The X-Files: Mistletoe

 Here we go again---another short one. This one needs a warning-----mushy

scene ahead. Turn back now, oh ye of faint heart. (No sex, no nudity, no

cussin'.) Comments are always welcome.  

This one is dedicated to my Sisters.                                    

Mistletoe

by Mel Taylor

aka MelTaylor@aol.com

12/2/94

 Her feet hurt. Even worse, she was certain her pantyhose were creeping

sneakily down her hips. If she didn't get to a ladies room soon, Dana Scully

was fairly sure her hose would be down around her knees. She slipped in a

puddle of icy muck and tried not to say an ugly word, preferably the one that

started with an "F." Bags slithered and crackled in her arms. She gasped

as an icy trickle of water slid beneath the hood of her coat and trickled

down her face. Ah, the glories of Washington in mid-December. The FBI

Building loomed ahead, for once looking warm and inviting instead of cold and

ugly. She hurried in on a gust of wind, hoofed it over to the metal

detector, dumped her bags, sailed through, and smiled as the guard handed her

the bags.

 "Been Christmas shopping?" he asked pleasantly. "In this weather?"

 "I'm a glutton for punishment," she admitted, gritting her teeth as her

pantyhose slithered another inch. Please, God, just let me get to the

office...

 Fox Mulder looked up as the door banged open. What looked like a Eskimo

waddled in, kicked the door shut, and made a beeline for Scully's desk,

pausing long enough to drop crackling, brightly colored bags. The Eskimo

twitched its shoulders, shedding the bulky down coat. Scully emerged,

pink-cheeked, hair askew, slightly breathless. "Hi," he began.

 "Ugh," she replied, holding up one hand. "Do me a favor....turn your head."

 "Why?" he asked, putting on his glasses so he wouldn't miss anything.

 "Just do it, Mulder."

 He heaved a big sigh and swiveled his chair around. He listened to the

intriguing sounds behind him: the scuffle of shoes sliding across the floor,

a muffled curse, what sounded like nylon sliding against skin. "Scully...are

you undressing?" he asked.

 "Yes."

 "This must be my lucky day," he commented languidly and waited. A paperclip

zinged past his ear. "Can I turn around yet?"

 "Nope. Argh."  

 Mulder shifted in his seat, trying to figure out what she was doing. It

sounded like she was hopping around the room in her bare feet. What he

wouldn't give for eyes in the back of his head..."Did you have a nice time

Christmas shopping on your lunch hour?" he asked conversationally. Was that

a zipper he heard? 

 "I had a swell time," Scully replied. "Okay, you can turn around now."

 Mulder did his best not to whip his chair around and betray his cool

exterior. Scully was padding around her desk in sock-clad feet. Her skirt

had been replaced by a pair of slacks. He eyed the crumpled pantyhose

trailing out of her trashcan. She saw his glance and shook her head. 

 "Whoever invented pantyhose hated women. I'm glad I had an extra pair of

slacks around here." She slid her feet into her flats and sank into her

chair. "Did I miss anything?"

 "Well..." Mulder gave her one of his one-sided smiles and waved a piece of

paper around. "A memo came in from A.D. Skinner."

 "Uh-oh," Scully muttered.

 "No, it's nothing bad. We've been invited to the Inner Sanctum for eggnog

and cookies."

 Scully's jaw dropped. "Noooo. You're kidding."

 "Nope."

 "Jeez, Mulder, these people have been possessed by aliens... Have you seen

any pods anywhere?"

 Mulder caught the movie reference and smiled. "That's good, Scully. I'll

have you watching all three parts of the Alien series yet."

 "Ha!" Scully laughed. "I don't think so..." She stopped in mid-sentence,

catching sight of the look on his face. "Mulder, what ---" she began,

tilting her head back to look where he was staring. "Oh God!" she exclaimed,

jumping out of her chair and slamming into a filing cabinet.  Mulder was

beside her in an instant---*how* did he move so fast?---his gun drawn, one

arm shoving her behind him. Scully tried to elbow him aside to get to her

own gun, but he had her pinned between his body and the wall. "Ooof!" she

complained. "I can't see---what-----"

 His laughter startled her. She hadn't heard him laugh in quite some time.

Come to think of it, she hadn't seen him smile---really smile---since the

day she'd wakened in the hospital. She elbowed him again, trying to see past

his shoulder. He wouldn't budge. She yanked on his sleeve. "Move, Mulder!"

she finally exclaimed. He stepped aside, still laughing, and pointed at the

white blobby thing drooping from her light fixture. Scully took a good,

long look at the object. "Oh...oh, Lord." She snickered. "I thought it was

a rat...oh, oh, oh..." She bent over slightly, giving in to the urge to

laugh until her sides began to ache.

 "Mistletoe!" Mulder finally managed in between gasps. "I nearly opened fire

on mistletoe!"

 "Where did it come from?" Scully demanded, wiping her streaming eyes.  

 "Beats the hell out of me." Mulder holstered his gun, still laughing. "Oh

God, Scully, can you imagine the report I would have had to file? The perp

would have been listed as a bunch of mistletoe..."

 That set her off again. I'm hysterical, Scully thought dimly. I'm running

on too little sleep and too much sugar. She swayed slightly and felt

Mulder's warm hand close around her arm. "I'm okay, I'm okay," she managed.

 "Are you sure?" Mulder asked, and she titled her chin up, ready to read him

the riot act for being such an overprotective cuss. The words died on her

lips. He was bending close to her, his eyebrows tenting up in that funny

way, and she could smell the faint scent of his aftershave, something warm

and citrusy, and oh Lord, why was her gaze drawn to his mouth and the tiny

indentation in his lower lip and the curve of his upper lip and...Dana

Katherine, don't you dare, her conscience piped up in its usual

pain-in-the-ass way, but Dana Katherine wasn't listening to her conscience

any more. She reached out, cupping her palm against the curve of Mulder's

cheek, the warm smoothness of his skin soaking into her fingertips, and she

saw the way his eyes darkened just before she kissed his mouth and felt

warmth flood through to her soul, reminding her why she'd come back from

that cold, dark place.  

 She felt Mulder smile against her mouth, and she knew she'd never be cold

again.

 

---End---- :D