout my junior high and high school years, I think the only people who ever suspected something was wrong was my best friend's family. The Hernandez family was warm, loving, and wonderful. They invited me over often enough that people who did not know them well thought I was another one of their kids. Their daughter, Rosa, was the closest thing I ever had to a girlfriend. She was my beard throughout high school. I was vaguely bi, but I think that was more protective coloration combined with a more than healthy libido.

I wondered if Manny and Estelle Hernandez would be interested in being foster grandparents to a cottage? They were young parents and in great health. I reminded myself to call them.

Anyway, I knew what kind of people I did not want around 'my' kids.

Yawning, I told Jeff to call me when he hit town.

A moment later, I was asleep. Life had taught me to eat when there was food and sleep when you could.

The current round of classes ended in two weeks. I owed it to Gina to finish them, but I let her know that I would not be available for the next beginner classes. I had a network of watchers set up and more computer geeks than Microsoft sifting through the hodgepodge of records I salvaged from the project. They had just given me my first lead.

It reminded me of the first times, the first with Mulder and the first with Skinner. I was wild with excitement and scared to death.

Mulder and I had taken out a lot of project hideouts during our crusade. We took the computer hard drives when we could. Mulder had his reasons for wanting as much information as he could get. I had my own.

This idea I had about reuniting children with families and providing homes for those whose families could not be found went way back with me.

I had the idea when I was still a young boy in one of the project's orphanages. I was no one then, a human guinea pig waiting an experiment. I managed to run and stay out on my own for eight days until some asshole caught me eating out of the dumpster behind a fast food joint. I landed in a creepy foster home for a day until Spender sent his people to fetch me. I was beaten and locked in the time out room. That was a padded closet in the orphanage where I sat for a week. Hey, it wasn't that bad. They gave me one meal a day after the second day.

Funny, but that stunt impressed Spender enough to make him remember why he bought me from my uncle...if that guy was even really my uncle. My Mom had never mentioned family and when the guy showed up, I didn't think he looked anything like Mom.

Spender plucked me from the experimental stock and had me tested in other ways. My brains saved me but I think he chose me because I defied him. Spender was a strange man. If he could break you, he despised you, but if you defied him, he would play with your life like a cat with a mouse. He never managed to break me. I'd bend and twist, but I would bounce back and spit in his face.

Anyway, I had a lot of time to think in that hole. I thought about Moms and to a lesser extent, Dads. I thought about foster homes and what kind of family I would want if I ever got away. I didn't have any real experience with Dads. I filled in the pieces from TV so mostly I imagined Dads who brought you presents and made sure your Mom didn't have to do bad things to keep you fed.

I did have a Mom and she loved me. Thank God she loved me because I think that was the only reason I'm not worse than I am. Mom sang to me and we drew pictures with crayons she took from restaurants. We went to the library a lot and she read to me, teaching me to read when I was barely four.

I imagined a place where foster parents were really good and kind. Where kids were safe and never had to go without eating. Where any grownup that hurt a kid was punished and never got to be with a kid again.

The luxury of dreams was something I didn't have until Spender arranged my 'adoption'. With a normal life as a façade, I had time to dream. I filled in the father role with Manny Hernandez, who was a great father. Manny taught his sons and later his foster sons how to play ball. He taught them how to work on cars, pound a nail, and put in a new floor, but mostly he taught them to be kind, to love, and to let yourself be loved. If there's good in me that didn't come from my poor suffering mother, you can bet it was put there by Manny and Estelle Hernandez.

Mulder went to the airport with me. Walter was teaching a class for Gina and I think he wanted to give Mulder some time with his half brother. Funny, Mulder was Jeff's brother, but I was more like Jeff's sibling. I felt protective of him. I built him up to make a stand against his father. I used him like his father used him. The difference was that I came to genuinely care for Jeff. Sure the guy was full of flaws, but who better to forgive that than I?

Since he drove Mulder crazy at the FBI, Jeff had done nothing but grow. It started with confronting his father in the Hoover. It continued as he suffered in the labs. After I rescued him, I had to jump start his development. He was so hideously disfigured when I found him that I didn't recognize him until he called my name.

His father had ordered Jeff infected with alien genetic matter, hoping to get as successful a hybrid as Jeff's mother had been. Instead, Jeff's body had warred with itself. His face was a blend of the Greys and human anatomy yet he had no special powers. I rescued him, stopped him from killing himself, and finally cursed him into deciding to live. Jeff was my hope when I was dying. I wanted to believe that he understood and if the world survived, that he would undertake my mission.

Mulder was frowning although he pulled his face into a bland expression when I looked at him. "Jeff's my friend," I reminded him.

"I know," Mulder said. "I'm not totally socially incompetent. It's just that I remember him best as the man who took my work from me."

"That wasn't Jeff's fault," I said. "He didn't ask for the X Files. He was duped like a lot of other people. He had more cause to be tricked than most."

In the airport, you could almost tell where Jeff was by the space around him. He wore prosthetics most of the time, but he still looked like something out of a horror show. Most people probably thought he was a burn victim. A few might have guessed that he was the result of the silent invasion. In any event, it was human to fear disease or anything that looked like disease.

When I hugged Jeff, I could see Mulder's face. He shoved the repulsion out of view immediately, but he couldn't hide the distrust. Funny thing, Mulder is more accepting than most. As attractive as most people, including myself, found him, he always felt like a monster on the inside so he had an affinity for the grotesques of the world.

You want to know what I loved about Mulder besides the sex....the really hot sex?

The house was finished enough to move in. I was comfortable at Gina's, but Walter was eager to have his own roof over his head. He's a little on the Neanderthal side. Mulder didn't really care except he looked forward to privacy. He wasn't used to having people in his face all the time. Anyway, we moved in. Walter spent his time in between classes, supervising the poor workman. I bet they were glad when he left for Gina's.

Mulder said, "Jeff, no need for you to stay at a hotel while you are looking for an apartment. Stay with us. The guest room is ready if you don't mind the smell of fresh paint."

Jeff smiled, the expression twisting the scar tissue near his mouth. He asked, "Are you sure?"

Mulder smiled back and said, "Yeah, we'll just get to know each other."

It was the happiest I had ever seen Jeff. I felt a ray of hope. I wanted to bring Mulder his Samantha more than anything, but I failed. Jeff was Mulder's brother and he was so alone. Maybe he would be, not Samantha, but family, a blood connection that Mulder seemed to need.

We drove by the institute on the way home. I paid the construction company well to make sure the walls rose swiftly but without any faults caused by haste. I paid one of Gina's buddies to supervise the building. Derrick Hughes was a retired construction foreman who took a few jobs here and there, between search and rescue practice and missions. He had a nice little border collie named Hannah that he found abandoned on a job site.

I introduced Derrick to Jeff and let him know that my friend was to in charge during my absence. I could see Mulder's frown. He wanted to go with me. Maybe on some future mission, I would let Mulder come. This one I needed to do on my own. It was my purification. The first step towards my dream. I needed to do this on my own.

"Alex, I thought we were partners," Mulder complained.

"Yeah, Mulder, we are partners, but that doesn't change my decision. I love you. I love Walter and I want to have a great life with you both. I have responsibilities though, promises I made to myself every time I did something to add to my nightmares. What I am going to do will help me heal. You saved me, lover, now let me save myself."

I could see Mulder understood. He sighed and nodded. He didn't like it, but he was easier than Walter in some ways. Mulder was never much of a team player and he had sent himself into more than one dangerous situation because of his beliefs.

Walter...

Well, if Walter loved me, he was going to have live with who I am. I don't take orders anymore unless they suit me.

As I hunched over my laptop, I could hear Mulder and Jeff talking from the dining room. I heard Mulder laugh and you don't know how that thrilled me. I broke off in mid IM to listen for a moment as I made final plans with my team.

"You at least going to let me know what continent you will be on?" Walter growled.

"This one," I answered. My network had found a crèche in Mexico. That's what the project called laboratories devoted to creating children with alien genomes. They were scattered all over the world and some of them hadn't heard the word yet. We should be able to get children out.

Mulder and I had rescued a few kids when we were together. Some of them were in foster care. Once my project was built, I would ask for custody of them or at least have my own social workers check on their welfare.

I grinned. It had been surprisingly easy to hire social work staff. First of all, I offered lower case loads and a decent living wage. Hell, a few of them would have almost worked for free when they understood what I was doing. Doing a job they loved to the best of their ability was incentive enough. Social workers made less than garbage collectors in most places. Not that I don't value getting rid of trash. I just personally thought taking good care of kids was as important.

Not that I did much more than hire Rosie Horovitz. Rosie had been a social worker all of her adult life. She was assigned to some kids I found in a project lab before I hooked up with Mulder. I didn't have a lot of free time those days. Saving the world doesn't come with paid vacations. Still, I went back to check on the kids and met Rosie.

It turned out that the cover story I set up didn't work with Rosie. She was a Mulder fan and a believer. She suspected the kids were not just oddly disabled, but it didn't matter to her. Give her a kid with two heads and she would be teaching both heads to read in no time.

Rosie could make bureaucrat a good word. She was a lot like Walter in a way. She could work in the system and somehow squeeze decency out it. She was running a local office when I contacted her. She probably would have worked her way to the top and killed herself trying to make a bad system better.

Somehow I persuaded her to work for me. I put her in charge of hiring the best social workers she could find. I would need people who could work with grieving families and damaged kids. If there were Mulders out there, looking for their Samantha, I wanted them to have a chance to be together.

Rosie told me how much money it would take to do it right. I didn't blink. The project had money to spare. I wasn't planning on using much of it for myself. Just enough to hold up my share of expenses. It was a fortune and it would cost most of it to do what I had in mind.

Meanwhile, I invested in stocks. I'm pretty good with numbers and I have good business sense. I let some of that wealth breed more.

With Jeff and Rosie in charge, I could turn my hand to something else I was good at. Mayhem.

My team was a little oddball. My team leader was Marcella Gant. She was an ex-cop, but that was only part of the reason she was my choice. Marcella lost a little girl to the project. We couldn't track her down, but Marcella kept her hope. She was a tough lady and she channeled her grief into determination to save as many children as she could.

Juan Macias was a good guy. He didn't have a lot of personal reasons for working for me on this project. He was a science fiction nut and an adrenaline junkie. Despite all of that, I trusted him as much as I trusted anyone. He was the only team member I directly recruited other than Marcella. I met Juan when he was working for the Brit. He wasn't project. Mr. Mannerly had hired him as one of the private security guards he kept around his children and grandchildren.

That was an odd chapter of my life. Mr. Mannerly treated me like shit when he walked aboard the Star of Russia, but after I went to Mulder under his instructions, he said that I needed to recuperate. He took me to one of his private estates for a while. I received medical care. He never said why he took me into his private life. It wasn't like him. Mannerly did not allow any of his children to be taken hostage that I know of. Spender smirked at me when I asked why that was allowed.

Anyway, at leisure on the estate, I struck up conversation with Juan Macias. We became as close to a friend as I had. He and Marcella helped Mulder and I out when we were fighting our private war. He agreed to work for me full time when I explained what I was doing. He liked the money, but mostly he liked the idea of continuing the fight against alien invaders. Juan said he used to love video games when he was a kid, but it was a lot more fun being a character in one. Funny guy....

Marcella had recruited Berta Redding along with the rest of the team. Berta had just finished her residency at New York General. She told Marcella that she was the oldest of eight kids. She wanted to put as many of her siblings through college as she could so that meant she couldn't waste time paying off the loans she had made to go to medical school. Berta's younger brothers were on the team too. She wasn't happy about the risk. She was one hell of a big sister to those young men. She told Marcella that she would rather they died trying to do some good than lose them to gangs.

Berta was tall, angular, and very black. She was tough, guarded, and a great doctor. Her brothers were tall and skinny, but well coordinated and strong. Mark and Devon were twenty one and twenty. Both were bright and full of themselves. I wouldn't have approved them except that I trusted Berta in line. That lady was tough enough to keep me in line.

Pete Randolph was an ex cop. He had a run in with internal affairs. He wasn't guilty, but they washed him out anyway. He had been assigned to Marcella's case and dug to deep. I told him he was lucky that all they did was fire him. Most people who asked to many questions ended up in an experimental lab.

It was a small team, but it would do. I never was one for huge operations. Marcella was screening additional team members for future operations, but this was the first. This was the beginning of my new life as much as that house with Walter and Mulder.

The place I rented was palatial. It was cheap as it had belonged to a drug lord not too long ago. He died and the lawyer in charge of his estate didn't mind a little extra cash flow. It had nice plumbing, an enclosed swimming pool, and a beautiful weight room that made me wish Walter was with me. I loved to see him pump iron. All those hot muscles...

Once we had installed my security devices, I drilled the team twice myself to Marcella's disgust. I trusted her, yes. Trust her with my life? No one but Mulder and that was only because I loved him too much to push how paranoid I was. Although that wasn't quite right, to be paranoid, you don't really have people after you.

We took a week to practice, scout and get used to the climate. I hate jungles. Maybe it was my Russian blood if I'm really Russian. Yeah, mystery thy name is Alex Krycek. Cancel that. Might be Alex Krycek. I wasn't really sure if that was my name. Spender deep sixed my earliest files when he realized how good I was with computers. I don't think there was anything that interesting about my early childhood and family background. It was pure meanness.

Michoacan is beautiful. You can grow almost any tropical crop there. Unfortunately a lot of the farmers preferred the easy cash of drug crops. Although there are other Mexican provinces that have crime problems, Michoacan has a reputation of its own.

The project lived hand in hand with organized crime. They cross pollinated freely. In this case, the project bought protection from the local drug cartels. It was a dangerous place for Americans, a dangerous place for anyone really.

The laboratory was located nearest Zacupu, a city notably poor in an area where poverty was the standard.

The biggest legal crop in the area was sugar cane. Most of the inhabitants were descendants of Purepechas Indians with little Spanish blood. The town was full of beautiful children most of whom looked hungry. There were too many young whores on the streets, few of whom had more than half of their teeth.

It was a sorry reminder that all the evil of the world was not caused by the greys or the project.

We might not have a chance at the project lab except there was great deal of chaos in the area. As I said, the project had ties to crime cartels. In this case, the ties had been very close. Some of the top bosses ended up eaten by what the locals thought were chupacabras. From the pictures I bought from one of the teenagers who were selling everything from jewelry to themselves, I didn't think it had anything to do with mythical goat sucking creatures. It looked to me as if they got to meet some of the nymph form of the aliens first hand.

I spent a short time explaining the nymphs to my team. Marcella was the only one who had ever really seen any of the alien forms. She worked with Mulder and I when we needed help.

The disbelief in the six sets of eyes was daunting. Marcella and I looked at each other. We had the same expression. This was going to be hard.

Manolito was a treasure. He was local, but he had his reasons for helping him. His daughter had been kidnapped. He was a wiry man, just a little over five two, but he was strong. Manolito led us through a vast field of maze. The project had a sign for the purpose of the few literate residents, claiming that the lab was a biological research facility.

Manolito explained that most people were very afraid of the place because they said diseases came from there. A couple of kids who were desperate and stupid enough to try to break into the lab died days later of what the doctors said was small pox. After that, no one would go near. Manolito said that he was willing to show me because the boys babbled about seeing Marisol, his daughter in the compound.

The layout was typical of the project. There was a clearing in the middle of which was a fenced area. There was a neat row of cottages for the personnel. A storage building combined with a garage. I knew there would be an incinerator there too. As Spender used to say to me, "We leave no evidence." Lastly, there was the main building, the size of a school. The windows were opaque and the doors heavy.

I could see a couple of guards but no more. My information told me that there should have been four men on duty and four off duty. The two men I saw weren't paying a lot of attention either. Both were smoking and drinking coffee. I saw a man in a lab coat.

This first trip was for observation only although I felt like striking now when I saw someone wheeling a gurney with a tiny body bag towards the storage area. My worst fear was that the kids would be killed when the scientists realized that the project was dead.

There were two reason why that wasn't happening. One was I kept the money flowing to parts of the project that I suspected might be the labs where children were being kept. It was hard to do that when I might be supporting more misery, but I wanted to give those kids a chance at a real life.

The other reason why the genetics arm of the project might be still operational was that the scientists were fanatic. Most of the ones who worked for the genetic labs were raised in the project like I was and sent to college before returning to work for what was the only parent they knew. Some of the other ones were children of the project in a different way. They were the offspring of elders and project families, bred to believe they were doing the right thing.

Why I never bought the line I don't know. I'm just glad that fate conspired to keep me from being like the true believers who were still trying to produce the perfect hybrids.

We didn't run into any nymphs. I was happy about that although I almost wished there was one to season my team. No matter how many comic books or horror shows you saw as a kid, it's hard to keep your cool and shoot straight when some fast moving reptilian monster tries to make you into lunch.

The second time we observed found security as slack. I had to hold Manolito back when a teenage girl crossed from one building to the next. She was pushing a cart and looked exhausted.

"My Marisol," Manolito said.

So she was kidnapped not to be an experimental victim but a slave. These guys were idiots. By stealing local children, they had sealed their doom. Sadly enough, they could have bought people to do their menial chores and there might not have been a peep.

There was a generator in the compound. Juan was sure he could take it out with his grenade launcher. He took aim and hit it cleanly. It was like stirring up an ants nest. They had a small fire engine and got it working. We slit the fence and went into the compound. I hadn't made any arrangements with local authorities to incarcerate prisoners. Maybe because I wasn't taking any.

Remember Project Paperclip? I didn't trust the United States not to give amnesty to these assholes to use their brilliant minds. It wasn't happening. The seeds of the project needed to be weeded. The victims were one thing, but the twisted assholes who tortured them? I could see no good in them.

I hadn't told my team what to do. I just made sure each one of them saw footage of what the project did to people. I made sure they had a close look on the experiments they did with kids.

With the fire, most of the targets were out in the open. I sent most of the team to engage them. I headed into the main building with Berta and one of her brothers.

There was a white clad woman leaning over a bed with a needle. When she saw us, she screamed. Berta tackled her and the woman tried to stab her with the hypodermic. Berta won the struggle and the needle plunged into the woman's chest. She screamed, "No."

A few minutes later, the woman was gasping and then went limp. Berta said, "She was going to kill that child."

The child in question was a beautiful dark haired little boy. His eyes were too big for his face, but he was the cuter for it. He was in restraints as were all of the children in the room. There were twenty five beds and twenty one were occupied. I saw three larger cots which I think were for the workers like Marisol.

The boy's face was fearful as he looked at me. I imagine all adults meant pain to him. I said, "You are going to be fine. What's your name?"

One of the older children, a girl with both black and Indian features, said, "We call him Pablo. The bad people don't give us names, but the big kids who take care of us named us all."

Marisol ran into the room. She stopped when she saw us and begged us not to hurt the angels. I told her that we would not.

Leaving Berta in charge, I went to see what was going on.

Good thing.

Someone had let the raptors loose. There were two of them.

Well, I had my wish. My team would see how I handled the raptors.

Or how they handled me.

Juan and Marcella were in action, but Pete had frozen. If he stayed immobilized, he was off the team one way or the other. I switched to my armor piercing ammo and fired at the nymph nearest me. I missed my shot and could have kicked my own ass for doing it.

Nymphs should be hokey. They look like a bit like the raptors from Jurassic Park, but their hides are wet looking. Oily.

You don't think hokey when one of them is coming at you, jaws dripping black ooze. You react like prey. Fight or flight.

I had the flight trained out of me. I fought.

There was nothing between my eye, my weapon and the target. It was nothing more than a ring to shoot. The heavy duty armor piercing weapon I carried is state of the art. I never would use less nor would I arm someone under my command with less. You going to fight, fight to win.

I feel the rebound in my left shoulder, but ignored the pain. I readied to fire again, but someone else slammed a shot home. The creature went down sideways. It screamed, weird high pitched sound not like something flesh and blood could make, but like a machine.

Checking to make sure that Marcella and Juan had the other creature handled, I stayed ready.

Damn thing got up, head canted to one side. There was nothing much more than a few strings of flesh connecting the massive head, but it was enough to make the nymph keep going.

I fired one more time and had the pleasure of seeing the head roll, still snapping.

Looking, I confirmed that it was Pete Randolph who had fired the shot that had disabled the creature. He was still alert, scanning for more nymphs. Marcella and Juan had finished the other one.

We reloaded, checked weapons, and I made everyone use their helmets. We wore armor that would stop most ammo. Yeah, it's a bitch when you run into armor piercing, but you can count on bureaucracies to think cheap. Most security forces aren't state of the art, no matter what they are guarding.

The Grey nymphs had been let out intentionally. Someone thought they would be protection against us. It would take DNA testing to determine who the bloody fragments had once been. There were a few scraps of blood splattered white lab coat scattered around near the gate. One of the scientists must have let the nymphs free.

We hit resistance towards the rear of the main building. Juan got knocked on his ass by what would have been a fatal chest shot. He got up, cussing in several languages.

I think my entire crew fired at once. Someone had loaded a tank shot, the type that is designed to ignite fuel. The building went up. No survivors. Too bad.

Hearing weapons, I turned my people back towards the dormitory. We arrived in time to take out two black clad operatives. I was reasonably sure that we had terminated the entire staff, but I didn't take chances. We searched until we had checked every possible hiding place, finding no one but a couple local teenage boys. Manolito identified them and calmed them down. He's a good guy. I'm going to hire him. I need people who can handle themselves like he does. He was a pro.

Leaving my crew to get the kids ready for transport, I ripped the files from the computer network then removed the hard drives just in case something was missed. Marcella and Juan helped me go through the paper files, boxing up everything that looked interesting.

By the time the charter bus arrived, Berta had checked the children. They were stable. A couple of them have really sharp teeth and nails. I'd venture a guess that someone was working directly with the alien nymphs to make hybrids. I could be wrong though.

I believe in gene therapy. There's all kinds of cool thing happening in medical science. I have no problem with stem cell research, but one thing I know from working in the project is that some scientists will go nuts with absolute power. There's always a few screw looses in any profession and the project was good at finding them and making them. I knew a couple kids who ended up working in the labs instead of being experimental victims. It never seemed to bother them that they could have been the ones suffering.

On the other hand, knowing the kids grew up like I did was not enough to make me spare them. I'm pretty low on morals as Mulder has said. These guys were bone dry using anyone's dip stick.

Like the Nazi scientists, the project documents everything. I found the files for the kids who had once occupied the missing beds. Once the samples were taken, the bodies fed the nymphs. Waste not, want not.

It was going to take a while to get these kids out of the country. That was Marita's job. She's back with the UN. If I'm lucky, the dorm will be ready when the kids are released to me.

So I'm going home. It was a good mission. I can see who needs more training...everyone, including me.

I gained a good operative. Manolito is more than happy to work for me. I got to like Manolito's daughter too. She's bright and she wants to be a doctor even if she had to leave Mom and Dad to go to school to prepare. I'm paying for Marisol's private school.

There's not much I can do for the region. Life sucks some times. I made sure that the other teenagers would have counseling and medical care. There were five of them in the compound, slave labor for the project.

Nothing left to do but wait or go home.

I'm going home.

My lovers greeted me at the airport. My plane was late so I managed to spot them before they spotted me. They looked great together and looked comfortable with each other. I got a kiss from each of them, good long kisses, but maybe a little competitive. Getting the kids out might be easy compared to what I need to do to break through Walter's barriers.

Yeah, I did say Walter's barriers. Mulder, my darling Mulder, starved his huge libido for so long that he is ripe for almost anything. He would jump Walter in a moment.

Once I got into Walter's car, I found myself ozoning. I used to be able to hit three countries in as many days without getting a dark circle under my eyes. Now I feel like I could sleep for a week.

Mulder woke me when we arrived at our house. I saw the new fence was up. Good. I can tell you that we had plenty of enemies, some that had earned the right to hate me and others that needed to die for their role in the project. We needed to keep up our guard.

I started to yawn and stretch, but two big heads nudged me, almost knocking me over. To my surprise, Jeff stood on the porch, smiling.

Mulder caught my look and said, "Since his house isn't finished, I thought I should get to know my brother."

He didn't even hesitate on the word brother. Good.

I went straight to my bedroom. I would much rather sleep in the big bed in Walter's room, but if I did that, I don't think I could stay celibate if I let myself sleep with him.

The dogs kept me company. Pluto rested his head on my chest. Mars stretched out by my side. I stroked their ears, loving the way they felt. Pluto sighed happily. He might be Walter's dog, but he loved me. I could hear the steady thump of Mars' tail. These dogs didn't waste time being mad at me for being gone. They were whole heartedly glad to see me. You could learn a lot about love from dogs. They don't complicate things. They give their hearts without fear, without ego. They hold nothing back.

I drifted off, feeling safe, almost happy. If only I could have my dream. My Mulder, my Walter...

"It's not like I don't agree with you," Mulder grumbled. "I'd be happy to do Walter or let him do me. So why am I being punished?"

Walter was over at Gina's with Pluto. I sat on that grand front porch with Mars. The grooming shed wasn't finished so I decided it was okay to brush my dog here. He was so beautiful. I felt myself calming by the moment as I brushed Mars. He turned for a moment, rested his already massive head on my shoulder. I could feel a damp spot since he was drooling a little, but I didn't care. His silky ear brushed my face and I rubbed against it.

"I find myself wishing I was your dog," Mulder grumbled.

A small snort escaped me.

"Yeah, very funny," Mulder said. "Alex, are you angry with me for leaving you? You know I really did go to find a healer."

Putting down the brush, I reached across Mars to cup Mulder's head. I kissed him. Maybe I shouldn't have, but kissing Mulder is an addiction for me. That mouth was made to be kissed. His lower lip... I love kissing him and feeling that sensuous mouth respond to me. That lip dragging across my cock is even better.

Part of me wanted to grab Mulder and do it right on the porch. The old me would have done it. The old me knew that moments of pleasure, of peace, of anything resembling happiness were rare. Someone was always waiting to take them away. Those old men...those evil old men.

This new person who had a chance to live as close to a normal life as I could ever want. He could wait for gratification if it meant not having to choose.

I guess it might be considered selfish to feel as I did. These two bigger than life men, as different as they could be, but both magnificent, both having my heart.

Most people would say choose. Most people would say a three way relationship with men as strong and powerful as the three of us would never work.

I say, 'Screw most people.'

I know myself. I know that if I was with Mulder, I would be yearning for Walter. If I was with Walter, my heart would be breaking for Mulder.

You know something else?

I think it was what we all needed.

Mulder had a self destructive streak I knew too well. He needed someone to watch his back. Usually that was me, but I had a weakness and its name was Mulder. Just like when I was following him in Tunguska. Every sane thought I had told me not to follow him into that dangerous place. Sanity went out the window and I went. I have one less arm as a result.

Do I blame him? Yeah, sometimes in weak moments, I do. When I'm feeling sorry for myself. Then I remind myself that he did not have me cuffed. He didn't make me. He explained to me what he expected to find and I was compelled to see. I am curious as a cat even if Mulder calls me his rat. I went. It was my decision and I take responsibility.

So where is this leading?

Here. There are times when I can't help going along with Mulder. So who is going to rein us both in?

The same guy who sometimes held Mulder back when he shouldn't have, but also the same guy who makes a pretty good Watson when we need to consider all the angles. The same guy who did not believe in aliens, but believed in Mulder and Scully enough to risk his life.

Walter died for his beliefs, for supporting Mulder. Yeah, I brought him back, but he went the route.

Walter isn't our daddy though. He needs us too. He needs us to let the real Walter out. The Walter who was a great field cop. The Walter who loved sex and loved life. AD Skinner had repressed almost all of himself. He would have died of stress a long time ago except I reprogrammed the nanocytes to repair some of the damage his type A personality had done.

I believe.

I believe that the love that Walter and Mulder had for each other could be, was also sexual and romantic. Mulder was willing to try.

We had to seduce Walter.

You know. It might be fun.

"You're still going to make me wait, aren't you?" Mulder said.

"Yeah," I admitted, no matter how hard it was to say that when his lips were still kiss red.

"Damn," Mulder moaned. He brightened and asked, "So can I get my porn back from Frohike?"

"No," I said. Geez.

"Let's go for a run," I said. "Exercise it off."

"Right."

Despite his sarcastic tone, Mulder warmed up beside me. Mars loved it. He bounced between us when we stretched.

"Hey, dog, get your nose out of there. I might be hard up but not that hard up."

"Mars, off," I said, making him get his nose out of Mulder's ass. It was funny, but Gina wouldn't appreciate having one of her precious dogs running around with that kind of manners. When you buy a dog from Gina, you sign a contract that states that dog will sleep inside whether that's a police dog sleeping in his partner's house or a pet dog. You sign that the dog will complete basic obedience and that the dog will work. Showing is permitted, but the dog must also compete in something else. Gina prefers working homes though.

Walter and I had promised to train the pups to do Search and Rescue. Both of us loved the idea. It was the kind of thing that Walter loved anyway. You would never guess this from the buttoned down AD uniform, but Walter is a real outdoorsman. He loves to fish, to hunt, to hike, and to camp. He loves the idea of tramping through the woods, looking for missing persons.

Me? I can take outdoor life or leave it. What appealed to me was another chance to start evening out my karma. I have done things in my life that are unspeakable. Some of them were for the right reason, but many of them were to save my shifty self. I'll admit the truth and add that sometimes I did the wrong thing for the wrong reason. There were times when I was so full of rage and frustration that I toyed with people and enjoyed their pain.

Mars stayed at my side during our run. It was early enough that we didn't have to worry about overheating him. As ungainly as a bloodhound pup looks, they are great athletic dogs. Mars had no problem keeping up with me. He could have kept up with Mulder too if he didn't want to stay by my side.

Mulder is one of those addicted to running people. He's fast. If he was another person, he could compete. He was trying to slow down for me, but he can't help pushing a little. I don't mind. I like watching his ass. I like his long legs too. His legs are two of his best features although not the two best.

Snuffling as he ran, Mars broke into a bay. I love that sound. It's music. I always imagined myself a hundred years back in some straw skimmer, following this same dog yodel.

When we came to the river bend that curves to make one property line. We regrettably are going to fence this area too. We'll leave a gate and a trail along the river. Although the river provided a barrier against casual invaders, we need to anticipate that our enemies will find us. We have to be defensible which means we have security monitors going up everywhere and that the fence will have sensors to let us know if someone comes through it.

Too bad. The view is beautiful and it's fun to run from the patch of woods to the river. We went to the little bridge that crosses the river and then back to sit on a grassy knoll to cool down.

Mulder flopped down, eyes closed. He's sweaty and glowing. He's gorgeous. Mars lay down, panting for a few minutes before getting up to explore. He didn't need to be told to stay close. Bloodhounds were bred to work with a human partner. A bloodhound will die of loneliness without a person.

Huh, I used to think I was better off alone. That was a load of bullshit. Working with Mulder against the project and the aliens was the most alive I ever felt even when I was dying.

Being with Walter, having his love even as my body shut down had been incredible.

I don't really like being alone.

Maybe I'm a bloodhound.

Walter was home when Mulder and I returned. I went to get Mars some water and Pluto bounded after us.

I glanced behind me to see how Walter reacted to the state of Mulder. My lover was sweating, his chest was bare, his skimpy running shorts were a tease. I had noticed that Mulder was semi erect when we walked into the yard. I guess he liked the way I looked too. I saw Walter's eyes trace Mulder's cock. I could tell by the way his body shifted that Walter was interested and fighting it.

That Walter is a stubborn man.

I drove out to check on the institute. It was coming along fine. Jeff's house was nearly done. Jeff wanted a big house. He's going to get a foster license once the place is done. We hope that most of the kids will eventually be able to live in the community so to speak. I dream about them being adopted.

I'm doing more than the institute. It's still chaotic out there. We are rid of the aliens, but not of the hybrids. The abductees are back. Some of them want to forget everything. If they can't have children , fine. They are too traumatized to want them.

Not everyone feels that way. Since I put a few ads out, set up an internet web site for abductees to chat, I have been conducted by dozens of abductees who want to find the children made from their genes. They don't care how the children came to be. They feel as if they lost a baby to kidnappers and they want the children back. If I find their offspring, I want to give them back with any supports needed.

Jeff is training counselors to help the families. I have to be the bad guy. I also want the parents screened to make sure the children won't come to harm. It's not so much I expect people to deliberately get the kids back to harm them. I'm afraid that raising the children may also raise the demons with which the abductees live. I'm going to be providing stipends to help the reunited families. Nothing like having most of the war chest for the project to use. I can thank Spender for being so cheap. He left most of the vast wealth for me to use. Of course, he didn't mean to be so generous. I helped myself.

"You know, Alex, the whole world isn't evil," Jeff said to me as we watched the house rise.

"No, but the world still had evil. A lot of madness too. This isn't going to be easy, Jeff."

"I know, but these kids will have the best protector in the world, you."

That made me feel good. It was a strange feeling to be admired.

There was so much paperwork to do. Jeff helped but the money stuff I had to do. Yeah, there was a lot of money, but I wanted to make sure that there would enough to last...well, however long there would kids who needed the institute. That meant investments and investment counselors.

My head was pounding by the time I finished my calls and emails. I heard Walter enter and I turned to look at him. "You look tired. Alex, you were very ill just a few weeks ago. You should take it easy."

"I was dying a few weeks ago, but now I'm alive and I'm going to stay that way. Don't worry, Walter."

My neck was still. I stretched and heard a faint crackle. Walter started rubbing my neck and back. His hands felt good. It was nice. He knew how to give great massage. It made me think about all the other things he was great at and I wanted to groan.

He didn't push it, but he looked hurt. Walter does wounded so well. He has these soft brown eyes that he always concealed with those wire rimmed glasses and a scowl.

"I love you," I said. Those are dangerous words.

Don't think that I haven't heard them before.

Marita even said that to me right before I fell asleep after we fucked. Those were all words. I got to say. I don't ever remember saying I love you to anyone but Walter and Mulder.

Walter cupped my face, traced my lips. "Just a kiss?"

I couldn't help it. I leaned toward him. His arms went around me and...God, it felt right. I love kissing Mulder. I love kissing Walter. Walter kisses as if he has nothing better to do for the next century or so. He knows me so well. He knows that I like to be kissed hard. That I like his tongue to explore my mouth. His hands feel like they are worshipping me.

I wanted him so badly.

It took all my will power to pull away.

Walter was panting. He said, "Let's go get Mulder. If that's what it's going to take. Let's do it. All three of us."

It was so tempting. If I only could believe it would work.

But I know Walter. It couldn't be like this. He had to want Mulder as much as he wanted me.

I said, "You'll know when the time is right, Walter."

"A man could die of wanting," Walter said.

Poor Walter...I knew what he is was feeling.

Poor me...

Mulder and Walter were watching baseball. I hate baseball. I don't mind football even if it's not soccer. Baseball is just too damn slow for me. I went up to Walter's room to read. I liked Walter's big bed better than my own. It's a California King, a playing field of a bed. He has custom made Pendleton on it. Not that we need blankets with the heat, but it's beautiful. I was sweating though so I stood up to fold the blanket over its stand. We have to get air conditioning. This might be a classic house, but I am not interested in suffering to keep it changeless.

I was distracted by a familiar odor; popcorn. Not microwave either. Walter likes it popped on the stove top with real butter. It smelled great and I wanted some. I'd just work out later, I promised myself.

When I went to the TV room, I found them kissing. Wow. Another guy might be jealous. Not me. I was so hard seeing them that it almost hurt. I think I made a sound, a moan.

Maybe I'm missing something in baseball. It never had that effect on me.

I wanted their first time to be as a couple. I've had them both. I'm going to have them both.

Two steps toward the stairs. Mulder stopped me.

"No, Alex, you aren't in control here. We are going to have you."

Walter's hands on me too. "Both of us. The way it's going to be."

"But...."

If I knew what I was going to say, I couldn't have said it. Walter kissed me, pressing into me. He was hard. I could feel him through his jeans and mine. Mulder was behind me. His cock nudged my ass as he put his arms around me.

"We're going to bed now, Alex," Mulder said.

"Okay."

What was I going to say? They had me. I wasn't going to refuse what I wanted more than anything.

The next few moments were a blur. I just knew that we were going to Walter's bed. They were undressing me and each other. My eyes followed Walter's hands as he tugged Mulder's tee shirt off. I always loved Mulder's collar bones. They were his wings, eagle's wings. I love looking at Mulder and the man loves to be looked at. I saw Walter's eyes taking Mulder in just as I was. He looked as if a light was going on somewhere. He had desired Mulder but couldn't deal with it. Couldn't deal with the complications of an affair with a subordinate. He always thought Mulder loved Scully until he finally realized that I had been with Mulder as well as him.

A soft groan of delight as Walter kissed Mulder's lips, worked his way down to Mulder's nipples. I freed Walter of his sweats, my hand stroking him as I pulled the cloth down. He was so solid, slabs of muscle. He lifted each foot for me and then he was naked. His shirt had been off when I walked in on them. Mulder's hands roving over Walter's broad chest..

Walter reminds me of Roman sculpture. Not Greek. He's the kind of man they would have idolized. Greeks were about moderation. Mulder is the kind of male beauty they celebrated, except his cock. There's nothing moderate about Mulder's cock. Walter though is brutal. I mean his body is a warrior's body. The Romans loved strength and they would have worshipped Walter.

You put those two together and...I could almost come from looking at them without touching myself.

They both stopped touching each other and smiled at me. They pulled me down on the bed. I was pinned by their mouths, their hands. Mulder was laughing as he took my cock in his mouth. I knew he wasn't mocking me. He was happy. We were happy.

All the attention Walter was paying to Mulder's ass, I knew how this was going to go. Mulder's likes to top, but he's so good when he bottoms. It's like making a conquest every time he yields to you.

Ouch. That's the trouble with all that distraction. Mulder's teeth more than grazed me. He muttered 'sorry'.

Mulder pulled up to eye level and we kissed. I love the way he kisses me. You would think he was starving and I was his sustenance.

We rubbed against each other. Mulder's face was red. He wasn't embarrassed; he was so turned on by Walter's fingers moving in him.

I didn't want him to come so I kept my hand off Mulder's erection no matter how he tried to push it lower. He growled in frustration, but it subsided into a cross between a groan and whimper.

Walter was in him. This is why I thought they should be alone the first time. Having a guy's cock up your ass is always intense. There's the pain. You can't quite do this without pain. It hurts, but it hurts good. Walter's a big man all over. You know when he's in you. He's gentle though as long as you need gentle. You have to let him know if you want it harder. Mulder does. He wants to feel it all the way and he bucks back against Walter.

Walter's breathing was harsh. His face looks like martyrdom. He is a sacrifice to his pleasure, to Mulder's pleasure.

Mulder is babbling now. He loves to talk dirty and now his words run together. The only thing that is really clear is 'fuck me, fuck me'.

I can tell when Walter is close. He started losing control, moving rapidly. Mulder just needs a little bit more and I gave it to him. He came. He came so hard that the bed shakes with the tremors. Walter rolled away from Mulder. He managed to grunt, "That was fantastic, Mulder." Then he was silent until the snoring started.

Mulder's chuckles don't wake Walter. "Romantic son of a bitch."

'Ow," Mulder uttered as he turned toward me. "I have some unfinished business, angel."

Scooting down, Mulder kissed every inch of me. I'm six feet tall. That's a lot of inches, but the most important ones right now are the ones Mulder takes in his mouth. My hand stroked his hair tenderly. My Mulder...I always wanted him. I always loved him even when we were locked in a dance of hatred.

My cock in his mouth. No one knows me like this better than Mulder. Not even Walter. Walter loves me tenderly, wanting to give me such pleasure. Mulder makes love to me as our bodies were one. It's all good. I have them both. They have each other.

Mulder took me deep. I was almost there. I felt his tongue moving. He hummed. It was Elvis Presley, of course. My hand dug into the sheet as I came. Coming like this is like waking from paralysis and I feel to the last nerve. Then it was over. I am mindlessly, perfectly content. Mulder pulled me close and he smiled.

"There, wasn't that better than anything you could have planned?"

He was right of course.

What's even better was knowing that we will have this. There will be time to explore, to discover all the ways we can combine.

It's going to be as perfect as life can be.

Walter grunted and his arm slid over Mulder. His eyes opened, perhaps surprised at the unfamiliar body, but then he embraced Mulder. We are one.

I woke in the middle although I don't remember moving during the night. I was hot. Mulder was sprawled almost over me. His hand cupped my cock, soft for now, but when I moved, his hand moved with me and the touch aroused me.

Walter was turned away from me, but his ass was pressed to my left side. I reached over, stroking him. That man's ass is so firm that it doesn't jiggle when he walks. It was a force of nature... that butt.

I didn't really mean to wake Walter. I couldn't keep my hands off him after this self imposed celibacy. He woke up and turned toward me to nuzzle my neck.

"Good morning," Walter rumbled. "Hell of a good morning."

Walter's hand reached across me to Mulder, caressing his hip. Walter looked very satisfied with himself. "How could I have missed this?"

"Don't know," Mulder mumbled. "I didn't."

I saw the speculation in Walter's eyes and grinned. He was so fixed on professional relationships that he must have shut down any interest in Mulder. Makes me wonder why it was different with me. We never talked about that.

Oh hell, I didn't care. Walter's mouth consumed me. And Mulder...the drag of his lower lip was my addiction. His tongue swirled around my nipple. I felt more than saw their heads bump. How was this going to work?

They stopped to kiss each other before turning back to me. Four hands exploring me, coaxing my body to helpless passion.

"I'm going to watch him fuck you," Mulder said. "He's so big. You're going to feel that. You love it, don't you?"

Mulder and his porn...but this was different. I might have laughed to hear this from one of Mulder's gay fantasies, but not with the reality of this. Not with Walter's fingers exploring inside me. Mulder was right up against me, his hands working both our cocks. I was pretty sure he didn't feel left out. He was loving this. His eyes danced as if he had read my mind.

"Do it for me, Walter. Show me, Alex. Give it all to me."

Anyone else I would have punched them and thrown them out the nearest window if I could. Mulder, though, Mulder made it even better for me.

I love being fucked. I love the way Walter does me. He was one hundred percent into me. He once told me that he could fuck me and hate me because a hole was a hole. He lied though. His hands told the truth and his lips. He couldn't keep himself from touching me when we had sex. His touch was always intense, worshipping, hungry. His lips were tender and I always felt as if he wanted to take me into him. So good to have no barriers.

Walter said my name as he rode me. He said he loved me. It was almost too much, Walter inside me, moving faster, pushing me over the edge and Mulder was there not to catch me but to take me somewhere I had never been before.

We ended in a tangle of us, exchanging lazy kisses, dreamy caresses.

Everything was the same and everything was different. My world was remade. It's strange about sex. People do it all the time. I know guys who really feel what Walter pretended to feel. Getting your rocks off is all you need and it doesn't really matter who you do it with. The other person doesn't even have to want it. I know that really well.

That was never me. I can be an asshole and I've done for selfish reasons that have no excuse. I've never raped anyone. I've never even really wanted to. Not even Mulder when he drives me into a frenzy.

I let the dogs out while Walter started breakfast and Mulder checked on the schedule for some of the renovations that still needed to be completed. The dogs are so uncomplicated. Not that they aren't intelligent in their own ways, but they don't pretend. They love a good romp. They love you and don't pretend otherwise. Pluto came bouncing up to me, nudged me with his big head. I rubbed his ears and told him what a good boy he was. Mars already knew that he has to wait his turn. They never go to my left side unless we are doing obedience training. My prosthesis is good enough to use with a leash. For some reason, in obedience training, the dog always walks on your left side. Just my luck.

I sat down on the porch and just watched them after they both had enough petting. Pluto and Mars adore each other. Pluto deigned to play with his less serious brother. They run, big ears flopping, jowls jouncing, silken hair gleaming in the early morning sun.

This beautiful place...these beautiful dogs.

I have to ask. Why me? How did I get so lucky?

I have no answer. It could have been the day I decided to stand up and fight. If not bring my battle into the light, I no longer skulked in shadows alone.

I know there are going to some adjustment issues. The three of us are all strong men.

Bed was the easy part even if it didn't seem that way after weeks of watching Walter dance around Mulder.

No, we would have our bad times.

I believed though. I believe we can make this work. I believe that we could love each other and share.

This is a gift. I suspect that both of them will have a difficult time with my plans. Not that they disagreed with my dream. I think they both felt they needed to protect me. I suppose eventually I will need to let them help me.

Funny, I can't accept them swaddling me in their love, but I want to do the same thing to them.

I'm smart enough to know it won't work. Thinking about having them, openly loving them...it really scares me.

Running, fighting with Mulder was the best high of my life. It was the part of me that always loved living on the edge. I know how many things I had screwed up because I just had to push. I had to take one last chance. I got hurt. Other people got hurt. People died. The good thing about those months on the run with Mulder was that between the two of us, our luck changed. He wanted me alive. He admitted he needed me. I think he realized a long time before I did that he loved me. I had no problem with my truth. I had loved Mulder from the start, love him for his body, his mind, his soul. Did it stop me from the fucking him over? No. I did keep him alive though when Spender couldn't. Maybe the only thing in the world I will ever be grateful to Spender for is keeping Mulder alive when parts of the project were willing to sacrifice him. Old Smokey couldn't always win, but what he did with power, I did with subterfuge.

Walter was another matter. He wanted to take care of me. I think that was why his defenses went down when I was dying. At last, I was totally his, dependent on him. Good thing he couldn't put them back up when Mulder healed me. I needed him and now I was going to have him.

Mars came back for more loving and then flopped down on his side, his head against my leg, drooling jowl shoved him to allow his long tongue to loss out. He made me laugh just to look at him.

I heard the door start to open and turned around. Walter and Mulder came out. Walter sat by my side. Mulder sat behind me and leaned his sharp chin on my shoulder.

"Happy?" Mulder asked.

"Yeah," I said. "Yes, indeed."

A few weeks later, we walked into the institute. It smelled of new pain, of fresh wood. Can you smell hope?

Jeff said, "Congratulations."

I took the envelope and slid the license out. "Iustum Home".

Iustum means 'What is Right." You could translate it as justice or even fighting for the right.

It was Mannerly's family motto. I won't pretend he was a perfect human being, but he helped me stand up and fight.

Taking care of these children of the project is right. Uniting children who never knew a parent's love with people who thought they would never have a child because of what the aliens and the project took from them was justice.

The kids would be here any minute. So far I hadn't found their parents, but give me time. Word was going out and hopeful abductees were starting to register for background checks and home studies. Some of them were clear they would only take children that were genetically related to them. Others felt that being survivors of the project was enough to unite them as family.

I have to thank those bastards who ran the Consortium for squirreling away so much money. I needed a lot of it not only for the institute and my missions, but for counseling centers. Once we went public, it was like a cork blowing off. So much pain, so many people who had hid what happened to them until we exposed the project.

I would hate to say no to anyone who wanted the children made out of their genetic material to raise, but I am not going to expose these children to more pain. Who am I to judge? I may not be a good man, but I know what it is like to be a helpless child in the hands of evil.

Handing the license back to Jeff, I indicted the wall, letting Jeff hang it up.

Walter slipped his arm around my waist and I gripped Mulder's hand in mine. I held on tight and I leaned into Walter.

"You okay?" Mulder asked.

"I am better than okay," I said.

"It's a beautiful place."

The front reception was beautiful. It looked home like as did the rest of the building. Most of the children who would live here until they were well enough to go to the cottages had never lived in any place but a project experimental lab.

I had invited Karen, our vet, and Gina, of course. Both of them looked around at once and said in unison, "You're going to need therapy animals."

I knew they would say that. "I'll trust you to help me with that. Other than Pluto and Mars. They are born therapy animals."

Gina had Mars and Karen had Pluto. I wasn't going to leave them out of this. If it wasn't for them...if they hadn't stayed Walter's hand...

Walter must have read my mind. He said, "I never stopped loving you, Alex."

I guess not.

A horn blew to announce the van was arriving. We all went outside to welcome the kids. I helped Pablo off the bus. He clung to me when he saw Pluto and Mars, "Monsters!" he said.

I said, "Not monsters, dogs, wonderful dogs. They are our friends, Pablo."

The child still looked doubtful, but he finally relaxed. I headed for the hospital, but Pablo tugged my hand. "Marisol told me that there would be a playground. I could play outside."

To hell with it.

Grand openings were adult bullshit. Pablo was a child who had never been to a playground.

A few minutes later, he was swinging. The other children explored the slides and the merry go round. The blond girl with the nearly white eyes wandered in the garden, picking flowers.

And this was how it was supposed to be.

The end.