Just as it seemed the impenetrable darkness would never be lifted, a blinding light assailed Scully and she threw her hands up to shield her eyes. Slowly dropping her hands and looking through squinted eyes, Scully saw the silent alien spirit standing before her. With a question still forming on her lips, she saw the long, slender arm of the spirit pointing behind her and she turned apprehensively to see what the future would hold.
Before her were two beings standing over a marble slab on which lay a victim. The prostrate being was familiar to her and she realized that it had once been a human but was now a carrier for a gestating alien. Over the slab stood two figures, one of whom she recognized immediately. Unbelievably, it was the Cigarette Smoking Man. His compatriot was an alien all too familiar to Scully. She herself had once been kidnapped and experimented on by such an alien and, most likely, with the cooperation of CSM. Striding to the table, Scully momentarily forgot the fact that she could not speak to the visions or impact the outcome of what unspooled before her. Her anger drove her to the tableau and she reached out a hand to strike at the black clad figure who casually puffed on his cigarette.
Her raised hand was caught mid-strike by the alien spirit who accompanied her. Looking up at the spirit, Scully asked, "What is this that you show me? Is this the future...a future set in stone? Or is this some Star Trek-like possible future that I can still change?" But the alien spirit did not answer her. Dropping Scully's arm and raising its own once again, the spirit pointed. Scully looked back at the three future beings then back at the alien. "What is it," she asked. "What is it you want me to see?" The spirit merely pointed again. Looking closer at the victim on the slab, Scully sensed something chillingly familiar about the figure. She couldn't place what it was but there was something about the poor person that stirred something unsettling within her. As she dropped her head to look at the victim, a glint of light flashed and was gone. Then it flashed again and she saw its source. Around the neck of the human, who now incubated the future of alien domination, was a gold cross.
Stepping back in horror, Scully turned to the spirit. "Is this true? Can this really be my future?!" The spirit stood before her silently, watching. "Why show me this, spirit, if I am beyond all hope?" Instead of an answer, the spirit touched her arm and they were transported again and again to scenes from a future that was desolate and hopeless. The more she saw, the more fearful and filled with remorse Scully became. If only they had tried harder. If only she had carried on and believed. Once again she asked the spirit, "Is this the only future? Could it not be changed? Why do you make me witness this destruction and despair if I have no hope to change it?" The silent alien held her arm and looked deep into Dana's eyes. It seemed to hold her in its thrall. She felt her remorse overwhelm her and choked on her plea, "I wish I had believed. I wish I had a chance to believe again." And closing her eyes...
Scully realized she was alone. Opening her eyes she looked about her and recognized the familiar landmarks of her bedroom - her dresser, the pictures on her wall and her clock. All there. Lifting her head from the pillow, she noted the time. It was morning. She had finally slept through the night and awakened to another day rather than a night of visiting spirits. Scully ran to the window and threw it open, looking out into the stillness of the morning. Everything seemed peaceful and calm. Passing beneath her window was a young boy on his way to carry out some errand. "You there," Scully called down, "What day is it?" The child looked up at her and smiled as he answered, "Why, it's Christmas day!" As the cheerful boy continued down the street, Scully marveled at the news. It was Christmas day! She hadn't lost three days as she had thought. Had the entire thing been a dream? Had Mulder's ghost really visited her and been followed by the three alien spirits he had foretold?
With a sudden shocking realization, Scully said aloud, "Mulder's ghost!?!" Mulder wasn't dead! What had made her think Mulder was dead? She couldn't imagine life without her partner and friend so why had that thought been so close and so real? She remembered the events that had transpired and thought of the ghostly visitation and the spirits that had taken her to visit Christmas events past, present and future. How could all those things seem so real? And yet, to embrace their truth would mean believing that Mulder's ghost had also been real. It simply wasn't possible. She had worked late at the office last night with her partner before they parted ways for the holiday weekend. To suddenly think that Mulder was dead was ridiculous. "Bah! Humbug!"
Scully caught herself in her vocalized denial. She could not so easily dismiss what she had seen and experienced. Whether dreams or reality, the future of the X-Files and, more importantly, the future of the world depended on her believing. But she would not for a minute more entertain the possibility that her partner was gone. Mulder had to be alive and with her if she was to continue. She wanted to believe...maybe she even did believe. But it would be so much less without Mulder by her side. Grabbing her cell phone from the table she hit the autodial and waited, holding her breath.
Scully heard a click as a phone was picked up on the other end of the line. And then a voice, "Mulder." The overwhelming relief that enveloped her made an immediate response impossible. Scully bowed her head and thanked heaven that Mulder was still with her. Whether he had been there all along, or had indeed been dead and a ghostly apparition, either way she sent a prayer of thanks to the gods and the spirits for allowing her a second chance and for restoring her partner to her. "Scully?" The voice on the other end sent out an uncertain query and Scully suddenly found her voice, "Mulder, it's me."
"Scully? Is everything all right?" Scully could hear the concern in her partner's voice and she quickly answered to dispell any fear. "Yes, Mulder. I'm fine. I just...I guess I just wanted to say Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays." Scully gave a small laugh which brought an unexpected smile to Mulder's lips. It wasn't often that he heard his partner laugh or even saw her smile. Her smiles were rare and her laughter was even rarer. He sometimes thought she made an extra effort to make him work for the revelation of one of those smiles.
"Mulder, I thought that maybe we could meet for breakfast or brunch to celebrate the holidays. I never did give you your present," Scully began. Mulder was surprised, assuming that his partner would spend the day with her family and he stated as much, "Not that I'd turn down an invitation for food." Scully laughed again and continued, "I am having dinner with my family but that still gives me most of the day and I thought we might spend it together. It's not often that we just spend time away from work and, with the holidays, I thought it might be a nice change." Mulder's surprise was evident but his answer was immediate, "You're on, G-woman. Sounds great and I did get you a little something to put under the tree. Might as well give it to you on time, for once." As Mulder set down his phone and prepared for their meeting, he felt rejuvenated and filled with a spark that had been missing for the last few years. There was something in Scully's voice that made him both happy and hopeful. He couldn't wait to see her.
Scully sat at the window watching a light snow begin to fall. She couldn't explain what had transpired over the last three nights. She didn't think it really mattered. What did matter was that she had a purpose and a new energy for their work on the X-Files. And she was going to do everything she could to infect Mulder with this renewed passion. They had been wasting time, in a sort of holding pattern, and the time had come to take control of the situation and fight for what they believed in. And she did believe. She thought about that and then said it out loud. "I want to believe. I do believe." The smile on Scully's face remained as she changed into her cranberry suit and prepared to spend the day with her friend and partner. The gift that she had purchased and wrapped for Mulder was the least of the gifts that she planned to give him. The greatest gifts she had previously offered him were her support and her trust. She had always believed in him but today she would give him what might be the one gift he most wanted but least expected. She would tell him that she believed, not just in him but in his work and his aliens and in everything the X-Files stood for. She believed. Scully smiled as she walked happily and hopefully out her front door and into the future.