Title: "Her Heart Is Smiling" 
Author: Dana Doggett 
Feedback: danakdoggett@gmail.com 
Date: December 19, 2006 
Rating: PG-13 
Category: Scully/Other, DS/UST, Christmasy fic

Timeline Note: This story goes on as if something different happened in the episode "The 
Truth", I can't say it here since it is mentioned in the story. This story takes place a few 
years after the events of "The Truth".

Disclaimer: In my hands these characters really aren't the characters that surfer created, 
they're better than that, they like to explore more extreme possibilities.

Beta: Kristi

Summary: Scully is in an abusive relationship and Doggett finds out.

Dedication: This story is for jamma, as a Christmas gift for the SoX Secret Santa. Merry 
Christmas jamma! I hope you like this.

----------

Her hand is cold against his as she assures him she's all right and that everything between 
she and Jason is fine. John Doggett knows better than to believe her, he can see in her 
eyes that she's afraid to speak the truth. The truth he's seen turn deadly more often than 
he would like to admit when he worked up in New York City as a police detective.

Dana Scully runs her hand through her delicate red hair and sighs, she hasn't been able to 
look John in the eyes since he stopped by when he saw the police were at her apartment, 
responding to a disturbance call. She hates lying to him, she hates not looking into his 
eyes so he can see her fear. She hates that he must feel she doesn't trust him again. Early 
on in their partnership she continually didn't trust him, pushed him away and did her best 
not to befriend him. She's doing it now, but only because she's afraid Jason will hurt her 
again if she leads on that she is in trouble.

"Dana…" John gently touches her chin, she snaps away from him.

"I told you, John, I'm fine. Jason and I were just arguing loudly and my neighbor 
overreacted, that's all."

Dana stands up defensively and crosses her arms across her chest. Her eyes meet John's 
for the first time, now even they betray her true feelings.

John stands as well, his eyes match hers. She can see the worry he has for her, the care, 
why does he care so much for her when she's done nothing but let him down?

"If you need me for anything, you know you can call me, day or night."

It's natural for him. He's caring by nature. He's always had her best interest at heart. In 
this moment as Dana watches John head toward her apartment door, her heart feels like it 
wants to leap out of her chest, her gut twists and turns. She wants him to save her, but 
now she's too afraid to ask for it.

Jason enters her peripheral vision, he's as tall as John and carries more muscle in his 
build, he's by her side in seconds just as John opens the door to leave. John turns to face 
her, but not without first directing a harsh glare at Jason.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Agent Scully."

He walks out of her apartment, shutting the door behind him.

"That partner of yours really has a knack for showing up here a lot. Aren't you not really 
supposed to converse outside of work?" Jason places a controlling hand on her shoulder.

"Actually, the Bureau likes it when partners do things together outside of work, it helps 
improve the partnership."

"Maybe you ought to request a new partner."

Dana gives Jason a look.

"That won't happen unless the Bureau needs to split us up and reassign us. Very few 
agents are willing and are qualified to work the X-Files Division."

"Quit."

The tone in Jason's voice tells Dana that he's serious, he would like for her to quit her 
job. She's quiet, unsure what to say, not wanting to anger him again.

"What about paying bills? I need a job in order to do that." She's hesitant.

"I moved in here a month ago, I've got a job… marry me and I'll take all your worries 
away." His voice is calm, very unlike the verbal abuse he shot her way not even an hour 
ago.

Dana is a smart woman, she sees right through this façade. Violence, kindness, violence, 
kindness, violence, kindness. She knows he's being kind now to show her that he's not as 
bad as she knows him to be. She doesn't buy this flip personality, but she's too afraid 
now to confront him on it.

"Jason, I… I don't know what to say, we've only been together for five months… don't 
you think marriage is a bit pre-"

His hand smacks her hard across the face. Dana immediately lifts her hand to her cheek. 
Though he's struck her before, she wasn't expecting it at this moment. His 
unpredictability is getting worse. She looks at him, shocked. He angrily grabs onto her 
wrist, pulling her toward him.

"Listen here, you and me will always be together, I knew it from the moment I first saw 
you. Now you know I don't want to hurt you again so listen carefully…"

Dana is quiet and nods her head. His grip on her wrist is bound to bruise her.

"I bought you a ring and I'm gonna put it on your finger, and nobody, I repeat, nobody is 
going to come between us. You'll quit your job, stop talking to John, the guy's no good, 
and in a couple months we'll be married, got it?"

Dana nods her head.

"I love you, Dana, and with our love comes some sacrifices. Now I know you like your 
job, but it'll be easier on our married life if that John were out of your life. I see the way 
he eyes you, and I don't like it, I can't imagine you like it either."

Dana nods her head, it's best to just agree with him.

"Now, Dana, honey, go slip into that sexy lingerie I bought you and we'll celebrate our 
engagement the right way."

Jason kisses Dana on the cheek, again showing her he can be a "nice" guy.

He lets go of her wrist and she walks toward her bedroom.

"Dana…"

She turns to face him.

"… I'm sorry I yelled at you earlier, and I'm sorry I slapped you, forgive me."

Dana smiles. "Of course I do…" and underneath her breath, as she turns away from him 
she says, "… not like I have a choice…"

She disappears into her bedroom, wishing she were anywhere but here.

-----

The next day, John Doggett goes to work like any other day: coffee in the car on the drive 
into D.C., listening to his favorite talk show on the radio, passing through security at the 
J. Edgar Hoover Building, and taking the elevator down to he basement where the X-
Files Division office is located.

He easily could have transferred out of this division five years ago after Agent Mulder 
was found and brought back from the grave, but he denied transfer. He denied transfer for 
her, Dana Scully. In his short time on the X-Files he saw how much the division meant to 
Dana, and with her pregnant, he knew motherhood would keep her away from work and 
if he transferred out, Kersh would easily have been able to close the X-Files for good.
That was five years ago.

John enters his office and looks around, the basement looks about the same as it had 
looked when he was first assigned as Dana's partner in 2000. The same newspaper 
clippings that were hanging on the wall then still hang there today.

He had recruited Agent Monica Reyes up from the New Orleans field office to be his 
partner when Dana was teaching at the FBI Academy, but when Monica was offered a 
supervisory position in San Antonio a couple years ago, she couldn't refuse. So it had 
been him in the X-Files until months after Agent Reyes's departure. Dana once again 
walked through the doors of the office and had gotten herself assigned to the X-Files 
Division once again.

As with their partnership before the birth of her son, their success rate percentages were 
high and remain this way today. Apparently Agents Doggett and Scully work very well 
together. Perhaps two agents skeptical in nature are actually better fit to investigate the 
paranormal or out of this world better than the usual skeptic/believer partnerships that 
had also lead this office. Agents Mulder and Scully had not been as successful and 
neither had Agents Doggett and Reyes. The skeptic/skeptic partnership seems to be the 
best partnering the division had ever had.

Heck, Kersh is so pleased with Agents Doggett and Scully that rumor has it he's looking 
to move their office up to the second floor sometime next year. Just the thought of having 
a window overlooking the streets of D.C. brings a smile to John's face.

The smile quickly fades when he sees Dana enter the office. She's quiet, even in her 
stride. She sits down at her desk.

"Mornin', Agent Scully." His greeting sounds more like a question.

"Good morning, Agent Doggett." She smiles at him, trying to conceal her feelings. "Any 
new cases?"

"Not yet. Wouldn't it be nice to be free from work so close to Christmas this year?"

"Yeah… I guess so." She looks away from him.

John notices Dana rolling her thumb over a ring on her finger. His heart skips a beat.
John doesn't know what to say next and so the room is engulfed by a silence that can 
only be defined as an awkward silence between two people who have so much to say to 
each other, but have no idea where to begin. John lightly rubs the back of his neck, 
something he does when he gets uncomfortable.

"I put in my letter of resignation today." Dana decides to break the silence.

John's brow wrinkles, this is out of the blue.

"Oh?"

Dana continues, "Yeah, Jason and I have decided to get married and we think that I 
should quit so I can focus my attention and energy on our life together." She smiles at 
John. "Want to see the ring?" She holds out her hand to him and he makes his way over 
to her.

He takes her hand in his and examines the ring, it's beautiful on her finger.

"It's beautiful, Dana…" He wishes he could be sincerely happy for her.

"Thank you."

John holds her hand a beat longer than he normally would and when he lets her go he 
feels a huge sinking feeling in his gut as if he's lost something very close to him.

"Have you uh… set a date yet?"

"We decided on February 21st."

"Two months…" John wants so badly to ask her if she thinks marriage is too soon, but he 
doesn't want to be rude. He wants to ask her if she needs help, but he already knows 
she'll say she's fine. He wants to help her, but feels he needs her permission to do so.
"Also, John… I don't think we should see each other anymore. Jason feels you overstep 
the bounds and he's asked that we stop seeing each other." She lowers her eyes.

The anger boils up inside him. This Jason is hurting her in so many ways, and now he's 
asking her not to be his friend.

"Dana, this is ridiculous."

"What? I think it's fairly reasonable-"

"- It's not, Dana. The police were called to your apartment last night, you're not stupid so 
why are you…" he trails off, "… I understand that you're afraid, and if you want me to 
step in and make this guy go away, just say the word and I'm there."

"I'm fine, John."

John's jaw tightens, it hurts him to see her like this.

"I don't want to see you anymore after I leave the Bureau, and there's nothing you can do 
or say that will change my mind."

Dana opens her desk drawer and retrieves a file and opens it, pretending to read its 
contents.

"What if I told you that I love you?" John's voice is raw, vulnerable, and honest. Dana 
knows what he says is the truth.

She takes a deep breath and sighs before looking up into his comforting blue eyes.

"I love Jason and this is my decision."

"Then why is it you keep stressing the word 'my', tells me you're tryin' to convince 
yourself of something you know isn't true."

His heart isn't broken, his admission of love to Dana is sincere, to let her know for 
certain his feelings, another way to let her know he's here for her whenever she needs 
him. He understands the unwritten rules of an abusive relationship, and he won't 
jeopardize his role in being her friend and his role in helping her by allowing what she's 
said to hurt his feelings. He knows she doesn't mean what she's said.

He sits down at his desk and looks at her, she must be replaying what he said in her head. 
She looks scared and confused.

"As I said before… you can call me day or night."

John turns his attention to his computer monitor and begins typing. He knows better than 
to press the issue with her, he doesn't want to drive her away from him.

There's a knock on their office door and Skinner enters the office.

"Agent Scully, I just received your letter of resignation…" Skinner seems lost. "I must 
say this comes as a shock."

"It's something I feel is necessary, sir." Dana shows him the ring on her finger. "Jason 
and I are engaged to be married."

Skinner's expression is blank, he blinks his eyes and looks at John.

"Who's Jason?" Skinner has no idea that Dana is seeing someone.

"My fiancé."

This doesn't exactly answer Skinner's question, but it'll do.

"I see…" Skinner doesn't feel right wanting to ask anymore questions. "Anyway, I need 
to see you both at lunch today, we can go out to eat somewhere."

"What's this about?" John asks.

"Nothing to be worried about, Agent Doggett."

Skinner looks at Dana again and then leaves the office.

Dana smiles at John.

"Maybe this lunch meeting will be about my recommendations for your new partner."

"Maybe."

"Want me to recommend Agent Reyes? It's a shame your partnership with her was cut 
short."

"She got a promotion she couldn't refuse."

"Yeah, that surprised me too. She told me once that an assignment on the X-Files was her 
dream job."

"You two talked a lot?" John had no idea.

"Not a lot, but enough. She did help deliver my baby and was there for me afterwards and 
through what I went through when I put him up for adoption."

John lowers his head, he remembers those times when it seemed like Dana would trust 
anyone but him. Dana just seemed much more likely to trust women than men. Even after 
she gave him her Apollo 11 key chain and told him how much he meant to her through 
everything she went through while Mulder was missing, she showed him genuine trust 
and then flipped 180 degrees and mistrust him as much as she did upon their first meeting 
when he was the task force leader in Mulder's disappearance. It frustrated him, but he 
dealt with it and eventually her mistrust became trust and has not gone back again.

"Agent Doggett?"

He snaps out of his thoughts and looks up at her.

"Yeah?"

"I asked you a question, did you not hear me?"

"I guess I didn't, what was it?"

"Why is it you and Monica never, you know, became a couple?" Her question takes him 
by surprise, this must be something she's wondered for quite some time.

"I never wanted it like that."

"Oh… I ask because once she told me that she thought she had fallen in love with you 
and she thought you felt the same way, and then your ex-"

"- My ex?" He's surprised to learn that Barbara had something to do with Dana thinking 
he and Monica could have been a couple.

"She told me that she thought you and Monica could have something, if only you'd let 
her in." 

Dana feels uncomfortable telling him this, when Barbara said those words to her, she felt 
her heartbeat skip its way right into her throat. It was in that moment that she realized that 
her feelings for John had become much more than feelings one has for a co-worker. It 
was the suggestion of another woman being with John that made her realize she had 
fallen in love with him.

Of course nothing happened between she and John, Mulder made an interesting return in 
the form of being held by the military for the murder of a D.O.D. agent, Knowle Rohrer, 
and was found guilty and was sentenced to death by lethal injection a few years ago. 
Dana didn't have time to even think of pursuing her newfound feelings for John, she was 
grieving the death of her friend and former lover. She and John just never made it happen 
and now she's engaged to Jason.

Her heart sinks, she wishes she had the nerve to just call it off, but she fears if she 
attempts that he'll only hurt her more. 

How could she let herself get involved with another man who hurts her? Jason isn't the 
first man she's been with that has raised his hand to her. There was Brian in college, a 
man who pretty much dissolved her trust in men completely. He treated her so poorly, 
pushed her limits sexually even and when he dumped her, he guilted her into believing 
she was at fault, that she had done things wrong.

After Brian she didn't want to let any man close to her again, she didn't date for years, 
not until she was talked into dating a divorcee her first year on the X-Files, which left her 
unimpressed. Then there was Ed Jerse, a one-night stand gone wrong, yes the sex was 
good, but she had used him to rebel against Mulder and Ed had physically hurt her too.
Then finally there was Mulder, despite their differences and his self-important 
personality, he treated her well and with as much respect as he could considering he lived 
his life with a goal to follow his quest and uncover government cover-ups concerning 
aliens and possible alien takeover of the planet. At least he never hit her and he did his 
best to try to consider her feelings, but failed miserably.

Then there was her interest in John Doggett and finally her relationship with Jason which 
follows her old pre-Mulder pattern.

She feels like a magnet to bad men, they're a pattern she can't figure out how to break. 
As great a person as Mulder was, he wasn't exactly marriage material and if there's one 
thing Dana Scully wants most in life it's to marry a good man.

Dana runs her thumb over the engagement ring on her finger and looks across the room at 
John. How different life could have been if only she had the guts to tell him how she 
feels. He told her earlier that he loves her, she wonders in what way.

-----

John and Skinner feel uncomfortable sitting at the restaurant table as Dana speaks to 
Jason on her cell phone. They continue to share looks as Dana's conversation continues.

"No Jason, listen, this lunch is part of my job… yes, I know, I put in my resignation 
today that doesn't mean…" She listens to Jason, he's interrupted her. "That doesn't mean 
today is my last day… why would I have to tell you that?" She looks at John and Skinner, 
her eyes apologizing to them. "Of course he's here, he's my partner… I can't do that." 
Her face becomes worried. "Jason, it's not in my control, my boss is having a meeting 
over lunch and you're taking up our time. Goodbye." Dana hangs up her phone.

"Is everything all right?" Skinner is concerned.

"Everything's fine, now where were we?"

"I was just about to inform you and-"

Skinner is cut off by Dana's cell phone ringing. She picks it up and turns off the ringer.

"Dana, maybe you should get that." John says, concerned that if it's Jason, her ignoring 
his call would get her hurt.

"It's only Jason, I'll talk with him when I get home."

"That's what worries me." John's voice is low.

Skinner looks at Dana.

"Is there something going on that I need to know about?"

"Nothing, sir." Dana clears her throat. "You were saying?"

Skinner looks at her and then looks to John, he's no dummy, he knows something is 
going on. He continues anyway, "I was about to inform you and Agent Doggett that the 
Deputy Director has approved my request to move the X-Files Division out of the 
basement, in one week you two will be working from the second floor."

"At least I'll be able to enjoy that for a week." Dana says. She's glad she has two more 
weeks left at the Bureau.

"Kersh is so damn proud of the success rate you two have together that when I 
approached him on the matter he was nearly the one who suggested the move out of the 
basement."

John smiles and shakes his head.

"And here I thought he assigned me to the X-Files to hold me down."

"Actually, Agent Doggett, you were offered a transfer out years ago and you denied it." 
Skinner says and looks at Dana.

Dana looks at John, this is news to her.

"You were offered a way out?"

"Yeah, I… I couldn't accept it, Agent Scully, I felt Kersh was out to ruin yours and 
Agent Mulder's work, I couldn't let that happen."

There's a smile in her eyes and she reaches out and holds his hand, giving it an 
appreciative squeeze.

-----

All night John found himself unable to sleep. He kept replaying Dana's end of her phone 
call, with Jason, at the restaurant, over and over in his head. He worries that Jason is 
hurting her again, a guy like that would not handle her ignoring his call.

John got up early and head out to the gym to work out his worries, well to try to work out 
his worries, he did not succeed. He couldn't keep his mind off of her well-being. There 
has to be something he can do for her, something to help her. He contemplated driving to 
Dana's apartment instead of to work and making her pack a bag and come stay with him, 
but decided against it, he doesn't want to come off as controlling, not when she needs to 
feel in control of her life. He worries he's made a mistake though when 10 A.M. rolls 
around and she still hasn't shown up at work.

He picks up his office phone and dials her home number, Jason answers.

"Hello?"

"Jason, this is Agent Doggett, is Dana there?"

"She's not feeling well, she won't be in to work today."

"I didn't ask if she was coming in today, I asked if she is there. I've got a question to ask 
her about an autopsy she performed a couple weeks ago, I may have just found a lead on 
the case."

"Yeah, hold on. I'll go wake her up." He doesn't sound happy.

John hears Jason muffled through the phone and right before Dana speaks he hears Jason 
say "make it quick".

"Agent Doggett?" Her voice sounds cheerful.

"Dana, do you need me to come over? I don't want to sound intrusive, but I know what's 
going on and I can help you." He can't help but offer his help to her, he's tired of seeing 
her hurt.

"Excuse me?"

"Dana, don't ignore what I said. You don't deserve to be treated the way he's been 
treating you."

"I know… I just…" she trails off.

"If he's listening in on your end, talk about an autopsy finding."

There's a long pause on her end before she speaks again.

"There was no conclusive evidence found that indicates the man was killed with poison, 
in fact I would rule his death by natural means, not murder or demonic possession."

"Do you want me to come over and help you?"

"That's not necessary, Agent Doggett." She pauses. "Just file that one as unsolved." She 
pauses again. "Yes, of course I'll be there for the Christmas party tomorrow, I'll see you 
then. Bye."

She hangs up on him. He sets down his phone and runs his hand through his hair. If he 
sees any bruises on her tomorrow at the Christmas party, nothing will be able to keep him 
from helping her, nothing.

Should he go to her place now? He's not sure, he didn't have time to give her a chance to 
let him know she needs his help right now. He looks over his desk, there are a few files 
he could run over to her place, just to make sure she's all right and make it look like 
Bureau business.

John picks up a file folder and heads out of the office.

-----

Within forty minutes John's white Chevy Silverado pulls into the parking lot of Dana's 
apartment complex. He pulls into a spot in front of her building and gets out, shutting the 
door behind him.

He walks confidently up to her door with a no-nonsense stride and knocks three solid 
times on the door and waits patiently for either Dana or Jason to answer.

After what seems like forever, Dana answers the door. She's wearing gray sweatpants 
and a matching FBI sweatshirt, and her hair is loosely pulled back in a ponytail. She 
looks surprised to see him.

"Agent Doggett?"

"Hi…" John looks behind her and does not see Jason. "You here alone?"

"At the moment… why?" She eyes the file folder in John's hand.

"Can I come in?"

"I'm not sure that'd be a good idea, John." She looks at him with desperate eyes. "What 
do you need?"

"I uh…" he wonders if he should lie or tell the truth, "I wanted to make sure you're ok." 
He lifts the file folder. "I brought this incase I needed an excuse to see you if Jason was 
here."

Dana is touched by this gesture, he can see it in her eyes.

"John…" She looks away fro him, she's too proud to ask directly for help. Sometimes her 
pride is a curse.

John can do nothing but look at her, not knowing what to say.

"John… I… appreciate your concern for me, but I can handle this, I just need some time 
to figure out how."

"I don't want to see you hurt anymore."

Dana looks up into his eyes, why can't she say what she wants? She wants him to take 
her hand and lead her away from all this. She wants him to be the shield that stands 
between her and Jason. She wants him to help her because she hasn't found a way to help 
herself.

"Dana, I want you to go inside and throw some clothes into an overnight bag. You're 
staying with me tonight." He looks at her, emphasizing how serious he is right now.

"John-"

"- Dana," he's firm, "please."

Dana quietly nods her head and steps away from her front door to let John in. He watches 
her disappear into her bedroom as he stands in her living room, a man on a mission, his 
jaw set tight.

A minute later Dana joins him, a sky blue duffle bag slung over her shoulder and her 
running shoes on. She looks at him as if to ask "now what?" John gently places his hand 
on the small of her back and leads her to the door, it opens, Jason has returned.

Jason looks at Dana, her overnight bag and then to John. The look on his face expresses 
disapproval.

"Where the hell do you think you're going?" He glares at Dana.

"Agent Doggett and I have a case to investigate in Michigan, our flight leaves in about an 
hour, we're on our way to Dulles." Scully lies.

Jason isn't buying her lie, he steps toward her to intimidate.

"Agent Doggett, could you please step outside for a moment? I need to speak with Dana 
alone." His voice is calm and menacing.

John can feel the muscles in Dana's lower back tighten upon hearing Jason's words.

"Actually, Jason, you don't have any right asking me to step outside." John is matter of 
fact.

"I live here."

Dana glances up at John, worry written all over her face. John gently runs his hand on her 
back to let her know he's not going anywhere.

"Is your name on the lease?" John asks.

"What the hell kind of question is that? I live here, I moved in with Dana."

"Well, Jason, if your name isn't on Dana's lease then if she asks you to leave, you have 
to go, otherwise she can call the cops on you, call it trespassing."

"That's bullshit. Get the hell out of here."

Jason grabs onto Dana's arm and snatches her away from John. She struggles to try to 
pull away from him, but his grip is too strong.

"Let go of me, Jason." Her voice is strong, she knows he wouldn't dare hurt her in front 
of John Doggett.

"I'll let go of you, honey, the moment you tell your friend to leave." Jason flashes an 
arrogant smirk in John's direction.

"Dana?" John's voice is calm.

Dana looks at John and immediately Jason grabs her chin and forces her to look at him 
instead.

"Dana… is Jason on your lease?" John carefully sets the file folder down on the end table 
near the couch, freeing both his hands incase he needs to help her.

Dana tries to turn her head to look at John, but Jason continues to force her to look at 
him.

"Honey, as soon as he leaves, I'll let you go and we'll be just fine, understand?" Jason is 
trying to control her and the situation at hand.

Dana swallows hard, tears filling up in her eyes, cries threatening to escape her mouth.
"Leave." Her voice is uneven. "I want you to leave, Jason." It surprises her what John's 
presence can do for her confidence and belief in herself.

Anger fills Jason's soul and he raises his hand and backhands her face, the hit is so hard 
that she falls to the floor, holding her hand over her face.

John quickly grabs onto Jason's right arm and pushes him face first into a wall, pulling 
his arm behind his back, he holds his head against the wall with his other hand.

"That's the last time you hurt her, you hear me, you bastard?" John angrily growls into 
Jason's ear.

Dana stands up, finding her balance by placing her hands on the coffee table. John looks 
at her, concern showing straight through his eyes.

"You all right?"

Dana nods her head.

"Regardless if he's on the lease or not-" John is interrupted.

"- He's not." Dana assures him.

"This man is going to be facing some serious assault charges." John finishes.

Jason struggles but John holds him firmly.

"Dana, call the police and we'll get this settled today."

Dana picks up her phone and dials 9-1-1 and speaks with the emergency dispatcher.

-----

Two hours later, Dana sits alone on her couch. She's holding a bag of ice, wrapped in a 
hand towel, on her face to keep the swelling down where Jason hit her. So many things 
are running through her mind, so many that she can't think of any one thought 
individually. Her apartment is quiet, silence ringing in your ears quiet. She closes her 
eyes and sighs.

The thought is not relevant and perhaps that's a good thing, she looks at her apartment 
and realizes that today is December 22nd, and she hasn't yet put up any Christmas 
decorations. Christmas has always been her favorite holiday to celebrate and decorate for. 
She stands up and sets the bag of ice down on the couch. She goes to her storage closet in 
the hallway and pulls out a cardboard box with all her Christmas decorations. She'll have 
to go down to her storage space in the basement to retrieve her tree.

Dana carries the box of holiday decorations out to the living room, and sets it down on 
top of the coffee table, just as her front door opens with a quiet knock, John enters.
"I just talked to the judge and he's going to set Jason's bail pretty high. If you want I can 
stay with you for a few days until you feel comfortable…" he trails off, and watches her 
unpack Christmas ornaments.

"That's really sweet of you, John, I wouldn't mind the company."

"What's all this?"

"It's two days before Christmas Eve, I thought it was about time I decorated." Dana 
smiles at him. She goes over to her kitchen counter and grabs her key chain and hands it 
to John. "Could you do me a favor and go down to the basement and bring my tree up 
from storage?"

This is not what John expected they'd be talking about, he doesn't blame her for not 
wanting to talk about Jason, she just got done talking to the police about him. He smiles 
at her.

"Yeah… I can get it for you…"

"Thanks."

John takes the keys in his hand and leaves her apartment.

Dana digs into the box and retrieves mistletoe. She smiles mischievously. She looks 
around her apartment to find the perfect spot to hang it. She swore to herself that next 
year she would be happier, and that she would go after what she wants. Why not start 
early since opportunity is knocking on her door.

She goes back down the hallway and gets a stepladder out of the closet, she takes it over 
to the entry to her kitchen. She retrieves a pushpin from a drawer in the kitchen and she 
hangs the mistletoe. As she descends from the stepladder, John enters her apartment, 
carrying a large box containing the parts of her artificial Christmas tree. He sets it down 
on the floor and shuts the apartment door.

Dana watches him as she stands underneath the mistletoe. He looks around, his back to 
her as if he's looking for her. She clears her throat and he turns around to face her.
"Do you want me to go out and get you some lights to put on the tree?" He's oblivious to 
the fact she's standing underneath mistletoe.

"We can later…"

"Right, after we get the tree up." He looks back at the box.

Dana clears her throat again and he looks at her, he follows her gaze and sees the 
mistletoe above her. He rubs his index finger under his nose.

"Agent Scully…"

"Dana." She corrects him.

"Dana… is it just me or are you lookin' like you want to kick off holiday decorating with 
an old fashioned tradition..?"

He walks closer to her, his heart racing and his face slightly flushed. She nods her head as 
he steps next to her, standing closer to her than he ever has before. She looks up at him, 
parting her lips, her eyes lock with his.

"You sure you want this…?" his voice is just above a whisper.

"Yes…"

"Are you sure you're ready for this..?" He wants to be sure he's not doing anything she 
doesn't want.

"Yes…"

He inches forward, his mouth mere millimeters from hers.

"Are you sure we're ready for this..?" He can feel her warm breath on his lips.

"Why don't you stop asking questions and just kiss me…"

Her voice is hushed and it takes her breath away when his lips meet hers. She closes her 
eyes and tilts her head back as she feels his hands reach behind her and hold her body 
against his. She can't believe after all these years that this is really happening. No more 
reason to wonder or daydream, this is the real thing.

She'll no longer find herself gazing at his lips, wondering what they'd feel like against 
hers, she knows now and it's the sweetest, most beautiful feeling she's ever had. She 
opens her mouth to him, her tongue gently teasing his lips. His tongue meets hers and she 
melts into his embrace. Their kiss is smooth and rich, so beautiful it should be forbidden.
John pulls away from her, just far enough to look into her eyes. There's a sparkle in them 
that he has never seen before. He gives her a shy, lop-sided grin and then laughs quietly.
"Wow." That's all he can say.

Dana laughs softly too and rests her forehead against his. She runs her hands slowly up 
and down his arms, feeling him for the first time, not as a partner, but in a way that she 
herself cannot find words to describe. All she knows for sure is that this is the beginning 
of something special.

She rises on her toes and places a small kiss on his cheek, and then she walks away from 
him, and into the living room. She begins taking the tree out of its box.

"Here, let me do that for you." John walks over and picks up the bag of ice she left on the 
couch. "You still need to ice your cheek to keep the swelling down."

"It's not swelling, John, I'm smiling, you haven't seen me smile often, have you?" She 
smiles at him.

He laughs.

"You know what I mean." He winks at her.

Dana sits down on the couch and carefully places the bag of ice where Jason hit her a 
couple hours ago. She sits back and watches as John tries his best to figure out how to put 
together her Christmas tree. For the first time in a long time she feels her heart is smiling.

THE END

----------------------------------------

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following e-mail address:

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