TITLE: Krycek v. Langly, Round 1
AUTHOR: Meghan O'Connor
EMAIL: gyrfalcon@yahoo.com
FEEDBACK: Please! The more I get, the more you get!
RATING: PG-13
DISCLAIMER: The LGM, Krycek, and anyone else you recognize are
1013's. However, Rachel Ann MacGregor is all mine.
SPOILERS: The X-Files, all up to the last season finale, and the LGM
series.
CATEGORY: Post-Colonization, LGM/other, Krycek/Other
SYNOPSIS: Rachel takes something to make her feel better. But who
is she feeling better about?
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Society is rebuilding after Colonization. Krycek
didn't die. All our favorites and a bunch of NPC's have ended up at
an abandoned resort by a lake. It makes for a good place to rebuild
a pocket of society. If I don't write Mary Sues, then I can at least
have a promised land. Ok, maybe not that great. Argh, just read!
This is Rachel's other alternate timeline. I call this the "Dancer"
series.
Someone had broken into her cabin as she slept and left them on the
table. She was sure she knew who it was, but he never acknowledged
that they existed. Each day, there were more. She just added them
to the coffee can full of water. After a week, she realized that she
was looking forward to getting up, if only to look at the wildflowers
on her table. Although she spent a lot of time with the Lone Gunmen,
she didn't think of telling them about the fragile gifts.
She headed for the infirmary. Waving to Mr. Lomonov, she veered over
to his porch for a moment. "Good Morning, Mr. Lomonov! Are you
feeling any better?"
He sipped his tea and smiled. "Dobre Utra, little Anya. Da, I am
feeling strong as horse now. How is your young lyubimy?"
"My what?"
His laugh was booming. "Your boyfriend, little Anya. The one who
brings you flowers in the dead of the night." His eyes
twinkled. "We old people don't sleep too much."
She blushed. "He's not my boyfriend."
"Whatever you say, young lady."
A thought popped into her head just before she bid him
farewell. "Mr. Lomonov, what does krasavitsa mean?"
He laughed again. "He will be your lyubimy soon, little Anya. If he
says krasavitsa, he is calling you beautiful."
She kept her expression calm. "Thank you, Mr. Lomonov. I must get
to the infirmary now." She turned and started walking, leaving the
old man chuckling on his porch. Her mind was a mass of confusion,
her emotions whirling. Anguish tore through her at the thought that
not even Frohike had ever noticed the way she looked, and certainly
not Langly. She was slightly distressed at the thrill that ran along
her spine when she thought of Krycek calling her beautiful. There
was surprise and self-disparagement that anyone could think that,
given the situation they were all in. Even a little anger shone
through that the last time someone had told her she was attractive
was years ago, before she even met the Gunmen. Assuredly, no one had
since.
Now what? She headed back to the guy's place since Scully already
had some unexpected help at the infirmary. A couple teenagers were
interested in becoming medics, so Scully had enlisted their services
for the day. Byers gave her some wiring to do, but it didn't take
too long. She sat with her notepad and pencil, staring out the
window after lunch. Trying to think logically, she started a list.
LANGLY: Pro: brilliant, funny, sweet, sexy, understanding, likes
some of the same music, best friend, intense, loyal, honest,
beautiful eyes, great smile, warm hugs, good at frisbee
Con: doesn't always think before speaking, sometimes impatient,
cranky in the early morning, hasn't shown an iota of interest in past
6 years and doesn't now
KRYCEK: Pro: attractive, can dance, bilingual, intense, nice eyes,
good reflexes, seems romantic, leadership qualities, persistent, says
he wants to be with me and wants to kiss me, calls me beautiful in
Russian
Con: murderer, traitor, known liar
She looked at the comparison. She tore the sheet from the pad and
folded it in half to take with her. Just then, Frohike came into the
room. "Oh, there you are, Rae. They're looking for you at the main
hall. They want to go on a raid in some abandoned stores a couple
towns away, and you and Scully are the only two women who can handle
a gun. She convinced them that they need women to find… women
things. You know."
She smiled. "Ok. Couldn't hurt. Thanks, Fro. If I see any
electronic doohickeys, I'll try to grab a few."
"Thanks. Get going, fireball." She stuffed the paper in a pocket
and headed for the hall.
The raid went successfully. Somehow, they had lucked out and found a
Wal-Mart that hardly anyone else knew about yet. Not that there were
a lot of people left to remember where everything was. They were
cautious, but found some trucks that still had enough gas to get a
few loads back to camp. The essentials were loaded first, OTC
medicine, baby and cleaning supplies, winter clothes, toiletries,
tools, durable goods and non-perishable food. Then the extraneous
items went in. Practical clothing, underwear, batteries, camping
goods, some games and sports equipment like basketballs for boredom,
electronics, some mountain bikes, sewing and mechanic supplies,
fabric, and some reference books. Rachel opted for the team that
made a final sweep of the store. She got assigned to women's
clothing and looked thoroughly in the aisles for anything that could
be useful. Loading up on a few missed sweaters, she went around a
rack and saw the dress.
It hung there, swaying lightly in a breeze. A simple sheath of
shimmering green with spaghetti straps and a flared skirt, and one
was in her size. Looking around, she noticed that no one else was
within sight. She made a quick decision and grabbed the one in her
size, stuffing it hangar and all deep into her backpack. She refused
to think about the fact that she couldn't decide if she would show it
to Langly or to Krycek.
She slung the heavy bag down on the kitchen table as the guys
gathered around. They'd already had their share of the practical
items, but this was what Rachel had scavenged for them. They were
like kids at Halloween, pouring over a dumped candy bag.
The supplies of electronic parts and small scale tools thrilled the
heck out of Frohike. He was always trying to improve things or make
them workable again. Byers was blushingly grateful for the selection
of reference books in paperback form, and Langly smiled when he saw
the array of walkie-talkies that he could rewire to the same
frequencies for security. Rachel then placed a much lighter black
trash bag on the table. "Now for the non-essentials." She pulled
out a smaller bag and handed it to Frohike. He looked in, then wiped
his eyes under his glasses after a moment. He took out the bag of
licorice, three pairs of leather gloves and the pair of scissors.
"Damn. Thanks, Rae. I…" She just smiled and gave him a quick hug.
She turned to Byers and gave him another small bag. His grin was a
mile wide as he uncovered the chocolate bars, the Polaroid and ten
packages of film. She had remembered that he regretted that they had
no pictures of each other, just in case. She squeaked when he hugged
her tightly. A rustle from behind made her break away in time to see
Langly pawing through the bag.
"Langly!" Byers dropped into an admonishing tone, but lightened up
when Rachel started giggling. He looked up from the empty bag,
almost crushed. She couldn't hold out any more when he looked so
sad. She brought the other small bag out from under the table.
"God, Langly, don't pout. I couldn't forget you. Yours is just a
bit more… fragile." She handed him the bag. Opening it carefully,
he gasped when he looked in. He upended the bag over the table in
spite of Frohike's exclamation to be careful. A dozen comic books
and a dozen packages of Twinkies spilled out. His hug was swift and
fierce, taking her breath away. Almost immediately, he was picking
up the first one and leafing through it.
"Oh, Rachel, you are the best! Damn, thank you, thank you so much.
I don't know what to say." Her heart swelled at his words. Her
return smile was soft and full of adoration. Coming back to herself,
she heard Frohike questioning her.
"Did you get anything for yourself? We're gonna be pissed if you
didn't." She smiled secretively.
"Oh I did, trust me. I grabbed a little something on the way out."