The Innocent
by The Emu
emu@zip.com.au

Big fat spoilers for Momento Mori and Max. I've only seen up to Max, though, 
so this may well contradict later episodes.

Summary: During Max, Skinner's deal with Cancerman raises its ugly head.
PG, Vignette

The X-Files and all characters in the following piece belong to the incredibly 
talented actors who play them, Chris Carter, 1013 and Fox. I use them without 
permission, but with lots of TLC. Kisses to you all.

Ooh, my first post-ep piece. Or more precisely, a missing scene. This takes 
place after Pendrell is put in the ambulance, but before Scully tells Mulder 
that our beloved Pendrell is dead. Not that Mulder seemed to give a damn.  }:-[ 

Forgive me if anyone's posted a similar story, I haven't read many post ep 
pieces yet. I hate the title, btw... anyone got a better one?

The Innocent
by The Emu
emu@zip.com.au

	~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~

Walter Skinner took a deep breath before pulling open the drawer. He hated 
these places. The stench of death. The cold detachment of the stainless steel. 
The cold.

The drawer rumbled open, surprisingly loud, echoing off the harsh walls. He 
took another breath and closed his eyes for a moment before reaching for the 
zip. Tugged back the black plastic and frowned.

Checked the label again. Brian Alastair Pendrell. His frown grew deeper. He 
rechecked the papers in his hand - yes, this was the right drawer. This body 
looked the right height, the right weight... even had a similar face to the lab 
tech. But there was no mistaking. This was not Brian Pendrell.

The whine of the morgue door pulled his gaze. The cancerman, calmly puffing, 
regarding Skinner for a moment before he sauntered over. "Such a tragedy."

Suddenly the room felt a lot colder.

Skinner's eyes narrowed, and he looked again at the corpse. "This isn't Agent 
Pendrell."

Lifeless grey eyes peered at the body in the drawer. "It looks like Agent 
Pendrell to me."

"This isn't Agent Pendrell."

The eyes lifted, set on the Assistant Director. The voice grew colder. "This is 
Agent Pendrell. I'm sure your report will reflect that."

An order.

"I can't do that."

The bastard pulled the cigarette from his lips and cocked an eyebrow. "Of 
course you can."

Walter Skinner clenched and unclenched his jaw. His hands were balled into 
fists, his knuckles white.

"You asked for a deal Mr Skinner. A life for a life, that's the deal."

Skinner felt as though he'd been punched in the gut. "I won't kill an innocent 
man."

"Will you kill Agent Scully?" He paused to take a long draw from the Morley. 
"Isn't that what you'd be doing? If you let her die?"

Anger washed over Skinner like a wave, tumbling, drowning him. He was 
almost swaying with the effort of holding his fists in check. Damnit. This 
bastard was playing him like an instrument. Which he was.

He wasn't. "I won't kill an innocent man."

The cancerman exhaled with what could almost have been a laugh. "If we 
wanted him dead he'd be lying in this drawer." He leaned forward, stubbed his 
cigarette out on the cold steel, and looked up to meet Skinner's glare. "I look 
forward to reading your report."

	~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~

Skinner could feel the smoke clinging to him like a pall as he dialed Scully's 
cell phone. Maybe she would be out of range.

It began to ring.

Maybe she wouldn't pick up.

"Scully."

"It's Walter Skinner. I'm sorry Scully. Agent Pendrell didn't make it."

	~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~


That's all. Short, I know, but I can not accept that CC & co bumped off 
Pendrell the way they did. I'm thinking of a sequel, but probably won't 
get around to it.
Comments, praise, e-mails of outrage about Pendrell's death to 
The Emu at emu@zip.com.au

						8^-