TITLE: Christmas Day 2002, 4:20 p.m.
AUTHOR: Forte
E-MAIL: Bjm1352@aol.com
URL: http://www.thebasementoffice.com/
RATING: PG-13
CATEGORY: VA
SPOILERS: Basically everything through "The Truth".
SUMMARY: It's their first Christmas on the run, and the only thing
Mulder and Scully have is each other. Or is it?
TIMEFRAME: Post-"The Truth." Sixth in the "Christmas 4:20" series
and, I admit, utterly out of order with the rest (2001 and 2003 -
2006). It's not absolutely necessary to read the others but this fic
might make more sense if you do. You can find them at
http://www.thebasementoffice.com/Xmasseries.html
ARCHIVE: Gossamer and Ephemeral OK; anywhere else please ask first.
DISCLAIMER: They belong to CC, 1013, and FOX; *definitely* not me.
FEEDBACK: Would make my day!
THANKS: To Audrey Roget and Blackwood for beta beyond the call of
duty.
DEDICATION: Written for and dedicated to my writing partner and
"sister", Diana Battis. Merry Christmas!
****
Christmas Day 2002, 4:20 p.m.
****
Tulsa, Oklahoma
December 25, 2002
Scully wrapped the thrift-store sweater around her tightly, rubbing
her arms against the chill of the apartment. Heat was included with
the rent, but the landlord wasn't very generous with it. They didn't
dare complain, though.
Through the water-stained ceiling, she could hear the couple in the
apartment above them screaming at each other again.
Dana Katherine Scully, this is your life... on the lam.
She stirred a pot of chicken stew on the stove in the cramped galley
kitchen. As a treat, she'd bought a can of biscuit dough -- a 99
cent luxury they couldn't really afford, but with her employee
discount it was manageable. After all, it WAS Christmas.
She'd decided against getting a candle for the dinner table, though.
Ambiance would not fill their stomachs. Their sole Christmas
decoration was a tiny green tinsel tree that she'd rescued from the
trash two weeks earlier; it sat on top of their TV.
A small dinette table, just big enough for the two of them, occupied
one corner of the living room. At Mulder's place at the table were
the two bags of "gifts" she had for him. They'd agreed not to
exchange presents, given their meager finances, but it was just a
little something, and it would make it feel like Christmas to watch
him open them.
A loud bang from upstairs startled her -- one of their arguing
neighbors had slammed a door. Based on past experience, that would
mean at least half an hour of tranquility before any yelling started
again. Listening to their shouts, though, at least was better than
hearing the cries of the infant in the apartment down the hall, cries
that always reminded her of --
No. She would not think about William, would not think about
Christmas without him. If she did, she'd start crying, and she
didn't want to face Mulder with red-rimmed eyes, didn't want to have
a conversation about WHY she had red-rimmed eyes. She'd already had
one long crying jag after he'd left for work, and she was determined
to not start another one.
Mulder was due home at any moment. They both worked at the local
supermarket, which was closed for the holiday, but he had a second
job at a family restaurant that wasn't. Both employers had been
fooled by their fake ID's and didn't realize "Andrew and Theresa
Johnson" were actually federal fugitives.
It wasn't the life either of them wanted, but it was all they had at
the moment. They were working on making some connections, though, so
maybe in a few months...
Scully sighed, setting the spoon on the counter.
"Honey, I'm home!" Mulder's horrendous Desi Arnaz impression came
from the living room, followed by the sound of the apartment door
closing and locks turning.
Scully looked out from the kitchen to see Mulder, still in his
overcoat, retreating through their bedroom door.
Knowing him, he was hiding his own surprise gifts for her, and she
wasn't going to spoil it for either of them by following him. She
turned back to the kitchen and retrieved the battered old cookie
sheet from the cabinet to bake the biscuits.
...
After arranging the pieces of biscuit dough on the cookie sheet,
Scully washed her hands. As she dried them, she caught a whiff of
Mulder coming up behind her -- after a shift at the restaurant, he
always smelled of coffee and grease.
"Nanette sent me home with a couple pieces of pie and some donuts,"
he announced, placing a bag from the restaurant on the kitchen
counter next to the cookie sheet. As she turned to greet him, he
leaned down and kissed her, holding the back of her head gently with
the hand that had just released the bag. "And Santa," he added as he
pulled away, "sent me home with a couple sacks of presents for you."
He took a step back and held up his other hand, revealing two
half-full plastic supermarket bags dangling from the crook of his
index finger.
"Mulder," she said, drawing out the second syllable, "I thought we
weren't going to give each other any presents this year."
"Then what are those two bags sitting at my place on the table?"
Busted.
"Just a little something."
"Hmm. Well, if you can break the rules, so can I." He ran his free
hand down her arm and gave a gentle tug on her hand. "Come on, let's
get this party started."
...
After tuning the TV to a station playing Christmas carols, Mulder
joined Scully where she stood by the dinette table. He set down the
two bags for her, laid his hand on them, and looked at her
expectantly. Scully took the hint and handed Mulder the first of his
gifts.
"I see we shop at the same store," he smiled; her bags were also from
the supermarket. He reached in and pulled out a package of generic
disposable razors. "I need these," Mulder said, nodding and running
a hand over his five o'clock shadow. "Thanks, Scully."
He set down the bag and razors and Scully handed him his second gift.
Mulder reached in expectantly, wrinkled his brow, then peered in the
bag, a confused look on his face. He gazed down at Scully.
"Nothing's in here...?"
She pressed her lips together, her face remaining otherwise neutral.
"Nothing?" She tilted her head a fraction, and the edges of her
mouth curled up, despite her best efforts to suppress a grin. "What
a coincidence. That's exactly what I'm going to be wearing to bed
tonight."
Mulder's eyes widened and his mouth opened and closed wordlessly.
After a moment he reached for the package of razors. "Umm, maybe I'd
better try these out tonight, then."
"I think that's an excellent idea."
He turned the package of razors over in his hands several times,
staring at it as though it held the secrets to the universe. Finally
he cleared his throat.
"OK -- your turn, Scully." He handed her one of the plastic bags he'd
brought to the table. "Open them in order."
Scully found five other bags inside, each marked with a number. She
located the one marked "1" and opened it to find a small flashlight.
"I'd make a joke about you lighting up my life, but you'd probably
shoot me again."
"You got that right." She tested the flashlight's weight in her
hand. "This is the perfect size for my purse, Mulder. Thank you."
Scully found bag number two, which contained a shiny, unblemished red
apple. "To keep the doctor away?"
"All of them except you, of course."
The third item, inside a bag from the restaurant, contained something
cold.
"Ice cream?" Scully asked, pulling out a "to go" container.
Mulder nodded. "Can't have pie without ice cream. It's
un-American."
Bags four and five revealed tea bags and small plastic packets of
honey, both of which Scully recognized as being from the restaurant.
"Did Nanette send you home with these, too?" she teased.
"My attorney has advised me not to answer that question," Mulder
replied, handing her the second bag of gifts. "Open these in order,
too."
"Honestly, Mulder, you've given me enough already --"
"No, I haven't," he insisted quietly. "Just open these too, okay?"
She answered by reaching up on tiptoe and giving him a quick kiss.
Bag number one contained a handkerchief. The material was thin,
obviously washed many times, and Scully guessed that it had come from
the same thrift store that had provided her sweater and his overcoat.
It had embroidery that reminded her of something her grandmother had
had when she was a child, and she told Mulder as much. "It's
beautiful." He nodded, smiling.
The second bag contained an orange. "We always had an orange in our
Christmas stockings when I was a kid," Scully smiled. "That
tradition ended the year Bill tried to juggle all of our oranges, and
wound up breaking a lamp. Mom was not amused."
She pushed aside the melancholy that started to well up at the
thought of her family. She would NOT cry in front of Mulder, not
today. She moved quickly to the next gift.
Bag number three revealed a green pear. "Are you trying to tell me I
need to eat more fruit?"
"No, I just couldn't get the whole pear tree with the partridge home
on the bus, so I had to settle for that."
She nodded her agreement with his logic. The fourth bag contained a
pair of ear plugs. She looked at Mulder, eyebrows raised.
"In case our good neighbors" -- he pointed upwards -- "don't start
going for marriage counseling anytime soon."
She laughed, surveyed her nine gifts on the table, and turned back to
him. "This is a wonderful collection of gifts. Thank you, Mulder."
Mulder returned her gaze with a particularly goofy grin on his face.
After a few moments of his look, she asked, "What?"
"You don't get it, do you?"
She shook her head. "Get what?"
Mulder placed a hand over his heart in mock shock. "Dear Diary --
today my heart leapt when I pulled one over Dana Scully."
She couldn't help smiling herself, he looked so delighted. "Please
explain what you've pulled over me."
Mulder waved his hand over the items she'd unwrapped. "First
letters."
First letters? Scully mentally went through the items in order:
flashlight, apple, ice cream...
Her eyes widened as she made the connection.
F-A-I-T-H and H-O-P-E.
"Oh, Mulder," she said. "This is absolutely beautiful."
He shrugged, looking down at her with a sheepish grin. "It was the
best I could do on short notice. My original plan was to take you to
Hawaii tonight, but all the hotels there were booked."
She reached up and cupped his cheek, smiling. "That's just as well
-- neither of us could have gotten the ttime off from work."
"You have a point."
"Don't I always?"
His widened smile was his answer. He reached up and drew a finger
down her cheek gently.
"Merry Christmas, Scully."
She took his hand, kissed the knuckles.
"Merry Christmas, Mulder."
They wrapped their arms around each other and stood quietly for a
moment. Mulder nuzzled the top of her head and placed a kiss there
before speaking again.
"It's not where I'd hoped we'd be by now, Scully, but... things will
get better. I promise."
She tightened her arms around him, breathing in him, the aroma of the
simmering stew, the musty smell of their shabby apartment -- all on
the road leading them to their future.
Together, with faith and hope.
"I know they will, Mulder. I know."
And she did.
END
****
Who do you think gave the better Christmas gifts? ;-) Feedback is
better than spiked eggnog: Bjm1352@aol.com
Thanks for reading. May you and yours have a wonderful holiday
season and a happy, peaceful New Year.
(
geocities.com/xmas_files)