Summary: Two days before Christmas, Scully overhears a phone call that could potentially freeze her and Mulder's slow burning relationship.
Notes: In this story, Diana does not exist( because I can) and this takes the place of HTGSC, otherwise it's canon. Not that I don't love that episode, but the timeline just fits best here.
I designed this story to go in a past/present sort of way so I hope it flowed alright since its beta free and I had very little time to actually write this before Christmas with the secret santa exchange and my three kids (who spent all day today puking) are on break. But, I really hope you liked it anyway and that you have a very merry Christmas!
"Then I did the simplest thing in the world. I leaned in… and kissed him. And the world cracked open." -Agnes de Mille
Margaret Scully's House
Baltimore, MD
December 24,1998
5:15pm
Scully knows Mulder hasn't slept with that woman. She knows because she overheard a conversation in the woman's bathroom just the day before. Scully had peeked through the gap in the stall when she'd heard her distinct sickeningly sweet tone. The newly employed Special Agent Gabriella Ortega—and two other agents Scully could have cared less about—were gossiping over the sinks while she was suppose to be changing her tampon.
The sound of that flirty, tall, curvy—and unfortunately for Scully in this case—incredibly beautiful woman's voice uttering the word sex had stopped her in her tracks. But not one for gossip, she had no intention of listening to the conversation. That was until she heard the other agents with her started complaining to one another about their lack of recent dates.
The horrifying image of a naked Mulder pleasuring this woman flashed before her eyes like lightning, and the sudden familiar ache in her chest that immediately followed was not something she could ignore. So she'd simply chosen not to. Scully just pushed the ache away like usual and leaned in closer to hear more.
One of the younger agents had no problem straight out asking how long its been since they'd each gotten "laid". Agent Ortega had practically whined that it had been over four months and was currently wearing down her vibrators second set of batteries. Scully remembered vividly the exact day that she'd slipped her way into Mulder's good graces so easily, and it had only been two months and nine days since then.
And even though she would never admit to it verbally, the near consistent flirting was slowly eating at Scully's resolve to continue hiding her intense deeper feelings for her best friend.
Gabriella Ortega had been the center of the Hoover's rumor mill quite often since her arrival not long ago. And the one morning that they had actually left Kersh's office in a good mood after closing yet another bogus case, she happened for the first time. Mulder ran directly into the fresh faced young agent—who seemed all too happy to introduce herself with her hands rubbing along Mulder's forearm while adjusting and complimenting his God-awful tie.
Scully had just rolled her eyes and waited for him to follow her to the elevator, but he never did. There she stood with her arms crossed, silently seething while the two chatted away as if she hadn't even existed. So in the elevator ride down to the basement that she'd taken alone, she admitted to herself that, for the first time, she was honestly worried about losing Mulder to another woman.
Ever since that day, the agent had found some excuse to run into Mulder, to wave to Mulder, to talk to Mulder, to touch Mulder… Yet, he had seemed to just smile and take it as obliviously as he usually did whenever anyone flirted with him. Including herself. But Scully had to admit, even though it turned her stomach to do so, that Agent Ortega was admirably bold in showing her keen interest in Mulder. His face had actually lit up when she had shown up in the basement with a bag of sunflower seeds and a glittery Christmas card. Grinning from ear to ear and seductively biting her lip, she handed her offerings to him and had wished only him a merry Christmas before sashaying her perfect ass out the door.
Now, while she stared out through the window in her mother's living room and watched as Mulder's car rolled to a stop, she couldn't help but wonder if her fleeting decision of good will and desperation will be justified, or turn out to be a complete and utter mishap.
—
X-Files Office
J. Edgar Hoover FBI Building
December 23, 1998
4:35pm
Scully walked out of the elevator and could hear the comforting cadence of her partner's voice drifting through the partially opened door.
Just as she placed her hand on the knob, she heard him laugh loudly and she froze. Mulder didn't get many personal phone calls at the office and when he did, they have never left him laughing.
"You really know what to say to keep me smiling," he crooned.
Scully felt her stomach flip as she bit her lip and narrowed her eyes, contemplating her decision to eavesdrop.
"Yes, I'm sure. I'll stop by your place tomorrow night on my way and drive you to the party myself."
She couldn't help but scoff in surprise when she heard that while she glared at the cracked door, feeling irritation bubble to the surface. Scully knew he hadn't forgotten her family's dinner party invitation since he had confirmed his attendance to herself and her mother while on speaker phone earlier that morning.
That only left one explanation: Mulder was bringing a date. Scully felt an unwelcome twinge somewhere in her gut. He's not yours, she told herself firmly. Even if you love him, he isn't yours.
"Okay, Ella, it's a date. I'll see you Christmas Eve."
Her jaw dropped at his confirmation of one of her worst fears. Suddenly, a wave of nausea and anger washed over her but was able to push both feelings back enough to hear Mulder say goodbye. As soon as she heard the phone click into its cradle, Scully wasted no time flinging the door open and harshly clacked her heels into their office.
"Hey, Scully. You've been gone awhile," he commented, eyeing her with a smile from his lounged position in his chair.
"Well, some of us had work to do around here, Mulder," she snapped, avoiding his gaze. "But if I want to make it to my mother's early enough to help her decorate for tomorrow, then I'd better shut my computer down and leave now." She was angry in spite of herself, and it was not making her feel any less hurt by his audacity. Even though he didn't know just how much she was looking forward to spending Christmas with him away from work, she still felt betrayed.
After roughly stuffing papers into her bag, Scully finally looked up from her computer and saw the look of surprise on his face—maybe even detecting a tinge of hurt as well. Good, she thought, then instantly pushed that aside. She hated seeing Mulder hurt, even if the thought of him bringing a date to her own family Christmas party was hurting her twice as badly.
"You'll be there then?" she tentatively wondered, not letting her voice waver in case he'd decided to ditch her.
"Yeah, of course. I'm actually really looking forward to it."
She nodded and looked away to gather the rest of her things. "Well, that's good. Me too." She hoped she just sounded interested in spending time with him instead of desperate.
But truth be told, with the high probability of her witnessing Mulder walking through her mother's door and having Gabriella Ortega's hand laced through his, she had never felt more desperate to claim him in her life.
Margaret Scully's House
Baltimore, MD
December 24,1998
5:10pm
Christmas music and chatter hummed around the edges of Scully's racing thoughts and doing decisively nothing to aid in quelling her rising anxiety.
"Dana, there you are."
"Mom!" she jumped. "You startled me."
"Why are you pacing and chewing your lip to pieces with that worried look on your face?" She watched Margaret narrow eyes, surely questioning more than just her daughter's expression at the moment. But before Scully could confess what was driving her to near sickness, she was interrupted by a strong scent of cologne and the feel of an unwelcome large sweaty hand to the back of her neck.
Scully cleared her throat and watched as her mother's eyes widened in surprise at the odd overt display in front of her. "Oh, looks like more guests have arrived, honey." At that, she turned and rushed off to mingle, leaving Scully mouth agape and alone to deal with an awkward situation of her own making.
Scully politely shrugged the overconfident hand off her neck and took a step away from his looming. "You alright, Dana? You look distracted," the short man with black thinning hair donning a hideous green Christmas tree sweater, immediately leaned back in and whispered heavily in her ear.
She reared back at his sudden close proximity and stiffened. God, this is going to be a long night, she groaned internally, realizing she needed to reiterate her previous statement to him from when he had first arrived earlier.
"Look, Tim, I—"
"It's Jim, and please call me Jimmy," he crooned. Scully winced.
"Yes, Jim. Look, I'm sorry if at any point I had given you the impression that this was… something more than a friendly offer to celebrate Christmas Eve with other's. But just to clarify once again, I'm not really looking to date anyone." She stared him down, silently willing him to accept her dismissal.
"But you're single, right? I mean, I've never seen you around the Hoover or the coffee shop with anyone but your partner." She could only scoff as she tossed him an arched brow. She thought that his observation should be quite obvious, even to a newly transferred agent having minimal contact with the FBI's rumor mill.
She groaned. "Yes, I am but—"
"Hey, speak of the devil," he blurted out, cocking his head at the window.
Curiosity getting the better of her, she peeked out the window and stared with focused eyes as she caught sight of Mulder pulling up to the curb and exiting his car.
After remembering the conversation that occurred in the woman's bathroom the day before, she tried her damnedest not to hone in on how jaw droppingly handsome he looked tonight. Although she badly wanted to ogle his sexy body wrapped in that snug charcoal dress shirt tucked into his best pair of ass hugging Armani slacks for hours, Scully forced herself to turn away from the vision of Mulder charmingly opening the car door and offering his hand to the woman still seated in front of him.
She squeezed her eyes shut and bit her lip almost hard enough to draw blood but maintained her composure otherwise while under scrutinizing eyes. Her cheeks flushed with frustration in an acute sense of how ridiculously undignified and foolish she felt at the moment.
"I'm going to grab some more food, Dana. You want me to bring you some?"
Shaking her head and faking a smile, "no thanks." Scully watched the man walk away and shoved down the urge to look back through the window and glare at her partner.
Scully avoided his entrance into the house by fleeing to the kitchen and striking up a conversation with Tara. Her mind was running wild with all the possible scenarios of how badly this interaction could be, and couldn't even be sure what exactly they were discussing when Bill walked in.
He complained at the fact that Mulder was talking to their mother in the dining room introducing a woman that he brought along. "Apparently, your work has to follow you home on Christmas Eve too, Dana."
"Mom and I invited him, Bill, and you knew that before he arrived," she shook her head and brushed past him. Just before reaching the entryway to dining room, Scully straightened her spine, squared her shoulders, and effectively masked her dread of watching Gabriella fawning over Mulder.
She had barely gotten her barings when a warm hand tenderly grabbed at her wrist as soon as she had taken two steps into the room.
"Scully, hey! I'd like to introduce you to someone," Mulder smiled while rubbing his thumb along her skin and pulling her close. "This is my favorite neighbor and only neighbor I talk to, Mrs. Ella Brown—who insists on everyone calling her Ella," he explained. His smile faded when he took in the look of utter confusion Scully knew was plastered on her face. Mulder just chuckled and continued on. "She's quite good at slinging innuendo, actually," he added, nudging Ella's arm as she grinned up at him. "She tells me that with her being 69, she has plenty of material to work with, and that one day, I might finally get her to blush."
Ella smiled sweetly at Mulder and patted his cheek. "Oh, you don't give yourself enough credit, Mulder," she teased and lovingly took Scully's hands into her own. Ella winked at her and loudly stated, "with that face and a name like Fox, you'd think he'd have women swooning for him left and right. But the only one I ever hear him raving about, is you, my dear." Scully felt her already pink cheeks flame hot with embarrassment.
"Hey now, Ella, you promised you wouldn't embarrass me," Mulder joked while casually slinging his arm around Scully's still rigid shoulders. She was completely shocked to be staring at Mulder's sweet old neighbor with salt and pepper hair, pearly white teeth, and large rimmed glasses covering her shining eyes with her huge purse draped around her hip. Scully vaguely recalled Mulder telling her one day that his neighbor had his only other spare key incase of an emergency ever occurred within the building while they were out on a case.
Ella; the elderly neighbor. Not Gabri-ella; the sexy Special Agent. She admonished herself for not simply asking Mulder about his date from the start.
"Yes, hello. So nice to finally meet you," she choked out, trying to shake the remnants of surprise that was surely still stuck on her face. Nonplussed and still staring into the woman's kind brown eyes, Scully hadn't noticed that Mulder leaned down into her until he kissed the top of her head. Yet, she never startled. She only looked up and met his gaze comfortably, feeling herself unintentionally rock into his warmth.
"This is Ella's first Christmas alone since her husband died. She feeds my fish if the Gunmen can't and has brought me her famous cookies every Christmas Eve since I've lived down the hall from her," his voice rumbled against her. "So knowing I was coming here, I wanted to tell her that I wouldn't be around this year to eat them with her." Scully beamed up at him, grateful that at least someone else cared to look out for her partner if she could not. "I called your mom yesterday when you left the office to see if she would be open to me bringing a guest along."
Scully warmed at the thought of her partner sharing special moments during the holidays with his widowed neighbor. Yet, she couldn't stop the tendrils of guilt from creeping in that it had taken six years to actually spend Christmas with the man she loved. It pulled at her heartstrings more than she thought it would.
"You didn't have to break your plans just to stay on my mom's good side, Mulder. She still would love you if you had decided to stay home," she tried to joke and nudged his side. But from the look on his and Ella's face, it must have sounded as if Margaret Scully was the only one who truly cared if he showed up or not.
Nothing could be further from the truth.
But right before Scully could turn to him and explain what their horrible mishap of lacking communication had caused tonight, another man's sweaty hand touched her arm. Scully's eyes snapped shut, and instantly, she knew she was too late.
With her eyes still closed, unwilling to open them and see her partner's face before she had to introduce them, a voice to her right did it for her. "Hey, Agent Mulder right?"
Forcing her eyes open and ignoring the fact that she her pained expression accurately displayed exactly how she felt at the moment, she glanced at a confused Mulder as he reached out his hand.
"Just Mulder, yes. And you are?" he asked, gripping the man's hand rather hard she noticed. And when she flicked her eyes back up at Mulder, she saw precisely why as his narrowed eyes locked onto the hot hand still touching her forearm.
Scully shook it off and answered. "This is Tim—"
"Jim, actually. Agent Richards to be exact," he corrected as he squeezed Mulder's hand with equal vigor.
"Ah, yes sorry. Jim's a new agent in the Missing Person's division. I ran into him yesterday after I left work and—"
"I'm her date," he cut in again. Scully rolled her eyes and sighed, prepared to silently tell Mulder with a look that he was stubbornly mistaken, yet she couldn't tear her eyes away from Mulder white knuckling the man's hand. "Nice to meet you, too," he scowled, yanking back his right hand and rubbed it with his left.
Scully stood between the two Alpha males as they sized each other up, glaring at one another until Jim broke and turned his attention back to the appetizers at food table.
"You… have a date," Mulder stated, staring at her with a thunderous frown. "Well… uh, glad I got that straight then," he moved away from Scully's outstretched hand before it touched him. "If you'll excuse me, I promised Ella a slice of your mother's famous pie."
He turned sharply and stalked off leaving an uncomfortable Ella and a frustrated Scully sighing behind him.
Her running into Agent Richards in line for coffee at the shop down the street from the Hoover Building and listening to him shamelessly attempt to flirt with her, had given Scully an idea. A rash and completely out of character one for her, but just the thought of her embarrassment at Mulder introducing his 'date' to her family, just spurred her on to invite him as her plus one. Since he had mentioned he was alone this Christmas, it felt like the right thing to do. And at the time, she had justified it as not a reaction to jealousy but self-preservation.
She had her heart protected well for years, yet even behind her fortress, it was scarred and seemed to only beat for her partner. Self-preservation was all she had left.
But now, watching as Mulder weaved his way through the mass of laughing guests, she knew that his anguished face was now matching her own.
After seeing that Ella felt welcome and giving Mulder a full 20 minutes of space, Scully couldn't stand another second of waiting on pins and needles for him to come back at talk to her. So she decided to leave her comfortable hiding spot she'd retreated to inside the kitchen, and just find him instead.
As she searched through the throng of people in the dining room and kitchen, Scully spotted Mulder standing off to the side near the fireplace in the living room with one hand gripping the mantle and the other laid limply at his side, sulking. Guilt for bringing a random man along just to make him jealous churned anew in her belly.
"Mulder…" He turned around slightly and shook his head.
"Ya know, when I remember what I was thinking on the drive over here... well, Scully, all I can say now is that I feel like a goddamn fool. I feel like I've read our whole situation—hell the last couple years really, completely wrong," he admitted with slumped shoulders, seemingly resigned with that thought.
Scully stood there, brows knitted, hands on her hips with mixed emotions swirling. "You're angry. I can unders—"
"Yeah, Scully I guess I am," he huffed, running a hand through his hair.
If one more person interrupted her…
"You're angry with me because I brought someone here just like you did? You've lost your mind, Mulder." She knew she was defecting but didn't give a shit at the moment.
"Well, we both know it wouldn't be the first time that's happened to me, but no, I haven't. And you know exactly why I'm upset, Scully. I was being nice and bringing a friend so she didn't have to spend this Christmas alone. I know how shitty that feels, in case you've forgotten," he quipped with deprecation laced through his voice, his stare burning right through her.
Scully watched him shrug as he looked over at her accidental date. "And I sure as hell would never bring a date to your family party, yet the fact that I stupidly assumed that you wouldn't, makes me wish I had lost what little mind I still have left."
He started his explanation off as a rant but his tone quickly changed into one of relinquished hope. "I just want you to be happy this Christmas, Scully. You deserve to be happy. So if you're happy, then so am I." His truthful admission and half assed attempt at a smile both equally thrilled and pained her.
Can he so easily let the possibility of an US go? No, she knew, as she caught the mist gleaming in his eye that he couldn't do that anymore than she could.
She sucked the corner of her bottom lip between her teeth then, looked at him shyly as she stepped into him, and really took his words to heart—allowing the feeling of his emotional commitment to wash over her.
Mulder's swirling hazel eyes locked firmly onto hers, and together surrounded by the twinkling lights and crackling fire with his hand in hers, they silently acknowledged the truth of their feelings; their love unbidden.
"Oh, look!" Margaret Scully practically squealed from across the room. Scully turned and saw her mother wave her pointed finger above Mulder's head while wearing a toothy grin. "You're standing beneath the mistletoe."
With widened eyes and an instant flutter of her heart, Scully slowly looked back up at Mulder and that's when she saw it; relief flooded his softened features.
He's been waiting for a moment like this one since that night in his hallway. Since they had effectively given away their hearts—since that goddamn bee.
The look on his face was intense and seemed to be saying things his mouth could not—as if she were oxygen and he was dying to breathe.
His thumb ran across the top of her hand and over her wrist in a gentle, sweeping arc. Her other hand reached for him instinctively, heedless of their audience and pushed back just how groundbreaking a kiss like this would be for them. Her reasons for resisting the urge to do exactly this after years of denying herself were valid. But, as his soulful eyes drew her in with such intensity and longing, Scully allowed herself to finally fall freely into the endless depths of green and gold.
She touched his cheek then gently cupped the back of his neck and drew him down, their gazes locked beneath hooded lids. With perfect timing their faces moved into each other and as their lips met, her world cracked open.
Tenderly, his big bottom lip glided along hers—a whispered touch, just enough to set off every one of her nerve endings like fireworks. She sighed against his mouth, reluctantly breaking contact to suck in air that he'd literally stolen from her chest. With her forehead leaning on his, she gasped as Mulder suddenly seized her mouth, unyieldingly claiming her lips again.
An unsuspecting moan escaped her throat as his thumbs rubbed over her temples, his mouth devouring hers. Her hands began to roam up and around his slender body as they kissed, gripping, caressing, and embracing his affection for her with open arms and an open heart.
Mulder's hands fluttered down her sides, just barely touching the bones of her hips. She vaguely registered him slide his fingers around to the small of her back, pulling her closer as his chest melted down into her to keep their lips connected for much longer this time.
She was lost, wholly now—pulled down and molded into the intimate embodiment of Mulder's love. And as their lips finally parted and their physical connection severed, Scully's mouth tingled, sending shivers down her spine.
Their entangled bodies swayed, her forehead pressed to his cheek and her breath on his jaw. His erection, hot and hard against her belly.
After so long wanting and waiting for the right time for them, Dana Scully finally got a real taste of Fox Mulder. And the one and only thought that screamed in her mind as her heart danced in her chest, was more.
Scully leaned back stared at his swollen lips behind heavy lids, awed and breathless. With her mouth parted, and her hands gripping at his waist and the nape of his neck, she watched as the ever thinning line of their previously platonic relationship evaporated right before her eyes.
A low groan rumbled out from Mulder's chest that vibrated along her front and sent a wet wave of arousal between her wavering legs.
Behind her, gasps and barely audible murmuring snapped Scully out of her euphoric haze. She'd completely forgotten they were standing in her mother's living room surrounded by her family and members of the church. Mulder only tightened his hands around her at the sounds of an audience, but she knew it was time to step away from their magic under the mistletoe and back into reality.
Yet, feeling the blush growing up her neck already, she decided to enjoy this for just a little longer. In for a penny… Running her finger along the bottom of his lip where her lipstick had marked him, she grinned, love drunk at his lopsided goofy smile stuck on his face.
"Ahem…" She and Mulder turned to face the Scully matriarch tandemly and quickly stepped away from one another, smoothing their shirts in an attempt to conceal their mutual excitement. With an unabashed smile gracing her face, her mother placed a calming hand to Bill Jr.'s stiff arm as he seethed at Mulder. Tara and several other people—including Ella and Agent Richards—gaped at them with smirks pulling at their mouths. "Dinner's ready."
Ella winked. "Mer-ry Christmas, indeed."
After stuffing themselves full with comfort food, and enduring two hours of conversation laced with sexually charged eye contact from Mulder, Scully told him he should take Ella home when she was caught yawning multiple times.
"Mom, Mulder and Ella are leaving," Scully waved her mother over to the door.
"Goodnight, Ella, It was great having you here. And you too, Fox." Raising up on tiptoe, she kissed Mulder on the cheek. "Merry Christmas," she smirked and left them alone to kiss little Matthew on his way to bed.
She watched Mulder blush and clear his throat. The rare times that Scully witnessed him go pink usually involved blatant compliments from her, or motherly affection from her mom.
"Merry Christmas, Mrs. Scully," he said. "I'll walk Ella out and come back for my leftovers." Mulder stuffed his arms inside his coat and offered one for Ella to take. "Walk me out when I come back?"
Scully nodded, reaching out to adjust the collar of his coat and stared up at him. "Of course."
He licked his plump bottom lip and opened the door. "Be right back."
Mulder played with Scully chilled fingers and leaned down to place a long warm kiss to her forehead. "Goodnight, Scully. And thanks, I probably had the best night of my life tonight."
Before she could think too much about it, Scully grabbed his face with both hands and brought it to hers, capturing his mouth with her lips and thrusting her tongue into his mouth. With her vigorous attack taking him by surprise, Mulder's back bounced against his drivers side window as he wrapped one arm around her waist, and the other quickly snaked up through the back of her hair, running the wind blown strands between his fingers.
Mulder groaned into her half opened mouth and returned the kiss enthusiastically, his tongue dueling with hers as their lips slanted back and forth against each other. Her hips ground into his wildly, and she felt his erection rapidly growing along her belly. A playful bite to her upper lip urged their kisses to grow frantic. Mulder's roaming hands pulled her fully against his hard body and she crushed her breasts into his chest, moaning into his cavernous mouth while they writhed against one another.
"Mulder," she murmured along his still caressing lips. "Mul—" another sensual nip cut off her weak protests of consuming each other on the side of the road. Just as he began sucking on her sensitized lip, an insistent rap came from behind the window covered by Mulder's ass. Scully couldn't stop a rare giggle from escaping through their mingled lips that echoed in the night.
He groaned, eyes gleaming in the moonlight, and released his grip on her hair but kept his kneading fingers busy on her waist. As the kiss ended, she gazed up into his eyes with a small smile, running her hands up and down his back.
"Holy shit, Scully," he panted, his lips swollen, and entire face aglow. And Scully herself was so aroused already, that if they weren't running the risk of her nephew watching through the window, she would drag him against the house and show him what she really wants for Christmas.
"Come over tomorrow? Mulder breathed puffs of heat in the cold air, tickling her face.
"Yeah. I still need to give you your gift."
"You mean this wasn't it?" he smirked, running a cool thumb along her slick lip. "Because I gotta say, this is the best Christmas gift I've ever received."
She shrugged. "Oh, I don't know. Something tells me that this," she slid a finger down each moist lip, "won't end up being the best for too much longer."
"Think we can top it?"
She flicked her smiling eyes down to where their hips had been grinding together and slowly licked his taste off her lips. "God, yes."
"Good," he softly kissed her fingertip. "Because now, it seems that you have one extra gift to unwrap tomorrow.
"Mm… Lucky for us both, it's a gift that keeps on giving," she whispered along his jaw, and pulled away with the feeling of her own blush blooming on her cheeks.
He grunted as she arched a brow and slowly backed away from his warm embrace. But as she reluctantly turned to walk back into the house, she heard him say, "oh, Scully, you have no idea just how merry this Christmas will be."
Scully could hardly wait to find out.