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Mulder and Scully raced toward the couch, grinning like children
on Christmas morning.
All right, all right. They *were* children on Christmas
morning.
They sat down, wriggling. Mulder nudged her arm playfully.
"You first, Scully."
"Oh, no way, Mulder," she answered, smiling eagerly. "You
first."
"Okay .. okay. Let's see ... " He leaned forward onto his
knees, making a show of shaking it next to his ear again.
"Well, it *sounds* like a videotape ... " He turned his head to
grin at her again. "Scully, you didn't get me 'Sci-Fi Babes
Gone Wild,' did you?"
"Well, it was a close thing." Scully smiled mysteriously,
kicked off her shoes, and crossed her legs on the coffee table.
"I looked at it, and I thought to myself, you know, I bet he's
already got that .. "
Mulder's eyebrows shot up. "You mean there really *is* a .. ?"
Scully laughed and swatted his arm with her gift. "C'mon, open
it. I'm getting impatient here."
Mulder chuckled as he ripped the paper off his gift, then held
it up to read the title. It was indeed a videotape. He blinked
in surprise.
"Scully, how'd you – how'd you know I wanted this?" It was a
PBS special miniseries on "ancient astronauts" – the idea that
archeological relics show evidence of visitation by
extraterrestrials to civilizations around the globe, from the
ancient Egyptians to the Maya. "I've been trying to get a copy
ever since it aired!"
"Oh, you know." Scully shrugged. She was beaming. "I was at
the video store, and it just had your name on it."
"Wow. Thank you, Scully." Mulder couldn't stop grinning. He
leaned toward Scully as though kissing her was the most natural
thing in the world to do right then – but caught himself halfway
there and turned the gesture into a stretch, draping his arm
across the back of the sofa behind her. "My Christmas plans
just got a whole lot more exciting."
Scully scooted around and looked back at him, frowning. "Mulder
– do you really have nowhere to go tomorrow?"
Mulder glanced down and tugged at his ear. "Well, I-I was
planning to sleep until about two, watch depressing Christmas
television and play violent video games for a few hours, then
maybe I'll let Frohike talk me into getting smashed with the
boys ... but now I've got this great new movie to keep my mind
off it, and you still haven't opened your present, Scully, and
why do you ask?"
"Oh, just something a hallucination said to me tonight." Scully
couldn't stay serious for long as she eased the wrapping off her
short, cylindrical gift. "Mulder, you shouldn't have. An empty
toilet paper roll?"
"Well, I couldn't find a box the right size." Now Mulder's face
was alight with anticipation. "You have to look inside."
She held the tube up to her eye telescope-style. "I don't see
anything, Mulder. It's all dark."
Mulder was practically bouncing with suspense, though he knew
full well what was in it. "Scull-eeee .. "
"All right, all right, calm down." She nudged him playfully,
giggling, as she plucked out the crumpled newspaper scraps one
by one. Finally, she pulled out a small square of black
plastic, and turned it over.
"Oh, my God." Scully ran her fingers over the plain gold cross
earrings. Inexplicably, she felt tears start to form at the
corners of her eyes. "Mulder, they're beautiful."
"I thought they'd match your necklace," he said, smiling. He
reached forward to touch the cross at her throat, and caught
sight of her face. "Scully, what's wrong? I'm sorry, maybe I,
I shouldn't have – "
"Shut up, Mulder." She turned and hugged him fiercely, tightly.
"It's the perfect gift and I love them. I'll wear them
tomorrow."
Mulder raised his eyebrows in bemusement and slowly, happily,
put his arms around Scully and gathered her close. "I'm glad."
Scully held his shoulders at arm's length and quirked her mouth
mischievously. "Does this mean the next time we run into
somebody claiming to be the Second Coming, you'll listen to my
ideas?"
Mulder grinned back and thumped his video. "May-be. Does
*this* mean if I want us to go to Egypt next weekend and stake
out some ancient gods, you won't try to talk me out of it?"
They both laughed. "Better gods than ghosts, I guess," Scully
answered.
Mulder leaned his head back against the wall and closed his
eyes, smiling, content, enjoying the moment and the knowledge
that Scully was sitting beside him. She eyed him pensively,
glad that she'd made him happy tonight, considering. She put
her hand on his.
"Mulder, why don't you come to Mom's house with me in the
morning?"
He opened one eye and looked at her for a moment. "All right.
I'd like that. I think."
They stared at each other.
"Um," Scully fumbled. "I would have asked you weeks ago – I was
sure you'd have plans. You're welcome there any time, you know
.. "
"Yeah. Your mom's mentioned that .. "
After another moment, Mulder eased his hand out from under hers,
put the video on the coffee table, and stood up. "It's after
two. You probably want to go home and sleep .. what time to do
we need to leave tomorrow, anyway?"
"Well." Scully looked abashed. "Roll call's at 6 AM. Mom
lives in Annapolis – it'll take at least an hour to get there.
Pick you up at - five?"
"Yipe!" Mulder chuckled. "Now I understand your lack of
enthusiasm earlier ... All right, then. ... Want some egg nog
before you go?"
Scully blinked. "Uh, sure."
"I picked it up this afternoon – when I got your present," he
called on his way to the kitchen. "Egg nog's always been one of
my favorite things about Christmas."
Mulder put two glasses on the counter and opened the fridge. He
turned, startled, egg nog in hand, when he saw Scully appear in
the doorway. "Oh! I was gonna bring it in to you."
Scully leaned her head against the doorframe, arms crossed, and
bit at her lower lip. "Mulder .. a couple hours of sleep won't
do me much good tonight. Your movie in there is two hours long.
I have a change of clothes in the car ... what do you say we
just make a night of it?"
Mulder stopped mid-pour and turned toward her, slightly shocked,
mouth half open. Slowly, a broad smile spread across his face.
"Scully, you are really surprising me tonight." He gave his
head a quick shake. "Yes, that sounds great. Why don't you go
out and get your things, and I will make some popcorn, and set
up the movie?"
Scully smiled mischievously back. "Don't forget to finish
pouring, too, Mulder."
"Oh – right." He looked sheepishly down. He was still holding
the carton of egg nog poised above the glasses. He set it down.
Scully stepped forward and put her hands on his arm. "You
surprise me sometimes too, Mulder." She quickly stood on tiptoe
and kissed his cheek. "Be right back."
Mulder watched her go, paralyzed. He was sure he had a silly
grin on his face. What had she said earlier? "Maybe I did want
to be out there with you ... " /Maybe she does want to be in
here with me .../
xxxxxxx
When Scully came back inside, she was surprised to find almost
all of the lights turned off, and the living room looking tidy –
particularly the coffee table, which instead of its usual jumble
of papers held only a large bowl of popcorn and two glasses.
She put her bag down by the door. "Wow, Mulder," she said,
shrugging out of her coat. "This has to be one of the fastest
cleaning jobs in history."
"Not really." He tried and failed to catch a popcorn kernel in
his mouth. "I just started a new pile." He nodded at his desk
chair, which indeed looked on the verge of collapse. Scully
rolled her eyes. "C'mon, sit down, movie's about to start."
Mulder indicated the seat next to him on the couch.
Scully kicked her shoes off and sat down, curling her legs
underneath her, and tucked a nearby blanket around her body.
"You cold?" Mulder asked, concerned.
"It's snowing a little." She smiled at him. "It'll be pretty
in the morning. But no, I'm fine."
Scully shifted closer to Mulder and picked up her glass. "Thank
you for letting me stay tonight. Every time I close my eyes I
see the two of us, dead, under the floorboards..." She shivered
and took a sip.
"Huh," Mulder chuckled humorlessly. "Me, too. Worse than
that, I keep seeing you with blood pouring down your front. ...
I didn't really want to be alone tonight, either ... I'm sorry I
dragged you out there." He turned toward her seriously and
looked into her eyes. "Scully, you know that whatever happens,
I would never, ever shoot you. Right?" /Even if it would mean
we'd be together forever/, he mentally added.
She smiled at him waveringly. "I know. I couldn't believe it
tonight. Maybe that's why it wasn't real ... But, like you
said, I don't want to be alone." She leaned against him and
rested her head on his shoulder. "I'm glad we were there,
though. I learned some things. But I don't want to think about
it anymore. Start the movie, Mulder."
He wrapped his arm around her, and complied.
xxxxxxx
An hour later, as the first segment ended and the Nasca lines
faded into credits, Scully was snoring loudly. Mulder smiled to
himself; he loved to watch her sleep. She looked so different,
no concerns lining her face, so peaceful. He reached over to
brush an errant hair off of her forehead, and as he tucked it
behind her ear, he noticed a hint of gold, and realized she was
wearing the new earrings. His smile broadened, and this time,
he did kiss the top of her head, taking in the scent of her
hair. /You do surprise me sometimes, Scully./
Scully must have noticed his touch, because she murmured and
started shifting in her sleep. Mulder thought he could make out
the words "lie down" .. and when she was finished moving, and
smacking her lips, she was nestled comfortably on her side, head
pillowed on Mulder's thigh.
He dropped his hand to her shoulder, sighed contentedly, and
turned his eyes back to the television.
xxxxxxx
Scully woke when the video ended, gasped, and quickly sat up,
rubbing at her eyes. "Is it – what time is it? Oh, my
goodness, I didn't mean to go to sleep. Did I – "
"Yeah, you missed it." Mulder was chuckling at her. "Don't
worry, though; I'll fill you in on the flight to Cairo."
Scully raised an eyebrow and looked at him askance.
"Kidding – kidding!" He raised his hands defensively, laughing.
"It's 4:30. We should get going. I'll make some coffee." He
stood up.
Scully sighed tolerantly, smiling in spite of herself. "All
right. I should call Mom, then I'll wash up, and then, we need
to go."
She picked up the phone, dialed, and Mulder could hear her
talking from the kitchen, as he readied the coffee pot and
brushed his teeth.
"Hi, Mom, it's me ... I didn't wake anyone else, did I? ...
Good. ... No, no, everything's ok, we're just about to leave. I
wanted to let you know I'm bringing Mulder after all. ... " She
laughed. "Yes, Mom, I promise, we won't talk about work *at
all*. ... Yeah, we're leaving in a few minutes. We'll be there
a little after six, at the latest. ... Bill and Charlie and
everyone made it in all right? ... Good. ... Okay. Merry
Christmas. ... I love you too, Mom. Bye."
She put down the phone to find Mulder staring at her pensively
from the doorway, a coffee mug in each hand.
"You know, I envy you, Scully," he said seriously, passing hers
over.
She smelled the coffee, and cocked her head at him. "Oh?"
Mulder shook his head. "I haven't spoken to my mother in over a
year. And I can't even imagine what Christmas there would be
like. We haven't had a – we haven't a, well, a *happy*
Christmas together since before, before Samantha was taken." He
gulped his coffee.
"Mulder .. " she looked at him. "I wondered, but I didn't want
to ask."
"It's okay, Scully. It's just – you have such a wonderful
family. Thank you for sharing it with me, every so often." He
set the mug down and headed into his bedroom, to find a change
of clothes.
Scully sipped her coffee and stared after him, thinking.
xxxxxxx
They were both dressed and spruced up in no time, and as she
waited for Mulder to pick out a tie, Scully leaned over his desk
and peered out the window. In the very early light of dawn, and
the streetlamps' glow, she could see – "Mulder, it's still
snowing!"
She knew she should be annoyed, the roads would be even worse
than usual, but somehow, this morning, the snow only made her
happy.
"Is it really?" He leaned over her shoulder, pulling on his
overcoat. He grinned. "Great! I'll race you to the car."
She ducked under his arm and took off, laughing. "You've gotta
lock the door!"
"Oh, no way." He caught her by the waist on the threshold.
"That would not be fair at all." Mulder turned the key and
released her, and they charged up the hall, laughing, and
pummeled down the stairs.
Scully reached the car first. "Ah-hah! Mulder!" She turned
around to meet him – and caught a snowball in the gut. "Oh, no,
you did *not* just .. "
She scooped one up and lobbed it at him, but he ducked, grinned,
stuck his tongue out, and jogged around the corner of the
building. Scully sighed and gave chase, grabbing another
handful of snow along the way.
She tackled him in a snowdrift next to the front steps, and as
they tumbled, she rubbed the snow into his hair. Scully ended
up on top. Tiny snowflakes clung to every strand of Mulder's
hair, and his nose and cheeks were red. He looked ecstatic. "I
win," she grinned triumphantly. "Come on, now, let's go."
Scully stood up, brushed herself off, and offered him a hand.
He took it and pulled himself up, shook off his coat, and ran a
hand through his hair. "Yeesh, that's cold. What'd you do to
me, Scully?"
"Oh, and who started it?" She grabbed his hand again, giggling,
and led him back to the car. "I seem to remember ..."
"Lies, all lies! It was the bounty hunter, Scully! He
shapeshifted to look like me, and he threw a snowball at you,
and then he stuck his tongue out! It was so rude! I wanted to
take him out right there but I didn't have a .. Scully ..
Scully, don't you believe me?"
She was looking at him again, with an eyebrow raised, and trying
desperately not to smile. She unlocked the driver's side and
started to get in. "Merry Christmas, Mulder."
"Awww ... well .. Merry Christmas, Scully." He sat down and
closed the door behind him, and they drove off happily into the
sunrise.
Fin.