Paperwork boring him, Mulder seeks a way to push thoughts of it to the side.

December 22, 1995

The Roadside Motel

Minnesota

Sighing as he rolled his neck, Mulder looked down at the paperwork before him. God he hated it with a passion, but it had to be done. Taking a drink of the coffee beside him, he grimaced when he found that it had become cold.

He stood up and stretched, grabbing the mug and dumping it into the sink before rinsing it out. Walking back to the small coffee pot, he picked up the carafe, and was going to fill it up in the bathroom, when something thudded hard against his door.

He jumped back and set the carafe down quickly, walking to the door peephole and looking through it. Nothing could be seen and suddenly it happened again, causing him to jump back once more.

"What in the hell?" he muttered, going to the window and pulling back the curtain cautiously.

Across the parking lot of the motel, was a large empty field, which was currently full of snow. A group of kids were heading toward it, running through the motel's parking lot and throwing snowballs as they shouted to each other. He laughed as he watched them and made a quick decision.

The paperwork could wait. He needed to get out of the motel room for a bit, clear his head.

Putting on his boots he had thankfully brought with him, he quickly bundled up, and opened his door as he slid on his gloves. He grinned as he turned to the room beside him and knocked on Scully's door.

She opened it, looking a bit irritated, and as he watched the snow falling from her door he realized they must have hit her door as well. Grinning again, he raised his eyebrows at her.

"You have to be just as bored as I am. Let's take a break."

"And join a snowball fight? Getting cold and wet from the snow? No, thank you," she said, shaking her head. "I'm perfectly fine staying here where it's warm and undisturbed. For the most part, anyway." She gestured to the door and he shrugged.

"Come on, Scully," he said. "Seeing as we're stuck here for the night at least, let's make the most of it. It'll be fun."

"No thank you, Mulder," she said firmly. "You enjoy yourself. Hopefully there will be enough hot water for you when you come back near freezing."

"I'll be okay."

"Hmm," she hummed, crossing her arms and then reaching for the door handle. "See you later."

She closed the door on him and he shook his head, waiting for a minute, hoping she would change her mind. When she did not, he shrugged and turned around, running past their car which was covered in snow.

He could hear the kids laughing, mostly teenagers from the size and sound of them, and he smiled as he joined in.

For nearly a half hour, a few created mounds of staggered snow walls with shovels and other tools, while others collected snowballs in buckets and on large plastic sleds, awaiting the battle that would commence. Words were shouted back and forth, challenges extended, and rogue snowballs flew across the space between them.

Happy and laughing more than he had in a while, not minding the fact that he was cold and his nose was running, Mulder gathered some snowballs, and glanced toward the motel, an idea beginning to form in his head.

"Hey, it's Ashley, right?" he asked the girl closest to him and she nodded. "Great. I have a friend in the motel over there and I know she could use a break from her work she's doing. Could you help me persuade her?"

"What did you have in mind?" she asked with a grin and he smiled back, telling her of his plan.

Soon four of them, plus him, were walking across to the motel armed with a bucket of snowballs. Mulder knew there was a fifty/fifty chance that the idea would work, but he was willing to take it.

Stuck there for the night, and with the possibility of more snow in the forecast, there was a strong chance they might be spending Christmas in the motel. With all that bearing down on them, they should at least be able to take time out for some fun.

"Okay, everyone ready?" he asked and they nodded as they stood by the back of their rental car, about twenty five feet from Scully's motel room door, and armed themselves with a snowball each. "And go!"

They all threw the snowballs, every one of them hitting her door or the wall beside it. Another three rounds and the bucket was empty. They all waited, but nothing happened. She did not even appear at the door or the window to tell them to fuck off and go away.

"What now?" Ashley asked as she looked at him, but he only sighed.

"Back to the fight, I suppose. Maybe she's in the shower or something."

"Maybe," she agreed and they all walked back to the field, Mulder glancing back to see if Scully had happened to open the door, but there was still no movement.

Putting her from his mind, he continued readying for the battle. When it was all ready, the two groups lined up and instructions were given.

"A battle to the death!" A boy shouted. "You get hit, you're out! Last man—"

"Or woman!" Ashley shouted and everyone laughed.

"Or woman," he agreed with a nod. "Last person standing is the winner. Everybody ready?"

"Hell yes!" they shouted and Mulder laughed.

"Then let the battle begin!"

They all scattered, running to various snow wall locations and shouting to one another. Snowballs began to fly and laughter rang out as each side called insults and jokes, egging the others one. Mulder ducked behind a wall and lobbed snowballs wherever he could. He heard groans of defeat and those eliminated shouted encouragement to the ones left fighting.

Soon it was down to Mulder alone on his team and one on the other team. He could hear Ashley and her friends cheering for him and he hurried to a wall closer, hoping to hit the last person on the team.

Taking cover, he peeked over the top of the wall and waited. He saw a beanied head begin to rise up and he threw a snowball, hitting it on the top. His team cheered as the person wearing the hat fell out of sight.

Mulder stood up, arms in the air, and shouted, his head thrown back. Laughing, he spun to look at his teammates when he was hit from behind with a snowball.

Whipping around, he saw someone standing behind the wall of snow, and as they raised their head, he saw that it was Scully. Eyes sparkling, cheeks flushed pink, and holding a snowball in her gloved right hand, he knew in that moment that he had been duped.

"It's not exactly right to attack a man from behind," she said, rolling the snowball in her hand. "So I'm awfully glad you decided to turn around."

Faster than he could think to move or say anything, she threw the snowball and it hit him square in the chest, exploding into a puff of snow and marking him as the loser of the battle.

Her team cheered loudly and as he looked up from glancing down at his chest, he saw her grinning at him. Shaking his head, he walked toward her and bowed his head with outstretched arms, accepting defeat as her laughter filled the air.

A rematch was called for, but Mulder and Scully declined the offer to play with them again.

"I'm choosing to go out as the undefeated champion," she said and her team cheered again. "You have fun. Maybe we'll see you later."

Saying goodbye, they walked back towards the motel and he glanced at her. She looked at him and grinned with a shrug of her shoulders.

"After you left, I could hear you all and I thought about how much I do hate paperwork and getting it done in the next hour or two wouldn't make a goddamn bit of difference in the grand scheme of things."

"That's the truth."

"So I got dressed and as I was crossing over to the field, I saw you walking back with a group of kids, so I stopped to watch."

"Saw that did ya?" he asked with a sheepish grin.

"Yup. And when I had seen enough, I headed straight to the other group, bound and determined to take… you… down."

She raised her eyebrows at him as they reached the back of their car and stopped walking. He cleared his throat and licked his lips, fighting back a smile, but it was impossible. He laughed and nodded, watching her smile and nod in return.

"You certainly succeeded."

"I did at that," she said with another shrug and a smile.

"Next time we play, I want you on my team."

She stepped closer to him and he took a step back, bumping into their car, which dislodged some of the snow. It fell down around him and he yelped. Not from the cold at first, but from the surprise.

"Yeah," she said quietly. "Remember this feeling. Remember how it felt when you thought you had won and then I beat you. Think also of how I will again one day, because we will not be on the same team. It was far too much fun succeeding at taking… you… down."

"You may have mentioned it already," he laughed.

"And I will again. You better believe it." She stepped back and he moved away from the car, now noticing how cold his backside was beginning to feel.

"Oh," she said, turning around as she headed to her room. "I don't think I heard one of the rules mentioned. The loser has to buy the winner hot chocolate and some dinner."

"Is that right?" he asked.

"It is," she stated and he nodded with a smile.

"Well, then I guess I need to pay up on my debts."

She nodded and he gestured for her to go ahead, walking down the covered walkway of the motel that led to the diner diagonally across the street.

They entered and the warmth of the diner began to thaw them out. Warm mugs defrosted their cold fingers and food shared warmed them on the inside.

The snowball fight crew soon came into the diner and they all shifted to sit together, laughing at the fun they had.

For a little while, as they warmed up in a small diner in Minnesota, thoughts of paperwork and the worry of getting home in time for the holidays, took a much needed backseat.