Title: Upon This Tree   
   Author: Gina Rain (ginarain@aol.com)   
   Rating: PG   
   Category: MSR   
   Spoilers: Nothing major. A few small ones pre-   
   season 7.   
   Disclaimer: The X-Files belongs to CC and   
   Company. Is that a shocker, or what?   
   Summary: Lights . . . mistletoe . . . action!   
   Special thanks to: Mary Beth. If it weren't for   
   her providing much needed computer help last   
   week, they would be fitting me for a padded room   
   with complimentary shock therapy treatments by   
   now.  Thank you so much!   
   And once again: Thank you, Sybil, for your great   
   (and very funny) beta. I am using the original   
   title of the story in your honor (and because the   
   alternate title sucked).   
      
   XXXXX   
      
   She would have paid cold hard cash for a moment   
   like this. Instead, Santa decided to give her an   
   early Christmas present. The sight of Mulder   
   trying to get a stray branch of pine needles away   
   from his mouth, while not dropping her tree, was   
   far more precious than silver, gold or   
   commemorative space flight key chains.   
      
   "Do I go in first, or do you?" he asked, as he   
   paused by the front steps of her apartment   
   building.   
      
   "You do. Otherwise we'll be going against the   
   direction of the branches and I'll end up with a   
   very tall twig in my living room."   
      
   "Well," he said as climbed the stairs backwards,   
   holding onto the trunk of the tree, "I thought I   
   should ask in case the magical laws of Christmas   
   trees contradicted those of common sense."   
      
   He laid the trunk of the tree against one   
   upraised knee and held out his hand. She lay the   
   top of the tree down on the step, pulled out her   
   keys and tossed them up to him. He made an   
   impressive one-handed catch, managed to open the   
   door, and they both made it up to her apartment   
   without losing too much of the tree along the   
   way. That was teamwork in action.   
      
   After storing their outerwear, stopping Mulder   
   from scrubbing the sap off his hands with a   
   Brillo pad and setting up the lights and the   
   boxes of decorations in neat piles, they got down   
   to the real work.   
      
   "No, Mulder. You have to really slam the tree   
   down against the stand. It needs to be embedded   
   on those spikes."   
      
   "It is."   
      
   "It's not. It's wobbling."   
      
   "Only because you haven't tightened the screws."   
      
   "I know I haven't tightened them. It's because   
   the tree is not embedded on the spikes. If it's   
   not, the tree will fall even if the screws are   
   tightened."   
      
   He held on to the middle of the trunk and let out   
   a huff of air. "I thought I was here for fun, not   
   tree torture."   
      
   "It will be fun. Right after you get over the   
   frustration of getting the tree in the stand."   
      
   He slammed the tree down as hard as he could,   
   peppering Scully's hair with green needles.   
      
   "That's more like it," she said, approvingly, as   
   she got down on her hands and knees and started   
   to tighten the long screws against the side of   
   the trunk.   
      
   "That's an older model, isn't it?" Mulder asked,   
   as he held the tree straight.   
      
   "Of what?" she asked.   
      
   "The tree holder."   
      
   "Oh, yes. I guess so. My parents had a spare   
   stand and, when I moved out, I took it with me."   
      
   "When was that? 1982? And the stand was probably   
   20 years old then.  I now know what to get you   
   for Christmas: a new stand that doesn't mutilate   
   the bottom of the tree and elevate my previously   
   perfect blood pressure."   
      
   She smiled to herself as she finished up. She   
   liked hearing him complain. His slightly raspy   
   voice made Mulder in whiny-mode more amusing than   
   annoying.   
      
   "So, Scully, how did you manage to get your trees   
   put up before you invited me here? I mean, I'm   
   trying to picture you simultaneously holding,   
   slamming, embedding and screwing. Frankly, the   
   idea is surprisingly un-sexy and downright   
   unsettling. Did you borrow some burly guy like--   
   oh, say Skinner to come here, strip down to the   
   waist and do it for you?"   
      
   Scully resisted the urge to try and remove some   
   of the sap from her hands by rubbing them against   
   her jeans and gestured for him to follow her into   
   the kitchen.   
      
   "Skinner has not been prancing around my   
   apartment in his skivvies, Mulder. Without your   
   company, I paid the young man who normally   
   delivers the trees a little extra and he helped   
   me." She reached in under her sink, removed a   
   bottle of paint thinner, put some on a rag and   
   gently worked the sap from her hands.   
      
   "Shirtless?" Mulder asked.   
      
   "Are you trying to tell me something here,   
   Mulder? Do you have a need to go topless? Because   
   I have to tell you, the sap removal from your   
   chest hair might be a little more complicated."   
      
   He smiled and took the container from her.   
      
   In a few moments, they were back to the business   
   of tree trimming. Scully stopped Mulder as he   
   attempted to string the lights on the tree and   
   did it herself. It was a delicate operation and   
   she knew if she left it up to him, she would have   
   a thousand lights in one spot with the rest of   
   the tree in darkness. Mulder made himself useful   
   by sitting on the couch and removing the   
   wrappings from the ornaments. As he carefully   
   pulled off each paper napkin from each   
   decoration, he put it on a pillow that he had   
   laid on the coffee table.   
      
   Scully worked in silence and then stopped. The   
   room was too quiet. She turned to Mulder and saw   
   him sitting back and looking at the pillow   
   covered with ornaments.   
      
   "What?" she asked.   
      
   He shook his head. "I'm just looking at this   
   little collection. I've seen your trees before   
   but I never paid that much attention to them. The   
   tree you are decorating here is not exactly the   
   type of tree I would expect you to have."   
      
   "What do you mean?"   
      
   "Well, first of all, you're very practical. A   
   'real' tree is not at all practical. It's messy.   
   And, you are also kind of," he stopped himself.   
   She could see the wheels turning as he tried not   
   to verbally 'step in it,' as they both knew he   
   was about to do. "Well, let's just say I would   
   expect you to have a tree that had only white   
   lights on it, with Christmas balls that were all   
   the same color, or maybe two colors--tops.   
   Instead, you have this real tree, with   
   multicolored lights and these no-two-the-same   
   ornaments. It's just not the first thing I'd   
   expect from you."   
      
   She didn't know whether to be flattered or   
   insulted that he pigeonholed her in such a bland   
   way. Still, the qualities behind the pigeonholing   
   were qualities she possessed, and she supposed it   
   was good that he noticed and appreciated them.   
      
   Yes, a woman loved being admired for her sturdy   
   qualities.   
      
   "The trees I had grown up with were all real. I   
   love the fragrance. It's part of the holidays for   
   me. And as far as the ornaments, my Grandma   
   Scully once told me that a tree is more than a   
   tree. It's a reflection on your own life more   
   than anything else. I could buy glass balls that   
   mean nothing to me, or I could hang up my little   
   collection of ornaments, each of which tells some   
   sort of story."   
      
   Mulder leaned forward and picked up an ornament.   
   It was an ugly, neon pink spray-painted circle   
   made up of old aluminum pop-top tabs tied   
   together with wire.   
      
   "Tell me this story," he said.   
      
   Scully laughed. "My mother subscribed to Family   
   Circle. That decoration was in the craft section.   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)