From: dmcintoshtx@yahoo.com   
      
   Title:  THE LOST SOUL                                                   
                                                               
   Author:  Donna McIntosh   
   Email:  dmcintoshtx@yahoo.com   
   Fandom:  X-Files   
   Pairing:  Skinner/Krycek   
   Rating:  NC – 17    FRAO   
   Genre:  Slash   
   Disclaimer: I do not own X-Files and I make no money off these stories.   
   Summary:  Skinner has a Near Death Experience and finds out he has one   
   lesson left to learn before he can pass on and that is the lesson of   
   forgiveness.  He must learn to forgive Alex Krycek.   
   Special thanks to Ursula for her great Beta job.     
      
      
   THE LOST SOUL   
      
   Walter Skinner had just taken the Crystal City off ramp and was   
   pleased to see the light green for a change.  He'd be home in another   
   ten minutes and he was thinking about re-heating some leftover Chinese   
   take out for dinner.  He debated whether or not to stop at the liquor   
   store and decided not to.  He'd have enough Scotch to last till the   
   weekend if he limited himself to two drinks a night.  He could do   
   that.  He never even saw the truck that hit him.  He sailed through   
   the green light and then there was an explosion and everything went black.   
      
   He was walking down a long path across a grassy green field.  The sun   
   was bright and diffused his surroundings into a fuzzy blur.  Nothing   
   was clear except the path in front of him.  He had a moment's wonder   
   at where he was but it passed in a flash.  The afternoon was warm and   
   the breeze was comfortably cool.  He spotted someone sitting at a desk   
   at the end of the path and thought he'd stop and ask where he was.   
      
   "Hello, you must be Walter.  Please, have a seat."  The man stood up   
   and greeted him with an out-stretched hand across the desk.   
      
   Walter took the hand and returned the greeting.  "Hi.  Yes, I'm Walter   
   Skinner.  And you are?"   
      
   "Peter.  We're strictly on a first name basis here.  Sit, please, so   
   we can talk."   
      
   "What are you doing out here?  You say you were expecting me?"  Walter   
   asked as he sat.   
      
   "Yes.  It's good to see you again."   
      
   "Again?  I've been here before?"   
      
   "Yes, but that was a long time ago and you were in pretty bad shape.    
   I doubt you remember.  You were a very angry young man at the time."   
      
   "I'm sorry."  Walter rubbed fingertips against his temple.  "I don't   
   remember."   
      
   "That's quite all right.  What exactly is it that you do remember?"     
      
   Walter leaned back in the chair and tried to put his thoughts in   
   order.  "I was driving home from work.  I was thinking about whether   
   or not to stop at the liquor store and then … I heard a loud noise, an   
   explosion, I think."   
      
   "So your mind is pretty clear up to the moment of impact then?"   
      
   "Impact?"   
      
   "The truck that came around the corner; the driver lost control and he   
   lost his life."   
      
   "He hit me?  The light was green, I remember that."   
      
   "You are correct.  You had the green light as you entered that   
   intersection.  He had the red.  But he was speeding and when he hit   
   his brakes at the last minute, they failed."   
      
   Walter was confused.  "If I was broadsided, why wasn't I injured?  Why   
   aren't I in a hospital?"   
      
   "Oh, but you were and you are."  Peter said and with a wave of his arm   
   a small cloud appeared over the desk and opened up.  Walter could see   
   himself lying in a hospital bed – Mulder and Scully at his bedside.   
      
   "What the … What is this?  Where am I?"  Walter leaned closer to the   
   scene and he could hear Scully praying and see Mulder pacing the floor   
   behind her.  "What's going on here?"   
      
   "You haven't figured that out yet?"  Peter said with a gentle smile.   
      
   "Am I … dead?"   
      
   "No.  But you're close.  I thought it was time the two of us had   
   another chat.  You're not an angry young man any more.  You've lived a   
   fine life and you are at a crossroad now."   
      
   "Crossroad?  What kind of crossroad?"   
      
   "You have a choice to make."   
      
   "What kind of choice?"   
      
   "You have learned many lessons during your different life times on   
   earth.  You have one left to learn before I can let you in."   
      
   "Let me in?  Where?"   
      
   "Why, Heaven, of course."  Another wave of his arm and Walter saw    
   beautiful pearly white gates over to the side.  He could see green   
   grass and flowers and heard the most beautiful tinkling music he had   
   ever heard coming from beyond the gate.   
      
   Walter sat with his mouth open in wonder.  "It's beautiful!" he said   
   with awe.  "So what is this last lesson that I have to learn before I   
   can enter?"   
      
   " Forgiveness – you must learn how to forgive."   
      
   "Forgiveness?  Do you have any idea what I've been through?"  Walter   
   stood and began to pace.   
      
   "As a matter of fact, I do."  Peter leaned back and addressed Walter   
   with a grin.  "I know your complete record from the day you were born.   
    I know it all; the good and the bad."   
      
   "There wasn't all that much bad."  Walter defended himself.  "I   
   suppose you're talking about my time in Nam?"   
      
   "I am; among other things."   
      
   "What other things?  What?"  Walter demanded.   
      
   "Everyone makes mistakes, Walter.  We have all done things that we   
   regret; that we wish we could change or make up for.  This is your   
   chance to wipe the slate clean."   
      
   "What do I have to do?"     
      
   "We have another soul who is about to be lost for good.  Without   
   someone's immediate intervention his soul will be doomed forever."    
   Another wave of his arm and another vision opened up.  He could see   
   another desk a long ways off, and sitting behind it was the grinning   
   beast from hell himself, Satan.  His gnarled face was as red as the   
   scene from behind his black iron gate where Walter could see the   
   bubbling cauldron of molten lava and the bodies shrieking in terror   
   and pain as they eddied and swirled in the depths, clawing at the   
   sides and trying to climb out.  A glance back at Satan and Walter   
   could see he was enjoying himself watching the scene before turning   
   his eyes to Walter.  He smiled his evil smile and crooked a finger at   
   Walter, beckoning him closer.   
      
   Walter stood where he was and gasped as the foul stench of burning   
   flesh reached his nostrils.   
      
   "How can I help?"  Walter sat back down and leaned forward towards Peter.   
      
   "You have worked long and hard all your life to achieve your many   
   accomplishments."   
      
   "Yes, I have.  I've worked damn hard to get where I am.  What has that   
   got to do with anything?"   
      
   "Many opportunities came your way and you jumped on each one using   
   them as stepping stones to get where you find yourself right now."   
      
   "I'm not following."   
      
   "You were offered opportunities, you took advantage of them and things   
   worked out for you."   
      
   "That's right."   
      
   "Others were also offered opportunities which they took advantage of   
   and sometimes they didn't work out."   
      
   "I see.  What you're saying is that I was lucky."   
      
   "You were lucky as well as being a hard worker.  You grew up in a   
   family that loved you, you were popular in school and good grades came   
   easy to you.  You came back from a war that many didn't, and you came   
   back intact both physically and mentally.  You had the best medical   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)