From: ephemeral@ephemeralfic.org
Date: Tue, 15 Aug 2000 21:43:51 -0500
Subject: If Alex Fell:  I\'ll Cover You (4/5) New NC-17 by Frohike
Source: direct

Reply To: frohike51@aol.com


**disclaimer in part one**

Alex, lost in his tree trimming, didn't 
notice the music until he heard someone sing 
"Christmas bells are ringing, Christmas 
bells are ringing, somewhere else, not 
here."  'What the Hell is she listening to?' 
he wondered.  As the next song began, he 
watched as she disappeared into the world 
the music was creating for her.  

Katie felt his eyes on her and smiled.  She 
sang along with Mimi's part of the duet and 
when she reached 'won't you light my 
candle', Katie turned around and sang 
directly to Alex, wiggling her eyebrows 
wickedly at him

Alex grinned and returned to his lights.  
'Nice try, sweetheart,' he thought.  

Katie made a face at him behind his back and 
turned the music up louder.  

Alex positioned his lights over and over 
again, until they were just right.  He 
periodically threw glances her way, just to 
see what she was doing.  She never looked 
back at him.  He had to admit that the music 
was interesting and after a few songs, 
decided that it must be that play she'd been 
so excited about seeing.  He listened as he 
finished the lights, finding himself moving 
with the music.  When they were all in 
place, he plugged in the extension cord and 
stepped back to admire his handiwork.  A few 
needed adjusting, but for the most part, it 
was perfect.  He wandered over to the living 
room.  A new song was just starting, so he 
decided to wait until it was over before 
disturbing her; she was too far-gone to hear 
him anyway.  This one was gentle and sweet, 
a duet.  He liked this one a lot.  When it 
was over, he put his arm around her waist 
and kissed her neck.  "Play that one again."

Katie leaned back against him.  "Sure."  She 
walked to the CD player and hit the back 
button.

Angel:
Live in my house
I'll be your shelter
Just pay me back
With one thousand kisses
Be my lover and I'll cover you

Collins:
Open your doors
I'll be your tenant
Don't got much baggage
To lay at your feet
But sweet kisses I've got to spare
I'll be there, I'll cover you

Both:
I think they meant it
When they said you can't buy love
Now I know you can rent it
A new lease you are my love
On life, be my life

Just slip me on
I'll be your blanket
Wherever---Whatever---I'll be your coat

Angel:
You'll be my king
And I'll be your castle

Collins:
No---You'll be my queen 
And I'll be your moat

Both:
I think they meant it 
When they said you can't buy love
Now I know you can rent it
A new lease you are my love
On life

All my life 
I've longed to discover
Something as true as this is

Collins:	     Angel:
So with a thousand 	
Sweet kisses	     If you're cold
I'll cover you	     You're lonely

With a thousand 
Sweet kisses
I'll cover you	     You've got one
	             Nickel only
		     With a thousand
		     Sweet kisses
		     I'll cover you
When you're worn 
Out and tired        With a thousand 
		     Sweet kisses
		     I'll cover you
When your heart
Has expired

Both:
Oh lover I'll cover you
Oh lover I'll cover you

"I like that," Alex said.  "Sounds like us.  
I think we can do better than a thousand 
kisses," he added, kissing her neck.

"I was thinking the same thing, about the 
song and the kisses," Katie replied.  
"Um...Alex.  You do know that both 
characters are male, right?"

"I suspected," he answered.  "Doesn't 
matter, the sentiment still fits."  Alex 
tugged at her hand.   "Come see the tree." 
He held her hand, practically dragging her 
behind him.  "Well, what do you think?" he 
asked.

"It's beautiful," she answered.  "Almost 
seems a shame to put anything else on it.  
It's simple and pretty just the way it is."

"You're just trying to get out of bringing 
up the rest of the bags," he teased.

"No, really.  I like it this way.  Can we 
leave it alone for tonight?  I promise I'll 
help decorate it first thing in the morning 
and I'll even go down and get the rest of 
the bags right now, if you want," she 
offered.  

"Just for tonight?" he asked.  "No backing 
out on me in the morning?"

"I promise." She stood on tiptoe to seal the 
deal with a kiss.  One led to two, which led 
to three and four.

Alex pulled back and chuckled.  "Oh no, 
you're not getting out of hauling the rest 
of the bags up that easily.  Scram woman.  
I'll start a fire."

Katie nuzzled his neck.  "I think you 
already started one, darling," said 
whispered in his ear.  "Oh, you meant in the 
fireplace, didn't you?" she said with a 
wink.

"Get out of here!" Alex laughed.

Katie stuck her tongue out at him, then ran 
for the elevator.

"Watch where you point that thing, Katya," 
he warned.

"Bite me, Alexei," she sang back, as the 
door closed.

"That can be arranged, baby," he said as he 
struck a match to start the fire.  "That can 
definitely be arranged."

It took her three trips, but Katie got all 
the bags out of the car and into the 
elevator.  As she put down the last bag, a 
cramp grabbed her, causing her to grab the 
right side of her abdomen.  "Damn."  She 
gave it minute to subside before pushing the 
button.  Another one hit just before the 
door opened and she felt herself break out 
in a cold sweat.  "Shit!"  Alex was still 
playing with the fire when the door opened.  
She hoped that he wouldn't pay any attention 
to her for a few more minutes; just until 
she could get her breath back. Katie grabbed 
a few bags and put them with the ones Alex 
had brought up earlier.

"Need some help?" Alex called.

"No," she said, a little too quickly.  "You 
got the first load, I'll get the rest."

"OK.  Let me know if you change your mind," 
he answered.

Katie nodded and went back for more bags.  
By the time she was going back for the last 
two bags, she felt fine.  She dropped these 
with the rest then went over to the fire.  
Two steps away, another strong cramp made 
her double over.  Alex jumped up from the 
hearth and caught her.  She had tears of 
pain in her eyes.  He didn't ask, he simply 
picked her up, carried her into the bedroom 
and put her down on the bed.  He left long 
enough to get the phone.  "I'm calling 
Matthew," he said firmly.

"No, don't Alex.  It's probably just 
menstrual cramps."

"Bullshit.  Your face is dead white and it 
looked like you were about to pass out.  
When did this start and don't you dare lie 
to me," he warned.

Katie sighed.  "Downstairs, when I was 
unloading the car."

"How many?"

"Three.  Two in the elevator, then this 
one."  He stopped mid-dial and stared at 
her.  "That's all, really," she said.  She 
watched Alex finish punching in Matthew's 
number.  "What are you going to tell him?"

Alex put his hand over the receiver.  
"Everything, Katya.  I can't afford to keep 
him in the dark; not now." He moved his 
hand.  "Matthew, it's Alex.  Katie's sick.  
Cramping.  No, not little cramps.  The one I 
saw drained all the blood from her face and 
almost knocked her to the floor.  She's 
clammy, too." He reached out and touched her 
forehead.  "No, I don't think she's running 
a fever.  She had a really bad headache last 
night.  I woke up and found her in the fetal 
position.  Yeah, just started this morning.  
I don't know, you'd better ask her that."  

Katie took the phone from his hand.  "Hi 
Kid.  No, nothing excessive.  He's 
overreacting; I'm fine.  Sure, hang on."  
She handed the phone back to Alex and put 
her head on the pillow.

"Matthew?  Looks like it, too.  OK.  Thanks, 
man."  Alex hung up the phone and looked at 
Katie.  "He says to tell you that you sound 
like shit and he's on his way."

"You two are a match made in Heaven," she 
frowned.  "I'm fine!"  Another cramp washed 
over her, a small 'ow' escaping her lips.

Alex curled up next to her and draped an arm 
across her waist.  "Yeah, you're fine. Keep 
telling yourself that."  He nuzzled her 
neck.  "I won't let anything happen to you," 
he whispered.

"I know," she whispered back.  "Hey, I 
didn't know you could pick me up like that."

He smiled into her shoulder.  "You'd be 
surprised what I can do with this thing."

"I look forward to discovering all the 
options," she hummed.  "Matthew's going to 
go apeshit when we tell him what we've 
done."

"I know," Alex replied.  "We don't have a 
choice, Katya.  He's going to have to find 
out sooner or later, especially since there 
are syringes waiting for both he and Tyler.  
He's going to want to run tests, you know 
that don't you?"  Katie nodded her head.  
"So will Scully."

"I know," she whispered.  "We don't have to 
call her right away, do we?"

"Let's see what happens tonight and we'll 
decide from there," he answered.  "I'd like 
to wait until after the holidays, if Matthew 
thinks it's all right."  

The elevator door opened and Matthew rushed 
to the bedroom.  "Hi, got here as soon as I 
could.  Did you know that the streetlight is 
out, Hanna?  You might want to call the city 
and have them fix that."

Alex cracked a smile and Katie giggled.  
"Gee, thanks Kid.  I'll look into that right 
away."

"You look awful, kiddo," Matthew observed.  
"What's going on?"

"I had a headache last night and some cramps 
this evening," she answered, trying to brush 
him off.

Alex sat up and climbed off the bed.  
"Matthew, can I talk to you, alone," he 
asked.

"No, Alexei," Katie started.

"Stay there," he said.  "We'll be back 
shortly."

"Let me do it," she begged.

Alex shook his head and closed the door 
behind him.

"What's going on, Alex?" Matthew asked.  

"Sit down. This is going to take a bit of 
explaining.  I need you to hear me out and 
really listen to what I'm going to say."  
Matthew sat back in the chair and waited.  
"Part of what the Consortium was working on 
was a vaccine against an alien virus," he 
began.  He spun his tale for Matthew, 
explaining about the tests, the black oil, 
the virus and it's effect on humans.  He 
finished with Spender's visit and Katie's 
being given the vaccine.  

Matthew gripped the side of the chair.  "You 
gave her an untested vaccine for a mythical 
alien virus!" he bellowed.  "Are you out of 
your fucking mind!"

"It's not completely untested, Matthew.  
There are a handful of people who've been 
given the vaccine before.  I know one of 
them and she's fine.  She works for the FBI 
and she's a medical doctor.  I'm taking 
Katie to see her soon," Alex added.  "Once 
Scully checks it out and declares it safe, I 
have some for you and Tyler too."

"There's no way in Hell I'm letting you put 
that stuff in either me or Tyler!" Matthew 
yelled.

"Matthew! Will you stop yelling and listen 
to him...please?" Katie stood in the 
doorway, leaning against the frame.  "I made 
him give me the vaccine; he didn't want to 
do it.  He's telling you the truth about the 
aliens and their threat to us."

"Hanna, how can you believe this crap? It's 
pure science fiction," he said, frustrated 
with both of them.

Katie pushed off the doorframe and made her 
way to Matthew.  She put her hands on either 
side of his head and pulled his face down to 
hers.  "I just know.  I have a feeling; a 
strong one, Kid."

Matthew stared back at her, pleading with 
his eyes.  "No Hanna, not this time."  It 
was more of a question than a statement.  
Katie's 'feelings' were never wrong; not in 
the twenty-eight years they'd been friends, 
had he ever seen one of them fail to come to 
pass.  Now it was Matthew's turn to go pale.  
He reached for the chair behind him and 
slowly sank into it.  "Are you sure?" he 
said quietly.

"I was sure the moment I touched the box," 
she answered.  "Spender said five or six 
years, but it's going to be six.  You and 
Tyler have to be vaccinated; it's the only 
defense we have.  It doesn't have to be 
right away; we'll go see Scully first.  I 
think she needs to look at me, before we go 
injecting anyone else."  Katie's knees 
buckled as a cramp hit her again.  Alex and 
Matthew grabbed her and led her back to bed.  

Matthew checked her vital signs.  Her heart 
rate was slightly accelerated and her blood 
pressure was up.  He had Alex leave the 
room, so he could do a more thorough exam; 
much to Alex's dismay.  "Look Alex, I know 
you want to be here for everything, but I 
promise you, this isn't something you need 
to experience, OK?  I'll call you when I'm 
done," Matthew said as he closed the door.

Alex paced outside the door for a ten-minute 
eternity, before Matthew called him back 
into the room.  "So?"

Matthew looked at Alex, then at Katie.  "The 
good news is, everything looks fine," he 
said, closing his bag.  "The bad new is, I 
don't know what to make of the cramping.  It 
could be nothing more than a particularly 
hard period; that would explain the headache 
as well.  It could also be a reaction to the 
vaccine or a combination of the two."  He 
sat down on the bed next to Katie.  "Do you 
still have those muscle relaxants I gave you 
when your shoulder went out?"

"Yeah, they're in the medicine cabinet," she 
answered.

"What are they called?" Alex asked.  "I'll 
go check."

"Flexeril," Katie replied.  "Should be about 
half a bottle of them left in there."

He came back with the bottle in hand.  "Here 
you go," he said as he handed them to 
Matthew.

"OK, I want you take these for next day or 
so; see if they help with the cramping.  If 
it isn't better by tomorrow night, I'm going 
to take you in, kicking and screaming if I 
have to," he said with a frown.  "Oh, I'm 
going to draw blood from both of you 
tonight.  I want to take a look at what's 
going on in there.  I'm serious about taking 
you in if the pills don't help, Hanna." He 
turned to Alex. "I'm counting on you to keep 
her honest."

Katie touched Matthew's hand.  "If it still 
hurts tomorrow night, I won't fight you.  I 
promise."

Matthew raised his eyebrows in surprise.  
"Excuse me?  Could you repeat that, because 
it sounded like you agreed to go the 
hospital?  I know that can't be right, so I 
must have misheard you."

"Don't be a smartass, Kid; it's unbecoming 
in a doctor," she huffed.  "This isn't just 
about me anymore; there's the greater good 
to be considered.  I'm a human guinea pig 
now; I understand that."

"No you're not.  I won't let that happen to 
you, Hanna," Matthew promised.

"You can't stop it, Kid," she sighed.  "Just 
promise me we'll keep this 'discovery' 
between the six of us."

"The six of us?" Matthew asked.  "Who are 
the other two?"

"Mulder and Scully," Alex answered.  
"They're the only people who'll believe us.  
The only people I trust, outside of you, 
Katie and Tyler."

"Oh God, Tyler," Matthew exclaimed.  "How am 
I going to explain this to him?"

Alex squeezed Matthew's shoulder. "I'll tell 
him," he offered.

"We'll both tell him tomorrow night, at 
dinner," Katie added.

"If you're feeling up to it tomorrow," 
Matthew said.  "Let's see how it goes."

"Either way I'm going to have to eat, so if 
I'm not up to traveling, you guys can come 
over here for dinner.  Tyler won't mind 
using our kitchen," she said with a smile.  
"Ow," she moaned.  "Would you get me a drink 
so I can take this pill?"

Alex zipped out of the room, returning 
quickly with a glass of water and put it 
down on the nightstand.  He opened the 
bottle and handed her a pill.  She took it 
from his hand and washed the pill down 
without hesitation.  

Matthew kissed her on the cheek.  "You get 
some rest.  I'll check on you tomorrow.  
Alex, walk me out?"

Alex gave Katie a kiss as well.  "Be right 
back."  Katie smiled and blew him a kiss.

Matthew didn't say anything until they were 
at the elevator.  "You call me if the 
cramping gets worse or if her headache 
returns.  I don't care what time it is.  If 
anything worries you, call me."

"I will," Alex promised.  "Look about the 
phone call the other day...I was out of 
line."

Matthew's face reddened slightly.  "Oh, 
yeah.  I was a little mad at the time, but 
it...um...worked out to my advantage," he 
said with a shy smile.

Alex snickered.  "Yeah, Katie thought that 
might happen."

Matthew's face turned even redder.  "Is 
there nothing she doesn't tell you?"

"'Fraid not, buddy," Alex answered.  "Hey, 
you want me to call Tyler and tell that 
you're coming home and that you're really 
pissed off at me again?" he teased.

"No!" Matthew replied, indignantly.  He got 
on the elevator and reached for the button, 
then he grinned sheepishly.  "Maybe another 
time," he said as the doors closed.

Alex laughed, then returned to the bedroom.  
Katie was asleep, so he went back out to 
turn off the tree and the other lights in 
the place, then doused the fire, before 
crawling into bed next her.

============================================
"Hey sleepyhead," Katie said, nudging Alex.  
"I need to get up; wanna let go of me for a 
minute?"

"Oh, sorry," he said, sleepily.  He rolled 
off her and onto his pillow.  "How are you 
feeling?" he mumbled.

"I'm fine.  Go back to sleep."  Katie kissed 
his shoulder and got up.  She looked down at 
him and smiled before leaving the room.  
What to do first, eat or bathe?  Katie 
weighed her options and chose the latter.  
She stripped and got into the shower closing 
her eyes as the water worked its magic.  So 
far, so good.  The cramping from yesterday 
hadn't made an appearance since Matthew had 
left last night.  She would have slept 
through the night, if Alex hadn't been so 
restless.  'See, I knew you were 
overreacting Alexei,' she thought.  A wave 
of dizziness and nausea hit her a short time 
later.  Katie slumped against the tile, 
closing her eyes tightly until it passed.  
'OK, maybe not.'  She opened her eyes, half 
expecting to see him standing there, but she 
was still alone.  Katie knew if she told 
Alex, that he and Matthew would have her in 
the hospital within the hour.  She also knew 
that they would probably be correct in 
taking her there, but she wasn't going in 
without a fight.  As much as she hated it, 
she made the decision to keep this to 
herself as long as she could.  Maybe this 
would be the last of it; after all, she 
hadn't had anything to eat or drink since 
last night, which could account for the 
dizziness and nausea, she rationalized. 
Besides, that stupid pill sometimes made her 
dizzy anyway.  The decision made, she turned 
off the water.

Alex woke to find himself alone in their 
bed.  He sat up quickly, almost losing his 
balance when he tried to use his missing 
left arm to support him.  'You took it off 
before coming to bed last night dumbass,' he 
reminded himself.  'Maybe it's a good thing 
Katie's not in here right now,' he thought 
with a sigh.  The clatter of dishes brought 
him back to the moment.  He shrugged into 
his arm and his clothes before joining her 
in the kitchen.  

"Good morning," Katie said cheerfully.  
"Hungry?" Alex nodded, so Katie pointed to a 
chair at the table.

 "Why didn't you wake me up?" he asked.

She put a plate in front of him and sat 
down.  "You were tired; I thought you could 
use a little more time."

He reached out to touch her forehead.  "How 
are you feeling?"

Katie snagged his hand and kissed it.  "You 
already asked me that once this morning.  
I'm fine; cut it out and eat your 
breakfast."

"I already asked you?  When did I do that?"

"This morning, when I got up to take a 
shower.  You were half asleep, but you did 
ask," she chuckled.

"If you say so," he replied.  "So, are you 
going to help decorate the tree this 
morning?"

"Of course, I was just waiting for you to 
wake up so we could get started," she 
answered smugly.  "I've been ready for an 
hour now.  Tell you what, I'll clear the 
table, you go out and unpack the bags."

Alex got up from the table.  "Don't be 
long."

"I won't."  Katie picked up the plates and 
carried them to the sink.  She felt a little 
woozy, but nothing she could keep from him, 
at least for the time being.  

Alex looked into the kitchen and saw her 
standing by the sink.  'Damn it,' he 
thought.  He wrestled with himself; should 
he call her bluff or let it go?  He decided 
to let her play it out for a little while, 
just to see what would happen.  How could he 
blame her for doing the very thing he'd do 
in her situation?  "You coming?" he called.

"Be right there," she answered.

They spent the rest of the morning and part 
of the afternoon decorating the tree.  Alex 
was just as picky about the placement of 
decorations as he was about the lights and 
Katie took great pleasure in putting her 
ornaments on carelessly, just to see his 
reaction.  He was so into it, that he didn't 
realize what she was doing until he caught 
her moving one of his carefully placed 
ornaments.

"Hey, put that back!" he exclaimed.

Katie giggled and put the ornament back in 
its designated spot.  

"You've been moving them all morning, 
haven't you?" Alex asked, his hands on his 
hips.  "No wonder this is taking so long."

"I was beginning to wonder if you'd ever 
figure it out," she snickered.

Alex put the last ornament on the tree.  
"You know you're in trouble, don't you?" he 
asked, as moved slowly toward her.  Katie 
backed away, grinning from ear to ear.  
"Big, big trouble."  Katie inched slowly 
away from him, trying not to let the 
dizziness she felt show in her steps.  Alex 
rushed at her just as her knees buckled.  
"Gotcha," he growled.  "Hmmm, now how should 
I pay you back for messing with the tree?"  
He lowered his mouth to her neck and sucked 
long and hard.  Pulling back, he surveyed 
his handiwork.  "Oh yeah, that's a good 
start," he grinned.

"That the best you can do, tough guy?" Katie 
challenged.

"Oh no, I'm just getting started, baby," he 
said.  Alex grabbed the front of her shirt 
and clutched it in his fist, pulling her 
toward the bedroom.  His eyes never left 
hers as he slowly backed across the room.  
Once inside, he gently pushed her back onto 
the mattress and settled in between her 
legs.  He kissed her hard, forcing his 
tongue inside her mouth.  She met him with 
the same intensity, holding on to the back 
of his head to keep him in place.  Alex 
thrust against her, causing Katie to gasp 
into his mouth.  He pushed his hand between 
them and fondled her breast through her 
shirt.  Katie arched her back at his touch.  
Alex pulled away from her mouth to catch his 
breath.  He flicked his tongue across her 
earlobe, then moved in closer.  "Katya?" he 
whispered.

"Mmmm, what baby?" she answered breathily.

"I'm going to go take a shower," he 
whispered.  Before the words had a chance to 
register, he got up and stood beside the 
bed, leaving her too stunned for words.  He 
smiled down at her.  "I told you not to lie 
to me, Katya.  You've been dizzy for most of 
the day, yet every time I asked how you were 
feeling, you said you were fine."

"Alexei," Katie whined, taking hold of his 
leg.  "No fair."  She ran her hand up his 
thigh, trying to reach his zipper, but he 
backed away before she reached her goal.

"No way," he said, taking her hand in his.  
"You wanna get off?" He took her hand and 
placed it on her stomach.  "Take care of it 
yourself."  Katie looked like she was ready 
to spit nails.  She opened her mouth to 
respond, but he cut her off.  "I warned 
you," he said, pointing his finger at her.  
"Maybe next time you'll remember this."  He 
backed out of the room, shaking his head in 
amusement.  Katie launched a pillow at him, 
along with a healthy growl.  Alex chuckled 
as the pillow fell short.  "Be good, Katya 
and maybe I won't tell Matthew on you."

Katie sat up quickly and pushed off the bed, 
sending herself hurtling toward the door.  
Big mistake number two.  She had just enough 
time to yell, "better lock that door, 
Alexei" before she hit the ground with a 
thud.  "Shit!" she grumbled in frustration.

Alex ran back over to her.  "Are you all 
right?" he asked, as he bent down to help 
her up.

"I'm fine," she sighed.  "A little 
embarrassed, but fine."  She allowed Alex to 
help her back to the bed.  "Go take your 
shower.  I'll just lie here and be useless 
until this thing runs its course."

"Promise?" Alex asked.

"Yeah, yeah.  Go away, will ya?" Katie 
mumbled, turning away from him.

"OK, but just long enough to get clean."  He 
leaned down and kissed her gently on her 
forehead.  "You're not useless, just out of 
commission for a bit, that's all.  Now you 
know I felt all those weeks."  He waited for 
her to say something, but when she didn't, 
he brushed the hair away from her face.  
"Fine, be a grouch; I love you anyway."  
Alex smiled and shook his head as he left 
the room.

While he was toweling off, Alex heard 
clicking noises coming from the other room.  
Curiosity got the better of him, so he left 
the bathroom wearing nothing but the damp 
towel around his waist.  It didn't take long 
to locate the source of the sound.  Katie 
was sitting at the computer, typing 
furiously, hair pulled back in a ponytail, 
poking out the back of a black baseball cap.  
He frowned and walked over to the desk.  

Katie heard Alex open the bathroom door and 
listened as he made his way over to her.  He 
cleared his throat, but she threw her hand 
up to stop him. "Not now." Without ever 
tearing her eyes away from the monitor, she 
issued a set of orders. "Call Tyler and tell 
him he's going to have to feed us here, get 
me a large glass of ice water and read the 
hat."  

'Read the hat?' he wondered.  Alex backed 
away from the desk and went to get the glass 
of ice water she'd requested...demanded?  He 
returned and placed it beside her on the 
desk, then walked behind her to read the 
hat.  Embroidered over the strap in the back 
were the words, 'Leave me alone!'  Alex 
raised an eyebrow at the sentiment, but 
chose to keep his thoughts to himself.  He 
turned and went into the bedroom to get 
dressed, before completing his assignment.  
He'd barely shrugged on his shirt, when the 
phone rang.  "Hello?"

"So, how's the patient this morning?" Tyler 
asked cheerfully.

"I'm not really sure," Alex replied.  "She 
was dizzy earlier this morning, so I put her 
back to bed and went in to take a shower.  
When I got out, she was sitting at the 
computer typing like a woman possessed."

"Is she wearing the hat?" Tyler asked.

"Yeah," Alex said slowly.

"Oh boy," Tyler sighed.  "We'll be over 
around six to feed and console you, in the 
meantime, here's what you do.  Number one, 
don't speak unless spoken to, not even to 
ask if she wants more to drink or something 
to eat.  Number two, keep the glass full.  
Number three, whatever Katie wants, Katie 
gets; don't ever forget that.  This is where 
you play the humble manservant, my dear.  If 
she asks you for the moon on a platter, 
you'd better figure out a way to get it for 
her.  This is that mood we told you about 
once before.  Just keep your mouth shut, 
follow the rules and it'll pass in a few 
hours. And whatever you do, don't read over 
her shoulder.  I know you've been granted 
special reading privileges, but all bets are 
off when she gets like this."

"Is this your way of saying the honeymoon's 
over?" Alex responded.

Tyler laughed.  "For you two?  Never.  Since 
she seems to delight in sharing our sexual 
secrets with you, I'll let you in on one of 
hers.  This 'possessed' mood swing you're 
seeing right does have some nice side 
benefits, but I'll let you discover those 
for yourself."

"So the honeymoon's not over?" Alex asked 
with a grin.  "That's a relief."

"DAMN, DAMN, DAMN," Katie yelled.  

"Uh oh, see you tonight, Alex," Tyler said.  
"Good luck."

"Thanks, Ty," Alex replied.  He hung up the 
phone and turned to see what Katie was 
yelling about.  She had her hands on her 
head and was rocking frantically in the 
chair.  Not knowing what to do, he hung back 
and watched.

"No, no, that's not right," she said aloud, 
just before making a growling noise.  
"Noise, I need noise.  Alex put on something 
loud.  Music, loud music."  Katie beat on 
her legs, nervously and continued to stare 
at the monitor

Alex rushed to the CD player to see what he 
could find.  Loud music?  Oh shit, what was 
loud?  He ran his finger across the CDs 
looking for names of groups he recognized.  
'Styx Greatest Hits; was that loud enough?' 
he wondered.  Alex dropped it in, punched it 
up to start on track 9 and crossed his 
fingers.  

The piano played its opening solo.  Katie 
stopped beating on her legs and kicked back 
in her chair, eyes closed.  "I'm sailing 
away..."  Katie grinned.  'Oh yeah, this 
guy's good," she thought with a chuckle.  
'Maybe I'll keep him around after all.'

'Must have picked right,' Alex thought, 
feeling oddly relieved.  At what point did 
he lose control over his life?  There was a 
time when an attitude like hers would have 
been met with a rousing "fuck you" followed 
by the sound of his footsteps marching out 
the door.  He settled in on the couch to 
watch her.  

The song ended and she resumed typing.  Her 
fingers flew through the next few songs, 
before coming to a rest on the keyboard. The 
CD had stopped playing and Alex braced 
himself for the next outburst.  What was it 
about this woman that kept him on the edge 
of his seat?  Then, Katie took off the hat 
and spun around in her chair.  She looked at 
him and smiled, biting her lower lip as she 
did.  "Hi," she said quietly.

"Hi yourself," he replied, relaxing against 
the back of the couch.

"Did you have a nice shower?"

"Very nice.  How are you feeling?"

"No more dizziness, no more cramping," she 
answered.  He fixed a stare at her.  
"Honest.  Want me to walk a straight line 
for you?  Touch my nose with my fingertips?"  
Not waiting for an answer, Katie stood up, 
extended her hands and slowly brought her 
fingertips to her nose.  "See?"  She stood 
on tiptoe and walked a straight line all the 
way to the couch.  "Could I do that if I was 
still feeling dizzy?  I don't think so."  
She could tell that he still wasn't entirely 
convinced.  Katie climbed onto his lap, 
straddling his legs.  She took his face in 
her hands and stared back at him.  "It was 
the Flexeril.  Sometimes it makes me dizzy, 
but usually not like this.  Maybe it didn't 
agree with the vaccine; I don't know, but 
it's out of my system now and I feel fine."  
She felt him start to relax, but he still 
wasn't buying the act entirely.  "You can 
ask Matthew tonight; he'll tell you the same 
thing."

Alex frowned.  "Why didn't Tyler mention it 
when I spoke to him earlier?"

"Did you ask him?" Katie answered.  Alex 
shook his head.  "He's not psychic, 
sweetheart; he can't answer questions you 
don't ask."

Alex gave her a half-smile and conceded the 
point.  Katie moved slowly toward his mouth, 
giving him every opportunity to pull away, 
if he wasn't ready to let her make it up to 
him just yet.  She pressed her lips to his.  
He yielded slightly.  Katie pushed back, far 
enough to look him in the eyes.  "Have I 
told you lately that I love you?" she 
whispered.

'Oh yeah,' he thought.  'That's what 
happened.'  He smiled.  "You know, I don't 
believe I've heard you say that all day."

"Mmmm," Katie nodded.  "My mistake.  Here, 
let me spell it out for you."  She kissed 
him softly. "I."  Kiss. "Love."  Kiss.  
"You." Kiss.  "Is that better?"

Alex shrugged his shoulders.  "I suppose, if 
that's the best you can do..." he said, 
rolling his eyes upward.

Katie swooped down on his mouth, catching 
him by surprise.  She forced his lips open 
and plunged her tongue inside, while 
unbuttoning his shirt as fast as her fingers 
could push the buttons from their holes.  
Alex pulled her shirt free from her 
sweatpants and shoved his hand up and under, 
to run his hand up her back.  She smoothed 
her hands across his chest, stroking his 
nipples with her thumbs.  He hummed 
contentedly into her mouth.  Katie came up 
for air briefly, then turned her attention 
to his neck.  She nibbled her way up to his 
earlobe, giving that a nip as well.  
"Alexei?" she whispered.  Alex froze.  'She 
wouldn't...would she?' he wondered.  Katie 
felt him go still and stifled a chuckle.  
'Gotcha,' she thought.  "Care to join me in 
the shower?"

The elevator door wooshed open.  "I see the 
mood has passed," Tyler observed.  "Am I 
interrupting?"

"Yes," Alex growled. 

"Nothing that can't wait until later," Katie 
chirped.  She bent down. "What goes around, 
comes around, baby," she whispered in Alex's 
ear.  

Katie bounced off of Alex's lap and over to 
Tyler.  "So, what are you cooking tonight?" 
she asked, as she kissed him on the cheek. 

"Beef stroganoff," he answered.  "Your 
favorite.  I had planned something 
different, but after speaking to Alex 
earlier, I decided to change the menu."

Katie looked at Alex and back to Tyler.  
"Just what did he say?"

"He said you were wearing the hat.  That's 
all I needed to hear.  What he didn't say 
was that you were still lounging around in 
your pajamas."

"These are sweatpants, you toad, not 
pajamas!" Katie replied indignantly.

"Whatever.  You still didn't bother to take 
the time to dress and, my love," he added, 
patting her head, "you have hat hair.  Go 
take a shower.  I'm not serving MY beef 
stroganoff, with you looking like that."  

Katie gave him the 'evil eye' and put her 
hands on her hips.  "You know, Ty, you can 
be a real prick sometimes."

"And you can be a real bitch, so we balance 
each other out," he retorted.  "Now scoot."  
He turned her around and pushed her gently 
toward the bathroom. "Go make yourself 
presentable for the fabulous meal I'm about 
to prepare." 

Katie huffed, but went to the bathroom door.  
She turned and stuck her tongue out at Tyler 
before slamming the door shut.

Alex watched the exchange from the comfort 
and safety of the couch.  As soon as the 
door closed, he let out a snicker before it 
had a chance to blossom into a full-blown 
laugh.  He got up to go out to the kitchen 
to give Tyler a proper welcome.

Tyler was standing by the sink, looking in 
the direction of the bathroom door. Alex 
started to say something, but Tyler held up 
his hand.  "Shhh."  Alex heard a soft noise 
from the bathroom, then the sound of the 
water turning on in the shower.  Tyler 
smiled over at him and wiggled his eyebrows.  
"Now's your chance," he grinned.  "Go get 
her."

Alex's eyes widened.  "Tyler!"

"Don't give me that," Tyler chuckled.  
"She's thoroughly pissed right now and still 
horny; something the two of you have in 
common," he added, nodding at Alex's crotch.  
"I'm just repaying the favor.  Get out of 
here before you pop the zipper on those 
jeans, because if that happens, I will not 
be responsible for my actions," he sighed 
dramatically, as he put his hand on Alex's 
shoulder for effect.

"Why Tyler," Alex said in mock surprise. "I 
never knew you cared."  He moved his head 
down and gave Tyler's hand a quick kiss.  

"Tease," Tyler said, as he smacked the 
underside of Alex's chin with his fingers.  
"Go already, you only have an hour before 
dinner."

Alex laughed, then slipped quietly into the 
bathroom, locking the door behind him.

Fifteen minutes later, the elevator door 
swung open once again.  Matthew could smell 
the onions sauteing on the stove.  He 
dropped his bag next to the couch and headed 
into the kitchen.  Tyler had just finished 
cubing the meat and was putting the last of 
it in a bowl for the time being.  
"Stroganoff?" he asked.  

"She was wearing the hat when I called Alex 
this afternoon," Tyler explained.  He 
grabbed the bowl with the rice in it and 
placed it in the microwave.

"Oh," Matthew replied.  "So where is the 
manic one now?"

Tyler smiled.  "In the shower."

Matthew picked up a spoon and gave the 
onions a stir.  "Where's Alex?"

Tyler gave him an evil grin.  "In the 
shower."

Matthew's eyes opened wide.  "Oooooh 
really?"  A noise from the bathroom caught 
their ears.  They exchanged glances.  "She 
really should insulate those walls."

"Truly," Tyler agreed.  "You can 
hear...everything."  He took a few steps in 
the direction of the bathroom door.  "No 
privacy whatsoever."

Matthew came closer to Tyler.  "Nope, no 
privacy at all."

"We really shouldn't," Tyler said, inching 
closer to the door.

"No, it's completely inappropriate," Matthew 
agreed, leaning up against the doorframe.  

"Some might even think it childish," Tyler 
grinned.

"And crude?" Matthew asked, returning his 
grin.

"No, not crude," Tyler answered.  "Now 
betting on the outcome...that would be 
crude."

Matthew smiled broadly and reached for his 
wallet.  "Twenty bucks he makes her scream 
in," he stopped to check his watch, "fifteen 
minutes."

"Matthew!  I'm surprised at you!" Tyler 
exclaimed.  "I give it ten minutes, tops."  
He sniffed the air.  "Oh damn, let me take 
the onions off the burner."  He ran in, 
moved the onions to a cool burner, then 
returned to his spot by the door.  "Eight 
more minutes."

"No way, thirteen." At the ten-minute mark, 
Matthew held out his hand.  "Pay up, 
sweetheart."

Tyler frowned and shook his head.  "Nope, I 
may have been wrong on the time, but you 
haven't won yet."

"Fine, we'll wait five more minutes." Five 
minutes passed, then ten.  "Damn, looks like 
neither of us wins," Matthew said.  "Come on 
already, Alex.  Finish the poor girl off so 
we can eat."

"There you go, being the hopeless romantic," 
Tyler said, rolling his eyes.  

"Hey, we had a steady stream of patients 
today; I never got a chance to eat lunch.  
If I'd known I was in for a show before 
dinner, I would have grabbed a snack on the 
way home.  I'll be romantic after you feed 
me," he winked.  "Oh...wait...what was 
that?" he asked, putting his ear to the 
door.  "Come here." 

Tyler put his ear to the door and listened.  
"Oh yeah," he whispered.  "Won't be long 
now."

Fifteen minutes later, Matthew poked his 
head into the kitchen.  Tyler had the meat 
cooking and was getting ready to add the 
sour cream.  "Come on, they're almost done."  
He stopped what he was doing, followed 
Matthew to the bathroom door and waited for 
it to open.  When it did, Katie and Alex 
were greeted with a round of applause and a 
few assorted catcalls.

Katie shook her head.  "Perverts!" she 
chuckled.  "See the kind of shit I have to 
put up with, Alexei?"

"Appalling...I'm shocked," Alex replied with 
a snicker.  Tyler held up his hand allowing 
Alex to high-five him.  

Katie's jaw dropped, but she was smiling.  
"Pigs!" she exclaimed.  "You're all pigs!"

============================================
Matthew pushed his plate away and dropped 
his napkin on the table.  "How are you 
feeling, Hanna?"

Katie swallowed and took a drink, before 
answering.  "Much better.  That Flexeril 
gave me a bad case of the 'dizzies' this 
time though; worse than usual.  Scared Alex, 
scared me a little, too," she admitted.

"I forgot to mention that, didn't I?" 
Matthew said, looking at Alex.  "Sorry about 
that."  He looked back at Katie.  "How bad 
was it?"

"I spent most of the morning woozy, fell 
down once, but I managed to flush it out of 
my system eventually," she answered, waving 
him off.  "I think it might have been a 
chemical reaction between the drug and..." 
she stopped, realizing that they hadn't told 
Tyler about the vaccine yet.  Everyone went 
still.

Tyler looked at his friends and suddenly 
felt left out of the loop.  "A chemical 
reaction between the drug and what?" he 
asked slowly.  "Did I miss something?"

"Yeah," Matthew replied, blowing out a 
breath.  "There's something we need to tell 
you."

Alex reached out and squeezed Matthew's 
hand.  "Let me do it," he said.  Matthew 
nodded and sat back in his chair.  

"This isn't a good thing you're about to 
tell me, is it?" Tyler asked.  He saw Katie, 
Matthew and Alex nod their heads in perfect 
synchrony.  "I think I need a drink first."  
Katie reached for his glass and poured him 
more wine.  He picked it up and threw it 
back in one gulp.  

"Remember that hush-hush work I couldn't 
tell you about?"  Alex began.

Tyler listened as Alex attempted to explain 
everything.  Every so often, he glanced over 
at Katie and Matthew, looking for a telltale 
smile or giggle; something to let him know 
that this was an elaborate joke they'd set 
up for his benefit.  He saw nothing.  When 
Alex stopped talking, Tyler stared at him 
blankly, still waiting for the 'gotcha'.  
Katie left the table, only to return 
momentarily, with the box in her hand.  She 
put it on the table in front of him and 
opened the lid.  Tyler looked at the box, 
then at Katie, then at the box.  He reached 
out and gingerly touched the syringes.  His 
hand recoiled as soon as his fingers met the 
cold plastic casings.  "This is real?"  All 
three nodded their heads.  "How long before 
they..."

"Six years," Katie answered.  Tyler looked 
at her, his brow furrowed.  "I feel it," she 
said with a shrug.

"You really have this stuff inside you, 
Katie?" he asked.

Katie nodded her head and gave him a little 
smile.  "Yeah, I do.  One of these is for 
you and another for Matthew, if you'll agree 
to it." Katie closed the box.  "You don't 
have to decide now; we want to have Alex's 
friend, Scully, check it out before we give 
it to anyone else.  If it is what it's 
supposed to be, I'm hoping you and Matthew 
will let us vaccinate you both."

Tyler looked over at Matthew, who was 
rubbing his temples with one hand.  
"Matthew?"  

"Yeah?"

"What do you think?"

Matthew put his elbows on the table, then 
rested his chin in his hands.  "If this is 
what Alex believes it to be...if this Agent 
Scully confirms his suspicions...then we do 
it," he sighed.  "Besides, Hanna has a 
'feeling'..." He shrugged and made a lame 
attempt at a chuckle.  

Katie got up and cleared the dishes from the 
table, leaving Matthew and Alex to answer 
Tyler's questions.  She'd heard quite enough 
about the vaccine for now and needed a 
break. 

Matthew watched as Katie rinsed the dishes 
and put them into the dishwasher.  Something 
about the way she moved disturbed him.  She 
didn't look sick, just restless.  He got up 
from the table and joined her in the 
kitchen.  "What's wrong?"

"I...I don't want to talk about this anymore 
tonight," she said quietly.  "It's important 
that Tyler knows everything and he needs to 
know now, but I need a breather."  She put 
her hand on Matthew's arm.  "Take me for a 
walk?"

Matthew frowned.  "Hanna, I don't know if 
that's such a good idea.  You've been sick 
and I know you're feeling better..."

"I'm fine now and besides, I'll have my own 
personal physician by my side," she said 
with a grin.  "Please Kid?  Just a short 
one, I promise."

"Just a short one," he agreed.  "I'll go get 
your coat; you tell them we're going."

Katie nodded and went back out to the table.  
Alex was patiently trying to explain the 
intricacies of the conspiracy to a very 
confused Tyler.  Poor guy, he was trying so 
hard to get a grip on the weirdness that had 
been dumped in his lap and he was failing 
miserably.  Katie put her arms around Alex's 
neck and kissed his cheek.  "Matthew is 
taking me out for a walk.  We'll be back in 
a little bit," she said softly.  

Alex turned to look at her.  "Want me come 
along?" he asked.

"No, stay here with Tyler," she answered.  
"I need to spend time with Matthew right 
now.  We haven't spent any time together for 
quite awhile; he needs me."

"And you need him," Alex added.  

Katie smiled as Matthew returned, coats in 
hand.  "Yeah, I do."  She took her coat from 
his hand.  "Ready?"

Matthew leaned down to give Tyler a quick 
peck on the cheek.  "Yeah, I'm ready.  We 
won't be long; I don't want Hanna to overdo, 
but I think a short walk will be good for 
her."

They turned and walked to the elevator, 
together.  Tyler waited until the door 
closed before speaking to Alex.  "He needs 
this more than she does.  Matthew's missed 
her the last few weeks.  I mean, he's seen 
her, but he hasn't been able to really talk 
to her or just hang out with her; it's been 
hard for him."  Alex shifted uncomfortably 
in his chair.  "Don't take that the wrong 
way, Alex," Tyler continued.  "He knows, 
intellectually, that you're not taking Katie 
away from him; his heart needs a little time 
to catch up, that's all."

============================================
Katie and Matthew emerged onto the dark 
street behind the loft.  Matthew glanced up 
at the streetlight.  "Have you called the 
city about that light yet?"

"No," Katie smiled.  "I'm not going to 
either.  It was a present from Alex."  He 
gave her a questioning look.  "Don't ask."

Matthew nodded, then reached for her hand.  
"Come on."  She took his hand and let him 
lead the way.  They walked in silence for a 
couple of blocks, then Matthew squeezed her 
hand.  "I've missed you," he said quietly, 
not looking at her.

Katie pressed up to his side and dropped her 
head against his shoulder.  "Missed you, 
too."  

"He makes you happy."  It wasn't a question, 
but a statement of fact on Matthew's part.

"He makes me whole," Katie replied.  

"I know," he sighed.

Katie brought her head back and looked at 
him, brow furrowed. "You do?"

Matthew smiled sadly.  "Yeah, I do.  He 
kicks you in the butt when you need it; 
comforts you when you're down, holds before 
you realize you want him to.  You move with 
him, even when you're not in the same room, 
you speak with your eyes and he understands, 
you're calmer with him than I've ever seen 
you before."  He paused and shook his head 
in amusement.  "You let him read your 
manuscript," he added.

"There you have it," she chuckled.  
"Undeniable proof."  Katie slipped her arms 
around his waist and rested her head against 
his chest.  "I still need you, Kid; always 
and forever.  Especially now."

Matthew put his chin on the top of her head.  
"I'm scared, Hanna.  The clock's ticking and 
I can't make it stop.  I'm mad at Alex for 
telling us, but at the same time, thankful 
that he's given us a chance for survival."

"So you really do believe him?"

Matthew nodded his head.  "I believed him 
from the start."  Katie raised her eyebrows 
and smirked at him.  Matthew smiled back at 
her. "Well...part of me believed him and you 
were so sure...I ran some preliminary tests 
on your blood today; there's an element in 
it I can't explain.  Alex has it in his, 
too.  How could I not believe?  I have 
physical evidence of...something." He took a 
deep breath before continuing.  " I also did 
a little checking on this Dr. Scully Alex 
keeps talking about.  Seems she and Mulder 
are the FBI's resident experts on 
unexplained phenomena."

"How did you find that out?" Katie asked.

"Remember Byron Odera?

"How could I forget?  His name still makes 
my flesh crawl.  What about the little 
creep?" 

"The little creep," Matthew snickered, 
"works in the Federal Crime Lab now.  I just 
got his annual 'aren't I special' Christmas 
letter, so I decided to take advantage of 
him to gather a little information.  By the 
way, he sends his regards."

"Oh goody," she replied, rolling her eyes.  
"If he helped to make you feel better about 
things, I guess he served his purpose."  
Katie stopped for a second and rubbed her 
side.  "Can we sit?  I've got a stitch in my 
side."

Matthew led her to a bus stop bench and sat 
down beside her.  "Maybe this wasn't such a 
good idea after all," he said.

"No, I'll be fine.  It really is just a 
stitch.  If we'd stayed inside, I'd be 
climbing the walls about now and none of us 
want to see that happen," she assured him.

Matthew reached down and rubbed her side, 
trying to ease the muscles. "Hanna?" he 
asked, wanting to change the subject.  "I 
know that you and Alex have shared an awful 
lot about your past experiences."

"Yeah, we have," she answered.

"Have you had the past lovers conversation 
yet?" he asked.

"No," Katie replied.  "We haven't gotten to 
that yet."

Matthew shifted on the bench.  "Are you 
going to tell him?"

"What do you think?" she asked.  "It's going 
to come up very soon and I'm not keeping 
anything from him.  You do understand that 
by now, don't you?"

"Yes, I do," he sighed.  "How do you think 
he's going to react?"

"He'll probably want to rip your head off 
and shove it up your ass," she teased.

Matthew couldn't quite make out her 
expression in the dimness of the street 
light.  "You think he's going to be upset?" 
he asked, worry evident in the tone of his 
voice.

Katie laughed and patted Matthew's leg.  "I 
was kidding, sweetheart.  Don't get your 
shorts in a bunch.  It's a sweet story, 
Matthew; most first time stories are. He's 
probably going to smile and say that it 
explains a lot about the way you treated 
him," she reassured.   "You know he thinks 
you're jealous of him, don't you?"

Matthew nodded.  "Both he and Tyler have 
said that to me."

"Is it true?"

Matthew dropped his head and ran his fingers 
through his hair.  "Maybe...yeah, I am," he 
admitted.  

"Why?  I've dated other guys before without 
you going ballistic."

"But Alex is different, Hanna.  He's the one 
that's going to stay."

"Are you going to be OK with that, Kid?"  
Katie asked.  She leaned against his 
shoulder and put squeezed his leg.  "I need 
you to say that you'll be OK with this, but 
if you're not, I'll understand."

Matthew put his arms around her and kissed 
the top of her head.  "I'm fine with it.  I 
promise."

"Will you still be fine with it when I'm 
pregnant and lumbering around like a circus 
elephant?"

"You haven't told him about the accident?"  
Matthew pulled back in surprise.  "You know 
what the doctors said, Hanna."

"Yes, I've told him about the accident.  
He's seen me naked after all, so there 
really wasn't anyway of getting around it," 
Katie replied.  "I've told him what the 
doctors said, but he believes that we're 
going to have a little boy one day." Katie 
chuckled and rubbed her stomach gently.  
"And you know what?  I believe him."

Matthew shook his head and chuckled as well.  
"This may sound crazy, but if this is 
something the two of you have your hearts 
set on, then I have no doubt you'll make it 
happen."  He gave her side one more quick 
rub.  "Feel better now?"  Katie nodded.  
"Let's go home; they're probably staring out 
the window waiting for us to appear."

Katie stood first and put one hand on 
Matthew's cheek.  She leaned down and kissed 
him sweetly.  "I love you."

Matthew looked down at the ground, then back 
up at her, shyly.  "I love you, too."  He 
stood up and took her hand.  "Come on, we'd 
better go before people start to talk." 

============================================
"I'm going to take Tyler home," Matthew 
announced, as they rode the elevator up to 
the loft.  "You don't need to hear any more 
about this tonight and, if I know Tyler, 
he's still trying to get answers to 
questions Alex doesn't have the answers to."

"Coward," Katie joked.  "You're afraid to 
look Alex in the face right now, aren't 
you?"

"Shut up!" Matthew exclaimed.  "I am not 
afraid to look him in the face.  If you 
want, I'll tell him myself."  His last words 
flew out as the elevator doors opened.

"Tell which him what?" Alex asked.

Katie burst into laughter at Matthew's 
stellar timing.  "Well, go on," she urged.  
"This is your golden opportunity to come 
clean, Kid.  Alex, Matthew has something 
important he's simply dying to tell you."

"Katrina Elizabeth Heyes!" Matthew 
sputtered.  "Shut your mouth right now!"  He 
looked at Tyler, his face getting redder 
with each passing second.  "Come on, Ty, 
we're going home before I say something I 
might regret."  

Tyler nodded and went to get his coat.  Alex 
followed him back.  "What do you think 
that's all about?" he asked Tyler.

"I have an idea, but it's not my place to 
say anything," Tyler answered.

"Come on, Ty," Alex prodded.  "What is it?  
Matthew's obviously embarrassed about 
whatever it is."

"Look, I really can't help you out with this 
one," Tyler replied.  "This has to come from 
either Katie or Matthew, my dear; I wouldn't 
touch it with a ten-foot pole.  Suffice it 
to say that there is still much you have to 
learn about those two."  He put on his coat 
and walked back to the elevator.  Katie and 
Matthew were deep in conversation, so he 
turned back to Alex.  "Do yourself a favor, 
Alex.  Don't ask; she'll tell you when she's 
ready and judging from what's already been 
said, it won't be long," he whispered.  

Katie motioned toward Tyler and Alex, 
causing Matthew to stop talking.  "Sorry to 
see you two leave so early," Alex said.  
"Thanks for dinner, Ty; it was delicious."  
He extended his hand to Matthew.  "Thanks 
for taking care of Katie."

Matthew threw a glance at Tyler, who 
shrugged.  "No problem; she's my favorite 
patient.  It looks like we're over the worst 
of it, whatever it was, just make sure she 
takes it easy for the next day or two."

"You hear that, Katya?  I think we'd better 
keep the trapeze in the box for a few more 
days," Alex sighed.  He had to bite his lip 
when Matthew's eyes widened. "I'm kidding, 
Matthew," he snickered.  "Sometimes you're 
just too easy."

The elevator door closed, leaving Katie and 
Alex alone.  "How was your walk?" he asked 
her, as they moved back into the loft.

"Nice.  I needed some time with Matthew and 
I really wasn't up to hearing any more about 
the virus and the vaccine and the aliens.  I 
know it's not going to go away; I'm not 
trying to hide from it," she explained.  "I 
just didn't want to go there anymore 
tonight."

"Probably just as well," Alex replied.  "I 
think Tyler needed to be able to ask 
questions and have only one person attempt 
to answer.  He'll be all right with this, 
eventually.  For all his open-mindedness, I 
have a feeling Tyler's going to take longer 
to come to terms with everything, than 
Matthew did."

Katie nodded in agreement.  "It'll take him 
a while, but he'll be fine."  She walked 
into the kitchen to finish cleaning up, but 
found that the room had already been taken 
care of.  Katie picked up the sponge and 
started idly wiping down the counters.

"It gave him something normal to do while we 
talked," Alex said.  "He washed and asked, I 
dried and answered."  He took the sponge 
from her hand and tossed it back into the 
sink.  "You have something to tell me."  She 
turned and tried to move away from him, 
putting off the inevitable.  He put one hand 
on either side of her, trapping her between 
his body and the counter.  "Spill it, 
Katya."

"Not right now, Alexei," Katie stalled.  
"This isn't something you just blurt out 
over coffee at the kitchen table."

"So where do you talk about this?" Alex 
asked.

"In the bedroom, in the afterglow of really 
great sex, when you're sharing intimate 
secrets in the dark with your lover," she 
answered.  "Even then, you have to be 
careful that you say it just right."

Alex considered her words, then chuckled 
softly.  "Then I guess I should be relieved 
that Matthew didn't want to tell me after 
all."  He bent down and kissed her hard, 
forcing his tongue deep into her mouth.  
Katie responded in kind, clutching the back 
of his neck to keep him place, until they 
both had to come up for air.  Alex inclined 
his head toward the bedroom. "Bedroom, great 
sex, intimate secrets?"

Katie laughed softly.  "Meet you in there in 
a minute."

"Where are you going?"

"Bathroom," she answered.  "Go on, I'll be 
there before you know it."

Alex nodded and went into the bedroom.  He 
kicked off his shoes and socks, then threw 
back the blankets on the bed.  True to her 
word, she was there almost before his ass 
hit the mattress.  She tossed him a couple 
of towels.  "Towels are easier to replace 
than mattresses," she explained.  He spread 
one of the towels out on the bed, then 
pulled her down.  Clothing fell down on the 
floor as they made short order of the 
inconvenient garments. As he reached the 
final scrap of material keeping the last 
part of her body from his view, she stopped 
him.  "Turn the light off," she whispered.

"Why?  I want to see you, Katya," Alex 
whispered back, nuzzling her neck, his hand 
still on the waistband of her panties.

"Please?  The shower was one thing, but 
here...I don't want you to see," she 
hesitated.

"I've seen blood before," he soothed.

"That's the point," she countered.  "You've 
seen too much, in all the wrong situations."  
Katie reached up and stroked his cheek.  
"Maybe I'm being overprotective.  Indulge 
me?"

Alex rolled over and turned out the light.  
He moved back to her and placed his hand 
back in its former position.  "Better?" he 
asked.  She kissed him and wrapped her arms 
around his neck.  "I'll take that as a 
'yes'," he chuckled.   Katie smiled against 
his neck and lifted her hips slightly as he 
slid the panties off and dropped them onto 
the floor.
============================================

He lay still, allowing her to use the other 
towel to clean him up afterwards.  Alex had 
started to protest, but she was insistent.  
There were worse things she could have hang-
ups about, he supposed.  He took the towel 
away from her when he felt she was stalling.  
"OK, I'm clean.  Relax," he said.  He put 
his hand on her shoulder and urged her 
downward, until she was lying on his chest.  
"Is what you're planning on telling me that 
awful?" he asked.

Katie shook her head.  "No, it's not 
awful...I've just never had to tell this to 
anyone before.  It's not exactly common 
knowledge, but I think you have the right to 
know."

"I'm guessing this has to do with Matthew," 
he started.

"Yeah, it does," she answered.

"And Tyler knows," he continued.

"He's the only other one that would have any 
reason to know," she said quietly.  Katie 
stayed still, trying to figure out how to 
begin.

Alex kissed her hair, then started talking.  
"On my sixteenth birthday, my benefactor had 
a dinner party in my honor; just a few of 
his associates and the two of us.  It was 
more of a business meeting than a party, 
with the exception of the presence of a 
young lady I'd never seen before.  I assumed 
she was a secretary or someone's daughter, 
since we really weren't introduced beyond 
first names.  At the end of the evening, 
everyone left, except her.  My benefactor 
took me aside and explained that, in 
addition to the car he'd presented me with 
earlier in the day, that he was giving me 
this woman for the evening.  He'd assumed, 
and rightly so, I might add, that I was a 
virgin, and decided that my birthday would 
be the perfect time to rectify the 
situation."

"Sounds like every sixteen-year old boy's 
dream gift," Katie chuckled.

Alex nodded.  "I suppose so.  I won't lie to 
you and say that I didn't enjoy it, but the 
experience didn't do much for my overall 
self-esteem; I mean, what kind of guy has to 
pay someone in order to get laid?  Losers, 
that's who.  Far from making me feel like a 
man, I felt like a loser in his eyes and 
mine."

Katie kissed his chest and looked up at him.  
"How sad for you," she sympathized.  "No one 
should have their first time make them feel 
anything other than wonderful and loved."

"Did Matthew make you feel wonderful and 
loved?" he asked quietly.  He felt her stop 
breathing for a moment, so he hugged her 
tight.  "Of course he did," he said, 
answering his own question.  

"How did you..." Katie started to ask.

"It was a logical conclusion, Katya.  
Matthew's reaction to me makes perfect sense 
now; he really was jealous," Alex smiled.  
"Then, just before Ty and Matthew left, I 
asked Ty if he knew what was going on.  He 
told me he had a pretty good idea, but that 
you or Matthew were going to have to tell 
me.  He advised me to wait and let you tell 
me in your own time and said that I still 
had a lot to learn about the two of you."  
He rolled her onto her back and balanced on 
his side to look at her.  The room was still 
dark, but he could just make out her 
features.  "Want to tell me about it?"

"Sure you want to know?" she asked.

"I wouldn't have asked if I didn't," he 
answered.  "How old were you at the time?'

"Sixteen, same as you," she replied.  "You 
want the whole story or the Reader's Digest 
version?"

"Your story; you tell it anyway you want," 
Alex said.

"OK.  Well, after my accident, Matthew and I 
became even closer than we were before, as 
hard as that is to believe.  I had to miss 
the first four weeks of my junior year while 
I was recovering, so Matthew taped all my 
classes, brought me my books, helped me 
study; he spent more time with me than with 
his family.  When the doctors gave me the 
green light to go back, I was not only up to 
speed; I was actually ahead of the game, 
thanks to him.  Our teachers all commended 
us on our hard work and everyone else 
figured that we were a couple.  Since there 
wasn't anyone either of us was interested in 
at the time anyway, we did nothing to 
dissuade that belief.  By our senior year, 
everyone was sure that we were destined to 
be married right after graduation.  This was 
probably a good thing for Matthew, since by 
that time, he'd begun to question his 
sexuality.  There were a few times that he 
started to ask me things, but he would 
hesitate, then change the subject.  I'd 
already figured it out, but I didn't want to 
put words in his mouth or make him feel any 
more uncomfortable than he already was 
feeling.  Anyway, everything finally came to 
a head during Christmas vacation.  His 
grandfather died the day after Christmas and 
his mother was the executor of the will.  
She knew that it would take weeks to 
straighten out her father's affairs and his 
parents didn't want him to miss that much 
school, but they didn't want to leave him 
alone either.  My parent's stepped in and 
offered to let him stay with us while his 
parents took care of settling the estate.  
It wasn't a big deal; as far as mom and dad 
were concerned, Matthew was a part of the 
family.  Matthew and his grandfather had 
never been that close, but Matthew still 
took his death hard.  We spent night after 
night staying up talking until one of us 
fell asleep on the other.  Most of the time 
we'd wake up and find our way to our beds, 
but my dad found us together a couple of 
times.  He never mentioned it, except to say 
that we should think about turning in at a 
reasonable hour so we wouldn't be so sore 
from sleeping on the lumpy couch.  My guess 
is that since we both had all our clothes 
on, he figured we weren't fooling around too 
much."  

Alex laughed.  "Your father was either very 
perceptive or very trusting."

Katie smiled.  "Maybe a little of both," she 
conceded.  "Either way, it was never made an 
issue of and we didn't spend every night 
together like that, so we got away with it.  
One night, Matthew finally got up the 
courage to tell me that he thought he might 
be gay.  He wasn't entirely sure, but he 
knew that he'd never really been attracted 
to too many girls and that there were 
certain guys that made him feel the way he 
thought he was supposed to feel toward 
women.  No one in school, he was quick to 
add, but guys on television and in 
magazines.  He was so embarrassed by his 
admission that he couldn't even look at me.  
We sat quietly for a long time after that.  
I was afraid to say anything at first, 
because I didn't want to upset him, but I 
realized that I wouldn't be much of a friend 
if I didn't let him know how I felt.  I 
tried to get him to look at me, but he 
refused, so I took drastic measures.  
Climbing into his lap, I pinned his 
shoulders to the back of the couch and 
forced him to look at me.  I told him that I 
loved him, that he was my best friend in the 
whole world and that nothing, nothing, he 
could ever tell me, would make me love him 
any less.  He totally fell apart.  He 
grabbed me and held on for dear life, crying 
his eyes out.  He had been so afraid that 
I'd turn on him; like I'd ever have done 
that," she exclaimed.

"It happens all the time, sweetheart," Alex 
said.  "People you think you know, turning 
their backs on you when you need them the 
most."

"Not me," Katie replied.  "I don't do that 
to the people I love; it surprised me, 
because I thought he knew that."

"He probably knew it on some level, but his 
fear clouded his judgment," Alex explained.  
"So, how did this end up with the two of you 
swapping bodily fluids?  An admission of 
homosexuality doesn't seem like a natural 
lead-in for this story."

"No, it doesn't, does it?" Katie snickered.  
"This is so cliched, but here goes.  We 
didn't talk too much about it the next day, 
mostly because we were never alone.  It was 
New Year's Eve and we were supposed to have 
a huge snowstorm hit sometime in the next 
twenty-four hours.  We'd had a couple of 
false alarms that winter, so my parents 
didn't think it would be a problem, but they 
wanted to be prepared, just in case, so we 
were sent to stock up on food and whatever 
else we might need.  They almost canceled 
plans to attend the annual party thrown by 
father's employer, but decided that since 
they'd already made a reservation at the 
hotel so they wouldn't have to drive home, 
that they'd go anyway.  We were certainly 
old enough to be left alone overnight and 
more than capable of handling ourselves in 
just about any given situation.  With the 
food taken care of and explicit instructions 
to call should any problems arise, mom and 
dad left for their party.  Within an hour 
after they'd left, we'd ordered pizza and 
opened the first of two bottles of sangria 
we'd stashed away."  Alex laughed.  "Hey, we 
were generally trustworthy, but we were 
teenagers," Katie giggled.  "We kicked back 
and watched some of the comedy specials on 
cable until it was time to watch the big 
countdown with Dick Clark in Times Square.  
And yes, we had the traditional kiss at 
midnight, just like every year.  Afterwards, 
we flipped channels to see what was on.  Our 
cable company was really screwy and some 
nights the feed from one of the adult 
channels would come through clear, allowing 
anyone still awake, a free night of porn.  
Being healthy, red-blooded teens, we left it 
on.  I was getting pretty aroused by the 
action on the screen and finding it 
difficult to not tip my hand.  I was also 
feeling just a little embarrassed about it, 
until I happened to notice that Matthew was 
enjoying the show as well.  The guy in this 
particular flick was nice looking, unlike so 
many of the men you see in those movies.  
Now, I wasn't completely drunk, but I was 
feeling very relaxed, which is why I had the 
courage to do what I did next."

"What did you do?" Alex asked, as he began 
to gently caress her breast.

"Mmmm," Katie sighed, closing her eyes.  

"What did you do?" he asked again.  

Katie's eyes opened. "Oh, sorry.  I got 
distracted," she answered.

"Then I'll stop."  Alex lifted his hand away 
and placed it on the bed next her.

"Just until I'm finished, OK?" she asked.

He smiled and nodded his head.

"Let's see, you wanted to know what I did 
next.  Well, something he'd said came back 
to me, so I had to ask him about it.  He 
said that he'd never really been attracted 
to too many girls, so I asked him which 
girls he had been attracted to.  He turned 
bright red, kind of like this evening, and 
wouldn't answer me.  Being a pain in the 
ass, I kept asking him, until he finally 
broke down and told me that the only girl 
he'd been attracted to was me.  In my state 
of complete relaxation, I admitted that I'd 
always been attracted him as well.  That 
brought a big smile to both our faces and we 
snuggled in next to each other to watch more 
of the movie.  Now you know that I just 
can't sit next to someone I love without 
touching them and Matthew's the same way, so 
pretty soon, I found myself gently rubbing 
his leg while he was rubbing my arm.  My 
hand went up a little too high and I made a 
fleeting pass over more than just his leg.  
He jumped and I moved my hand back down.  I 
really hadn't intended to make a pass at him 
like that, it just happened, you know?"

Alex's hand slid up between her legs, 
stroking the inside of her thigh.  "Liar."

"No, really," she insisted.  "It really 
wasn't intentional, but once it happened, I 
wasn't about to turn back."

"If you say so," Alex said.

"I say so.  Do you want to hear this or 
not?"

"Yes."

"Then shut up and let me finish," she 
ordered.

"OK, but you realize that you've just used 
up your payback for the time I told you to 
shut up, don't you," he asked.

"Sure, fine, can I finish now?"

"Please do."

"Where was I?  Oh yeah...well in my brief 
encounter, I did notice that Matthew was 
just as turned on by the movie as I was, so 
put my hand on his cheek and kissed him 
square on the mouth.  Then I asked him if 
he'd ever thought about us doing it, because 
I had.  He said that he had thought about 
it, but hadn't wanted to say anything to me, 
because he was confused and because he 
didn't want to do anything to jeopardize our 
friendship.  He never wanted me to think 
that he was using me to work out his sexual 
questions.   I looked at him and said 'do 
you love me?'  He said he did.  'Do you 
trust me?'  'Of course,' he answered.  'Then 
there's no problem, is there?' I said."  
Katie stopped talking and closed her eyes.

Alex stared at her, waiting for more of the 
story, but she seemed perfectly to content 
to stop right at this point.  He brushed a 
non-existent strand of hair off her 
forehead, then kissed her cheek.  'You're 
not really going to quit there, are you?' he 
wondered.

Katie could feel him waiting for her to 
continue.  She let him hang there, curious 
to see if he was going to ask for more or 
simply let her stop there.  He let out a 
small sigh and she couldn't help the smile 
that crept across her face.  

He couldn't be sure, but he thought she was 
smiling.  His fingers touched her lips and 
he knew she was smiling at him.  "And you 
keep telling me I'm a rat," he exclaimed.

"Oh, did you want to hear more?" Katie asked 
innocently.

"Well, a few more details would be nice to 
kind of round out the story," he replied.

"Such as?"

"Katya!"

"OK...no, we didn't get right down to it.  
We spent a good part of the evening working 
up the courage to go beyond kissing.  
Matthew was waiting for me to make the next 
move and I was waiting for him.  He figured 
it out first, which was a good thing, 
because I was starting to lose my nerve."

"You were scared?" Alex asked.  

"Yeah, I was," she admitted.  "But only 
because I was beginning to think that I'd 
put him in a position of doing something he 
didn't want to do.  Then he pulled my shirt 
off over my head and put his mouth on me; 
that pretty much took care of the 
nervousness.  Little by little we got rid of 
our clothes.  When they were gone, we took 
the time to really look at each other.  
Matthew was fascinated with my scars.  In 
the hospital, he was the one who'd look at 
them when the nurses would come in to change 
the bandages.  They weren't thrilled about 
having him in there at first, but Matthew 
was always so calm and reassuring, even in 
the first days when the wounds looked so 
frightening, that they never said anything 
to either of us about it.  He was my eyes 
for weeks, before he gave me the courage to 
look at the damage for myself.  Anyway, he 
hadn't seen the scar for over a year and he 
was amazed at how well they'd healed.  He 
asked if they still hurt.  I think I nodded 
and said that sometimes they still bothered 
me, but they didn't really hurt anymore.  He 
kissed the spot that had caused me the worst 
pain in the hospital, letting his hand drop 
between my legs as he did.  When he touched 
my clit, I jumped and scared the crap out of 
him.  He was afraid he'd hurt me."  Katie 
laughed and shook her head.  "Took me a few 
minutes to convince him that it wasn't pain.  
I'd never had anyone touch me there before, 
you know?  It was an intense, but pleasant 
surprise.  I had to physically take his hand 
and put it back there again, to prove that I 
was feeling no pain.  Those movies were 
still on in the background and this 
particularly vocal actress was screaming 
something like 'lick my pussy'; I snickered 
until Matthew actually followed her 
instructions.  It felt so good, that when he 
pushed his fingers inside me to open me up, 
the little bit of pain I felt at the 
intrusion was quickly forgotten.  He moved 
his fingers around until he found my G-spot, 
then concentrated on working that on the 
inside, while his mouth worked on the 
outside.  I came so hard, I almost passed 
out.  When I stopped shaking, he slipped up 
beside me and actually asked if he'd done it 
right.  I told him that sure felt right to 
me.  I reached down to touch him this time.  
He closed his eyes and let me, until I 
slipped down and ran my tongue over him.  
That freaked him out at first and he tried 
to tell me that I didn't have to.  I stared 
him down and said I knew I didn't have to, 
then went right back to doing what I'd been 
doing.  He didn't say anything more about 
it, after that," Katie grinned.

"I'll bet he didn't," Alex chuckled.

"He didn't let me finish him off though," 
she continued.  "Pretty soon he pulled me 
back up and kissed me.  He shifted so that 
he was between my legs and asked me if I was 
sure this was what I wanted.  I don't 
remember saying anything; I think I just 
nodded and touched his chest.  He guided 
himself into me, slowly, trying not to hurt 
me.  Didn't work; it still hurt like crazy, 
but I bit my lip until it passed.  The pain 
lasted for a few minutes, but then 
everything started to feel really good.  
Felt pretty good to Matthew too.  He didn't 
last long once we got a good motion going.  
I knew he was going to get all embarrassed 
and start beating himself up over it, so 
before he had the chance, I kissed him, 
pushed his hand down between my legs and 
asked him to touch me the way he'd touched 
me before.  He slid his fingers in and 
stroked me until I came again. We must have 
fallen asleep, because the next thing I 
remember is waking up naked, curled up 
against Matthew at noon.  The TV was still 
on, but the porn station had given way to 
infomercials, so I flipped until I found the 
news.  The storm had come through, closing 
roads and cutting off phone and electric 
service to some areas.  We were socked in 
good, but we were among the lucky ones that 
still had power.  I checked and we still had 
phone services, so I called the hotel to 
check on my parents and let them know that 
we were OK.  We ended up playing house for 
the next three days, before the roads were 
clear enough to allow people to return 
home."

"What happened when your parents came home?  
Did they figure out what was going on in 
their absence?" Alex asked.

"If they suspected, they never let on," 
Katie replied.  "Matthew and I didn't act 
any differently toward one another, for the 
most part.  I think we held hands a little 
more, maybe sat a little closer to one 
another, but we'd always been hands on with 
each other, so I guess mom and dad didn't 
think anything of it.  To be honest, I'm not 
entirely sure either would have objected if 
they'd known we'd had sex.  They loved 
Matthew and knew that he loved me; plus, it 
wasn't like I was going to end up pregnant 
or anything.  Anyway, it never happened 
again after that, so it really didn't 
matter."

"Never?  You guys spent three days fooling 
around together, then ended it, just like 
that?" Alex asked in surprise.  "Why?"

Katie kissed Alex and laced her hands behind 
his head to hold him in her gaze.  "Because, 
it wasn't enough.  I loved him, but I knew 
that I wasn't going to be the one satisfy 
his every need.  He knew it, too.  We had a 
long talk about it that last night.  I told 
him that as much as we loved each other, I 
had a feeling there was a guy out there who 
was going to knock his socks off and that 
there was a guy out there who was going to 
do the same for me."

Alex kissed Katie.  "So, did you both find 
what you were looking for?"

Katie ran her feet up his leg.  "You feel 
any socks on these feet, baby?"

============================================
Alex woke up before Katie and wandered out 
to the kitchen.  December 24, Christmas Eve; 
hardly seemed possible that the day was 
almost upon them, but here it was in black 
and white on the calendar.  Tyler was 
closing the store at 6 and would be over 
soon after; Matthew would join them after 
his shift, around 10, barring any 
emergencies.  The plan was to spend the 
evening together watching the usual 
Christmas specials, most of which they 
either owned, or had taped earlier just for 
this purpose.  When they'd had enough, it 
would be off to bed until someone woke up 
and announced that Santa had left his stash 
for one and all.  He glanced over at the 
window, then ran over to see if what he 
thought he saw was really what was 
happening.  Snow!  It was snowing steadily, 
but from the looks of the street, it hadn't 
been snowing long.  He went into the living 
room and turned on the weather to see what 
the weather guru had to say.  The forecast 
was for accumulation of 4 to 6 inches by 
nightfall, with more expected on Christmas 
Day.  This was too good to be true, a real 
white Christmas.  He turned the television 
off and went into the bedroom to wake Katie. 
She looked so sweet, so peaceful, that he 
almost hated to rouse her from her slumber.  
Almost, being the operative word.  He 
briefly considered waking her gently, but 
opted instead for a more decisive maneuver.  

Katie flew up in the air as Alex hit the 
mattress with a thud.  "What the Hell are 
you doing?" she asked grumpily.

"Get up," Alex urged, tugging at her arm.  
"I want to show you something." Katie moaned 
and tried to roll over to go back to sleep.  
"No, no, no, get up," he insisted.  She 
shook her head and tried to burrow under the 
pillow.  Alex ripped the pillow away, 
tossing it on the floor.  "Anyone ever tell 
you that you're a grouch in the morning?"

"Yes," she grumbled into the mattress.  
"Which is why most people don't pounce on me 
when I'm asleep."

"I'm not most people.  Now, are you going to 
get up or am I going to have to dump you 
onto the floor?"  Katie didn't move or 
answer, so he got off the bed and pushed his 
hands under the mattress.  "Last chance," he 
warned.  When she didn't move, he began to 
lift the side of the mattress.  

Katie felt the mattress rise and felt 
herself slipping off the bed.  She quickly 
scrambled off the bed to avoid hitting the 
floor.  "OK, OK, I'm up!"  Alex dropped the 
mattress and grabbed her hand, practically 
dragging her out of the room.  "Alex!  Can I 
at least put something on?  It's cold out 
here."  He nodded and let go of her hand, so 
she could grab her robe.  "What is it I'm 
supposed to see?"

"Over there, look out the window," he 
answered.

Katie yawned and made her way to the window.  
She rubbed her eyes, then looked outside.  
"It's snowing!  Why didn't you just tell me 
that in the first place?"

Alex squeezed her from behind.  "It was more 
fun this way."  He bent down and kissed the 
side of her neck.  "The weather man says we 
should have 4 to 6 inches by this evening 
and more tomorrow."

"You know what we have to do now, don't 
you?" Katie asked.

"What?"

"We have to go out and play," she replied.  

An hour later they came back inside, soaking 
wet from making snow angels in the park and 
from the multitude of snowballs they'd 
thrown at each other.  They came up the 
stairs this time, so they could drop their 
wet clothes by the washing machine and avoid 
tracking water through the loft.  Katie 
tossed on a sweatshirt, while Alex wrapped a 
towel around his waist.

"I need a long soak in the tub," Alex said.

"Sounds good to me," Katie answered. "But 
first, I need some hot chocolate.  Want 
some?"  Alex nodded enthusiastically.  "OK, 
you get the water going, I'll make the hot 
chocolate and meet you in a few minutes."

Katie started warming milk in a pan on the 
stove, then searched the cabinets for the 
cocoa and sugar.  Matthew liked to tease her 
for making hot chocolate the old-fashioned 
way, when it was so easy to grab a mix 
packet and pop everything in the microwave.  
Of course, the first time she gave him some 
made from the mix, he complained that it 
tasted funny and wanted to know what she'd 
done differently.  

"You coming, Katya?" Alex called from the 
bathroom.

"In a couple of minutes," she yelled back.  
"It's almost ready."  She stirred the cocoa 
for a few more minutes before testing the 
temperature.  When it was finally hot 
enough, she poured it into two mugs, added 
the required amount of mini-marshmallows and 
carried the mugs into the bathroom.  Alex 
was in the bath, head back against the 
tiles, eyes closed.  Katie put the cups on 
the tile next to him and kissed the top of 
his head.  "Warming up?" she asked.  

Alex smiled and nodded.  "Are you going to 
join me now?" 

"Absolutely."  Katie peeled off the 
sweatshirt and climbed into the water beside 
him.  She reached for her cup and let the 
warm liquid flow down her throat.  "Mmmm, 
warm water, hot chocolate and you," she 
sighed.  "I think I've found paradise."

Alex drank from his cup.  "This is close," 
he began.  He put his cup back down and 
reached for Katie, pulling her onto his lap.  
"But this is better."  Alex put his hand on 
the back of her head and brought her in for 
a kiss; Katie hummed her approval.  He let 
his head fall back, eyes closed, as she 
reached down to stroke him.  She raised up 
slightly and reached for her cup.  He opened 
his eyes, just a little, and watched her 
take a sip.  Katie put the cup down and 
kissed him hard, thrusting her tongue into 
his mouth.  She moved quickly, impaling 
herself on his straining erection.  The act 
caught him by surprise and he almost bit her 
tongue as she engulfed him.  "Jesus," he 
sighed.  "Did I get you?"

Katie rose up and sank back down on him 
slowly.  "Did you bite me?  No.  Did you get 
me?  No baby, I got you this time," she said 
with a wink.  

"Yes you did," he smiled.  "Now, what do you 
plan on doing with me?"

Katie leaned forward and whispered in his 
ear all the things she wanted to do to him, 
while she continued to rise and fall at 
slow, steady pace.  The more she said, the 
more aroused he became.  One particularly 
well-chosen phrase caused his face to 
redden.  Katie giggled.  "You're cute when 
you blush."

Alex moved his hand to her waist, smiled, 
then bucked hard, causing her to gasp.  
"I'll show you cute," he growled.  Grabbing 
hold as tightly as he could with the one 
arm, he proceeded to 'show her cute' for all 
he was worth.  In the course of his 
demonstration, both failed to notice that 
they were inching dangerously close to the 
edge of seat.  Just as they were nearing the 
finish, Alex's butt slipped over the edge.  
Katie fell into the water scraping both 
hands on the side of the bench as she 
reached to steady herself.  Alex fared 
worse, hitting his head on the back of the 
tub and scraping his tailbone as he slipped 
into the water.  

Katie scrambled to her feet to help him back 
up.  "You all right?" she asked.  

"I'm fine," he sighed.  "Nothing bruised but 
my ego."

Katie felt the back of his head and found a 
bump already starting to rise.  "'Fraid 
there's more than just a bruised ego here, 
sweetheart.  Stand up; let me see your 
back."  He rose and turned.  "Yep, you have 
a good sized scrape on your lower back.  
Nothing serious, but it's probably going to 
bother you later."  She patted him on the 
butt.  "Come on, let's get out of here and 
get some ice on that bump."

Alex climbed out of the tub; Katie followed.  
He started to hand her a towel, but tossed 
it over his shoulder when he saw her hands.  
"Oh baby, I'm sorry.  Look at your hands."  

"Yeah, well, these are probably going to 
bother me later on, so we can whine about 
our booboos together," she said with a 
chuckle.  "Give me my towel, it's cold in 
here."

They dried off and went into the bedroom to 
get dressed.  Alex secured his arm, then 
pulled on his briefs, wincing when the 
waistband hit the small of his back.  He 
pulled it away from the scrape. "Think 
anyone would notice if I just wore a towel 
tonight?"

Katie laughed as she pulled on her jeans.  
"It would be the highlight of Tyler's 
evening.  In fact, if you're really good, he 
might even offer to kiss it and make it 
better," she giggled.  Alex groaned and let 
the waistband ease back into place.  "Ah, 
what's the matter?  Are you afraid you might 
enjoy it?" she asked.

Alex lunged and threw her down on the bed.  
"Been there, done that, didn't care for it.  
I much prefer the female of the species."  
To prove his point, Alex claimed her mouth 
swiftly, taking her breath away.  He tugged 
at her zipper and shoved his hand inside her 
panties.  Katie pushed her hips up against 
his hand and he roughly drove two fingers 
inside her.  

She reached down to push off her jeans, 
forgetting about the scrapes on her hands.  
As she hit the rough fabric, her hands 
recoiled in pain.  "Ow," she cried.  

"Need some help with that?" Alex murmured.

"Yes please," she begged.  "Now."  

Alex smiled and tugged the jeans off her 
body.  He knelt down to pull them off her 
feet, then ran his hands slowly up the 
inside of her legs.  At her knees, he 
lowered his mouth and began tracing his 
tongue up her thigh, stopping just short of 
her center, before mimicking his motion down 
the other leg.  

"Alexei," Katie groaned.  "Don't tease."

Alex grinned against her thigh, then planted 
tiny kisses as he moved closer and closer.  
He lightly brushed against her clit with his 
tongue, moving away quickly.  Katie 
whimpered.  Alex sighed happily.  "That's 
what I was waiting for,"' he said quietly.  
His tongue darted out and began caressing 
her in earnest.  One finger, then another 
entered her willing opening.  She moaned in 
appreciation, shifting slightly to meet his 
strokes.  He removed his fingers and 
replaced them with his tongue, driving it in 
as far as he could reach, while letting one 
finger tease her anus.  She pushed against 
him, encouraging his exploration.  "You like 
that?" he whispered.  Katie nodded, unable 
to form words.  He slipped his finger 
inside, coating it with her wetness, before 
returning to tease her other opening.  He 
applied more pressure, slowly pushing a 
finger inside, as his tongue worked its 
magic on her clit.  Just when she thought 
she couldn't possibly feel any better, he 
pushed his thumb inside, under his tongue, 
filling her every opening.  A few more 
strokes from fingers and tongue sent her 
into sensory overload.  Not waiting for her 
to come down, Alex yanked off his briefs, 
cringing as they stuck to the scrape on his 
back, then plunged inside her.  Katie locked 
her ankles around his knees and thrust 
upward to meet his every stroke.  There was 
no tenderness in this coupling, just raw 
desire.  A part of his brain wondered if he 
was hurting her, but the need to possess 
her, body and soul, kept him from caring.  
Seemingly out of nowhere 'what's the matter?  
Afraid you might enjoy it?' echoed in his 
head.  He flashed on the times in prison in 
when he'd been taken against his will, 
forced to submit to the most humiliating 
invasion.  'Never again,' his mind screamed, 
as he pounded against her mercilessly.   His 
body stiffened and he came with such 
intensity that he blacked out momentarily.  
When he came to, he felt Katie's fingers in 
his hair and her tears on his face.  His 
stomach clenched as the realization of what 
he'd just done hit home. "I'm sorry, Katya.  
I'm so sorry.  I never meant to hurt you," 
he said, tears welling up in his eyes.  "I'm 
sorry baby, please forgive me."

"I'm all right," Katie replied quietly.  
"What happened?  I lost you for a while."

Alex rolled away, turned and put his face 
down into the pillow so he wouldn't have to 
face her.  He knew that she would listen and 
accept and help him through, but he couldn't 
look at her, not yet.  

The bed jiggled as she scooted over to turn 
out the light.  The door was open, so there 
was still light coming into the room, but 
the glare of direct light was gone.  Katie 
wrapped her body around him. "Talk to me, 
Alexei," she urged.  "Let me help."

Alex shook his head.  "I can't...please 
don't ask me."

"It's time to let go of it, sweetheart."

"No."

Katie rubbed her cheek against his shoulder, 
kissing it tenderly.  "Someone hurt you.  
Where? Tunguska?  Tunisia?"  He turned his 
head as far into the pillow as he could 
without suffocating himself.  "Tunisia?" she 
repeated.  Alex didn't move.  "There was 
nothing you could have done; they'd taken 
your arm away and left you to deal with 
those animals in that cell.  It wasn't your 
fault, Alexei."  He started to shake in her 
grasp.  "It wasn't your fault," she repeated 
softly.  Katie heard a sniff come from him 
and felt him break.  Tears splashed on the 
pillow as he let the fear and anger he'd 
held inside come to the surface.  "Let it 
out, baby," she whispered.  "I won't let go; 
not ever."  He reached for her arm and held 
on, squeezing to be sure that she was really 
there.  "I'm here, I love you, I won't let 
go," she whispered over and over.  Alex 
cried until he had nothing left inside. She 
held on, rocking him gently the entire time.  
He fell asleep in her embrace.  Only then, 
when she was sure he couldn't hear her, did 
she allow her tears to fall.  "You're mine 
now," she whispered.  "No one will ever hurt 
you again; I promise."  Katie pressed 
against him, getting as close as humanly 
possible.  "I love you so much," she 
murmured, before joining him in his 
emotionally drained slumber.

Alex woke with a start.  "Katya?" he called, 
before realizing that she was draped over 
him.

Katie squeezed his shoulder.  "Right here, 
sweetheart," she muttered sleepily.  "I'm 
right beside you."

He turned to face her, more than a little 
apprehensive at seeing her expression.  All 
that greeted him was a look that telegraphed 
unconditional love.  "I'm so fucked up."  
Not the words he wanted to say, but the 
first thing that came to mind.

Katie chuckled.  "Yeah, you are.  So am I.  
Remember?  Damaged Unlimited?"  Alex half-
smiled as he remembered.  "Just another 
hurdle to leap over, that's all," she 
continued.  

"But I hurt you," he said.

Katie nodded.  "I'm might walk funny for a 
day or so, but I'll live.  You scared me 
more than anything.  I didn't know how to 
reach you, so I let you continue until you 
were done."

"Sounds like rape to me," he whispered, 
putting his hand over his mouth.

"Oh God, Alex, no.  You had a flashback; you 
weren't in control.  You weren't making love 
to me, but it most certainly wasn't rape."  
She pulled his hand away from his mouth and 
kissed him tenderly.  "Don't do this to 
yourself; don't put more guilt in your 
head."

"But I hurt you," he repeated.  "I turned an 
act of love into an act of violence against 
the person that means more to me than life 
itself."

"Then make it up to me," Katie told him.  
"Show me what you meant to do."

Alex's eyes widened.  "Right now?  After 
what happened earlier?"  He couldn't believe 
what he was hearing.  "Katie...I...what if 
it happens again?  What if..."

"It won't," she assured him.  "It's out in 
the open now.  You've brought another demon 
to the surface and we've taken its power.  
It can't hurt you anymore...it can't hurt 
us, anymore."  She held out her hand.  "Come 
here."  He hesitated.  "Come here," she said 
again.  "I'll beg, if I have to."  He 
grinned shyly, slid over, then rolled on top 
of her.  "Now, show me what you meant to do 
before."

He reached down and found her wet and 
willing.  "I thought you were sore."

"I am," she answered.  "But my other ache 
far outweighs the minor soreness."  Katie 
pulled his face to hers and kissed him 
deeply.  She looked into his eyes. "Alexei, 
I'm burning up inside." She paused, biting 
her lower lip. "Please baby, make it 
better?"

Alex reached down to guide himself into her.  
"I will, baby," he whispered.  "I'll make it 
better for you."

============================================
"Hey Alex," Katie called out.  "Come take a 
look at this."  Alex wandered over to the 
desk and looked at the monitor.  Katie 
pointed to the screen.  "Remember the girl I 
told you about, the one I met on the plane 
to New York?  Well, she finally got around 
to writing me.  Listen to this.  'Dear 
Katie, I've been meaning to write ever since 
I got home from the airport, but I was 
afraid to without an excuse.  Sometimes 
people say things they don't really mean, 
just to be nice; I didn't want to bother you 
if this was the case.  Being Christmas Eve 
though, I figured that this would be a 
legitimate excuse for taking advantage of 
your email address. *g*  How was the 
convention?  I heard that Harlan got stuck 
in Chicago and didn't make it after all.  
Sorry about that.  Maybe you can throw up on 
his shoes another time. LOL.  I hope you and 
Alex (that is his name, right?  I'll be 
totally embarrassed if I'm wrong.) have a 
wonderful holiday.  Merry Christmas, your 
friend, Miranda.'"  Katie looked at Alex and 
grinned.  "I'm going to send a reply; want 
to say hi to her?"

Alex grinned back.  "Sure, you start; I'll 
add a note at the end."

Katie nodded.  "'Miranda!  I'm so glad to 
hear from you.  If I hadn't wanted to talk 
to you, I wouldn't have given you this 
address.  Feel free to write me any time, 
you don't need an excuse; I promise you 
won't be bothering me. *g*  The convention 
wasn't too bad, but I was disappointed at 
missing my chance to hurl on Harlan. 
*snicker*  You WOULD remember that.  LOL!  
We plan on having a very Merry Christmas.  
Hope you have a good one as well.  Love, 
Katie.'  OK, all done.  Your turn," Katie 
said, getting up from the chair.  "Now 
remember, she's only fifteen, so be nice."

"Why wouldn't I be nice?" he asked as he sat 
down.  "Besides, didn't you tell me she was 
cute?" he teased.  Katie smacked him on the 
back of his head.  "Ow, that hurts."

"Serves you right," she answered. 

"Dear Miranda, Help!  Katie's beating me up 
for no reason.  She's a horribly cruel 
woman.  Run away, run away.  Alex.'  There, 
all done," he said with a smirk.

"Alex!  Don't you dare send that!" Katie 
yelled, as his finger was poised over the 
send button.  

"Why not?  It's the truth," Alex snickered.  
"I think your fans should know the 'real' 
Katie Heyes; the madwoman behind the words."  

Katie put her hand on his crotch and began 
to squeeze.  "You send that note and it will 
be a very long time before you get to know 
the 'real' Katie Heyes again.  You dig, 
loverboy?"

Alex laughed and grabbed her hand before she 
had the chance to remove it.  "I dig, baby.  
Feel free to leave your hand there though; 
it's inspiring me to new heights of literary 
wisdom," he said, wiggling his eyebrows.  

"I'm sure...Dear Penthouse, I know most 
people think these letters are fake, but..." 
she started.  

Alex snorted then backspaced over his first 
note to Miranda.  "'Dear Miranda, Yes, my 
name is Alex, so no need to feel totally 
embarrassed.  I appreciate that you thought 
to include a Merry Christmas wish for me as 
well.  Katie's told me so much about you and 
we both look forward to hearing from you 
again.  Alex.'  There, is that better?"

"Much.  Thank you."  Katie kissed the back 
of his head.  "Sorry for bopping you.  If 
it's any consolation, my hand hurts now.  
Does your head hurt much?"

"Yes, it hurts terribly.  So bad in fact, 
that I might need to go lie down," he 
grinned, getting up from the chair.  "I 
think I need some personal attention from my 
favorite nurse to help me recover."  Alex 
pulled her to his chest and pressed his lips 
to hers.  He moved his lips to her ears and 
whispered his intentions.  

She felt her knees give at his words and 
almost followed him back into the bedroom. 
"Oh wait," she said, trying to clear her 
head.  "I have to get the roast started.  
Tyler's going to be here in a few hours and 
I'm sure he'll be hungry."

"So put the roast in the oven; I'll wait," 
Alex responded.  "Want some help?"

"No, I think I can manage to do that by 
myself," she chuckled.  "I'll probably let 
you take it out when it's done though; I 
don't think my hands will take too kindly to 
the heat."

"Sure, no problem," he said.  He kissed her 
forehead, then her cheek, before latching on 
to her neck.  

Katie moved her head to one side to allow 
him room to move.  She hummed her approval, 
closing her eyes as he covered every inch of 
her neck.  His hand unbuttoned a few buttons 
on her shirt, just enough to allow his hand 
to slip inside and cup her breast.  She 
arched into his touch and felt him smile 
against her skin.  He urged her backwards, 
closer to the couch.  As her legs hit the 
cushion, she pushed him back.  "Roast, I 
have to start the roast," she said 
breathily.  "Wait here, I'll be right back." 
She ran from the room, before he had the 
chance to distract her from the task at 
hand.  Katie was so absorbed in getting that 
roast in the oven and getting back to Alex, 
that she didn't hear him sneak up behind 
her.  She turned on the oven, put the roast 
inside and closed the door.  "Oh!" she 
exclaimed, jumping in surprise to find him 
standing behind her.

"I couldn't wait."  He reached for the 
waistband of her pants and made short order 
of the button and zipper there.  The pants 
dropped to the floor.  Katie kicked them off 
and out of the way.  

She put her arms around his neck and kissed 
him, but he removed them and turned her 
around, bending her over the counter.  "The 
last time we did this, Matthew called," she 
reminded him.

He tugged at her panties until they dropped 
to floor as well.  "Took the phone off the 
hook," he whispered in her ear.

"Good...Oh God," she moaned, as he thrust 
inside her.  

"Nope, just me," he panted.

"Even better, I wouldn't know what to say to 
the Almighty in this situation," she 
giggled.  

Alex pushed the hair up off her neck, 
peppering kisses on the newly exposed skin.  
"How about 'who are you and what have you 
done with Alex?'"  

Katie half giggled, half moaned as he 
quickened the pace.  "You're pretty sure of 
yourself," she said, as she tightened around 
him.  

"Oh geez, do that again," he mumbled.  "And 
yes, I am sure of myself.  I know I can make 
you see Him, but I'm not so sure He could 
make you see me."

"Pretty big words, Alexei; hope you can 
deliver," she teased.

"I haven't let you down yet, have I?" he 
whispered.

"No baby, you've never let me down," she 
answered.  "Oh yeah, right there."

"Just like this?"

"Uh huh." 

Alex took one of her hands off the counter 
and guided it between her legs.  "Show me."

Katie interlaced her fingers with his.  
"Together."

"OK," he said softly.  "Together."  

Alex let his hand go limp in hers, forcing 
her to carry the responsibility of external 
stimulation.  He was just along for the ride 
on this end.  His energy was focused on 
driving deep into her body, providing the 
very best in internal stimulation.  He felt 
her clench and listened, as her breathing 
became increasingly erratic.  Sounds of 
pleasure filled the air and it took him a 
moment to realize that he was the source.  

Katie smiled at the sounds he was making.  
She couldn't resist. "Looks like you're 
gonna get that audience with God before I 
do," she stammered.

"No way, not without you, baby," he growled.  
Alex went from being passive to taking an 
active role in the external arena.  

Katie gasped at the sudden burst of 
additional attention.  She zigged when he 
zagged and their fingers slipped off to the 
side.  Alex moved quickly to replace them, 
but not before she whimpered in frustration.  
That was all it took to shatter his control.  
He could feel his lips moving and knew he 
was saying something to her, but he had no 
idea what it was.  Whatever it was worked, 
because he felt her spasm around him and 
heard both his name and His name echoing 
through the kitchen.  

Katie let her head fall to the countertop 
and Alex rested his head on her shoulders.  
"So, did I deliver?" he asked with a tired 
chuckle.

"Do you really have to ask?"

"Just checking," he answered.  

"What time is it?" Katie mumbled, not 
bothering to lift her head up off the 
counter.

Alex turned his head to look at the clock on 
the stove.  "Almost 5:30."

"No, really," she snickered.  "What time is 
it?"

"It's 5:27," he answered.  "Is that better?"

Katie stood up quickly, sending Alex reeling 
backwards.  She looked at the clock for 
herself, not believing her eyes.  "Oh shit!  
Tyler's going to be here soon.  I can't 
believe it's so late!"  She fixed a stare at 
Alex and wagged her finger at him.  "You, 
Alex Krycek, are a very bad influence."

"And?"

"And what?"

"I'm a very bad influence, and..." he 
trailed off.

"What makes you think there's an 'and' in 
that statement," Katie said, crossing her 
arms in front of her.

"Because I can see it right here," he said, 
touching her mouth.  "Right on the tip of 
your tongue."  Katie's mouth turned up at 
the corners, ever so slightly.  "See, I knew 
it," he said triumphantly.  "I'm a very bad 
influence, and..."

Katie rolled her eyes and let out a heavy 
sigh.  "And I love you anyway," she said 
with dramatic reluctance.  "There, happy 
now?"

"Yes," he smiled.  "Now what do we need to 
do before he gets here?"

"I need to take a quick shower...alone," she 
added.  "You need to pick up the clothes 
we've thrown all over the place and get 
dressed.  I'll start the rest of dinner when 
I get out of the shower."

"I can start the rest of dinner, if you tell 
me what we're having," he offered.

"Mashed potatoes and whatever vegetable you 
can find in the pantry," she said.  "The 
potato flakes are on the second shelf."

Alex chuckled.  "You won't use the hot 
chocolate mixes, but you will use potatoes 
from a box?"

"Yeah, I'm a regular enigma wrapped in a 
conundrum.  Or a conundrum wrapped in an 
enigma.  I can never remember how that's 
supposed to go."  She smiled and kissed him 
on the nose.  "I love you.  Go put some 
pants on."

============================================
Tyler appeared 45 minutes later bearing 
fresh bread and Christmas cookies.  He 
handed Alex a small bag.  "Lisa sent this 
especially for you," he said.  "She made me 
promise to handle it carefully and give it 
to you as soon as I walked in the door, but 
she wouldn't tell me what was inside."

Alex took the bag from his hand and opened 
it.  "I don't believe it," he laughed.

"What is it?" Tyler asked, trying to see 
what the bag held.

Alex pulled a gingerbread man out of the bag 
showed it to him.  "I helped her set up the 
gingerbread house the night Katie left for 
New York and I happened to mention that I'd 
never had a gingerbread man before."

Katie came out of the bedroom and gave Tyler 
a kiss.  "Hi sweetie."  She sniffed the air 
and looked around.   "Is that gingerbread I 
smell?"

"Lisa made Alex a gingerbread man," Tyler 
answered.

"She did?  Oh Alex, she must like you," 
Katie smiled.  "I have to beg her to make 
them for me."

"That explains this," Alex said, pulling out 
a gingerbread woman.  "I wondered."

"Why don't we go into the kitchen so we can 
discuss the sweetness of this gift over some 
international coffee?" Tyler said 
sarcastically.  "Honestly, you two have got 
to get out of the house, you're drowning in 
sap!"

Katie stuck her tongue out at him.  "Ooooh, 
aren't we bitchy this evening?  Come on 
Alex, let's get dinner on; Tyler only gets 
like this when he's hungry."  She put an arm 
around Tyler and pushed him gently toward 
the bathroom.  "You go wash up, we'll have 
you fed and back to your lovable self in no 
time."

============================================
Halfway through dinner, Alex reached over 
and cut Katie's meat for her.  Tyler stared 
at him, then at her, but didn't say 
anything.  He noticed that she was holding 
her fork strangely and he gave her a 
questioning look, which she ignored.  
Finally, when he couldn't stand it any 
longer, he took hold of her hand and turned 
it palm up.  "Katie, what in the world did 
you do to your hand?" Katie's cheeks turned 
red and Alex kept his eyes on his plate, 
barely suppressing a grin.  Tyler glanced at 
Alex, then back to Katie, before releasing 
her hand.  "Never mind.  I don't think I 
want to know."

After dinner, Tyler and Alex cleaned up, in 
deference to Katie's injuries, while she 
turned on the television to check on the 
weather.  One look out the window confirmed 
the weatherman's report; it was snowing 
again, much harder than earlier in the day.  
She wanted to call Matthew and tell him to 
be careful, but she made it a point to avoid 
calling him at the hospital, unless it was 
an emergency.  The guys were done in the 
kitchen, so she tore herself away from the 
window and sat down with them to watch TV 
for a while.  At 9:30, she went back to the 
window.  The snow was falling in sheets, 
making it difficult to see anything at all.  
Katie wrapped her arms around herself 
protectively.  'He'll be fine,' she 
repeated.  'He'll be fine.'

Tyler saw Katie at the window.  "Alex, hand 
me the phone," he said quietly.

Alex reached over and picked up the 
receiver.  "Here.  What's up?"

Tyler nodded in Katie's direction, then held 
up one finger.  "Dr. Matthew Curry, please."  
He waited briefly while Matthew was paged.  
"Hi, it's me.  I know you're getting ready 
to leave.  Have you looked outside yet?  
Yeah, it's bad here too.  You need to talk 
to her; she's staring out the window.  Uh 
huh, tight enough to cut off circulation."  
Tyler walked over to the window and put the 
phone up to Katie's ear.  "Talk to him."

"Hi Kid," Katie said sheepishly.  "I didn't 
know he was going to call you.  You will be 
careful, right?  I know you can drive in 
this...Yes Rainman, you're a very good 
driver," she giggled.  "I'm still gonna 
worry about you until I see your headlights.  
I love you, too.  Bye."  

"Feel better?" Tyler asked, taking the phone 
from her hand.

"A little.  Thank you," she whispered.  
Katie gave him a hug, resting her head on 
his chest.  Tyler put his arms around her 
and kissed the top of her head.  

Alex placed his hand on her back. "Want us 
to help you look out for his headlights?" 

Katie nodded.  The three of them stood at 
the window, watching the snow, until 
Matthew's car appeared on the street.  Only 
then, did Tyler let go.

============================================
"No, I'm not hungry," Matthew said, when 
Katie pulled him out of the elevator.  "The 
lounge was loaded with goodies and the 
emergency room was quiet, so we grazed most 
of the day.  All I really want is a hot 
shower, a glass of wine and It's a Wonderful 
Life."

"Done.  Go take a shower; I'll have the rest 
waiting for you when you get out."  Katie 
hung up his coat, while Matthew said his 
hellos to everyone else on his way in to the 
bathroom. 

============================================
Matthew dozed off minutes shy of the end of 
the movie.  "Every year," Tyler sighed.  

Katie smiled and gave Tyler a kiss on the 
cheek.  "Merry Christmas, Ty."  She bent 
down and kissed Matthew's cheek as well.  
"Merry Christmas, Kid," she whispered.  "See 
you in the morning," she said to Tyler.  
Katie took Alex's hand and led him into the 
bedroom, pulling the door closed behind her.  
"Merry Christmas to you, too.  See anything 
you'd like to unwrap?" she asked with a 
gleam in her eyes.  

"Sure you're not too tired?" he asked, as he 
began to remove her shirt.  "I caught you 
yawning out there."

"I'm a little sleepy," she admitted.  "But 
too tired?  Ooooh," she hummed when his 
mouth closed over her breast.  " I don't 
think so."

============================================
BANG, BANG, BANG!  

"C'mon guys, wake up.  It's Christmas!" 
Matthew yelled through the bedroom door.  

"Go away, Kid," Katie growled back.  

Alex yawned and nudged her.  "Don't be a 
grouch; it's Christmas morning."

"It's 6:30," she whined.  "I just closed my 
eyes."

"Hanna.  Alex.  Get up!" Matthew called 
again, banging on the door again.

"I can just see him grinning like an idiot 
on the other side of that door," she 
grumbled.  

"We'll be right there, Matthew," Alex 
replied.  He rubbed his eyes, yawned, then 
pushed himself out of bed.  Katie rolled 
over and buried her head under her pillow.  
Alex shook his head, reached for his arm and 
jeans and put them on.  "You've got five 
minutes, Katya, then we're coming in to get 
you," he warned.  He walked out of the 
bedroom, closing the door behind him.  Under 
the pillow Katie giggled.  

"Let me guess," Matthew huffed.  "The manic 
one doesn't want to get up."

"And this surprises you?" Tyler laughed.  
"When has she ever gotten up without a 
fight?"

"I told her she has five minutes before we 
go in to get her," Alex informed them.  

"Good, that'll give me time to start the 
coffee," Matthew chuckled evilly.

"Matthew, don't start," Tyler said with a 
scowl.

"Ah come on, Ty," Matthew pouted.  "She does 
this all the time; at least let me get in my 
little dig."

"I'm missing something," Alex said. "Someone 
want to clue me in?"

Matthew and Tyler exchanged looks.  "Don't 
you drink coffee in the morning?" Tyler 
asked.

"Sometimes," Alex replied.  "Why?"

"Is Katie always awake when you make it?"

"Yeah, I guess so."

Tyler threw up his hands.  "Well, that 
explains it."

Alex sighed in exasperation.  "What are you 
talking about?"

Matthew walked into the kitchen and poured 
water into the coffee maker.  "She hates to 
wake up to the smell of coffee."  He 
measured the coffee and added it to the 
basket, then turned the machine on.  
"Really, really hates it," he snickered.  

Alex rubbed his hand over his face and shook 
his head.  "Tyler, are we the only adults in 
this household?"

"No darling," Tyler answered.  "You're the 
only adult in this household.  I'm giving 
her two more minutes before I go in there, 
rip the covers off and drag her out here."

"There will be no dragging, Tyler," Katie 
huffed from the doorway.  "I'm up already.  
You," she said, pointing at Matthew,  "had 
better have some hot chocolate started if 
you're intent on making me inhale the foul 
stench of coffee before my eyes are fully 
open."  She pushed off the doorjamb and made 
her way over to Alex.  Her hands ran slowly 
up his chest and she pressed against him.  
"Think we can stall them for a half-hour or 
so?" she whispered suggestively.

"NO!" came a collective cry from Matthew and 
Tyler.

Alex laughed and hugged her tight.  "I don't 
think so, baby."

Katie grinned against his chest.  "It was 
worth a shot."  She pulled back and winked 
at him.  "OK, what are we doing first this 
year, breakfast or presents?"

Matthew handed her a mug of hot chocolate.  
"Presents," he answered.  "Let's go."  

Everyone followed Matthew over to the tree.  
Alex plugged in the lights, taking the time 
to admire his handiwork once again.  Katie 
sat down on the floor near Tyler, while 
Matthew sat near the presents.  He reached 
in and pulled out a small box.  "Alex, come 
sit down," he ordered.  Matthew handed him 
the box.  "This is from me."  Alex accepted 
the box.  "Go on, open it," Matthew urged.  
"It's not going to explode."   

Alex chuckled and tore at the wrapping 
paper.  He lifted the top of the box to 
reveal a new wallet.  "Thanks, Matthew.  
Mine is on its last legs."

"There's more," Matthew said.  "Look 
inside."

Alex opened the wallet and felt a huge grin 
cross his face.  "Is this..."

Matthew grinned back at him.  "Yeah.  That's 
Katie, age eleven.  I thought you might like 
it."  

"Let me see," Katie asked, reaching for the 
wallet.  "I didn't know you still had a copy 
of this."

"Are you kidding?  I have it framed in my 
office at work.  You wouldn't know that 
though, since you refuse to come to the 
hospital," he teased.  He reached back for 
another present and handed it to Tyler.  
Matthew continued distributing gifts until 
there were only two left to open; Katie's 
final gift to Alex and Alex's to her.  
Matthew handed each their last present.  

"Open yours first," Katie said.  "Be 
careful, it's fragile."

Alex put it down on the floor and carefully 
pulled off the wrapping paper.  He pried the 
tape up and gently removed the frame from 
its box.  When he turned it over and saw the 
picture inside, his eyes filled with tears.  
His fingers lightly touched his mother's 
face.  "Katya," he said quietly, a single 
tear running down his face.  

Katie put her arms around him.  "Told you 
I'd take care of it, Alexei," she reminded 
him.  "Now you have one for your wallet and 
one to put up wherever you want."

"Thank you," he whispered, struggling for 
more words.  "I...no one's ever...thank 
you."

She kissed him, brushing the tear away.  
"You're welcome."

Matthew got Tyler's attention.  'Let's go,' 
he mouthed.  Tyler nodded and they started 
to get up.  Alex saw them.  "No guys; it's 
OK.  Don't go.  Katie still has her present 
to open."  He picked up the box and pressed 
it into her hands.  Katie started to remove 
the wrapping paper, but Alex stopped her.  
He looked over at Matthew, asking him a 
silent question.  Matthew took a deep 
breath, letting it out slowly, before 
nodding his head and giving Alex a smile.  
Alex jumped up.  "Wait, don't open it yet.  
I'll be right back."  He ran into the 
bedroom.  Katie glanced at Tyler, who 
shrugged.  She looked at Matthew for a clue, 
but he avoided her gaze.  Alex returned 
moments later; his green flannel shirt (her 
favorite) tucked in, his hair neatly combed.  
He handed something to Matthew. Katie 
furrowed her brow and looked over at Matthew 
again.  This time, Matthew smiled, but 
offered no further assistance.  "I had this 
all planned," Alex began.  "But someone once 
told me I should stop planning and start 
doing."  Katie smiled at hearing her words 
coming from his mouth.  He rocked back and 
forth nervously, then took a deep breath and 
sunk to the floor in front of her.  "Katie, 
you know I love you. You're everything to me 
and I don't want...no, I can't imagine not 
having you in my life."  Alex took another 
deep breath and looked at Matthew.  "This is 
harder than I thought it would be."  Matthew 
got up, patted him on the back and whispered 
something in his ear.  Alex smiled and 
chuckled softly.  "Thanks buddy," he said, 
rolling his eyes.  He turned back to Katie, 
who was now completely befuddled by the 
entire chain of events.  "Oh Hell, just do 
it dumbass," he muttered under his breath.  
He reached out and took her hands in his. 
"I'm laying my heart in your hands, Katya," 
he said quietly.  Matthew leaned over and 
gave him the box.  Katie's eye widened as 
realization set in.  "Katrina Elizabeth 
Heyes, will you marry me?" Alex asked, 
slipping the ring onto her finger.

Katie stared at Alex, wide-eyed, for a 
minute, before looking down at the ring.  
"How did you..."she started to ask, then 
turned her head.   "Matthew?"

"He asked for my advice," Matthew said with 
a shrug.  "What was I going to do?"

Alex tugged at her hands.  "Katie," he 
pleaded.  "I'm dying here."

"Don't leave him hanging, Hanna," Matthew 
smiled.

Katie put her hands on Alex's face and 
kissed him.  "Ask me again."

Alex took one more deep breath and repeated 
his question.  This time she didn't make him 
wait for an answer.