This one's been sitting in my files for quite awhile, so I thought I'd finally post it. It has some X-files stuff and a lot of fluff.
The usual disclaimers still apply.
Fox Mulder tugged at the offending black bow tie around his neck, wondering why people insisted that something so ridiculous was absolutely necessary for formal attire. In his opinion, the bow tie was far from formal. It was demeaning, demoralizing, effeminate, absolutely, incredibly-
His thoughts were cut off as his partner, Dana Scully walked into the room. She had only recently finished her shower; her hair was still swept up in an untidy bun on her head, covered by a towel. She held one of their daughters, Samantha, against her shoulder, having just finished feeding her. Mulder turned from the mirror, ignoring his bow tie for the time being as he reached for Samantha. "Shirt," Scully reminded him, and he quickly picked up a nearby burping cloth and draped it over his shoulder before relieving Scully of the baby. She gave him a grateful smile and crossed the room to the closet, still rubbing her hair dry.
Mulder turned his attention to his daughter, tickling her with his free hand. She giggled and babbled something before shoving her fist in her mouth to chew on. Taking this as a hint, Mulder left the room, intending to retrieve one of the teething rings from the refrigerator downstairs. As he passed the nursery, he heard the unmistakable cries of his Samantha's twin, Melissa, and he quickly entered the room to take care of the second baby. A quick check told Mulder that she was not in need of a diaper change, and he knew Scully had fed her not long before. Likely, she was simply in pain. Since the babies had begun cutting teeth three weeks before, they had become unusually fussy.
Picking up Melissa in his free arm, Mulder was struck by how much bigger the babies had grown. Although he could still carry them both with ease, he could now easily feel their weight in his arms. When they were first born, they were both light, and he remembered barely noticing their presence in his arms. But they had more than doubled their birth weight, and they seemed to be growing more every day.
When Mulder reached the kitchen, he used his foot to open the door of the refrigerator, an art he had perfected after six months with the twins. He had grown accustomed to having one or both of his hands full as he went about his daily tasks, and he had adapted to this new challenge as well as he could. He shifted both babies to one arm so that he could search through the fridge with one hand, eventually producing two brightly colored rings. Samantha immediately reached for them, and Mulder allowed her to grab one from his hands before handing the other to Melissa. Though the second baby was not as eager as her sister, she still took the offered teething ring and shoved it in her mouth.
Mulder returned to the bedroom with both babies now sucking happily on the teething rings. When he first saw Scully standing in front of the mirror, he stopped in his tracks. She was wearing a new dress that she had bought specifically for this occasion, a dress she had refused to allow Mulder to see, claiming that she wanted him to be surprised. Well, he certainly was surprised. Actually, surprised did not quite do his current feelings justice. He was completely and utterly floored.
The dress was made of red satin, and it hung to the floor. It was strapless, leaving the milky white skin of her shoulders exposed. The dress hugged her body nicely, and Mulder noted that she had regained her pre-pregnancy figure—with a few pleasant additions, including her slightly curvier hips and her larger breasts. Mulder honestly would not have cared if she had never completely attained her slim frame again, but losing her pregnancy weight seemed to matter greatly to her, and she had been working hard to achieve this goal. And as Mulder admired the dress, he had to admit that her hard work had certainly paid off.
"Maybe we should stay in tonight," he remarked, his voice husky. She spun around to face him, her hands still reaching behind her as she attempted to zip up the dress. "Here. Let me." Mulder carefully laid the babies on a quilt in the corner of the room, watching them out of the corner of his eye as he approached Scully. She turned and held her hair up to allow him to grasp the zipper and pull it slowly upward. As he completed this task, his fingers brushed lightly against the smooth skin of her back, and he could not resist leaning forward and pressing a kiss to the back of her neck.
"Mulder, I need to finish getting ready," she protested weakly.
"Mmm." His tongue traced small circles on her skin.
Scully inclined her head to one side and noticed that Samantha had pushed herself up onto her hands and knees and was eagerly crawling toward her parents, angry at being left out. "Mulder, you need to get your daughter."
"Fine." Mulder reluctantly pulled away. "I don't see why we have to attend this stupid thing anyway."
"Skinner told us we have to. He wants us to socialize with other agents."
"I don't think any other agents want to socialize with me."
"It won't be that bad, Mulder. We'll go, stay two or three hours, and then leave."
Mulder considered for a moment. "Only if I get to take that dress off of you when we get home," he told her.
"If you behave, I'll consider it."
"You drive a hard bargain, G-woman." By this time, Samantha had reached his feet, and he bent down to pick her up, lifting her so that he could place a raspberry on her stomach. She giggled gleefully. Spinning her around, Mulder made airplane noises, causing her to laugh even louder until Melissa also pushed herself onto her hands and knees, curious about what her sister found so exciting. Mulder picked his second daughter up and carried the two downstairs as Scully finished her make-up and hair.
When Scully joined Mulder in the living room, she found that her mother, who was babysitting for the night, was already there. Maggie Scully was sitting with Melissa on her lap, chatting amicably with Mulder who held Samantha. Both adults turned to look at Scully as she walked in, and Samantha followed her gaze. Immediately, her small, chubby arms went out to her mother and she let forth a burst of babbling, including the syllables, "Mamamama." Scully smiled at this. Samantha had been forming those particular syllables for around a week now, and she seemed to know instinctively that the title should be directed at Scully. Scully had never thought a sound could be as sweet as that particular appellation, as garbled as it was, emanating from her daughter's mouth.
Melissa had been a bit slower to speak than her sister, but Scully supposed this was only natural; she was always the quieter and shyer of the two. Although Melissa was finally at the point where she was trying to form syllables, she had not quite mastered the ones necessary to form "Mama" or even "Dada." But Scully was not worried; she knew all babies developed at their own pace. She was content simply to have two healthy daughters.
Scully took Samantha from Mulder, noticing a large wet spot on the shoulder not covered by the cloth. Seeing the direction of her gaze, Mulder hastened to assure her, "It's only drool."
"You should still go change your shirt."
He shrugged off her suggestion. "I've had worse on my shirt from these two. Besides, we need to get going."
"Why are you in such a hurry to get going?"
"I figure the sooner we get there, the sooner we'll be able to leave."
"Okay." Scully turned to her mother. "You know how to reach us if you need anything. They both just ate, and they should be going to sleep soon."
"Don't worry, Dana, I can handle it," Maggie assured her daughter. "You two just go and have fun." Mulder snorted at this before leading Scully to the car with a gentle hand at the small of her back.
It was difficult to find a parking space; Mulder spent nearly five minutes driving up the ramps in the parking deck before Scully spotted an open space. "Why is it that more people are here for a party than for work?" Mulder questioned as he exited the car. He started to move around to the passenger's side to open Scully's door for her, but she had already stepped out of the car.
"It's a mystery," Scully told him, closing her door. He locked the car, and they began to walk together toward the elevator which would take them into the building. A couple other people boarded at a lower level of the parking garage; one of them, a man around Mulder's age, nodded at the two FBI agents. Neither Mulder nor Scully recognized his companion, a woman at least ten years his junior who was wearing a dress that showed more skin than Mulder would have thought appropriate for a formal ball. Mulder's first thought was that she looked like someone the agent had hired off the streets; he smiled to himself at this thought, and Scully shot him a questioning look. He quickly plastered a neutral expression on his face, but she continued to watch him closely for the remainder of the elevator ride.
The other agent and his "date" stepped off the elevator first when the doors slid open. A large Christmas tree adorned the main lobby of the Hoover Building. Mulder stood for a moment, staring at it, before Scully finally asked, "Are we just going to stand here or are we actually going to go to the party?"
"I don't know. I think we should go find an empty office and make out. What do you say? It'd certainly be more interesting than the party."
"Mulder, we're here to socialize."
"That would be socializing."
"Not with other people."
"You want me to make out with other people?"
"Mulder."
"What?"
"Let's just go to the party."
"Did Skinner happen to say how long we have to stay at this stupid thing?"
"At least an hour."
"If I die of boredom, I'd like you to make sure that everyone knows it was his fault." He followed her through the usual metal detectors, nodding at the single security guard who sat to the side. Since only agents and their guests were allowed into the Hoover Building, the metal detectors were turned off. Mulder personally thought they were being a bit too trusting. After all, any guest could be a potential danger. Then again, he was probably being paranoid.
The party was being held in a large room typically employed as a lecture hall for the various seminars the agents were forced to attend. All the chairs had been removed, and Scully immediately noticed that the room was bigger than she had realized. The decorators had obviously attempted to appease everyone with the decorations; Christmas wreaths hung next to cardboard menorahs, and glittering snowflakes dangled from the ceiling. Scully found the amalgamation of decorations a bit tacky, but she had certainly seen worse over the years.
A disk jockey stood in the front of the room playing Christmas music softly through the speakers. None of the agents seemed to be in the mood for dancing, however; most stood to the sides talking to other agents. Scully heard snatches of the conversations closest to her and noticed that most seemed to focus on work. Many of the dates looked rather bored with the whole affair. Scully supposed that the topic of recent investigations might be dull to someone outside the FBI. Even she grew bored of talking about it. When she left work for the day, she preferred to actually leave work. It was Mulder who always insisted on bringing work home with him (though he had become better about leaving work in the office since the babies were born).
Mulder immediately made a beeline for the food table, and Scully followed, reluctant to stand near the door by herself. Soon, Mulder had filled a paper plate with the various snack foods spread neatly across the long, white tables on one side of the room. He offered some of the food to Scully who refused, having eaten dinner less than an hour before. With a shrug, Mulder continued to devour the food by himself.
"Well, if it isn't Mr. and Mrs. Spooky," a voice remarked from behind Scully. Scully turned quickly, squinting at the speaker. They had dimmed the usually harsh fluorescent lights in an attempt to make the room appear less menacing, but this action had left the sides of the room in shadows.
"Agent Halendrum," Mulder greeted shortly between bites. As soon as Mulder said Halendrum's name, Scully managed to make out his features in the dim light.
"What brings you two here?" Halendrum asked. "I don't think I've ever seen either one of you at a Christmas party before."
"I usually have better things to do," Mulder told him half-truthfully. He never had any major plans for Christmas, but Mulder considered anything short of having his teeth pulled better than attending the FBI Christmas party. "Unfortunately, Skinner informed us that we had to attend this year."
"I heard you caught a ghost the other day," Halendrum said mockingly.
"Nope," Mulder answered calmly, refusing to bite. "We've had liver-eating mutants, swamp monsters, giant flukes—sorry, Scully, I know I wasn't supposed to mention that—the swamp thing, and some others. But no ghosts. Maybe next year will be our year." Scully gave Mulder her patented glare at his response, but he continued to eat unfazed. Halendrum, on the other hand, seemed slightly taken-aback.
"Well, enjoy. . . whatever it is you do," he told them before slipping away.
As soon as he disappeared behind a group of people, Mulder turned to Scully. "How long-" he began.
"Four minutes," she answered.
"That's it?"
"Sorry. I can't make time speed up."
"If only," Mulder muttered. He finished the last couple bites of food on his plate and tossed it in a nearby garbage can. He and Scully moved away from the table, coming to a stop next to the back wall of the room. A couple passing agents nodded at them in greeting, but no one else made an attempt to talk to them. "So, about that socializing," Mulder said, watching the crowd around him.
"We could try starting a conversation with someone," Scully suggested.
"I've found I'm often better at ending conversations than starting them," Mulder remarked.
"I think you can be sociable for one hour," Scully told him. He quirked an eyebrow, and she amended her statement. "Okay, fifteen minutes. That's a good conversation. Then you can go back to being anti-social."
"Fifteen minutes?"
"That's all I'm asking."
"And what exactly do I get out of this deal?"
"Oh, I'm sure I'll think of something." Her voice was low and suggestive, and Mulder felt his stomach muscles clench. Gritting his teeth, he forced his emotions back under control again. Scully noticed his obvious reaction and smiled. "Come on. That's Greg Thompson over there. He went through the academy with me."
"I don't have the best track record with people who went through the academy with you," Mulder reminded her.
"He's not like Colton," Scully assured him.
"You mean he's not an arrogant bastard? I should hope not."
"See, Mulder, this is why you can't hold a conversation with people."
"I can hold a conversation with people as long as they aren't arrogant bastards."
Sighing, Scully turned and walked toward Thompson. Mulder followed somewhat reluctantly, knowing Scully would chew his head off if he did not at least make an attempt at friendly conversation. Thompson was just finishing a conversation with a couple other agents as they walked up. When he saw Scully, his face broke into a wide smile. "Dana Scully. It's been a long time," he greeted, taking her hand and shaking it warmly. Mulder stepped slightly closer.
"It's good to see you again, Greg," Scully told him, also smiling.
"So you do remember me. I was afraid for a minute there you didn't." Thompson finally released her hand, and Mulder relaxed slightly.
"Of course I remember you. By the way, Greg, this is my partner, Fox Mulder." Scully indicated Mulder who stood just behind her and to her right, so close that his chest was less than an inch from her shoulder.
"Of course, the infamous Spooky Mulder. We meet at last. It's a pleasure." Thompson held out a hand, still smiling broadly. Mulder took the offered hand though his expression seemed closer to a grimace than a smile. "So, I hear a lot of rumors about what goes on in that basement. What are you two up to?" Thompson asked. He looked expectantly at Mulder who still did not open his mouth. After a couple seconds of silence, Scully spoke, explaining some of their more recent cases.
Scully and Thompson dominated the conversation though Scully did manage to draw Mulder into it a couple times. For the entire time they talked, Scully could feel Mulder's anxiety and knew he wanted nothing more than to end the conversation then and there, but she was determined to make him wait out the fifteen minutes. As the conversation was drawing to a close, the music changed from the upbeat strains of "Sleigh Ride" to the more mellow chords of "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas." Thompson's smile grew wider, a feat Scully would not have believed possible until she saw it, and he extended a hand to her. "Would you like to dance?" he asked casually.
Mulder saw the momentary panic flicker across Scully's face as she wracked her brain for a polite way to refuse him. After a second of deliberation, he decided to come to her rescue. "Actually, she promised me the first dance," he told Thompson.
"Really?" Thompson's face showed interest; he obviously hoped that he might be privy to some secret information about the mysterious lives of the two agents.
"Sure. We are partners, after all," Mulder added, watching with a certain perverse pleasure as Thompson's face fell. "So, Scully, what do you say? Will you do me the pleasure of dancing with me?"
"I did promise," Scully said. Mulder smiled and took her hand and led her toward the clear area in the middle of the floor where other couples were already dancing to the soft strains.
Have yourself a merry little Christmas
Let your heart be light
From now on, our troubles will be out of sight
"Thanks for saving me," Scully whispered to Mulder.
"My pleasure," he told her, pulling her closer. Their right hands were still clasped tightly together, and his left hand rested in the middle of her back. Its warm weight sent pleasant shivers down Scully's spine as they revolved slowly in time to the music. Though neither was a great dancer, they managed to avoid stepping on one another's feet, and both were content with this.
Have yourself a merry little Christmas
Make the Yuletide gay
From now on, our troubles will be miles away
"Oh, how I wish that were true," Mulder remarked as he heard the last line. Scully smiled against his shoulder at this comment. They were dancing so close that she could feel the heat radiating from his body. Her breasts were pressed tightly against his chest, and her arm ran along the back of his neck. Scully knew she should pull away, for their current position was ruining the "just partners" illusion they had been trying desperately to maintain, but she was warm and comfortable and reluctant to change that.
Suddenly, she felt Mulder push her away in a spin that took her completely by surprise. Luckily, she recovered quickly and was able to execute the spin without too much stumbling. Grinning broadly, Mulder pulled her back against him. "What was that about?" Scully questioned.
"Just showing off my moves," Mulder told her. Laughing slightly, she buried her head against his tux again. She had noticed before that he was wearing a different cologne, and now the scent enveloped her. Breathing deeply, she allowed herself to relax against him.
Here we are as in olden days
Happy golden days of yore
Faithful friends who are dear to us
Gather near to us once more
Through the years we all will be together
If the Fates allow
Hang a shining star upon the highest bough
And have yourself a merry little Christmas now
Mulder sang the last verse softly as they swayed gently, still so close together that it was difficult to tell where one began and the other ended. As the final chords played, Scully pulled away from Mulder and noticed that he was wearing a goofy smile that probably mimicked the one on her own face. "I'm really tempted to kiss you right now," he said softly.
"I'm really tempted to let you," Scully told him.