Emily's Christmas (PG-13)

Scully looked up as the front door opened.  "Mulder?"  She already had her hand reaching for the gun she was wearing at her waistband.

"Yeah, sorry."

"Is everything okay?"

He looked over at the decorated Christmas tree, the ceramic and cloth and wooden Santas that graced the mantle.  No everything wasn't okay and he was more than a little pissed about it.  Four days before Christmas, this comes up?  He turned to find her standing beside him.

"Where's Emily?"

"She's already in bed."

He glanced at his watch.  Of course she was.  He was late.  "I'm sorry; I wanted to tell her goodnight."

"She left you a kiss," Scully said watching him.

He managed to smile then.  "You give me hers, then I'll give you mine."

She kissed him chastely on the cheek, then felt his arms go around her, pulling her to him.  This kiss was proprietary, a man marking his woman.  She answered with the same passion, but she was aware something had happened. 

"You are late. What's going on?"

He sighed and looked around the festively decorated room once more.  "The trouble in Colorado."

"Do you have to . . . "

"Yeah, I leave first thing in the morning."

"Oh," she didn't know what to say.  It was their first Christmas together.  He had planned to take three or four days off, spending time with them and her family, watching Emily enjoy the family, Santa's visit.  "How long do you think - "

"I don't know.  I tried to get out of it - "

"They need you.  I've seen the news, everyone has."

"I'm not the boy wonder anymore, Scully."

"Not a boy, a man."

He grinned at that and pulled her against him again.  "Man, huh?"

She pushed against his chest, stepping back.  "And you damn well know it, stud.  With you out there, they can catch this guy and you'll be back in time for midnight Mass."  He winced at that.  "So that's not a good enough incentive."

"I was more looking at what you and I might do under the tree after the midnight mass, when Emily's asleep."

"You want to unwrap your presents early, don't you?"

He nodded eagerly and she chuckled.  "Don't worry about it, Mulder.  We'll have our Christmas when you're here."

"I wanted this to be special for Emily."

"It will be, whenever we can celebrate together, it will be."

He sighed.  She was right, she would make it special, but he'd really wanted to be here Christmas morning, see Emily's delight at seeing what Santa had left under the tree.  Yeah, it could happen, but it was doubtful.  They hadn't made that much progress.

Scully looked up into his eyes.  "Because you're not there yet," she whispered.

Had he said that out loud?  No, she was reading him again.  It happened more and more now that they were really together.  "Go kiss your daughter and I'll take up some dinner for you."

"You didn't wait - "

"No, I ate with Emily, but I kept yours warm."

"I need to pack and - "

"Eat, we can do all that in a little while."

He nodded, not really less bummed, but she wasn't blaming him.  He let himself into Emily's bedroom.  With the small nightlight, he could see her sprawled across her pillow, one leg out from under the covers, an arm flung over her head.  He couldn't help but smile, she obviously felt secure.  He pulled the cover back over her leg and brought her arm down and covered it as well.  She mumbled something and turned on her side.  He kissed her forehead and she smiled slightly, but didn't wake.

He headed back out to the kitchen.  Scully was taking a plate from the microwave and he smelled the chicken pot pie he liked so much.  "I missed your pot pie!"

"You didn't miss it, it's right here.  Have a seat, talk to me."

This was what he needed, to go over what he did know about the case with her, talking it out.  He wanted her to go with him, but that was out of the question.  No way could both of them possibly be gone for Emily's first Christmas with them.  Selfish as he was, even he could see that, damnit.

He brought her up to date on the case as far as he knew.  It was a nasty one, the perp definitely escalating and as far as they knew the holidays was the stressor.  She asked the right questions, giving him more to think about but he put it aside when they finally lay in their bed together.

 

He reached for her to find her already moving toward him.  They might still be learning how to live together and be parents together, but here, they were damn compatible.  He had thought he knew her, before they were married, but he'd had no idea how wanton she could be, how much she enjoyed, not sex, but making love with him.  He hadn't known the little Scully noises she made that filled his heart as he filled her body.  Ice Queen my ass.

*****

His plan had been to slip out the next morning without waking her, but Scully had coffee waiting for him when he stepped out of the shower.  He saw her glance downward when her presence caused a reaction, and he watched her lips curve though she wouldn't meet his eyes.

"What are you doing up?"

"I was going to ask you that," she responded and gave him a full smile at that reaction.  "You have a plane to catch, so save it big guy."

"Don't remind me.  Save it?"

"Yes, if you can go seven years, you can go seven days."

"I refuse to be gone that long."

"Please don't worry about it, Mulder.  We'll celebrate when you get home, whenever that is."

He sighed but went to get dressed, sipping his coffee on the way.  It was too damn early to be up.

Once dressed he placed his suitcase by the door and headed for Emily's room.  She was still asleep of course, which meant she wouldn't know he'd even been home.  He hated that, spending time with her was one of the joys of his days now.  He kissed her forehead.  "Sorry I was late last night, but I'll call you tonight, Precious."

"Watch out for the elf."

"What?" He couldn't have heard her correctly.  She was talking in her sleep, but she was watching out for him anyway.  He grinned, pulled the covers back over her arms and headed out.

Scully was waiting at the front door.  "Be careful."

"I will be.  And I believe Emily is dreaming about Santa."  He grinned.  "She warned me away from elfs, so I'll be especially diligent.  I miss you already."

"I miss you too.  Call us, okay?"

"Promise."  He kissed her, then kissed her again and finally picked up his bag.

*****

His heart sank when he walked into the squad room and spotted Agent Samson.  The only good thing was that Samson looked just as upset.  "Spooky?  What the hell are you doing here?"

So it was going to be like that.  "Skinner sent me."

"He thinks these women are being killed by little green men?"

Mulder face went completely impassive, then he turned away toward the murder board.  The six women looked back at him.

"Tell me what you know," he said to Samson, though he didn't turn around.

"What don't you know?"

Mulder turned to looked at him, and it was Samson that looked away first.  "The women range in age from 24 to 47, some blonde, some brunette.  There was no connection between them, they lived in all parts of the city and they were found in all parts of the city."

"So what are the connections?"

Samson blinked.  "I just told you, there weren't any."

"They're all women,"

"Duh - "

"They were all Christmas shopping.  It started on Black Friday and it's been escalating."

"It's a couple of days before Christmas, Mulder."

Mulder had turned back to the board, looking for anything that stood out.  "They're all 5'8" or better."

This time Samson just stared at him.

"He likes them tall.  Have you seen the bodies?"

"I read the reports."

"Do you have suspects?"

"We were looking at the husband of the first vic, but we know he wasn't responsible for the second or third."

"Why not?"

"He was at the funeral home at the time of death of number two, with his in-laws for number three."

Mulder nodded.  With this many victims, a husband wasn't usually involved.  "I'm going to head over to the morgue."

"You want to see the bodies?"

"I need to see the bodies.  The story's there."  He said nothing more, just turned away and headed back to his car.  He wanted to wash his hands; Samson had earned his place out here in the boonies.

The coroner didn't keep him waiting but a minute or two.  "I didn't think anyone from the FBI was coming over."

"Sorry, just got here this morning.  Do you have any of the bodies still here?"

"Yes, the last three.  Come back here."  He led Mulder back to the storage room and pulled out a drawer.  He drew back the sheet and Mulder looked the woman over. Her throat had been slashed from left to right.  The perp had been standing above her, facing her.  Her hands had been tied behind her back with a small gauge rope.  On impulse, Mulder lifted the sheet from her feet up to her knees.  "They're abraided."

The doctor nodded.  "All of them were like that."

"They were kneeling in front of him when he slit their throats.  Begging for their lives?"

The doctor shrugged.

"He wanted to loom over them, but they had to be on their knees for that to happen.  Any sexual assault?"

"None."

"Can't get it up?" Mulder mused.

"Or he doesn't like girls."

"Really doesn't like them."  After viewing the other two victims, Mulder thanked the doctor and headed back to the station, ordering his thoughts.

When he arrived he located Samson.  "Have you tracked their credit cards?" 

Samson's scowl showed his feelings about Mulder virtually taking over the investigation, but the request was a legitimate one.  "Two of the women either were window shopping or used cash, no record of any purchases.  Of the remaining four, they were all over the city shopping.  They hit the malls and shopping centers."

"What's the last place they went?"

Samson looked basically confused for a moment.

"The times on the receipts, where's the last place they used their cards?"

Samson began digging through the papers on the table in front of the murder board.  "Okay, victim number one - "

"Ms. Banton," Mulder said quietly.

"Yeah, Ms. Banton, her last stop was Victoria's Secret at the Westminster Mall." 

Mulder wrote that on the board beside her picture and waited.  Champ's Sports, Children's Place and Dillard's were added.  Mulder stepped back and looked at it.

"Westminster Mall was the last place any of them used their credit cards.  Have you been out there?"

"We've been concentrating on the actual crime scenes, Sp-Mulder.  No one was killed at the mall; they were all killed where their bodies were found."

Mulder nodded, no longer listening to the man.  He wanted to head over to the mall and look around, but he should check out some of the murder sites as well and that needed to be done in daylight.  Since Samson had already visited the sites, Mulder commandeered him to drive him around.  It would save time, though it did mean Mulder had to put up with his incompetence and attitude longer.

The first two sites had been released, but the last four were still ringed with yellow tape.  The perp had made no attempt to hide the bodies or their cars.  The forensics from the cars had led nowhere; the weapon used was thought to be a small knife or scalpel.  There had been no fingerprints or fibers, but Mulder was going to check that again.

Mulder had had enough of Samson's company by dinner time, so he asked to be dropped off at the hotel.  He lost no time getting Scully on the phone.

"I miss you."

"Hello to you too, Mulder," she laughed.

"I need you out here."

"What have you found?"

"What, the case?  Not much, that's not why I need you out here." 

She chuckled then.  "I miss you too.  Say goodnight to Emily.  She's been waiting up for your call." 

He heard Emily come running and smiled as she took the phone.

"Daddy!  I miss you."

"I miss you too, Precious.  Are you being good for Scully?"

"Yes, we're going to make cookies tomorrow to take to Grandma's."

"Wish I could be there to help."

"Oh, don't be sad, Daddy.  We'll save you some.  We'll save our Christmas for you."

"T-thank you, Precious."

"Momma wants to talk to you.  I love you!"

"Love you too, sleep tight."

He heard Scully instruct Emily about brushing her teeth, then she was on the phone again.  "Mulder?"

"Yeah."

"You okay?"

"As much as possible, stuck out here now."

"How's the case?"

"I'm working with Agent Samson."

There was a short silence.  She knew what that meant.  He was one of the crew that Mulder had learned to avoid before they had even been partnered.  "Has he matured?"

"Nope."  There was no need to add any more.

"Then solve this thing and come home," she said matter of factly.

"Oh, okay.  I'll do that tomorrow."

"Good.  If Emily promised to save you cookies, you better hurry.  They're Charlie's favorite."

"Uh oh.  I'll get right on it, ma'am."  But he was smiling now.  "I'll be home as soon as possible."

"I, we know that, Mulder.  Whenever that is, we'll be here waiting for you."

"Nice to hear.  You better go check teeth and I'll go over my notes one more time.  Scully - "

"Yes?"

"I love you." 

He was gone before she could respond, but she smiled into the phone.  "I love you too, Mulder."

He settled down on the bed in the room and surrounded himself with the facts of the case.  Six women, various ages and backgrounds, murdered just before the holidays.  No personal motive found, women unknown to each other.  He looked again at the pictures; there was no physical resemblance.  What had been the trigger, why these women?  They had each been alone, not with friends or children, just Christmas shopping.  They could place four of them at Westminster Mall.  That's where he'd go in the morning.

The phone woke him at 5:15 a.m.  "Mulder."

"We've got another one," Samson's voice was loud in his ear.

"Shit!" Mulder sat up, wide awake now.  "Where are you?"

"On the way to pick you up.  They found her about fifteen minutes ago."

"I'll be ready."  He was already moving, dressing rapidly in more casual clothes.  If he was going to be working a site, the suit and tie would only hinder him.

The coroner beat them by less than five minutes.  Hopefully the TV crews would not be able to show anything to the breakfast watchers.  The victim's car was there, abandoned along with the body like the others.  The scene was too familiar from the other photographs.  Mulder watched as the coroner allowed her to be turned over.  Probably mid-30s, at least 5'10".

"Anything different you can spot?"  Mulder spoke to the doctor from the day before.

"Not that I can see easily.  She's top priority."

Mulder turned to Samson.  "Any ID?"

"Yeah, her purse was in the car.  This guy doesn't care about that part.  Her credit cards are still in the wallet.  No cash, but that's easier to walk away with."  He looked up at Mulder.  "Have you got anything?"  He didn't sound hostile now, more imploring.

Reluctantly Mulder shook his head.  "Let's find out if she was at Westminster yesterday."

Samson nodded and they returned to the car. 

A quick phone call confirmed that she had indeed been at the mall last evening and had been reported missing just before midnight by her boyfriend.  They'd taken the call only because of the current circumstances.

"We need to talk to the boyfriend," Samson said.

"Yeah." Damn, it was Christmas fucking Eve and he wanted to get home.  "Why don't you take that?"

"Alone?  You're supposed to be the lead agent, right?  Skinner assigned you specifically."

"You can handle this.  We know the boyfriend isn't involved, not this time."

"So, that's how you know I can handle it, right?"

"That's not what I said.  If the holidays are the reason this guy's gone off, we could still be looking at another one tonight, maybe more.  We need to check everything we can.  I can scout around the mall while you talk to the boyfriend."

Samson said nothing, taking orders from Spooky rubbed him raw.

*****

Mulder stepped out of the car and watched as Samson drove off without another word.  Screw him; this was where Mulder felt he needed to check.  The boyfriend might be a suspect, but it didn't feel that way.

The stores were opened early since it was Christmas Eve.  Crowds, though not as heavy as he'd expected wandered through the mall.  He walked through all of the stores that were the last known stop of the victims.  They were all in close proximity to the center of the mall, which was completely decorated for the season.

He paused to look at the decorations.  They had taken Emily to see Santa in a mall near them in DC, and it had been decorated to within an inch of its life as well.  This one had a white castle, covered in shimmering jewels and sequins.  Beside it was a tree that was at least two stories tall with large round balls near the bottom, growing smaller as they went up the tree, which added to the illusion of height.  In front of them was a gilded throne with red velvet cushions, which held the jolly old elf himself.  This guy looked great, that was his real beard and girth, and instead of wearing the traditional red suit with white fur, he was attired in casual Santa wear, red pants with suspenders over a plaid shirt.

Mulder's eyes were drawn to a woman in line with a very excited little boy, who was so relieved they had arrived before Santa had had to leave for his travels that evening.  Mulder looked the woman over.  She was nearly his height, the heels of her boots helped there.  She was wearing camel slacks and a short fur lined jacket.  The fur on the collar was a couple of shades lighter than her hair.  She was striking and obviously as happy to be there as the boy.

Mulder looked down as a young woman in an elf costume touched his arm.  "Are you waiting for pictures?"  She smiled up at him.

"Oh, no, we've already done that."

She nodded and moved on to the next person. 

Something made him look over at the camera.  Another elf, this one a boy, was lining it up for the next shot.  As Mulder watched, the picture was taken and the elf turned to look down the line.  His gaze went to the woman Mulder had been observing and stuck there.  With a jolt Mulder realized that this was no boy, he was a man, not small enough to be a little person, but definitely a very small man, probably 5' 2".  

Thinking he was unobserved, his expression as he watched the woman turned to one of pure, unadulterated hatred for an instance before he brought it under control.   He turned to make sure no one had noticed and locked eyes with Mulder.  'Watch out for the elf.'  The little man's eyes widened, as though reading Mulder's thoughts and without warning he took off running, knocking the camera to the floor.

Mulder was after him immediately.  "Call 911!" he yelled as he jumped the line of poinsettias that encircled the area.  With his much longer legs, Mulder had no trouble gaining on the man and slid to a stop when the short man, dressed as an elf turned, cornered in the food court which was sparsely populated at this time.  The elf had a surgical scalpel in his hand.

Mulder backed up a step, his hand out.  "Calm down.  I just wanted to talk to you."

"Fuck off!"

"Why'd you do it?" Mulder said conversationally and the man's eyes narrowed.  The sound of running caused Mulder to glance over for an instant.  He spotted the security officers racing toward them.  The small man in front of him froze, knowing now that the scalpel he held would not be enough.

With guns drawn, they surrounded both men.  Mulder had his shield in his hand then, showing it to the guards, but not taking his eyes off the man.

"I just want to talk to you.  What's your name?"

"I said fuck off!"

"You're not going anywhere.  Give me something to call you."

The little man looked Mulder over from head to toe and back up.  "You don't want to talk to me."

"Sure I do.  I bet you can tell me what's been going on with all - "

"Go to hell!"

"I just - "

"Quiet!"

Mulder glanced over at the security officers.  One of them looked like a retired cop.  He looked back at Mulder and nodded.

"We're going to take you downtown and have a conversation.  If you tell me your name - "

"I said fuck off!"  Without hesitation, he brought the scalpel to his own throat and slashed it.  Mulder raced the few steps toward him, but the blood was gysering from his wound.

"Get an ambulance!"  Mulder said the words automatically, no way could anyone save this guy.  Blood was already pooling around his head.

*****

"What about the press conference?"

"I don't care about the press conference.  You handle it.  I want to see if I can get home before Christmas morning."

Samson just stared at him for a long moment.  He was serious.  The man didn't want the credit even though he was the only one involved in the take down.  No one else had even been close.

"Look, I'll come back in a few days.  I'll have a written report for everyone day after tomorrow.  I'll clear it with Skinner when I get home."  He was already moving toward the door.

*****

She startled when the door opened before she could get the key in the lock.  Scully looked up to see Mulder smiling down at her.  "Let me take her," he whispered.  He took the sleeping child from her arms and headed for the bedroom.  He lay Emily on the bed and unzipped her coat.  He looked up smiling to see the special new pajamas Scully had bought her for tomorrow morning.  "Smart," he said softly.

"There're some wise women that go to my church," she responded, still gazing at him.

He lifted their daughter and put her on the pillow.  Emily rolled to her side and he kissed her brow.  "You got the elf."

"Sure did, Baby, thanks to you."  She was still asleep, smiling slightly.

Scully was watching him, puzzled, but followed him out.  "What are you talking about?"

"Later," he smiled.  "I made it home for Christmas and I want to open my Christmas present."

"Under the tree?" she asked with a smile.

He nodded.