Gift for Audrey Roget: Seeing is Believing
Title: Seeing is Believing
Author: easyqueenie
Rating: G
Category/Warnings: Complete and utter fluff!
Spoilers: Set after Closure so theoretically anything prior to that.
Feedback: Always welcome at emappeal@hotmail.com
Thanks to Ginger Rawrrgers for beta-ing.
Mulder shoved the door to his apartment closed with a little more force than he had intended before leaning against the solid wood and letting out a weary sigh. If there was one thing he really hated about this time of year it was Christmas shopping. Every year he continually put it off and before he knew it once again it was Christmas Eve and he was forced to do battle with hordes of shoppers at the local mall. Every year, as he stood in the long queues, he would vow that the next year he would do it all in advance; somehow it just never seemed to work out that way.
These days he had very few people to buy for. The Gunmen were easy enough, he simply asked them what indecipherable piece of computer hardware they required, took the resulting scribbled bit of paper to the electronics store and hope they gave him the right thing. He had no remaining parents, aunts or uncles and his single cousin was a lifelong bookworm content with an annual gift certificate to Barnes and Noble tucked into her Christmas card. Of course even that inevitably arrived late each year. These days the only person he really had to think about was Scully and so he had spent the last four hours scouring the shelves in an increasingly desperate bid to locate something he thought she'd like.
Heaving himself away from the door he kicked off his shoes and coat leaving them scattered behind him, dumped the single paper bag containing his purchases on the table, and set the coffee pot to start brewing as he scanned through the mail he had collected on the way in. As usual there were an assortment of bills and statements, to add some variety to the mix there was a letter from the company who managed the old Mulder summerhouse on his behalf and this time a small collection of Christmas cards were in the pile too. The first three were mass mailings from companies. The next bore international postage and a British stamp - Mulder recognized the postmark and opened it to find the usual card from his old Oxford professor. The penultimate one was from his cousin and included her usual Christmas letter and a small group of photographs showing her and her partner on a skiing holiday to the Rockies and the renovation of their small northern Californian home.
The coffee pot beeped as Mulder reached for the final card. It was thicker than the rest and bore unfamiliar writing on the envelope and a Washington state postmark. Mulder racked his brains but couldn't think if a single person he knew in Washington, let alone someone who would be sending him a Christmas card.
After pouring himself a mug of coffee Mulder took his mail with him to the couch, dumped the other envelopes on the coffee table beside his drink and tore open the mystery envelope. A single DVD disc fell out as Mulder pulled the card out. He scooped it up and saw that the disc had the word "Dana - 1973" written on it in the same cursive as his address. Furrowing his brow he turned his attention to the card, an ordinary store bought design of Santa on a snowy roof, and read it.
"Dear Agent Mulder,
Merry Christmas!
Love from Charlie, Robyn and Thomas Scully
PS, I know we've still not had the opportunity to meet but I wanted to wish you a Merry Christmas and to thank you for making my sister so happy these last few months. Mom recently tasked me with converting all our old home video tapes to digital format. As it is a brother's prerogative to embarrass his sister at any opportunity I hope you will appreciate the enclosed Christmas gift. I suggest you watch it without her around the first time!"
Mulder's eyebrows raised as he read and re-read the card before picking the DVD up and staring at it. If this indeed contained what he suspected it might then this could easily be the greatest Christmas he could remember. He checked the clock, Scully wasn't due over for another half hour. Mulder grinned like a child on Christmas morning and leapt up from the sofa, crossing to the TV and inserting the DVD into the player. He clicked the TV and waited for the screen to load up. The menu was clearly homemade and the words "play all" glared out from the screen in a harsh shade of neon pink. Mulder pressed select and waited impatiently as the disc whirred.
The hushed murmur of voices cut in a second before the wobbly handheld footage of a pair of threadbare stage curtains at the front of a generic church hall faded into view. A middle aged woman in a pleated skirt and tidy sweater strolled briskly to stand in front of the curtains.
"Ladies and gentlemen," she began rather grandly, "thank you for joining us this evening. Tonight's first performance will be from our under 10s feis competition group who recently won the State championships!" The woman paused expectantly and he room broke out into a round of polite applause. “The group will perform their winning slipjig, Garden of Daisies".
There was more polite applause as some traditional sounding music kicked in and a moment later a group of young girls danced onto the stage. Mulder’s eyes scanned them and immediately fell on a girl with long, curly red hair falling halfway down her back. His guess was proven correct as the girls turned to face front and a very young, but very obvious Dana Scully came into view. Mulder watched in amazement as Scully and the other girls performed the routine. She wasn't perfect and Mulder could see what would become her trademark frown of annoyance whenever her footwork slipped even a little, but she held her own and finished the dance with a big smile. He saw her eyes scan the applauding crowd and land on a spot just off the camera, as she found what must be her parents the smile widened and she looked incredibly happy. Mulder smiled too; even though this young girl was years from becoming the Scully he knew, it made him happy to see her so carefree and free. The girls left the stage and the camera jostled for a moment before the screen went black. A moment later the picture came back and the lady Mulder had assumed as the dance school’s principal was back on the stage.
“Our final set dance is by Dana Scully who has just taken first place in the Novice Grade and now advances to Prizewinner.”
There is another round of applause from the room but the noise is overshadowed by intense clapping right by the camera that almost blows the tinny microphone. Honestly, Mulder is slightly amazed that Scully’s family even owned a cine camera at all - he knows they weren’t as wealthy as he was back then. As he continued to watch he wondered if Scully’s father had borrowed it from some high ranking officer just for the night to catch his daughter’s big moment.
The applause quiets down on the film and another piece of traditional music kicks in just before Scully comes dancing onto the stage - alone this time. She is wearing a bright pink dress covered in more sequins than Mulder has ever seen in his life. Never once did he imagine watching his partner dancing in a sparkly pink dress but here he was. Mulder found himself sitting on the edge of the seat as the old film played out, heart in his mouth as he hoped she wouldn't falter even though he’s never seen an Irish dance and wouldn't really know a mistake if he saw one; he just prayed that she doesn't trip.
The song ended and Scully froze on the stage, clearly breathing hard as the audience once again applauded, drowned out this time by the clear voice of Maggie Scully cheering off-camera. Mulder grinned too as the screen went black again, the DVD whirred and the menu came back into view. He switched off the screen and leant back into his sofa, closing his eyes and feeling very happy.
He wasn't sure how long he was sat there until he heard a gentle knock on his door followed by the sound of a key turning in the lock.
“Hey, it’s me,” Scully's voice called from the door as he heard her close it again behind her, “I brought Chinese.”
“Excellent,” Mulder replied, turning to look at her and flash her an enormous grin. The expression made Scully halt on her way to the kitchen.
“What?”
“Oh nothing,” he widened the grin and her eyes narrowed in response.
“Seriously Mulder, what? You’re freaking me out.”
“You’ll see,” Mulder answered as he got up and took the bag of food from Scully, serving it up onto plates and fishing out two beers from the fridge. The two of them sat down close together on the sofa and Mulder looked over at her, his grin re-appearing.
“OK that’s it, what is up with you tonight?” Scully demanded.
Mulder picked up the TV remote and turned the screen back on. “Sit back Scully, you’re gonna enjoy this,” he told her as he pressed play once again.
Five seconds later Mulder’s neighbours all jumped as Scully’s voice echoed through the building.
"No!"
Author: easyqueenie
Rating: G
Category/Warnings: Complete and utter fluff!
Spoilers: Set after Closure so theoretically anything prior to that.
Feedback: Always welcome at emappeal@hotmail.com
Thanks to Ginger Rawrrgers for beta-ing.
Mulder shoved the door to his apartment closed with a little more force than he had intended before leaning against the solid wood and letting out a weary sigh. If there was one thing he really hated about this time of year it was Christmas shopping. Every year he continually put it off and before he knew it once again it was Christmas Eve and he was forced to do battle with hordes of shoppers at the local mall. Every year, as he stood in the long queues, he would vow that the next year he would do it all in advance; somehow it just never seemed to work out that way.
These days he had very few people to buy for. The Gunmen were easy enough, he simply asked them what indecipherable piece of computer hardware they required, took the resulting scribbled bit of paper to the electronics store and hope they gave him the right thing. He had no remaining parents, aunts or uncles and his single cousin was a lifelong bookworm content with an annual gift certificate to Barnes and Noble tucked into her Christmas card. Of course even that inevitably arrived late each year. These days the only person he really had to think about was Scully and so he had spent the last four hours scouring the shelves in an increasingly desperate bid to locate something he thought she'd like.
Heaving himself away from the door he kicked off his shoes and coat leaving them scattered behind him, dumped the single paper bag containing his purchases on the table, and set the coffee pot to start brewing as he scanned through the mail he had collected on the way in. As usual there were an assortment of bills and statements, to add some variety to the mix there was a letter from the company who managed the old Mulder summerhouse on his behalf and this time a small collection of Christmas cards were in the pile too. The first three were mass mailings from companies. The next bore international postage and a British stamp - Mulder recognized the postmark and opened it to find the usual card from his old Oxford professor. The penultimate one was from his cousin and included her usual Christmas letter and a small group of photographs showing her and her partner on a skiing holiday to the Rockies and the renovation of their small northern Californian home.
The coffee pot beeped as Mulder reached for the final card. It was thicker than the rest and bore unfamiliar writing on the envelope and a Washington state postmark. Mulder racked his brains but couldn't think if a single person he knew in Washington, let alone someone who would be sending him a Christmas card.
After pouring himself a mug of coffee Mulder took his mail with him to the couch, dumped the other envelopes on the coffee table beside his drink and tore open the mystery envelope. A single DVD disc fell out as Mulder pulled the card out. He scooped it up and saw that the disc had the word "Dana - 1973" written on it in the same cursive as his address. Furrowing his brow he turned his attention to the card, an ordinary store bought design of Santa on a snowy roof, and read it.
"Dear Agent Mulder,
Merry Christmas!
Love from Charlie, Robyn and Thomas Scully
PS, I know we've still not had the opportunity to meet but I wanted to wish you a Merry Christmas and to thank you for making my sister so happy these last few months. Mom recently tasked me with converting all our old home video tapes to digital format. As it is a brother's prerogative to embarrass his sister at any opportunity I hope you will appreciate the enclosed Christmas gift. I suggest you watch it without her around the first time!"
Mulder's eyebrows raised as he read and re-read the card before picking the DVD up and staring at it. If this indeed contained what he suspected it might then this could easily be the greatest Christmas he could remember. He checked the clock, Scully wasn't due over for another half hour. Mulder grinned like a child on Christmas morning and leapt up from the sofa, crossing to the TV and inserting the DVD into the player. He clicked the TV and waited for the screen to load up. The menu was clearly homemade and the words "play all" glared out from the screen in a harsh shade of neon pink. Mulder pressed select and waited impatiently as the disc whirred.
The hushed murmur of voices cut in a second before the wobbly handheld footage of a pair of threadbare stage curtains at the front of a generic church hall faded into view. A middle aged woman in a pleated skirt and tidy sweater strolled briskly to stand in front of the curtains.
"Ladies and gentlemen," she began rather grandly, "thank you for joining us this evening. Tonight's first performance will be from our under 10s feis competition group who recently won the State championships!" The woman paused expectantly and he room broke out into a round of polite applause. “The group will perform their winning slipjig, Garden of Daisies".
There was more polite applause as some traditional sounding music kicked in and a moment later a group of young girls danced onto the stage. Mulder’s eyes scanned them and immediately fell on a girl with long, curly red hair falling halfway down her back. His guess was proven correct as the girls turned to face front and a very young, but very obvious Dana Scully came into view. Mulder watched in amazement as Scully and the other girls performed the routine. She wasn't perfect and Mulder could see what would become her trademark frown of annoyance whenever her footwork slipped even a little, but she held her own and finished the dance with a big smile. He saw her eyes scan the applauding crowd and land on a spot just off the camera, as she found what must be her parents the smile widened and she looked incredibly happy. Mulder smiled too; even though this young girl was years from becoming the Scully he knew, it made him happy to see her so carefree and free. The girls left the stage and the camera jostled for a moment before the screen went black. A moment later the picture came back and the lady Mulder had assumed as the dance school’s principal was back on the stage.
“Our final set dance is by Dana Scully who has just taken first place in the Novice Grade and now advances to Prizewinner.”
There is another round of applause from the room but the noise is overshadowed by intense clapping right by the camera that almost blows the tinny microphone. Honestly, Mulder is slightly amazed that Scully’s family even owned a cine camera at all - he knows they weren’t as wealthy as he was back then. As he continued to watch he wondered if Scully’s father had borrowed it from some high ranking officer just for the night to catch his daughter’s big moment.
The applause quiets down on the film and another piece of traditional music kicks in just before Scully comes dancing onto the stage - alone this time. She is wearing a bright pink dress covered in more sequins than Mulder has ever seen in his life. Never once did he imagine watching his partner dancing in a sparkly pink dress but here he was. Mulder found himself sitting on the edge of the seat as the old film played out, heart in his mouth as he hoped she wouldn't falter even though he’s never seen an Irish dance and wouldn't really know a mistake if he saw one; he just prayed that she doesn't trip.
The song ended and Scully froze on the stage, clearly breathing hard as the audience once again applauded, drowned out this time by the clear voice of Maggie Scully cheering off-camera. Mulder grinned too as the screen went black again, the DVD whirred and the menu came back into view. He switched off the screen and leant back into his sofa, closing his eyes and feeling very happy.
He wasn't sure how long he was sat there until he heard a gentle knock on his door followed by the sound of a key turning in the lock.
“Hey, it’s me,” Scully's voice called from the door as he heard her close it again behind her, “I brought Chinese.”
“Excellent,” Mulder replied, turning to look at her and flash her an enormous grin. The expression made Scully halt on her way to the kitchen.
“What?”
“Oh nothing,” he widened the grin and her eyes narrowed in response.
“Seriously Mulder, what? You’re freaking me out.”
“You’ll see,” Mulder answered as he got up and took the bag of food from Scully, serving it up onto plates and fishing out two beers from the fridge. The two of them sat down close together on the sofa and Mulder looked over at her, his grin re-appearing.
“OK that’s it, what is up with you tonight?” Scully demanded.
Mulder picked up the TV remote and turned the screen back on. “Sit back Scully, you’re gonna enjoy this,” he told her as he pressed play once again.
Five seconds later Mulder’s neighbours all jumped as Scully’s voice echoed through the building.
"No!"