Best Romance

This is the hardest intro I've had to write, mostly because romance is my favorite genera of Mulder/Krycek fiction. Some people are just born romantics; they always have the notion in mind that love will conquer all, and that in the end the heroes will ride off into the sunset together.

Another reason I adore romantic fics is because of the feeling you get when you read them. It's been dubbed the Warm and Fuzzy Feeling, or WAFF for short. It comes at different times for different people.. it may be a kiss, or a touch, or simply a thought that one of the characters has. But no matter when it happens, it's divine. Another reason I love romances.

I think at least a few of the stories below demonstrate that WAFF can be found in unusual places. And the rest give us a more traditional taste of sweetness.

And the nominees are...

Admission- The Best Laid Plans by Aries

The dishes were cleared away and stacked in the dishwasher, and the dog was inside. Alex grabbed a blanket and lead his Fox back into the yard. He spread the blanket on the ground and sat, pulling his lover down with him. Simultaneously, they lay on their backs, content, for a while anyway, with looking up into the dusky sky. Fox closed his eyes, listening to the fading twitter of the birds, as they made their way home to settle in for the night. As the other day sounds dissipated, the gurgle of the fountain in the garden pond became more prevalent. A soft smile curved Fox's mouth.

"Talk to me Alex, or the sound of that water is going to put me right out."

Alex turned sideways, propped his head up in his hand, and stared down at the man on his back. "What do you want me to talk to you about?"

"I don't know. Pick a topic."

"Okay." Alex nuzzled Fox's throat. "Let me tell you how completely gorgeous you are right now, with all these night shadows falling across your face."

"Cut it out."

"You said to pick a topic, so I chose my favorite."

"I'm not a chick you know, you don't have to tell me this stuff."

"Yes my love, I'm very well aware of that. The fact of the matter *is*, I love telling you how beautiful you are."

Fox opened his eyes and looked up in an ocean of sincerest green. Alex gazed down at him, unsmiling. He traced a line down the side of Fox's face with his knuckles, then across his mouth, with the tips of two fingers. "I never get tired of looking at you. And I'm still amazed sometimes when I do, that you're looking back at me...and loving me."

Fox's eyes sparkled in the little remaining light. "Do you realize it's been almost three years?"

"Give me a couple of seconds, and I can tell you exactly how long, right down to the minute."

Fox laughed softly. "In some respects, it doesn't seem that long, but in others, it seems like a lifetime. Does that make sense?"

"Yeah, I think so."

"I mean...a lifetime in the sense that, I can hardly remember the animosity and the violence." Fox reached up and raked the fingers of one hand through Alex's hair. "It seems like I've always loved you."

Bulletins from Bedlam by Jessica Harris

I walked into the bathroom the other night to find him standing in front of the mirror looking down at a handful of his pills. I didn't stop to ask questions, just lunged forward and smacked them out of his hand, sending him stumbling sideways. They scattered everywhere, clattering like tiny hailstones.

Automatically he swung around, fist connecting squarely with my nose before he registered who it was. "What the fuck are you doing?" he shouted.

And then he saw my face. "Oh," he said "Oh. You thought I - " and I grabbed him and buried my face in his neck, worked my hands up under his shirt to stroke the skin on his back. "Oh Alex," he said, and his voice was calm and sad. "I dropped the bottle, that's all - I just dropped the bottle, and had to pick them up. Try to trust me a little, OK?"

And that had me bawling like a fucking baby, standing in my shorts in the bathroom, but I raised my head and looked him in the eye and said:

"I'll kill them all, you know. If you ever hurt yourself, I'll go after every single one of them. You know that, don't you?"

He nodded soberly, reached out, and wiped away the blood that was starting to drip from my nose. He cried a little too, then. And that's not something he does much, not even now.

Departure III by Imajiru

But he won't look at me, damn it, still won't look at me; I have to grab his face and turn it toward me, and even then his eyes only flicker toward mine for the barest instant. "It doesn't... it isn't important," he says finally, very softly, with the barest hint of wistfulness in his voice. "It doesn't matter." And then he is looking at me, staring into my eyes with a gaze like laserbeams.

"You matter," he says intensely. "You're all that matters, Alex." Then he's pulling me into his arms, hugging me fiercely, tugging aside the collar of my jacket to fasten lips and teeth against my neck and chew kisses into my skin; and I still don't know what's going on, damn it, but feeling him close to me is making me a lot less scared.

He's shaking, just slightly, and I don't think it's from the cold; I hold him as tightly as I can, sliding my hands up underneath his jacket to rub his back -- he likes that, when he's upset. I nuzzle him, slide into kissing him, feel his body press close... so familiar, so much a part of my life, his presence, his touch. "I could never live without you now," I hear myself murmur; it's true, but I hadn't meant to say it.

"Yeah, I know." Something about his voice isn't quite right. Sadness? is that it? "I don't ever want to lose you," and his embrace grows even tighter, all but crushing the breath out of me.

Green Eyed Monster:Alex's Journal By Aries

June 2
***

Took me two days to actually compose myself enough to write. Plus, I wanted to make sure that it wasn't like, a dream, or you weren't going to change your mind and take it back or anything.

We were at your apartment. It was about one-thirty, and we were watching some ridiculously hokey late night movie, laughing and pointing out all the mistakes, counting the amount of times we saw the overhead mike in the shot, how many times the part in the star's hair switched sides...stuff like that. I was sitting, propped against the pillows and you were between my legs, lying back against my chest. You stopped laughing. Well, you didn't just *stop*, your laughter sort of faded away, and you pulled my hand into yours and laced our fingers together. You studied them for the longest time, and I started thinking that the last time you did that, our lives did a screaming one-eighty. Before I could do any more thinking, you lifted our hands, and brushed your lips across my knuckles. You shifted around so that we were eye to eye and gave me this smile, this soft, sweet smile, and then you just said it. "I love you, Lexei."

Everything started to spin. I felt like I'd suddenly left my body, yet I was right there, unable to move, grounded by those eyes. I finally remembered to breathe, and some of the dizziness subsided. I don't know how long I sat there staring at you, but I saw your smile fade and a little sliver of apprehension replaced the gleam in your eyes. You looked away and I felt your body sag. I gave myself a mental shake, and touched your face. You looked back at me, and I wrapped my arms around you and held on to you like you might suddenly vanish. We clung to each other for I don't know how long, then I whispered in your ear that I loved you, too. That I've loved you for such a long time now.

You pulled back and looked at me, obviously stunned. I asked you if you really had no idea. You shook your head. Said you'd never even dared to hope that I'd ever feel that way about you. I can still see your face. You were so uncertain. So beautiful.

I pulled you in for a kiss, mumbling "I love you" against your mouth, over and over. I couldn't stop saying it. It'd been building up for so long. My heart jumped into my throat when you said, "Show me."

I Will Remember You by Hephaestion

"You are here because you want me like I want you. You are here because I was right and your miserable with Scully although you love her. You are here because you love me and I love you." Alex said, he looked into Mulder's eyes.

"It can't be, no." Mulder said, he felt his world collapsing around him.

"Mulder look at me, tell me you don't want me. Tell me that you hate me and that you want nothing to do with me and I will leave and never come back again. Just tell me and you will be rid of me forever." Alex said, he felt his heart pounding. He couldn't live a lifetime without Mulder, a year was bad enough.

Mulder looked at Alex and grabbed the man's hands. "Am I an evil person? Why do I end up hurting her so much?" Mulder said and began to cry.

"Shhhhhhhhhhh" Alex grabbed Mulder and held his sobbing body close.

Alex wiped the tears and kissed the man's face. "You are not evil. This isn't your fault."

Mulder looked at Alex and leaned across until he was kissing the man. Mulder kissed Alex, their tongues wrestling in their mouths.

Saints and Maytrs by Viridian5

His voice already sounded like a ghost. "Alex, kiss me."

I was never one to do what I was told, but I got the feeling that this would be my last chance. The dust down here permeated everything so strongly that even his cold lips tasted of it under the flavor of his own blood. After a quick brush, I tried to pull away, but in a last fit of strength his arms encircled me and pulled me closer. His tongue pushed gently against my mouth, asking for entry, and I decided what the hell, why not?

We kissed deeply, hungrily, all the more avid for knowing this would be the final time. I could swear I felt his breath swirl through my mouth, giving me the insane notion that I could keep him alive by breathing for him. I tried, but it wasn't enough. All too soon he stopped breathing entirely, and his body went slack against me.

Too Much to Dream by Niccie

"Do you?"

Mulder looked up at Krycek who had an uncertain, yet somehow determined look on his face. As if he was trying to mentally convince Mulder to feel the way he wanted him to.

"Do I what?"

"Care."

//I more than care, Alex. I just wish I could find the courage to tell you. Preferably before it's too late.//

"Yes, I do care."

The look Mulder got from Alex after having said those words, was one he had not expected. Krycek's face softened, and he looked at Mulder with a tenderness that he couldn't remember anyone else ever have done before. Then he stepped closer, and looked Mulder deeply in the eyes.

"I care about you too, Mulder. But I guess you already knew that."

The words were spoken so softly that Mulder could barely hear them, but the meaning of them went straight to his heart. He kept looking into those beautiful green eyes, and knew right then that if he let go of this, it would mean letting go of something he would never have the chance to have again, and probably would never even *want* with anyone else.

And the winner is...

Departure III!!!