Date: Wed, 27 Dec 2000 08:40:31 -0000
Subject: xfc: NEW: Charms: A Christmas Story
Source: xfc

TITLE:  Charms: A Christmas Story
AUTHOR:  Sandee
ARCHIVE:  anywhere, please!
RATING:  PG
SUMMARY: Mulder gives Scully a gift.
SPOILERS:  nope.
DISCLAIMER:  Not mine. Bah, humbug.
NOTE: okay; there are instructions for this. 1) Read. 2) Enjoy... or not.
3) Send feedback.

*****

"So, I guess I'm going to go," she told him, standing up and wrapping her 
coat around her shoulders. "I'm going over to my mom's this evening."

He looked up at her, confused. "Tomorrow? What's tomorrow?"

"Mulder--"

But he was indignant. "Is it your birthday? Did I miss your birthday?" he 
slapped his hand on to his forehead. "I forgot your birthday *again*? Oh, 
Scully, I am so, so sorry. You deserve much better than that. nobody 
deserves to be forgotten. Don't you worry, I'll get you something. So it's a 
little late, it's the thought that counts, right? And--"

"Mulder, it's nearly the end of December. My birthday isn't until February."

"Oh, then is it your mom's birthday? Because I know your mom, Scully. I can 
get her something--"

Sighing, she stalked over to him and laid her hand over his. "Mulder, you 
don't have to get anybody anything. It's Christmas eve." She squeezed his 
hand reassuringly. "Don't worry about it, kay? I'll be with my family, I'll 
be fine. Oh, damn! I haven't even gone Christmas shopping yet. Forget it. 
I'll be back in three days. I mean, unless we have a case or something..."

His hand wriggled beneath hers. "I wouldn't think of keeping you busy on 
your holiday." This elicited a smile from her. "You go. We don't have 
anything on the charts; and even if we did, I'd send you on your merry way, 
anyway."

He smiled warmly at her and she felt her hand tingle. "Go on. I won't mind. 
There's tons for me to do here. I'll be here when you get back, okay?"

*****

She left the office feeling immensely guilty. Scully knew her mother was 
expecting her, they hadn't been a complete family for Christmas since Missy 
and her father had passed. As much as possible, no one should be incomplete 
during this joyous time of year.

Then, her thoughts drifted to Mulder.

If no one was to be alone during this time of year, why did she walk out 
that office door? Poor Mulder, spending Christmas alone on his couch, 
probably watching "I Saw Mommy Fucking Santa Claus" or some damn thing. The 
baby Jesus was born on this day, Mulder, for God's sake.

But no matter what he was watching, no matter how many hours he stayed up 
watching the man in a red suit do it with the woman in her nightclothes, it 
would still just be Mulder and his fish. And dammit, you can't spend 
Christmas with your fish.

Her mother. Her mother, who wanted everything to be perfect. Her mother, who 
would be so disappointed if she didn't make it. Maybe she could take Mulder 
over to her house... but then Bill would be there and he'd probably Mulder's 
ass. No, it was best that they be kept apart.

Margaret Scully and family. She wouldn't be too happy if she bailed last 
minute. And she had arranged for Dana to have a date! Scully was insulted, 
"I can get my own dates, mom." Even when she couldn't. Wouldn't, because 
she'd feel guilty about Mulder.

More to the point; if she skipped out on her mom, she'd be hated until 
Valentine's Day. If she skipped out on Mulder, it'd be... well, everything 
would be the same. He'd return from his sulkage on the 'supposedly' happiest 
day of the year looking as brand spanking new as ever as if he didn't just 
spend the Happy Holidays alone. And that would be too sad to even 
contemplate.

Who knew that there would come a time when she had to choose between her 
partner and her family?

And who would have known that the choice would be so easy?

She stuck her key into the ignition and breathed in deeply, the exhaled. She 
was a doctor, she knew how it worked. The air conditioning blasted heat out 
towards her face and the warmth overtook her.

The silver car backed out of the parking space and headed towards Dana 
Scully's apartment.

*****

"Presents, underwear, extra sweater..." Scully mumbled to herself, stuffing 
all the things she had mentioned into an overnight bag.

Unable to decide where to stay for the weekend, Scully had decided upon a 
compromise. She would drop by Mulder's before she left for her mom's, just 
to wish him a merry Christmas. Then, she thought, a few hours after the 
clock struck twelve, she'd escape from her mom's and visit Mulder for the 
holidays.

And maybe, if Bill would restrain himself, invite Mulder over.

Compromise. Yup.

The knock on the door surprised the hell out of her.

Who could it be? The only person who it could possibly be was either her 
little neighbor, Charissa, who said "Merry Christmas, next-door neighbor!!" 
every fifteen minutes, or Mulder. The former was much more likely, since 
Mulder was probably still at work.

Right?

But when Scully looked in the peephole, she realized that she could not have 
been more wrong. Staring back at her with a blank look on his face was 
Mulder, still in work clothes, apparently doing what she had been planning 
to: dropping by.

She unlocked the door and opened it. "Hi," she greeted him. "what are you 
doing here? I thought there was tons of stuff to do."

Mulder shrugged. "I wanted to see you before you left, I guess. Wish you a 
Merry Christmas."

Immediately, Scully felt immensely guilty. "Alright," she said, stepping 
back to let him in. "I'm leaving in thirty minutes. I was going to drop by 
you but since you're here, come on in."

"Thank you." He said graciously, and he entered the sanctum if her 
apartment. There wasn't much decoration for the season, a few garlands of 
tinsel here, a wreath or two there. In short, the décor was sparse. Scully 
hadn't decorated much because she wasn't spending Christmas at home, anyway.

"Um, I'll just make this quick, Scully."

She looked at him suspiciously. "Quick? Make what quick?"

Like a child reluctant to give his mother her change, he yanked a tiny box 
out of his pocket. "I got you a present." He said flatly.

Another wave of undeniable guilt hit her. "You didn't need to do that!" she 
told him sadly. "I didn't even get you anything. I'm sorry, you know. I 
just-"

Before she could finish speaking, however, he cut her off by shoving the 
present at her. "Forget about it," he said in a dismissive voice. "All that 
matters is that you're happy."

"I'd be happier," she muttered sourly. "if I had been able to get you 
something." But she took the gift from him anyway, with a slight smile on 
her face.

"You've done so much for me this year," Mulder insisted shyly, plunging his 
hands into his jacket pockets. "just take it as a token of my appreciation 
of you being there for me, always. Come on, it's absolutely the least I can 
do for you."

Well, who could argue with that? she thought and she grinned at him 
appreciatively. "Alright. Thank you, Mulder."

"Open it," he told her excitedly. "I want to know what you think."

"Okay!" she said, smiling at him brightly. She took a seat on the couch. 
Before she began unwrapping, though, she patted the space beside her. 
"Here," she said, looking up at him cheerfully. "sit next to me." And he 
did.

Like a little girl hoping for the Corduroy Cool Barbie she'd asked from 
Santa Claus, Scully ripped up the tiny package's wrapping paper brutally. 
And when the paper was gone and the ribbon, discarded, what remained was a 
tiny, wooden, green box with the initials "CB" engraved on the top.

"CB..." Scully muttered thoughtfully, scratching the surface of the box with 
her fingernail. "Chandler Bing?" she guessed, eliciting a chuckle from 
Mulder.

"Open it," he prodded. And, Scully did so."

Inside, lying on the green velvet was something Scully had never expected to 
receive from Mulder. It was golden, it sparkled, and it was actually quite 
pretty.

"CB..." Scully repeated. "I guess that means 'charm bracelet', right?" she 
told him, nudging him with her elbow. He nodded an affirmative. Freeing it 
from its velvet entrapment, Mulder helped Scully slip the chain on to her 
left wrist. There were five, different charms dangling from the thin, gold 
chain; most of which Scully could hardly identify. "Tasteful," she remarked, 
looking at the bracelet left to right.

"Fourteen karats," Mulder told her softly. "they say that a charm bracelet 
represents a person's personality quirks; and so I had them add a charm for 
all of yours. Only the ones that I notice, of course. And they might not all 
be quirks, some might just be broad things that I notice *and admire* about 
you." He smiled at her, a tiny smile.

She looked at him at that moment, and in her eyes he saw something 
unnamable. "Go on," she mumbled. "Please explain."

He smiled at her again and took her hand in his, the one with the bracelet 
on. With his other hand, he pointed at each of the charms and began to tell 
her about their significance; unwittingly telling her about herself through 
his eyes, too.

An owl. To him, he told her, she was wise. Wise, not only when it came to 
matters of science or medicine or things like that but wise also to matters 
of the heart. He told her she knew how to heal people physically as well as 
emotionally, especially himself.

A puppy. He told her about her loyalty. To the work, to her family, to her 
job, to her science. And most importantly, her loyalty to their friendship. 
With a tiny smile, he told her how that even if he screwed up all the time, 
she still cared for him more than anyone ever had.

A lion. She was fierce, he said. Fierce as in he never let anybody push her 
around or take advantage of her presence. Fierce as in she never failed to 
remind him that below her female exterior was a large feline, ready to 
pounce on him if he ever began to dick around. And he told her that... well, 
he liked it.

A caduceus. Lastly, he said, she was compassionate. He told her that her 
compassion for people was so strong, she was even compassionate about the 
dead person on her autopsy table; even when she had no idea who that person 
was, or what he was like when he was alive. "And that," he said softly. "is 
what makes you a fantastic doctor. Don't ever forget it, Scully."

She sensed him beginning to loosen his grip on her hand, so she tightened 
hers. "Why are you letting go?" she asked incredulously. "There's still one 
more charm for you to tell me about."

Scully saw his face redden deeply. "You mean this one?" he asked, pointing 
to the final charm; and she nodded.

"The heart," he told her in a low voice. It told her he was nervous. "it 
means... it means that you're loved by someone. And the... the flower inside 
the heart symbolizes a hope. A hope inside the person who loves you that you 
might... might love that person back."

In one breath, Scully both stiffened and relaxed. She didn't need him to 
tell her who that person was. "Oh Mulder," she breathed quietly, throwing 
her arms around his shoulders. In a short while, she felt him hug her back. 
"Thank you," she told him. "Thank you."

After a moment, she spoke.

"That wasn't a personality quirk."

"But it was something I knew about you. Something... I guess only I knew."

She shook her head and squeezed him tighter. "No," she said, a tear leaking 
from her eye. "I knew it, too." And she sensed him smile.

"Merry Christmas, Scully."

"Merry Christmas, Mulder."

And she felt her heart clench. And he felt his heart clench as they broke 
the embrace. Scully fingered the tiny ornament on her wrist tenderly, as she 
hummed a Christmas tune.

A thought struck her.

"Hey Mulder," she said, frowning at him. "Aren't you Jewish?!"

*****

The end.