From: theidiosyncraticstanwyck@yahoo.com   
      
   Title: Spectrum   
   Author: the idiosyncratic stanwyck   
   Email: theidiosyncraticstanwyck@yahoo.com   
   Category/Keywords: AU, MSR, A (not too much)   
   Rating: PG-13; R or NC-17 sections will be marked   
   Summary: A woman meets a man who opens her eyes to a vast,   
   unexpected spectrum of beautiful, terrifying possibilities.   
      
   Chapter 7: Purple   
      
   "I think it pisses God off if you walk by the color   
   purple in a field somewhere and don't notice it." -   
   Alice Walker   
      
   **   
      
   November bled into December, snowfall leeching away even   
   the murky browns of the last full month of autumn and   
   creating a vacuum of whiteness. Correspondingly Scully   
   slipped out of Mulder's daily life; he saw less and less of   
   her as the holidays approached and she tried to juggle her   
   career - she was still occupied with the good Senator,   
   among other, less noteworthy clients - Christmas and   
   Hanukkah shopping, decorating, and the usual round of   
   holiday festivities.   
      
   She had found the time to call him on a fresh wave of good   
   cheer and invite him to the Scully family Christmas   
   celebration. His trepidation was evident, but she insisted.   
   "You can sit in the corner and be antisocial, but the   
   food's to die for. Besides, my mother is extremely curious about   
   you - she's convinced you're my secret lover."   
      
   This assertion did nothing to assuage Mulder's qualms, but   
   it was interesting to think about.   
      
   Mulder had resolved to stay home on Christmas Eve, to do   
   his own thing and allow Dana and Chloe to have some mother-   
   daughter time together and do whatever it was that normal   
   Catholic families did on December 24th. Unfortunately,   
   currently "his own thing" amounted to sorting through his   
   mail and making the grocery list, and was neither very   
   time-consuming nor very entertaining. Heaving a sigh, he   
   flipped on the TV. He should do laundry, but that was a   
   hell of a way to spend Christmas Eve. If he just lurked in   
   his apartment, he could at least maintain the illusion that   
   he had somewhere to be and someone to be with rather than   
   exposing his solitary status to the building's other   
   tenants.   
      
   His cell phone rang, forcibly reminding him that Chloe had   
   reprogrammed it to play "Jingle Bells." He grimaced.   
      
   "Mulder."   
      
   "Hey, Mulder, it's me." He could hear the smile in Scully's   
   voice and he smiled in return. "Listen, if you're not too   
   busy, Chloe and I are going to ride out into the Virginia   
   countryside and look at all the Christmas lights. Don't you   
   want to come?"   
      
   Her phrasing got him off the hook - he didn't have to   
   scramble for a set of imaginary plans that he could allow   
   her to talk him out of so he could accept her invitation   
   while still looking marginally cool. Of course everyone   
   would want to look at decorations on Christmas Eve; it was   
   simply what one did. Mulder grinned.   
      
   "Sure. What time?"   
      
   "I thought maybe around seven. We could have dinner first.   
   Do you have any food?"   
      
   He was forced to admit that what he did have was probably   
   no longer fit for human consumption.   
      
   "That's what I thought. We'll bring the food, then. See you   
   later."   
      
   When Scully and Chloe arrived, Chloe immediately shucked   
   off her parka, scarf, and gloves and sauntered over to the   
   fish tank. "Do your fish have names?"   
      
   While she and Mulder discussed the inhabitants of his   
   aquarium, Scully unpacked the contents of a large plastic   
   bag, spreading everything out on the kitchen counter. "We   
   got stuff for sandwiches," she announced. "There's whole   
   wheat bread and chicken and roast beef, and I got a few   
   different kinds of cheese, and lettuce and tomato -" She   
   gestured vaguely. "I got some veggies, too. I didn't think   
   you'd have much since you've been out of town."   
      
   The three of them fixed sandwiches and sat in the living   
   room, Mulder and Scully on the couch and Chloe slouched in   
   an armchair. "I like your apartment," the girl proclaimed.   
   "It's really cool. Kinda dark."   
      
   "Uh, thanks. It's not exactly a showplace."   
      
   Dana smirked. "We rented It's a Wonderful Life on the way   
   over. It's Clo's favorite Christmas movie. We're going to   
   watch it later."   
      
   "You should come over," Chloe piped up. "It's not Christmas   
   if you don't see it."   
      
   Mulder smiled very slightly, suddenly hit by a strong wave   
   of nostalgia for his own childhood. Singing carols and   
   stealing pinches of gingerbread and telling Sam that he was   
   going to write Santa a letter telling him all the bad   
   things she'd done all year, and she'd get nothing but coal   
   in her stocking.   
      
   The clock ticked loudly in the quiet room. The fish tank   
   gurgled. "Mulder," Scully called softly, and his attention   
   snapped to her. How could anyone be so beautiful in blue   
   jeans and a simple sweater? Maybe it was the concern   
   shining in her eyes, the backlight of gentle affection.   
   Maybe it was the burnished copper of her hair in the low   
   light. "Where'd you go?"   
      
   In the car, Scully turned the heat way up high and Chloe   
   and Mulder made fun of her driving. They laughed and   
   listened to cheesy Christmas music and bumped down rutted   
   Virginia back roads.  For the first time in a very long   
   time, Mulder remembered the joy of looking for lights that   
   weren't in the sky. Scully seemed softer, younger, more   
   vulnerable; he wondered if she had caught Chloe's childish   
   glee or vice versa.   
      
   They dropped Mulder off to pick up his car and made a quick   
   stop at a convenience store to buy popcorn on the way back   
   to Georgetown. "With butter," Dana insisted, and Mulder   
   marveled at the power of the Christmas spirit.   
      
   Their apartment was warm and smelled of cinnamon.  Scully   
   hummed as the popcorn popped and she got two beers and a   
   Pepsi out of the fridge.  Her voice, if off-key, was not   
   entirely unpleasant. Mulder wanted to put his arms around   
   her and press his nose into that tender spot where her neck   
   met her shoulder.   
      
   She settled herself in the center of the sofa, hot popcorn   
   in her lap, and propped one socked foot on the coffee   
   table. "Come on, Clo," Scully called. "We have to start the   
   movie now if we're going to finish it before Santa comes."   
      
   "Yeah, Mom, you need your beauty sleep. Takes a lot out of   
   you to toss a few gifts under the tree, doesn't it?" Chloe   
   rolled her eyes as she flopped down beside Dana, causing a   
   handful of kernels to bounce out of the popcorn bowl and   
   into Scully's lap. "Gee, next year maybe we can string   
   popcorn and go caroling. Wouldn't that be down home and   
   traditional of us?"   
      
   Dana snorted and ate a handful of popcorn. "You know you   
   love it, and you love this movie. Get up and press play,   
   young one."   
      
   "Make Mulder do it," Chloe suggested pertly, but did as her   
   mother had asked. Mulder switched off the lamp as the music   
   swelled.   
      
   "Mom, you're eating all the popcorn," Chloe complained a   
   few minutes later. Scully stopped chewing and guiltily cut   
   her eyes at Mulder.   
      
   "She's right," she said, lifting her hands. "I've gained   
   eight pounds in less than two months."   
      
   Mulder grinned. "You're beautiful, Scully," he assured,   
   sotto voce, "and we can make more popcorn."   
      
   Scully sighed and leaned forward, lifting her Sam Adams   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)