Let's play What If..........M/K as partners

Okay I'm watching athletics on television, I've just taken delivery of my first batch of X-files tapes courtesy of Amazon.com (thank you our American cousins!) the BBC are showing season 1 of the X-files again, so I'm rather happy at the moment and I'd thought I'd share my good mood with you all.

I think, for me, Sleepless represents something very special in the X-files universe - the moment when we get a hint of what M and K could have been like as partners. Now it's not perfect, of course, there are a lot of things I - we - would have done differently and I hope you'll join in with me and imagine a world where Mulder and Krycek are partners investigating the paranormal, fighting the colonisation of Earth and resisting those who would stand in their way......


Okay, there are mumerous ways in which this partnership would differ from the one Mulder had with Scully:

- Two alpha males. Alex is not respectful of Mulder and feels that he should have equal say in how the cases are investigated.

- Mulder can't get away with ditching Krycek and his bullheadedness causes conflict all round. You know the way Scully just accepts it when he goes his own way, well Alex doesn't and Mulder isn't quite sure how to deal with this bullish partner. He's used to getting away with a lot. He can't with Alex. How does that change the way he does things?

Krycek isn't like Scully, he doesn't use reasoned arguments based on logic and scepticism, he just tells Mulder he's wrong and to get over himself. It's not that he doesn't believe, he just wants to prick Mulder's balloon a bit. Mulder finds him completely obnoxious and keeps undermining him by phoning Scully who's still stuck at Quantico. Krycek knows what he's doing, but doesn't call him on it, just gives him enough rope with which to hang himself. Mulder realises that he's got so used to Alex believing in extreme possibilities that Scully's scepticism is just too hard to take now, but he wants to piss Alex off, so pretends that he and Scully are really tight. Alex just lets him get on with it.

- It takes time, a lot of time before Mulder starts to trust his new partner. I personally thought he trusted Scully a little too quickly in the series and in my scenario, i's gonna take a whole lot longer for him to believe in Alex. He doesn't exactly think he's working for the Consortium, but he's going to have his suspicions and Alex will do some things that make not only Mulder, but the rest of us suspicious. It will be a long time before we are really sure of him. Another source of tension between the partners!

Alex is just different from Mulder - on the surface at least - he is far more ruthless, far more pragmatic and Mulder can't seem to find a way to get him to see things his way. they both believe, but have different ways of seeing things, tackling problems and are always arguing. Not the way Mulder and Scully argued, with underlying care and respect for each other, but really argue - slanging matches and rude words. But for some unknown reason neither of them seem willing to break up the partnership even when Skinner suggests it would be for the best. Mulder can't bear the thought of not having a partner who shares his belief, no matter how obnoxious he may be. Or at least that's what he tells Skinner, what he tells himself. But that's only part of it. Isn't it? Can you say UST you can cut with a knife?


Okay, I'll leave it to anyone else who wants to tell us something else about the partnership and how they tackle some of the major events in the X-files universe. Scully still gets abducted, Bill Mulder is still murdered, the conspiracy still needs to be defeated. How will it be different with Mulder and Krycek as partners. Come on, play the game. Especially the semi-lurkers! You know who you are..