The characters, plotlines, quotes, etc. included here are owned by Chris Carter and 1013 Productions, all rights reserved. The following transcript is in no way a substitute for the show "The X-Files" and is merely meant as a homage. This transcript is not authorized or endorsed by Chris Carter, 1013 Productions, or Fox Entertainment. It was painstakingly typed out by Vic and presented here for your enjoyment by moi, Tiny Dancer . If the Big Bad Lawyers want to track us down and sue us, then good luck, 'cause I don't know about Vic, but I'm flat broke! Enjoy. ------------------------------------------------------- THE X-FILES: "Ascension" (2.6) Written by Paul Brown, directed by Michael Lange First aired: 10/21/94 Dramatis Personae: Fox Mulder -- David Duchovny Dana Scully -- Gillian Anderson Agent Alex Krycek -- Nicholas Lea Duane Barry -- Steve Railsback Assistant Director Skinner -- Mitch Pileggi X -- Steven Williams Smoking Man -- William B. Davis Margaret Scully -- Sheila Larken Uncredited: Dr. Slaughter, Dwight, Senior Agent, Highway Patrolman, Video Enhancement Technician, Criminologist, Deputies, Paramedics ==================== Deny Everything <-WASHINGTON, D.C.; 11:23 P.M.-> (Mulder walks into his house as rain pours outside. Lightning cracks. He presses a button on the answering machine and the tape rewinds. A beep sounds.) SCULLY (voiceover): Mulder, it's me. I just had something incredibly strange happen. This piece of metal that they took out of Duane Barry, it has some kind of a code on it. I ran it through a scanner and some kind of a serial number came up. What the hell is this thing, Mulder? It's almost as if... it's almost as if somebody was using it to catalogue him. (Sounds of Scully gasping and glass breaking.) Mulder! I need your help! DUANE BARRY (voiceover): Shut up! SCULLY (voiceover): Mulder! (Mulder pulls up to Scully's house and gets out. There are people everywhere, and the house is surrounded with yellow tape. He shows his badge to a policeman, who lets him through. He goes up the front stairs and looks at the broken window. He sees blood on the wall on the inside and his own reflection in the glass. In his mind, he sees Scully pull open the blinds and Duane Barry peering through. She gasps and Barry punches her through the glass. She falls, dropping the phone. He knocks down the blinds and climbs through the window. Mulder snaps out of it and walks inside. People are taking pictures, collecting blood samples and dusting for fingerprints. He walks over to the glass round table in the middle of the room. He looks down at a portion that is cracked and stained with blood. In his mind again, he sees Scully crawling towards the table.) SCULLY: Mulder! (Duane Barry grabs her foot.) DUANE BARRY: Come on, lady... SCULLY: I need your help! (She reaches up to the table for her gun, smashing the glass with her wrist. A man takes a picture of the crushed phone on the ground. Mulder sees Scully about a foot away from the phone.) Mulder! (Suddenly, Duane Barry's foot crashes down onto the phone, breaking it. Mulder walks out of the room. He accidentally gets some blood on his fingers from the wall.) POLICEMAN: I'm sorry, ma'am, but you can't disturb a crime scene. MARGARET SCULLY: But this is my daughter's apartment. Let me go, I have to get through. I have to get in! (Mulder walks up to her.) MULDER: Mrs. Scully? (He goes to put his hand on her shoulder, but he notices her staring at the blood on it. He looks at the blood on them for the first time.) She's not in there. MARGARET SCULLY: Where is she? (Mulder does not respond.) Where is she? <-11:46 P.M.-> (Outside the house, reporters and cameramen file onto the front lawn as the policemen and various other people shuffle around. One can hear many people talking illegibly. Mulder and Margaret Scully are standing in a doorway.) MARGARET SCULLY: I knew it would happen this way. I had this dream about Dana being taken away. (Mulder leads her into the room. Flashbulbs are going off in the back.) I, uh... I was going to call her but I was afraid I was going to scare her. (She sits down. Mulder sits down across from her.) She would have laughed at me anyway. She doesn't believe in that kind of thing, you know. FBI Headquarters, Washington D.C. 8:03 A.M. (View of outside of FBI building. Cut to interior of Skinner's office, huge conference room. Skinner is pacing around a conference table at which several senior FBI agents sit. Krycek is on one end, Mulder sitting at his right. They are wearing the same clothes they wore the previous day. (Greyish suits, Mulder in light grey shirt, grey and red patterned tie, Krycek in white shirt, red and blue striped tie). Mulder looks tired and unshaven. CM is sitting in an armchair in the lounge section of the room, smoking.) Skinner (pacing): Agent Scully's research states that Duane Barry's propensity for violent, deviant behavior is due to brain damage from a bullet wound in the head. Is this the operational opinion? (Skinner looks at Mulder, who has his face buried in his hands. Krycek answers when Mulder doesn't.) KRYCEK: Yes, Sir. SKINNER: Is there another? KRYCEK: (nervously) He's convinced he's going to be abducted by aliens. That by taking someone to the abduction site he won't be abducted himself. SKINNER: That he's following orders from alien voices in his head. Krycek (barely audible): Yes. SKINNER: That's an interesting spin on the Nuremburg defense. Which explanation do you subscribe to, Agent Mulder? MULDER: There's a question of how he could have gotten to her in the first place. SENIOR AGENT: And you think these alien voices told him? MULDER: Agent Scully was carrying a small piece of metal that was removed from Duane Barry's abdomen. An implant he described as a tracking device. SENIOR AGENT: Agent Scully thought that you had made a major miscalculation on Duane Barry's psychosis. Is that true? MULDER: Yes. But that still doesn't explain how he could have found her. (Krycek looks at CM) SKINNER: Where would he be taking her? MULDER: I don't know. He talked about a mountain, but he wasn't specific about the location. (Krycek looks away from CM, swallows hard.) SKINNER: Well, however he got to her, and whatever his motives, he took Agent Scully's car and her weapon. I think we all understand the seriousness of this matter and should proceed ahead quickly with all possible resources. (Looks at Mulder.) I need you to turn over your files to HRT. MULDER: I'd like to brief them myself, Sir. SKINNER: Go home, Agent Mulder. You've been up all night, get some sleep. (Mulder stands, goes over to face Skinner) MULDER: Sir, I know Duane Barry. I've been in his head, I know how he thinks -- SKINNER: (raising his voice) You're too close to this case. If we can use you, we will. MULDER: Sir -- SKINNER: That's an order, Agent Mulder. (Looks at Krycek) Make sure he gets home safely. Krycek stands, faces Mulder, nods toward the door. KRYCEK: (barely audible) Come on. FBI HEADQUARTERS 4:03 P.M. (FBI bullpen, Mulder's desk. Mulder is looking at the printout of Scully in the trunk, taken from the patrol car's videotape, and listening to a tape of Duane Barry's interrogation. Mulder is still wearing the same shirt and tie he wore in the previous scene (no jacket), and still hasn't shaved. <-ROUTE 229; RIXEYVILLE, VIRGINIA; 11:23 A.M.-> (Duane Barry is driving down the road. The radio is playing "Red Right Hand" by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. Duane Barry makes a very sharp left down a bridge and speeds off. Soon, a police car pulls out of a side road and follows him, sirens blaring. The cop flashes his lights. Duane pulls over and rolls down his window. The patrolman adjusts a camera. He walks over to the car and, holding onto his gun in it's holster, looks over at Barry. Inside the trunk, Scully is bound and gagged.) PATROLMAN: Sir? Can you turn off your radio? DUANE BARRY: I would, officer, but I got to keep going. APB WIRE CONDUCTOR: An F.B.I. APB has been issued for a suspect in the abduction of an F.B.I. agent... PATROLMAN: Sir, I asked if you mind turning that off. (Barry turns it off.) DUANE BARRY: Okay. But could you just give me the ticket now so I can go? I got to be someplace. PATROLMAN: Where? DUANE BARRY: I'm not sure but... they'll tell me when I get there. (The patrolman looks at Barry's hands and sees that there his knuckles are bloody and his hospital ID band has blood on it too. He takes out his gun and points it at Duane.) PATROLMAN: Sir... put your hands on the steering wheel where I can see them. DUANE BARRY: You don't understand. They're waiting for me, I, I can't be late. PATROLMAN: Put your hands up and exit the vehicle. DUANE BARRY: No, I got to keep moving. Please? For your own sake? Don't stop Duane Barry. PATROLMAN: Sir, put your hands up. (Scully starts moaning, hearing the cop, and bangs on the trunk hood. The patrolman turns around and looks at it. Duane pulls out his gun and shoots the cop. He screams and falls, startling Scully. Duane opens up the hood and looks at her.) <-FBI HEADQUARTERS; VIDEO PRODUCTION UNIT; 3:11 P.M.-> (Mulder points to a monitor which has a surveillance shot on it of Barry looking into the trunk with the officer down to the side.) MULDER: Right there. VIDEO TECHNICIAN: Okay. (Mulder walks over to the technician at the computer.) MULDER: Back it up a few frames. (He does so.) Can you magnify this area? (He points into the trunk. The technician magnifies it many times until there is a clear head shot of Scully with the gag in her mouth.) VIDEO TECHNICIAN: My God... MULDER: She's still alive. Print this up. (The printer feeds out the picture of Scully.) <-FBI HEADQUARTERS; 4:08 P.M.-> (Mulder sits at his desk, listening to a tape recording of the hostage situation. He's looking at the picture.) DUANE BARRY (voiceover): I just want to go back to the place. MULDER ON RECORDING: What place? DUANE BARRY (voiceover): Where it first started. Where they first came and got me. MULDER ON RECORDING: Where is that? DUANE BARRY (voiceover): A mountain. We went, uh, up... and up. Ascending... ascending to the stars. (He rewinds it.) Ascending... ascending to the stars. (Krycek enters behind Mulder, holding up two large, plain white mugs.) KRYCEK: Coffee? (Mulder turns to face Krycek, who seems to be wearing the same shirt and tie he wore yesterday, too (no jacket, tie loosened). But Krycek has shaved and combed his hair.) MULDER: Yeah. KRYCEK: (puts one mug on Mulder's desk, then sits on the edge of Mulder's desk) How'd you sleep? MULDER: Couldn't. (Fiddles with tape player. They both listen.) (He rewinds the tape again.) DUANE BARRY (voiceover): You're not taking Duane Barry again. (Mulder rewinds the tape more.) A mountain. We went, uh, up... and up. Ascending... ascending to the stars. (He rewinds.) Ascending to the stars. DUANE BARRY (voiceover): "Ascending...to the stars..." KRYCEK: What is it? (sensing Mulder is onto something) MULDER: Where was that patrolman killed again? KRYCEK: Rixeyville, Virginia. Route 229. MULDER: Doesn't 229 lead to the Blue Ridge Parkway? KRYCEK: Yeah. (Mulder gets up, goes to bookshelf, gets telephone directory. Krycek follows. Mulder flips through yellow pages until he finds an ad that says "Ascend to the Stars SKYLAND MOUNTAIN 555-7684 Spectacular views and a full service grill.") MULDER: (reading) "Ascend to the stars. Skyland Mountain." KRYCEK: Do you know where he's going? MULDER: Get your car. Meet me downstairs in five minutes. (Turns, goes back to his desk.) KRYCEK: Where are we going? (following Mulder) MULDER: Just get your car. KRYCEK: What about Skinner? MULDER: I'll deal with Skinner. (Grabs jacket off back of chair, leaves.) ================== (Exterior of FBI parking garage, then cut to inside, Krycek leaning on his car, talking on cell phone.) KRYCEK: "He thinks Scully's been taken up to Skyland Mountain. I'll hold him off until they locate her." (Mulder walks in; Krycek turns and sees him approaching.) "Here he comes. I'll be in touch." (Puts away phone.) MULDER: Come on, let's go. (They get into car. Takes two tries to start, but they zoom off with a squeal of rubber, Krycek driving. As they exit the underground parking garage, the car wipes the screen to reveal CM sitting in one of the parked cars, holding a cell phone and smoking.) ============ Route 211. Warrenton, Virginia. 5:43 P.M. (Interior of Krycek's car. Mulder and Krycek are both wearing suit jackets and seatbelts. Mulder is somehow driving now. He's tired, and his eyes drift closed. The car swerves across the dividing line, and a truck horn sounds.) KRYCEK: HEY! (Grabs either the back of the seat or Mulder's shoulder. Mulder wakes up and steers the car back into his own lane, just missing a head-on collision with a large truck.) KRYCEK: (looking back at truck, then at Mulder) You're dozing off. Maybe I should drive? MULDER: I'm fine. KRYCEK: But you haven't slept yet. I have. MULDER: I said I'm fine. Krycek (visibly shaken by the close call): You know...Chernobyl...Exxon Valdez...Three Mile Island...were all linked to sleep deprivation. (Mulder gives him a strange look.) KRYCEK: The U.S. Department of Transportation estimates that over 190,000 fatal car crashes every year are caused by sleepiness. MULDER: Did they estimate how many people are put to sleep listening to their statistics? KRYCEK: I'm just trying to keep you awake! (Mulder looks at Krycek, who seems anxious about something.) MULDER: Look, I know you think we should have told Skinner, but if he sent out the whole cavalry, Duane Barry might go over the edge. KRYCEK: You're right. MULDER: If we find them first, we'll notify the Bureau. All right? (Turns to Krycek, gives him an encouraging little smile.) KRYCEK: Yeah. (Pauses.) You really think he tracked her down by that implant? MULDER: That's the easiest explanation...it's also the most implausible. KRYCEK: Is there another possibility? MULDER: Someone could have given him her address. I don't know who. (Krycek looks away. He sees a sign that says "Ascend to the Stars, Skyland Mountain," and points to it.) KRYCEK: There's our turnoff. ================ (Ext. -- Skyland Mountain. Pan down from the tram to Krycek walking between Mulder and Dwight, the night watchman/tram operator. Dwight is holding a photo of Duane Barry that Krycek just gave him.) KRYCEK: You seen this guy? DWIGHT: Yeah, he was here. KRYCEK: He's wanted for kidnapping a federal agent. (Takes photo back, tucks into his inside jacket pocket.) You let him go up in the tram? DWIGHT: No way. It's shut down during the summer. I told him to take the back road up. KRYCEK: How long ago? DWIGHT: About 45 minutes. MULDER: Did he have a woman with him? DWIGHT: No. KRYCEK: How long does it take to drive to the summit? DWIGHT: A little over an hour. MULDER: You've got to get me up there. DWIGHT: No. No way. We just got done refitting the cable. It hasn't been tested for passengers yet. You'll have to drive. MULDER: I don't have the time. DWIGHT: You don't have a choice. (Mulder pulls back his jacket to show his gun, on his right hip. He unsnaps the holster and rests his hand on the gun threateningly.) MULDER: No, *you* don't have a choice. ================ (Interior of tram control room. Dwight is working the control panel, Mulder and Krycek are looking on.) DWIGHT: Okay, I can't stop you from going up there. But if there's a problem with the cable I'm shutting this thing down. I'm not going to be responsible for your death. Mulder looks at him, then races out the door, followed by Krycek. ================== (Tram loading dock.) Mulder jumps into the tram and closes the door before Krycek can follow. KRYCEK: What are you doing? (trying to get the tram door open) MULDER: Stay here and whatever happens, don't let him stop the tram. DWIGHT: Okay, you need your "run" and "up" buttons down. The speed indicator controls your ascent. Now when you want to slow down... (Mulder zooms off, obviously not listening.) Don't crank it faster than 15! (Dwight goes back to the control room, leaving Krycek staring after the ascending tram.) ================== (Mulder cranks speed up to 20. Duane Barry, driving up the long way, sees the tram ascending. Mulder cranks speed up to 30.) ==================== (Interior of tram control room. Dwight at the controls, Krycek watching.) DWIGHT: (sees speed indicator) What's he doing? I told him not to go that fast. (Picks up microphone.) Base to Car One, pick up! (to Krycek) You hear that sound? At this speed, the cable can't hold. .....Can you hear me? Base to Car One, pick up! Mulder (picking up): Go ahead. MULDER: Slow it down! MULDER: You're breaking up. DWIGHT: (crackling from static, fading in and out) Slow it down! The cable...jump...the tower... (Mulder obeys, slowing down to clear the tower, then speeds up again. Dwight is visibly relieved.) DWIGHT: Slow it down for the next tower! (Mulder obeys) KRYCEK: How close is he? DWIGHT: He should be up top in a minute. (Krycek pulls back his jacket, loosens the gun in his holster.) Dwight (looking at TV monitor showing tram): There he is. (Krycek pulls out his gun and slams the butt of it against back of Dwight's head. Dwight falls face down on the control panel, unconscious. Krycek smooth his hair down, then shuts off power to the tram. The tram stops, just short of the top.) Mulder (picking up handset): What are you doing? Turn this back on. Krycek, what's happening down there? Krycek, do you read me? Tell the operator to restart the tram. Hello?! (Krycek ignores Mulder, and takes out his cell phone to make a call.) Krycek (on phone): I've got him stalled up there. I'll hold until you advise. MULDER: Isn't there an emergency system on board? Can you read me down there? Can anyone read me? (He looks through a bin marked "emergency evacuation," but is too impatient to figure out how to use the harness, cable, etc., he finds there. Instead, he opens the door in the roof of the car and goes out, unharnessed. He starts climbing up toward the cable supporting the car. Krycek watches on the monitor. Not knowing what to do, he turns the power back on. The car starts moving, dumping Mulder down onto the roof of the car. He slides off, hanging by one hand. The car stops at the top, and Mulder climbs back onto the roof of the car. Car docks safely at the top, Mulder on it. Krycek looks relieved.) ================= Mulder runs over up the hill and comes to Barry's car. The driver's side door is open. He looks in with the flashlight and sees the car is empty. The radio is playing and a woman is talking intelligibly. He notices blood on the steering wheel. He pops the trunk and opens it up. It is empty, except for a bloody rope and a necklace with a cross on it. He takes the cross and hears a noise. He looks up and sees a giant light beaming down from something. The object then speeds off. Duane's laughing can be heard. Mulder races over to him and points his gun.) MULDER: Federal agent! (Duane stands and holds his hands up in the air in triumph. Mulder runs towards him, keeping his gun on him.) DUANE BARRY: Yes! MULDER: Freeze! DUANE BARRY: Yes, yes, yes! MULDER: I said freeze! Where is she? DUANE BARRY: I'm free, you son of a bitches! You can't touch Duane Barry anymore! MULDER: Don't move. (Duane laughs insanely as Mulder grabs his wrists and pulls them behind his back.) Don't move! DUANE BARRY: I'm not going anywhere! MULDER: Where is she? Where'd you leave her? DUANE BARRY: They took her. MULDER: Who? DUANE BARRY: Them! I told you they would take somebody else. They did! (Mulder starts to lead him back towards the car when a helicopter shoots up from behind the hill, shining a bright spotlight on them. Duane thinks that the aliens have returned.) No, no! No! No, no, no! (Mulder struggles to hold him back.) No! No! No! No! Nooo! Noooo! <-SKYLAND MOUNTAIN SUMMIT; 8:46 P.M.-> (Firemen run by outside of the house.) APB WIRE CONTROLLER: Choppers found them on the mountain. Send out five teams to search for that federal agent. (Inside, a medic tapes up the bullet wound in Duane's chest. Barry is sitting in a chair, his hands bound behind him. Another man holds a paper cup to his lips.) MEDIC #2: Water. (Barry drinks it. The two medics plus the guard start to the door.) MEDIC #1: We'll wait outside. (They leave. Mulder is sitting in a chair as well, looking ragged. They sit in silence for a few seconds, Mulder staring at Barry. Mulder gets up and puts his hands on his hips.) MULDER: Now what happened after you took her out of the trunk? DUANE BARRY: We walked a-little ways up to the top of the mountain. Right where you found me. MULDER: Then where'd you take her? DUANE BARRY: I didn't. They did. That was the deal. Her instead of me. (Mulder closes his eyes for a second, then walks directly in front of Barry.) MULDER: (quietly) Did you kill her? DUANE BARRY: No. (Mulder stares at him.) I swear. (Mulder points to the burn marks on Barry's face.) MULDER: How'd you get this? DUANE BARRY: From the ship. MULDER: What ship? DUANE BARRY: You saw it. MULDER: I saw a helicopter. DUANE BARRY: They were here. I'm not lying to you! (He looks through the window into the other adjoining room and sees the two men we saw during abduction flashback in "Duane Barry." They are out in the hallway, looking through the window blinds at him. Krycek is with them.) There they are. Ask them. They know what happened! (He gets up but Mulder pushes him back into the chair.) MULDER: Sit down, Duane. DUANE BARRY: No! You've got to stop them! Hurry, hurry! (Mulder looks back into the adjoining room and sees no one.) They were just out there! They were right outside! (He gets up and starts to the window. Mulder grabs him by his wrists and spins him around, slamming his face down into the desk.) MULDER: Duane, settle down! DUANE BARRY: They'll tell you where she is! (Mulder looks at his hospital ID band and sees Scully's blood and a few of her hairs on it.) The military's in on it, just ask them! (He rips off the band and looks at it, then spins Barry around and gets right into his face, holding the band up.) MULDER: Did you hurt her? DUANE BARRY: No. MULDER: Did you hurt her!? DUANE BARRY: No! MULDER: What is this? (Duane shakes his head "no." Mulder grabs him by the throat and starts choking him. Barry gags as Mulder squeezes the life out of him. After a few seconds, Mulder lets go and slams Barry, coughing and gagging, down into the chair. Mulder paces, holding his face in his hands. He then looks at Duane, takes his coat, and starts out.) DUANE BARRY: I'm sorry. (Mulder looks back.) They had to take her. I hope they're not hurting her... too much with the tests. I'm sorry. (Mulder walks out. He breezes right by Krycek, not seeming to see him.) KRYCEK: Hey! (Mulder stops, spins to face Krycek.) MULDER: Yeah? (angrily) KRYCEK: (reacting to Mulder's distress) What's the matter? What did he say to you? MULDER: Ah, he's giving me nothing. (Krycek looks down.) MULDER: Were you out here alone? KRYCEK: Yeah. Why? MULDER: No one goes in or out of that room. (Points to the room where Duane Barry is being held, leaves.) ================ (Mulder waves the man off. He walks to the window and looks through it. In one of the lights, he sees Scully on an operating table, crosses of light shining over her arms. A drill starts spinning down from the ceiling towards her. Scully's eyes open suddenly. Another instrument comes down from the ceiling. Then, he sees some kind of tube attached to Scully's belly button. Her stomach starts inflating, being filled with air. It grows very large as two figures, presumably aliens, watch in the background. Mulder hears a click and turns around, startled. He sees the door ajar. He walks through.) APB WIRE CONTROLLER: Rescue two, we're on the Warsaw building, southwest. (Mulder returns to hallway, finds Krycek is gone. He looks through the blinds and sees Krycek talking to Duane Barry. Mulder knocks on the window to get Krycek's attention, and gestures that he should come out. He does, shutting the door behind him.) MULDER: What are you doing in there? (before Krycek can answer) Come here. Come here! (Gestures to Krycek and walks down the hall a few feet.) KRYCEK: He was gagging in there, he couldn't breathe -- Mulder (shouting): No one -- no one -- Krycek (out-shouting Mulder): He said you choked him! MULDER: No one is to interrogate the suspect. KRYCEK: Except you. MULDER: Except me. (Krycek backs down, and Mulder stops being angry.) Did you ask him about Scully? KRYCEK: Yeah. MULDER: What'd he say? KRYCEK: He started whistling "Stairway To Heaven." (They hear the sound of tires squealing, and go to the front of the restaurant. It's Skinner, with three other agents and the deputies.) KRYCEK: Keep an eye on him. (Points back down the hall to where Barry is being held.) DEPUTY: Okay. (The deputy walks back to the room as Mulder and Krycek continue to the door. Skinner and three men are standing there.) SKINNER: You've got Duane Barry? MULDER: Yes, sir. SKINNER: Agent Mulder, you disobeyed my direct order. (Before Mulder can answer, one of the deputies shouts.) DEPUTY: Call the paramedics! (All run to the room where Duane Barry is. Barry is lying on the floor.) Mulder (running into room): What happened? DEPUTY: He's gagging. MULDER: Duane. Duane. Duane! (Duane looks at him slightly, his body tensed. Suddenly, he wheezes a final breath as his body untenses. His eyes close shut. Two paramedics run in, one carrying a kit.) PARAMEDIC #1: Coming through! (They kneel down. The first one listens for breathing as the second one unpacks his kit. Mulder stands up and backs away next to Krycek.) PARAMEDIC #2: Respiration? PARAMEDIC #1: Hmm, nothing. CPR... (The first paramedic takes a plastic piece and fits it into Barry's mouth, then puts a pump respirator over that.) PARAMEDIC #2: Ready? (The respirator wheezes as the three agents watch on.) One, two, three, four, five... (The respirator wheezes again four times. Skinner stares at Mulder.) One, two, three... (Fade out on Krycek, Mulder, and Skinner watching the paramedics work on Duane Barry.) <-FBI ACADEMY MORGUE; QUANTICO, VIRGINIA; 6:07 AM-> (Barry's body is under a sheet on the table. His toe-tag reads: "Medical Examiner Name: Barry, Duane Case No. 197735 Date: 6/17/94 Where Taken From: Skyland, VA." Mulder is standing over it. A female doctor walks in.) PATHOLOGIST: Excuse me. MULDER: I'm Agent Mulder. I'd like a copy of this man's autopsy report. PATHOLOGIST: I'm sorry, it's still incomplete. MULDER: Are you the pathologist? PATHOLOGIST: Yes. MULDER: Can I ask what your preliminary findings are? (She sighs and looks at the clipboard she's carrying.) PATHOLOGIST: Umm... "Second-degree burns to the face, contusions about the neck, bruised larynx..." If I had to list cause of death at this point, I'd have to say asphyxiation. Were you expecting something else? (She walks around the body. Mulder coughs.) MULDER: You haven't run a toxicological yet? PATHOLOGIST: They should be finished shortly. MULDER: I'd be interested to see what you find. When will they be on file? PATHOLOGIST: Later this morning. MULDER: I'd like a copy as soon as possible, please. PATHOLOGIST: Oh, I'm sorry, you'll have to go through regular military channels. MULDER: What do you mean, "military?" You're not F.B.I.? PATHOLOGIST: Quantico's under military jurisdiction. There wasn't an F.B.I. pathologist available this morning. (She wheels the body out as somebody holds the door for her.) ============= Downtown Washington DC 6:16 AM (Krycek walks cautiously through an underground parking garage. He's finally changed clothes: a dark blue suit, white shirt, striped blue tie. He gets into the driver's seat of his car. CM is already sitting in the passenger seat, smoking. Krycek looks at CM. CM puts out his cigarette in the car ashtray.) KRYCEK: Skinner's expecting my report on the Duane Barry incident. What do I tell him? CM: The truth. KRYCEK: What do you mean? CM: Confirm Mulder's version of events. You've earned his trust. The object now is to preserve it. KRYCEK: For how much longer? CM: Until the assignment is completed. KRYCEK: If Mulder's such a threat, why not eliminate him? CM: That's not policy. KRYCEK: It's not? After what you had me do? CM: Kill Mulder, and you risk turning one man's religion into a crusade. KRYCEK: What about Scully? CM: We've taken care of that. KRYCEK: How? CM: We tell you only what you need to know. KRYCEK: I think I have the right to know. CM: You have no rights, only orders to be carried out. You have a problem with that, we'll make other arrangements. (opens door, gets out of car) (Krycek stays in the car, looking troubled) ================== FBI Headquarters, Washington DC 10:36 A.M. (Back in Skinner's office again, same attendees as before, except Krycek. Mulder still hasn't shaved or changed clothes.) SKINNER: (passing morgue photo of dead Duane around table) Victim appears to have expired from prolonged hypoxemia, secondary to asphyxiation. Of several possible etiologies, the most likely is strangulation, due to the presence of contusions and a bruised larynx. Do you want to speak to this, Agent Mulder? MULDER: I didn't kill him, if that's what you're suggesting. SKINNER: But you attacked him? MULDER: I was interrogating him about Agent Scully. He wasn't cooperating, so I pushed him. SENIOR AGENT: And you lost control. MULDER: Momentarily. But then I left the room. Duane Barry was very much alive. I spoke to him. Agent Krycek spoke to him. SKINNER: Agent Krycek says he entered the room because the suspect was gagging. MULDER: Is Agent Krycek asserting that I killed him, too? SKINNER: No. He corroborates your story. But the fact is we've got a dead suspect, Agent Mulder, and no other plausible cause of death. OPC wants the both of you to take a lie detector test. You're to report there immediately. (Mulder stands, facing the group.) MULDER: There is another plausible cause of death. SKINNER: What's that? MULDER: Poisoning. By injection or ingestion. SKINNER: Poisoning? (shuffles through autopsy report) MULDER: You won't find that on the Navy pathologist's report. SKINNER: What are you saying, Agent Mulder? MULDER: That the autopsy is incomplete. That the military covered up the toxicological findings. SKINNER: Why would they do that? MULDER: Because they know where Scully is. SENIOR AGENT: Why are you so paranoid, Agent Mulder? MULDER: I don't know. Maybe because I find it hard to trust anyone. (Mulder leaves. Skinner, distressed, looks at CM.) ================== (Hallway in the FBI building. Krycek is walking down the hall, looking at a folder he's carrying.) MULDER: Alex. Alex! (Mulder catches up to Krycek, touches him on the shoulder.) Can I borrow your car keys? KRYCEK: Why, where you going? MULDER: There's someone I gotta see. KRYCEK: (looking at his watch) Yeah, but we're scheduled at OPC -- MULDER: Just give me the keys. Please. (Krycek reaches into his right front pocket, slaps keys into Mulder's outstretched hand. Mulder rushes off. Krycek looks after him.) ============= <-OFFICE OF SENATOR RICHARD MATHESON; 11:45 A.M.-> (Outside the building, people hustle and cars fly by. Inside, Mulder walks up some stairs and starts towards his office, but X appears at the top of the next flight of stairs.) X: You've wasted a trip, Mister Mulder. There's nothing the Senator can do for you now. MULDER: What? (Mulder walks up the stairs to him.) X: Not without committing political suicide. MULDER: Why? Do they have something on him? X: They have something on everyone, Mister Mulder. The question is when they'll use it. MULDER: I need his help. X: No one can help you now. Your channels of appeal and recourse are closed. MULDER: Your predecessor could have helped me. (They stare at each other. Mulder looks away for a second, then walks around him, shaking his head.) Oh... you know, don't you? You know what's happened to her. (X turns to face him as Mulder walks.) X: This reaches beyond any of us, Mister Mulder. Even my predecessor. MULDER: I want an answer! X: Why kill Duane Barry if there was nothing to hide? MULDER: You mean the government? X: There are no answers for you, Mister Mulder. They only have one policy... (He steps into the light, and we can see his face clearly for the first time.) Deny everything. (X walks past him and up the stairs. Mulder goes out and sits in Krycek's car to brood. He notices the ashtray slightly open. He pulls it out, and finds cigarette butts -- the kind CM smokes. Mulder thinks about the implications, then slams the ashtray shut.] ============ FBI Headquarters 8:15 A.M. (Skinner's office. By the time, it must be the next day, since Mulder left Krycek to visit Senator Matheson at about lunchtime. Mulder *still* has not shaved, changed, or showered. He paces, while Skinner sits at his desk, reading Mulder's report.) SKINNER: (rustling papers sharply) This is a serious allegation, Agent Mulder. MULDER: Only so far as it is true. Skinner (reading Mulder's report): "Agent Krycek was hired or suborned by outside agency to impede a federal investigation and may be responsible for the death of a suspect in a capital murder case." (Looks at Mulder) (Mulder gestures that he keep reading, and sits in the chair in front of Skinner's desk.) SKINNER: "And the possible murder of a tram operator at Skyland Mountain." (Looks at Mulder again.) There's a lot of blood on this document, Agent Mulder. Are you standing behind this, going on the record? MULDER: Yes, sir! SKINNER (angrily): Then you damn well better have the facts to back it up. (Mulder nods. Skinner turns, hits the intercom.) SKINNER: I need to see Agent Krycek. Immediately. (Gets up, paces.) I can't protect you, Agent Mulder. Past this point it will become a larger Bureau matter. All right, what do you got? MULDER: I found this in Agent Krycek's car. (Pulls out a little evidence bag containing a cigarette butt from his pants pocket.) He doesn't smoke. (Drops it next to the ashtray on Skinner's desk, which is filled with many more just like it.) Agent Krycek was the last person with Duane Barry before he died. He was also the last person to see the tram operator before he disappeared. When I got to the top of Skyland Mountain, I saw an unmarked helicopter working the area. I believe that Agent Krycek gave away the whereabouts of Duane Barry and Agent Scully to whoever he's working with. SKINNER: And who is that? MULDER: I don't know. The military? Some covert organization within the government. Whoever it is that man who smokes those cigarettes works for. SKINNER: Why? MULDER: Because Agent Scully got to close to whatever it is they're trying to deny. Because she had hard and damning evidence -- that metallic implant in her possession. Or because her termination would prevent further involvement with me and my work. SKINNER: You think Agent Scully's dead? MULDER: I don't know. How far do you think they'd go? What do you know about Agent Krycek? SKINNER: I didn't give him the assignment, I don't know. (phone rings, Skinner answers) Yes? (listens, slams phone down) Agent Krycek didn't show up for work this morning. His home number's been disconnected. (Skinner sits down, disgusted) MULDER: That's it? He's gone, he just disappears into the woodwork? SKINNER: So it would appear. MULDER: (standing) Who are these people who can just murder with impunity and we can't do anything about it? SKINNER: Let it go, Agent Mulder. MULDER: Like hell! SKINNER: There's nothing you can do. MULDER: What can *you* do about it? SKINNER: There's only one thing I can do, Agent Mulder. As of right now, I'm reopening the X-Files. That's what they fear the most. (Mulder leaves, slamming the door behind him. Skinner broods.) ================ (Agent Mulder walks out. Later, he sits down on a park bench. Margaret Scully walks up to him.) MARGARET SCULLY: Agent Mulder? (Mulder stands.) Thank you for calling me. MULDER: I'm sorry I don't have better news. MARGARET SCULLY: Do you know something? Is Dana okay? MULDER: We don't know anything more about her. MARGARET SCULLY: I know you're doing all you can. (Mulder motions for her to sit. She does so, and Mulder sits down next to her.) I had that dream again last night. About Dana being taken away? I can't tell you how it scares me. MULDER: It's probably scarier when you stop having the dream. Don't you think? (They look at each other. She looks about to cry. They both look down at the floor in silence for a few seconds. Mulder is about to say something, but stops himself. He pulls Dana's cross necklace out of his pocket.) I found this. (He puts it in her hand.) It's something I... I never considered about her. If she was... if she was such a skeptic, why did she wear that? MARGARET SCULLY: I gave it to her on her fifteenth birthday. (Mulder nods. She places the cross back in his hand.) MULDER: Don't you want to keep it? (She closes his hand.) MARGARET SCULLY: When you find her, you give it to her. (He nods slightly.) <-SKYLAND MOUNTAIN, VIRGINIA-> (Mulder walks alone up to the top of the hill. He looks out at the trees, then up at the stars. He stares at them, looking crestfallen.)