Date: Mon, 23 Mar 1998

The message was unmistakably a sexual one. At least, that's what Fox Mulder thought as he looked at the nearly naked body on the card. He had just opened the interoffice mail envelope that was placed in his mail slot. This card was the only thing inside and it was addressed to him.
He studied the front of the card, taking in all the details. He noted with great interest that it showed a shapely, nearly nude woman, her only clothing being athletic shoes and socks, with long red fingernails delicately cradling a basketball against her naked hip. The picture had been taken from behind, and the left edge of the card was carefully aligned with her spine, so that you only saw half of her. There was only one word on the front of the card: TONIGHT.
Fox opened the card to read: Let's Get Together For A Little One On One! Below the printed words on the card, someone had typed: 'Y' don't 'U' be there? 4:00pm. Following that was a little hand drawn face with a smile.

Of course, the first thing that occupied his mind was who sent this to him? He began thinking back over the day to see if any thing or any one stood out in his mind.
He and Scully had arrived at the FBI Building about 7:00 am. Terri Brannon, the security guard, was there to let them in as usual. She had been very friendly this morning, but then she was every morning. He recalled Scully looking at him sideways with a small smirk as Terri greeted them.
"Hi, Fox," she had said cheerfully. "Did you catch the Knick's game on ESPN last night?" Her smile was only for him. Scully swore she batted her eyelashes, too. Terri always addressed everyone by their title, Agent Scully, Assistant Director Skinner, but not Mulder. She called him by his first name. And because she was attractive, Mulder let her.
She was very pretty, Mulder had to concede, as he reflected on her large brown eyes and perfect nose. Her uniform revealed that she was trim and in great shape. He was also aware of her flirtatious tactics. Terri had even asked him out for coffee once. Scully warned him he was asking for trouble if he went, that he would only be fueling her fantasies. Mulder didn't mind being someone else's fantasy, not a bit. He had gone, and they'd had a friendly chat. She was just too young for him to even consider, barely 25. He knew because he had asked around.
He moved on in his mind. The next person he had encountered today was Gary, who watched the security monitors as they entered each day. Mulder smiled, he sure hoped it wasn't Gary! But in this day and age, one never knew. Probably not, he surmised, since the picture on the card was a woman. Next? Oh, yeah, Pamela Tindle.

Now there was a nice looking woman. She was in her 30's, beautiful long blond hair, not quite as tall as he, but much taller than Scully. She moved with a grace and ease that attracted men, almost like she wasn't aware of how beautiful she was, or what effect she had on men when she wore those tight, straight skirts that showed off her trim hips and long legs. Yes, Pamela was easy to look at.
She, too, had greeted him with a dazzling smile this morning, and stared into his hazel eyes directly, not shying away and pretending to be coy like some women when they flirted. She had handed Scully her ID badge, but had carefully and slowly attached his ID badge to his lapel for him. He remembered her hand seeming to linger on his jacket today as she had flattered him, "You've been working out! Guess all that basketball practice really builds up those chest muscles."

Scully, who by now was very used to women making plays for Mulder, had noticed her gesture of seduction, too, and made a wise crack under her breath as they walked away, "What's the matter, Mulder, did you need help with the difficult clasp?" He had shrugged her little dig off.
He pretty much knew from past experience that for some reason he was interesting to women, and therefore subject to their sensuous efforts to engage his attention and ensnare him for their own. Just why he was interesting to them he didn't necessarily understand though. He just knew that if he was charming, he could pretty much get whatever he wanted from them, be it information or sex.
From everyone except his partner, that is.
But that was something he truly respected about Agent Dana Scully; she wasn't coy, she didn't flirt, and she didn't play games with him.
But Mulder just didn't have time or interest for a romance in his life right now. His job was all consuming, in both mental and physical concentration. Still, he was a man. It felt good to know that women were interested in him. He even enjoyed the occasional romp in bed, what man could refuse the invitation all the time? Lately however, those times were becoming far and few between.
Let's see, who else had he seen today? He and Scully had come down to their basement office and worked on several X-files cases. They had sifted through information, newspaper clippings, police reports, and video tapes people had sent to the FBI requesting help. They were tying up loose ends, and deciding on the next case to investigate.
They had gone separate ways for lunch. With all the paperwork to do today, he had faxed in his lunch order to a restaurant, Krackers, on 5th and Thomas. As usual, Jolene, he didn't know her last name, had his meal ready and waiting at a table in her section when he arrived. Jolene. She was attractive in a different sort of way. She was eccentric, to be sure, but then, most of the people at Krackers were.
She had striking almond shaped green eyes, and had once joked that their children would be beautiful. Today she had worn a short leather skirt with black leather lace-up high heel boots. A mid-drift top had completed her outfit, which gave him ample opportunity to notice the silver hoop in her belly button. Jolene's short, straight, jet black hair was kept in a page boy. Her lips had been painted her usual shade of very bright red lipstick. As they made pleasant conversation, he had not known where to focus his attention, there were so many interesting choices! Between her eyes and her lips, not to mention her hips when she walked away, she definitely was memorable and interesting.
She was aggressive in her behavior towards him today, he reflected. She had touched him several times on his arm and shoulder for no reason as she attended to his needs. It seemed to Fox that Jolene was the kind of person that knew what she wanted, and how to go about getting it. She had a no nonsense air about her that led him to believe she didn't like wasting her time either. He faintly began to hope it was her.
His thoughts were interrupted by Scully as she came through the office doorway. She had been in the break room getting coffee. He quickly slid the card inside his top middle drawer.
"Any exciting mail today?" she queried with a smile, knowing how dull interoffice memos always were.
"Nothing you'd be interested in," he smiled, opening his eyes wide, trying to appear completely innocent. He wasn't sure why, but he didn't want her to see the card. She had noticed his quick, secretive movement when she came into the room, but said nothing and went to sit down at her desk.
She sipped at her coffee and returned to her work. Mulder attempted to go back to work. The card was distracting him. He quietly slid the drawer open an inch or two to look at it again for a few seconds. He slid the drawer closed and looked to see if Scully had seen or heard him. She didn't even look up from her desk.
He stared at her. Scully? Could Dana Katherine Scully have sent the card? He decided to ponder that thought for a moment. They had worked together very closely the last five years. He knew there were intimate feelings between them. The problem always seemed to be in defining exactly what those feelings were. Neither of them wanted to look too deep for fear of stirring something up, and changing the dynamics of the great partnership and union they currently had. Maybe Scully had decided she was ready to take a step forward, Mulder mused.
He studied her. She was more than competent. And, God, was she brilliant! She was efficient, loyal, professional, and dependable.
Stop, his brain said. Stop looking at her as a partner, and look at her as a woman. OK. How would he assess Scully, the woman? She was beautiful, no doubt about that. Her skin was flawless, her lips were perfectly formed, her crystal blue eyes could shut him down in a moment, or see right through to his heart. Her lovely red hair framed her pale face like an Irish beauty. Her brain intrigued him, her caustic humor challenged him, her concern for his welfare warmed him, her logic balanced him.
He thought about how she looked in jeans and a cotton tee shirt. She had an hour glass figure; her breasts were neither too big or too small, and her hips rounded out nicely from her tiny waist. She had the lazy, graceful, feral movements of a cat.
He began to remember how he always liked the way she smelled. It wasn't her perfume, it was her. Mulder involuntarily breathed in deeply. He began to imagine how her lips might taste, and how her soft breasts might feel against his chest. His thoughts continued on to mental images of her lying naked beside him, exploring her mouth with his tongue as he ran his hands over her body...
Suddenly Mulder was dumbstruck. He felt his pants getting tighter, his pulse quickening. Whoa! His brain yelled at him.
Suddenly Scully felt his eyes on her.
"What?" She turned to look at him.
Mulder's face felt hot. She had caught him looking at her! Just at the moment he was fantasizing about her! Oh, God, what to say? What to do?
Mulder, forever grateful that he was sitting down, dropped his head to stare at the papers on his desk, and began scribbling away. He pretended he hadn't heard her.
"What?" she repeated.
He looked up, trying to appear preoccupied. "What?" he asked.
Scully's forehead creased. "You were looking at me. Did you want something? Is something wrong? Do I have broccoli in my teeth?" she teased.
"Was I?" he faked. "No," he continued. "Nothing's wrong, I was just looking over in that general direction and thinking."
Scully knew when he was trying to avoid telling her something. There was no pushing him if he didn't want to tell her. "OK," she said, and she gave him one of her 'he's acting weird today' looks and turned back to her work.
After a few seconds, he began to calm down. By the time his breathing had returned to normal, so had his brain.
What are you thinking, you idiot! Scully is your partner. She didn't send you this card. It's not her style. It's not her. Relax, and quit thinking about your colleague that way! He went back to his files.
He had been at his desk for some time when he realized nature was calling. He had a file to deliver to the lab, he'd kill two birds with one stone.
"I'll be right back," he said as he got up, file in hand. "I'm going to drop this off with Robby at the lab." Scully absently nodded her head in his direction as he left. After a moment, she closed the folder she was working on and rose to put it on Mulder's desk. He had asked for her comments concerning some unusual physical wounds in a case. Upon inspection of the report, they didn't look suspicious to her, but then, they rarely did.
As she laid the file on his desk, a small wave of temptation hit her. She had seen Mulder secretly opening and shutting his top drawer several times this afternoon. She wondered what was in there. She looked out the doorway. She could see down the hall. Mulder wasn't coming back yet. She wrestled with her conscience for a few seconds. Normally, what Mulder did never surprised her nor tempted her to find out more. She just waited for him to fill in the information gaps. So why did his actions intrigue her today? Surely a peek wouldn't hurt, her mind countered.
She slid the drawer open after scanning the hallway again. She didn't take the card out, but smiled as she opened it and read the inside. She tried not to giggle as she slid the drawer shut and went back to her desk.
When Mulder arrived at the lab he looked around for Robby. He spotted her hunched over a microscope, as usual. He walked over to give her the file. He stood quietly beside her, contemplating, for a moment. She was so absorbed in her work, she didn't even notice him.
Roberta Walker, 35, degrees out the ying-yang in several subjects, highly respected by her superiors, and promoted to the rank of supervisor of the FBI lab in no time. No one knew for sure whether it was because she was a woman, or in spite of the fact that she was a woman.
She usually wore her hair up, to keep it from falling in her work, and he had never seen her without a lab coat, except once. He had been shopping for groceries last week and she had touched his shoulder from behind. When he had turned to see who it was, he almost didn't recognize her. She had let her auburn hair loose, and she was wearing white slacks and a colorful blouse. In fact, as he recalled, she had looked quite attractive in her casual attire. She had merely wanted to say hello, and then she had moved on. He remembered watching her as she walked away and thinking pleasant thoughts.
It flashed through his brain maybe she sent the card. Don't be ridiculous, he thought. Robby and I are just people who's paths occasionally cross at work. Maybe she's interested in more than a casual acquaintance, his brain countered. Shut up, he said to himself. This card was making him even more paranoid than usual!
At that moment, Robby sat up straight and faced him. "Oh, Agent Mulder," I didn't know you were waiting. I'm sorry." Her dark eyes flashed delight at seeing him. A hand automatically went up to smooth an imaginary stray hair.
"Hi, Robby. Please, you know it's just Mulder," he said. He disliked titles himself, and rarely used them unless speaking to a superior. She beamed at him.
"What can I do for you?" she gave him her full attention.
"This is the file about the Turner case I promised to bring you. The one with the hair and skin samples we talked about."
"Oh, yes," she reached out to take the file from his hand. Her fingers lingered for a moment on his as she gazed at his face. "I'll get on the analysis right away. I should have the results for you by this time tomorrow."
Fox was very aware of her hand on his. "Uh, that's OK. There's no rush. Whenever you get to it." He began withdrawing his arm. Was he imaging things? Or was Robby always this friendly towards him and he hadn't noticed it before?
She smoothly took the file from his hand and laid it on the counter top. "Don't worry, I'll start on it right away. I love working your cases, they are always so much more interesting than most assignments agents request me to follow up on."
"Uh, fine, thank you very much. I appreciate it." He rewarded her with one of his smiles. It seemed like the least he could do for her. "Uh, I've got to get back to work now." He felt like a school boy making up an excuse to leave.
"Oh, before you go, Mulder," she said his name softly, "I've got two tickets for the Washington Wizards vs Houston Rockets game this Friday. I know you like basketball," she paused, slightly embarrassed, "and I thought you might like to go?" her voice raised up to form a question.
Mulder was stunned. Had he heard her correctly? She was asking him out to a basketball game! Today, of all days! It couldn't be just a coincidence!
Robby recognized his slowness to respond. "Oh, I don't want you to think it's a date or anything," she tried to reassure him. "I know we're just friends. But I can't think of anyone who enjoys the game more than you." Her voice fell away, waiting for his answer.
Fox came to his senses enough to answer her. "Oh. Ah, well, let me check my schedule and see if I'll be in town this weekend." He tried to think of something to say that wouldn't put her off. "I may have a new case assigned this week. Out of town." He quickly added, "But, sure, I'd like to go otherwise. Can I get back with you on that?"
Robby nodded her head, "Of course. I'm sure you need to check your appointments. Just let me know, ok?"
Mulder bit his bottom lip, and just nodded his head, not sure of what else to say. He slowly turned and left the lab. He could feel Robby's eyes watching him.
He thought of Robby all the way back to his office. He could do worse. She was attractive, smart, and apparently, interested in him. What was his problem? Since when did being asked out unnerve him? Was it the fact that she had possibly sent a suggestive card making her sexual intentions known first? Still, he couldn't be absolutely sure it was Robby that had sent the card. It could have been a coincidence. He wouldn't really know until 4:00. He began to whistle as he walked down the long hall. Today was turning out to be quite interesting.
Mulder entered his office, went to his desk and plunged into the mass of files still there. He tried to concentrate on his work, but it was a slow go. He kept looking at his watch, calculating how much time it would take to get upstairs to the gym and change clothes by 4:00. When he was sure Scully wasn't watching him, he carefully slid the card out of his desk and slipped it into his jacket pocket.
However, his clock watching did not go unnoticed. "Have you got an appointment?" Scully finally asked after his umpteenth time of checking the clock on the wall.
3:30pm. He couldn't stand it any more. His imagination about who had sent the card had gotten the best of him. "Um, not really," he stalled. What to say? He stood up and walked over to a file cabinet. He pulled open the bottom drawer and began picking through the workout clothes he kept there. He often went to the gym in the FBI building to work out. Besides the obvious need to keep in tip top shape, Fox enjoyed physically pushing himself, and he had an absolute passion for basketball.
"Going to the gym?" Scully perceptively asked.
"Yeah, I feel kind of restless. Thought I'd go shoot some hoops. I guess I need to work off some tension or something. I just need to get out from behind that desk."
Scully understood more than he knew. Even under normal circumstances Mulder was not a man to sit anywhere for very long. His attention span was very short when not focused on a particular case.
"Want to join me," he asked out of habit. He knew she would say no, and he felt like it might help cover his obvious, at least to him, actions, as well. He always asked her, and she always said no.
"Mmmm," she hesitated. Mulder's heart skipped a couple of beats and he looked her way, almost in disbelief. Surely, today wouldn't be the one time she would come! On the other hand, if she accepted, maybe it meant the card was from her! His brain was turning this incredible thought over when she finally answered.
"Would we be playing a little one-on-one, or would there be a lot of guys there for a pick up game?"
Mulder caught his breath in surprise at her choice of words. Did she know what she was saying? He tried to recover gracefully, "Well, usually at this time of day there aren't too many people there. That's why I was going now," he tried to appear calm as he spoke.
"I don't know." Scully continued to vacillate between yes and no. She didn't play basketball, and Fox knew it. "Why don't you go ahead. When I finish up with this stuff, maybe I'll join you," she said finally.
Well, that wasn't a yes or a no, Fox thought.
"Ok," he replied. He picked up his clothes and walked out the door towards the elevator.
Scully held her breath until she heard the elevator doors close, then she burst out laughing. Even the guys in the lab heard her.

Mulder changed clothes in the locker room and spent a few minutes stretching his muscles before heading onto the basketball court to shoot. He started out slow, a few free throws, short lay ups, some fancy trick shots that didn't go in.
Normally nothing could come between him and basketball. But today, he kept watching the doors to the gym to see who came in. Twenty minutes went by, making it well past the 4:00 hour. He had just run full court, jumped up, twisted in the air, and tried to dunk the ball backwards. The Harlem Globetrotters would not be calling him.
He heard the gym door open once again, and looked in that direction. Coming through the door was definitely a woman, but her clothing was extremely unconventional. As the figure drew closer, he could see reddish hair pulled back in a short ponytail. It was indeed Scully.
Mulder stopped dribbling the ball and just stood looking at her in shock as she continued to walk towards him. She was wearing workout clothes, but nothing like he'd ever seen before on her! She had the usual athletic socks and shoes on, but that was about all that was normal. She was also wearing black shorts that were just barely long enough to cover her buttock cheeks. His eyes continued to move upward. But it was her shirt that truly made him gawk. She had taken a regulation shirt, and cut off two thirds of it so that it hung just below her breasts. He could tell by the way they jiggled as she walked, that she wasn't wearing a bra. And without a bra on, the naturally low-slung arm holes in her shirt exposed even more of her ivory flesh.
She was smiling as she walked across the floor towards him. "How about a little one-on-one?" she asked innocently. Mulder's mouth just hung open, like some over-sexed cartoon character, he was sure. He was glad his shorts were very loose fitting.
"What are you doing?" he finally asked stupidly.
"You invited me to play basketball. So I came to play ball." She eyed his bare chest gleaming with sweat. "I guess I'll be 'shirts', and you can be 'skins'," she said, "because I think we'd get arrested if it were the other way around." She smiled and reached for the basketball. As she did so, her shirt rose a little. Mulder could see the soft rounding of her breasts peeking out from under her shirt.
"Mulder," she said as she waited for the ball. "Mulder, you're staring," she said.
"Of course I'm staring," Mulder exclaimed. "How are you supposed to play ball in that shirt? For that matter, how am *I* supposed to play ball with you in that shirt?" His voice was rising.
For the first time he began to think of the other people working out in the gym. He glanced around. There weren't many, four or five maybe, but he wasn't sure he wanted anyone to see his partner like this! Nobody was paying them any attention. They were all busy lifting, pushing, running, or stretching, lost in their own thoughts.
"Well," Scully put on a big grin, "I decided you had all the advantages in this game because of your height and skill. So, I just decided to even the odds a little. I figure if you are distracted enough, I might actually win."
Fox just shook his head in total disbelief. She absolutely never ceased to amaze him. This was a side of Scully he hadn't seen, and he was pretty sure nobody else had either. Scully usually took particular care in being lady-like and modest above all.
"Give me a moment to adjust here, OK?"
Scully took the ball from him. "Adjust all you want. I'm here to play ball." She slowly dribbled the ball over to the side of the goal and made an attempt to shoot. Mulder couldn't help but notice her shirt came up very high, as did her shorts. Damn, she looked better than he had even imagined.
Grow up, Fox, his brain told him. She's just a woman. You've seen lots of women in your time. She's offering to spend some time with you in a way you've never spent time with her before. Get your mind off sex, and get in the game. It's just Scully.
He watched her awkwardly try to shoot again. She was way off, not only in aim but in technique. He switched tracks in his brain and jogged over to her side. "No, not like that, Scully, you've gotta bend your wrist when you shoot, lock your arm, and let the ball roll off your fingertips." He retrieved the ball for her. "Here, let me show you."
He spent the next fifteen minutes instructing her on how to hold the ball and make a proper shot. She was a quick learner. She began to be successful in her attempts.
"Now let's try it with a little opposition," he said. He was sliding smoothly into the role of teacher now. He was interested in helping her learn a skill and a game that gave him great pleasure. He focused on her face and refused to let his eyes stray below her neck.
He stood in front of her with his hands up. It was pretty ridiculous. She couldn't even see the basket, much less get an accurate shot off. "Jump," he instructed her. A big mistake. It placed more of her anatomy in his range of eyesight.
"Uh, maybe you'd better feint left or right till you get me off balance enough to shoot, or better yet, dribble around me," he said. Scully wasn't being completely serious, but was enjoying herself, smiling and laughing throughout all Mulder's instructions. She was out for a good time, but she was listening and trying to do as Mulder said. She didn't care if she never played basketball again. That wasn't the point of being here today.
After twenty minutes of practicing, Mulder itched to show off. He wanted to move and keep busy. He didn't want to think about why Scully was here, why she had sent the card, and why she was dressed so seductively. He took the ball from her and began dribbling.
"Come get the ball," he said.
Scully reached in to take it. He dribbled the ball to his right and turned sideways to her and lifted his arm up between them to fend her off. She tried swatting at the ball, reaching in, anticipating his moves, but to no avail. Mulder just laughed as he continued to keep the ball out of her reach. They moved in half circles across the floor. Finally, Dana realized she wasn't going to get the ball from him. She stood still with her hands on her hips smiling.
Mulder dribbled the ball around her in a complete circle, laughing and taunting her to get it. "Come on, Scully, you can do it. Come on, try!" No matter what she did, he easily out maneuvered her. Fox decided to let up a little. He pretended something caught his attention on the side lines and looked away momentarily.
Scully seized the opportunity, as he knew she would. She rushed past him, took the ball and began dribbling it towards the goal. Fox turned to follow her, but got caught up in watching her run and dribble the ball. She had good control of the ball, and didn't seem to hesitate. He tried to get control of himself as he watched her hips and breasts sway gracefully. She was poetry in motion. At 5'2" she could never hope to do a lay up, so instead she decided to stop, plant herself and shoot. It was a miserable shot. She bent over laughing at her horrible attempt.
Fox jogged past her and retrieved the ball. He walked up close to her, holding the ball out. "How about a little one-on-one?" he asked quietly looking directly in her crystal blue eyes. "Isn't that what you came for?"
She stopped laughing at the serious tone in his voice.
He didn't give her time to answer. "I'll spot you 10 points, give you 2 for every basket you make, only take1 point for myself, and the first one to twenty wins. Game?" he stared down at her. Then he unexpectedly smiled.
She returned the grin, "OK, what are we playing for?"
Fox raised his eyebrows. Stakes? She wanted to put stakes on this so-called game that she had no chance of winning? "We'll let the winner decide." He wanted to leave everything open. He was thinking about the card. Surely he couldn't demand that, could he!
He tossed her the ball and the game began. It wasn't really a game. Fox ran circles around her literally. They both laughed, she broke every no-contact rule in the book, and he shamelessly cheated on the score, benefiting her. He wanted the ball to be in her court tonight, so to speak. She had started this, he wanted to see where she would take it.
The false score stood at 18-18. Scully had the ball at half court. She dribbled to the right of Mulder, but he forced her away from the basket to the far corner. She stood there dribbling, eyeing him, trying to decide how to get by him. He began to back up to give her some maneuvering room. She saw the opportunity, whizzed by him, around the top of the key and turned back in to make the final shot.
Mulder had already planted himself just out from under the basket where he knew she would take her one and only shot. She jumped up and released the shot. She had misjudged his proximity when she had turned back into the basket, and her momentum carried her forward, right into Mulder.
He had seen it coming, in fact, he had planned for it. In a real game he would have barreled out his chest to deflect the shooter and throw off the shot, fall backwards, and hopefully draw a charge on the offensive player. This is not what he wanted to do with Scully. He wasn't trying to injure her. As she slammed into his body, he absorbed the shock and her weight. As they both began to fall, he grabbed her and pulled her to him, so she would fall on him. He would let his back hit the floor and protect her. Just before landing, in a move perfected over years, he lifted his head up to avoid slamming it into the floor. Even as they were falling, Mulder was able to see the ball go in.
They both let out an 'oomph' as they made contact with the floor. Mulder was used to this action and was not hurt. Dana, however, lost her breath. Stunned, she lay on top of Mulder.
"Are you all right?" Mulder asked. He searched her eyes for confirmation.
Scully could only nod her head, still trying to fill her lungs with air. Her face was inches from his. She stared back into his hazel eyes and he was sure she could see into the very core of him. An electric energy filled what little space there was between them.
Mulder was completely aware of her body on his. He felt her sweat intermingle with his. He savored the touch of her bare-skinned stomach on his. And Fox felt her heart beating wildly in her breast, joining his beat for beat. Whether from exertion or excitement, he wasn't sure. His body began to stir with pleasure and burn with desire. He hoped it wouldn't betray him.
By not speaking, he was giving her the moment, to let her decide what to do next. If she sent that card, surely she would make her advances toward him now. If she didn't send the card, he wasn't going do anything that would make him look stupid later.
"You win," he said quietly, and he didn't mean just the game. Breaking her focus on his soul, she turned to watch the ball bounce and roll away.
"Yes!" she said triumphantly. She placed both hands on his face and planted a big kiss on his lips in jubilation. She knew he had let her win, but she had still had fun. She pushed herself off of him and ran after the ball.
Mulder laid his head down gently on the floor and just sighed softly.

Forty five minutes later, after showering and changing clothes again, they met in the hallway outside the locker rooms. Mulder was bewildered, and didn't know how to broach the subject, but he knew he had to know the answer to his question.
They were walking out to the car when he couldn't stand it any longer.
"Scully," he touched her shoulder so she would stop walking and face him.
She looked at him inquiringly, eyebrows raised slightly.
This was hard. But he had to know. He felt awkward around her now, and as her partner, that just wouldn't do.
"Yes," she finally said since he didn't speak. She could read distress on his face. Her eyes registered concern.
"Why did you," he began and then paused. He took a deep breath. "Why did you come out to play basketball tonight?"
She looked at him with complete innocence, "Because you invited me to." She added, "You are always asking me to come play, and I never do. I just decided tonight I would."
"And that's the only reason?" he asked carefully.
"What other reason would I have?" she queried him.
Mulder looked away for a moment from those piercing blue eyes of hers trying to decide whether to proceed or not. He had already started, he might as well finish. Facing her once again he said, "Well, I got this note today, a card actually." He pulled it out of his coat pocket to show her. She took it from him and looked at it dutifully.
"Nice picture," she said smiling. "I'm sure it livened up your day," and she handed it back to him.
Instead of taking it from her, he said, "Read what's inside." As she opened the card and read the contents he continued to speak.
"When you showed up dressed, or actually undressed, to play, I thought it might have been you that sent the card."
Scully was having a hard time controlling her laughter. He was so serious! She closed the card and looked up at him, a big smile on her face.
"Mulder, I have to tell you. I sneaked a peek in your desk today and saw this card. I knew you were expecting someone to show up, and I wanted to see who it was, too. I also wanted to give whoever it was a run for their money. That's why I dressed as I did. I was hoping to meet this mystery woman. I thought it would be fun to put you in the middle for a change.
"I'm really sorry she didn't show. But, I didn't send you this card." She was really laughing at his expense now.
Mulder smiled, somehow grateful that it hadn't been Scully, and dropped his head to his chest in mock defeat and abject humiliation. He began laughing at himself. He had been so stupid. They said pay back was hell, and Scully had gotten him.
They resumed walking to the car, and in between laughs, began trying to guess who might have sent the card.

Four blocks away, at the YMCA, a dejected Pamela Tindle silently left the basketball court wondering why Fox Mulder had not shown up. She had waited over two hours for him just in case he had gotten caught up in work and was running late.
Perhaps he didn't want to meet you, her thoughts nagged her. No, she countered, he's interested in me, I'm sure of it. The way he smiles at me, the way his eyes lock onto mine. But there was no denying that he hadn't come. Maybe he didn't understand where to meet me, she continued to try and justify his absence. No, surely an agent as smart and gifted as they say he is can plainly see the "Y" on the card, she thought.
As she walked to her car, cognizant that she would have to face him tomorrow morning when she gave him his ID badge, she was eternally grateful that she had not signed her name to the card.