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Title: Visions of the Past Summary: Scully get's a little visit from the Ghost of Christmas Past. Author's Notes: Here's my very early or very late Christmas Present to y'all! Enjoy! It was Christmas Eve. Scully had only noticed that when she looked at the small desk calendar. She wondered why she even kept ripping off the pages at all. The days just kept fading into each other, into weeks, into months. It all was the same without Mulder. She didn't know why she kept the calendar up to date. Sometimes it felt like it was teasing her. Like the days were going by and she still hadn't found him. But she kept turning the page. Maybe it was part of her mind telling her to move on. That the days would end and begin again, the sun would always rise. Without him. The thought and frustration of the whole thing urged Scully to hit the calendar off the desk with the back of her hand. This wasn't the first time she had done this. She knew she would just put it back there to let it count the days again. She always did. Her work was the same every day. Searching. Going over any thing that may lead her to him. So far there's been nothing. Dozens of John Does that had mysteriously appeared, none fit his description. People reporting UFO activity all over the country, none could be linked to him. She had often questioned why the search continued. Would she go on this way forever? Was he even alive? She felt like she had become Mulder when he was searching for his sister Samantha. She had disappeared when they were young. He had seen her go. Mulder had since learned that she was dead. Would Scully learn the same thing about Mulder? She hoped not. She had to keep searching. He would do the same for her. Wouldn't he? She assumed he had when she had been abducted. She wasn't gone this long though. Her thoughts were interrupted by a knock at the door. "Come in." She said. It was a wonder anyone one else was still there. Assistant Director Skinner walked in. "I know what you're going to say, sir," Scully said. "Agent Scully, it's Christmas Eve, I'm leaving, you really should, too." "Leave this to what? I'm not seeing my family, they don't want to spend time with me anymore. Would Mulder leave?" "Scully go home." "That's an order." He added as he saw the look of an oncoming protest on her face. "Fine." She picked up all the folders she had on her desk and walked towards Skinner in the doorway. "Good night." She said coldly and walked out of the office. The hallways were perfectly quiet. She was so dazed as she walked that the holiday decorations that were placed on the walls all seemed to blur into green, red, and silver patterns that raced by her in the corner of her eye. The elevator was empty, of course. It brought her up to the ground from where her and Mulder's office was hidden in the basement. When she got home she placed all her papers on her kitchen table and quickly got back to work again. Did it matter Christmas was tomorrow? No, not to her. She could have been locked up in her basement office and Christmas could have came and went and she would never be the wiser. Scully liked that thought. It was just another day. Another day that could not be wasted in her search. As she was quickly jotting something down a few papers blew off the table. She had noticed the room grow slowly cold, but it was only now when it interfered with her work would she go and check to see if she had left the window opened. She placed her pen down and walked over to the window. It overlooked a street where she and Mulder had once walked. Discussing facts and theories on whatever case they were working on. Lost in her memories Scully had forgotten her intentions of making sure the window was closed. It was latched tightly shut as she had done so herself. Perhaps the coldness of the room was her imagination. It also may have been her own hand that had absentmindedly brushed her documents off the table. Looking back up at out the window she saw a young couple walking down the street arm in arm. When she blinked it was no longer these two that she saw, but herself and Mulder. There was no denying it that this was them. She stared and saw them talking. Then smiling and laughing. She quickly blinked once more and saw the first couple continue to walk until she could no longer see them. Hurriedly she rushed back to the table deciding it was all a figment of her tired mind. That after thinking of Mulder for so long she tricked her eyes into seeing this. Leaving her papers in their exact messy state she quickly changed for bed. She rolled up in a small ball on her bed and after much tossing and turning finally fell asleep. She woke up with a start not long after falling asleep. She sighed and eased back again. Suddenly a strong wind blew through her room. Things were flying this way and that. It had no one definite direction and did not seem to be coming from anywhere at all. As abruptly as it had started the gust stopped, but Scully could feel a definite presence in the room. She saw what looked like a figure standing in the exact center of the room. It was a figure that seemed to change into a shadow if she concentrated too hard on looking at it. Scully got up from her bed and switched on the lamp. It spread light throughout the whole room. Yet where the figure stood there was darkness. On closer examination she could see this figure actually had an aura of bright light while it was in a larger circle of darkness. While she was surprised and in total awe, her scientific mind was racing to register what she was seeing with anything else she had ever heard about. This, of course, was all in vain. As she continued to step closer the figure appeared to have more human features. At the same time, however, it was far from human. "Come with me." The figure spoke in a high and steady voice. "You can talk," Scully muttered. Her mouth and eyes were still as wide open as they were when she had first seen this strange being. "I am here to show you the past, I am a spirit and my one purpose is to take you on the journey we are about to embark on." The spirit held out it's hand. Scully then felt so urged to grab the spirit's hand that she let go of all her fears and disbelief and reached out her hand. As soon as their hands touched the whole room got absorbed in the aura of the spirit and they appeared to now be in some type of hospital room. Scully recognized the hospital. It was Georgetown Memorial. There were doctors and nurses hurrying about their business. Being a doctor herself, Scully had always found the hype and tension of the hospital intriguing. She had been inside the hospital many times. She wondered why the spirit chose to show her this one moment. She turned around and then saw him. "Mulder?" she whimpered. It was Mulder but different. Younger. His hair was slightly longer and his face did not seem quite as aged as it was when she last saw him. She had known him when he had looked like this. "Mulder," she repeated a little louder and more confident this time. "He can't hear you," the spirit said to Scully. The spirit was behind her and he startled her a bit. She had almost forgotten this was a vision of the past. Mulder was looking into a doorway. She was not close enough to see who was inside. Then her mother and her since deceased sister Melissa walked out of the room. "How is she?" Mulder asked. Scully's mother was silent and shed a single tear. "It doesn't look good," Melissa finally said. "It's me spirit isn't it?" Scully said, "This must have been right after I was returned from my abduction, Isn't it?" The spirit was quiet but motioned for Scully to follow Mulder and Melissa into the room. Sure enough her younger self lay on the small hospital cot. Every breath she took was supported by a machine. She lie comatose, her chest rising and falling to the steady beeps of the machines around her. "She looks horrible," Mulder said as he sat down next to the bed and took her hand in his. "She wouldn't want to live like this," Melissa said. "I was on the brink of death," Scully said, not sure if she was talking to herself or the spirit, "I remember not knowing whether to stay or go. But when I saw Mulder and my family needing me back with them, I had their strength to carry on. Wherever Mulder is now, I wish he could know how much I need him here" Scully than began to cry. Slowly at first but getting heavier and heavier until her eyes were red and with every breath she whimpered. She was so deeply entrenched in sadness that she failed to notice the room fade to darkness. They then appeared in Mulder and Scully's office. It was the same office Scully had left earlier that night, but it was a totally different room. The atmosphere was warmer, the mood almost loving. In the months since Mulder disappeared Scully had found it unnecessary to leave any lights on but a small lamp at her desk. In the office she was standing in now every corner was illuminated. "Look," the spirit commanded. Scully wiped her eyes a final time and saw Mulder. He looked gorgeous to Scully. Absolutely gorgeous. Every feature appeared perfect. He was like a painting, a masterpiece. Pieces of his rich dark hair touched his forehead ever so lightly Scully was always amazed on how perfect every strand of his hair always looked. His deep eyes pierced her soul and sent chills throughout her body. Scully noticed he was talking to a past version of herself. His voice was so empowered and intriguing. It soothed her and her breathing finally slowed from crying. She was hypnotized by him. She couldn't make out his words, but she didn't care. The simple sound of him talking was beautiful to her. "Mulder, that's just not possible," her past self said, waking Scully from her thoughts. Scully remembered saying these words to Mulder many times. The shadows of the past continued to talk. Scully kept shooting down everything Mulder said. Claiming it was ridiculous, or had no science to back it up. "You never believed him," the spirit said. "No, I didn't." "Why not?" "I didn't want to. I was scared there may be things that scientific facts could not explain. Scared to let go of everything I've been taught and go on instincts instead of facts." "Do you believe him now?" "Yes." "Why?" "Because he was right," Scully said, "He was always right." "Issues at work weren't the only things you were skeptic about with him," the spirit said. Scully did not question the spirit's statement as she knew she would soon see what he meant. They walked out of the office. Instead of being in the hallway that doorway usually led to they were in a hospital room. Mulder was lying in the bed and Scully was standing at his side. Scully remembered this moment. It was after Mulder was found in the water following what he thought was some sort of time reversal caused by entering the Bermuda Triangle. He claimed to have been on a ship from World War II. Scully remembered standing by Mulder then, as she had, after he had called her back to him when she was about to leave. She had leaned closer to him. She could feel his warm breath. "I love you," he said. Scully remembered her world suddenly turning upside down. She was sure his words were true. Yet, she had no idea what to say or do. Looking back, she could not remember why she had chosen the sarcastic "Oh brother" remark she had made before leaving the room. Scully turned to the spirit and said "I believed him, I really did." "You didn't act like it." "I didn't know what to do, I always planned on telling him how I felt. I kept pushing it back. Tomorrow, tomorrow. And now-" She took a long pause and began to sniffle a bit. She watched the hurt look on Mulder's face after her past self had left the room. She sniffled again and couldn't hold the tears back and longer. "And now there is no tomorrow." The scene once again faded to blackness. "What's next?" Scully said. She was worn from her journey with the spirit, but knew there was no resisting. A new scene began to form around her. Before the picture was even fully clear, she knew where she was. Mulder's apartment. She saw him sitting on his black leather couch, alone. Scully loved that couch. It smelled of a wonderful mix of Mulder and leather. She could close her eyes and smell Mulder all over. She had not smelled this warm, sweet, scent since the night she had been in his apartment and fell asleep clutching his shirt, shortly after he had disappeared. By realizing this she wondered that maybe by obsessing over finding where Mulder was, and what had happened to him, she had lost sight of what he really meant to her. Then there was a knock at the door. Scully suddenly remembered this night. It was Christmas Eve two years ago. Her and Mulder had went their separate ways after an extremely odd trip to what Mulder believed to be a cursed house inhabited by ghosts. Scully had been alone in her apartment debating whether to go over to Mulder's at all. She had bought him a gift, even though they had both agreed not to exchange gifts at all. She eventually did go. Mulder smiled when he heard the knock. "About time," he mumbled to himself. 'About time?' Scully thought. Had he been waiting for her, knowing she would come? Scully watched as he gave her a gift too, she knew he would. They then sat on the couch, opening their gifts, talking, and laughing. They were so happy. If Scully knew how limited their time together was, she would have savored every second, and not take it for granted. Soon her sadness and regret turned to frustration. "Why are you showing me these things?" Scully snapped at the spirit, "Why are you taunting me with memories of him?" "I have to show you how much he really loved you." "He left me." "Are you sure?" the spirit asked. What was he going to show her next? As one thing faded into another Scully noticed they were in a forest. It was the forest in Oregon Mulder and Scully had been investigating before his disappearance. It was night time. Scully had not been in this forest at night since her and Mulder's first case together. She determined that was not a possibility if the spirit's scenes were going in the order the events occurred, as they had so far. Scully saw a bright blue glow off in the distance. She walked towards it. Then she saw Mulder. She ran to him, and then noticed him walking off into the light. "Mulder!!" She heard Skinner call his name off in the distance. His eyes looked empty as if he was in a trance. He walked at a steady beat towards the glowing circle in the forest. Scully followed him, noticing that it seemed like he had no control over his actions and was being pulled in by an invisible force. He walked and walked, and finally pushed 2 trees aside to clear his path and reveal where he was going. "Oh my god," Scully said to herself as she saw what Mulder had seen the night he was abducted. There was a large circle of people all in this odd blue force field. They all looked hypnotized, the same way Mulder did. Looking up Scully saw the underbelly of what looked like a large spacecraft. Mulder continued to walk until he entered the circle. He turned to face Scully. Scully reached behind her neck and unclasped the golden cross she always wore. She walked closer to Mulder and fastened it around his neck. Come home soon," she whispered. The beam then lifted all of the people up into the ship and it jetted away. Scully collapsed on the forest floor. Scully quickly sat up from her bed and gasped. What had happened? She determined that it must have all been a dream. She laid back down again. Just to assure herself that none of this happened, she put her hand on her neck to check for her cross. It was gone, and she believed. FEEDBACK: Maybe if I get some Scully will get some Ghost of Christmas Present and Future action. Pretty Please send it all my way - GiGiX7X@aol.com |