Title: Afternoon of a Faun

Author/Pseudonym: Ursula

Fandom: X Files

Pairing: Mulder/Krycek/Skinner

Rating: NC-17

Status: Finished

Date Posted: 8-4-04

Archive: FHSA, WWOMB, DIB, FONXL

E-mail address for feedback: Fan4Richie or Ursula4X@aol.com

Classification: Fantasy Files

Series/Sequel: Is this story part of a series: No

Web Site: http://www.fhsarchive.com/stories/Ursula.html

Disclaimers: No profit, fan fiction for fun

Notes: For Laura. I asked for the picture to cement my thoughts about Alex, the faun.

http://members.cox.net/lbevans/alex_satyr.jpg

http://members.cox.net/lbevans/alexsatyrx.jpg

This story is also an un-birthday gift for Mort

Warnings: Fantasy and Smut

Time Frame: never never

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~O~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I don't do camping," Mulder growled as he followed Walter from the Hummer, his arms laden with groceries.

"This isn't really camping," Walter pointed out as he put down his burdens to unlock the door. "This is a cabin with a generator, plumbing, and comfortable furnishings."

"And we could have gone to San Francisco where they don't need generators and have vibrating beds not to mention the best porn in the known universe short of Amsterdam. That's my idea of a vacation," Mulder argued.

"I need some peace and quiet," Walter replied.

"So you brought me along, why?" Mulder pointed out with a grin.

"Whoops, let my dick do the thinking, that's why," Walter said, pushing the door open. After picking up his share of supplies, Walter walked into the cabin and stacked his boxes on the counters. "I'll go gas up the generator and we'll have lights here in a few minutes."

The cabin was reasonably big consisting of two large rooms plus a bathroom. The rough hewn door opened to a very large bedroom that was furnished with a log bed. The bed looked as if you could entertain two elephants and a zebra in it without even squeaking the springs. Sniffing the air, Mulder was pleased to smell nothing but a woodsy odor. He walked over and bounced on the bed, damn nice bed too. He pulled off the plastic covering and went to check in the big armoire for bedding. There was plenty of king sized sheets, a few light blankets, and an elk themed comforter. Dropping an arm load of bedding on a chair, Mulder threw open the shutters to let some light in.

Blinking his eyes to clear them, Mulder still couldn't get the sight to alter to something more ordinary. He saw a beautiful man lying on his belly on the green knoll that overlooked the cabin. The chest was smooth and graceful, naked above what Mulder at first believed were some sort of kinky wooly chaps. However when the creature stood up, it was clear that the chaps were his legs and that the wooly appendages ended in dainty black cloven hooves. The creature cast a limpid gaze over his shoulder and then trotted rapidly off down the far side of the knoll.

Mulder barreled out the door, almost running Walter down, and sprinted after the creature.

"Mulder, what the hell?" Walter yelled.

"I have to catch him . . . it," Mulder called back.

If nothing else, involuntary retirement from the FBI had given Mulder time to work out. He had finished in the top fifty of the Boston Marathon last year and planned to beat his time this year. He had run with a gay pride tee shirt clinging to his sweaty body and a button that said, "I was asked and I told" on his sleeve.

His long legs swiftly carried him over the knoll and down the other side where the clearing ended. The creature posed, his strange beauty outlined by the green gold of the grove behind him. As Mulder drew closer, he could see the long cat shaped eyes, the velvet lashes all around them, the yellow surrounding the round green retinas, and the intense black of the pupils. The pensive look faded as the creature realized that Mulder was fast gaining on him. With a soft cry, the creature trotted down the path, weaving his way rapidly down the narrow deer trail, and passing from Mulder's sight.

Mulder followed for some time until the trail opened to a flowery meadow that bordered the lake. The mountains in the distance reflected in the still waters beneath. A bird's warble cut off abruptly when he stumbled, panting, into the grassy flat land. He looked about, his mind refusing to accept that the faun or was it a satyr had managed to escape.

Tracing back his steps, Mulder saw a wisp of brown fur clinging to a thorn. The thicket looked impossible to enter and an experimental try only gained him a scratched hand. He tried to find the other side, but the thorns barred his way until he pushed through and found himself looking a steep ravine with sleepy creek trickling through it.

Maybe he had been hallucinating . . .

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~O~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

By the time Mulder came leaden-footed down the knoll, Walter had finished unpacking the Hummer. He stood in the doorway to scowl at his lover and said, "What the hell got into you?"

"I thought I saw something," Mulder said. "Something incredible."

Mulder looked so beautiful when he was like this . . . eyes wide with excitement, cheeks pink from exertion, sweat making his tee shirt show every contour of his chest.

"What?" Walter asked, before reaching for Mulder's hips to bring him close and lock him tight in an embrace.

"I'll tell you later," Mulder said. "Let's take a shower and go to bed."

"Tired already?" Walter asked.

"Hardly," Mulder answered. "Horny as a satyr."

"Mmm, love that classical education," Walter said. "Come on. I made the bed."

"So let's unmake it," Mulder replied, grinning.

Coming here was a great idea, Walter thought as Mulder almost ripped his shirt getting it off him. Not that their sex life had lacked in the city, but it had been a long time since Mulder seemed so eager, so insatiable. The shower was short and they didn't bother with towels. Slippery was good, very good. Walter was open to anything that Mulder wanted although he miscued and started to lift his legs. Mulder slammed his hips down on the bed instead.

"No, this way," Mulder growled, straddling Walter; his hand reaching around to lube and open himself. "You just lay there and take it."

"Yes, Sir," Walter said, his erection suddenly unbearable hard. He watched his lover prepare himself, barely able to breathe. It was impossible that it had been nearly a year since they left the bureau together. For this man, Walter had thrown away his career, his reputation, and most of his family. It was worth it all.

Sinking slowly down on him, Mulder's eyes were squeezed shut, his generous mouth was parted, and his head arched back. He glowed with sensuality and glorious life.

'I do this to him,' Walter thought. 'I do it.'

Moving faster, Mulder panted above him. Walter reached for him, holding his hips as Mulder rode him.

"Ah, Mulder, ahh . . ." senselessly ripped from Walter's mouth before Mulder leaned forward to bury the sound in a kiss.

Mulder's hands pressed him down, his eyes smoke topaz and opaque. Walter felt as if his entire life was compressed in his erection, that he had no purpose, no goals except to come . . . when Mulder would let him.

"Yeah," Mulder groaned as he took a hand away to force the final tease of friction needed for him to come. His ass slammed into Walter several times, hard, rapid, pulling him over the edge.

As the last earth shaking tremors of pleasure wrung from his body, Walter's eyes rolled from Mulder's exhausted face to the window, where a curious, sweet face watched. Eyes that belonged to nothing human. Horns curled above glossy human hair. Pink lips parting as if longing for a kiss.

Mulder's ass hit the floor as Walter pushed him off suddenly . . . the unfortunate result of Walter's adrenaline snapping into high gear. "What the fuck is that?" Walter demanded, rushing toward the window.

The creature galloped away before Walter could get to the door. Walter ran a few feet toward the knoll until he stubbed his toes on a rock. Hopping and cursing, Walter gazed after the disappearing rump of the creature.

Mulder walked a little further up the grove, rubbing his ass. He watched the white flash of tail bob once more before the furry hindquarters and human back moved out of sight.

"So you saw him too," Mulder remarked.

"No, I don't see him . . . it," Walter said. "I saw a deer. A very odd deer."

Stomping back into the house was a mistake. Walter hit a sharp edged pebble and ended up hopping the rest of the way inside.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~O~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Morning wasn't even a gray haze through the window when Mulder woke from a sound sleep to the sound of his lover moving around the room.

"Where you going?" Mulder asked, one eye open a mere slit to observe his lover.

"Fishing," Walter replied. "You going to change your mind and join me?"

"Fuck no," Mulder said. "I'm not that retired. You go right ahead. I'm going to spend the day reading."

A grunt was his answer.

Intending to go back to sleep, Mulder threw off the rest of the covers, exposing his over heated body to the cool air of morning. He was drowsing when he heard a wisp of music. An annoying, persistent, almost tuneless sound of pipes.

If it was that same guy that Scully had played in the basement to soothe him for weeks before he and Walter were outed, Mulder was going to jam those pipes up his ass. Without lube.

Grabbing his favorite pair of worn-out cutoffs, Mulder marched out the door and saw the culprit. The faun perched on a mossy boulder, the pipes in his hand.

Hands on hips, Mulder said, "I could show you something better to blow."

The faun looked at him quizzically.

"Anyone tell you that you are beautiful?" Mulder asked.

"Yes," the faun replied, tucking the pipes in a leather bag that hung from a thong around his waist. "Many have."

"You're not running away this time," Mulder observed.

"I could still run it I wanted to," the faun said. "But your offer is accepted."

"What offer?" Mulder said.

"Of yourself," the faun said, his hooves tapping daintily down the hill.

"First of all," Mulder said, holding onto a rapidly eroding conscience. "I'm in a relationship, a committed relationship and secondly, you're not human."

"Doesn't the second quibble mitigate the first?" the faun asked, sounding as if he had gone to law school.

"Shouldn't you be speaking Greek or something?" Mulder asked. It was a bit disappointing to have this fabulous creature speak unaccented American English.

"You live a few thousand years and you pick up languages or you become extinct," the faun replied. "I have no intention of fading away. I'm still having fun."

That made sense and after all, the faun's beauty needed no mystery to enhance him. His face was human except for his eyes. He had a minute, but elegant nose, sweet lips, looking kiss-roughened, a small chin, elfin ears, and sharp cheek bones.

The faun's groin was human enough. A large and erect penis stood from curly pubic hair and naked inner thighs. He was nearly as tall as Mulder; if his legs weren't bent, he would have been the same height. The fur on his legs wasn't coarse. It looked silken as the human hair upon his head. His chest was totally smooth, the nipples the color of cherry blossoms upon its golden surface.

"Do you have a name?" Mulder asked.

"Alexander," the faun said, "after a particularly wondrous lover or I should say a wonderful pair of lovers. They left me, however. I could not hold him. He was ambitious and hungry for human fame. I mourned when the news came to me that Hephaestion and our beautiful Alexander died. They should have stayed with me. They were perfect enough for my gift."

"Alexander, the Great?" Mulder said, his brows rising in disbelief.

"He was not as other men," the faun said. "His flesh was fire."

"You're that old?" Mulder asked.

"What is age to the ageless?" the faun asked, indifferently.

"But to think of what you know, what you have learned over the centuries!" Mulder said.

"I know how to make wine out of grapes, how to make love in many pleasant ways, and how to make music . . . what else need knowing?" the faun remarked. "When I watched you and your mate this morning, I though I would like to make love to you both, but I can wait for your Zeus like bull."

The faun's pink tongue darted over his plush lips and he shivered as if in delighted expectation. "What do you say, most beautiful of men?"

The faun's hands were already questing at Mulder's cutoffs, taking down his zipper. Mulder moaned, "All right, yes, just don't tell Walter . . ."

The faun knelt, his face tilted up at Mulder. The more Mulder considered the strangeness of this mythical being, the more he wanted him. Alexander smiled charmingly before helping Mulder's erection out of his fly. "So nice to meet you," Alexander murmured to Mulder's cock. "We must become better acquainted."

A kiss, a lick, almost a nibble . . . Mulder braced himself on the porch rail, thrusting his hips forward, promising his conscience that he would make it up to his lover when Walter returned from fishing.

Alexander's lips played on the surface of Mulder's balls as if he thought they were his panpipes. A melodic humming arose from the faun's beautiful throat, vibrating along Mulder's cock. Damn, he finally understood music . . . if only the faun knew Elvis.

The faun tilted his head back even further, his hands firmly encouraging Mulder to thrust into his open throat. Mulder gently grasped the faun's head, and then let go as his fingers found the base of Alexander's horns. Giving into the fantastic, he happily fucked his new lover's mouth.

Coming was a religious experience and left Mulder weak of knee, sprawled on the porch . . . but not for long. The faun picked him up as if he weighed nothing and trotted up the stairs. The click of his cloven hooves sounded on the wooden floor. Dumping Mulder face down on the bed, the faun reached for the large pump jar of lubricant that resided in splendor on the bed table, splashed a gob on his hand and begin to work it into Mulder's hole.

Knowing that he shouldn't be doing this made it all the more erotic, Mulder shuddered as the fingers stopped stretching him and he felt the furry loins brushing against his naked backside. When the large phallus nudged between his cheeks, Mulder lifted higher, feeling an erection start to form despite his recent ejaculation. Firm hands took hold of his ass. Alexander's cock thrust in and out of him, at first gently and then as he opened fully to it, with more force. Just before another orgasm was wrung from Mulder's body, Alexander pulled him upright, stretched his neck around to kiss Mulder's lips fiercely. They cried out into the kiss . . .

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~O~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mulder must have spent the morning sleeping. Walter smiled at the sight of his lover, hair rumpled, ass slightly raised as if tempting him, hand loosely curled at his mouth. Walter stared at his lover with possessive delight. His . . . his golden boy . . . worth everything that Walter had given up to love him. He looked too sweet to wake and Mulder had been in a creative fever before they left, grinding out the latest issue of his comic book. Walter had insisted on the vacation to get his lover to rest.

It was too early for lunch so Walter merely cleaned the fish and left them to marinate in the cooler. He left a note on the table, inviting Mulder to join him at the lake. It was hot enough to swim now and Walter planned to take advantage of the privacy to indulge in a boyish pleasure. He bet Mulder loved skinny dipping . . .

After swimming out to a small island, Walter found that he was in need of a nap. There were no biting insects and the air was so warm that a grassy mound was all he needed to make his bed. Sprawled there, Walter drifted neither fully awake nor deep in sleep. He felt his cock stir for some reason as if the gentle puffs of warm air were his lover's playful breath.

The wet, rough tongue that lapped at his cock and the hands that fondled his balls must have been a dream. Walter smiled, letting himself go. He opened his eyes in his erotic reverie to see green eyes staring at him from between his raised knees. Green eyes? He had never seen the like of these mossy mysterious orbs, especially not surrounded by yellow that was the color of ancient ivory instead of white. Nor had he ever had a lover with horns.

After giving him a fond smile, the head lowered again and woke at least one part of Walter to aching life.

"Fuck me, Zeus," a husky voice invited. "Take me."

Still telling himself it was a dream, Walter scrambled up toward the wanton, waggling furry hind end. Oh, it was definitely a dream, a wild one. The creature wiggled his snub nose as he peered around to hand Walter a heavy gold colored pot. The ointment within smelled of some sweet and musky perfume and warmed rapidly on Walter's fingers. Despite the heavy fur on the outside of the creature, the inside of his ass was incredibly soft and smooth. The hot anus parted for him readily and Walter was not even taken back by the furry haunches that pressed back against him.

Walter had never felt anything like this; he could have gone forever doing this, his pleasure shivered through his body and he moaned so deeply that if this was not a dream, he would have been afraid the sound would carry across the lake to the more heavily populated east bank.

His dream lover joined his cries, although the far edge of his voice had almost a bleat until it faded to a squeak.

It was less of an ejaculation than an explosion . . . Walter sagged back on his ass, one hand loosely holding his dream lover, as he gasped for breath.

Clap, clap, clap . . .

"Bravo, Walter, bravo, Alexander," Mulder's voice said.

It was not the first time that Walter dreamed of fucking in front of an audience, but it was the first time that he ever felt a small, sharp pebble digging into his knee in a dream.

Which left an alternative theory . . . it was not a dream.

Blinking did not make the faun go away . . . or was it a satyr?

Nor did Mulder disappear.

His lover's sultry voice remarked, "I like your version of skinny-dipping, Walter."

"I didn't know what I was doing," Walter gasped, scrambling away from the creature. Then, logic coming to play, Walter said, "I get it. This is your idea of a joke, Mulder."

Grabbing the willing faun, Walter tried to pull away the costume, ignoring the voice in his head that said there was no way that human feet would fit into those dainty hooves. He tugged at the horns until the creature had enough and butted him.

"Zeus, you would be hard put to remove my horns, the gods gave them to me for my protection," the faun said.

"Walter, meet Alexander," Mulder said.

"Mulder . . . I didn't know it was real, I swear," Walter said.

"Hey, it's okay," Mulder said. "Alexander is an experience."

Mulder was taking this too well. Mulder was entirely too relaxed. Walter pointed at 'Alexander' and said, "You did him too."

"Yes," Mulder admitted. "Come on, Walter, he's a supernatural being. He's irresistible."

"I bet you didn't even try," Walter said scornfully, stalking away with as much dignity as a naked man could muster and losing what scrap of his composure when he had to go back and retrieve his sandals and towel.

Alexander looked at him pathetically, tears spilling from his big green eyes. He sniffed a little and dabbed at his nose with cum splattered hand. "Why are you angry, handsome one? I don't understand."

Realizing that it was probably not the faun's fault, they were always horny, weren't they . . . Walter felt like a chump, but still walked away. He would have ordered Mulder to follow, but he was afraid it would never happen.

With his love of the fantastic, Mulder would find a lover like Alexander irresistible. The loss was a palpable weight upon Walter's strong shoulders as he walked back toward the cabin.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~O~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Alexander, Alexander, in all these years of living, did you never learn subterfuge?" Mulder asked as he held the fantasy creature in his arms.

"Humans are very difficult to understand," Alexander said.

"Walter is the master of it," Mulder said. "Come here and sit with me. I want to tell you about him . . . why I love him."

"Love is another thing I don't understand," Alexander said. "Making love's the simple thing, but all this other stuff, this passion, jealousy, fighting over love as if there was only a small pot of it, too dear to share. Why it hasn't changed a bit since humans were sending ships to retrieve that foolish girl, Helen, from pretty, but vapid Paris and the fortress of Troy."

"It's a wonderful thing too," Mulder tried to explain. "When you love someone like Walter, someone strong, complex, a decent person who makes difficult choices, who doesn't see things in black and white, love makes you a better person. You see, Alexander, Walter and I are fighting a secret battle. There are monsters among us, demons from the sky."

A sniff of impatience and Alexander tossed his long black hair. "Oh those things, Gaia herself will rise up. She's like that. She sleeps and then when it's time, she rises, our mother, our lovely and powerful mother. The rumbling in the earth, the rising of winds, that's the signs. She'll wake and swat them down and return to her sleep. Not too worry."

"Well, just in case, Mother Earth doesn't strike out for us," Mulder said. "Walter and I are reaching out and getting the next generation ready. I write comic books that let out the truth, put it where it needs to be, if we have time enough. Walter trains an army of agents to act in secret when the time comes. It's a better idea than I had. I used to think if I shouted the truth loudly enough that everyone would hear. Walter persuaded me a whisper would do as well."

His fingers untangled the faun's hair and smoothed its locks into glossy perfection. "As beautiful as you are, I would not give him up for you, lovely Alexander."

Kissing Alexander's forehead, Mulder said, "Making love to you is something I will remember forever, Alexander, but Walter is my love."

Standing up, Mulder took one last look and fled from the lake, over the rise of earth, and down to the hollow of the cabin. Thank God, Walter hadn't left.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~O~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was Mulder and he was alone. Walter felt almost disappointed. Things like making love to Alexander did not happen to men like him. They were reserved for men like Mulder, made of quicksilver and gold.

As soon as Mulder entered, he went down on his knees and said, "I'm sorry. I won't do it again."

Ah, shit, Walter was well aware he lacked the moral high ground. He pulled Mulder into his arms and said, "I did the same damn thing. I can't believe I did it."

A kiss smothered further conversation for a long moment. Walter kissed back and the storm in a teacup was over.

"Fauns have a magical power," Mulder said. "Once they touch you, you may as well give in."

"I thought that was Elasian tears," Walter replied.

"That's Star Trek," Mulder said in a huffy way.

"I know," Walter grinned.

"I was serious," Mulder said. "I wish Scully was here. I would like to know more about Alexander."

"That is not one of your better ideas," Walter said. "She'd probably want to dissect him or, at the very least, lock him up and study him."

With a kiss on Walter's forehead, Mulder slid off Walter's lap and said, "You're right."

"Usually am," Walter teased. Now that he had Mulder back . . . or rather, now that he realized he would never lose him, the experience with Alexander would be a treasured erotic memory.

However, fauns or Elasian women aside, Walter had fish to cook. He said, "Mulder, husk some of that corn. We'll have broiled trout, corn on the cob, and some fruit. I bought some grapes. Let's have those."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~O~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The day was so beautiful that they decided to eat outdoors at the picnic table in the yard. The fish was as good as only freshly caught and cooked trout could be and the corn was still sweet from the field.

Walter was on his second ear of corn when he heard the patter of little hooves. He turned around in time to see Alexander take a bite out of an ear of corn.

The faun chewed his mouthful with a thoughtful expression and then said, "It's better uncooked. It's sweeter that way."

"It's bad manners to sit down to dinner without an invitation," Walter said.

"I'm not sitting," Alexander said. "Although if you put a couch out, I enjoy reclining to eat."

What was the use? Walter shrugged off his feelings, noticing Mulder was carefully not looking at Alexander, and said, "Have some grapes."

"Thank you," said Alexander, pulling the entire bowl in front of him. "I like grapes a great deal." The faun looked around and asked, "Where is the wine? I like wine too."

"I'll pick some up when I go into town," Walter said.

"That would be very kind of you," said Alexander. "It is very good luck to befriend a faun. You should know that."

"So far, it's been a barrel of laughs," Mulder said. "Give me some of those grapes."

Alexander glared at Mulder like a truculent child until Walter double-teamed him and grabbed a glob of the grapes from the bowl.

"You're welcome," Alexander said before hastening to gobble most of the bowl in a few minutes.

"You may buy me more grapes in town as well," Alexander said. "I also like honey and sugar."

"Alexander, you seem to be under the impression that you are staying here," Walter pointed out. "Mulder and I came up here to be alone together."

"You can be alone together with me," Alexander said, stuffing the last of the grapes in his mouth. He belched and shook his silken mane of hair delightfully.

Mulder rolled his eyes and said, "Somehow he went from love god to pest in nothing flat."

"I think he's cute," Walter said. "It wouldn't hurt to get him some treats. He can keep an eye on things outside. You never know when someone might decide to try to eliminate one of us again."

"Yeah, who was to know that writing comic books was so dangerous," Mulder said.

Walter smirked and served himself the last piece of fish.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~O~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Having the faun around did seem lucky . . . or at least, he seemed to have an aphrodisiac effect on the two of them. Mulder wished that Walter regarded Alexander as less of a pet and more as a potential playmate. He knew he should have encouraged Walter to get a dog . . .

How was this going to work?

Walter was so fond of Alexander that Mulder was sure that he would insist on taking the faun back to the city with them. Mulder could just see the questions when Walter took his pet for walks or maybe Walter thought that he could disguise Alexander as human, get him some prosthetic boots or something like that.

"Don't you want to fuck him again?" Mulder asked as Walter brushed the faun's flanks.

"Of course I do," Walter said, "But we don't have to act on our baser urges."

"Love isn't base," Alexander said, "Love is wonderful. If we all did it together, there would be no reason for either of you to be jealous."

The faun made perfect sense to Mulder, but Walter merely continued to brush Alexander. He even had a little jar of hoof polish to spiff up his cloven feet.

"I'm not an animal," Alexander said. "I'm a demi-god."

"I bought you a honeycomb," Walter answered.

"On the other hand, I do like to be petted," the faun said. "Where is it?"

And so it went.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~O~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Alexander is getting very horny," Mulder whispered in Walter's ear.

"He'll live," Walter answered. Being interested wasn't the same as acting on it. Besides, the more Mulder hinted, pouted, and teased, the more determined Walter was not to give into his urges. "Besides what did he do before we arrived here?"

"Alexander told me that, for a faun, he is a very discriminate lover. Some don't much care which end of their natures they indulge," Mulder said.

"I could have gone years without hearing that," Walter said. "If that was supposed to get me to reconsider Alexander's charms, it pushed me in the opposite direction."

"I said, Alexander doesn't indulge like that," Mulder replied.

"I think of him as a friend," Walter said virtuously.

Mulder put the pillow over his head and grumbled under it.

It looked as if Alexander was not the only creature going without tonight.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~O~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Walter woke pushing Mulder off the side of the bed and covering him with what he thought was his gun, but which was revealed in the stream of moonlight as the jar of lube.

Mulder said, "It was probably thunder."

Another shot echoed and Mulder added, "Or a gunshot."

Both men crept along on their bellies to the dresser where they had left their guns. Walter wished he could tell his lover to stay back, but Mulder had been a good field agent. He didn't need or accept the idea of being protected.

The cabin lacked a back door, but it had something better, a trap door that led to the outside. They took a moment to put on pants and then edged their way outside.

"Do we try to run or do we stand and fight?" Walter asked. He almost laughed. Did he really ask Mulder that?

They worked their way around through the woods until they could see the confused huddle of men who were trying to watch the cabin.

"It was a deer," one of the men snarled. "Just a fucking deer. I saw it when it ran back into the woods."

"It had a human head," another of the attackers said. "I know I saw that."

"One of the bastards was probably outside taking a leak," the first man snarled.

Walter and Mulder watched until they were sure that they had spotted all of their opponents. There were four of them; professional hit men, but not the finest caliber of the sort. They were careless and noisy or perhaps Alexander had spooked them into losing their cool.

"Do we jump out, yelling, Ex-FBI, drop your guns?" Mulder whispered.

For an answer, Walter picked a target, shot, and sent the man crashing to the ground. Mulder gave him a look, but since the men were now firing back in their direction, he returned the fire. A second man hit the dirt and a third. The fourth men ran toward them firing, but fell over a log and landed with a thud. Walter waited half a moment then ran to where the man lay and kicked him hard in the head. Walter wasn't much on chivalry when those he loved were in danger.

As they went to secure the men, one of them scrambled to his feet, aiming his gun at Mulder. He might have shot him, but Alexander galloped from the woods and ran between Walter's lover and the gunman. The bullet was fired, but Alexander reached the man at the same time. The faun knocked the gun aside, grabbed the man over his head and threw him hard. There was a dull thud as the man's skull impacted a boulder.

The next hour was spent loading the two dead men, including the one that the faun had killed into the vehicle, throwing the wounded man into the back with a temporary bandage, and putting the disarmed man behind the wheel.

Mulder thought they should call the police, but Walter said, "What's the use? They'll just disappear or be found dead in their cells. This way they get the message back that we haven't grown soft. Remember, we play the game my way . . ."

"Yeah," Mulder said. Then as the SUV wobbled down the road, erratically drifting from side to side, Mulder said, "I have to check on Alexander. I think that one bastard wounded him."

"I'll help," Walter said.

Even in the dim light of the moon, the trail of blood was clear. They ran down the path until they found the faun sprawled against a fallen log. Alexander held a wad of moss tightly to his side and his always pale skin glowed even whiter in the darkness.

"Alexander!" Mulder cried out, kneeling to examine the wound. "Walter, we have to get him help, a doctor."

"No," Alexander said, "I don't want to end up in a zoo or dissected by one of your doctors. You can take care of me. I trust you."

Walter gathered up the faun and carried him back toward the cabin. Mulder walked ahead to open the cabin and turn on the lights.

"We can't stay here long," Walter said. "Let's patch Alexander up and pack up our stuff."

"Where will we go?" Mulder said.

"I have a place," Alexander said, weakly. "My last human lover set it up for me, a human lodging no more than two hours from here. I've never stayed there, but it is mine."

"All right," Walter said. "That's a good idea. Mulder boil some water and we're going to need the big first aid kit."

The kit was a combat first aid kit; one that Scully and Walter periodically reviewed together to make sure it was up to date and restocked. Scully never questioned why two retired agents needed such a large supply of first aid materials or why both Mulder and Skinner kept up emergency medical technician training. She seemed to understand that their life was never going to be peaceful or safe.

"Moss isn't the best thing to stick on a wound," Walter grouched.

"I couldn't find any spider webs," Alexander replied.

That probably made Walter's blood pressure rise, but he merely grunted and quickly substituted pressure pads for the moss.

The mini surgical kit wasn't needed. The bullet passed through cleanly. Fortunately there was no issue of cloth fibers being carried into the wound since Alexander wore no clothing save his leather thong belt and pouch.

Mulder held Alexander's hand while Walter cleaned the wound thoroughly, packed it with more pressure bandages, and taped them in place. "I suppose most of him is human," Walter said. "Antibiotics probably won't hurt him."

"I guess not," Mulder said, but he wasn't sure. Alexander's head, arms, and torso looked human, but that didn't mean he had human metabolism.

Alexander sniffed at the pills, made a face, but took them. He said, "My nose knows what would make me ill, Mulder. Don't worry."

Leaving Mulder to tend to Alexander in the SUV, Walter finished packing their things. His usual orderly self must have been horrified at the jumble of equipment that was tangled in the back of the Hummer. Alexander snuggled against Mulder in the front seat, his legs and lower half covered with a blanket to hide his differences from any other vehicles tall enough to see into the Hummer . . . not that there were many of them.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~O~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Alexander remembered the address for his inherited lodge; he never forgot anything, he said, since his kind traditionally did not use writing. Over the centuries, he had learned to read and write, but still kept the long oral memory of his kind.

The lodge turned out to be much larger than the one they had left. It was gated, but Alexander knew the code for the lock. Walter made sure the gate locked behind them after they drove the Hummer into the driveway.

"The key is in the box," Alexander said. "Corwin said he would leave it there."

"So why did you break up with Corwin?" Mulder asked. "He must have loved you dearly to leave you all of this."

"He was human," Alexander said. "Humans die." The faun's voice trembled.

"Oh," Mulder said.

"Wouldn't it be better to fall in love with another faun then?" Walter asked.

"I am the last here," Alexander said. "The others have all gone away, fleeing the death of belief."

"Why did you stay?" Mulder said.

"Because there should be magic left, don't you think? The Earth would be a sadder place when all the magic is gone," Alexander said. The joy had left his voice for a moment, but soon he smiled wistfully and said, "So now have I earned your love, Walter?"

Mulder winced, afraid that his lover would say 'no', but Walter took one hand off the wheel to pat Alexander's thigh beneath the blanket. "You have my love, Alexander."

"The kind that leads to love-making?" Alexander asked.

"Yes," Walter said. "When you're well . . ."

"Fauns heal fast," Alexander said, his gaze holding a glint of mischief.

Mulder had to wonder if perhaps Alexander might have healed that wound instantly if he hadn't needed to change Walter's mind, but even Mulder knew there were times when silence was best. This was one of them.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~O~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The lodge was furnished completely; someone had updated the kitchen and the bathroom, leaving the rest of the house untouched. There was Italian marble in the hall, more in the bathrooms, and surrounding a lovely fountain in the walled garden.

The furniture was covered. Walter lifted the plastic away to reveal solid hard wood in velvet napped green designs that looked like William Morris had something to do with them.

Laying Alexander on the chaise lounge, Walter said, "I'll have a look around; stay with him, Mulder."

Once Walter had gone up the stairs, Mulder gently petted the faun's head before whispering in one of the dear pointed ears, "Love, was it worth getting shot and staying wounded for?"

A mysterious smile was his only answer.

Walter came down and said, "There are several rooms up there. One has a bed the size of football field. I'll carry Alexander up."

"What if he has to use the bathroom?" Mulder asked, giving a dubious look to Alexander's shining hooves.

"There's one up there," Walter replied.

"Yeah, but," Mulder winced. "Alexander, are you house broken?"

A rap on the head answered that. Alexander said, "Of course, I am. I'm a faun not a goat."

"Just asking," Mulder said.

The faun's mischievous eyes gazed at Mulder the entire way up the stairs. A flick of his pink tongue illustrated his mood. Oh, Walter really had no idea!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~O~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"He's healing amazingly fast," Walter said, as he took off Alexander's bandages. "I don't think we even need to worry about putting on new dressings."

"He is a supernatural creature," Mulder said. "You should expect that."

"Supernatural creatures are more your venue than mine," Walter reminded.

"I don't know," Mulder teased. "You really seemed to get into Alexander before."

"Mulder," Walter said, "Mulder, don't be smug."

Kissing Alexander on the cheek, Walter asked, "Would you like more grapes, sweetheart?"

"Yes, please," said the greedy faun. He lounged back into Mulder's arms, his head pillowed against Mulder's chest.

"Just watch those horns," Mulder reminded. There were drawbacks to having a faun for a lover.

"I haven't gouged you yet," Alexander said. "You didn't worry about them when I gave you head."

"That's true," Mulder said, watching Walter dangle a fresh bunch of grapes over the rapacious jaws of their lover.

Nibbling quickly, the faun snapped up most of the grapes before moving his attention to Walter's hand, licking and mouthing the fingers as if he intended to add them to his feast.

"Still hungry?" Walter asked, getting ready to return to the kitchen.

"Hungry for you," Alexander growled . . . or perhaps there was the echo of a bleat in his husky voice. "For kisses."

Pulling Walter's head down to his level, Alexander claimed Walter's mouth, his hands holding tight.

The stem from the grapes fell to the floor unnoticed as Walter responded to the kiss with equal fervor. Mulder grunted as he suddenly bore the weight of both of his lovers. Wiggling out from under, Mulder moved Alexander between Walter and himself. The furry hindquarters came to rest against Mulder's groin. He moved the silken hair aside to nestle his cock between the smooth inner cheeks of the faun's ass. Reaching over Walter, Mulder found the lube and squirted some on his fingers. Alexander uttered a happy squeal as he wiggled back in abandon.

Avoiding his lover's horns, Mulder explored Alexander's ass, opening him . . . although he seemed ready instantly. The faun must have something resembling a prostate gland as he galvanized when Mulder hit a certain spot and cooed, "Yes, more of that!"

Alexander's cries were smothered by Walter's kisses. Walter's hand took a firm grip on the faun's leg and brought it over his hip. Alexander and he moved against each other blissfully as Mulder entered the faun for the first time.

The strangeness of his lover's body sent Mulder over faster than he wanted . . . now he had everything. His Walter and a beautiful lover that was a true X-File. It was all that he needed. True bliss.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~O~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I hate the idea of leaving this place," Walter sighed, smoothing the cherry wood banister. The rail ends were carved into faun heads, which if you looked closely, were not stylized, but wore a face that was clearly Alexander's.

"Don't leave then," Alexander said. "Stay and tend the grapevines. Mulder can write his comic book from here. You can watch over him better here."

"Mulder?" Walter asked, hopefully.

"Oh, yeah, no problem," Mulder said. "I wasn't going to leave without Alexander anyway. He'll be happier here than he would in the city and we'll be safer."

"Good. We'll ask the Gunmen to pick up our things and we'll set up a post office box for our mail. We'll become very hard to find," Walter said.

"You have made me happier than I have been in eons," Alexander said, kissing Mulder and than Walter. "I will make you happy. I promise, forever."

Walter sighed; it was not that he had ever expected to live forever, but he would hate to leave the faun alone when he and Mulder had lived out their lives. He held the faun closer, cherishing the here and now. He had learned almost too late to grab for the golden moment and not fear what was ahead.

"Forever," Mulder said, "Or as close to it as humans may come."

Alexander smiled enigmatically and said, "Forever."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~O~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sitting in the garden, many years later, Alexander let the good earth drift between his fingers. Walter labored shirtless in the hot sun, replacing a grape trellis. In the shade, Mulder worked on his laptop, writing one of his pretty tales.

They were beautiful and neither seemed to notice that they had not aged one day since coming here to Alexander's patch of sacred ground.

Events had passed them by peacefully for the most part.

They had helped to hold back the aliens, resisted attacks from the human collaborators until, as Alexander had promised, the earth rose up to poison the Greys, banishing them from her presence.

Alexander, Earth's favored child, played his pipes and smiled around the wooden reeds. His gift of himself, his love, the treasure and the burden of eternal life had always been too precious to squander until he was sure that he had found his true loves. Now he knew and love was forever. They would live until earth herself was ready to rest. Even for Alexander, that was long enough.

The end
 

If you enjoyed this story, please send feedback to Ursula

	Home  ·  Quick Search  ·  Advanced Search  ·  Submissions  ·  F A Q  ·  Contact