My very first fanfic! A fun little story I came up with while losing the Game. For those of you who don't know the Game, Google "I just lost the Game", and see if you can wrap your brain around it.

DISCLAIMER: I do not own The X-Files, or even the Game for that matter. Don't sue; I'm broke. Not worth your time.

SPOILERS: none

You Just Lost The Game

We were sitting in Assistant Director Skinner's office. It was a Thursday morning. Scully and I were once again being reprimanded for the unjustifiable expenses of our latest case. Or something like that. All honesty, I wasn't listening. But then A.D. Skinner said something that half caught my attention.

"Can you repeat that, sir?" I asked.

"I said this isn't a game, Agent Mulder!"

"Dammit!" I exclaimed just a bit too loudly. Scully and Skinner were both looking at me confusedly. Quick, I thought. Think of something quirky to say.

"Agent Mulder?"

"And I thought I was winning." Whew. That was close.

Five minutes later, Scully and I were in the elevator heading back to our office.

"What the hell was that about?" Scully asked as we entered our office. I walked past her and sat behind my desk. I debated whether or not to tell her. She probably wouldn't find it the least bit entertaining. Then again, according to the rules, I was obligated to tell her.

"I just lost the Game, Scully. Now you have, too."

"I still don't know what you are talking about, Mulder."

"The Game, Scully. I'm talking about the Game. When you think about the Game, you lose the Game. That's it. That simple." Apparently, it wasn't sinking in. She was still giving me that patented skeptical, eyebrow-raised look. "Let's see if I can explain this better." I took a deep sigh to try to clear my head. This isn't going to be as easy as I thought. "I guess you would say the Game is a state of mind. You lose the Game when you think about it. Then, you say you lost the game making those around you lose as well."

"How do you win the game?"

"Not 'the game', Scully. 'The Game'."

"What's the difference?"

"The capitol 'G'."

"Ah, right." Scully unfolded her arms and sat in the chair on the other side of the desk. "You didn't answer my question. How do you win this 'Game'?" I laughed when she put finger quotes around "Game" to prove she was saying it correctly.

"You don't win, Scully. It never ends. Once you think you've won the Game, you've lost because -"

"Because you've thought of the Game." Wow, she's actually getting it. I nodded my head in agreement.

"There is a grace period, too. Once you've lost the game, you've got 20 minutes of free time before you can lose again. That should give you enough time to stop thinking about it."

"Is this something you made up yourself?" she asked in an amused tone. "How many people actually play this?" At least she is going along with this. Maybe it will be fun after all.

"In theory, everyone plays, they just don't know it. To answer your first question, no, I didn't make this up. I'm not sure where it came from. The Lone Gunmen brought it to my attention. They found something online about it."

"Well, there's a surprise," she said in a sarcastic tone. That made me smile. Usually the sarcasm is towards me. "How long have you been playing this, Mulder?"

"Oh, God. I don't know. Its been a few years. I haven't lost the Game in months until Skinner mentioned something about a game in his office."

We both just sat there looking at each other, then things on the wall, then work that needed to be done. I guess the conversation was over. I wondered if she'll play along or force the idea out of her head?

"Hey, Mulder."

"Yeah, Scully?"

"You just lost the Game."

I looked at my watch. "Nope. I still have 8 minutes left."

8.5 minutes later

"Game."

"Dammit, Scully!"

The End