From: ephemeral@ephemeralfic.org
Date: Mon, 16 Jun 2008 14:16:19 -0500 (CDT)
Subject: Happy Birthday Fro by Twilight
Source: direct

Reply To: jchew82@hotmail.com


Title: Happy Birthday Fro
Author: Twilight Walters
E-Mail: jchew82@hotmail.com 
Distribution: Anywhere but please let me know
Rating: K / G
Categories: Story Humour
Keywords: Mulder/Scully Angst Mulder/Scully UST 
Scully/Frohike Friendship
Spoilers: Fight the Future (reference only)
Summary: It's a late Friday night at a Jazz club; add a 
blonde, brunette and a red head along with two skimpy black 
dresses and some scintillating conversation. What do you 
get... an evening full of misunderstandings and 
presumptions. The question is... who will go home with 
whom?
Disclaimer: The characters in this story are the property 
of Chris Carter and Fox. No copyright infringement 
intended. 
Feedback: Feed me, Seymour! Feedback is always wanted. It's 
like chocolate to me but without the calories.

~x~

Happy Birthday Fro
By Twilight

It was a busy Friday night in the jazz club when the two 
women walked in, catching more than a few admiring glances.
The women were similarly attired in short black tight 
dresses and high black heels. They would have been waiting 
a long time out in the cold had they not easily caught the 
attention of the doorman. Both swayed unconsciously to the 
music holding themselves with confidence and poise. 

The taller of the two had long slender legs and a narrow 
waist, which flared out into modest hips and succeeded in 
drawing attention to her more than ample cleavage. She was 
more than alluring in appearance with delicate features; 
deep brown eyes and red pouting lips along with a mane of 
wavy black hair which was flowing loosely down her back. 

The more striking of the two was also equipped with 
delicate features, a seductive smile and piercing blue 
eyes. Though she was modest in height, her legs seemed 
long, slender and shapely and were being nicely accentuated 
by her short figure hugging dress and her three-inch high 
slinky heels. Her hips were slim, her waist narrow and her 
cleavage subtle yet very well defined. Her strikingly red 
hair was softly framing her face and enticing even more 
blatant attention.

"Oh Dana, it's so good to be out with you again... it's 
been way too long." The taller of the two stated as they 
giggled slightly at the hateful glares they had received 
when being ushered through the club doors. What could they 
do? Sometimes you just got lucky.

"I know Lizzy but with work and, well, you know how it is." 
Dana Scully replied linking her arm with her friends so 
they would not lose each other in the crowd.

"I know..." Her friend replied remorsefully. "... But let's 
not worry about that tonight. This is after all a 
celebration."

"It is indeed. I can't believe you got the divorce 
finalized so quickly." Scully stated in awe, raising her 
voice slightly to be heard over the music.

"Quickly? That man stole three years of my life. Time I'll 
never get back, time that I could have been using to build 
a home and make babies..." Lizzy halted abruptly realising 
her unintentional slip. "Oh Dana... I'm so sorry I wasn't 
thinking."

"It's okay... it's a part of life." Dana brushed off her 
friends' concern gently. This was a night out and she 
wasn't about to let it slide downhill so easily. "I still 
can't believe Travis was only in the marriage for your 
money, I mean... what was he, blind?"

"Oh Dee, you're just too sweet." Lizzy replied embracing 
her friend in a quick hug. "I should have known better, he 
was always something of an air head but I fell for him 
anyway. He seemed like such a sob story and you know I 
can't help but fall for them. The silly thing is ... he 
wasn't even my type. If I ever look twice at a guy like 
that again shoot me."

Dana laughed at her friend's statement. "Sure. If I ever 
see you falling for a tall, blond haired, blue eyed man 
with the body of Adonis... I will be sure to shoot you."

"Thanks Dana, I knew I could count on you." Lizzy giggled. 
"The real joke of the whole thing is that Travis signed a 
prenuptial agreement. He never stood a chance at getting a 
cent. I guess he mustn't have known what it was."

Dana bit her lip trying not to laugh but the urge was too 
overwhelming. "I'm sorry, hon... but that's classic!"

"Yeah, yeah... laugh all you want but I'm sticking to smart 
men from now on. At least you know where you stand with 
them."

Dana rolled her eyes "Ummm, some of them... so, are we 
gonna dance or what?"

"Well, I was going to suggest it but seeing as you have 
complained about your aching feet no less then four times 
in the past hour I figured it was out of the question." 
Lizzy stated teasingly.

"You try wearing four inch heels all day then putting 
another pair on to come out in the evening..." Dana eyed 
her friend appraisingly before adding sarcastically. "Oh, I 
forgot. You don't have to." 

Lizzy giggled with her friend. As long as they had known 
each other Dana had been jealous of Lizzy's height, but 
then Lizzy had always been jealous of Dana's colouring so 
it was a fair trade off. "I don't see why you bother 
anyway, I mean you're an incredibly attractive woman. So 
you're short, deal with it."

Dana smiled up at her friend enjoying their comfortable 
banter. "Believe me, I would, but I happen to have a six 
foot tall partner that makes it very hard for me to 
forget."

"You know Dana..." Lizzy chuckled. "That could only happen 
to you."

Dana rolled her eyes in a tell-me-something-I-don't-know 
way. "I think I need a drink."

Lizzy looked to the hordes of people surrounding the club's 
bar then lifted her eyebrows. "Yeah, good luck with that."

"Watch and learn, Lizzy my dear." Dana murmured confidently 
smoothing her black dress down over her curves and lowering 
her neckline to reveal a more ample view of her bosom. 
Strutting to the bar with purpose she easily shimmied 
between the waiting patrons, after all, being her height 
did have some advantages. 

Leaning over the bar slightly she caught the attention of 
the bartender. He headed her way immediately, bypassing at 
least five waiting men who were frantically waving their 
money at him. 

"What can I do for you?" The bartender asked flirtatiously.

"Well, I'd like a couple of martinis but I think this 
gentleman was here before me." Dana cooed indicating the 
man next to her.

"That's okay." The man to her left squeaked. "Actually... 
let me get those for you and I'll have a couple of beers 
too." 

"Thank you." Dana purred to him as she gave the bartender a 
sly wink. The bartender grinned broadly mixing her martinis 
and then grabbing a couple of beers as an afterthought. 

"How about a dance?" The mysterious martini buyer asked her 
as she turned to escape with the drinks.

"Later." She purred before disappearing back into the 
crowd. 

Lizzy saw her friend approaching her with the two drinks. 
"Dana Scully did you just do what I think you did?"

"Depends what you think I did." Dana stated coyly.

Lizzy chuckled knowing her friend's old trick. "I'll get 
the next round."

"No need. I didn't get this one." Dana smiled sipping her 
martini.

"Dana Scully you're incorrigible." Lizzy giggled before 
sipping her own martini.

"I know." 

"Ummm, eye candy at eleven o'clock." Lizzy smiled 
distractedly whilst unconsciously licking her lips.

"No way Lizzy, you said this was a girls night out. Girls 
only." Dana stated stubbornly as memories of their younger 
days sprang back to mind. "I refuse to be pawed over by 
some strange guy's mate, just so you can line up a date."

"Oh, Danes, but he's perfect for me." Lizzy smiled eyeing 
the man up and down like he was a treat waiting to be 
unwrapped. "I can see from here that he has a hidden 
intellect."

Dana arched her brow incredulously. "No. Not a chance."

"But Danes look... he's everything I want, please... I've 
been unhappy for the past two years, help me celebrate. 
Just take a look." Lizzy pleaded pointing in the direction 
of her potential Romeo. 

Dana looked over her shoulder and saw the man her friend 
was referring to. "Absolutely not." She stated in horror. 
"I know them."

"Perfect. You can introduce me."       

~x~

Mulder stood in shock as the unexpected floorshow 
dissipated. "Frohike, what just happened?"

Frohike shook his head in amusement before placing a 
comradely hand on his friends shoulder. "Mulder my man, you 
saw just as much as me."

Mulder shook his head in surprise. "I can't believe Byers 
just got thrown out of a jazz club."

"I know man." Frohike agreed. "At least with Langly you 
kinda expect it."

"What did Byers even do?" Mulder asked, still confused.

"Best I can figure, the bouncers thought he was a jealous 
boyfriend." Frohike tried desperately to disguise the mirth 
in his voice as he began thinking up ways to tease his 
straight-laced friend. "I keep telling blondie to get his 
hair cut but will he listen to me? Nope, it was just a 
matter of time before he started getting hit on like that. 
Byers really shouldn't have tried to break it up."

"But that guy? He has to be about eight feet tall." Mulder 
replied in shock as he watched the man in question tower 
above the bouncers.

"Yup. Guess that's why Byers and Langly were thrown out 
instead of him."

"So, the real question is... did that guy mistake Langly 
for a woman or is he just that way inclined?" Mulder asked, 
a smirk making its way to his lips.

"Who cares man? Their problem. You never know, Langly still 
might get lucky tonight." Frohike replied tilting his head 
to the side nonchalantly. 

Mulder looked to his friend inquisitively. "Don't you think 
they'll head straight home?"

"I'm sure they will..." Frohike muttered smirking. "... But 
we already know Byers is into blondes."

"Oh, Fro! I did not need that visual in my head." Both men 
started laughing uncontrollably. "We should really have 
done something to help."

"And get thrown out too? No way man, it's my birthday and I 
wanna celebrate. Look at all these chicks man, you really 
wanna miss out on this?"

"Not really my type." Mulder stated in an off hand manner 
before giving a cursory look around the dance floor to 
appease his friend. "You think you stand a chance?"

"With you? Sorry, Mulder you just don't float my boat." 
Frohike stated laughing more at Mulder's incredulous 
expression before adding seriously. "Admittedly some of 
them seem a little out of my league."

"Well duh... I'm guessing that they don't have 'made in 
Taiwan' stamped on their asses."

"That hurts man!" Frohike mockingly grabbed at his chest in 
a bereft manner. "Besides... don't you think it will be 
damn fun to find out?"

"Okay..." Mulder stated humouring his friend. "It's your 
birthday after all so pick a victim." 

"No need." Frohike murmured watching the black haired 
goddess make her way towards them. "Man, you get all the 
luck."

The goddess came to a stop in front of them and smiled 
first to Mulder then to Frohike. "Hi." She purred.

Mulder gave her a cursory look up and down taking a sip of 
his scotch. He really wasn't interested but knew that was 
no reason to be impolite. "Hi."

The woman in front of him pulled slightly on someone behind 
her, bringing another woman into view. Mulder's eyes worked 
their way up the new woman's body, casually taking in her 
appearance. 'High heels, nice legs... nice body but she's 
still not...' He gasped. "Scully!"

"Scully?" Frohike echoed.

"Mulder, Frohike." Scully stated uncomfortably.

"You..." Mulder started then hesitated as he raked his eyes 
over her once more. He was feeling incredibly turned on and 
very uncomfortable at the same time. "You never said you 
were going out tonight." He stated accusingly.

"Neither did you." She replied, absently taking another sip 
of her martini.

"Oh, it's a special occasion." Mulder stated trying 
desperately hard not to lower his eyes to her ample 
cleavage once more.

"Really?" Scully asked sceptically.

"Hu hum." Lizzy coughed, getting her friends attention and 
shooting her daggers through her eyes.

"Oh, sorry." Scully apologised. It was so easy for her and 
Mulder to become wrapped up in each other's attention being 
that they spent so much time together alone. "Fox Mulder, 
Melvin Frohike, I'd like you to meet my friend Lizzy 
McQue."

"Beth." Lizzy corrected her friend. "She only gets to call 
me Lizzy because we have been friends so long. Nice to meet 
you." Lizzy added as she shook Mulder's hand before turning 
to Frohike.

Frohike lifted her hand in his half glove-clad hand and 
placed it to his lips. "I'm blinded surrounded by such 
beauty." Frohike whispered eyeing Scully and Lizzy before 
placing a gentle kiss on Lizzy's hand.

Lizzy smiled widely before gently extracting her hand from 
Frohike's grasp, inciting both Mulder and Scully to roll 
their eyes heavenwards. 

"Special occasion?" Scully prompted Mulder.

"Oh, yeah. It's Frohike's birthday."

"Really?" Lizzy asked squeezing Dana's hand. 

Dana was suddenly reminded of their college tradition and 
smiled at her friend before they both moved in towards 
Frohike. Each rubbed their bodies briefly but sensually 
against Frohike as they leaned in and simultaneously each 
kissed one of Frohike's cheeks. 

"Happy Birthday." They purred in unison. 

"Wow." Frohike gasped in surprise, nearly dropping his 
drink. 

Mulder looked on in awe. 'I wonder how many of those she's 
had?' Mulder thought eyeing his partner's martini.  

Frohike looked to Mulder. "We can go home now."

"What?" Mulder asked thoroughly confused.

"Well I don't think the evening can top that!" Frohike 
exclaimed smiling widely at Scully and Lizzy.

Mulder laughed along with his friend before turning his 
attention back to his partner. "So... you know why we're 
here..."

Scully smiled at Mulder's unasked question before 
declaring. "Celebration."

"What's the occasion?" 

Scully opened her mouth to reply but received a sharp stab 
of nails to her wrist so hesitated. 

"Does there have to be an occasion?" Lizzy asked 
distractingly batting her eyelids at Mulder. She certainly 
didn't want the future man of her life to know she was here 
celebrating her divorce being finalized.

"Guess not." Mulder smiled back.

Scully looked around suddenly feeling confused. "No Langly 
or Byers?"

Frohike smiled before answering. "No they had a date."

Mulder half laughed and half choked on his scotch. Frohike 
joined him in his mirth, slapping his friend on the back to 
stop him choking.

"Am I missing something?" Scully asked confused.

"I'll explain later." Mulder laughed, catching his breath.

Scully began slightly moving from foot to foot in an 
attempt to adjusting the pressure on her aching feet. 
Mulder saw her discomfort immediately and placed a 
supportive hand at her elbow. "You okay?"

"Fine." Scully replied trying unsuccessfully to hide her 
pain. 

"Would you like to get a table?" Mulder asked seeing a 
booth become available. 

"Sure." Lizzy jumped at the chance. "She has been 
complaining all evening about her aching feet."

Scully's free elbow stabbed out unceremoniously jabbing her 
friend in the side before she innocently addressed Mulder 
and Frohike. "Sure we wouldn't be ruining your evening?"

Frohike fielded the question. "How could spending time with 
two exquisite ladies such as yourselves possibly ruin an 
evening?"

That decided Mulder guided Scully towards the vacant booth 
with his hand at the small of her back. Frohike stepped to 
Lizzy's side and gallantly ushered her after them. Scully 
slid into the booth first and Mulder slid in opposite her.

"So, Beth... how do you two know each other?" Mulder asked 
conversationally as Lizzy slipped into the booth next to 
her friend.

"Oh, we go way back. We've known each other since we were 
little girls." Lizzy answered happily. "We've stayed best 
friends ever since."

"Really?" Mulder stated defensively. "Scully's never 
mentioned you."

"Mulder?" Scully hissed her displeasure at his tone before 
looking to Lizzy. She seemed slightly taken aback by the 
tone in his voice so Scully comforted her. "We don't often 
talk about our personal lives."

Mulder winced, hurt and offended by Scully's statement and 
was unable to hide his swift intake of breath.

Scully reached over and touched Mulder's hand reassuringly. 
"We're normally too busy chasing after little grey men." 
Scully added smiling to Mulder before looking back to 
Lizzy.

"Aren't they green?" Lizzy asked confused.

"Grey." Mulder and Scully confirmed in unison inciting a 
round of laughter on their table.

"So..." Mulder stated addressing Lizzy, he was confused by 
her sudden presence in his partner's life. "Are you a 
fellow agent?"

Lizzy and Scully both started laughing. "Gosh no!" Lizzy 
replied smiling to her friend. "Dana was always the tomboy 
I was more of a girlie girl."  

Mulder stiffened at Lizzy's faux pas but Scully seemed 
unaffected. 

"I'm in cosmetology, hair and makeup."

Mulder's head whipped round to Scully so fast she was 
afraid he might get whiplash. She smiled at him 
reassuringly before holding her hands up and wiggling her 
fingers, displaying her nails. "It means I get free 
manicures." 

"And facials, massages, pedicures, styling... I keep trying 
to encourage her to use more of our services. We all need 
pampering every now and then, right?" Lizzy asked lifting 
her olive to her lips to suck.

"Right." Mulder agreed. He turned to Frohike to try and 
include him more in the conversation but saw all his 
friends attention focused on Lizzy's olive so he continued. 
"What got you interested in that line of work?"

"Oh it's just a little thing." Lizzy dismissed the 
question.

"Little?" Scully choked. "She runs five beauty salons, 
number six is opening next year and she has her own range 
of nail products available commercially."

Lizzy blushed. It was true but she wasn't one to brag. 

"Impressive. How did that happen?"

"Well it didn't start off that way. I got my doctorate in 
computer sciences and used it with my masters in chemistry 
to help me develop a compound that actually strengthened 
and ... well, it helped me create a revolution in the 
cosmetics world."

"You have a doctorate in computer sciences and a masters 
degree in chemistry?" Frohike asked in awe. 

"Yep. I still use computer programming at work but it is 
more of a hobby for me now. Working in computing can be 
such a solitary occupation and I've always preferred to be 
a little more hands on." She stated lifting Mulder's hand 
into her own. "Nice." She murmured before returning her 
attention to Frohike. Taking his hand into her own, she 
examined his nails. "You could do with a little attention. 
I'd be happy to give you a manicure. Free of charge of 
course." 

"Uh, thanks but I think I'll have to pass." Frohike 
blushed. "I don't think the guys would let me live 
something like that down." Lizzy smiled as Frohike 
swallowed back the rest of his scotch before catching the 
attention of the waitress. "Beer please, two martinis and 
a..." Frohike looked to Mulder.

"Another scotch." Mulder smiled realising that Frohike was 
unintentionally probably trying to redefine himself in his 
masculine status.

"Thank you." Lizzy smiled before grabbing her purse. 
"Excuse me, I just need to freshen up. Danes?"

"Right behind you." Scully smiled grabbing her own purse. 
Both Frohike and Mulder stood chivalrously as Lizzy and 
Scully exited the booth.

As soon as the ladies were out of sight Frohike slumped 
back onto the bench. "Do you think I offended her?"

"I think she was more amused than offended." Mulder replied 
smiling.

"Do you think they'll come back?" Frohike asked unsure.

"Of course they will, its Scully."

"I don't know if you noticed what she was wearing tonight 
but that certainly wasn't the Agent Scully I know." Frohike 
declared.

Mulder smiled. "Oh, I definitely noticed what she was 
wearing... I'm sure they'll come back." Frohike looked 
unconvinced. "Would you like me to go and check they 
haven't escaped out the back door?"

Frohike nodded his reply and smiled his thanks.

"Man, and people call me paranoid." Mulder muttered as he 
headed towards the toilets.

~x~

Rounding the corner Mulder spotted Scully and Lizzy 
patiently waiting in line for the toilets. He was about to 
head back to the table when their conversation caught his 
attention.

"Oh Dana, he's positively drool worthy." Lizzy whispered 
conspiratorially to her friend.

"Lizzy." Scully warned her friend.

"I can't believe you've known him all this time and you 
never thought to introduce us."

"While you were married?" Scully asked sceptically.

"Well, no but..."

"I'm sorry, Lizzy, but he is a good friend of mine. Hell, 
we even work together ... he means a lot to me and I won't 
let you use him as your rebound guy."

'Well this is interesting.' Mulder thought as he leaned 
back against the wall and into the shadows. Luckily for 
him, it was a lot quieter back here so he didn't have to 
strain too hard to hear their conversation. 

"Dana, I wouldn't. I thought you knew me better than that." 
Lizzy stated hurt and offended.

"I do. I'm sorry." Dana muttered stroking her friend's arm 
repentantly. "I just don't want to see him get hurt... or 
you for that matter."

Mulder smiled. 'Nice to know she cares, that she's 
protective of me.'

"I'm not stepping on any toes here am I? I saw the way he 
was looking at you." Lizzy asked still feeling slightly 
confused.

"No." Dana blatantly assured her friend.

'Hu?'

Lizzy smiled. "Good, because he's perfect for me. I'm sure 
we have loads in common."

"How can you tell? He barely got a word in." Dana smirked.

"Was I talking too much? Did I make a fool of myself? Oh, 
Dana, you should have stopped me." Lizzy whispered feeling 
slightly horrified.

"Relax. He seemed quite taken with you."

'I'm not sure I like the way this is going.' Mulder thought 
hating himself for hanging around but unable to pull 
himself away from the impending train wreck.

"Good. Oh, have you noticed his eyes and that mouth... 
ummm, those lips." Lizzy cooed positively smitten. "Oh and 
his hands... they were so soft! I can just imagine them all 
over me."

"Oh! Too much information." Dana cringed trying to stop her 
friend.

Lizzy continued regardless. "He has such a distinguished 
profile. Oh and his height!" 

"Oh God!" Scully rolled her eyes.

"Are you sure you two haven't got something going on? He 
was giving you an awful lot of admiring glances." Lizzy 
enquired again.

"Me and ...? God no! Though he did try to kiss me once, 
thank God that was interrupted because I have no idea how I 
would have let the poor guy down."

Mulder stood there dumfounded. 'That's how she feels?' He 
realised. 'That's really what she was thinking? She's 
honestly thanking God for a bee carrying an alien virus? I 
thought she...' Mulder's thoughts trailed off as Lizzy and 
Scully entered the bathroom giggling. 

Scully's parting words only just reached his ears but they 
echoed loudly through his head. "Not until hell freezes 
over."

'Hell freezes? Is the thought of me and her really so 
ludicrous that she would laugh about it?'

Mulder stalked back to their booth, first feeling hurt then 
angered. Arriving at the table he saw the waitress place 
his fresh drink down. Mulder picked it up and swallowed it 
back in one gulp. 

"I'll have another, and make it a double." He demanded of 
the waitress as she quickly turned to go fill his new 
order. 

"They've done a runner." Frohike stated visibly deflating.

"What? Oh, no. No, they'll be back."

"Well that's a good thing right?" Frohike asked confused by 
Mulder's demeanour. 

"Right." Mulder sneered. 

Scully and Lizzy approached the booth seeing a bartender 
set a drink down in front of Mulder while giving him a 
warning glare. Though the occurrence seemed slightly 
unusual Scully thought nothing more of it.

"Sorry we were so long." Scully stated as Mulder and 
Frohike rose until the ladies were seated once more. "The 
queue was terrible."

"Uh-hu." Mulder disregarded Scully's statement and returned 
his focus to Lizzy. "So, Beth... tell us more about your 
company."  

"Oh." Lizzy blushed recalling her conversation with Dana. 
"You don't want to be listening to me all night."

"Let me be the judge of that." Mulder leered. "I know I for 
one would love to hear more about your work." Mulder looked 
to Frohike for backup.

"Sure." Frohike spoke up. "I'd love to hear more, though 
I'm still slightly blown away by what you've already told 
us."

Lizzy blushed and looked to her friend for some moral 
support. Scully's eyes were however fixed on her drink. 
"Well, I started my company six years ago. The first six 
months were really hard but after we got in to nail art..." 
Lizzy trailed off seeing the blank look cross Frohike's 
face. "... you know the pretty pictures and sparkles on 
nails?" At Frohike nod she continued. "Well, after that 
things really took off and before I knew it I was opening a 
new salon every year."

"That's fascinating." Mulder stated gazing at Lizzy. Scully 
felt a chill run up her spine as her body went cold 
prompting her to take a large gulp of her martini. "So, did 
you have formal training to become a beautician?"

"Oh, yes. I completed three years of training in beauty 
therapies before I was qualified. You can't let just anyone 
near a bottle of peroxide you know." Lizzy laughed.

"Someone should have told Langly that." Frohike quipped 
making Scully smile.

Lizzy smiled though she didn't understand the inside joke. 
"I completed my training in evening classes while putting 
my doctorate to work during the day."

"What kinda work were you doing during the day then?" 
Frohike asked intrigued to know more about her computing 
talents.

"You know, some computer programming and stuff. I developed 
a few security packages too. Basically I was just planning 
on doing enough to pay off my tuition fees. Do you know 
anything about computers or security packages?" Lizzy 
directed her question toward Frohike. 

"A little." Frohike smirked.

"Have you ever come across the Nordberge defence system?"

"Yeah, I'm still trying to crack that thing." Frohike 
sounded bitter.

"Let me know how that goes." Lizzy smiled and took a few 
sips from her drink before adding bashfully. "I designed 
it."

"Wow." Frohike stated dumbfounded. "Beauty and brains." 
Frohike smiled as Lizzy tucked her hair back behind her ear 
in a shy gesture. "We really lucked in here Mulder... 
finding not one but two brainy beauties."

"Yeah." Mulder dismissed Frohike's attempt to coax Scully 
back into the conversation and never let his eyes wander 
from Lizzy. "Real lucky..."  

Scully's eyes lifted hesitantly to Mulder but seeing the 
adoration in his eyes directed solely at her friend she 
returned her focus to her drink and swallowed the last 
mouthful.

Lizzy eyed her friend curiously. "Are you okay Dee?"

"Fine." Scully lied, allowing her hair to fall forward and 
curtain her face protectively. "Just tired I guess."

"So, girlie girl..." Mulder stated deliberately. 
"Cosmetology is your love now?"

Scully shivered at Mulder's words. At least when Lizzy had 
said them she had no idea what memories she was invoking.

"Currently." Lizzy replied oblivious to her friends 
mounting discomfort. "I guess I just love it because I can 
combine all of my passions and still remain hands on."

"Wow... you know, I've always been attracted to passionate 
women who are good with their hands." Mulder leered 
stroking Lizzy's hand playfully before adding suggestively. 
"... and their mouth."

Scully gasped as Lizzy's eyes widened before Frohike 
slammed his glass down on the table. That was not the sort 
of thing he deemed could be said to a lady.

"Get your mind out the gutter Frohike." Mulder teased. "I 
just meant that you have to have good communication skills 
to be in that kind of profession."

Scully could see that her friend's cheeks had reddened and 
she could feel hers begin to do the same in anger. "I think 
I need another drink." She stated coldly.      

"Good. I'll have another scotch while you're up." Mulder 
declared not taking his eyes off Lizzy. "Anyone else?"

"I'll have another if you don't mind Dee?"

"Sure." Scully replied knowing that Mulder's attitude was 
not her friend's fault.

Scully marched to the bar making her way to the front of 
the crowd with icy stares rather than flirtatious banter. 
She decided to take a few moments to try and unwind and 
didn't even attempt to flag the bartender's attention. "Hi, 
my names Dana and I'll be your waitress this evening." 
Scully muttered sarcastically.  

"Hello. I'm Melvin and I would like to be your co-waiter 
tonight." Frohike whispered in Scully's ear making her 
blush. "He's laying it on a little thick tonight isn't he?"

Scully winced. She really needed to work on being stoic 
without the aid of a business suit. "It's okay. I'm used to 
it."

"I don't think you should have to be used to it."

"I'm okay, Fro. Really, I'm fine." She stated as the 
bartender approached her. "Two martinis, a scotch and a 
beer please."

"I'll get these." Frohike stated as he paid the tab.

"Thanks."

The bartender placed the last drink down on the bar and 
with a smile Scully picked up the two closest to her, a 
martini and the scotch.

"Ummm, I think I better take Mulder's drink... just so it 
doesn't end up over his head." Frohike smiled. "Well, not 
right away anyway."

Scully couldn't help but giggle feeling the effects of the 
martinis going to her head.

"Now, that's better." Frohike stated following her back 
through the crowd.

They came to an abrupt halt as a man to Scully's left spun 
around and grabbed her wrist. "Hey, how about that dance?" 
He slurred and she realised he was the man that had bought 
their drinks earlier in the evening.

"Uh, not right now." Scully tried to brush him off.

"Don't give me that. You owe me." He stated squeezing her 
wrist.

"Take you hands off me." Scully hissed. The man merely 
sneered pulling her up against him and spilling half her 
drink in the process. 

"Please?" Scully whimpered uncharacteristically.

"Hey." Frohike bellowed stepping up to the man. "The lady 
said let her go."

"Yeah. What you gonna do about it?" The man laughed.

Frohike puffed his chest out and stood at his full height. 
What he lacked in stature he made up with the harsh set of 
his jaw and the cold rage in his eyes. "Do you really wanna 
find out?"

The man backed away at once and scurried across the room to 
a round of giggles and taunts.

"You okay Dana?" Frohike asked concerned. 

"Yeah. Thanks." Scully smiled flexing her wrist 
experimentally. "I guess I'm not very intimidating in this 
little black number."

"Hey, hey, now don't go blaming it on the dress... as far 
as I'm concerned that dress can do no wrong. In fact, I 
think you should wear it more often... it's good for my 
ego." Frohike joked as they continued back to the table.

Frohike placed the scotch in front of Mulder and barely 
received a thank you. He tried to entice Scully back into 
the conversation but it was to no avail. 

For her part, Scully couldn't help being privy to every 
word that passed Mulder's lips. It was one of the drawbacks 
of being an investigator. You took note of everything even 
whilst trying to focus on something else.

She sat silently contemplating the parallels of hers and 
Lizzy's lives. They had both had a similar upbringing, both 
followed their education and ultimately had career focused 
lives. Lizzy had of course been married but she was also 
now divorced. 

Had she stopped her musings there she might have been 
contented. However, she continued to ponder their futures. 
She knew they both dreamed of the same things in life, a 
happy home, a husband and children. She was of course 
painfully aware that she could never have the latter on her 
list but now she was also seriously wondering whether she 
could have the home and husband too. 

She lifted her head to see Mulder cradling Lizzy's hand in 
his own. Realising that an hour had passed she decided 
enough was enough. "I'm getting a headache... I think I'll 
call it a night."

"Okay." Mulder barely acknowledged her before dismissing 
her.

"I'll go with you." Lizzy murmured reaching for her purse.

"Wait, Beth. You don't have to go do you? The night is 
still young." Mulder pleaded to Lizzy and Lizzy alone.

"It's okay Lizzy. Call me tomorrow." Dana said leaning over 
to kiss her friend on the cheek.

"I'll see you at work on Monday, Mulder." 

"Ummm." Mulder didn't bother looking up so he missed the 
flash of hurt in her eyes.

Scully smiled sweetly to Frohike. "Happy birthday Fro."

Frohike smiled his thanks as Scully turned and tried to 
make her way through the crowd. As soon as she was out of 
ear shot Frohike turned to his friend and hissed. "Mulder 
you putz..."   

"What?"

"You should at least make sure she gets a cab safely." 

"She's a trained FBI agent. I think she has it covered." 
Mulder stated irritated.

Frohike shook his head in exasperation. "She maybe a 
trained FBI agent but tonight she is a stunningly 
attractive, sexy young woman in a very skimpy dress. Who 
momentarily will be waiting on a sidewalk for a cab ... 
alone!"

Mulder looked chagrined. He looked to Lizzy sighing. "I'll 
be right back." He stated before bolting from his seat and 
chasing after his rapidly retreating partner.

Lizzy sighed in exasperation. "Dee's told me so much about 
Mulder but I never thought he would be quite so..." She 
trailed off in her sentence searching for the right word.

"I may be being devil's advocate here but in his defence... 
being surrounded by so much beauty can do funny things to a 
guy." Frohike stated innocently stroking her hand without 
even realising he had captured it.

Lizzy smiled at his reassuring gesture as she eyed his 
cuticles. "I meant what I said you know... about the 
manicure. I could come to you... I can be very flexible." 
She added the last in an unconscious purr. 

Frohike swallowed deeply, unaccustomed to the sensation of 
a beautiful woman flirting with him.

~x~

Scully finally made it through the crowd and began 
searching through her purse for the ticket stub that 
allowed her to collect her coat.

"Scully wait..." She heard Mulder's voice in the distance 
and turned to him out of habit. He came to a stop in front 
of her as she laid her fingers on the ticket in question. 
"Let me see that you get a cab."

"Oh. What a gentlemen!" Scully hissed not even attempting 
to hide the sarcasm from her voice as she passed the ticket 
to the cloakroom attendant.

"What is your problem?" Mulder growled.

"My problem? I don't think I'm the one with a problem... 
you are the one who was all over Lizzy." 

"And? What are you, jealous?" 

"Jealous?" Scully repeated shocked and angered at being 
called on her obvious reaction.

"Oh, no that's right. You don't have any interest in me 
right? Hell hasn't frozen over yet." Mulder practically 
yelled in anger.

"What? What are you talking about?" Scully asked softening 
her voice in confusion.

"I heard you two talking." Scully still looked thoroughly 
confused so Mulder expanded. "Outside the ladies room."

Realisation dawned on Scully, as she suddenly understood 
what this evening had all been about. "Oh my God, Mulder... 
we weren't talking about you."

"Yeah, right."

"We weren't."

"The eyes... lips... the distinguished profile?" 

"Yeah, the person we were talking about has all those 
things..." Scully giggled. 

"You said you worked with him?" Mulder accused.

"We do on occasion." Scully laughed. "My, my... someone 
does have a rather inflated ego."

"But..." Mulder hesitated embarrassed. "Then who were you 
talking about?"

"Frohike."

"Ha... you almost had me going then." Mulder laughed.

"Seriously, we were talking about Frohike." Scully nodded 
in the direction of Lizzy and Frohike as Lizzy sidled up 
next to Frohike, crossing her legs alluringly. 

Frohike looked almost comical with his deer-caught-in-
headlights look as she leaned into him and whispered 
something seductively into his ear.

"But... the height?" Mulder asked aghast.

"Yes, the height..." Scully agreed smiling as Lizzy led 
Frohike towards the dance floor. "It was one of the first 
things that attracted her. She always did go for ... 
vertically challenged men."

Mulder looked on in awe as Lizzy came to a stop and leaned 
towards Frohike for a slow dance. Mulder gasped in surprise 
as Lizzy enticed Frohike to rest his head on her bosom.

"She says they always try and make up for what they believe 
to be their height inadequacies in 'other' ways." Scully 
giggled at Mulder's slack jaw.

Mulder exhaled in disbelief. "Well..." He murmured as he 
watched the happy couple dancing. "Happy birthday Fro."

Scully tugged gently on Mulder sleeve to recapture his 
attention. "So ... see me home?" She asked indicating that 
all was forgiven and forgotten.

"Of course," Mulder replied taking her coat from the clerk 
and holding it up for her to slip into. "I have no idea how 
much trouble you could cause roaming around in this slip of 
a dress without a chaperone."

Scully smiled at his disguised compliment as Mulder began 
to smooth her jacket down over her shoulders in a loving 
caress. Taking his hand boldly she lead him towards the 
exit adding a reinvigorated sway to her hips.

"Shouldn't I tell them I'm leaving?"

"I don't think you'll be missed." Scully giggled.

"Wait a minute..." Mulder stated tugging her sharply so she 
spun back towards him. 

Scully looked up dazed and slightly confused. "What?" She 
watched as Mulder's eyes transformed taking on a jealous 
gleam. 

"When the hell did Frohike try and kiss you?" 

~x~

Author's notes 

Well, it was just a silly little fic but I hope you guys 
enjoyed reading. I know I enjoyed writing it.

I hope I had ya big time! :) Were you fooled into thinking, 
like Mulder, that Lizzy's intentions were solely aimed at 
him and that Scully was not interested? Let me know.

I have to confess that I harbour a not so secret attraction 
to Frohike... What can I say? I think it's the gloves ;) 
Oh, apologies go out to Langly/Dean I loved your hair long 
and I don't believe there was any peroxide involved in the 
equation. ;)