LIFE BEGINS AT 36

SUMMARY: When Mulder turns 36, he begins to feel life is passing
him by until Scully lends a helping hand
RATING: Humor/Friendship/
WRITTEN BY: Sarah Prior E-MAIL: saprior@yahoo.com

Mulder woke up, he looked over at his alarm clock 8:11am on a Saturday
morning, it was his 36th birthday tomorrow, and he wasn't looking forward
to it one bit, he decided to get up, he climbed stood up
from his couch in which he had been sleeping, he stretched and rubbed
the remaining sleep from his eyes, he was glad he didn't have work today,
he had been upset all week over turning 36, he felt guilty, it must have been
hell being Scully and working with his constant mood swings all week
he took a clean pair of trousers (Pants in America) and put them in
he looked in the mirror, his hair stuck up at the side, he walked
into the bathroom, and wet it down with hot water, he put some
deodorant on and took his shirt from behind the bathroom door, he
brushed a comb through his hair a couple of times and began to wash
his face with soap, he took his toothbrush and began to put the
toothpaste onto the brush, he cleaned his teeth, he didn't need a shower
or a shave he had, had one last night pretty late when he had come
home from work, he finished cleaning his teeth and he rinsed his mouth
out, he took a towel and dried the water from his face, he was bored
already and he had only been up a while, he walked into the front
room and sat down on his couch, he really wanted to see Scully, at least
she was company and she had thankfully forgotten it was his birthday, she
probably didn't even know his age which was good, he took the remote
control from the table and flipped the TV on, he threw it back down
again when he had flicked through all the channels, he sighed, suddenly
there was a knock at the door, he stood up
"Who is it?" He asked loudly, clutching the door handle
"Me" It was Scully's voice, he opened the door, she smiled at him then
looked at him oddly, she could tell he wasn't his usual self and he
hadn't been all week, she walked over to the couch and sat down, Mulder
shut the door and turned round to face her,
"How long have you been up?" She asked, as he sat down beside her
"Not long" He replied, tidying up the huge stack of alien magazines that
had gathered next to Scully on the couch, she shuffled up in the space
in which they had been
"Did you finish your report?" She asked
"I did half, I figured Skinner could wait for the second half" He said
leaning back in the chair, Scully stared at him for a while
"I noticed you've been acting strangely" She said, he looked at her
and looked down at the floor
"I've just had stuff on my mind Scully" He said, leaning forward, he could
see the look of concern in her eyes, he so much wanted to tell her
what he had on his mind, but knowing her she'd say he was being silly,
instead he decided he'd keep it to himself, a pile of letters suddenly
came through the door, he stood up and picked them up, some were
bills but one was a birthday card, he began to think, without a seconds
thought longer he stuffed it into his pocket and receded onto the
couch again
"Hiding something?" She said sarcastically
"My months subscription invoice to celebrity skin" He said smiling, he
chucked the other letters onto the table, and sat back in his chair
"Mulder I came round to speak to you about the way you've been acting
this week" She said, looking into his eyes, she could see he was sad,
"I know it's your birthday tomorrow" She said smiling, he immediately
leaned forward
"Maybe that will take your mind of whatever is on your mind" She said
smiling
"Maybe" He said, she caught onto his tone
"Can't you just tell me what's wrong?, you've been walking around
all week with a enormous chip on your shoulder, I can't take it
anymore" She suddenly regretted what she had just said, Mulder didn't answer
"Scully, the reason I've been acting so strangely is because of my
birthday" He said, taking the birthday card that was sealed in a white
paper envelope, he knew it was from his mom,
"Why?" She asked
"I'm 36" He snapped
"Is that all?" She asked, he could see the large smirk emerging on her face
he wished he had never told her now, now she was thinking he was being
dumb, maybe he was but it sure didn't feel like it to him, she took
the card from his hand
"Mulder, life begins at that age believe me" She said, gently patting
him on the back, she felt pretty relieved, she thought maybe he
had stumble across another one of his conspiracies and it was making
him feel down, she also felt sorry for Mulder, she could see how upset
he was about this
"Mulder, I'll come round tomorrow and we can have a drink and a talk" She
said, smiling, he started to feel more comfortable now Scully had
given her piece, he started to not care about his age, she stood up
"See you tomorrow" she said, smiling and opening the door
"See you" He said.

SUNDAY
9.08AM

MULDERS APARTMENT

Mulder was woken by a large knock on the door, he jumped off the couch and
walked into the bedroom, he began to put his cloths on, he walked
to the door and opened it, Scully stood in the door way, clutching a
bottle of wine and a fairly large box, she smiled at him, he opened the
door, she walked in and placed all the stuff onto the table
"Did I wake you?" She asked
"No of course not" He said, taking the box, he placed it on the table
in front of the couch,
"My favorite" He said, reading the label on the wine
"Happy birthday" She said, handing him a card
"Thanks" He said, on the front of the card was an aliens face, he opened
it, reading TO MULDER, A GREAT FRIEND AND A GREAT PARTNER, HAPPY BIRTHDAY
LOVE SCULLY, he leant over and kissed her on the cheek
"Thanks alot Scully" He said, placing the card on top of his TV set,
he sat down beside Scully
"This means alot to me" He said, smiling
"Now for your present" She said, handing him the box.
"For me?" He asked, smiling, he opened the box, it was a neck tie with
small alien crafts on it, he big smile filled his face
"Thanks alot, just what I needed" He said, kissing her on the cheek again,
he placed the tie on the table, and looked at Scully.
"Feel better now?" She asked
"Alot better Scully, in fact I feel great" He said, leaning back in the chair,
she was glad she made him feel that way, at least he wasn't going to
march around the office for another week with a chip on his shoulder,
"What shall we do now?" Scully asked, looking around the apartment
"Parte" He said, LINE FROM DETOUR IN HOTEL ROOM
"Mulder, really?" She questioned
"Seriously Scully, we could invite Skinner and some other guys from the
FBI" He said, sarcastically
"Skinner was worried about you, until I filled him in last night" She said,
smiling
"Truthfully Scully, I'm really glad you could some over today" he said,

TWO HOURS LATER
DURING A GAME OF SCRABBLE

"I think that is a word Scully" he said annoyed
"Mulder, alien is a word, but not in the content you mean" She said,
shaking her head
"Besides, its a little strange how you got those letters to make
that word" She said
"Ok I admit it I cheated, happy?" He said, smiling
"This is getting boring now" She said, smiling
"Your right, perhaps we should open the bottle of bubbly" He said, in
an posh, English accent
"Mulder, it's only just after 11:30 in the morning" She said, helping him
place the letters into the scrabble box
"Who cares" he said, taking the box, he returned from the kitchen
clutching two glasses, he took the bottle of wine and opened it with
a cork screw
"Thanks" She said, taking a glass he had just filled up with wine, she
took a sip,
"Nice" She said, sitting down on the couch, Mulder sat beside her
"Mulder, lets have that talk now" She said, taking another sip, Mulder
drank until he had just under half a glass
"Sure" He said, facing her, Scully looked at him oddly.
"Mulder, have you ever considered plastic surgery?" She asked
"I never realized how ugly I was until you pointed it out" He said,
"I never meant that Mulder, I've often thought about it but never
actually considered it" She said, taking another sip, Mulder finished
the remaining wine and stood up to get another glass, he returned
"I have considered it but, decided totally against it" he said, nodding.
"What about liposuction?" She asked
"Maybe when I grow, fat and old" He said, laughing, Scully laughed too
"I used to know somebody who had liposuction" She said, seriously
"I'd probably be scared actually, after what happened with that witch at that
hospital" He said,
"What was her name?" Mulder asked
"I can't remember, I know she had problems years after" She said, taking
a sip of wine
"Scully, do I look 36?" He asked
"In fact you look 2 times younger than you are" She said, staring at him
"What about me?" She asked
"10 times younger" He said, smiling, she looked at his wine, had he really
drank almost two glasses, she was still on her first, he drank the remaining
wine and poured some more
"What?" He asked confused, she hadn't realized she was staring at him
"I was just thinking" She said, smiling
"Thinking about what?" He asked
"How drunk your gonna get drinking at that rate" She said, he looked at his
glass
"I'm celebrating" He said, smiling
"You'll regret it," She said,

4 HOURS LATER

"I always wondered how on Scooby-doo, the mask changed their voice" Mulder
said, Scully could tell he was drunk, the way he slurred and the way
his eyes darted about rapidly, as if he was trying to focus
"What do you mean?" She asked
"Well, when the bad guys revealed themselves at the end?" He questioned
"Yea" She said
"Well, as soon as they pulled the mask off, they're voices changed" He said
drinking some more wine, Scully thought about it for a while
"You're right, Mulder... you're completely right" she said smiling, Mulder
put his empty glass down on the table and stood up, he swayed a little
but he managed to make his way into the kitchen, Scully put her glass
down, suddenly a large bang came from the kitchen.
"What was that?" She called out
"I just uhm...fell" He said, laughing, Scully stood up and walked in, Mulder
was sprawled out in the middle of the floor, holding a bottle of beer,
she walked over to him and helped him up
"Mulder" She said, he stood up
"Thanks" He said, trying to make his way into the front room without
falling over, she managed to stop him, he popped open the bottle of
beer and began to drink it
"Don't you think you've had enough?" She asked,
"What?" He asked, slurred, he was trying to focus on her but he couldn't
he was going to collapse, he managed to say one more word
"No I haven't" Before, he finally conked out, he fell to the floor, hitting
his head on the table, the bottle of beer splashed everywhere
including over Scully, she stood up
"Great" She yelled annoyed, she leant beside Mulder
"Mulder are you ok?" She asked, gently shaking him, she knew he was
out, he had drank almost a whole bottle of very, very strong wine,
she decided she would try to get him onto the couch, it took a while and
a lot of hard work but she finally did it, she noticed a small bump
appearing on his forehead, she was now worried in case the knock to
the head caused any injury to his brain, she thought she might
check his eyes, but due to the intake of alcohol, they were
probably not dilating anyway, instead she decided to get some ice and
hold it onto the lump, she slid a cushion under Mulder's head and
slowly tip-toed into the kitchen, she took a cloth and some ice from the
freezer, she walked back into the front room and held the ice onto
the lump, it was getting bigger by the minute, at least the ice would
stop it getting anymore bigger, he was gonna have one hell of an
headache when he woke up later, she looked at her watch it read 3:44pm,
she had been there since about 9:00am that morning, she sighed as
she thought of the fact she had to stay there until Mulder woke up
which could be hours, she took the ice from his head and looked
at the lump again, a bruise was beginning to form now, she stood up
and walked into the kitchen, she looked in the fridge, a piece of
cheese wrapped up in clear foil was all the fridge had apart from
an out of date bottle of orange juice, she slammed the fridge, and
opened a cupboard, all she found was a packet of salted crisps (chips in
America), she took them and began to eat them.

2 HOURS LATER

Scully was getting over bored now, she was beginning to fall asleep because
she was so bored, Mulder stirred from time to time, and mumbled
something about Doritos but still he hadn't woke, she thought about
their day together, they had talked about stuff together, that none
of them really had thought about, she somehow felt closer to him,
closer in a friendly way, she imagined them dating, how they would
be together, but it wouldn't be right, she didn't feel attracted to
him in that way, Mulder shifted a little and opened one eye, she smiled
at him, he sat up and put his head in his hands and coughed.
"Ok?" She asked
"I feel like my heads been used as a punching bag" He said,
squinting to look at Scully, she came into focus a lot clearer and so
did the room,
"Mulder, you drank nearly the whole bottle of that wine" She said annoyed
"Ohh, sorry" He said, taking the small cover off that Scully had put over
him,
"Excuse me" He said, standing up, he ran into the bathroom, she could
hear him being sick, she screwed up her face, and shook her head, he
returned a little while later, his face was pale and he certainly
had a fever.
"Mulder, you drank on an empty stomach?" She asked
"Yeah" He said, he felt sick very sick, he just wanted the ground to
swallow him, Scully was staring at him anxiously
"Mulder, no wonder your so sick" She said, walking over to him, she
put her hand on his forehead
"oww" He yelled, as she accidentally rubbed the lump which had gone
down and now was a fairly large bruise
"You have a fever" She said, moving her hand away.
"What happened?" He asked, gently touching the bruise
"Mulder, you drank so much you fainted and on the way down you hit
your head on the table" She said, smiling, his head was aching from
the amount of alcohol he had drank and his stomach surged with
sickness
"I'll get you some water and a painkiller" She said, walking into
the kitchen, Mulder really didn't want her to play her doctor
act, he felt guilty, she had probably stayed all day to make sure
he was ok, and now it looked like she would have to stay longer, she
returned with a glass of water, she handed him it, he gulped a couple
of drops and caught his breath
"I knew you'd be dehydrated" She said, smiling
"I guess your liver isn't very happy with you" She said, handing him
two small white capsules, he put them into his mouth and washed
them down with several mouthfuls of water, he drank the water and
laid back down
"Mulder, seriously you shouldn't have drank so much" She said,
"I didn't realize I was, but I'm certainly getting paid back" He
said, he didn't want a lecture from her either, he was
already aware it was a big mistake, he wanted to sleep for a
few hours later
"You really don't have to stay" Mulder said, Scully looked at him
"Mulder, I can't leave you like this" She said,
"I'm gonna go to sleep, you've already watched me sleep all afternoon"
He said, smiling, Scully smiled back
"Call me if you still have a headache when you wake up Mulder, and try
and drink some more" She said, standing up
"Yes Mom" He said smiling, she smiled at him and took her jacket from
the back of the couch.
"Promise you'll tell me Mulder?" She questioned
"I promise Scully" He said, holding her hand
"Thanks for today Scully" He said, letting go
"Don't mention it" She said, kissing him in the forehead he let
out a small grunt
"Sorry" She whispered
"Happy Birthday" She said, walking out of the apartment

NEXT DAY
FBI HEADQUARTERS
WASHINGTON DC
8:15AM

Mulder walked into his office, he was shocked to see Scully sitting
at her desk reading
"Morning" She said, closing the file she had in front of her, Mulder
was feeling a little embarrassed after his actions yesterday, he
sat down
"Sleep well?" She asked
"I slept great, how about you?" He asked, she knew he was trying
to change the subject
"How were you when you woke up?" She asked
"I was fine, in fact I felt totally great" he said, nodding, she smiled
and turned away, a knock at the door broke their thoughts, Skinner
looked around the door
"Mulder, Scully" He said, walking in, he looked at Mulder
"What happened to your head?" Skinner asked, Mulder shifted in his
chair embarrassed
"I Umm." Mulder said, he paused for a second
"He got into an accident sir" Scully said, Skinner turned round to
face Scully
"What kind of accident?" He asked
"He fell down some stairs" She said, Mulder looked at her and smiled
"Oh, I was just informed you didn't finish a case" Skinner said looking
at them both, Scully handed Skinner the file she had been reading
"IS this your report?" He asked her
"Sir, you should find everything in there" She said,
"Sir I..."Mulder said, Scully cut him off
"Mulder forgot to sign" She said, Mulder looked at her oddly, until
he finally realized she had written him a report, he had only
written half and Skinner wouldn't be impressed, he took a pen from
his desk tidy and signed the document
"Thanks" Skinner said, taking the file he walked out
"I owe you one" He said, smiling.
"You better remember," She said smiling back.

THE END