Sometimes it takes a night in a haunted, and also cursed house, to come to some true realizations.

December 25, 1998

3:30 a.m.

Scully laughed as Mulder took her car keys, with permission this time, and grabbed the backpack he had packed with essentials.

"Come on. If we hurry…"

"Mulder," she laughed again, feeling both exhausted and wide awake all at the same time.

"Come on!" He grabbed her hand and pulled her out of his apartment, locking the door and grinning at her, as he slipped the backpack on.

"This is crazy, you know that, right?" she laughed, hurrying to keep up with him.

"Bottles of water, sunflower seeds, granola bars, camera, film… gloves, hat…" he muttered as they got into the elevator.

"Mulder?"

"Yeah… I got everything…" he said and then hummed as he looked at her, but she knew he was not actually seeing her. She smiled and shook her head as the elevator reached the lobby.

Wanting to see if he would notice that she was not there, she stayed still as he walked out and took about five big steps. Turning around, he shook his head as though to clear it, his eyes wide, and she laughed, walking out of the elevator.

"So you did notice I wasn't with you?" she teased and he stared as she caught up to him, smiling with her eyebrows raised.

"Honestly, and I'm sorry, but not for a second. But then I had a moment of panic, remembering the scent of blood and seeing you shot."

"Well, as long as it was a cheery thought. Jesus," she scoffed, walking past him with a shiver, remembering the feel and scent of her blood, as she pulled herself toward the door of 1501 Larkspur Lane. "And you should apologize because you shot me and you should feel bad about that."

"You shot me first!" he said in an accusatory tone and she turned around.

"Nope. You did."

"I…" He shook his head, his eyes closing as he let out a deep breath. Opening them, he made a face and she bit her lip in an attempt to stop her smile, but was not successful. "We're obviously not shot, so… we can let it go."

"Not just yet. It was all your idea to be out there, so I'll let you know when it's time," she said, patting his arm and walking toward the car.

She heard him growl behind her and mumble under his breath as she laughed quietly, waiting at the door for him to open it. When he did, he stared at her over the top of it, shaking his head as she laughed again.

Pulling out of her parking spot, she looked out her window, nearly on the verge of exhausted giggles, that punch drunk feeling taking over. So much had happened in the past few hours, it was like she had run a marathon.

Or been shot, but also not shot, by her crazy partner.

Who else spent Christmas Eve the way they did?

"Have yourself a merry little Christmas," he sang softly and she put up her hand.

"Not that one. Not yet," she said, shivering again.

"Fair enough," he laughed with a nod, heading toward her apartment with a glance her way. She smiled and looked out the window again, both of them quiet.

Arriving at her apartment a few minutes later, hardly any other cars out at that early hour, they went upstairs to grab the gifts she had brought inside only a couple of hours earlier. Quickly wrapping the last four, they were all carried back to her car and loaded inside.

"You're sure about this?" he asked, starting the car and looking at her. "If you don't want-"

"I do," she said softly and nodded with a smile. "I'm sure." He held her eyes for a few seconds and then nodded, smiling softly at her.

They drove to her mothers house, turning off the headlights as they pulled up. Taking out the bags and boxes of gifts, she quietly unlocked and opened the front door. A finger at her lips, she walked into the living room and placed the gifts by the tree.

Two trips and everything was there, labeled to each person and wrapped by her, albeit hurriedly in some cases. Nodding at him with a huge grin, they started toward the door, her tired giddiness barely suppressed, when her mother appeared before them.

Messy hair, no makeup, she stood in her pale blue robe, staring at them and blinking, as though she was not sure they were truly there. Looking from one to the other, her gaze landed on Scully and held it.

"I'm sorry, Mom. I…" She looked at Mulder for help, but he said nothing, apparently feeling as stunned as she did.

"Go," her mother whispered, smiling softly.

"What?" Scully asked in astonishment, not sure she heard her correctly.

"Go. Whatever you two are planning on doing… go." She smiled, her eyes moving to Mulder and nodding at him. He smiled and nodded back, looking at Scully.

"Mom…" Scully said and her mother shook her head.

"Go!" she whispered with a quiet laugh, waving her hands toward the door. "Go on!"

Mulder stepped backwards to the door and then out of it. Scully stared at her mother, befuddled by her smile and encouraging her to leave, when every Christmas since she had begun working with Mulder had felt like a struggle. An argument always seeming to brim at the surface about the expectations of her appearance.

And now her mother was telling her to leave?

"Mom?"

"He's waiting, Dana," she said quietly with a nod. Scully stepped across the threshold and her mother reached to close the door. "You two have fun." She winked at her as the door closed in her face and Scully stood on the porch, absolutely confused.

"Scully," Mulder whispered loudly and she turned around and walking toward him, shaking her head.

"Mulder… what just happened?"

"I don't know. But let's listen to her and get going. Gotta be there before dawn."

"Yeah," she said, looking back at the house once more and saw her mother standing at the window, smiling as she waved. She smiled back with a slight shrug, before she got in the car and nodded at him. He grinned and they pulled away from the house.

Two coffees purchased at a gas station, they drove for another half an hour, Mulder telling her more about the UFO activity the gunmen had told him about and she nodded along. She did not believe any of it, but was happy to be there with him, just as she had admitted to him earlier.

Glancing at him, she watched his expressions, his hand waving in the air to emphasize a point. He laughed and she smiled, no idea what he was talking about.

Mulder's ideas may be a bit out there, but he is a great agent.

She exhaled as she remembered the words she had said to Tom Cotton so long ago. A few months together, a few wild cases, and she had already been hooked.

Who was she even trying to fool when she gave him excuses? Where else would she want to be than with him, hearing his wild ideas that would always be just a bit out there?

"Okay, I think it's… yeah, this is it," he said as they drove down a long dark road.

Making a right, he made a wide U-turn, and pulled to the side of the road, put the car in park and cut off the engine.

They looked around and he turned to her with a grin, getting out to get the backpack. She shook her head, staring at the empty field to her left, the sparse trees and wide open road straight ahead, and the empty field to the right.

Of course this was their destination. What else had she been expecting? A spot next to a warm fire, in the lobby of a fancy hotel, where aliens were disguising themselves as tourists? No… of course it would be a spot on the side of some road in the middle of nowhere.

Getting back in the car, he closed the door, a cold wind blowing in. He opened the backpack and began handing her things: the bottles of water, snacks and his thick black gloves. He took out the camera and took a couple of shots of their surroundings, using up the last few pictures on the roll already inside, before opening it and loading a new roll of film.

"So… dawn is the witching hour?" she asked, laying the food on the dashboard and the bottles of water on the floorboard.

"The alien hour," he corrected her and she nodded, raising her eyebrows.

"Well, we've experienced the ghosting hour tonight, we may as well experience this one as well," she said with a side glance at him and he grinned at her.

"My thoughts exactly," he said and she laughed softly, shaking her head and sitting back to await the arrival of dawn, which was nearly upon them.

Though the sun rose, lighting the sky in silvery blue, nothing extraterrestrial was seen. They had no evidence of anything, only photos of an empty road which would eventually hang in their basement office. A photographic reminder of truths of which they did not always speak, but were felt.

Whatever he discovered, he wanted her with him and she wanted to be there when he did.

As they sat there, laughing and talking, the car turned on for the heat but then turned off again, so as not to scare the aliens, Scully laughing hysterically at that logic, Maggie Scully sat at her kitchen table drinking a cup of coffee and waiting for the rest of the family to wake up.

She smiled as she thought of the look on Dana's face, her confusion at being told to leave with Fox. Maggie would have laughed out loud if Dana had been able to read her thoughts.

Seeing them there, the smiles on their faces, as they attempted to leave the house, the realization about the two of them had hit her like a tidal wave.

Smiling again, she shook her head.

"Coffee," Bill groaned as he stumbled into the kitchen, touching her back in greeting as he walked to the cupboard and took down a mug. "You're up early, Mom. Merry Christmas."

"Hmm. And to you, Bill," she said, nodding with a smile. "I must have been excited for that Christmas magic."

"Dana made it, I see, judging by the large pile of added gifts. That's good." He joined her at the table and she looked at him. He smiled and then his brow furrowed. "What?"

"Dana's not here. She just dropped off the gifts."

"What? Seriously? Why? Don't tell me it's because of work. I swear to God…"

"Bill… it's not work."

"Yeah, but it's him, isn't it?"

"Yes, it is."

"Jesus, Mom. How are you okay with that? How does it not bother you that she left on Christmas morning?"

"Because I'm the one who told her to go."

"You… what?"

"They were here, dropping off the gifts and obviously hoping to leave unseen, when I happened to come into the room. I could have told her to stay, could have appealed to her and made her change her mind."

"And you didn't because…?"

"A few reasons," she said with a smile and he sighed heavily. "But the main one is… because she loves him."

"Mom," Bill scoffed and shook his head.

"She does and you need to hear it," she said, staring at him, her eyebrows raised. "You need to accept it, Bill, to know it's the truth. She loves him and he loves her."

"They're work partners," he admonished and she shook her head.

"Oh… they are so much more than that, Bill." She smiled and rubbed his arm. "They may not see or realize it yet, but they are, and you need to accept it as fact, because that's what it is." She patted his arm and stood up to refill her mug.

"Oh, Santa was here! Look at that!" Voices called from the other room and Maggie turned, leaving Bill in the kitchen, knowing he would join them when he was ready.

Smiling at the excitement and happiness on the kids' faces, she looked at the gifts from Dana and shook her head. Whatever had prompted their predawn Christmas adventure, she hoped they were happy and that one day, they would realize what was quite obvious to nearly everyone else around them.

And when they did, they would finally do something about it.