Veiled Vesta

Why am I up so early? To post my last recap and get some rest before the next viewing party... it's on Saturday right? I'm gonna have some Christmasy Mulder/Scully dreams when I get back to bed...

How the Ghost Stole Christmas

**(Special Note: 'Twas the night before Christmas, in haunted house that rocks. Not a creature was stirring, except for a "Fox"... I love this episode! Much lighter than last season's 2-part downer Christmas Carol and Emily. Plus now I can bust out a few of my holiday smilies and giggle like a maniac as we get some crazy adorable ghosts and a possible lovers pact between our favorite duo. It's a regular Christmas in July!)**

We're gonna get nothing but Mulder and Scully this episode, including in the pre-credits opening scene. It's Christmas Eve "somewhere in Maryland", at night and we're looking at a huge, truly spooky, old mansion. Heh. Spooky. Inside a car, the ominous organ that was setting the creepy mood has now turned into the soft crooning song, 'Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas'. The only car that would be parked outside some old mansion in the dead of night playing Christmas songs is the one that belongs to Mulder, of course. He's eating sunflower seeds when he spots some headlights and another car pulls up beside his. His present has arrived! I would've suggested she jump out of a cake but maybe she's saving that for New Years. She complains about how hectic Christmas shopping and traffic is on Christmas Eve. Talk about procrastinating. Then, she asks him why she was summoned out there and he tells her it's a stake-out, ready to fill her in on the details. But first she has to get out of her car and get into his. Got the mistletoe ready on the dashboard, Mulder? Scully complains but we all know she's going to get in that car. When she does, Mulder tries to let her off the hook but she refuses so he tells her that the house is abandoned and there's a story behind the former occupants of the house. Scully knows that tone of voice and paints a classing Scooby Doo mystery complete with creepy gothic house, fog all around, and a far away howling that could be interchanged with low rumbles of thunder. Mulder chooses that moment to make a fart joke but I still love him and so does Scully. Not enough to give him all night and join him in ghost busting but enough to hear him out. Mulder makes sure to lock the car doors before spinning a tale of a dark time in the early 1900s where war and sickness plagued the country and two a pair of star-crossed lovers decided to forge a lovers pact and die in the huge mansion before them so they'll be together for all eternity. Their ghosts still haunt the mansion and Scully laughs, not believing the story but congratulating Mulder on the narration. His monotone lends itself well to creepy mysterious campfire tales. Scully tells him that on any other day, she'd gladly help him do whatever crazy thing he wants to do - whatever crazy thing, Mulder, if you catch my drift. Scully starts to leave but Mulder has his sights set on the mansion. Scully is surprised, wondering if he doesn't have anything better to do on the night before Christmas. He leaves her to silently chant her Scully chant: "I'm not going to do it." New Years resolution or not, we all know Scully *has* to follow Mulder. It's ingrained in her. Just like he *has* to get into her personal space and alternate between silly sarcastic and flirty fox. She starts to look in her pocket for something, then she checks both cars before going after Mulder. He's inside the house with his handy dandy flashlight when a loud thunder and lightning combo illuminates Scully's presence as she enters the house. Last thing to mark off the spooky mansion visual/audio effects checklist. She asks him if he took her keys and he says he did not, suggesting maybe it was a ghost. They hear some thumping or knocking sounds upstairs, followed by a chiming clock and a wooshing wind. Scully thinks maybe a window is open upstairs. Cue the lightning and the doors closing by themselves! Our heroes are stuck inside a haunted house! Muahahahaha!

Opening Credits! I'm dreaming of a Mulder & Scully Christmas. This is primo fan fiction scenario here: our two agents are alone together in a huge mansion where two ghosts dwell; plus, the ghosts were lovers who killed themselves and seem to share a few similarities if we were to listen to Mulder's flowery description of them. (a brooding but heroic young man and a sublime beauty with a light that seemed to follow her wherever she went? Tell me that doesn't remind you of our favorite agents?)

Even after the credits, Scully is still no closer to getting the doors open. Mulder is amused and we hear faint chains rattling upstairs which Mulder assumes is the work of the ghosts. Scully says she has to go and Mulder tells her not to be afraid which she quickly says isn't the case. Riiight. Mulder says that ghosts are benevolent entities... like Casper! Then he adds, you know, mostly they are. Scully repeats that she won't be scared but she really has to go and Mulder pretty much ignores her as he heads upstairs to do some investigating. Well gang, looks like we got ourselves another mystery to solve. I like to think Mulder got Fred's looks (maybe his sense of style) and Shaggy's luck with monsters (and appetite), while Scully got Daphne's figure (and hair color) and Velma's smarts (and hair cut). If only Queequeg were alive... and could talk. That would be quite an X-File, though. Anyway, I digress. Scully follows Mulder upstairs and tries to explain through skeptic rationalism that everything they're hearing is all in their heads thanks to thousands of horror movie clichés and people's own beliefs in spirituality. Why bother with the long speech when it goes in one ear and out the other? Mulder has been trying to open different doors on that floor but with no luck until she finishes her long speech. That's when a door does creak open. By itself. He asks her once again if she's afraid and she finally admits she is but makes sure he knows it's an irrational fear. Like my fear of seeing Ratboy naked. Scully heads to the open door and Mulder is a big ole' chicken as he stands a few feet behind, claiming he's got Scully's back. Channeling Shaggy right there. Don't worry, Scully is awesome and kick-ass. She can take on the ghosts. I hope. Scully thinks that maybe there aren't ghosts in there, but actual people still living in the house. Mulder doesn't accept that explanation because it's mundane and no fun. Scully says that there's a light in the room but when they were outside in the car, they didn't see any lights in the windows. What's more, the clock downstairs was still working and as the two agents walk inside they see a recently lit fireplace.

I must say that the room Mulder and Scully enter is large and beautiful. It looks like a Victorian Era library and sitting room divided into two levels, with all the furniture covered and dust here and there. They entered through the upper level and climb down a ladder/staircase while Mulder tries to refute Scully's arguments but you can't argue with Skeptical Scully. Mulder sulks a bit and wonders who would want to live in a cursed house. Maybe another couple got trapped in there earlier like you two did. Scully thought the house was haunted, not cursed. Mulder explains that every couple who has ever lived in that house have died, all on Christmas Eve. Very interesting. Particularly when he leans extra close to her to emphasize... something. He probably just wants to get cozy. No such luck because they're interrupted by lights flickering and a loud slam. They hear the thumping/knocking sound again and look down to see the floor boards thumping themselves! I think. There's definitely something under there and Mulder puts his ear to the floor try and hear it better. Scully walks around to try and open the bottom level door, then she notices the ladder/stairs are gone. What she doesn't notice is Mulder nonchalantly walking behind her, flashlight in optimum position. Oh this is gonna be good. She turns and gets a face full of Really Spooky Mulder; he's got the flashlight under his face and he's making the craziest expression! Scully screams and he does too, then he laughs at her while she says in exasperation that it's not funny. Mulder is so lucky that Christmas is a time for peace on earth or Scully would kick his silly but oh so fine butt. Mulder decides that it's time to get heroic as he grabs a fire poker and tells Scully he thinks someone is trapped under the floorboards, which is why they were hearing all that thumping. Scully is not so sure. Mulder reminds her she's armed and even uses the 'R' word (rational). Scully can't argue with that and lets him pry off a board which exposes a decayed skeleton with a full head of dark hair. He continues to pry off more boards and we see another skeleton next to the first one. It has very familiar red hair. Scully identifies the second skeleton body as a woman and says the two have been shot to death. She realizes that the female skeleton is wearing the exact same clothes as she is and when Mulder makes a crack about that, she points out that the male skeleton is wearing the exact same clothes as Mulder. And it's true. BTW, I officially ship those two skeletons. Mulder and Scully realize that those two skeletons are them! They run the hell out of that fancy library room and enter... the same fancy library room. Suffice to say they are confused. They walk back through the same door and are still in the library. They walk over to the opposite side of the library and open the door to find themselves once again in the same room. The skeletal corpses there and everything. It's like a fun house. I know I'm having fun. Mulder and Scully realize that something is going on so they devise for Mulder to exit through one door of the library while Scully waits by the opposite door. Okay, first rule of being in a haunted house; (say it with me readers) *Don't Split Up*! Seriously, I cannot stress this enough and what's more, this rule should apply double for Mulder and Scully who attract more trouble than the cartoon mystery solving gang attracts pot-smoking rumors! Mulder goes through the door and Scully waits across the room for him to reemerge but he does not. She walks through her door to look for him in the library there but doesn't find him so she walks back through the door and walks across the library to try the door Mulder went through. She calls his name and we hear him calling hers. The door behind her slams shut, followed by the door ahead of her. Right on cue, we see Mulder in the library and his door slammed shut. He walks across the library to try the other door but Scully isn't there either, and he's still in the library. He calls her name once again as I re-read what I just wrote and hope I haven't confused to many people. I'm a bit confused myself! It's like an alternate parallel reality something or other. Or a mind maze. These ghosts would make amazing carnival fun houses.

Mulder is trying to open a door in the library but it seems to be locked. He bangs on it for a while and yells if Scully can hear him. Why doesn't he use his door kicking abilities to bust this door down? He decides to shoot the lock instead, and when he opens the door he finds... a brick wall. Nice. Mulder hears a gruff "Hey" and turns around, gun in hand, to see an older, round-bellied man wearing a hat and jacket over his shirt and pants. Finally, we get to see our first ghost! Ed Asner, how I heart him and his voice work! I know him from the 90s cartoon 'Freakazoid'. Such an underrated show, like 'Animaniacs' or 'Pinky and the Brain' (all created by Steven Spielberg). Mulder asks who the man is and the man replies he should be asking the same question. He tells Mulder that he lives in the house, then asks if he's in the middle of a home invasion. Heh. I bet none of you girls would mind if someone like Mulder was invading their house. The older man is happy to show Mulder the door but he tells him to take another look at the door. He does, noting that the lock has been shot off and tells Mulder he better pay for that. Mulder says that there's a brick wall behind the door then realizes the older man has been playing tricks on them, and identifies the man as a ghost. The older man laughs and wonders if Mulder is a ghost hunter. Mulder wants to prove he's no kook, so he shows the older man the skeletons he found under the floor. Except they're not there anymore. The floor isn't even ripped up. Mulder is amazed. He wonders how the older man pulled off that mind trick but he won't get answers, instead he'll get questions from our nice old ghostly psychologist. He asks if Mulder is boozer. Nope. What about a drug user? Negatory. What about a believer who wants to make others believe as well? Wait a sec... The older man says he specializes in mental health with a focus on paranormal, and Mulder fits a special category he studies: the narcissistic, overzealous, self-righteous egomaniac. It's like he's reading the story of Mulder's past five years. Amazing. The older man thinks Mulder is destined for "total whacko breakdown" (his words) and says the brick wall he's seeing behind the door is only in his head. Same as the aliens Mulder claims to see. He realizes that Mulder deludes himself thusly because he's "a lonely man chasing para-masturbatory illusions" and is pretty much a loser who no one would spend time with unless they were paid to, including phone sex operators and employees of the Federal government. Mulder is still stuck on the "para-masturbatory". Should've mentioned he's got the mind of a ten year old with ADD. The older man wonders if Mulder always spends his Christmases alone but Mulder is quick to point out that he's not alone. He's got himself a partner caught somewhere in the house and the older man thinks Mulder got her to follow him inside the house by stealing her car keys. My suspicions exactly! He does one last but of psychoanalyzing as he tells Mulder the reason he puts up with his complete opposite (both mentally and physically) is because he's afraid of being alone. That's mildly romantic. Mildly. I think Mulder may have had a real breakthrough. That'll be five hundred bucks. He'd actually rather get out of there and find his partner before he starts to give the ghost's sage words some serious thought. Chicken. Buck buck buckaw! The older man walks through the door that previously had the brick wall. There is no brick wall now and he implies Mulder really did imagine it. Mulder starts to walk through the door but he bumps into the brick wall. Mulder's imagination is very powerful. The lightning crashes and we're off to see how Mulder's better half is doing.

Scully is in her own version of the fancy library with no one else in there. Well, no one yet. She's backing away from the door in front of her and looking around when an older woman in a white dress walks into the library through the opposite door. When Scully sees the gray haired women she screams like a little girl and tries to pull out her gun. The older woman also screams and it's pretty funny seeing Scully freak out like that. Usually Scully is such a professional. The older woman tries to tell Scully she won't hurt her but Scully babbles that she's a federal agent and she's armed. That won't save you from a ghost lady. Scully's hand actually shakes as she points her gun and she soon identifies herself and offers to show her badge but not before admitting she's a little bit on edge. A little bit? Oh God, Scully wasn't this jumpy since the Pilot, and even then she didn't scream nearly as loud. The older woman says that she thought Scully was a ghost and Scully assures her she's not, and tells the woman that she's looking for her partner. The older woman asks if it's the "gangly fellow with the distinguished profile", gesturing at her nose when she says the "distinguished profile" part. I love this ghost woman! She says she thought Mulder and Scully were ghosts, and the sounds they were hearing were likely her sleepwalking. Scully readily explains that perfectly rational explanation and finally puts her gun away, apologizing for scaring the older woman. She tells her that they found bodies under the floor but just like before when she turns to show it, the bodies are gone and the floor is untouched. The older woman seems sympathetic, asking if maybe Scully did see a ghost. Scully gets suspicious and points her gun at the woman once more, asking who she is. The woman says she lives there asks why she's getting a gun pointed at her before laughing lightly and claiming the ghosts of the house have been playing tricks on Scully. Yeah well, jokes on you because Scully doesn't believe in ghosts. She opens the door and sees a brick wall. Hah! She believes in those things. The reason she's in the house is because of her stupid, sexy partner. The older woman immediately gets sympathetic again as she reads Scully like a book, walking toward her and guessing that she's scared and has conflicting yearnings about her partner. She pegs Scully as co-dependent woman whose only joy in life is to prove her partner wrong. Scully looks a bit flustered as she says the woman doesn't know her, and thinks the woman doesn't even live there. Scully demands to know why there's sheets over the furniture. Because they're painting the house of course. She asks why they don't have a Christmas tree up. Because they're Jewish, Little Miss Insensitivity. The older woman then shouts boo and freaks Scully out enough for her to turn around and catch our favorite ghostly psychologist entering the room. She demands he stay where he is, and threatens to shoot him, then asks where Mulder is. The older man says he'll be coming soon and Scully commands the ghostly pair to move to a corner and put their hands up. They do so, witch a bit of griping from the man, and that's when we see the hole in the woman's stomach and the hole near the top of the man's head which was hidden under the hat. Scully promptly faints. Wow. Even when she faints she's adorable! The ghostly couple lament that they had to resort to cheap tricks and pop psychology to try and get them to crack. They wonder how long it's been since they've really haunted someone or gotten a couple to commit double murder. If they can't get their act together, all the other ghosts will laugh at them and they'll forever be known as the pair who couldn't drive a paranoid believer and a nervous scientist insane. They decide to show our favorite agents the true meaning of Christmas: bitter loneliness and fruitcake. Dear God, their insight is frightening. I ship these two as well!

We're back with Mulder in his version of the library where he's improvised himself a ladder using an arm chair and keeping his flashlight in his mouth to provide light while he hoists himself up onto the upper floor using his upper arm strength. The older woman sees him from the bottom and gets ready to do some more messing with his head. She walks into the room via the upper floor and asks what he's doing. Mulder says he's trying to get out of the room and she says he can't get out that way. He reaches out and gives her a good poke which proves she's solid. Ghosts today are very tricky and this particular one doesn't like being poked. She also doesn't like when he slowly pushes her away from the door and up against a wall, so he is awarded with another brick wall behind the upper level door. Sooo much fun messing with Mulder! The ladder/stairs appear when he turns around and he watches her climb down, calling her a ghost. Once down in the lower library floor, Mulder asks about the star-crossed lovers before realizing that she and the older man are the lovers he's been searching for. She's Lyda and the older man is Maurice. The ghosts now have names. He wonders why they've aged. Lyda is not pleased and hopes he's more charming around Scully. He is, just barely. She walks over to a bookshelf where many different books pop out of the bookshelf while she looks for one title in particular. She definitely did that to amaze Mulder. She finally finds the book she's been looking for, titled 'The ghosts Who Stole Christmas' and shows him the photo of her and Maurice when they were young and beautiful. She then warns Mulder that a lovers suicide pact ain't all it's cracked up to be. Mulder is confused for a moment then sets the story straight that they're only there to find the ghosts and they're not lonely and bitter about Christmas. They talk a bit about the murder-suicide, aka lovers pact (such a romantic, that Mulder), then she shows him her large bullet hole. He is hilariously disgusted. Mulder realizes that she's been trying to tell him that Scully will shoot him. He doesn't believe that even though she shot him once before and she's probably been on the verge of doing so again, at least half a dozen times. Mulder also says he wouldn't shoot her and when Lyda proposes Scully commits suicide, Mulder sweetly says he wouldn't let her. It's all about trust, baby. Lyda brings up the skeletons under the floors, saying maybe it was a sign and Mulder dashes our hearts when he says he and Scully are not lovers. Do I detect a hint of regret in his voice? Maybe the ghosts are playing tricks on my mind too. I love that Lyda points out how our favorite agents are hot and if they make that lovers' pact, they'd have all of eternity to work out any differences and have steamy spectral sex. Or argue about whose fault it is with Mulder wanting to haunt CSM and Scully not believing they're ghosts, even then. It's a toss up really. She gives him his gun which she stole out of his holster somehow, then says it's his ticket to spending his last Christmas alone, before she disappears.

Now we're checking up on Scully who's finally regaining consciousness and questioning where everything in her life took such a bizarre turn. She's wishing it was only a result of too much eggnog. Scully picks up her gun and flashlight, running over to try and open either door in her version of the library but both are locked. Maurice is sitting on the arm chair and tells the nervous Scully that he locked it to protect her from her crazy partner. She's just worried about what Maurice might have done to Mulder and Maurice wants to explain why Mulder brought her to the haunted house in the first place. Oh this will be good. She is still under the impression that maybe it is all a dream. Or some really elaborate hallucination brought on by holiday stress. She hears Mulder pounding on the door and Maurice tells her that Mulder is dark and lonely and disturbed. That's supposed to be news to her because...? Scully doesn't listen and calls Mulder's name, then Maurice holds out her car keys and offers them to Scully. So he snaked her keys? Scully wants to know where he got the keys and Maurice says that her partner may have fabricated the lovers' pact story to spend time with her. Aww, that's disturbingly sweet. He mentions Mulder's "unconscious yearning", his "deep-seated terror of being alone", and how he's seen it happen many times at that house. Sir, you had me at "unconscious yearning". Mulder is still pounding away at the door and yelling her name while Scully wonders if it's possible to be scared and aroused at the same time. She'll take her chances with crazy Mulder - it won't be the first time and probably not the last time. She demands Maurice open the door and after some hesitation on his part, Maurice does so. Mulder walks inside, asks where Scully is and when he sees her, he shoots at her!

Okay, we all know Scully is the better shot of the two, which would explain why he shot the chair and a vase behind her as he walks toward her. She is shocked and asks what he's doing. Mulder says there's no way out and shoots again, nearly blasting the mirror. Scully is really freaked out as she keeps stepping back and she demands he put the gun down. Mulder sounds kind of paranoid as he asks if she's going to shoot him. She says she doesn't want to and then he channels his inner Jack Torrance as he says that it's either him or her; one of them has to shoot the other. Scully pleads that they can get out but he doesn't see the point since all that's waiting for them is loneliness and I cannot overstate how extremely CRAZY Mulder sounds when he's saying all this. Seriously, he's working the crazy eyes and everything... and he makes it look so hot! Scully refuses to believe, as usual but she gets quite a surprise when he finally pulls the trigger and doesn't miss his target. He gets her right in the stomach and she collapses, mouth agape and watching as Mulder walks over to her and darkly wishes her a Merry Christmas. He draws the gun on himself but that's when we see that it's not Mulder but actually Lyda using her awesome ghost powers to make Scully think it was Mulder who shot her. Lyda's addition of "and a happy new year" is a bit of overkill but I'll let it slide. Maurice walks over to restrain "Mulder" and sort of laughs as he drags the Mulder vision away. Scully just watches with confusion and betrayal. Still better than last Christmas, huh Scully?

The real Mulder has finally made his way into the library where Scully is laid down, bleeding from her stomach wound. Perfect Mulder timing as usual. He is shocked and rushes over to her, asking what she did. Scully makes sure it's Mulder before whispering that she didn't think Mulder could do it and that she would... would what? Mulder is confused and Scully aims her gun at his chest, wishing him a Merry Christmas with the distinct undertone of "See you in hell, Mulder. You ain't getting spectral nookie from me." Mulder doesn't back away at all as she shoots him, probably because he didn't think she'd shoot him. Again. We're learning alot in this haunted house, aren't we? Mulder lies back beside Scully, gasping and looking thoroughly confused with a hint of dying. We see the Scully beside him is yet another trick of Lyda's and she giggles like a little mad woman at the damage she's caused. Nice. We see an old fashioned record player magically start up and play 'Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas'. What a sweet song for such a dark a bizarrely romantic and dark scene.

Scully, amazingly not passed out from the stomach wound, manages to slowly pull herself out of the library room. Mulder, clutching his bleeding chest, less than gracefully drags himself down the stairs on the main house, since he somehow managed to get out the library. Hey, look who he spots a few feet away from the main house door! So the two finally got out of the library and are so close to the exit that they can see it. Too bad they're bleeding all over the floor and in pain and whatnot. It's going to be an awkward first few decades when they're spending eternity in that house, that's for sure. Mulder gasps out Scully's name and she slowly turns over, wincing alot, before pulling out her gun and aiming at at who she assumes is a still crazy Mulder. Not wanting to feel another well-aimed shot, Mulder draws his gun and weakly points it at her. Scully mutters that she's not going to make it, and Mulder responds that she's right, she won't be going off into the next life without him. Awwww! The X-Files has a way of making something adorable out of morbid weirdness. What can I say? Carter's got the gift. The two admit that they're afraid and they finally drop their guns and get ready to face sweet death. Well, not before having one last argument over who shot who first. Mulder finally realizes the trick and slowly stands up, looking surprised and happy for a moment before walking over to Scully and telling her to get up because they aren't really shot. Scully doesn't believe him for a second but when he shows her his shirt and grabs her hand she follows suit and stands up, no pain at all. Mulder reaches over and either strokes her stomach or pulls her shirt to prove it. I like to think he did both. It's a Christmas miracle! Umm, sort of. The two run out of the house, the doors now easily opening and they see that they look fine and all the blood is gone once they're outside. Mulder drags Scully towards their cars and they drive away while the sweet Christmas song continues playing. The clock chimes midnight like some twisted Cinderella story and our star-crossed lovers laugh about the two that got away. They identify that our agents are lonely souls and wonder what they were really looking for since they don't believe it was ghosts. The two smile and say they haven't forgotten the meaning of Christmas. Lyda/Maurice. Lyrice? Mauda? I need a good shipper name for this wonderful and funny couple because I'm feeling the Christmasy lovey spirit.

The last scene, to really make the shippers thankful for the holiday shippiness: we're at Mulder's apartment where a lonely looking Mulder is dully watching the end of 'A Christmas Carol' (not the X-Files episode but the movie with Scrooge.) Awww, is he finally thinking about what Maurice said to him about his crazy loneliness? Hark the herald angel knocks! He is confused for a second as he hears a knock. It's not ghosts, you loony, go get the door! He turns off his TV before going to answer it and he sees Scully! She tells him she couldn't sleep and he puts his hand around her shoulder to guide her inside his place. Once inside she asks him what's on her mind: did their little mystery at the haunted mansion really happen? She's hoping it was just in their heads and in the spirit of the season, Mulder agrees with her. Scully says her only joy in life is not actually to prove him wrong and Mulder is all "when have you proven me wrong?" She asks why he wanted her to be there with him and he assumes she wanted to be there but quickly catches his mistake and says that it was self-righteous and narcissistic of him to assume that. So which descriptions fit them better? A brooding but heroic young man and a sublime beauty with a light that seemed to follow her wherever she went, *or* a narcissistic, overzealous, self-righteous egomaniac and a conflicted, co-dependent woman whose only joy in life is to prove her partner wrong? I personally like both. Scully quietly tells him that maybe she did want to be at the mansion with him. Okay, now *that's* a Christmas miracle! Having Scully admit that is a HUGE step for her and the look on Mulder's face shows that he knows it too. He walks past her and says that even though they promised not to exchange gifts, he got her something. He holds a nicely wrapped up cylinder tube thing which I have no idea what it could be. A new flashlight? A sausage? A dirty sex toy? (Lemme guess which one you girls hope it is... ) Mulder is grinning and laughing as he hands her the gift. He wishes her a true blue Merry Christmas and Scully smiles as she takes out a small, flat, rectangular case for Mulder. Yeah, looks like she got him a gift too. A book or a video tape, perhaps. Something alien related or pornographic is my best bet. Mulder is thrilled to be getting a gift from Scully and the two share a look of childishness and delight as they plop down on his sofa, Mulder giving his present a good shake, then follows Scully's lead and they proceed to open them up. See, this is why they "put up with each other" and this is why I love these two. We pan out and watch them from his window while it snows outside.
Have yourself a very little Christmas now...