Krycek resumed his walking and marched out of the room.
***
Scully stepped out on the balcony of her room to watch Krycek surf the waves. She could sense his anguish all the way up here. That was unusual. She knew he usually went down there to leave her alone, but today she could still feel his pain. What the hell was the matter with him now? Mulder, she thought. What did Mulder say to him?
She went to her bedroom door and opened it, calling out into the hall. 'Mulder, can you come here please?'
She changed out of her bathrobe and threw on the black dress she was wearing for dinner. She sat down and began to brush through her wet hair.
Mulder appeared in her doorway a minute later.
She noted the way he looked around the room. 'Of course Alex and I have separate bedrooms.'
Mulder shrugged. 'I was just looking.'
'You were looking for evidence of our affair.' She said sternly.
'And how would you know that, Miss Scully?' Mulder joked.
Scully sighed at Mulder�s attempt of being charming. 'I've been working on my abilities and I can see right through your jealous tirades. Mulder, when are you going to trust me and the things I tell you?'
'I'm sorry, Scully.' Mulder sat down on her bed. 'It's just hard for me to see you and Krycek together and so, so, happy.' He scrunched up his face.
Scully sat down next to him. 'You're going to have to trust me. He is the father of my child, Mulder. And whether or not you believe it, he is a wonderful man. You would like him if you gave him half a chance.'
'How about a quarter.' Mulder said grudgingly.
'Come on, Mulder.' Scully tilted her head at him. 'For me?'
He stared back at her; not able to stand the pouting look he was giving her. 'I'll try. For you.'
She smiled brilliantly gave him a quick kiss on the lips. 'Thank you.'
***
Mulder stood in the living room, not quite able to absorb all the warm hellos that Krycek was getting from the Scully family. Maggie hugging him and tousling his hair was bad enough, but the double-handed handshake that Bill gave Krycek was a total blow to Mulder.
'Oh, hey.' And a nod of the head was all Mulder got from Bill.
Maggie at least gave him a hug and talked to him for all of five or ten minutes.
Mulder watched Krycek play the dutiful son-in-law, grinding his teeth away to nothing.
Krycek smiled and joked and laughed and the whole thing made Mulder want to puke. When Krycek picked up little Matthew and swung him around the room, Mulder considered shooting himself in the head.
The worst thing about all of this was that Mulder couldn't see a bit of false feelings from Krycek. He really believed that Krycek was as corny as he seemed.
Death by plunging over the balcony suddenly seemed an even better idea.
***
Mulder stood out on the deck, looking down at the surf. If I do it just right, he thought, I could probably land right on top of that pointy rock.
'But what a mess we'd have to clean up.' Krycek said, leaning in the doorway, a beer in each hand.
'I really wish you'd quit doing that.' Mulder shook his head.
'Sometimes I wish I could.'
Mulder didn't look at Krycek as he came over to stand next to him and held out a beer. 'Trying to get me drunk?'
Krycek smiled. 'I'm quite sure you don't need my help for that.'
Mulder didn't say anything and they both stood in silence, watching the people down on the beach. A surfer wiped out down below. He was knocked down by a wave and his surfboard landed on top of him.
'Oooh!' They both exclaimed.
'Got biffed.' Krycek said, making sure that the poor guy was okay. The surfer trudged out of the water, people on the beach applauding and whistling at him. He took a bow.
Mulder smiled to himself. 'Never did make the beach scene much.'
'Not growing up in New England.' Krycek said. 'The beaches over there aren't like the beaches over here. Especially in Southern California. There are lots of surfing communities. They only place better is North Shore on Oahu and Australia of course.'
Mulder hated the fact that he was curious about Krycek. 'You spend time over there?'
Krycek sighed in response. 'Spent time everywhere. But this is my home. It's the only place I planted myself for awhile.'
'You grew up here?' Mulder was surprised, for some reason he thought of Krycek slumming it between Washington DC and the Soviet Union.
'I came here when I was sixteen and left when I was twenty. I went to UC Irvine for two years just because I wanted to stay here. I love the atmosphere and the whole surf culture. Even though the feeling of the surfer's here is not as spiritual as over in Hawaii.'
Next he's going tell me he's Buddhist. Mulder thought.
'I actually consider myself Taoist.' Krycek said, taking a drink of his beer.
Mulder put his head down, laughing softly to himself.
'Sorry.' Krycek said. 'It's a habit. I haven't quite figured out how to control it yet.'
'Where'd you go after you left here?'
'I got my BA from UCLA.'
Mulder winced. 'I was never fond of Los Angeles.'
'That's a whole other lifestyle.' Krycek said. 'There's some freaks up there. I promised Dana that I'd show her the whole LA thing because she said she's never really been there either.'
Mulder recalled the disastrous trip they'd taken to Hollywood when that horrible movie had been made about one of their cases.
'Yeah, I caught that.' Krycek said. 'Great flick.'
Mulder stared over at him, deciding if he was being made fun of. Krycek flicked his eyes sideways at him and Mulder made a face.
'Screw you.'
Krycek laughed and Mulder smiled.
'Never thought you'd be such a smartass.' Mulder said.
'Defense mechanism.' Krycek said and Mulder nodded.
'I have that installed myself.'
They heard a burst of laughter from upstairs. Frohike's voice was loud as he told a joke.
Mulder shook his head. 'This is weirder than any case I've worked.'
'Being here?'
'Not exactly.' He said. 'The Lone Gunmen and Scully's family together for the holiday's.'
Krycek stared at him, waiting for him to continue. 'You can say it.'
'And you.' Mulder didn't look at him. 'Scully's family seems to like you.'
Krycek shook his head. 'I don't think Bill like's anyone.'
Mulder snickered. 'I've always got that impression myself. But at least he's nice to you.'
'He's only nice to me because my name�s not Fox Mulder.' Krycek shook his head. 'He's got some serious issues with you he needs to deal with.'
'No, no.� Mulder said. 'I can understand his view on me. I come into Scully's life and all she gets is trouble. She almost gets killed, she disappears, she can't have children.' He stopped, thinking. 'Okay, back then she couldn't.'
'Not to mention six months have gone by and you never came out to see her until now.'
Mulder nodded at Krycek. 'Gee, thanks.'
'Anytime.' Krycek smiled and brought the beer to his lips. 'Who care's what he thinks anyway? Dana is the only person you need to worry about.'
'It'd still be nice if I could spend time with her family without feeling like I have the spotlight shining on me.'
'Well.' Krycek turned away from the beach and leaned his back against the railing. 'If you really want me to, I can put my feet up at the dinner table and chew with my mouth open.'
'That'd be a nice start, but can you use three foul words in each sentence, maybe give Bill the finger every fifteen minutes.'
Krycek nodded. 'I could even try to work in an unflattering bodily function every now and then.'
'You'd really do that for me?' Mulder smiled at him.
Krycek nodded, winking and pointing at him. 'Gotcha back, bro.'
Mulder laughed hard, looking at the enemy standing next to him. He was really confused by the fact that no matter how much he still hated him, Krycek was cool.
�You should laugh more often.� Krycek said. �This really cool thing happens to your face.�
Mulder tried not to smile, irritated with the fact that he didn�t hate Krycek just then. �What happens?�
�You smile.� Krycek said.
�Screw you.� Mulder laughed.
�It�s bizarre, the corners of your mouth turn up and everything.�
Mulder laughed again. �Whatever.�
�Look, all those wrinkles from your sour face just kinda fade away��
Mulder looked at him, his beer halfway up to his mouth. �Are you going to stop?�
Krycek looked out over the ocean and took a drink of his beer. �You know Mulder, you should have fun more often. You spend so much time working, running around chasing the bad guys, which may or may not be the bad guys, and you miss out on what�s most important.�
Mulder shrugged. �Depends on what you think is important. I think exposing heinous crimes against an innocent, American society is pretty important.�
�But you�re alienating everyone while you do it. You�re missing your life. You�re missing yourself.�
Mulder shook his head. �I believe that what I�m looking for will explain what I�ve been missing.�
Krycek looked at him closely. �I believe that what you�re missing is in that house, upstairs. You�re life is right in front of your eyes and you ignore it. You�re going to suddenly find yourself old and all alone and still chasing conspiracies.�
Mulder remained silent and Krycek turned to face him. �You know who you remind me of? Running around, never having time for anyone or anything else. Mindlessly dedicated on working for a cause that really has no meaning to anyone. You know who you�ll turn into if you�re not careful?�
Mulder stared back at Krycek, trying not to appear too concerned with what he was saying. �Who�s that?�
�Our father.�
�I�m nothing like Spender.� Mulder managed to say, hoping that Krycek couldn�t sense how much his words had terrified him.
�I merely stated an opinion of mine.� Krycek said, his eyes searching the horizon. �I merely stated that you remind me of him and if you�re not careful, you�ll turn into him. Personally, I think you�re afraid that Spender�s future is your own. I think you fear that your path has already been laid out for you, which would explain why you�re so damn committed on letting Dana slip away.�
Mulder didn�t say anything.
Krycek smiled and took a drink of his beer before meeting Mulder�s eyes. �Of course, like I said, that�s just my opinion and it doesn�t really matter. I mean, who the hell am I?�
Mulder looked away from Krycek and took his own swallow of beer. He was irritated again due to an emerging pattern that was becoming blatantly apparent.
Krycek was right.
***
Scully knew something was up. She had no idea what had happened when Mulder and Krycek had disappeared for an hour, but something was definitely different when they came back. She could sense that Mulder still didn't like Krycek, and that he was still jealous of the friendship that her and Alex had, but he definitely seemed more at ease.
Krycek was a different story. He was ignoring any bad feelings coming from Mulder and seemed happy, at peace. She knew he liked having everyone here. Over Labor Day weekend they had invited everyone over for the weekend. He had confided in her during a rare, quiet moment of the barbecue that he finally felt like he was part of a family. Scully had put a hand over his and smiled, not needing to say anything.
They were continuing the preparation of their vegan feast. Bill and Byers were indulging in cigars out on the deck while Langly and Frohike were down on the sand, entertaining Stout. They were throwing a ball out into the water for the happy dog to retrieve and drinking Corona. Krycek, Scully and Maggie were finishing up in the kitchen and Mulder desperately tried to stay involved but the familiarity between the three of them was unsettling.
�I don�t know if I�m doing this right, Alex.� Maggie said.
�Mash them with the handle.� Krycek said to her, putting his hands over hers. �Like that.�
Scully smiled while dicing apples. �Didn�t realize that I lived with a gourmet chef, did you Mom?�
�I�m no expert.� Krycek replied modestly. �I just had to learn to cook if I wanted to be vegan.�
�Thank God for that.� Maggie said. �Otherwise Dana would eat nothing but pasta.�
Mulder watched this exchange with a dumbfounded look on his face. Krycek and Scully chumming around was hard enough for him to deal with. But watching his enemy put his hands over Scully�s Mom�s in such a casual gesture really surprised him.
��I close my eyes when it gets too sad�I think thoughts that I know are bad�Close my eyes and I count to ten�Hope it�s over when I open them��
�It�s our song!� Scully exclaimed, reaching over to grab the remote and crank it louder.
�We have a rule in this house.� Krycek said in response to the bewildered look on Mulder�s face. �We shut up and sing along to certain songs until they�re over. This is one of them.�
Scully smiled. �You�re breaking that rule right now, Alex.�
�So are you.� He grinned back and they both began to sing along with the lyrics.
��Hope my Mom and I hope my Dad will figure out why they get so mad�I hear them scream, I hear them fight�They say bad words that make me wanna cry��
�Why this song?� Maggie asked.
�Mom!� Scully exclaimed. �You�re breaking the rule!�
�This song reminds us to be careful.� Krycek said. �To listen to our kid, to be certain we pay attention to everything.�
Mulder took a deep breath. Our kid. The words had been tossed out so casually, as he guessed it had become to everyone.
Everyone but him.
��Promises mean everything when you�re little�And the world�s so big�I just don�t understand how you can smile with all those tears in your eyes�When you tell me everything is wonderful now��
Scully smiled at Mulder. �We don�t want our kid to turn out like the poor guy depicted in this song.�
Our kid.
The words jumped right up in his face laughing at him, poking fun at him and the weirdness that had become his life.
��Go to my room and I close my eyes�I make believe that I have a new life�I don�t believe you when you say�Everything will be wonderful someday��
I hear ya, kid, Mulder thought to himself. He looked out the French doors, out over the ocean, out far, far away, where he believed a life waited for him somewhere. Scully seemed to be making a new life for herself right here. She didn�t understand how reluctant he was to be here, hanging around with Krycek while the two of them picked out baby names together. She didn�t understand that he had no idea what the hell was going to happen when the baby was born. What were they planning on doing then?
She was somehow under the impression that everything was going to be fine. She believed that they could all get through this. She believed that everything would be wonderful someday�
Mulder didn�t understand how it would work. He didn�t understand what she expected him to do.
Most of all, he didn�t understand how the hell Alex Krycek had zeroed in on his life.
��I just don�t understand how you can smile with all those in your eyes�And tell me everything is wonderful now��
Actually, he didn�t understand anything right now.
Scully and Krycek were singing along with the music, continuing to cook, completely oblivious to any inner struggle he seemed to be having just then.
Thank God.
He already felt foolish enough with everything that was going on. The last thing he needed was for Scully to get irritated again. Or worse yet, for Mr. Wonderful to sense a weakness.
��I don�t wanna hear you say that I will understand someday�No�No��
Mulder began believing that the lyrics weren�t those of a child of divorce. He began to believe they were his own.
��I don�t wanna meet your friend�And I don�t wanna start to over again�I just want my life to be the same�Just like it used to be��
Yeah, Mulder thought. That�s exactly right. I don�t want to meet Alex Krycek, I don�t want to restructure my life and start over and I do want things to be the way they were before the evil bastard shoved his way in.
��I hate everything�Everyone and everything�Please don�t tell me everything is wonderful now��
My thought�s exactly, Mulder thought to himself, smiling bitterly at the lyrics.
�Fox.�
He looked up to see Krycek staring at him, a mixture of humor and pity in his eyes.
�What?� Mulder barked back, a little harsh.
Krycek smiled easily through the hostility thrown his way and Scully interceded.
�Dinner�s ready, Mulder.� She said softly. �You want to go let everyone know?�
�Why don�t I do that.� Krycek said, purposely leaving Mulder and Scully alone and easing the tension in the kitchen.
Mulder wasn�t sure whether he was thankful or if he hated Krycek even more for being the one mature enough to give in.
Oh yes, he thought, who is the idiot now?
***
Rather than being pompous towards Mulder, as expected, Bill chose to ignore him.
Scully felt Mulder shaking next to her at the dinner table. She glanced over at him and saw he was trying not to laugh. She looked across the table at Krycek and saw a smirk planted on his face. What the hell? She caught a visual the two were sharing, something that involved her brother and the mashed potatoes sitting in front of Mulder.
That's enough. She thought at the both of them. She was secretly pleased at their banter, but didn't want a food fight at the table.
Mulder covered his mouth with his napkin and coughed, trying to mask his laughter. Langly and Bill were engaged in a conversation about computers at the other end of the table, but their odd behavior would be noticed soon enough.
Now Krycek's face was turning red as he tried not to laugh at Mulder's thought of showing Bill how he really felt by standing up and bending over. Their laughter was contagious but she struggled not to get sucked into their playtime. Krycek was about to respond with an image of his own when Scully kicked him under the table.
'OW!' He said loudly, causing everyone to turn their way. 'Oh, I really need some more of that Cole slaw.' Krycek reached over and piled more on his plate, trying to cover up his outburst. 'Yes, I just love this Cole slaw.'
It was Scully's turn to try not to laugh but Mulder was losing his battle and sliding lower and lower in his seat, holding his stomach.
'What did you put in this Cole slaw, Dana?' Krycek was egging her on and she knew it. 'Because I just can't get enough.' He stared at her, smiling, head tilted to the side. All she heard in her head was how she did have to sleep sometime, and there was a lot of coleslaw that would be sharing her bed.
Scully tried to meet his gaze, tried to bluff him out. But he just sat there, smiling at her, reminding her that she would be swimming with cabbage later on. She finally put her head in her hands and burst into giggles. Mulder let out his own laughter, leaning against her.
Everyone at the table was staring at them and Krycek heard a thought in Bill's mind. I guess we should have had a kid's table after all.
An image popped into his mind. The three of them banished to the far corner, sitting at a table too small for them, throwing food and making faces at each other. Krycek finally started to laugh and let his head fall on the table. That made Scully laugh harder, causing Mulder to laugh harder.
'Freaks.' Frohike said, turning back to his plate of food.
***
Maggie and Krycek insisted on cleaning up after dinner while everyone else moved downstairs.
Byers and Bill stood by the fireplace, smoking cigars and talking. Frohike played with little Matthew and Langly was keeping the blender going. After speaking with everyone in the room for awhile, Mulder and Scully walked out onto the deck, holding hands.
'Seems odd to drink margarita's on Thanksgiving.' Mulder said, taking a sip of one.
'So Cal.� Scully replied, smiling.
'Oh no, you're starting to sound just like him.'
She laughed. 'Like who?'
'Mr. Personality.' Mulder said. 'Krycek.'
�No.� Scully shook her head. 'Everyone here talks like that.'
He looked out over the ocean. 'I can see why you're happy here.'
'I love it here.' She smiled up at him. 'Except I miss you sometimes.'
Mulder looked at her in disbelief. 'Sometimes?'
'You've been gone a long time, Mulder.'
'No, Scully.' He corrected. 'You've been gone a long time.'
'Whichever.' It was her turn to look out over the surf. 'I don't want to argue.'
'I'm not arguing.' He argued. 'I was just saying...'
A minute passed before Scully turned towards him, her eyes twinkling as she smiled. 'What was dinner about, anyway? The two of you were acting like little boys.'
Mulder smiled in spite of himself, remembering their conversation on this same deck a couple of hours earlier. 'We were just being stupid. Relieving the tension.'
'By mocking my brother?' Scully smiled. 'I guess he's not a very popular guy.'
'He's just a little...'
'A little what, Mulder?'
'Cranky.' He replied.
The radio suddenly came on in the rec room, 'Roller Coaster' by the Red Hot Chile Peppers playing on KROQ. Scully shook her head. 'Oh, no.'
'What?' Mulder asked.
'Alex is going to be happy when he hears that on the radio.'
Mulder frowned. 'That racket?'
Scully rolled her eyes up at him. 'He loves the Chile Peppers.'
As if on cue, Krycek spun into the room, accepting the margarita Langly offered as he danced by.
'�One, two, one, two, three�I got a ticket so ride with me�'
Scully just smiled as Mulder stared at Krycek, mouth slightly open. If he had been told a year ago that he'd be in a beachfront house, drinking margaritas on Thanksgiving while Krycek danced around like an idiot, Mulder would have checked himself into a mental institution.
'Oh there he goes.' Langly said, laughing.
'As long as he doesn't break into the Ricky Martin impersonation again.' Frohike said. 'I haven't been the same since.'
Everyone in the room laughed as they all remembered the Labor Day weekend party, Krycek shaking his hips as he twirled around the room to 'Livin' La Vida Loca', making fun of the Pop star.
Mulder shook his head and looked down at Scully. 'I've missed a lot.'
She nodded, not looking at him. 'Yes, you have.'
Krycek came out onto the balcony.
'�Your love is like a roller coaster, baby, baby, I wanna ride�'
'Down, Alex, down.' Scully laughed.
He stood next to Mulder, leaning against the railing. 'How do you like Newport Beach, Agent Mulder?'
'The entertainment factor is quite high.' Mulder replied dryly.
'Are you referring to the beach action, or are you mocking my exuberant performance.'
Mulder nodded. 'I'm mocking you.'
'Enjoy yourself.' Krycek took a sip of his margarita.
'I'm going to talk to Mom.' Scully said, eyeing the two of them. 'Behave yourselves.'
'Always.' They both replied then looked at each other.
Scully gave them both a dirty look before walking back into the house.
