When The Ghosts Know Better
by Michelle
Note: Certain dialogue was taken from the episode “How the Ghosts Stole Christmas” from the TV series ‘The X-Files’, written by Chris Carter.
He was staring into his old TV set, a bit wistfully following the last minutes of Alastair Sim’s version of The Christmas Carol. It was the only thing that could have reminded someone that it was the night of Christmas Eve. The box with the remains of the Chinese takeaway lay abandoned on the coffee table in front of him.
The usual fancies of a Christmas tree and decorations, fairy lights and festive music had lost their glitter to Fox Mulder many years ago. The tragic events in his family had robbed him of any excitement and joy connected with the most wonderful time of the year. That was the main reason why he politely and very diplomatically kept refusing his mother’s offer to spend the holidays with her. His couch, cheap takeaway, bad porn and old sci-fi and horror movies would have to do.
And yet, after the belief-defying events on that Christmas Eve, when he found himself trapped in an old house with his partner and friend Dana Scully only a few hours ago, caused a mild shift in him. Spending some time with two ghosts in the house raised far more questions in his fantastic-theories-overworked brain than he was able to process.
Was he really as bad as they portrayed him? Did he really use Scully’s loyalty to follow him anytime and anywhere he wanted to? And were the ghosts real? Or was the whole episode just a product of his imagination, a result of his boredom because he had no case to work on?
A sudden knock on the front door interrupted his brooding. Jumping up on his feet, he took a few careful steps closer to the entry hall. His head peeked out from behind the wall, the curiosity of a child written all over his face. Santa came? His eyes darted from side to side; then he sighed and walked back to the TV to turn the volume down.
Don’t be stupid. The holiday cheer is rubbing off on you already, Scrooge, huh?
Convinced there was no excitement looming behind the door, he walked over and opened it.
Boy, miracles do happen...
“I… I couldn’t sleep,” Scully said almost shyly, hesitantly standing at his doorstep. “And um…” She sighed, trying to shake off the nerves and confusion. “Can I come in?”
“Yeah!” Mulder replied, and his arm pulled her gently inside. “Aren’t you supposed to be opening Christmas gifts with your family?”
They walked a few steps into the living room when Scully turned around to face him.
“Mulder… None of that really happened out there tonight… That was all in our heads, right?” Her usually wide-open blue eyes narrowed, mirroring the confusion in her mind. The last traces of her scepticism were fading away with each minute.
Seriously, Scully??
“Yeaaa--” he stuttered, and his face froze in time for a moment before he recovered. “It must have been.”
Better, not sounding like a discombobulated schoolboy.
He walked over to her, watching her nod but still not look convinced.
“Not that… my only joy in life is proving you wrong.” The corners of her mouth turned upwards slightly.
“When… have you proved me wrong?” Mulder asked softly, tilting his head and returning her smile.
Amidst her confusion, Dana found herself drawn to his eyes - like times and times before.
”Well… Why else would you want me out there with you?” she asked, still a bit dazed.
“You didn’t want to be there?” The words were out quicker than he wished.
Hah! Gotcha!
Her mouth was half-opened, ready to reply but suddenly unable to. Her eyes wandered past her partner in an attempt to hide - from him or herself?
“Oh, that’s…” Mulder shut his eyes briefly, disgusted about himself all at once. “… self-righteous and narcissistic of me to say, isn’t it?”
He was searching for confirmation in her eyes.
“No, I mean…” she denied quickly and dared to look back into his eyes a bit insecurely. “Maybe I did want to be out there with you.”
His eyes lit up more than was appropriate from “just-a-work-partner”, and a small smile appeared on his lips. An eloquent beat allowed Scully to pretend even more brooding.
Suddenly feeling the holiday cheer returning to his veins, Mulder walked past her to retrieve a tube-shaped, nicely wrapped object tied with silver ribbons on each side.
“I know we… we said that we weren’t going to exchange gifts but…” He almost didn’t need to continue. Directing his look at his partner again, he presented her the gift with a boyish grin, betraying his sudden excitement. “I got you… a little something.”
And you better like it because it took me ages to find it.
At that point, Scully was already grinning as well, the twinkles in her eyes revealing her thrill.
”Mulder…” She reached into her jacket pocket.
“Merry Christmas,” he said, still grinning.
Dana produced something rectangular and nicely wrapped as well.
“I got you a little something, too,” she added, almost embarrassed.
When he laughed, their eyes locked, and as if somebody turned a switch, they turned into children who just found out that Santa had stopped by. Eagerly, with huge grins, they rushed to sit down on the sofa and unwrap their Christmas gifts.
Mulder shook his gift with excitement, making her chuckle.
“I’m hoping for some good porn DVD,” he teased. “At least I wouldn’t need to borrow them all the time.”
“Sure,” she replied, pretending to be serious. “Even Skinner chipped in.”
Their eyes met, and they burst into laughter while ripping the wrapping paper from their gifts. The image of their ever-so-serious boss picking the best piece of adult entertainment for his subordinate was more than hilarious to both of them.
Dana was the first to reveal her gift. Carefully, she unrolled a black and off-white film poster. It read METROPOLIS over the drawing of skyscrapers and an almost alien-looking robotic torso at the bottom. The agent raised her eyebrow.
“That is exactly what I’ve always dreamed about…” she remarked with a sceptical grin.
“Come on, Scully, it’s a classic!” Mulder exclaimed excitedly. “You have no idea how difficult it is to get by a vintage poster like this."
Her smile widened as she looked at him. “It may come as a surprise to you, but I actually like it. Thank you.”
Proud of his achievement, Mulder nodded and smiled. ”You’re welcome.”
Dana forced herself to escape from his gaze and looked at the half-revealed gift in his lap.
“Go on, have a look at yours,” she prompted him.
The boyish excitement returned to his face. He ripped apart the rest of the wrapping paper and revealed a DVD of The Time Machine from 1960. He shook his head and couldn’t wipe the nostalgic smile off his face as he admired the case.
How do you always know, Dana...?
“This was the first science fiction film I ever watched with my father,” he spoke quietly. “I was ten.” The memory of his late father cast a brief shadow of melancholy over his heart.
Scully’s eyes studied him with compassion. She knew the feeling of an untimely loss only too well. They both had lost too much along the way. But when was a more appropriate time to hope for something better, if not on Christmas Eve?
“I thought of you the moment I saw it,” she said softly. “For all your life, you’ve been playing with time and trying to see further than anybody else…”
The look he gave her was one of revelation - and confirmation. The light from the TV reflected in his big green eyes when his smile reached them. Like times before, she proved to him the fact that he had known almost from the start of their partnership. Dana Scully was the only person who truly knew him.
“Let’s hope I don’t end up like him, lost in time and space,” he grinned and pointed at the figure of the man on the cover of the DVD in his hands.
That broke the mild tension, and they both relaxed again.
“Thank you,” Mulder acknowledged her gift with a nod. “It will have a special place on my shelf.”
“Right next to your pile of Playboys, I suppose.” She raised her eyebrow, back to her role of the sharp-witted and often sarcastic partner she always had been.
There’s my girl!
“Just go on, Scully, make fun of me.” He chuckled. “But I’m sure you’re not an innocent angel as you want Skinner to think. You may fool him and your family, but you’re not going to fool me.”
His teasing smile was contagious. So much so that Dana had to look away from him. She quickly grabbed the TV remote to hide her mild embarrassment - and amusement; she was enjoying this way too much…
“So what’s on Santa TV tonight?” Scully asked, changing the topic abruptly.
Mulder tilted his head; his facial expression turned into a big question mark.
“It’s Christmas, Mulder. Everybody’s watching at least something Christmassy. If I’m staying here, I need a good reason. Don’t be a Grinch,” she elaborated dryly while taking off her jacket and making herself more comfortable on the sofa.
Oh, I could give you a great reason...
When her inquisitive blue eyes found him, there was a challenge in them.
“What about your family? Aren’t you supposed to be with them?” he asked, still hesitant to believe that this woman would trade her family for him.
“Most people would rather stick their fingers in a wall socket than spend a minute with you,” he heard Maurice arise from his memory. “You’re afraid. Afraid of the loneliness…”
“I told Mum I’ll be there on Boxing Day.” Dana was absently fiddling with the remote in her hands, randomly changing the channels in the process. When her partner didn’t reply, she cast a knowing look at him. “I said I needed to look after someone with an adolescent brain and a very strange taste in… literature.”
A playful smile on her face and twinkles in her eyes revealed everything he needed to know. She was not going anywhere tonight. In truth, she was not going anywhere in the near future…
“The Time Machine,” he said with a challenging smile, pinning her with his gaze into her seat.
“What?” Scully was uncomprehending.
“That’s what we are watching,” Mulder clarified and rattled with the DVD case.
“But it’s not---”
“Christmassy? Sure, it is; it was a Christmas gift.” The playful grin on his face was irresistible as always.
Scully chuckled. “The Time Machine it is,” she agreed and challenged him with a look. “Any snacks?”
Mulder eyed her small but perfect figure, comfortably stretched on the sofa.
Just one...
“Yeah, sure,” he confirmed hastily, trying to shake off the image that had just popped up in his head. “I ran out of popcorn, but there are still some doughnuts, with icing. There is a high probability they are too high on fat and sugar, but hey, it’s Christmas, right?”
A soft chuckle escaped his throat as he still tried to cover his embarrassment from his dirty thought a moment ago.
Scully nodded with a wide smile. “Right, it’s Christmas.”
Their smiling eyes remained locked for a moment.
Doughnuts... And beer... No, scrap that; it’s Christmas... Hot chocolate... with marshmallows! Damn, do I still have any that are not stale??
Mulder snapped out of the daze and vanished out of her sight.
A dreamy smile was lingering on Scully’s face. The surreal experience they had shared a few hours ago, the confusion that filled her mind ever since then, it all suddenly fell into place. Strange, that one has to encounter real ghosts (how weird did that sound??) to find the courage to face one’s own ghosts…
She snapped out of her thoughts and grabbed for her jacket. Her hand slipped into the other pocket while she peeked over her shoulder, making sure Mulder was not on his way back yet. She took out a small bag of homemade gingerbread cookies, opened it slightly and put it on the coffee table in front of her. A pleasant smell immediately permeated the space.
Leaning back with a satisfactory grin, she waited for her companion to return. She unrolled the film poster again and admired it once more, smiling.
“The fear... The conflicted yearnings... A subconscious desire to find fulfilment through another. Intimacy through co-dependency...”
Maybe Lydia was not so wrong in her assumptions. Maybe Scully really wanted to be with Mulder in that house on Christmas Eve. And maybe she really wanted to be in his apartment, with him, instead of being surrounded by her family. And maybe…
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