This is my first attempt at a X-files fanfic, I must add a huge Thank You to Dana for everything, for all her encouragement whilst I was writing this story.
All X-Files Characters belong to Chris Carter, I am just borrowing them for a moment.
Angelic Agent
Dana Scully straightened out the little devil's horns on her costume, took another look in the mirror. She wasn't the type of woman to primp and fuss over her appearance but she wanted the costume to fit right. If I have to dress up then dammit, I am going to make this look good she thought with a smile, grabbing her car keys and heading out the door to pick up Mulder. She arrived at his apartment minutes later and pressed his buzzer hoping that he was dressed and ready to go, the quicker they got through this night the better.
Fox peeked out his door, offering up a wry smile to Dana who merely shoved it open and stepped inside.
"Mulder?" She exclaimed, furrowing her brow in discontent "What the hell, where's the costume I got you to wear?!"
Mulder gave her a sheepish grin "I was NOT going to go to a party dressed as...as an Angel, I mean really Scully, me Fox Mulder, F.B.I Agent, esteemed colleague with the United States Government.....dressed in fluffy white angel's wings!"
She snorted "Esteemed colleague eh?, you are full of yourself Mulder" She glanced back at him and continued "But Mulder we were supposed to match..you know.. me the devil, you the Angel"
"If you would have let me be the devil we wouldn't have had a problem" He lamented stubbornly.
"You were too cheap to buy the costumes in the first place Mulder, so that gives me the right to pick whatever I wanted to...seeing as I put them on my credit card"
"So I'm cheap, arrest me then unholy one" He grinned stretching out his wrists.
She gave another snort of disdain and looked him up and down, staring at his costume "Just what the hell are you then anyway?"
He twirled, putting on a mock fashion show, but stopped halfway through when he saw her frown again. "Guess"
She pursed her lips together and studied his motley costume, which consisted of a Batman ears, a superman cape, a spider man shirt, the boy wonders tights and on his two hands were Spiderman's web slinger and Wolverine's claw. "An escapee from an insane asylum?" She offered up finally.
He feigned a hurtful look "I, Scully am the Ultimate Superhero, best of the best"
"You, Mulder are nuts" She laughed "C'mon Ultimate Cheap man let's get going" She figured Mulder had pieced together all his former costumes in a bid to get out of buying a new one or wearing his halo for the night.
"Ultimate Superhero Scully" He retorted following her out the door. "Superhero"
After driving for awhile Mulder looked back at her and commented "Are you sure you know where you are going?"
She had been driving for 20 minutes and had yet to find the address where The Lone Gunman were throwing their little all hallows eve bash "I know exactly where I am going Mr. Marvel Comic"
"Just so everyone in the car knows that's all" He grinned straightening out his bat ears.
"You and I are the only ones in the car...are you going psycho on me Mulder?" She said eying him and his crazy get up.
"No..I used to be scitztophrenic...but we got better" He laughed.
Finally after driving 20 more minutes she resigned to the fact that she was lost "Okay, ask Superman where the hell we are" She said stopping the car in front of the gates of an old darkened mansion and turning off the engine.
Mulder paused for a moment and had a mock conversation with himself "He says he doesn't know" He replied finally "Where's the map they gave you?"
Scully reached in the glove compartment and handed it to him.
Mulder looked down at the small piece of paper "Scully how can you read this thing, it's all blurry and...and it's sticky too" He said setting down the paper and rubbing his hands together.
"I sort of spilled my carrot-mango juice on it" She said snatching up the paper and trying to read it again, but Mulder was right the whole thing was a blurry orange mess.
"Well give Langley a call then" Mulder said leaning back in his car.
"Can't my phone is on the charger at home" She answered "You call"
"Does it look like this costume was built to hold a cell phone?" Mulder replied looking down at his outfit.
"Perfect" She grumbled as she tried to start the car "Now the car won't start, and we are god knows where"
"Want me to send out the Bat Signal?" He offered up then laughed.
"Laugh it up fun boy" She replied "We are lost, stuck out here with a car that won't start, we don't have our phones and now...now it's starting to rain"
Mulder looked around and pointed at the old house looming in the moonlight "Maybe they have a phone, or can tell us where the heck we are"
"An old scary looking house, a car that won't start, dark rainy Halloween night...what else could go wrong?" She grimaced as they got out of the car.
The wind began howling around them as they made their way up the long and winding path, the closer they got the house it seemed the darker the night became, clouds almost completely obscured the moon by now. Mulder was about ten steps in front on Scully and as lightening cracked it's purple light across the sky, all she could see was the silhouette of those damned Batman ears running up the hill. Scully jumped a bit in spite of herself, but thankfully Mulder was too gung-ho about investigating the old decrepit mansion to turn around and look back at her.
"Mulder, would you slow down some?" She asked, why did all old houses have to be on top of a hill she wondered, why they couldn't be just on the side of the road.
"Hey at least I am walking with you" He stopped and shouted back so she could hear him over the whipping wind.
"What's that supposed to mean Mulder?" She asked when she caught up with him.
"I could have just flown up there" He smirked indicating his cape.
"Nice tights" She countered noticing finally how the rain made them cling to his body.
Mulder looked down, then back up at Scully "It's cold" He grumbled "You wound me wicked woman"
She laughed as he gave her the puppy dog eyes "You just used up your allotment of cute looks for the month Mulder"
"You said I was cute" He laughed as they started walking up the hill again."I guess that must mean you like me then"
"Not right now it doesn't" She muttered climbing the steps to the old house, she went to knock on the door but Mulder stopped her.
"Wait Scully, I have a secret superhero knock" He said grinning.
"Oh please"
He proceed to rap on the wooden door with a series of knocks for which she could divine no real purpose.
"Wasn't that the secret knock the little rascals used to get into their club house?" She grinned like a Cheshire cat.
"No...it's all mine, I made it up before you came to pick me up" He replied defiantly.
"Well Einstein, I see that you put your time off to good practical use"
He frowned back at her "It means something"
"Next you are going to be making a hill out of mashed potato's and tell me the aliens are coming" She said thinking back to the movie close encounters of the third kind.
"Really Scully, that's just a movie, those were actors" He said knocking again.
"And I thought all the movies you watched involved the letters XXX"
He held up his Wolverine glove "I like the X-men"
"That's only one X Mulder"
"Close enough" He said looking back at the door which remained as still as when they arrived. "I don't think anyone's home Scully"
"Why don't you try using your X-ray vision and take a peek inside then"
"Don't you think I tried..this door must be made of kyptonite"
"It's wood Mulder" she said simply.
"You have no imagination"
"And you have way too much" She replied.
Just then the door creaked open, but neither one of them could see who opened it, the house was pitch black.
"Ladies first" Mulder said stretching his arm out in front of him.
"And some say chivalry is dead" She muttered stepping inside the darkened house in front of him.
As soon as they were inside, the door slammed shut behind them, leaving them in complete darkness.
Scully reached back around him and tried tugging on the doorknob but it refused to budge "Why did you shut the door Mulder?" She asked still trying to force the door open.
"I didn't touch it" He replied trying the knob himself "Must have been the wind...or maybe it was a ghost"
"A ghost...really Mulder if you are trying to frighten me it won't work"
"They don't call me spooky for nothing" He teased.
"I could think of something else to call you right now" She grumbled.
"Cute?, charming?, incredibly handsome?" He chided.
"Actually it was more along the lines of...."She began but stopped suddenly as they both saw a flickering of light coming from the next room.
Together they walked slowly into the adjoining room, which was a rather large room with a lavish Oriental rug on the floor in front of a now lit fireplace. There was old antique looking furniture placed all around, but Scully's eyes alighted to a small table where a small black antique phone sat.
But before Scully could reach the phone to try and call out it started to ring, she picked up the receiver "Hello" she said tentatively. But there was no answer just a lot of static "Hello" she said again this time a bit louder.
"Upstairs" A deep male voice said and then the line went dead. Scully tapped on the buttons, but there was nothing.
Mulder who was drying himself off in front of the crackling fire looked over at her "Who was on the phone Scully?"
"The Avon lady" She said flatly hanging up the phone.
"Ahh so the enigmatic Dana Scully has a sense of humor after all" He said walking over to her and inspecting the phone.
"It was a man's voice, all he said was the word Upstairs then the phone went dead" She explained.
"Now this is a mystery" Mulder replied holding up the phone cord that was severed in half.
"Why did you cut that line Mulder?" She asked inspecting the cut phone cord "I told you before don't think you are going to frighten me, just because it's Halloween night"
"I did no such thing Scully" He replied trying the phone again, but the line was dead. "I swear to you the phone line was not even connected when it rang...besides why would I cut the cord to the phone, it's not like I want to stay here".
While they were bickering the phone sounded out it's shrill ring a second time, Scully looked down at the ruined cord in her hand then back at the ringing phone.
"Told you so" was all that Mulder said before picking up the receiver himself "Yeah" he answered.
"Upstairs" The voice repeated then the line again went dead.
"Man of few words I guess" Mulder said replacing the receiver "We had the same chat you did Scully"
"What should we do now oh great super hero?" Scully sighed sitting back on the old dusty couch in front of the fireplace, the warmth from the fire felt good and she didn't feel any great urges to go exploring.
"We go up" Mulder replied pointing to the ceiling and flopping down next to her laying his head in her lap. She scooted over and let his head fall onto the couch.
He gave her a fake wounded look "My therapist hates me" he laughed.
"I don't want to go tromping around an old dirty mansion in the dark" She complained "Why can't we just stay down here until daylight?"
"Aren't you the least bit curious to see what's up there?" he said sitting up.
"Curiosity killed the cat Mulder" She grinned back at him.
He tapped his bat ears and replied "I am a bat Scully, you never heard anyone say curiosity killed the bat did you?"
"Not until now Mulder" She remarked curling up her legs and relaxing a bit more, she was quite happy to remain just where she was.
"C'mon it could be fun"
"Your idea of fun vastly differs from mine Mulder, whenever you say that it could be fun, something always tries to kill us"
"You're just scared, admit it" He teased her.
"Am not!" She shot back "I just don't see the point of going to look for trouble"
"Oh just humor me, mistress of the night" Mulder said straightening out her devil's horns "By the way did I tell you how good you look in that little devil's costume, the red matches your hair...you look...you look great"
She tossed one of the small pillows that was laying on the couch at him "Shut it Mulder" She laughed "You only say that because you are trying to get me to go one one of your crazy ghost chases"
"No" he answered "I meant it...but I do want you to come upstairs with me"
She looked stunned for a moment wondering if he really did mean it or was just teasing her like he usually did "Okay on one condition then Super Mulder" She said slowly.
"And pray tell what is that?" he asked cocking his head to the side and giving her his best innocent look.
"When we get back to your apartment..you put on your original costume so I can take a picture" She grinned, hoping that would put an end to the discussion and they could just wait it out until daylight right here by the fire.
He grimaced and thought it over for a couple of minutes, the thought of putting on those ridiculous looking wings and white gown, not to mention that gaudy gold halo made him cringe inwardly. And she wanted a picture too! He could just imagine her framing it and keeping it on her desk at work, where he would have to look at it day in and day out. He almost said hell no, but the investigative side of his personality was burning to know what was upstairs. "Fine" he replied "But no making any copies and mailing them out as Christmas cards for the Bureau agreed?"
She was taken aback, dammit she thought to herself, he had called her bluff, but she would hold him to his part of the bargain none the less "Agreed, let's get this over with then"
He gave her a cheeky grin and stood up offering her his hand saying "You drive a hard bargain you little demon" .
She took his hand and rose to her feet "See if there are any candles or something to take, I don't want to be stumbling around in the dark up there with you"
"Why? afraid the boogey man might grab you Scully?" He said searching the room and finding a small oil lantern in the far corner.
"Not hardly" She answered taking it from him and using a small stick from the fire to light the wick, soon the soft glow from the lantern flickered shadows upon the walls as they walked out of the room and started cautiously up the stairs. The steps creaked and groaned under their footsteps as the made their way up the first flight of stairs, Scully gazed back at her partner and asked "So what now?"
"Well it's not like the guy gave us any specific directions" Mulder replied opening the door immediately to their right "I guess we just investigate room by room"
"Lovely" Scully muttered under her breath as she followed him in, the room looked to be a nursery of sorts there was a baby's crib in the right corner of the room, with various children's toys scattered about and a light blue dresser in the other corner, but smack dab in the center of the room was an old wooden rocking chair.
As Mulder began searching the room for clues, the rocker started moving back and forth softly.
"Mulder?" Scully said stepping away from the chair "What's happening?"
"Could just be the wind" He replied watching the chair creak on the floorboards.
"Interesting analogy Mulder, but the window isn't open" She said looking at the shutters which were tightly closed.
Just then the sounds of a baby crying filled the room making her jump a bit. "Did you hear that Mulder?"
"Yeah, I did" He answered as the crying stopped as quickly as it had started. "Strange, let's try the next room, maybe it will offer up some clues to this mystery"
"Lead on Scooby-Doo" She said with a smile as they went into the next room.
"Okay Scrappy" He laughed as they started to look around the bedroom, which had an old antique brass bed in the middle of the room. Mulder started to look through the dresser drawers and pulled out a bunch of letters that were tied up with an old red ribbon.
Mulder sat the lamp on the table next to the bed and flopped back on the pillows, then he patted the quilt and gestured for Scully to sit next to him.
"Are you trying to get me in bed with you Mulder?" She teased standing over him.
"Playing hard to get eh Scully?" He said his eyes sparkling with amusement.
"Always" she said with a smile, sitting down next to him "Just keep those hands to yourself buster"
"Awww come on Scully, what could be more romantic then laying in some strangers bed on a dark stormy Halloween night in the upstairs bedroom of a haunted house? Kind of makes you want to fool around doesn't it?"
"You are twisted Mulder" She laughed "Now what have you got there?"
"A bunch of old letters from the looks of it" He replied untying the ribbon and handing her half of the letters.
They both leaned back reading the faded lines of the eloquent script.
"These look like letters written by a man named Jackson to his bride a girl named Asa during the civil war" Mulder said after awhile
Mulder looked back down at the last letter dated Oct. 31st, which he read out loud "Dear Asa, I write this letter to you my beloved, look for me and keep our candle lit in the window to light my way home, I am coming back to you...all my love Jackson" He paused "I wonder if they ever got married?"
"I don't think so Mulder" Scully said sadly as she handed him one of the faded letters "It says here that Jackson was killed that same day, leaving Asa alone and pregnant with their child"
"And he never made it home" Scully added setting down the letters "I wonder what happened to Asa and the baby after that?"
"I don't know" Mulder replied standing up "Maybe we can find the answers if we look around some more".
Scully stood up and they left the room, they explored several more rooms but came up empty handed.
"Where do we look now Mulder?" Scully said even she had to admit she was also very curious as to what happened.
"We go...we go upstairs" He said pointing to the attic.
"Oh great, an old dirty attic to wander through, you're just a barrel of fun tonight Mulder" She muttered following him up the narrow staircase into the dank musty attic."Did I ever tell you that you're crazy"
"You say the nicest things" Mulder grinned back at her over his shoulder."I do believe you are coming on to me Agent Scully"
"You wish" She said as they entered the attic, stringy cobwebs hung down from the rafters and the floor was covered in a thick layer of dust. "But then again you do take me to the nicest places" She said as they watched a mouse run across the floor in front of them.
"Over here" Mulder said blowing the dust off of an old trunk in the corner, he lifted the lid and rummaged through the old clothes until he reached the bottom and found a bunch of news clippings "Look at this" he said handing her a faded old piece of newsprint.
"Asa Sanderson 23 and her 6 1/2 month old baby Markie both died from pneumonia" Scully read "Oh Mulder that is so sad Asa passed away just a week after Markie"
Scully took Mulder by the hand "Let's go back downstairs Mulder, there is nothing more up here"
"Scully, the mans voice on the phone earlier, he wanted us to do something for him, wandering spirits only contact the living because they want them to do something they cannot"
"What do you think he wants?"
"I don't know Scully, but I am going to find out" Together they made their way back into the living room and sat back on the couch with the letters spread out in front of them.
The shrill sound of the ringing telephone broke the silence of the house Mulder rose and answered the phone "Hello"
"Dark..home..can't see" The voice said then the line went dead again. Mulder sighed and sat back down on the couch and relayed to Scully what the voice had said.
"Do you think that was really Jackson?" Scully asked her mind was going back over all the letters again in her head "What could he want?"
"He said he can't see..dark..home" Mulder repeated "Wait, Scully that last letter Jackson wrote there was something in it about keeping a candle lit in the window to light his way home, I think Asa and Markie are still here in this house waiting for Jackson to come back but she doesn't know how to bring him home to her"
"But what window Mulder, and do you really think that's what he wants is for us just to light a candle and put it in a window?"
"If we have to light candles in every window thats what we will do Scully"
"Nice plan Mulder, but there is just one candle" She replied gesturing to the candle on top of the mantle of the fireplace.
"Nothing is ever easy is it" Mulder replied "Okay Scully let's try this out"
They opened the long drapes in the room and placed the candle on the windowsill.
"Hand me that Lantern Scully" Mulder said looking back at her "I need to light the candle now"
"Why don't you just light it with your magical fire breath Super Mulder" Scully smirked hading him the lantern.
"Is that a suggestion or just general Mulder bashing?" He replied lighting the candle's wick.
She laughed a bit at that one, but drew quiet as they watched out the window, they couldn't see a thing though as a dense fog had rolled in while they were upstairs exploring.
As they moved away from the window a cold chill filled the room, then the flames in the fireplace flickered brightly and began to die away.
The Candle in the window also flickered and went out then they heard the sound of a door creak open.
The two agents looked at each other and hurried into the other room, the first thing they noticed was the front door was flung wide open.
"Well either Jackson came home, or that's a sign we can leave now" Mulder replied absentmindedly.
"I think it's both" Scully said not wanting to wait until they were trapped in the house again "Let's get out of here while we can Mulder"
"Okay" He replied following her out the front door "But admit it you liked being trapped alone in there with me"
Scully leaned towards him and smiled sweetly "A few more dates like that and I'll be ready to marry you" she teased.
"I know of this other haunted house if you want to..." He began but she cut him off.
"Mulder I think those tights of yours are a bit too constrictive, they are cutting off circulation to your brain" She interjected with a giggle. "I was just joking"
When they finally got back to the car they looked back up at the old house and for a brief moment the silhouette of two people could be seen in the upstairs window then it faded back into darkness. They both looked back at one another and just smiled.
Scully tried to start the car and this time the engine roared to life "Let's get going" She said as they drove off into the night backtracking until they hit the main highway, it wasn't long after that, that they were back at Mulder's apartment.
Mulder stretched his arms over his head and yawned "Well I am going to hit the sack Scully, thanks for a very interesting evening, we should do it again sometime..."
"Oh no you don't" Scully retorted "We had a deal remember?"
"Shit" Mulder grumbled "Do I have to Scully come on please.."
"Go change" She said standing her ground and pulling out a small camera from her purse.
"Fine" He muttered soon returning to the room dressed like an angel, fluffy wings and all "You are really enjoying my humiliation aren't you?"
"Immensely" She laughed snapping a pix and slinging her purse over her shoulder "Happy Halloween Mulder get some sleep" she said walking out the door.
A couple days later Scully walked into Mulder's office grinning from ear to ear.
"What have you done now?" Mulder groaned, the smile on her face unchanged.
"Oh nothing really" She answered sweetly, turning away from him and taking off her jacket. "By the way nice screen saver"
"What?" Mulder asked turning on his computer only to be greeted by that blasted angel picture, he scowled up at her "How did you manage to change my screen saver without me knowing?"
"Oh, I happen to know three guys who thought your picture was absolutely adorable, a work of art to be shared with everyone" She answered back innocently.
"Let me guess Frohike, Byers and Langley" Mulder snorted changing the screen saver as fast as he could.
Just then his phone rang it was Skinner on the line "Agent Mulder, get your Angelic Butt up to my office I have an assignment for you"
Mulder groaned and hung up the phone."It's on every computer?!"
"Yep, It's a work of art" Scully replied with a laugh. "Smile Mulder, you're a star"
"Well alert the press, I'll be signing autographs from 2-6 P.M in the west wing" Mulder scowled again and took off out the door.
"Make mine out to Special Agent Dana Scully please" She called out to him as he very deftly flipped her off behind his back and kept on going.