Title: Snow Angels

Author: Theresa J

Email: theresacarol1013@yahoo.com

Category: X-file

Spoilers: None

Information: This was written for the VS11

Winter Special. Two weeks exclusively at the

VS11 site, then archiving permission is open.

Just let me know before you do!

Disclaimer: The X-files, Mulder, Scully and

Skinner all belong to Chris Carter, Ten Thirteen

Productions, etc, etc. I don’t own them, just

borrowing them for a while.

Feedback: Please and thank you!

theresacarol1013@yahoo.com

* * * * * * *

SNOW ANGELS

* * * * * * *

December 23, 2003

Edgefield Elementary School

4:15 p.m.

The snow was turning pink. Pink was Emma

Wellner’s favorite color, and the sinking sun

had made the world a warm, rosy tint despite the

cold. After a full day of sledding, Emma’s

waterproof pants were not so waterproof anymore.

She could feel the cold wetness beginning to

seep through to her knees, darker splotches

marking the pants where she kneeled too long in

the snow. A similar feeling was beginning to

make her butt numb. It was almost time to go

home.

But she wanted to do one more run. Most of the

other kids dragged their saucers and sleds up

the hill, leaving one more set of footprints as

they trudged up the already pock-marked slope to

meet their parents in the parking lot nearby.

The best place in town to go sledding on a snow

day was, ironically, at Emma’s school. Right by

the gym, there was a steep hill that bottomed

out into a fairly small field that wasn’t really

used for anything. Sometimes, during the last

weeks of school, Emma’s class would eat lunch

out in that field because it was too warm inside

on a mid-June day. It was lined with trees that

provided wonderful cool shade for picnics, as

well as creating a barrier to the soccer field

beyond. The middle-schoolers played there. It

would be another four years before she would be

attending that school.

Emma grasped the icy string attached to her

saucer through heavily insulated mittens, and

began her ascent to the top of the hill. She

smushed the red plastic saucer down into the

well-packed snow, already feeling round icy

chunks beginning to form beneath as evening came

on. This last run might be a bumpy ride.

As she was about to push off, she heard a car

horn. Behind her, off in the parking lot, was

her father waving through the window of their

station wagon. He pointed at his wrist,

pantomiming that it was time to go.

“One more, Dad!!” she yelled back to him.

He answered with an “okay” sign, then a stern

index finger indicating that this was the

absolute final trip down the hill.

She pushed off. It started off bumpy, as she’d

expected. So many kids sledding in one area

walking through established saucer tracks made

the slide down unpredictable. She hit a big bump

near to the bottom of the hill, and she glided

through the air.

She braced herself for the big thump when

gravity would pull her back down to the earth,

but she felt no hard landing. She continued to

skim across the snow, sprays of powder

glittering across her cheeks and lips. She kept

going and going, until she was travelling

through the copse of trees at the very edge of

the field. This must be the farthest any kid had

gone all day! And darn it, there was no one left

to see it!

The saucer spun and slowly came to a stop. Emma

now sat in the middle of the adjacent soccer

field, admiring the long single track behind her

that ran from her schoolyard, through the trees,

and ending in her present location. The snow

made a creaking noise as she shifted her weight

to get up.

No other kids had been here. The snow was a

wide, perfectly flat expanse of white. Emma felt

like she had found something special. This place

was secret, and she’d found it. Nobody else had

been here except her today.

As small children do, Emma imagined that she was

in a fantasyland for a few moments. This place

was all hers. She threw herself back onto the

powdery snow as if she were plunging back onto

the softest mattress. The thousands of

snowflakes beneath her were like feathers, cool

and light as she swung her arms up and down. She

felt as if she were flying into the darkness

above as the sky turned from pink to orange and

then the deep purplish blue of twilight.

Small pinpricks of light bled through the

darkness to form stars. One star, off to the

left became brighter. Emma knew from her

Columbus Day lessons a few months back that

sailors would use the North Star to guide

themselves across the ocean because it was the

brightest star in the sky. Emma guessed this

must be it.

She remained lying on the ground, swishing her

arms and legs through the snow. Then she

remembered her father, waiting for her in the

parking lot. Sighing heavily, Emma resigned

herself to getting up and going home, reluctant

to leave her secret place in the snow.

It was really dark now. Emma could barely see

the track she had left with her snow saucer, and

wondered if what little light there was from the

stars was enough to guide her through the trees

and up the hill to her waiting father.

A small niggle of worry began to grow inside

her, and she stumbled often as her gait became

faster. The saucer she dragged behind skipped

and bounced on the snow, slowing her down. When

she got to the trees, she couldn’t see anything

beyond the tree trunks. She didn’t even see any

headlights atop the hill she knew was not far

beyond. Where was her father? Now she *was*

scared.

“Daddy!” she yelled out toward nothing. “Daddy,

come find me! I’m lost!”

She turned back toward the soccer field in

panic, and saw the North Star glittering above

the horizon. Could the North Star help her find

her way?

The thought had barely crossed her mind when the

light from what Emma thought was the North Star

grew brighter. She blinked at it, thinking that

the tears blurring her eyes were just playing

tricks on her.

But the light grew, and grew — brighter and

brighter. And then it began to move towards her.

“Daaaaaaddeeeeee!”

*****

December 26, 2003

Wellner household

3:40 p.m.

“She came back, Scully. She was taken the day

before Christmas Eve, and she came back in time

to go to midnight mass with her family and open

presents beside the tree.”

Scully gazed through the kitchen pass-through

window into the Wellner’s living room where Emma

dozed in front of the television, hugging the

new Care Bear she’d gotten yesterday morning.

“Mulder, the girl looks fine to me. She’s home

safe, unharmed and enjoying her Christmas

vacation. Whatever happened here is over.” Her

voice was barely above a whisper, kept low so as

not to attract attention from Emma or her

parents, who sat nervously just on the other

side of the wall.

“But she saw a LIGHT in the sky!” Mulder

countered, emphasizing “light” a little too

loudly.

Scully shushed him silently and touched his arm.

She checked through the window again to see if

anyone had become alarmed. No one had moved, but

Scully was almost positive she could feel the

air becoming electric with tension.

She stood up straight to her full height and

pulled him closer to her. Now she was

whispering, “We have their statements. The

parents told us their story and Emma told us

hers. Now we have to take it from here. They

can’t help us any further.”

Mulder’s cheeks sucked in, tightening the skin

in rebellion against his inner turmoil.

Scully’s hand squeezed his arm tighter, a silent

response that said, ‘I know you’re excited, but

we should leave.’

He nodded and moved past her to thank the

Wellner family, and to leave his card with cell

phone number in case they ever wanted to reach

him.

“Merry Christmas,” Scully said with a polite

smile as the Wellners closed the door behind

them.

The smell of flavorful wood smoke from chimneys

filled the crisp December air. Dried salt

pellets crunched beneath the agents’ feet on the

path as they walked back to their car. The snow

from three days ago had not melted yet, and the

few icy patches left from inefficient shoveling

made Scully glad she was wearing boots with

treads on the soles.

“I want to go see this soccer field,” Mulder

commented to the air. He was watching the sky

for clouds. The weather report had called for

more snow this weekend.

“What do you expect to find?”

“I don’t know yet. Something. Tracks, maybe.

Other markings in the snow, or signs of

radiation left over on the trees. The usual.” He

was extremely nonchalant about his statements,

almost as if he were trying to play it off as

not a big deal.

“Mulder.”

He inhaled deeply one last time, memorizing the

smell of the air before they had to climb into

the musty pine-scented car, then turned to

finally give his attention to Scully. He raised

his eyebrows in question.

“So what is this, just your normal run-of-the

mill alien abduction? Is that what you think

this is?”

Mulder shrugged.

“A minute ago you were dying to pick that little

girl’s brain for any inkling that it could have

been an abduction. Now its ‘I don’t know?'” She

raised her own eyebrows back at him, but hers

were more incredulous than questioning.

“Yes, okay? I do think this was an alien

abduction, or I hope it is.” He leaned his butt

on the trunk of the car, shoving his hands into

his pockets.

“‘I don’t know,'” he continued, “because it’s

extremely random. Nothing else has happened

surrounding Emma’s disappearance. No sightings

have been reported. She is a little girl, and

she could have just run away for a night, or she

could have hidden out at a friend’s house. There

are a million possibilities. My big question is,

if Mr. Wellner was less than 200 yards away from

his daughter that evening, why didn’t he see

this enormous light or hear his own child’s

scream?”

“And why,” Scully added, following his train of

thought, “is Emma completely at peace? She says

she doesn’t remember any time lapse, but she’s

not afraid of anything either — no paranoia

like we usually see. Do you find that strange?”

Mulder looked down at her, then back toward the

Wellner’s front porch, decked with multi-colored

lights and a big fresh wreath hanging on the

door.

“Yes, I do.”

*****

December 26, 2003

Edgefield Elementary School

4:06 p.m.

There was a bitter wind at the top of the hill

next to Edgefield Elementary School. Not a sign

of one sledder was out today. Mulder imagined

they’d all been instructed to come home, or were

playing video games in warm cozy family rooms.

A gust of wind kicked up and Scully hissed

through her teeth at the chill. She fumbled in

her pockets for gloves and quickly pulled them

onto her frozen fingers.

“Come on and jump on my back, little lady! You

know, ‘I’m the fastest belly-whoppah in the

Northern Hemisphere!'” Mulder quoted from an old

Frosty the Snowman cartoon.

Scully looked him up and down, judging his

capacity as a “belly-whopper.”

“I think we have enough daylight left to walk

it, cowboy.”

They began their descent, taking careful note of

the sleigh tracks and footprints. Most of the

prints ended at the bottom of the hill clumped

in short arcs where children must have jumped up

at the end of their rides, to run back up the

hill immediately. Past that, the snow was

completely flat, interrupted only by a small

track left by a rabbit or where icicles had

fallen from the tree branches.

They studied the entire field, but only found

their own tracks in the snow as they doubled-

back to their original spot.

“Do you not notice something here, Scully?”

“Yup,” she said, scrutinizing the snow as if she

could invoke Emma’s trail into existence. Then

she blinked against another gust of wind, eyes

tearing from the icy air as she looked to Mulder

for their next move.

“Let’s take a trip over to the soccer field.”

Navigating through the trees was easier than

they had expected. There were several small

trails that cut through the trees for easy

access to both fields. Still, there were no

signs of footprints.

The sun was close to setting at this hour, and

the ground was painted with cool blue shadows

and warm pink streaks of sunlight. Upon emerging

from the trees they found the soccer field to be

a pure, untainted expanse of snow, just as Emma

had a few days ago. They remained at the edge,

unwilling to destroy the beauty of it.

“Nothing,” Mulder stated.

“Wait…” Scully squinted her eyes at the

setting sun, the narrow rays extremely harsh and

bright right before sinking below the horizon.

The edges of the clouds seemed afire with bright

pink light. And on the perfect, smooth surface

of the snow before them, similar vibrant lines

began to glow with just the right angle of the

sunlight.

They both gasped.

In the center of the field were small, about

four-foot long impressions. The edges of the

impressions, the outlines of the holes in the

snow, blazed as if they were edged in delicate

neon lights. They were the shapes left behind by

small children who had made snow angels.

“There were more of them?” Mulder asked.

After a brief moment, her mouth working

noiselessly as she counted, Scully answered.

“There are twelve of them.”

“Magic numbers from the Bible?”

Scully stood silent, staring out at the

impossible landscape.

“Twelve apostles, 12,000 from each tribe of

Israel, the woman with twelve stars on her crown

facing the dragon…” Mulder rattled off

factoids, theorizing out loud, excited that this

might be some kind of communication from the

stars.

“Mulder, please stop,” she said, her breath

nearly taken away. She only half-listened to her

partner, trying desperately to avoid falling

into an intellectual discussion over Catholicism

while facing a completely inexplicable *natural*

anomaly. “It might not be… *that.*”

Mulder inhaled to begin his argument against

her, but stopped himself. He watched her staring

at the field, the moisture dappling her lashes.

It wasn’t just the cold that was making her eyes

tearful. Perhaps it was the influence of the

Christmas season. Perhaps he had gone too far,

too quickly for Scully to handle the idea.

He shut his mouth tightly, took her hand and

squeezed it in reassurance. She looked up into

his eyes, understanding apparent in them.

“You ready to go take a look?” He asked.

She nodded in reply.

They both took the first step together, the

slightest crunch breaking the thin icy coating

atop the snow and the silence.

And the snow angels disappeared.

“No!” Mulder exclaimed in a desperate raspy

whisper.

He let go of Scully’s hand and ran toward the

center of the field where the impressions had

been. The snow kicked up behind him as he

crashed through the six inches of powder,

completely destroying the unblemished landscape.

Scully lagged behind at a slower pace, but

followed him nonetheless.

“You saw them, didn’t you, Scully?” He turned in

place, searching the snow. Then kneeling down,

he skimmed his hand over the white surface,

hoping to feel what he could not see. His hand

became pink and wet from sifting the snow

through his fingers too long.

Then a gloved hand touched his arm. He got up in

response, facing Scully with a thousand

questions in his head. He fought to pin down

just one, and finally realized that they all

were the same question.

“Why?”

“I don’t know,” she answered lamely, noticing

the mess of footprints they’d left behind them.

The moment was lost. “Maybe we were only meant

to have a glimpse of it.”

Mulder huffed, dissatisfied with that answer. He

could, however, not think of a better one

himself. He looked around them, then.

“Never thought a soccer field could be so

magical.” He returned his gaze toward Scully,

her face solemn, but alive with the frost making

her cheeks a mottled pink. “It is beautiful,

isn’t it?”

“Yes,” she said, “It is.”

He leaned in, and brushed her cheek with the

backs of his fingers. She smiled at that. It was

a radiant smile that seemed to make her face

glow. Mulder fancied that she was actually

filling herself up with light, just for him. He

could see every hair on her head, every faint

freckle on her nose, every eyelash.

But it was getting dark. The sun had set the

moment they’d walked onto the field. How could

he be seeing all this detail? He realized then,

that there *was* more light. He saw Scully’s

eyes move a fraction of a millimeter away from

his face, just to his left. His reflection shone

in her irises, outlined by a light that glowed

behind him.

By the time Mulder turned to see the light, it

was all over.

****

“What was that, Scully?”

She didn’t answer right away.

“What was that?” Mulder asked again.

She shook her head, doubtful of her answer

before she even said it. “It was what Emma saw.

I don’t know how else to explain it.”

“That’s it? But we didn’t even… That can’t be.

There has to be more than this!”

He stood with his hands on his hips, his face

turned up to watch the stars come out above.

They shone with an extra brilliance since the

moon had not risen yet. “What is it that’s out

there? What was this all about?”

“Mulder.”

She put her arm around his waist and her head

into the little crook between his chest and

shoulder. He took one hand off his hip and

instead used it to cradle Scully’s shoulders.

“Can we just let this one go?” she said in a

quiet, but not timid voice.

Mulder expected himself to argue with the

decision. He would normally have been determined

to come back the next day and see if it would

happen again. An encounter such as this,

something that could have been an encounter with

extra-terrestrials was too good to miss. But he

found himself accepting Scully’s suggestion. He

thought that it was right.

“Yeah,” he said, “okay.”

They made their way back, stepping in the tracks

they had already made in the snow. As they

approached the trees they noticed blue, red and

white lights flashing at the top of the hill

near Edgefield Elementary. The local police had

surrounded their car, and were shining

floodlights down the hill.

Mulder and Scully had to shield the blinding

light as they ran up the slope, curious to find

out what had happened. There were way too many

police cars for it to be a simple parking

violation.

“What seems to be the problem, officer,” Mulder

asked the nearest man in uniform who held a

megaphone in one hand, and reached for his

holster with the other. Mulder lifted his hands

up in reaction to the officer’s movements.

“What are you doing here? We’re conducting a

search for–” The officer cut his sentence

abruptly and grabbed the flashlight, instead of

his gun from the holster. He shone it into

Mulder’s face. “It’s you!”

“It’s me?”

The officer moved the light to Scully’s face,

causing her to squint. “And it’s you, too!”

Mulder looked at Scully, and she looked back at

him. He went to pull his ID out of his pocked

and began to introduce himself. “I’m agent–”

“Fox Mulder and Dana Scully,” the officer

finished for him.

“I didn’t know we had become celebrities in this

town,” Mulder quipped.

The officer put down his flashlight. “We were

called in to begin a search party for you two

last night by an Assistant Director Walter

Skinner. When he couldn’t reach you on your cell

phones or at the motel you had checked into, he

sent out a search party.”

The space between Mulder’s eyebrows contracted

as he filtered this information. “But we’d only

spoken to him this morning.”

“According to A.D. Skinner, you’d spoken to him

two days ago. He’d expected you to report in

yesterday.”

“I don’t understand.”

“We’ve been looking for you since Saturday

morning, Agent Mulder.”

“Wait a minute,” Scully interjected. “What’s

today?”

“Sunday, the 28th.”

Scully glanced down at her watch, at the little

box that showed the date where the “3” would

have been. “Mulder, he’s right.” It was also

8:12 at night.

The officer left the two agents to go gather up

his men. They heard him call out toward the

field with his megaphone, “It’s all over, boys!

We found them!”

After promising the officer that they’d meet him

at the police station to fill out some

paperwork, Mulder and Scully sat in their car,

waiting for it to warm up. They were not

surprised that it took some time, nor that they

had to brush a few inches of snow off the

windshield that wasnÕt there when they had left

it. There was snow forecasted for this weekend,

after all.

The headlights illuminated the tree branches

ahead, the pine scent from the air freshener

became stronger as the hot air from the car’s

heater made it warm.

At length, Mulder asked, “What did we see here,

Scully?”

“I don’t know Mulder. Maybe a little piece of

heaven on earth.”

He grasped her hand gently before pulling the

car into reverse. “Well, if I was lucky enough

to share it with you, then I can accept that

explanation.”

They drove away from the schoolyard, and headed

straight for DC. They didn’t stop by the police

station, nor did they stop by the Wellners, or

their motel. This was one case they both

realized they had to leave behind.

*****

The End

It’s raining Elk

by Humbuggie

© 2003-12-16

Written for VS11’s Winter Challenge

Dedicated to Vickie Moseley, just because!

Rated R for a few curses, nothing major

Type: Comedy

Story: It’s raining elk, and icemen, and lord knows

what else.

“Mulder, please don’t tell me you bought that

lavender fragrance *again*!”

Mulder stopped whistling, looked up from the thick

book sitting on his lap and stared in surprise at

Scully, who had not spoken a word for the past half

hour while concentrating on the snowy road ahead. She

actually had her tongue sticking between her teeth

while she focused on the road, ready to slaughter

Mulder for having her drive.

Of all the few times he had ever asked her to drive,

why did he have to go and pick today? She wanted to

be the one relaxing instead of straining her back and

entire being trying to mind the road. It wasn’t bad

enough that they were strangers in a strange land.

No. It had to go and snow elk and deer. And her

partner -god forbid she would actually finish him

off before the end of the day -constantly whistled

while reading ‘Ghosts and everything else you wanted

to know about this planet but never dared to ask’, a

thick book he’d picked up at a second-hand store.

When handing her the keys earlier, he had said, “They

say that smaller drivers can’t hurt themselves so

much when they bump into things. The airbag is

exactly at the right height.”

She had stuck out her tongue and muttered something

along the lines of, “And larger drivers will get

their things cut off if they stop acting like self-

centered jerks.”

Not that she could be angry with him. Not even when

he started humming with the softly playing radio,

“It’s raining Elk. Hallelujah, it’s raining Elk,

Amen.”

“Men, Mulder.”

“Huh?”

“It’s raining men.”

“Not in my universe it’s not.” Then he went back to

his book, reading as if she wasn’t slipping on the

icy roads driving only two miles per hour, while the

wipers worked overtime.

“Hey,” he finally said, looking up from his book.

“We’re near Winona, right?”

“I sure hope so. If we arrive in Vegas, we’re in deep

shit.”

“Coolness. I just read a story about the terrible

iceman they found right here.”

“Are you looking in the mirror again?” she asked,

lifting her nose for the scent of lavender he’d

splashed on so carelessly this morning. How could any

adult man wear lavender fragrance? Didn’t he have any

pride?

“Funny, Scully. Now keep on paddling so we won’t

drown in this snow.”

“Whatever,” she muttered, slipping almost off the

peddles as she cautiously followed the road that lead

to the airport. Not that they would actually be able

to take off once there. Not while it – was ..

.raining elk.

“Why does it rain elk?” she asked after another

fifteen minutes of silence, all apart from the music

still blaring from the radio.

“Pardon?”

“Why not women? Or dogs? Why elk?”

“I don’t know. I like elk.”

“To eat or to watch?”

“Both.”

“You’ve eaten elk?!”

“Of course I did.”

“When?”

“In college.”

“You are totally mad. Elk pull Santa’s sleigh,

they’re not for eating.”

“What about those cute little bunnies you love to

devour? They’re there to hop around and wiggle their

little fluffy tails, aren’t they?”

“I like rabbits.”

“Rabbit with prunes. Delicious.”

“So how do you eat elk?”

“You barbecue it.”

“Yum.”

“It’s actually quite tasty.”

“Oh puke, Mulder.”

“Do you really think that Santa would mind that I’m

eating his helpers? Oh Christmas is long passed,

we’re nearly upon the New Year, Scully. I’m sure he

doesn’t need them anymore.”

“You Brutus! Oh and by the way, elk don’t pull the

sleigh. Those are reindeer.”

“So you’ve got moose, reindeer and elk. Do you know

the difference?”

“I studied biology.”

“I studied humans. Real beasts!” Mulder shrugged,

clapped the book shut and was about to say he was

going to take a nap, when the car slipped in a curve,

veered sharply to the right and slid off the road as

if it had a mind of its own.

“Watch out!” he heard himself shout, feeling himself

flung forward, slamming into the dashboard as the car

tripped over to the right, coming to an abrupt

standstill against a bird’s feeding house on a pole.

The little house wobbled and dropped on top of the

vehicle’s hood.

“Feck it.”

Scully couldn’t help but laugh, relieved when she

heard her partner mutter a curse even before she

could look over to check if he was hurt. His way too

loose seatbelt had not protected him. Neither had the

airbag that didn’t deploy like it should have done.

“I gather you’re okay?” she asked.

“Yep. Stupid car.”

“It’s a rental.”

“Who cares? That airbag should have exploded and

minded my poor head,” Mulder groaned, rubbing the

sore spot where his skull bumped into the dashboard.

He kicked the dashboard hard. And the bag inflated,

popping out of its compartment, smothering Mulder.

“Crap!”

Scully roared with laughter, despite the precarious

situation they were in. Well, the problems weren’t

that bad. They weren’t that far away from

civilization and her cell would probably still work.

They’d get help in a flash.

Both agents crawled out of the car, Mulder still

rubbing his forehead painfully. “Now what?”

Scully fished out her cell phone. “Now we rely on the

powers of modern civilization and find someone to tow

the car.”

“Erm, Scully.”

“What?”

“Would you mind running after that thing there

first?”

“What thing?”

Mulder had already started to run in the direction of

a figure about ten feet away from them, covered in

snow, almost unable to see it. “That thing!” he

shouted against the wind, already starting to run as

fast as his feet could carry him. Not that he was so

fast. It was pretty slow, really, with his shoes

sinking into inches of thick snow up to his knees.

“Mulder, are you crazy?” she shouted after him.

“Come on! Get those little feet moving!”

“Little feet my ass.” Scully started running after

him, not even seeing the shadow that he so clearly

saw. Her shoes were not made for this type of

weather. They hadn’t really planned on working,

anyhow. She sighed tiredly after a few yards, not

able to see Mulder or the shadow anymore, just her

partner’s trail.

“Mulder!” she shouted as loud as she could, but no

reply came. She just heard a yell, or something like

that. Like an animal’s cry. And then a yelp and

another shout.

“Mulder!”

“S – Aw–!”

“What?”

“S -t -a -y a -w -” And then the world sank

away from under her feet and she felt her body fall

through a loose patch of snow and ice, at least four

meters down. There, she landed on her ass, right next

to Mulder who looked at her with a painfully goofy

grin.

“I told you to stay away,” he muttered.

“Right on cue.” Scully crawled up, patting the snow

off her body. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah.” He was on his feet beside her, with a bump on

his forehead that slowly grew the size of a goose’s

egg. “I lost him though.”

“Will you stay here for two seconds and tell me what

the hell we were chasing?”

“I got a good look at him, Scully. He was butt ugly!

Tall, hairy, and with enough moustache to play Sam

the Seal.”

“Tom Selleck?”

“Nooooo! It was him, Scully. Or it. Or whatever you

call it. The terrible iceman. I have a picture of it

in my book. I’m certain that it was him.”

“You mean the bump on your head is telling you that.”

“Don’t be daft. I know what I saw.”

“It could have been Pippo the clown for all I care. I

want to go back to the car and be done with it, not

to mention get warm again. I should call for help and

-guess what? -my cell doesn’t work here. It’s too

far off the road.”

Mulder suddenly roared with laughter.

“What?”

“I’ll bet you ten to one that we won’t find the car

again.”

Scully groaned. “I swear that one day I’ll kill you,

Fox Mulder.”

“Oh, I love it when you call me Fox. But don’t do it

too often.”

“So what then?”

“Well, you lead the way. They say that women are

better navigators.”

“Even the ones with little legs and feet?”

“The brain is still just as large, Scully.”

“Start walking, mister. Or I’ll show you what a large

brain can do.”

“Promises, promises.”

Scully hated it when her partner was right. Well, not

really or she would have been hating him for

eternity. But anyhow, they didn’t find the road. Or

the car. Nothing. No mobile connection, no way out of

this predicament. It wasn’t even a nice trip to the

forest. Nope. It was also freezing.

“There’s a cabin.” Mulder raised his hands to the sky

and exclaimed, “We’re saved!

Hallelujah!”

Scully laughed despite their situation and tried her

cell phone once again. Nothing. Well, perhaps whoever

lived in there would be able to help them. And he

would probably have a phone.

Smoke came out of the single chimney to the right.

Through the curtains they could see one of the

largest home cinema installations money could buy.

Relief surged through her. If they had

a monster TV, they had to have phone or Internet too.

Mulder knocked hard on the door. Inside the sound

remained loud. He knocked again. “Anyone home?” he

shouted. The noise continued unabated.

Mulder shrugged and opened the door to a single-room

home that held a bed in the back, and the huge TV and

one large couch at the front. There was a small

kitchenette to the right, and a fireplace that

distributed the only warmth inside.

“Hello?” Mulder shouted as loudly as he could,

walking towards the couch where a man sat.

Only when he came close enough to see the man’s

features, would the owner of the house look up. Then

he stood up.

Scully held her giggles barely inside as she watched

the skinniest man she’d ever seen, clad in

large pyjamas and T-shirt that’d seen better days,

large Brown Bear socks, huge slippers and

a Santa’s cloak and hat.

“What?” he grumbled, still holding the remote to his

huge TV.

“Sorry to bother you sir, but we got lost,” Mulder

said, also trying to hold his laughter. He refused to

look at Scully, knowing that one glance would set

them off. “Would you mind if we borrowed your phone

and get someone to tow our car?”

“The nearest road is two miles down.”

“Yes sir, we know. We kept on walking in the wrong

direction. Obviously, very wrong. Erm -you wouldn’t

have happened to have seen a strange person hanging

around here, would you?”

Now Scully sniffled. She couldn’t hold it in any

longer. The only weird person was the Santa-suit clad

householder. Or make that cottage.

“Are you laughing at me?” Santa-freak moved forward,

looking suspiciously at Scully who quickly shook her

head. “No sir, we’re not. We just want to borrow your

phone.”

“Have no phone.”

“You don’t have a phone?”

“Look around you. Do you see anything that even

remotely resembles a cable?”

“But you have this TV-set and -”

“Do you think I own cable? No! Wanna know why?

Because the cable men are too freaking lazy to get

here and hook me up. So I had to buy this TV and DVD

and I spend my entire freaking life watching movies

I’ve seen a thousand times.” The skinny man ploughed

back into his chair.

“Can you at least tell us then where we have to be?

How to get back?”

“Go in that direction.” The man pointed with his hand

unseeingly straight into Mulder’s abdomen, hitting

the agent in the process. “Get out.”

“And a Merry Christmas to you too,” Scully muttered

indignantly.

“Christmas is for losers.”

“So it seems.”

“Come on, Scully.” Mulder grasped his exasperated

partner by the arm and forced her to walk outside

with him.

“Mulder, are you going to let that bastard get away

with it?”

“What is he getting away with Scully? It’s obvious we

stumbled into the geek of the century.

We can sell him a Lone Gunmen subscription and he

would fit in perfectly. No, this is no use.

We’ll go into the direction of my belly button and be

done with it.”

She roared in laughter, touching his belly. “That is

a cute belly button, you know.”

“If we find another cottage like this, sans Santa-

freak, you can check it out. How’s that?”

“Anything to keep warm, right? It’s our duty to

protect ourselves.” She was blowing on her freezing

digits now, trying to find some warmth.

“Thatagirl. Come on.”

Scully knew she shouldn’t let anything or anyone get

to her, and she knew they weren’t that far away from

civilization, but she felt her courage slither down

into her too-light shoes. Her toes were freezing and

so was her heart.

They tried to follow their own trail back to the

road, only to figure out they were walking around in

circles for an hour, when they reached their own

trail again. By then, the snow had covered most of

it.

“If the Blair Witch pops up, I swear I’ll kill her,”

Scully grumbled angrily.

“Kick ass Scully. Just the girl I like. Look, we’re

back at the cottage.”

“Okay, that does it.” Scully stomped forward, one big

fury of anger and rage, stopping only at the cabin’s

front porch. Then she just walked inside, not even

ridding her shoes of the snow.

The man was watching Die Hard With a Vengeance.

Bullets flew around, sending all the large boxes into

a spur of noise. She walked forward, grasped the

remote from his hands and switched off the TV.

Santa-Freak looked up wearily. “Back again?”

“What the hell kind of game are you playing? Do you

want us to die out there?”

“Nobody ever dies in here.”

“Easy for you to say with your stupid slippers and

warm socks. I’m cold, freezing and very hungry. Now

you can either feed or clothe us, or we will come

back from the dead and haunt your skinny little ass

down for eternity. How’s that?”

He muttered and looked at her coolly. “I’ll help you,

if you can get those freaking cable guys over and get

me phone too.”

“Alright.” Scully fished her badge out of her jacket.

“I’m FBI. They’ll listen.” The man’s eyes widened.

“They’d better when she’s in that mood,” Mulder

groaned, feeling the onset of a huge hunger-induced

headache. He sank on one of the few chairs near the

kitchen area and looked hungrily at the pots that

stood on the stove. But they were empty.

“Obviously you have electricity,” Scully said, “and

you need to eat. So get us some food.”

“The electricity men weren’t that difficult. I bribed

them. But I hate the cable guys,” the skinny man

grumbled while moving into the kitchen and fishing

out a take-out dinner that he popped into the tiny

microwave oven.

“Perhaps if you were a bit nicer to the cable people,

they would actually do something for you,” Scully

retorted, sitting on the couch where she removed her

wet shoes and socks and started rubbing her toes.

“Come here, Mulder. You need to get rid of those wet

clothes.”

“Hey, I don’t have a spare bedroom here. Don’t you

dare go nekked with your man and -”

“Don’t worry,” Scully replied curtly. “We just want

to warm up, have some food and be on our way. And it

would go much easier if you would show us the way to

the road.”

He shrugged. “How should I know?”

“You live here, don’t you?”

“Oh yeah. And I have three freezers stuffed with

takeout dinners like the one you’re about to have, to

survive all winter. I never go out before spring. I

like it here on my own.”

“Oh lovely,” Scully muttered, taking in a tired

Mulder who sat rubbing his feet. “Well, food first

and then we’ll decide.”

Mulder put their shoes and socks in front of the

fireplace, removed his jacket and sweater to warm up

there too, and sat at the table sharing one meal with

his partner while Santa-freak watched them eat

suspiciously.

Outside, the snow kept on falling, and the onset of

nightfall started. Scully knew they had to stay the

night, and frankly, she was almost happy about it. In

the morning they could rethink their actions and

decide what to do. She stretched her back and walked

over to Santa-freak just as he flipped his TV-set

back on. Bruce Willis jumped behind a car. And

bullets ran over

Broadway. Lovely.

“We’re staying here,” she said firmly. “Give us a

blanket and we’ll sleep in front of the fireplace.”

Santa-freak didn’t even reply.

Both agents sighed.

Mulder twisted and turned, trying to find a way for

his sore body to sleep properly on the ground. He had

insisted that Scully would take the couch, not

wanting her to get up bruised in the morning. Easier

said than done though. He would have killed to be a

woman right now and be able to get the better part of

two choices. Ah well.

Not to mention the fact that his stomach was roaring

like the thunderstorm that raged outside.

No, far worse than that. Who in the hell provided

only one miniscule frozen dinner for two people? Did

their host have no compassion at all? Hell, he

munched down two pizzas all by himself in good time.

He sighed and sat up, ignoring the hungry sensation

that raged through him. He would kill for that elk

steak, or deer, or whatever. He couldn’t last out

anymore. This guy *had* to have something to munch on

in his kitchen. He couldn’t be *that* weird.

Mulder gently walked over to the cupboards, hit his

big toe twice and bit down on his fist to hide his

scream while opening closet after closet. Nothing!

Nothing at all! How freaking cheap could you get!

He sighed.

Wait a minute. Hadn’t he talked about freezers

stacked full with food? They had to be around here

somewhere. But where? Mulder moved back to his coat

and removed his pocket flashlight. He would find

them, and then he would eat dinner, even if he had to

eat it frozen!

He grunted as he put his cold shoes over his bare

feet, pulled his sweater over him and left the cabin.

Outside, in the snow that had finally stopped falling

and under a clear full moon, he could see just a few

inches away. He walked around the house. No little

cottage next to it. Oh but wait, a door. That had to

lead to somewhere.

Indeed, it lead to the basement. Mulder opened it,

looked at the steep staircase that lead down to an

area underneath the house and shone his light inside.

There were at least four freezers. Ah, Now that was

more like it.

He nearly laughed in pure joy as he opened the first

freezer and found it stuffed with pizzas and

hamburgers. So freaky Santa loved junk food, hey? The

second freezer held more decent meals. The third –

Wait a minute.

Mulder shone his flashlight inside. Those weren’t

meals. What the hell was that? That seemed like a –

“God damnit. A body!” Mulder muttered it out loud.

“Oh feck it.”

The agent held his breath. So Freaky Santa was also a

killer. Oh god, just what they needed.

He shone the light further inside, trying to take a

look at the man lying as good as naked inside. He had

seen that face before, he knew.

Wasn’t that -?

And then he saw an arm move forward, coming out of

the darkness, and a hand seized the agent by the

throat, pulling him almost inside the freezer.

“F -e -c -k it!” Mulder yelped, forcing his

digits between the strong, icy cold hand and his

throat.

Suddenly he was loose. The flashlight fell. Mulder

didn’t wait for the creepy crawler to get out of the

freezer but fled outside, tripping over the steep

steps as he made his way upstairs, back to the

cottage.

“Scully!!!!!!!!!!!!” He yelled so loud that she

nearly fell off the couch. From behind the curtain

where the bed stood, Freakman also groaned loudly in

response.

Mulder slammed the door shut.

“Mulder, what is it?”

“Outside,” he heaved, out of breath. “Outside,

downstairs, the basement, oh man -”

“What? Mulder, what is it?”

“He’s here! The horrible iceman is here!”

“Mulder, you’re dreaming -”

“I swear he was there! Downstairs in one of the

freezers.”

“Willy would find it very hurtful if you called him

horrible,” Freaky Santa inserted calmly, walking

closer to them. “In fact, I think he would be very

much offended.”

“Willy?!” the agents chorused together.

“Yeah, Willy. My good buddy Willy.”

Freaky Santa walked over to the door and opened it.

“Are you crazy?” Mulder yelled. “He’s going to kill

us!”

“Nah. Willy wouldn’t hurt a fly. Would you, Will?”

Scully had to swallow a lump in her throat as a man

clad only in what seemed to be boxer shorts walked

into the room. He saw pale blue skin tone and unkempt

thick hair running all over his body, including his

face. He leaned forward a bit and had very heavy

arms and legs that he barely seemed to be able to

drag forward. He was like a human orang-utan.

“Now do you believe me?” Mulder hissed in his

partner’s ear. “Sceptic!”

Freaky Santa patted the stranger on his back. “Willy

doesn’t harm a fly, do you Will? He’s very innocent,

really, but unfortunately I have to keep him near the

woods so that he doesn’t go off and get caught by –

let’s say, FBI-agents.”

Freakman switched on the lights so that the agents

could take a good look at the blue-tinted hulk who

seemed very calm, very quiet and very innocent when

he bared his big buckteeth, flashing in the light.

“Give the nice people a hand, Willy.”

The orang-utan-human moved forward and slapped his

hand against Mulder’s, who could still feel that same

giant hand stuck around his throat. Oh brother.

“Who -what -is he?” Scully asked as Willy took her

in a bear hug and nearly squeezed the life out of

her.

“He’s my brother.”

Both agents stared dumbly at the odd couple, not

looking at each other out of fear they’d burst into

laughter again. But Freaky Santa continued deadly

serious. “We were twins.”

Oh brother, Scully thought, taking the two of them

in. The Anti Walton’s, to coin Mulder’s favorite

phrase.

“He’s a freak of nature who was raised in a circus.

We were split up as twins. I found him again a few

years ago and have been taking care of him in here

since.”

“He sleeps in a freezer!”

“Willy doesn’t like it warm. I bought it especially

for him,” Freaky protested.

“So I gather that you do know your way out of the

forest?” Scully asked dryly.

“Not me, but Willy does. He loves to watch the cars,

you know. He knows where your car is too, I’m sure.”

Willy nodded very enthusiastically, spitting saliva

all over the wooden floor and onto Mulder’s shoes.

With that, both agents burst into laughter, and took

a step back gingerly. And Willy spent the rest of the

night staring inquisitively at the two agents now

sleeping next to each other, upright, on the couch,

with open mouths and snoring sounds.

In the morning they said goodbye to Freaky after

eating warmed up eggs and bacon that tasted like

leather shoes, and followed Willy, who took them

quietly and without a single word through the forest

and over the snow-covered pastures back to the main

road, exactly to where their car was standing. Willy

was still clad only in his boxer shorts. It made

Mulder feel chilled to even look at him so

underdressed.

As they followed him, Mulder muttered, “Told you

there was a terrible snowman.”

“Iceman,” you said.

“Whatever. You believe me now, right?”

“This poor guy is a freak of nature, and not so

terrible. But other than that, I believe you,” she

spoke with a wry grin.

“Behave, or I’ll have you drive again.”

Back at the car, Willy waved goodbye to the agents

and disappeared back where he came from. To Scully’s

relief, her cell phone found a connection and she

called for help quickly.

“They’ll be here in a few moments,” she said with a

sigh. “Are you okay, Mulder?”

“Yeah, yeah,” he muttered absently, staring at the

spot where Willy disappeared. “Scully look, he’s

back.”

She looked into the direction where Willy had taken

off. A shadow that looked exactly like his came from

the woods into their direction. They could not see

him clearly until he was rather close. And then

Scully held her breath.

“That’s not Willy,” she exclaimed. “That’s –

something else!”

“Get in the car!”

Both agents crawled into the car and locked the doors

as Scully reached for her gun and cocked it. The man

that looked like Willy only wasn’t, jumped on the

back of the car and humped the trunk, jiggling the

agents around inside.

“Shoot it!” Mulder yelled, “but don’t kill it!”

“I’m trying if you stop your girlie screaming.”

Scully aimed at any part of the creature’s abdomen,

ready to shot through the glass in order to hit it.

She couldn’t tell its back from its butt.

“Can’t help it Scully. It’s the third rental car

screwed this month!”

“Wonder how that feels,” Scully muttered under her

breath, ready to shoot some kneecaps.

But then it was gone. It hopped off the car, and

simply vanished.

Mulder cautiously opened his car door and stepped

outside, looking at the stampeded trunk and the huge

footsteps that made way into the forest.

“Oh brother.” Scully stared at the tracks, then her

partner, then the trace again. “Was that -?”

“If it wasn’t, it was probably Willy’s evil twin.”

“He already had a twin.”

“Yes, he had.”

“Oh brother.”

“Yeah, sister!” Mulder reached forward and grabbed

her in his arms, pecking her on the cheek.

“It’s raining elk, hallelujah.”

The End

TITLE: ‘Have Yourself A Merry Little Try At Christmas’

AUTHOR: XSketch

E-MAIL: sketchney@ntlworld.com

ARCHIVE: Exclusive rights and ownership to IMTP for the first two

weeks, but after that – as long as you let me know and keep my name

attached – it’s yours to archive!

CATEGORY: MSR

SPOILERS: Nothing too specific, except a reference to VS10’s ‘Last

Kiss’. Also, might be worth having a basic knowledge of IMTP’s VS

seasons just for general character interaction.

SUMMARY: Will Bill Jnr. ruin yet ANOTHER Christmas for the two

agents, or can they make it work out in the end?

DISCLAIMER: As much as it pains me to say this, I don’t own any of

these characters – not a single one, dammit! The immortal CC, the

not so immortal Fox and 1013, and the irreplaceable DD and GA own

them (as well as a whole bunch of other people too numerous to

mention) I’m borrowing them without permission, but no copyright

infringement is intended so please don’t sue!

FEEDBACK: Oh, PLEASE!!! You know you want to! Go on, feel the

addresses sketchney@ntlworld.com or SketchShipper@hotmail.com

calling you!

AUTHOR’S NOTE: Written for IMTP’s Virtual Season 11 Winter Special

Challenge with lots of hugs and special thanks to the team there for

all the work they do and keeping the dream alive 🙂

DEDICATION: A big dedication to all my special friends in

Pitneyville. They’ll probably never see this, but they’re the best

people I have the pleasure to know, and if it hadn’t been for them I

mightn’t have even been here to write this, so ‘Thanks’ guys and gals!

=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*+

BASEMENT OFFICE

FBI HEADQUARTERS

DECEMBER 23rd, 2003

8:56 AM

Over the years Dana Scully had come to expect that anything could

encounter her as she passed through the door into the x-files office

– Mulder interviewing somebody, Mulder in a bad mood, Mulder in a

good mood, Mulder ready for her arrival with a cup of steaming coffee

that she would eagerly consume as they sorted their workload for the

day. Once or twice she had entered to find Skinner in here, but it

was always Mulder that kept her wondering what would behold her each

morning.

What she saw today as she stood in the open doorway wasn’t anything

she had ever thought about seeing: her partner, tightly wrapped in

his black overcoat (scarf just as tightly wrapped around his neck),

standing on his desk pulling from the ceiling tile the pencils he had

thrown up there.

“Mulder, what the hell are you doing up there?” she exclaimed,

arching her brow and planting both hands firmly on her hips.

The sudden sound of her voice – no matter how pleasant he found it –

surprised him and knocked Mulder off-kilter as his head sharply

turned to look down at her. A foot slipped on something on the desk,

and his arms frantically propelled to try and regain balance. The

instinctive action was all in vain, though, and before Dana could

move to break his fall the deep sound of his impact with the floor

came from the opposite side of the desk.

“*Mulder!*”

There was a guttural groan from him before he shakily got to his feet

– using the wooden surface for support whilst the other rubbed the

back of his head.

“Mulder, are you okay?” she queried with genuine concern as she

stepped up beside him.

“What the hell you doing sneaking up on a guy like that?” Mulder

replied – still tentatively rubbing his injury. He let out a sigh

and was ready to wait for her answer, when his eyes suddenly fixed on

her. “Scully, there’s over two feet of snow out there and the

heating in this place isn’t exactly anything to boast about…How can

you stand there in just your suit?”

She gave a shrug and shot a glance at the small desk in the corner of

the room. “I was kinda anticipating a nice coffee for my arrival…

Pencils more important, I take it?”

His own brow sharply raised as he stared at her defensively. “I’ve

only just got here myself, and didn’t even get a chance to stop at my

place so I’m wearing the same suit as yesterday!”

“You left my apartment two hours earlier than me, Mulder,” she

frowned, pinning him with her glare. “How can you have only just got

here?… Unless there’s something you’re not telling m–”

“Hey! As I’ve already pointed out, there’s over two feet out there

on the ground, and whilst you may not have had too much trouble,

everybody seemed to catch the same early worm as me and left me

stranded in grid-lock traffic!” A pause, a shrug, and then, “Besides,

I bought you a latte from that little place down the block, but…”

He paused and awkwardly looked down at the frothy, hot liquid that

covered the floor, the bottom of his coat and the right leg of his

pants, “…some manic woman came bursting in and made me slip while

I was trying to re-stock on ammo!”

Feeling guilty for his fall and her wrong accusation, Scully

outstretched a hand to cup the back of his head (the tips of her

fingers gently running through his hair and over the growing bump

there). The office door was still wide open. and as they stared into

the depths of the other’s soul, both knew that they were taking a

risk, but at the same time they knew it was one worth taking.

“You can still drink it up,” he leered – eyes twinkling as he

slightly leaned in to her. “It’s not soaked in too much…”

He waited for her to pull away or to playfully nudge him or – more

than anything else – to lecture him on how they were at work and

needed to be careful in case they were overheard, but instead he

actually saw the corners of her mouth lift into a mischievous grin.

“Get through today and I’ll help warm you up later,” she whispered.

He leaned in even further, ready to press his cold lips against her

warm ones. With the door still open, though, that was when they knew

he’d crossed the invisible line they had had to draw in their

professional lives, and she stepped away – her hand lingering a

moment longer on his scalp before dropping down by her side.

“So, what have you bought my mother for Christmas?” Scully queried,

clearing her suddenly dry throat. “More to the point, what have you

bought me?” She smiled at him reassuringly to let him know it was

okay as she noticed the expression of guilt on his face – heck, she

had come close to reaching up and kissing him herself!

A sigh of relief escaped past his lips, but he didn’t reply.

Another set of plans for him to join the Scully family’s Christmas

gathering had been made, but as much as it made her happy to have him

there with her, and as well as he got on with her mother, the whole

idea made him cringe. Primarily because he knew Bill was going to

be there too.

“Mulder? Presents?”

“I got ’em…But you can wait til we’re there to see.”

Of course, she knew he was considering not going…Thinking up some

way that he could use to excuse himself from the gathering, but she

wasn’t ready to let him get that far.

“What is it this time?” she slightly snapped.

“Huh?”

“I’ve been with you long enough, Fox Mulder, to know when you’re

concocting an excuse in that brilliant but often stupid brain of

yours! Why don’t you wanna come with me to Mom’s?”

“I do…but… Well, I mean, other than Bil–”

“How many times do I have to tell you I don’t care what Bill thinks –

I want you there and Mom wants you there and that’s all you need to

worry about?”

“I’m a little dubious about driving in this weather after the last

time…”

The trip back from her mother’s near the start of the year…The

station wagon across the icy road…Their overturned car…

Just thinking about it now made her shiver, but she had foreseen his

cause of panic and had made plans so that neither of them had to

drive.

Still he seemed to be thinking of excuses, though.

“And I just got word that they might have finally made some headway

reaching the bottom of the Money Pit, so it might be worth following

up those leads…D’ you know, Scully, still nobody knows who exactly

might have started digging that? Maybe if we solve it and they do

reach the bottom we’ll get a cut of the treasure!”

“Nice try, Mulder,” she smiled, shaking her head. “But I’m sure the

Money Pit can wait until after Christmas – it’s been hiding whatever

secret may be down there long enough…Another week or so isn’t going

to make much difference. Besides, you don’t need to worry about

travel – Skinner offered to drive us, and I think he’s filled his

vehicle with enough emergency equipment for a whole army.”

“Skinman?”

She hesitated slightly. “He offered and then Mom kind of invited him

to dinner so that he wouldn’t have to be alone…”

Yet another guttural groan from Mulder as he shakily lowered himself

into his chair. “Great, Big Bad Bill and our boss there to ruin my

fun… Can’t we just stop at my apartment and have some quiet time

together? Or, better yet, at your apartment?”

“Mulder, you spend so much time at my apartment your fish probably

think they don’t have an owner! Come on, it’ll be fun, and we’ll

make time for ourselves away from the others,” she coaxed, stepping

forward and reaching down for one of his hands.

“But the work, and…”

“You’re not getting out of this, Mulder, so you might as well give up

while I’m still being nice to you. The work can wait, and if the

Assistant Director can take some time off, I don’t see why we can’t!”

“You don’t wanna go to the Bureau party instead?”

“No, I don’t!”

That was the end of the argument, and the following day they were

packing things up to spend a long weekend at Margaret Scully’s house.

XxXxX

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 25th, 2003

7:34 AM

To say the snow was barely passable would definitely have been an

understatement, and as Walter Skinner’s car carefully made its way

down the back roads with its three-person cargo, minds kept thinking

about what they knew was packed in the trunk and how much they hoped

they wouldn’t need to use any of it.

Scully sat in the passenger seat next to their boss, occasionally

glancing over her shoulder at Mulder – who sat in the back seat

clearly lost in his own thoughts. But nobody spoke for at least

three-quarters of the journey.

“Did you get any word about the Money Pit, Mulder?” Dana suddenly

piped up (unable to deal with the cold and awkward silence any

longer).

“Huh?” came her partner’s stunted reply as he snapped out of his

reverie. “Oh, no…No, that one fell flat. J-Just a load of hype to

keep people interested, I guess.” He shook his head and she thought

he was about to add more, but instead he flashed her a smile and then

turned to look out the fogged window.

She couldn’t figure out if it was the journey or the fact that they

were travelling with Skinner that was eating at him the most. For

that matter, she wasn’t even sure which of the two was eating at her…

“The Money Pit?” Skinner’s deep voice chortled. “I didn’t realise

your workload had been light enough for you to chase that one up?”

“Far from,” Dana mused. “Mulder was desperate for an excuse to worm

his way out of this excursion, and that was the only one he managed

to come up with.”

“No ghosts?”

“Sir, as surprised as I was at how desperate Mulder was to find an

excuse, there’s one thing I know he knows thanks to past lessons

painfully learnt: no ghost hunts at Christmas. I’ll leave it at

that.” Scully paused and cocked her head slightly to the side. “I

guess it could have been worse, though…it could have been something

involving the sighting of a real-life Santa.”

“Hey, I am here, you know!” Mulder exclaimed, perching himself on the

edge of his seat so that he could rest his arms over the back of the

ones in front of him. “Besides, we did get a couple sightings come

in, but I didn’t think you’d be interested!”

A loud burst of laughter exploded from the bald man driving the car,

and both agents turned their heads to stare at him with curious

gazes.

“I’m sorry,” the A.D sniffed, sobering. “It was just, listening to

you two brought back some memories from my childhood…”

“Sir?” This from both Mulder and Scully.

Skinner shifted uncomfortably – wondering how he had gotten himself

into this – and then reached out a hand to turn up the car heater.

“When I was a kid – ’bout eight or so – there was this guy that lived

at the end of my block, and…Well, he was like the Candy Man – every

kid was his friend. And every year at Christmas he’d set up this

special grotto right inside his house with free entry…He even gave

out free presents…”

“You do realise these days he’d be suspected as a paedophile and

locked up, don’t you, sir?” Mulder interrupted, shooting a brief

glance at his partner.

“If you don’t want to hear this story, I’ll happily shut up now,”

Skinner snapped.

“No, sir, carry on,” Scully urged.

“Anyway, Cody Harris from next door started the rumour that this guy

was really Santa Claus, just hiding out undercover in suburbia so

that he didn’t get found out. We all argued with him about how full

of shit he was – after all, everyone knew Santa lives in the north

with Elves! But, of course, the rumour spread like wildfire

throughout the school. Our parents swore that he was just a man

who’d inherited a lot of money from somewhere and was kind enough to

share his wealth… After a while, though, they started to get a

little suspicious of his intentions and snooped around – stopped us

from going near him.” He cleared his throat and ran his tongue over

his bottom lip as he continued to replay the memory is his mind.

“Then, one day, he just disappeared and was never seen again. We all

blamed Cody and his damn rumour, but it did make us all start to

wonder as well.”

Dana gave a contemplative nod and Mulder settled against the back of

his seat once again as the dark silhouette of Maggie’s house came

into view through the swirling curtain of falling snow.

“All that should really matter is what you believed, sir,” Scully

sighed, a little distantly.

The car pulled up into the driveway, and Skinner let out a snort as

he reached to unfasten his seatbelt. “You know, the irony is that I

didn’t know what I believed and still don’t. I was one of the kids

that shouted Cody down – as far as I was concerned, the old guy was like

the uncle I’d never had…Yet, at the back of my mind when I saw him

at Christmas dressed up like Santa in that grotto, it was just too

realistic to not believe in.”

“I’ve been saying the same about aliens and the paranormal for years,

and still everyone thinks I’m a crank,” Mulder grumbled, pulling

their bags out of the vehicle.

Before Scully could reply with a dry retort, there was the sound of a

front door being opened and then her mother’s voice joyfully crying

out, “You made it!”

“Cold, but safe and sound thanks to our chauffeur. Hey Mrs. Scully,”

Mulder smiled as Maggie gave him a brief welcoming hug.

“Hey, Mom,” Scully also smiled, moving to embrace her mother. “Are

Bill and Tara here?”

“Hi, sweetie. Yes, they arrived late last night. Oh, I was so

worried that the Parkway had been closed off and you’d been stranded.”

“We took the back roads…They weren’t pleasant, but definitely the

better route if what we heard on the radio is anything to go by,”

Dana shrugged.

Maggie gave a nod and kissed her daughter’s cheek before turning to

face the assistant director. “Mister Skinner, thank you so much for

safely delivering possibly the nicest percentage of my family through

this storm, and joining us for this Christmas day!” she grinned,

outstretching a hand to shake his and then suddenly pulling him into

a hug.

Mulder and Scully stood still and shared a playful glance as they

noticed the sudden blush that had colored their bosses cheeks (though

at the same time knowing that if they ever mentioned it he’d

immediately blame it on the freezing weather).

Skinner’s feet awkwardly shifted in the snow as he glanced down at

the shorter woman and gently patted her back. “That’s okay, Mrs

Scully. Thank *you* for inviting me here…I don’t want to be any

trouble i–”

“oh, nonsense! There’s plenty of food and at least you can help if

another fight breaks out between Fox and Bill!”

“Make a cute couple, don’t you think, Scully?” Mulder breathed into

his partner’s ear.

She shivered at the feel of his warm breath against her skin and then

turned her head to stare at him. “Don’t even think about it,

Mulder. My father was one bald man enough for my mother, and I don’t

appreciate having the thought of our boss as my father-in-law

implanted into my brain,” she frowned sternly. Suddenly a smile

broke out on her face and he saw the thought of ‘But they do look

good’ lift her features.

“Now, hurry up out of this weather,” Maggie suddenly exclaimed,

brushing away the dusting of snow that had accumulated on her head

and shoulders as she stepped away from Skinner and regarded the three

of them, “before I have a family of snow-people in my front yard!”

“Knowing Mulder he’d still find a way for me to sign off on a 302 so

he could investigate that!” Skinner cracked.

Mulder remained silent as he picked up his and Scully’s bags and they

all entered the house.

XxXxX

After being blinded by the bright array of decorations and lights

that decked the rooms, ‘Hi’s and ‘Merry Christmas!’ greetings were

passed between Bill, Dana and Walter. The familiar hostile air

crashed down between Bill and Mulder, though, so after the FBI agent

had attempted a friendly ‘Hey’ only to be replied with a non-committal

grunt, he’d gently touched his partner’s arm and then moved out into

the kitchen where Tara was keeping an eye on the dinner.

Presents were handed out and eagerly unwrapped shortly after that.

“An alarm clock, Mulder?” Scully queried, first looking down at the

box in her hands and then up at her partner with a raised eyebrow.

“To replace the one I accidentally broke last week,” came his

innocent reply.

“Maybe if you didn’t keep her out on stupid cases at all hours she

wouldn’t need an alarm to get her up in the morning,” Bill snorted in

disgust.

Mulder shifted uncomfortably on the couch and then looked down at the

sweaty hands that fidgeted in his lap. Why had he come here again?

Oh, yeah, Scully wanted him here. That was the only thing keeping

him here. Of course, if it made her happy he would stay…He just

hoped it all ended soon.

‘I don’t care what Bill thinks – I want you there and Mom wants you

there and that’s all you need to worry about.’

He kept repeating her words over and over in his head as his eyes

slipped shut, so much so that he hardly heard her as she started

“It’s wonderful, thank you, Mulder.” It wasn’t until he felt the

press of her lips on his cheek that he looked up.

Skinner watched Scully kiss Mulder and smiled – wondering how much

longer he could keep their secret until he cashed in on the Bureau

pool.

XxXxX

Dinner played host to just as many snide remarks aimed at Mulder’s

tortured soul by the unstoppable Bill Junior during the fun banter.

Tara tried to keep a reign on her husband, and Scully and Maggie kept

a concerned eye on Mulder (Skinner remaining silent when the fun talk

stopped so that he didn’t get stuck too far out in the middle of the

battleground) until the final blast came during the group’s sharing

of Christmas childhood memories. Mulder had been struggling to come

up with a good memory when Bill had snapped, “For God’s sake, stop

trying to make us feel pity for you! If you can’t join in, why don’t

you just shut up and let us carry on?”

“*BILL*!” Tara, Maggie and Dana had all exclaimed at the same time.

Even Skinner felt the need to slam his cutlery down onto the tabletop

to express his anger.

Mulder sat quietly for a few seconds – letting the words sink in and

contemplating his next move – before clearing his throat and raising

to his feet. “Mrs. Scully…Tara…Thank you so much both of you for

that beautiful dinner – I think that was the best turkey I’ve ever

had!” he awkwardly smiled, not making eye contact with anyone.

“Would you please excuse me? With the trip and sitting down here, my

legs are in dire need of a stretch. Plus, your a-million-times-more-

beautiful daughter gave me a head injury a couple days ago that still

aches a little, so I might go outside, if that’s okay…?”

“Well, of course, Fox…” Maggie hesitated, shooting her daughter a

worried glance, “…but that’s not really necessary – we have pain

killers in th–”

“No, really… Fresh air is the best thing,” he assured, stepping

back. “Even the cold might help clear out the cobwebs.”

Mulder was just about to turn away when Scully’s small hand suddenly

grabbed a hold on his arm. “You’re not going anywhere,” she almost

whispered. “You’re part of this family and have as much right to be

here as Bill. I want you here…” Dammit, she wasn’t going to let

her brother get to her – wasn’t going to let what he insisted doing

to her partner get to them – yet still she felt her voice hitch in

her throat.

He stared down at her and slightly bent to place his lips against her

ear. “I’m okay – just creating an easy diversion for that time away

from the others you promised me on Tuesday. Finish up and come out

front when you’re ready.” He kissed her and then slipped his arm

from her grasp as he left the room.

“Interesting manners you have there,” Skinner growled, staring coldly

at Bill. “I’ve heard about them, but always thought they were just

an exaggeration…until now.”

“How could you say that, Bill?” Tara blurted.

“Oh, I know,” Dana snapped, raising to her feet. “I know too well.

Every time you see him you have to see how far you can push him,

don’t you?” Her eyes fixed on those of her brother – the rage

building within. “Every Christmas you’re determined to ruin for us!

Is it because he was there to help me instead of you through my

difficult times? Was it be–…Wait a minute, I’m having a flashback

of asking these same questions time and *time* again before. You say

you care about me, Bill, but what you don’t understand is that

every time you take a swing and hurt Mulder you’re hurting me too!

Maybe you should try to consider *that* next time!” With a final

thump of her fist on the table, she turned away and left the suddenly

silent room.

XxXxX

“You didn’t have to defend me…I’m flattered – if not maybe a little

turned on – by the force with which you did it, but it wasn’t

necessary.”

He was standing out in the front yard with his back turned to her and

looking down at something on the ground when she stepped out onto the

porch.

Scully wrapped her coat tightly around her small frame and then

stepped out onto the snow that compltely hid the steps that led up to

the porch. One thing she’d learnt to notice over the years was when

Mulder was hiding his feelings…But he didn’t seem to be doing that

this time. She could actually here contentment in his voice. The

raw anger still inside her begun to slowly fade.

“You heard?” she quizzed with a curious quirk of her eyebrow.

“I think the whole block heard,” came Mulder’s chuckled reply, but

still he didn’t turn to face her. “I was waiting for them all to

begin chanting ‘Jerry! Jerry! Jerry!’…Maybe even to see Bill come

flying through the front window!”

“What you d–” Her voice cut off as she stepped up beside him and

looked down at what he had drawn into the snow with the large tree

branch he still clasped in his gloved hands.

It was essentially a love letter to her, and as she read it she felt

the tears begin to well in her eyes.

‘Memories from the past? I may not have good ones from

my childhood, but why would I need them when the best

times I’ve had have been with you in the here and now?

You’ve given me a reason to celebrate Christmas, to

celebrate life, and no matter what happens or what Bill

says, that is all I need to remember.’

“He…He shouldn’t have s-said what he did,” Dana choked, looking

up at him.

Slowly, he turned, dropped the branch and then tightly embraced her

in the warmth of his arms. He knew he took her for granted

sometimes, especially when he ditched her, but he also knew that he

would never be able to face the day when she wasn’t there for him to

hold.

“I was considering Skinner’s story earlier about the guy they thought

might be Santa, and I wondered if maybe Bill was the Grinch,” Mulder

smiled against her hair. “But I don’t care what he says anymore,

Scully…Maybe once, but as you said the other day, all I should care

about is the fact that you want me here, and it is – I wanna be

beside you every step of the way, and to know doing that makes you

happy is the most precious gift to me.” He paused and took a small

step away so that he could stare into her still-damp eyes. “You know

the clock wasn’t the only gift I got you, don’t you? In fact, I

didn’t have any intentions of letting you use it.” A mischievous

grin spread across his face as a hand reached into the pocket of his

overcoat.

“You’re here by my side, that’s the only gift I need,” she told him,

mirroring his own emotions. “I just wish others would accept how

special what we have i–” For the second time within the last four

minutes he managed to cut her voice off as he held out a small velvet

box. “Wh–”

“I didn’t wanna give it to you in front of Bill – that really would

have been the start of World War Three…The clock was just a decoy.

But, anyway, the store clerk said that if you don’t like ’em you can

get a replacement…”

Scully carefully opened the box and stared wide-eyed – mouth slightly

agape – at the beautiful diamond-studded, heart-shaped earrings that

lay inside. She wanted to say something – *anything* – but the

breath had been completely knocked out of her, and all she could do

instead was look up at him.

“Are they okay?” came his hesitant question.

“Mu…Mu…” She stopped trying to say his name and opted instead to

fling her arms around his neck and hold him, shortly before reaching

up onto tiptoe to press a kiss to his lips.

“I’ll take that as a yes!”

“They’re beautiful!” she gasped, pulling away to stare again at his

present. “God, thank you so much…for *everything*.”

“Thank *you* for being mine. I love you.”

Clasping the box in one hand, she reached out the other to grab a

hold on one of his. “I love you, too. Come on, let’s go back in

before the snow traps us out here or they think we’ve been abducted.”

Mulder nodded and gave her hand a squeeze.

“And, when everone’s gone to bed, I’ll give you your gift.”

There was nothing he could say to that without ruining the moment.

Then, as they moved toward the door he asked the question she was

surprised he hadn’t pitched to her a lot earlier: “So, did you

believe Skinner’s story? D’ you think that old guy could have been

Santa? …I mean, do you think Santa could be living undercover,

even maybe just a couple doors down?”

A brief pause before she nudged against him and simply sighed, “Who

cares?”

XxXxX

The front door shut behind them, but as Mulder’s engraved words in

the snow filled up and the lingering sound of their voices

disappeared, the faint sound of ringing sleigh bells filtered the air,

and they were shortly followed by the deep chuckle of a large man…

…And was that a shadow passing the moon or a trick of the eye?…

THE END

=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*+

AUTHOR’S NOTES (Part II): Thank you so much for reading this far.

Means a lot to my little soul 🙂 You could make it even happier by

sending me an e-mail to sketchney@ntlworld.com! The VS Winter

Special Challenge page set out suggestions for the stories: ‘A “cold”

case file, A Santa Claus sighting, Holiday party – either at the FBI

or at Maggie Scully’s, and Character musings on the holiday season

(from Mulder, Scully, Skinner, Krycek, CSM, etc.)’ but I got greedy

and decided to use them all in some way or another – LOL!

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!!