Three Days Later

Christmas morning dawned bright and clear at the top of Avengers Tower where the team had gathered to celebrate the holiday. Tony had hired a private catering firm, one of the best New York City had to offer, to provide breakfast, lunch, and dinner for the whole Avengers team and their friends and had also seen fit to ensure that all the staff remaining on the S.H.I.E.L.D. helicarrier over the holidays also received special Christmas meals.

Scully was resting on one of the couches in the main living space. She had mostly recovered from the injuries she had sustained in Antarctica, a far faster recovery than the last time she had visited the continent. Mulder sat beside her and had quietly thrilled as Scully had gradually slipped more and more against his side during the morning so that now she was leaning almost fully against him. Across the room, Nat was sitting on the floor with her back against Bruce's legs, Steve and Tony were sharing one couch, and Coulson and Thor shared another. The Gunmen were all sitting around a table with Skinner - who was wearing a fetching Santa hat and finishing up the last of the breakfast buffet with them. A handful of other close friends sat on the other couches and chairs, talking quietly among themselves. The only person missing was Clint who never spent Christmas with the team, apparently having somewhere better to be.

It was peaceful in a way Mulder hadn't experienced much since his return.

The group had all agreed not to exchange gifts because it was too much of a headache. After all, what does a billionaire, playboy, philanthropist buy the God of Thunder for Christmas? The only concession to this agreement had been an ugly sweater swap which is why Steve was now wearing a hand-knitted sweater in the pattern of his shield, Natasha a silver glittery monstrosity covered in pom-pom snowballs, and Thor a bright purple design covered in lightning bolts that actually flashed thanks to tiny, battery-powered LED bulbs woven into the design. He had been utterly delighted by the item and was already excited to take it with him to show his friends back on Asgard.

Instead of opening presents, Christmas Days in Avengers Tower were spent eating too much, watching holiday movies, playing the occasional game, and hoping the supervillains and aliens would give them all a day off. The entire Avengers team had all found the idea of introducing Thor to holiday movies overwhelmingly exciting, knowing that all of them were new to him, and the group had spent much of the morning so far arguing over which ones to watch first. Somehow, The Muppet Christmas Carol had won out over White Christmas and It's a Wonderful Life and everyone had been amused by Thor's confused commentary throughout.

Now the film was coming to a close and another disagreement was already brewing about what to watch or play next.

"I'm actually feeling kinda tired," Scully said, moving to stand up, "I think I need to go rest a bit before lunch."

Mulder was instantly by her side, ready to support her if she felt wobbly but trying not to hover around her like he knew he did in the past.

"I'll give you a shout when more food gets here," Nat assured her with a smile, fiddling with her glittery sweater that was also proving to be highly scratchy, "go get forty winks."

Mulder went to follow Scully, surprising none of the others but causing Tony to call after them that Natasha had said "forty winks" not "fornicate." Scully hadn't replied but Mulder was certain he caught her lowering her middle finger as she left the room in front of him.

In the room they shared at the Tower, Scully sat down on the bed with her back against a pile of pillows and pulled up one of the blankets around her.

"I know we agreed on no gifts, and I didn't buy you anything," Scully began as Mulder sat down beside her, "but there is something I wanted to give you - in a manner of speaking."

"Oh?" Mulder tried to keep his voice casual.

"When I first found out about my decelerated aging, I felt the same way you did. I went to see my family that week and I remember looking at them and realizing I was destined to watch every one of them die. I would outlive even my newest baby nephew by centuries. It's why I don't see much of them anymore, it's still too hard of a reminder for me to stomach. I actually fell into a deep depression for a time. It wasn't long after you had disappeared and I was only just coming to terms with spending my life without you, the idea that that life would now extend far beyond my imagination was almost impossible to bear."

Mulder reached over and squeezed her hand.

"I'd come to terms with it by the time Thor first came to Earth, although I was still miserable at the thought of being here when everyone I loved was gone. One night, after a few too many glasses of bourbon, we ended up talking. I think I sensed a kindred spirit in him, both of us destined to watch empires rise and fall while we simply carried on. I opened up to him that night, laid out all my worst fears, and he listened. A few days later he sought me out with a proposal, and I leaped on it. I couldn't assume he would offer the same to you which is why I never said anything when you learned about your own aging. But yesterday, I was finally able to ask him and he agreed without hesitation."

"To what?"

Scully reached down and picked up the large book of Asgardian myths that Thor had read aloud from when the team needed to learn about the aether. She opened it to a page covered with one large and beautiful illustration of a city. The drawing had been inlaid with gold so it literally glowed on the page.

"This is Asgard," Scully explained, turning the book slightly so Mulder could see it clearly. "It's where Thor and his people come from. Everyone there has lifespans like ours. It's a place of peace." She looked up at him, "Thor has offered that, whenever we want, he will take us there. We can leave Earth behind and live there in peace among others with similar life spans until old age finally comes for us."

Mulder took the book and stared at the illustration. The light reflected off it in ways he couldn't quite explain, making it look almost real. If he squinted, he could swear that he could see people moving around and that the rainbow colors of the Bifrost bridge were actually shimmering. The city exuded peace, tranquility, and calm.

"I read about Asgard in the S.H.I.E.L.D. Intelligence archives and I also read the pages in here that talk about it when Thor loaned me this book. It sounds... Magical." He looked back up at Scully. "It's our choice when we leave?"

"Absolutely."

"Then why not go today? Why live another day among the pain and suffering here?"

"And leave Nat behind? She's my best friend. I'd forgotten what that felt like, how much I needed it."

"Surely Thor would take her too? The whole team? Surely everyone here deserves that after what you've been through?"

"But I still have work to do here, Mulder. Spender isn't behind bars. S.H.I.E.L.D. doesn't yet have a handle on what it means to have powered people running around all over the planet. And Mulder, Tony saw what was out there. It's coming for Earth and we're not ready. Humanity still needs us to fight for it, to avenge it. That's what I do, it's what WE do now. Together. When it's time. When our friends are all gone and when we've trained the next generation to stand against whatever the future will throw at us, then, I'll be ready and I'll be able to leave in peace."

"And I'll be ready to leave with you."

"But until then, we keep fighting? Keep doing whatever it takes?" she asked, sounding more hopeful than Mulder could remember since his return.

"Yes. Whatever it takes. Because if we quit now, they win."