Byers withdrew his hand and stared at it in wonder as he watched a spasm of pleasure run through his friend's body. Did he do that, with a simple touch? While Jimmy still had his eyes squeezed shut, he stuck his hand down his own pants and made a quick adjustment. His own body was responding to the intimacy in a way that was getting uncomfortable. He waited until Jimmy recovered his voice.

"Oh man! That was incredible! I thought felt good when Krycek touched me -- I didn't want it to, but those manodot things were in control. When you do it, it's like ten times more intense."

"Jimmy... The nanobots can't tell the difference between my hand and Krycek's. They don't know that Krycek was doing it to humiliate you and I'm doing it because I... because you asked me to. They're just blindly amplifying whatever nerve signals they receive."

"Oh yeah? I know you know a lot more about science than I do, Byers, but you can't tell me that science is gonna explain how I feel when you touch me."

He was right. Jimmy's body wasn't some kind of simple stimulus-response machine, but a very complex organism with all kinds of feedback mechanisms that science couldn't pretend to model. Byers had retreated into reductionism because he was afraid to accept what Jimmy was telling him. It just seemed too good to be true. He'd been attracted to Jimmy for a long time, but it had never occurred to him to admit it to him. He knew Jimmy well enough to be sure he'd never react violently if he told him, the way some stereotypical football player would. But what would happen to that fierce, innocent devotion if he found out his hero lusted after his strong young body? Honesty would have been nice, and maybe after he'd known him a few more years he would have told him, and hoped he'd be understanding. The last thing he expected was for Jimmy to be interested in him too, let alone for him to be the one to take the initiative. It must be only Krycek's nanobots were amplifying his physical reactions until he didn't know what he wanted.

He noticed Jimmy had a bulge in his shorts to match his own. He could try to explain it away with signal processing theory. Krycek could even have injected him with alprostadil, which would cause an erection whether he was aroused or not. But the simplest explanation was that Jimmy really was turned on by his touch, at least as much as Byers was by touching him.

"But if it makes you feel better," Jimmy interrupted his thoughts, raising his voice mockingly the way he occasionally did when he got worked up about something, "you can hook me up with some electrodes to measure my reactions while you touch me."

"Jimmy!" Byers protested laughingly.

"Sheesh, no wonder you never get any dates, dude!"

"I just can't believe you're in control of your feelings right now. What you're feeling could be an emotional reaction to what you've just been through. Or for all we know, Krycek hypnotized you, or gave you some, some kind of drug to make you think you're attracted to me." Great. Now he recognized who he sounded like. Here he was, trying to find a rational explanation for Jimmy's feelings, when human emotions were never rational. He sounded just like Scully. It was typical of Scully, at least to hear Mulder tell it, to try to explain how the alien spaceship they were standing right in front of was really some experimental military aircraft lit up by swamp gas.

"You think he mixed up some kind of love potion?" Jimmy asked. He didn't sound skeptical or worried; he seemed filled with wonder at the possibility that they had uncovered some cool new use of biochemistry. What a guy!

"When you put it like that--" Byers began sheepishly.

"Is that even possible?"

"Well, probably not."

Jimmy was silent for a moment. Then he asked softly, "Suppose it was. Could it affect my memory too?"

Byers was taken aback. For the first time, he entertained the notion that this wasn't entirely some new impulse Jimmy had had while he was in Krycek's clutches. He thought back, reinterpreting dozens of affectionate gestures and looks. At the time, he'd never dared hope... Finally he asked, "Did you really mean what you said about admiring my idealism?"

"Like I would lie to you! Yeah, I just never wanted to single you out, cause I was afraid you'd freak out if you knew. It seemed safer to talk about all three of you together. But you're the one who really believes this country can work, if men of integrity fix what's wrong with it," he said earnestly. "I love that about you." He grinned. "Plus, I think you're really hot."

He couldn't mean that. "Oh, come on. I'm not--"

"Oh, man, if you only knew how hot you really are! Although I wish I got to see you out of that suit more often. I had to walk into Death Row to get to see you naked. Worth it, though."

"I'm glad you can joke about it now," said Byers, laughing. He poked him in the ribs, and Jimmy moaned in pleasure as the nanobots translated the playful touch into some more erotic sensation. Byers jerked his hand back again, embarrassed. Jimmy looked at him, silently pleading for more.

This was too good to be true. Getting Jimmy back again, alive and healthy, was all he'd hoped for. To suddenly find out that he wanted the same thing Byers had longed for was too much to accept. But how could he resist that well-muscled body laid out helplessly before him, and that look in those big gray-blue eyes, hungry for his touch and his alone. How could he deny him that? And Byers wanted very much to find some way to communicate to him how good it felt to see him safe. He'd spent his whole life holding back, imagining how bad the other person would feel if his attentions were unwelcome. He had to take a chance sometime.

He leaned down slowly, watching Jimmy's face closely, just for the sheer delight of seeing his eyes light up when he saw what was coming.

The first thing Jimmy felt was his friend's warm breath, which seemed to flow over his entire chest like a jungle breeze, stirring every hair along the way. Impossibly, it even slipped under his shorts; he felt it caress his pelvis and travel down his legs all the way to his toes. Then came the brush of soft whiskers against his belly, which set waves of pleasure coursing through his body. Then he felt his lips against his skin. Like a pebble tossed into a still pond, the light kiss sent out ripples all the way up to his shoulders and all the way down to his crotch. Before they died out, another kiss at another spot set out a set of overlapping ripples, and then another. At the same time, one hand reached up and caressed his chest. Jimmy wanted badly to get his own hands under Byers's shirt, or stroke his hair, or the back of his neck, anything to return the affection, but he was so helpless under the onslaught of pleasure that he might as well have still been chained up. Byers slowed down now, as if to give him time to feel every individual kiss. His lips were barely touching Jimmy's skin at each place they came to rest.

Then, without warning, he used his tongue! Jimmy wasn't even sure where. It felt like his whole body had been enveloped in warmth. If he'd been shrunk down to the size of an action figure and Byers had stuck his naked body in his mouth up to the shoulders, it would have felt a lot like this.

When he came back to his senses, he saw a welcome sight: Byers was standing up and stepping out of his pants, dressed only in his underwear, and very obviously turned on by this too. He then peeled off his undershirt, and sat down on the edge of the bed to take off his socks. Jimmy enjoyed the view of his back -- not an athlete's back, but well-muscled enough -- and reached out to feel its warm solidity with his sensitized fingertips. Then Byers was climbing onto him, carefully lowering his bare chest down until it rested on Jimmy's own.

If the illusion of skin-to-skin contact along the entire length of his body had felt good, the reality was even better. He could almost count every hair on his friend's chest where it brushed his skin. Not that it was an especially big number. He could probably have even counted that high, under ordinary circumstances, but he was too busy enjoying the sensation to concentrate on math. With their bodies in contact, he felt on some deep level that he'd never be cold or lonely again. He didn't think it was physically possible to get closer to someone than this. And he couldn't have asked for a better man to do it with. This was too good to be true, lying here with him like this. His hero, maybe the smartest and most compassionate man he'd ever met, cuddling up with him! He wrapped his arms around Byers and hugged him so tight that he felt the man's muscles suddenly tense up in pain. "Sorry," he whispered, his lips stretching into a grin against Byers's ear. He ran his fingers lightly down his friend's spine. Even without the benefit of Krycek's little toys, Byers shivered in response. The shiver transmitted itself into Jimmy's body and stimulated him all over. He squirmed, and their sweaty bodies slid pleasurably against each other, which set him off even more. He'd never experienced such intense pleasure without coming. He must be close. Byers began kissing his shoulder, which he felt all the way down to his fingertips. Byers began working his way slowly down his chest. The feeling kept building.

Then suddenly, nothing. Byers was kissing the center of his bare chest, and he hardly felt it. He might as well have been wearing six layers of clothes.

"What's wrong?" Byers asked, looking up. "Did I do something wrong?"

"No. It wore off. All of a sudden. No warning."

"The nanobots must all be running off molecular clocks and synched to each other."

He bent his knees slightly and wiggled his feet. "At least my legs work again."

"Want to see if you can walk now?" His sky-blue eyes looked down at Jimmy questioningly, seeming to plead with him to stay. A minute ago Jimmy had been eager to run outside into the sunlight and enjoy his freedom. But he could do that anytime. This moment with Byers might never come again.

"It can wait. I'd rather lie here with you awhile longer, if that's okay."

"I was hoping you'd say that."

"Really?" Jimmy hugged him, feeling only the faintest echo of the feeling of physical closeness he'd had before. "Man, it feels I'm like wearing armor, by comparison."

"Evolution designed us to be armored against the world."

"Yeah, I guess so." He nuzzled Byers's neck and inhaled his scent. At least he could still appreciate his other senses, which had never been revved up. They cuddled quietly for a little while.

"I have a feeling it's going to be a few days before I stop waking up from nightmares that he still has you," Byers said softly. "I imagined all kinds of tortures he was putting you through, even worse than the reality."

"You and me both. He really had me convinced he had you too." Before he thought better of it, he added half jokingly, "Maybe if we sleep next to each other for awhile, that won't happen."

To his delight, Byer's reply was "Sounds good to me." He sounded as surprised as Jimmy felt.

"Man," Jimmy murmured, "it's gonna be so great to get outside later today and be able to do stuff again. I think I want to spend the whole day tomorrow outside, doing stuff." He added shyly, "I'm hoping you'll do some of it with me."

"Oh, I think we can find some physical activities we enjoy doing together."

"That'll be fantastic," Jimmy whispered, excited at the idea of doing some fun things together with the man he was holding. Find a park and maybe toss a football around, or a Frisbee, or just go running. The possibilities were endless.

"Um, Jimmy?"

"Mmm?"

"I had a particular activity in mind. An indoor sport."

"Basketball?"

"No. What I'm trying to get at is, I'll bet there's one part of your body that's still as sensitive as the underside of your cock."

"Really?" No part of his body felt any more sensitive than normal.

"Yes. Exactly as sensitive." Byers scooted down and hooked his thumbs in the waistband of Jimmy's shorts.

"Oh." Now he got it: it was a riddle. What part of your body is exactly as sensitive as the underside of your cock? Answer: the underside of your cock. He said, "No way, buddy!"

"Oh, sorry, I thought--"

"It's your turn now."

"Oh. No, look, I want this to be for you, Jimmy. You're the one who--"

"Your turn!" Jimmy insisted, rolling their bodies over so that he was on top. Byers grunted and put up what Jimmy suspected was just a token resistance, but it was hard to tell. Man, it felt good to be able to move again! But not half as good as it felt to have a nearly naked Byers squirming under him. Soon to be completely naked. He grabbed his opponent's shorts. There was a brief uneven struggle, both of them laughing softly, and then Byers's shorts were in Jimmy's hand, and both his arms were pinned over his head by the other hand. Jimmy waved the shorts in front of his captive's face and grinned.

"You really don't have to--" Byers began, but lost track of what he was saying, softly moaning in response to what Jimmy's fingertips were doing to his balls. Or maybe it was Jimmy's lips on his throat that did the trick.

"Does this feel good?" Jimmy whispered.

"Incredibly good."

"What you did to me a little while ago? Figure that felt ten times better than this."

"Oh, god!"

Jimmy slowly moved his mouth down his throat, heading toward his chest.

"Jimmy?" Byers murmured. "Are you glad I was willing to do this with you?"

"Are you kidding? I never thought I'd be so lucky!"

"Figure that I feel at least as lucky."

"Really?"

"Really."

Jimmy basked in that reassurance as he continued inching his mouth slowly down his hero's exposed body, fully intending to take his own sweet time getting to his eventual destination. He had no idea what time of day it was or when checkout time was, but he was willing to risk Krycek getting stuck with an extra night on his motel bill.

The End