Alexandria Apartments

FRIDAY: 8.20PM

Mulder let himself into his apartment and dropped the stained shirt onto the floor in the kitchen kicking it over by the washing machine. His stomach growled and begged for attention but the rest of his body didn't trust it so he sipped a glass of cold water before heading towards the bathroom.

After showering carefully Mulder patted himself dry. He pulled the savlon cream from the pharmacy bag and squeezed a bit out onto his finger. A little shock shot through his system when the cold cream met his skin but it tingled away as he rubbed it in. Checking it in the mirror he was delighted to see the bleeding had stopped but it was still looking red and angry. He placed on a new bandage and warily put on a tee shirt and sweats.

In the living room, he grabbed the phone and dialed Chuck's number. Tapping his foot anxiously on the floor as he waited for Chuck to pick up, he caught a glimpse of his sorry reflection in the window, the strange bulge under his tee shirt where the bandage was stood out like a mountain in the flat plains.

"Hello?" came the strangled reply.

"Chuck?"

"Yeah...who's this?" Chuck's voice was hoarse and painful to listen to.

"It's Mulder. You don't sound too hot."

"Oh Christ Mulder...I'm glad this bachelor night is a once off..."

"Me too. My head is not at home to visitors." Mulder stalled, wincing then pushed on, eager to place the last pieces of the puzzle. "Chuck...I woke up this morning with...with...a tattoo." He struggled to even say it aloud. That would make it all the more real.

"A tattoo?" Chucks voice broke into a raspy laugh. "Yeah Mulder...a few of us did thanks to you."

"Me?"

"It was your idea!"

"You're kidding me!" Mulder blurted too loudly, rocking his head painfully.

"Yeah something about a big gesture to finally show her..."

"Oh my god..." Mulder didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "I can't believe this. I must have been possessed."

"Oh believe it Mulder. Spirits defiantly had something to do with it but they weren't the Spooky kind," he chortled. "You, Charlie and me."

"What did you get done?" he couldn't help but ask, glad in the knowledge that he wasn't alone in making a total fool of himself.

"My fiancés name on my ankle. Tasteful actually."

"I'm going to be a dead man. Chuck I have to get rid of it...can you remember the place we got it done?"

"I'm not sure...I think it was Sacred Tattoo on Wilson Drive."

"Okay Chuck thanks. Oh and by the way...next time I have a bright idea...thump me upside the head!"

The effort of it all mixed with the lack of sleep from the night's festivities before, left him worn out. He took the phone book and phone over to the couch and searched for the right number. Sacred Tattoo. Piercings and Body art since 1975, he read in the half page ad. He dialed the number and was bombarded by the heavy rock music that accompanied the reply. His head rebelled, making him groan. Great, now he sounded like a dirty phone caller.

"Hello?" Mulder tried again to be heard over the music.

"Yeah, what can I do for you buddy?"

"I need to get a tattoo removed."

"Old lady let you down huh?" the gruff voice said with a laugh.

"Something like that."

"Okay. Where on your body is the art?"

"On my back, near my shoulder blade. It's no bigger then my fist."

"Okay buddy we'll need to do a visual inspection before we can give you a price but I should imagine it not costing more then 170 dollars."

"I don't mind about the price...only...its still kind of fresh."

"Fresh? How fresh?"

"Less then 24 hours..." Mulder added sheepishly.

The phone burst with a crack of laughter. As he pulled it abruptly away from his ear to minimize the pain, Mulder could just make out the tattoo guy's voice calling out to the other patrons in the room and regaling them with his delicate predicament. Still laughing he came back onto the phone.

"I'm afraid it doesn't quite work that way. The skin needs to heal fully over the ink before we do the laser treatment for removal."

"How long?" Mulder asked, hope sinking.

"If you only got it last night. About another 7 to 10 days."

"Oh shit."

"Sorry buddy. Call back then."

Mulder tossed the cordless phone onto the table and lay back onto the couch, wincing at the stinging pain from his newly acquired body art. Ten days of rubbing cream on in an awkward place, and hiding the bulges of his bandages from Scully. She'd probably smell the antiseptic cream a mile off and would stop at nothing to know what was going on. She had radar for this stuff. It was inevitable. It was then he heard the knocking on his door. Her knock. Oh shit. Jumping off the couch he rushed into his bedroom and grabbed a baggy sweater to further hide the evidence of his drunken indiscretion.

"Who is it?" he called gingerly from the hallway as he wrestled the sweater on.

"Mulder, it's me."

He opened the door and smiled broadly as she walked in past him and dropped her coat onto the couch. The familiarity they had grown accustomed to was comforting. But she was looking at him in that inscrutable way. One eyebrow threatening to arch.

"How are you feeling? Skinner said you were sick?" she probed as she turned to him with concern written all over her face.

"Sick? No I'm fine. Just tired." He sat next to her on the couch and kicked the phone book closed after seeing it was left on the tattoo parlour page. "How did your meeting with the coroner go?" he quickly changed the subject, inwardly congratulating himself.

"Ugh, arduously."

"Get it sorted?"

"Yeah at last. I dropped the final report into Skinner an hour ago. That's how I heard you were ill. So...what's up?"

"Nothing. Really. I guess last night's excesses were just catching up with me."

"Old age Mulder. Can't take a night out with the boys anymore!" She stood and walked towards the kitchen.

"Yeah must be," he laughed with her, relieved that she was veering off the subject of his discomfort.

"Do you want some coffee?" she asked over the sound of the kettle boiling as she took cups and spoon out.

"Sure."

He could hear the clatter of the spoons on the counter, stirring the milk in and then hitting the sink. But when her footsteps didn't follow he looked up in time to see her picking up the shirt, he had discarded earlier, from the floor.

"Mulder? What's this?" she had wadded it up showing the bloody stain to him. Time to fess up.

"I eh...cut...my…eh…"

"What happened?" she demanded, her anger and concern were mixed together.

"I cut my back last night at the party. I'm not sure how. I don't remember the semantics."

"Show me."

"It's nothing Scully. I rubbed some savlon onto it and covered it up. I'm fine!"

"Mulder c'mon, quit messing about. Let me take a look." She inched around him to get behind but he turned with her, keeping her in front. "What's going on?"

"Nothing," he argued capturing her hands and holding them away from his chest. He smiled at her persistence but he was too strong for her.

"I know something is going on."

He pulled her arms away from her and held them behind her back. Keeping her captive. She smiled up at him but he didn't release her.

"Finished Scully?" he asked tightening his grip on her arm for a moment. The air between them crackled and for a moment Mulder forgot why he was holding her like this. He had to admit it felt kind of hot. A certain part of him twitched in agreement.

"For now!" she answered wickedly looking up at him under hooded eyes.

"It's over Scully!" He twisted her arm a little, pulling her closer to him as he spoke, glancing down at her curving lips as her tongue appeared to stroke them, then released her with a little push towards the couch. She sat down with a taunting laugh.

"It must have been some night," she called after him as he went into the kitchen to collect the coffee.

"I don't remember." He handed her the drink and sat next to her, not missing her glancing at his back and seeing the slight bulge that the sweater wasn't managing to disguise.

"So what happened?" she sipped her coffee and left it onto the table.

"I'm not sure." He avoided her gaze.

"Can't remember huh?" she gave him a gentle shove with her shoulder.

"Nope. Nada. Zip."

"Did you have someone take a look at it?"

"It's fine Scully. Forget it."

"Mulder, I won't forget it. It could get infected. Then the next time I'll see you you'll be running a high fever and you'll need me to carry you into the hospital...again."

"Again?" He looked over to her and she saw then the color rising into his cheeks. His eyes darted about her face and she couldn't mistake the worry claiming his expression.

"Mulder, you're beginning to worry me. What happened?" She sat forward and matched his pose. With her hands clasped in front of her and she dipped her head to see his face.

"Just stupid drunken antics."

"How stupid is stupid? Can I see?" she asked softly touching his arm to make him look up. He hesitated but knew there was no backing down. No going back now. Might as well get it over with and take the consequences like a man. Her blue gaze unraveled the last of his resolve. He sucked in his cheeks like a naughty hamster. Wishing he were that tiny also; perhaps small enough to roll into a ball, scuttle off and hide under the sofa with all the other sorry crap and detritus lurking underneath..

"It's a…. tattoo."

"A tattoo?" Her eyes opened wide with surprise. "No! Show me!"

"It's stupid, I'm getting rid of it. I can't even remember getting it."

"Mulder, c'mon...show me." Her eyes were alight with glee.

He pulled off his sweater and tossed it onto the chair. She spotted the bandage immediately and helped him pull the tee shirt over his head. He had managed to tape it down fairly well so it was with careful fingers that she peeled it off. He heard her audible gasp as she spied the art and her fingers gently traced the centre of it, where her name was printed.

"Mulder..." she whispered.

"I know..." His cheeks flooded with the color he was no longer able to hold at bay. "I'm sorry...I don't know why I did it."

"Scully," she muttered as she traced it again with her index finger. The sensation of her touching his back was cooling and warm at the same time as his back tingled. It was kind of turning him on. "I don't know what to say."

"Me neither," he admitted, turning to her to see her smile growing openly across her face. "You're not angry?"

"Angry? No. Shocked...definitely shocked!" Her smile turned into a gurgling laugh surprising him more. "I...well...I'm dumbfounded. Did you mean it?"

"You think I didn't?

"I'm asking you."

"…Yeah. I did mean it." He said with finality as he grinned shyly, turning to look deep into her eyes. "I was drunk last night…but I've been, well drunk on you for a very …long time."

"Oh Mulder…that was corny," she said but suddenly she was in his arms and he face drawing nearer to his searching out his eyes. "My god you do really mean it."

He nodded enthusiastically, telling her with his eyes what the sudden lump in his throat couldn't just then. She pulled him closer.

Tentatively their lips touched, then his mouth opened inviting her to further exquisite explorations, and her arms snaked around his back and his followed suit.

"Don't even think of getting rid of it." She purred as her hands twitched south, sending warm sparks to every molecule in his body as they headed for his bedroom. "I showed you my tattoo, so fair's fair. You show me yours."

" Hey that's right we both have a tattoo now. It's kind of spooky. We have matching guns sooo…what's next agent Scully, monogrammed towels? "

"I know what I'd love to monogram right now..Agent Mulder. Get in that bedroom G-man." And she flashed him a gorgeous cat in sunshine smile.

"Yes m'am."

The End. Skinfull.

A/N: I condensed the last two bits together to stick them in as one. Enough Fluff? Want more? LOL Let me know :)