BACCARAT PIECES: JACK'S JAM by Sean Spencer seans13@hotmail.com CATEGORY: SRA RATING: NC-17 KEYWORDS: Slash, Skinner/Mulder SPOILERS: None ARCHIVE: yes ATXC: no MSSS: yes DISCLAIMER: Walter Skinner, Fox Mulder and Dana Scully are the intellectual properties of Chris Carter, 1013 Productions and Fox Television. No infringement nor copyright is implied in their use in this work of fiction. All other characters are mine. SUMMARY: What happens when a closeted AD has to tell his old army buddy of his newfound love? Thrown erasers, downed pills and six-packs are the result. Stand alone vignette in the Baccarat universe. AUTHOR'S NOTES: I would be releasing a series of vignettes. Please be informed that Baccarat Fragments will be Mulder and Skinner stories before they even had a relationship while Baccarat Pieces are vignettes of their life together. BACCARAT PIECES: JACK'S JAM by Sean Spencer seans13@hotmail.com It was a frigid February evening as Walter Skinner parked the Town Car in the car park. He sat awhile in the seat, collecting his thoughts before he turned off the engine and got out from the car. He tucked the scarf around his neck and then briskly walked the one block to the Georgetown restaurant. It was a freezing night and the gray slush that made everything so dreary looking hardly helped his mood. The restaurant of course was overheated and he hung up his coat and scarf before going into the dining area. He saw Jack Reilly and the small chubby man had a wide grin on his face and they briefly hugged and thumped each other's backs. Reilly was probably Skinner's best and dearest friend. They had met when both were in Vietnam and the friendship borne out of the desperation and fear as young men, boys really, at war had endured through the years. Although they had pursued different careers and were in different parts of the country and eventually, different parts of the world, they still managed to stay in touch even if they only saw each other only so many times in a decade. "Great to see you, Walter," Reilly smiled at his old friend. "You look good." As they waited for their orders to be filled, they talked animatedly, catching up on each other's exploits. Reilly told of his new assignment in Mexico where he worked in a food multinational company, purveyor of junk food to their southern neighbors. He talked of adjustments to living in a different country with his wife and three young kids. Skinner relayed the painful events of his divorce three years ago. Although Reilly already knew about it, had received anguished calls from him when he was in the midst of it, this was the first time they were face to face talking about it. Just like old times, they talked easily, joking and ragging with each other as they ate their meal. Skinner was pleasantly surprised when he received Reilly's call to his office that morning. They set the date for this dinner and only when Skinner put down the phone did he get an uneasy feeling. Reilly still didn't know about another quite significant event in his life. His relationship with Mulder was now well established and in fact, they were now living together for six months. Usually, when he met with Reilly here in DC, they would end up at his house where they would talk of more old times over a six pack. He didn't know how Reilly would react to this new unusual relationship. He didn't know if they should continue with the six pack thing with Mulder there at home. The AD hoped to tell Reilly about this new phase of his life but at the same time he was torn. Except for Mrs. Jackson, the housekeeper and Dr. Cormier, no one really new about him and Mulder and telling someone that you were homosexual was very difficult, to say the least. Skinner had called Mulder about this dinner with Reilly and they had discussed whether the AD should tell his best friend. Mulder had left it up to him; after all, he had not even told his best friend, in this case, Scully about his living with the AD for the past six months. And Mulder saw Scully everyday. Once they were having dessert, however, Reilly was persistent about his personal life. "You know, Walter, you really look different from the last time I saw you," Reilly needled him. "What's new with your life? Are you seeing someone? You're obviously over Sharon." Skinner was startled with the accuracy of Reilly's assessment of him. He tried to evade the issue at first, but he really had to make a clean breast of it. "Y-yes.I am seeing someone," Skinner said somewhat reluctantly. He drew a deep breath. "In fact, I've been living with someone for the past six months." "I knew it," Reilly was pleased as punch at being right. "Do you have a picture of her? When can I meet her?" Skinner cringed at the "her" part. Initially, he tried to keep his description of Mulder as genderless as possible, but it was very hard and when he continued on with talking about his new lover, Skinner paused when he saw Reilly's confused face. "Wait a minute," Reilly tried to clarify the facts. Skinner uneasily looked back at his friend. Then, he did what he had to do, just like he always did. Words poured out of him and he finally told Reilly the truth, that his new lover was a man. All the warmth of Reilly's face suddenly disappeared when he realized what Skinner was trying to tell him. He hissed a few angry and very hurtful words at Skinner and left, angrily jerking his arm away from Skinner, who had vainly tried to stem his leaving. Skinner didn't know that his jaw was clenched as he asked for the check. All he knew was that by the time he left the restaurant and walked back to his car, he had a throbbing headache. He drove home carefully, not even aware how numb he felt. As he rode the elevator to the seventeenth floor of his building, Skinner slumped against the wall, feeling tired and the headache suddenly almost unbearable. He shed his topcoat, loosened his tie and turned off the lights that Mulder had left for him. Mulder was fast asleep on their bed. Skinner knew the agent must be very tired, having just come in from a case from Texas. The AD downed two extra strength Tylenol as he washed. He wearily got into bed. Just like always, he slipped his arms around Mulder, noting that the younger man was dressed uncharacteristically in pajamas because of the winter chill and that his hair was damp from a shower he must have taken before going to sleep. The AD slipped his hands under Mulder's pajama top, wanting to feel the agent's bare skin. He buried his nose in Mulder's hair, taking in the clean fresh scent of the newly washed hair. Mulder stirred, turning to face Skinner even in his sleep. Skinner knew that Mulder was trying to awaken from the fluttering of his eyelids but exhaustion defeated him. Eventually, Skinner's headache subsided and he inevitably fell asleep. Skinner woke up at dawn before the alarm clock. He suddenly felt the overwhelming need to make love to Mulder. He insistently caressed Mulder's chest to awaken him. Skinner showered more kisses on his neck and hair and face, waiting for Mulder. He unbuttoned Mulder's pajama shirt and kissed Mulder's chest, concentrating on the nipples. The agent's eyes slowly opened and stretched languidly, further pulling apart his shirt. Skinner became heated in turn as Mulder groaned heavily as the AD increased the suction on his nipple. "I missed you in Dallas, Walter," Mulder breathed as he came fully awake and impatiently started pulling down Skinner's own pajama trousers. The agent seemed to know what Skinner needed and he pushed back Skinner on the bed and settled between the AD's legs. Skinner groaned as he felt Mulder's wet, hot and eager mouth engulf his member. "Baby.honey," Skinner breathed as the warmth spread in his groin. He clutched the sheet as Mulder suckled him. One of Mulder's hands strayed to the soft sensitive skin of his inner thighs, alternately stroking his scrotum as well. "Please.honey.I want to come in you." He reluctantly pushed Mulder away and fumbled for the Astroglide at his night stand. Then he turned and assisted Mulder in undressing fully. Skinner slicked up the younger man's bottom and penis. The agent turned on his stomach and parted his legs. Somehow, he seemed to know that the older man needed him more this time. Skinner then knelt between the younger man's widespread thighs and parted Mulder's buttocks. He poised his own penis and carefully but almost desperately plunged into the younger man's body. Both of them groaned as their bodies united in this most intimate and most delicious way. "Fox." Skinner gasped, his hips ramming more roughly than normal into his lover. "I.sorry, if I'm.am I too.rough?" "That's okay, Walter," Mulder groaned as Skinner lifted his lower body to him with the easy strength he loved. Skinner came quickly and shuddered as he showered kisses on Mulder's cheek and back and neck. The AD pulled out regretfully and turned Mulder on his own back. "You haven't come yet, honey," Skinner glanced down at Mulder's own heavy erection and they kissed deeply as the AD's well slicked hand masturbated his younger lover. It also didn't take Mulder long to come close as Skinner lovingly looked upon the face of his younger lover slack and dazed looking as his own arousal overcame him. When the moment of culmination came upon the agent, Skinner held him hard and Mulder clutched the AD's shoulders as Skinner's hand filled with the wet warm stickiness. Mulder let Skinner's loving hands clean him up. He looked at the bedside clock and saw that they still had more than an hour before they had to get up. "Walter." Mulder put a hand on the older man's shoulder before the AD got the idea to go to work early. Skinner glanced back before he was about to go to the bathroom. Something in Mulder's tone of voice stopped him. It was still occasionally hard to read what Mulder wanted because the agent sometimes didn't say it outright, unlike him. He saw Mulder turn his face away and Skinner caught the somewhat embarrassed look the agent tried to hide. "Come here," Skinner lay back down on the bed and opened his arms. It was apparently the right thing because Mulder sighed when the AD's arms enveloped him. One of the things he found out about Mulder since they started living together was how much physical attention Mulder seemed to need, more so than any woman he used to bed. Lovemaking of course was at the top of both their lists, but Mulder thrived on the additional embraces Skinner doled out. Skinner found out that he was liking this, too. Mulder could now comfortably settle in Skinner's arms, making himself so cuddly even if they were almost the same height. Skinner turned on the television as he absently stroked Mulder's back, but he suddenly remembered the dinner last night and hugged Mulder harder than normal until Mulder tried to pull away with a gasp. "Sorry, honey," Skinner whispered as they shifted positions. Mulder's hand strayed to his chest hairs and played there. "How was dinner last night, Walter, with Jack?" Mulder asked after a while. Skinner stiffened involuntarily. "I guess it didn't go well," Mulder said, looking up at Skinner's face. "And I bet it was because you told him about us." "Yeah," Skinner sighed and put a hand on Mulder's bristling cheek. It still hurt that all the years of friendship was now reduced to nothing in a span of a few hours. "He stormed out of the place when he finally realized what I was telling him." "That bad, huh?" Mulder hugged back at the older man to offer more comfort. "So I guess it was right to keep this from Scully. If a friendship of more than twenty years can't take that kind of information, what more with Scully when we've been together for only three years?" The AD changed positions on the bed until he had Mulder fully on top of him with their spent members rubbing against each other, liking the differing textures of their skin and hair. This time, it was him needing more of the hugs, which Mulder simply provided. The AD breathed in that special scent of his lover which he could only find on his neck. They reluctantly pulled apart after a few long minutes and went about their daily activities. Skinner was cranky the whole day and Scully even went out of his way to avoid him. Most of the time, when he was in moods like these, Scully never failed to cheer him up with her professionalism, eagerness, overall good manners and, yes, overall prettiness. But today, he even snarled at her report on that Texas case and she retreated hastily from the office. In her haste to leave, Scully left the door open and his assistant Kimberly glared at the AD and even threw her eraser at him before slamming the door shut. Now Skinner knew he was in trouble. Although he was the AD, things didn't bode well when Kimberly Cooke was mad at him. She could pretend that she was sick and simply get up and leave her desk and his whole day would get even worse. In fact, she did just that when he was in the midst of his divorce a few years back. He didn't want to have a repeat of that day at all. Skinner took a deep breath and looked at the wall clock. It was just ten o'clock and he still had a long day ahead. He reluctantly stood up and got the eraser and after another few deep breaths, opened his door. "Sorry, Kim," he muttered, placing the eraser on her desk. He couldn't look her in the eye and clenched his jaw again. "I know when you're strict and when you're nasty," Kimberly began. She angrily took the eraser and put it in her drawer. "And that was just plain nasty." The secretary then reached down into another drawer and got out her bottle of Advil. She then stood up and put a pill in his hand. "Now go take that before you go down to the basement," Kimberly could be downright dictatorial when she was right. It didn't help matters any that she was raising two teenage sons and was presently an expert in making him feel guilty when she needed to. "That report was twenty pages long and they just got back from Dallas yesterday morning so she must have slaved away at it last night. I'm not the one who needs an apology from you." Skinner went back into his office and took the Advil with a glass of water. He stretched out the kinks on his neck and back before stiffly leaving his office. He didn't see Kimberly's smiling face as he left. Maybe it would do some good if he took a long walk down the basement. The AD didn't take the elevator, preferring the back stairway and taking his time. The stairs weren't heated so the chill made it better somehow, as if it was his punishment for being so hard on Scully. He reached the labyrinthine basement, seeing the file boxes haphazardly stacked in the narrow hallway. It had been sometime since he was last here. If he could remember right, it was when Scully was missing more than two years ago, when he had gone down here to refuse Mulder's hasty resignation. They weren't even an item back then, just that he knew he was very disturbed with Mulder's abruptly signed and brief resignation letter. The knock on the door elicited Mulder's "come in". Skinner entered and tried not to grin when the agent's eyes widened. Ever since their relationship was well established, and particularly now that they were living together, both had taken pains to avoid being seen together in the Hoover. Mulder was unaware of Scully's dressing down, apparently and signalled with his eyes to the AD that Scully was in the room. Skinner nodded back that he understood and approached Scully who was typing furiously on her laptop on the ridiculously small desk at the corner. Skinner cleared his throat and Scully looked up, startled at the AD's presence in their basement hideout. Skinner said his apologies as fast as decently possible and Scully accepted it with that nice smile that she had. Skinner then made a few observations about the messy former copy room that was now the X-files department, careful to keep his small talk neutral and nonthreatening. Then with relief, he exited gracefully. The walk up the stairs back to his office was pleasant this time. The Advil had taken effect and the short exercise left him just a tad breathless but invigorated. Kimberly was entertaining his 10:30 and Skinner nodded impassively at Agent Schmidt who had that frankly terrified look that characterized the face of the younger agents. Kimberly followed the AD into his office. Just like an obedient student, Skinner reported that he already apologized to Scully. "Now you be nice to that boy," Kimberly cautioned. "He's an only son with a widowed mother. He works very hard but is still quite green at the edges. And he is only twenty-six. He's from Nebraska." He didn't know why Kimberly seemed to know all these little tidbits about the Bureau personnel. She passed on this information only when someone was new and only when she deemed the information important. Sometimes, she really didn't like someone and told him so, like when she had her doubts about Colton, before Skinner assigned him to a regional office in Tennessee. The rest of the day was okay and he managed to get through it without losing more of his temper, although there were two instances when he really wanted to. He got home at five o'clock, uncharacteristically early for him and even more uncharacteristically, before Mulder was even home. He changed his clothes and went to the kitchen where he saw Mrs. Jackson's note and the blender sitting on the counter. She had some complaints about it and wanted to know if Skinner could fix it. Skinner got his toolbox and sat on the kitchen table, upending the blender and looking at its insides. When he had the small motor figured out and was in the process of fixing it, he heard the front door open. Mulder came into the kitchen a few minutes later, wearing his dress shirt but no trousers and only his boxers. He gave Skinner a kiss and headed for the stove to peer at what Mrs. Jackson had left for them. "Sorry, I was busy with this, I haven't time to heat up dinner," Skinner said, working with the screwdriver and peering at his handiwork with a critical eye. Mulder set the table away from strewn mechanical parts at Skinner's end and then sat down watching Skinner as he busily worked on the blender. It was something Mulder still hadn't got the hang of. Skinner knew that Mulder lived more in the generation of the disposable society so that for every gadget he broke, he thought nothing of getting a new one instead of fixing it. The AD already gave up trying to teach Mulder the finer points of motors and electronics; the younger man just didn't think it was important enough for him to mess with. He left it up to Skinner. Instead, the agent playfully made himself a pain by messing up the screws Skinner had carefully grouped according to size and building mini-towers with the parts. "Scully was happy with your apology," Mulder said after a while. Skinner was plugging in the blender to see if it worked. "I just had a bad day," Skinner explained. He heard a funny sound and proceeded with a few more adjustments. Once he was satisfied, he put the blender away, washed his hands and they ate dinner. Sometimes, when they were both home early, like today, they watched videos that Mulder rented and settled in the den for the evening. Skinner's tall form was sprawled on the couch while Mulder was comfortably leaning back against him. The agent was stuffing himself with popcorn. Inevitably, popcorn spilled everywhere and Skinner was hard pressed to keep track of all the little annoying bits. He growled at Mulder to keep the popcorn in its place, namely in the bag or in his mouth. Just when the movie was getting interesting, Mulder fell asleep on him. The agent's fully relaxed weight on him was nicely pleasant. Then the doorbell rang. At first, Skinner thought it was from the television but when the door rang again, he reluctantly pushed off Mulder from him. The agent crankily groaned in annoyance as his sleep was disturbed. Skinner peered through the peephole and started. He grimly set his face and thought for a minute before opening the door. Reilly stood there with a few six packs. The chubby man had a frankly apologetic expression on his face. "How'd you know where to find me?" Skinner asked without preliminaries. After all, he only moved here six months ago and he wasn't in the book. "Kimberly," Reilly simply said. "Well, are you going to let me in or not?" The AD warily eyed the six packs as Reilly stepped into the apartment. His friend made appropriate sounds of the view from the seventeenth floor and praised the interiors. After all, it was the first time Skinner really had a place of his own. The house in Virginia was essentially his parents' with his parents' furniture and Sharon's old decorating. The few bachelor apartments he had before he was married didn't count, since those places had been too small to do much with. Skinner gave him the five cent tour, avoiding the bedroom upstairs and the den, from which the television was still blaring. "Walter.I'm sorry about last night," Reilly finally said. "I know I always thought of myself as liberal minded, but I really was shocked by your news. You have to admit that I always thought of you as the conservative one.I am truly sorry with what I said. I know it's perfectly within your rights if you throw me out. I just wanted you to know that your friendship is more important to me than who you're sleeping with." Skinner was surprised by the short speech. They never really apologized to each other before, slights of years past just brushed off as insignificant. This was actually the first time that anything ever drove a wedge between them and frankly, Skinner didn't know what to do. Of course, he was still wary but at the same time, it was nice that Reilly had made an attempt to make up. "Apology accepted," Skinner finally said. He could never really stare down Reilly, unlike most people. The man knew him too well and wasn't intimidated by him. It was kind of hard to intimidate someone who you knew as scared teenagers in a foreign country, thrown together by circumstance. Reilly seemed to relax and surprisingly, they were able to continue where they left off last night. Skinner was all too aware that Mulder was still in the den with the television being heard from the living room where the two old friends sat. It was only a matter of time before Mulder would head for bed. Skinner wondered how he will introduce him to Reilly. Actually, he never really introduced Mulder to anyone as someone important to him. Skinner pushed his anxieties to the back of his mind and concentrated on Reilly, falling easily into the banter that characterized their conversations. There was a pleasant alcohol buzz in Skinner's head by the time the television silenced in the den. Mulder passed by the den, unaware that Skinner's friend was in the apartment. Skinner saw Reilly's face change and the AD turned around. Mulder was walking past in his shirt and boxers, looking honestly ridiculous especially with his feet still in socks. He was absently scratching his hair when he froze upon seeing Reilly. The guarded expression on the agent's face was obvious. He pulled a questioning glance at Skinner but Skinner tried to smile reassuringly. "Jack, this is Fox Mulder, whom I told you about yesterday," Skinner introduced them to each other, tense in the face of this meeting. "It's okay, Fox, Jack's okay now with the idea." Mulder said his greetings but remained distant, unsure of how to proceed. Reilly carefully asked Mulder to join them but Mulder refused, saying that he was going to bed. The agent then went upstairs, leaving the two friends with the first uneasy silence of the night. "He doesn't really drink," Skinner explained, knowing how lame it sounded. "You know, Walt, he's cute," Reilly said after taking a swig. "I can understand why.okay, he's attractive enough for you, young and cute. I think I approve. Especially since he doesn't look at all like I thought he would." "You think you approve?" Skinner said mock indignantly. "You very well know that he's better looking than most of the women I've dated and in fact, better looking than Sharon." "Okay, okay," Reilly said good naturedly, surprised at how easily they fell back into the old ways of talking. "He's like a cute little brother, good body, though. My brothers were never like that. I think that Jennifer would approve, too." Skinner shook his head amused by Reilly bringing his wife into their conversation. More teasing and back talk ensued and it was midnight when Reilly went back to his hotel via taxi. Overall, it wasn't so bad after all. The AD uncharacteristically left the living room even with all the beer cans scattered everywhere. He wasn't really thinking straight by this time and even staggered once on the landing. But when he got to the bedroom, he saw the empty bed and stared stupidly at it. Then, his mind clearing somewhat, Skinner turned his head in the hallway and saw that the light was on in Mulder's study. Skinner knocked once and when there was no answer, he peered inside. Mulder was asleep again, this time slumped over on the desk with his glasses awry on his face. Skinner gazed down at him and had to smile. The agent really was cute, just like Reilly had said. But he was even better than that; Mulder was cute AND smart, a combination that Skinner always liked. "Fox, let's get to bed," Skinner shook him awake. The AD glanced at the computer screen and saw Mulder's work, which apparently had to do with Texan werewolves. Skinner shook his head and wondered how Scully's report on the Dallas case of mutilation deaths could differ so widely from Mulder's point of view. Mulder started, surprised that he'd fallen asleep at his desk. He wiped he drool from his mouth and rubbed his eyes. Skinner waited for him as Mulder shut down his computer. "Young and cute?" Mulder asked in mock indignation. Apparently, he'd heard Reilly. "Do you like me only for my body?" "Yes," Skinner teased and Mulder gasped when he felt the older man's hand on his crotch. They shared the bathroom as both undressed and washed for bed. "So I guess you and Reilly made up," Mulder asked as they got into bed. "Yeah," Skinner fluffed up his three pillows. He liked having a lot of pillows while Mulder could make do with one or even none. "I'm not too drunk, am I?" "No, I'm glad you didn't get smashed," Mulder got into his customary spot in Skinner's arms. The AD knew that the major reason Mulder didn't drink was that his father was in a state of alcoholic stupor during some of the years of his growing up. Skinner was asleep in seconds, assisted by the beer. When he woke up the next day, Skinner smiled. Everything somehow looked different and he noticed that the lump in his throat and the heavy sensation on his chest that had hovered there the last few days was now gone. END OF BACCARAT PIECES: JACK'S JAM It would be nice to hear what you think of this vignette. Would you like more? Feedback, please!