Bill sipped a dainty little cup of eggnog as he admired his mother's Christmas tree. Five feet of beautifully fragrant pine, and bearing every ornament each of the four Scully children had ever crafted. Twinkling white lights, and a little silver garland, and it instantly brought him back to his own childhood. In a four-child household, Christmas was a wild, exciting day, even as a teenager. Now though, it was a little bittersweet.

Matty was about to turn three, and Bill couldn't be more proud of his little boy. But, his son would never meet his grandfather, or his Aunt Missy. He didn't know which absence was more painful for him, he missed them both so much. He walked over, and played with the sparkling silver star hanging off one of the higher branches, sprinkling glitter when he touched it. Missy's last creation, a spontaneous gift that arrived in the mail to their parents when Missy was off who knew where doing who knew what, missing a Scully family Christmas. It was her way of apologizing for being absent.

His gaze shifted to the quickly disintegrating mini paper plate Santa face that was messily painted and stuck with random shiny craft objects. Charlie's kindergarten ornament; his often absent brother was once again MIA. He was special opps something or another, and was often gone for long periods of time, and hard to reach. He'd missed being at the hospital when Dana had her cancer.

Bill had gotten a frantic, static-filled phone call from somewhere in the Pacific a week after she'd gone into remission. Poor Charlie was nearly in tears. He'd heard through the Navy grapevine that Bill had taken emergency leave to be at his baby sister's deathbed, and what the hell was wrong with Dana? Bill had calmly reassured his little brother that their only living sister was going to be alright, but not before the younger man had cursed up a storm and considered leaving special opps for a more normal Naval career. Finally calmed down, Charlie said he'd try to get leave ASAP to see Dana.

Dana. That was a whole other story that Bill wasn't fond of dwelling on. The wooden reindeer hanging in the middle of the tree toward the back, meticulously painted and complete with a bright red nose. That was Dana--careful, detail-oriented, and damned determined to be perfect. But, in recent years, she'd become tired, almost distant, because of that damned job and that damned partner. Today, normally a holiday she loved, Dana seemed less than enthused.

He knew why, her damned partner had gone missing. Mom had filled him in on the whole ordeal, and how heartbroken his sister was, how much she missed him. He'd accepted years ago that his sister was in love with her partner, a man he despised; that maybe she was even sleeping with the guy. He'd also accepted that her relationship with Mulder wasn't any of his business. Though, the less rational, more caveman side of him wanted take a stone club Flinestones style, and beat the ever-loving shit out of the missing FBI Agent.

Dana would not approve. Obviously. Still, the image did make him feel a little better when the topic of conversation shifted toward Fox Mulder.

He sensed a presence other than his own in the room, and turned around to see his baby sister gazing at the Christmas tree with the same forlorn look she'd worn all day. He took a couple steps back, and laid a hand on her shoulder.

"Mom told me about Mulder, Dana. I'm sorry, I know you two were very close," he said softly. He might hate the son of a bitch, but he hated seeing his sister so sad.

"He's not dead, Bill."

"I didn't say that, I mean I know you miss him, and not knowing has to be hard on you..." Christ, when did he stop being able to talk to his sister without tripping over his tongue?

"It's alright, I know you hate him, I do appreciate the gesture, really." She offered a short half-smile.

"It isn't that I hate him as a person, I just hate what he's done you." If they were going for honesty, he may as well come clean.

"What do you mean?" She frowned, confusion washing through her eyes. She really didn't see it, did she?

"I've got friends in Washington, Dana, I know your division is considered a joke and so are both of you. You're loyalty to him destroyed the great career you could have had--"

"Mulder isn't responsible for all the close-minded people we work with, and I chose to stay with him, the work is important to me too." Her voice was still quiet, not yet on the defensive.

Thank god, if they started yelling their mother would kill him. He was on strict orders not to upset his sister, apparently, she was a bit sensitive.

"That's my point, the work is the only thing important to him."

One eyebrow shot up, and she almost seemed to smile. Now that just about puzzled the hell out of him. He half expected to earn a slap with that remark.

"Is that what bothers you so much, Bill?" He nodded, and she closed her eyes, and shook her head. "Then rest assured Bill, Mulder puts me before the work."

"I find that hard to believe."

She inhaled, and he'd have sworn he heard it shake all the way down her throat. "Mom told you he disappeared in Oregon?"

Bill nodded, watching her skeptically.

"He went with A.D. Skinner, because he refused to let me go with him. He was afraid they'd take me again, like they did six years ago. This, by the way, was the morning after he told me to quit the X Files, because it wasn't worth everything I'd lost. Like you, he blamed himself for all of it."

He spoke before he could stop himself. "He's right."

"Bill..." She warned, her newly achieved Zen wavering.

He knew he was upsetting her, and while he was a little pleased that Mulder was finally putting Dana before the work, he still hated the guy. "Sorry, but if it weren't for him, you'd be happier now. You'd have a family of your own."

"But, I do Bill."

He was puzzled for a moment, and before he could open his mouth to tell her that Mulder didn't really count, she'd put a hand up to stop him.

"I wasn't sure how much Mom told you." She stopped an inhaled, a Mona Lisa smile appearing on her face. "I'm pregnant, Bill."

He was stunned, well beyond stunned, if he were to be honest. He stared at his babysister silently for several minutes, digesting her news. His little sister was pregnant. Tiny little Dana, who used to chase after him and his friends and do anything to try and be one of the boys, was going to be a mommy. Bill shook his head abruptly as realization hit him. His baby sister was in fact schtupping her partner.

First things first he thought to himself. "I thought you couldn't have children?" Another thing to thank Fox Mulder for.

"Yeah, that's what we thought. I don't know how this is possible, but it is."

Bill nodded slowly, then grew a little angry. "Did he know about this before he went and got himself disappeared?"

Dana's eyes narrowed, the almost dreamy look in her eyes vanishing. "No, he did not. I didn't even know until after...after he was taken."

"You're not married."

Raised eyebrow, quirked lips, she actually looked amused. "No, I'm not."

"Will you get married when he's comes back?"

"You make it sound as if he went away on a business trip, Bill. It's not that simple."

"You came back. After you disappeared, you came back."

"Yeah, comatose and barely hanging on to life."

He frowned. "You don't think he'll come back?"

He looked a her feet, "I don't know."

There was something she wasn't saying, and he could feel it. "Dana?"

She looked up at him, her eyes wet and threatening to spill over with tears. "It's almost three months now, and we can't find him." He voice cracked and caught in her throat. "I'm, I'm afraid."

Bill's mouth opened, and he actually leaned back. When had Dana ever admitted to being afraid of anything? Even as a child, Dana would never ever admit to being scared of anything, especially to him. He realized that maybe she really wasn't afraid any of those times, that perhaps now was the first time his little sister was genuinely scared of something. And, she didn't have to say of what, he could fill that blank in himself.

So, regardless of how much he loathed the man, or that he wanted the satisfaction of chasing the SOB with a baseball bat in hand (it was his right as the brother of an unwed mother-to-be), Bill swallowed it all down, and did what any loving big brother would do. He gathered his sister into his arms, and held her as her tears fell onto his shirt.

And, he whispered to her, "Congratulations, I hope the kid looks like you."

Thanks for reading and please review! Happy holidays everyone!