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