Krycek sauntered into the waiting room, closing in on his prey with keen nonchalance. Circle, circle...pounce. He sat on the chair next to the man, leaning in so their shoulders pressed together.
"Nice to see you again." He studied the man with an assassin's eye, memorising the details of the nearly nondescript appearance and sophisticated nervousness that so completely charmed him. "Do you remember me?" Krycek smiled. No one ever forget him. "I'm Alex. We met last week." Now a slow blink, let the eyelashes work.
"I...ah...yes, I remember you." A closed-lipped smile and a darting glance completed the man's reaction.
Beautiful. Fight or flight activated. Now how to corner him so that fight was his only option? "I don't think I got your name..." Krycek moved his head a little and their faces were so close he could feel the man's breath.
"John, Alex." They turned to see Tracey in the doorway. "I"m glad you're both here. I'm running late so I'll take you together."
"I don't really think--" John began.
"Who's the therapist here, John, me or you?" Tracey gestured them to their feet. "Come on, I don't have all day."
They went in, Krycek following John so he could slide up next to him on the leather couch. John just smiled desperately.
"Have you met? John Cage, Alex Krycek." Tracey leaned forward in her chair and studied them a minute. "OK, let's see if I remember. You" -- she pointed at John -- "have trouble dealing with strong emotions, and you" -- she pointed to Krycek -- "have trouble relating well with people. Am I right?"
Krycek grinned and Cage nodded miserably.
"Good, we'll try a little role play. Stand up, stand up." Tracey glanced at her watch. "Now, Alex, you'll take a passive role here, John will come on strong to you and you'll try to see how that feels, try to deal with it. John, be aggressive. You remember how you felt when that woman, what's her name, was coming on to you. Try to think about how she felt." Tracey got up and set up a tripod and camcorder. "I'm just going to tape this for my files...OK, go."
Carefully adopting a nonaggressive posture, Krycek lowered his eyelids a little and concentrated on looking demure. Cage closed his eyes for a minute, probably trying to get into his part. Then he approached, putting a bit of wolf into his walk. "I know you want to be the one to make the first move." Krycek had been expecting an undercurrent of unease in Cage's voice, but it wasn't there. He didn't have to raise his eyes to take in the determination in Cage's face, the swing in his hips. Not bad, not bad at all. "But I can't wait any longer." John was inches away from Krycek and a cool hint of aftershave laced the air between them.
"Good John," Tracey broke in. "Now, Alex, what will you do?"
Krycek hauled Cage up by his collar and kissed him, catching him in mid-gape so that his mouth was open. John was delicious, flavours of coffee and mouthwash and fear just inside his lips. Krycek did a lightning risk analysis, liked his assessment, and slid his tongue inside for a more thorough taste. John's mouth was slippery with saliva, so he sucked it down, released the man, and swallowed, all a second after Cage began to struggle. Sweet.
"Hello, Alex? I commend your enthusiasm, but you're supposed to be exploring a more subdued and fearful role here." Tracey raised her eyebrows. "Try it again."
"Again?" Cage stared at her.
"John, smile." After a second he did, that weird closed smile. "OK, ready? Alex, you--" A loud beeping cut her off. She looked at her watch again and jumped up. "Damn, I really have to go." She glanced from one to another. "Tell you what, you two carry on without me until a quarter after. Leave the camera on, and I'll review the tape later." Then she left, banging the door behind her.
John looked at Krycek. Krycek looked at John. "So, John, should we try again? I'm close to a breakthrough, I'm sure of it." Cage closed his eyes again.
Krycek glanced at the camcorder and wondered if he should steal the tape before he left. No, let Tracey have it. She deserved it.
FINIS
I really enjoyed your story...Keep up the great work. :-)