From: dmcintoshtx@yahoo.com   
      
    Title:  THE LAST CHRISTMAS   
   Author:  dmcintoshtx@yahoo.com   
   Fandom:  X-Files   
   Pairing:   Skinner/Krycek  &   Mulder/Tommy Lee    
   Rating:  NC-17    FRAO   
   Warning:  None   
   Disclaimer:  These characters belong to Chris Carter; I only wish they   
   were mine.   
   Summary:  Krycek has gone blind and is dying; can Skinner save him?    
   Does he even want to?  And how will Mulder's arrival change things?   
      
      
      
   THE LAST CHRISTMAS   
      
      
   Walter stood looking out his cabin window at the snow and welcomed the   
   on-coming blizzard.  He had plenty of firewood brought inside, a case   
   of scotch and enough food to feed an army stashed in his pantry so if   
   he was snowbound in for a week or so, oh well, he could live with   
   that.  He grinned at the thought.  Christmas was just two days away   
   and he was determined to spend it alone; not in the mood for his   
   friends company this year.  He could only take just so much of   
   everyone else being so happy and full of good cheer.     
      
   He swallowed the last of his drink and carried the empty glass to the   
   sink and rinsed it out.  The little tree he had cut and brought in was   
   sitting on the table waiting to be decorated.  He brought a box of   
   decorations down off the top shelf of the closet and started   
   decorating.  He felt a little silly doing a tree when there was no one   
   but him to see it but he did it anyway.  The radio station he had on   
   was playing some Christmas Carols and he was enjoying himself immensely.   
      
   He hadn't decorated a tree since he was a kid.  Christmas time with   
   Sharon had always meant a call to her decorator and a crew showing up   
   and doing the entire house inside and out; tree included.  It was   
   always very beautiful; like a picture out of a magazine but something   
   inside him always longed for the days when he and his sister and   
   brother would fight over who was going to put up which ornaments and   
   who got to put the star on top of the tree.  He was the youngest so he   
   didn't get to put the star on top until his last year at home before   
   joining the Marines.  He had grown 6 inches that year and finally   
   towered over both his older siblings.   
      
   He was glad that whoever owned the cabin before he bought it had left   
   the decorations.  He always thought he might use them but this was the   
   first Christmas he had been able to spend at the cabin.  The little   
   tree had been growing too close to the driveway and would have to be   
   taken down before too long anyway and it was ideally shaped.  It fit   
   perfectly on the little table at the end of the couch right in front   
   of the window.   
      
   He had just turned the tree lights on and stood to admire his efforts   
   when something caught his eye outside.  He squinted and stepped closer   
   to the window and he saw it again.  There was someone out there.    
   Someone walking up to the cabin and having a tough time of it; the   
   snow was nearly knee deep out there now.   
      
   He slipped into the bedroom and took his gun out of the night stand   
   drawer and slid it in the back of his jeans, pulling his flannel shirt   
   tail down over it.   
      
   The knock on the door startled him even though he was expecting it.    
   In the six years that he owned the cabin and been coming up there, no   
   one had ever knocked on his door.   
   The cabin was way out of the way, the driveway was difficult to spot;   
   you had to know where to look to find it; then there was the uphill   
   climb to the cabin.  The road was narrow and unpaved and now covered   
   with snow; how this person found his way up there was a mystery he was   
   about to find out.   
      
   He yanked the door open and came face to face with someone he had long   
   thought was dead.  Alex Krycek!   
      
   "KRYCEK!  I thought you were dead!  I put a bullet in your brain   
   myself!"  Skinner stood hands on hips and staring at this ghost from   
   the past.  "What the hell do you want and how did you find me?"   
      
   "That wasn't me; that was a clone.  I apologize for bothering you.  I   
   just need 15 minutes of your time and I'll be on my way.  Just 15   
   minutes; that's all I'm asking."   
      
   Walter scowled for a few moments then stepped aside to let his   
   unwelcome guest enter.  Alex stomped the snow off his boots and   
   brushed what he could off his shoulders before entering the warmth of   
   the cabin.     
      
   "15 minutes.  Then I want you out of here."   
      
   "You've got it."  Alex shook his head and pulled off his knit cap and   
   stuffed it in his pocket.  "May I?"  He nodded towards the fireplace.   
      
   "Go ahead.  14 minutes."  Walter stood, arms crossed and glaring at   
   the man huddled in front of his fire warming his hands.   
      
   Krycek sat on the hearth and pulled his backpack around in front of   
   him.  He reached inside and pulled out a package; gift wrapped with a   
   red bow.  He tossed it to Walter.   
      
   "What's this?"   
      
   "Open it and see for yourself."     
      
   "You brought me a present?"  Walter sneered.   
      
   "I did.  It's Christmas."   
      
   "I don't want anything from you Krycek but for you to be gone."  He   
   tossed the package back to Krycek.   
      
   Alex got up, picked the package up and handed it to Walter again.     
   "Please.  Open it.  You'll want this.  I guarantee it!"   
      
   Walter took the package and ripped the paper off.  He lifted the lid   
   off the small box and saw several computer disks; each one with the   
   name A.D. Skinner printed across the container.   
      
   "What the hell is this?"   
      
   "There are seven disks there; the original and six copies.  It's the   
   evidence Spender had against you; the film of you disposing of that   
   postal worker's body."   
      
   "Just what I was hoping for, for Christmas" Walter said sarcastically.     
      
   "That's all he had against you, Walter.  That's the original and all   
   the copies."   
      
   "How do you know this is all the copies?  He could have had a hundred   
   of these made up."   
      
   "I know because I was the photographer.  He doesn't know how to   
   operate any of the equipment.  Whenever he wants anything copied, he   
   has me do it for him.  He has nothing on you anymore; nothing!"  Alex   
   was having a hard time making Walter see the significance of the gift.   
      
   "Only six copies were made?"   
      
   "Yes!  Just those six."   
      
   "How did you get them?"   
      
   "Well now, that would take a lot of time to explain and I don't want   
   to use my 15 minutes up on that.  There's something else I wanted you   
   to see."   
      
   "What would that be?"  Walter asked, still thinking about the CDs.   
      
   "This," Alex reached into his bag and pulled out an envelope and   
   handed it to Walter.   
      
   Walter took it and pulled the letter out.  It was written on Bureau   
   letterhead and was signed by Director Janna Cassidy.     
      
   "To whom it may concern…."  It started out and went on to explain that   
   Alex Michael Krycek was an employee of hers and had been for the last   
   10 years and had been assigned undercover work with the Consortium and   
   that he had been granted full immunity for any actions during that   
   period.  The signature looked genuine.   
      
   "I can call and verify this."  Walter said.   
      
   "Go ahead," Alex said pressing his fingertips against his temple and   
   squeezing his eyes shut for a moment.   
      
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)