Marked Man (1/1)
by m. butterfly


Author's notes: Many thanks to Lucy Snowe, soul sister, for beta-reading this drabble, which takes place in my "Resuscitation" universe. There's a *teensy* spoiler, but I won't say what it is because it'll spoil *this* story, which I wrote expressly for my dear friend Sergeeva, who's been abused by the gods lately. (Now leave her alone, damnit!)


Marked Man
by m. butterfly

Dulles International Airport
Washington, DC
Spring 2003

For a guy in his early forties, Mulder's eyesight was remarkably good.

Okay, he'd been wearing reading glasses for years, but he could still clearly see things off in the distance that most people his age couldn't.

For instance, he had no trouble spotting his long-time lover among the sea of faces waiting for friends and family. Walter Skinner was standing near the back of the throng, looking directly at him. Of course, the man wasn't exactly easy to miss. He was tall and broad, wearing a full-length black leather coat that made him look positively huge. And then there were the high-tech wirerims. And the bald head. And the goatee...

As Mulder came through the glass doors of the arrivals lounge, he stopped abruptly. *Goatee?* But that wasn't the only thing that was different... His heart racing, he quickly made his way to where Skinner was, set down his briefcase, and flung himself into open arms. After an all-too-brief kiss, he buried his nose in the crook of Skinner's neck, almost losing himself in the rich smells of leather and soap and aftershave and...and just *Skinner*.

"How was your flight?" Skinner said quietly against Mulder's ear, warm lips lingering just a little longer than necessary.

"Hey! That tickles!" Mulder pulled back and smiled broadly, his bright hazel eyes drinking in the features of the gorgeous hulk standing before him.

"Fine. Uneventful." Using his fingertips, he brushed at the surprisingly soft, grey-speckled dark hair around Skinner's mouth and on his chin. Then he put both hands on the sides of the perfectly smooth head and slid them around to the back of the equally satiny neck. "So what brought all this on?"

Skinner shrugged. "I guess I got a little crazy without you. Felt like a change would do me good. If you don't like it, I can shave this off--" He stroked the facial hair. "--and let the stuff on my head back grow."

"No, I like it. It makes you look--" Mulder moved in closer. "--really sexy. And scary."

"Scary?" he laughed.

"Scarier than usual. In a good way, of course."

"Brat." He wrapped an arm around Mulder's shoulders.
"Come on. Let's get your luggage and go home."

"Anything you say, Homer."

Skinner slid his arm up and gave Mulder's neck a playful squeeze as they headed off to the baggage claim area. "Oh, no you don't, boy! It took me long enough to get used to 'Seymour.' One more 'Homer' out of you and you're gonna get it."

"God, I hope so."

And the way he said it made Skinner thankful he was wearing a long coat.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The airport parking garage was swarming with would-be and ex-travellers, so they managed nothing more than another quick peck until they got to the house.

But they began overcompensating the moment the front door closed behind them. In minutes, the path to their bedroom was littered with clothing and they were tumbling onto the king-size mattress, kissing and caressing everything they could get their lips and hands on.

"How does that feel?" Skinner panted after one particularly long French kiss. "Does the moustache bother you?"

"S'great," Mulder wheezed back. "Can't wait to find out what it feels like somewhere else, though..."

"You mean, here?" Skinner nibbled the side of Mulder's neck, then soothed it with his tongue.

"Lower."

"Here?" Now the Adam's apple.

"Lower."

"These?" He pressed his mouth against one nipple while pinching the other.

"Even lower."

After experimenting on arms and legs, hands and feets, he finally reached Mulder's groin. "How 'bout this?" Skinner kissed the slippery cockhead, then worked his way down to the sensitive balls. "Do you like that, babe?"

"God, yeah. More. Please."

Skinner rolled his partner over and ran his lips along the firm rise of calf muscles, the gentle curve of buttocks, the hollow of the lower back, the sharpness of shoulder blades, the little well at the top of the spine. He was now back where he started, and brought their mouths together for a wonderfully long time.

"My turn," the younger man breathed and began kissing and licking and sucking at Skinner's skin like it was all the nourishment he'd ever need. When he finished with all 10 toes, he nudged his lover onto his stomach. Skinner moaned as Mulder's tongue teased its way up the back of his right leg.

Although the curtains were closed, enough late-afternoon light was seeping into the room for Mulder's eyes to feast upon the beautiful body he'd missed so much. The April sun turned the fine hair on Skinner's thighs and ass into coppery filaments, and brought out the colour of the--

//What the--?//

Mulder placed an uncertain hand over Skinner's right butt cheek and let it hover before daring to actually touch the patch of skin.

"Walter, is this--is it *real*?"

Skinner twisted his neck so he could see Mulder's face. He looked astonished. "Yup."

Without taking his eyes off Skinner's glute, Mulder reached over and clicked on the bedside lamp. "Did it hurt?"

"No, not really. Don't forget that your old man here used to be a Marine."

Mulder was petting Skinner reverently now, gliding his fingers back and forth. "But you never got one back then. Why now?"

Skinner put his head back down on the pillow, but continued to watch Mulder out of the corner of his eye. "Didn't want one then. Until I met you, nothing meant that much to me that I wanted to have a permanent reminder of it."

"Shit," Mulder said softly. He had to blink a couple of times to get the small brown fox into focus again.

"And now I have something else in common with Dana," Skinner chuckled. He craned his neck again. "Do you like it, babe? Honestly? Do you mind?"

"Do I mind? Hell, no! I love it." He kissed it, then lay down beside his lover, nose to nose. "Okay, let's see: during the two weeks I was away, you shaved your head, grew a goatee, and had your ass tattooed. Is there anything else I should know about, Walter?"

Skinner laughed heartily. "That's it. I swear."

"Is this your way of telling me not to accept any more lecture tours unless you can come with me?"

The older man drew Mulder in for a bear hug. "No, it's my way of telling you that I was in a rut and wanted to try a new look."

"And the tattoo?"

"That's my way of telling you that I love you. Forever." He snaked his hand between their bodies and clasped Mulder's semi-erect cock. "If I'd known it would distract you so much, I never would have had it done," he growled.

Mulder blinked some more, then smiled. "Gee, Walter, I'm thinking maybe you missed me a little..."

"Yeah? Let me show you how much."

Later, just before Mulder drifted off to sleep with Skinner's head pillowed on his chest, the younger man carefully lifted the covers for another peek at the tattoo.

"I love you forever too, Walter," he whispered to the slumbering giant.

And even when he closed his eyes, he could still see the small brown fox...and knew that Walter Skinner was his for life.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Fini