Mulder and Skinner meet in their usual motel to exchange some information, enjoy a little downtime together, and... well, the other motel guests don't have a lot of respect for their needs.

Scully's away. Mulder's stuck in the office, and he's bored and depressed. That can only lead to trouble... or an overactive imagination.

"Mirror, mirror, on the wall. Who is the fairest of them all?"

The war is over, the aliens have won, and Alex Krycek is the one left standing after all the betrayals and fighting are done. He can make anything he wants happen. Some days, however, all he can see is the one thing he can't have.

When Nick Knight was a human, like most others of his age and station, he was betrothed. Almost eight hundred years later, Madelaine de Sarre reappears. Her Master is insane. The Enforcers won't do anything against him without proof that he's a danger to vampires. And Madelaine's in Toronto to kill him.

Alex Krycek considers his present and his future while undergoing punishment from the Syndicate and additional training from his captor, the Englishman.