'The Truth' Story Code '#9X19' and '#9X20' by Chris Carter

SCENE 1 - MOUNT WEATHER COMPLEX, BLUEMONT VIRGINIA

(A helicopter comes to land at a military facility in the side of a mountain. Guards are surrounding it. The door opens and six people get out, one of whom is FOX MULDER. They climb into a green bus and it drives into a tunnel inside the mountain. As it stops, everyone climbs out to meet some men coming towards them. MULDER steps out and goes a different way breaking into a run. A blue door opens and MULDER enters a facility where government workers are busy doing what they do. He tries to keep it cool as he continues through a maze of tunnels, only one destination on his mind. He sits at a computer and looks at the screen but nothing makes sense. He types in the ‘END GAME ACCESS CODE’ and finds the following information:

CONFIDENTIAL: DECEMBER 22, 2012
‘THE DATE SET FOR MOBILIZATION OF ALIEN FORCES CULMINATES IN THE COMPLETE... OF CIVILIAN AND MILITARY ..... WAS FIRST RECORDED BY... .. DA NIEL M. MILLER UPON... .. -IGENCE IN ROSWELL, N.M.,ONTACT WITH ALIEN FORCES... .. MILITARY OFFICIALS ARE INSTRUCTED.. FOLLOW EMERGENCY PROTOC-... .. -RUCTIONS. IT IS ANTICIPATED..... -MENT WILL BE DESTROYED... .. RESULTING IN THE TRANS- ...’

(MULDER reads the truth that he has long been searching for but he hears someone come in. It is KNOWLE ROHRER; MULDER is gone but KNOWLE ROHRER knows someone has been here. MULDER approaches ROHRER and hits him on the head, ROHRER turns and grabs him round the neck, picking him up and throwing him through glass. As MULDER lands, ROHRER comes towards him. MULDER runs for his life, going back the way he came but is blocked by another man. He keeps going however because ROHRER is giving chase and we see the man is ALEX KRYCEK. KRYCEK closes the door locking ROHRER out)

MULDER:
No! You're dead.

KRYCEK:
Go.

(ROHRER tries to break down the door. MULDER is unsure of what to do)

KRYCEK:
There's others.

(An alarm goes off and military man are alerted. MULDER turns back but KRYCEK is gone. Confused, MULDER runs from the military but is stopped by ROHRER. Behind him, he is blocked by someone else and he climbs up some stairs, the only escape possible. As he reaches the top, he runs for the next level of stairs but ROHRER pulls him down and personnel gather around. MULDER is being pushed off the catwalk and he manages to flip them both over, causing ROHRER to fall in the electric wires. Men run to his aid and MULDER pulls himself up onto the catwalk, where military men await him. His fate seems sealed…)


OPENING TITLES


SCENE 2 - CELL

(TWO GUARDS enter, MULDER is inside a cell)

GUARD:
What are you thinking?

MULDER:
Where am I?

GUARD:
Wrong answer!

(THE GUARD violently hits wall above MULDER)

GUARD:
What are you thinking?

MULDER:
I'm thinking about getting the hell out of here.

GUARD:
Wrong answer!

(THE GUARD hits MULDER in the abdomen. MULDER groans in pain)

GUARD:
No sleeping!

(The GUARD leaves. Later, he comes in again where MULDER is waiting)

GUARD:
What are you thinking?

MULDER:
About my son... about his mother.

GUARD:
Wrong answer!

(MULDER moves to avoid the GUARD's punch)

GUARD:
Now, what are you thinking?

MULDER:
What do you want from me?!

GUARD:
Wrong answer!

(The GUARD swings again but MULDER grabs his baton. However the GUARD is too strong and overpowers MULDER, almost suffocating him)

GUARD:
I want answers, you hear me? I want answers!

(They stay in this position until the GUARD is sure MULDER has the message, and then leaves. Later again, MULDER lies naked on the floor. The GUARD enters and MULDER covers his eyes from the light)

GUARD:
No sleeping!

(THE GUARD knocks MULDER'S hands away from his eyes with his booted foot)

GUARD:
Did you hear me?

MULDER:
Yes.

GUARD:
What are you thinking?

MULDER:
What should I be thinking?

GUARD:
You're a guilty man. You entered a government facility illegally in search of non-existent information! You failed in every respect!

MULDER:
Yes.

GUARD:
Say it!

(THE GUARD pulls his hand back as if to beat MULDER. He waits for MULDER'S response)

MULDER:
I'm a guilty man. I failed in every respect. I deserve the harshest punishment for my crime.

(THE GUARD walks out. The door closes)


SCENE 3 - PRISON

(SCULLY and SKINNER enter a hallway where they flash their IDs to some guards)

SCULLY:
How long has he been here?

SKINNER:
I'm trying to get someone to say

(The two hurry down the hallway to MULDER's cell)

SCULLY:
Who called you?

SKINNER:
Kersh's office.

SCULLY:
Who called them?

SKINNER:
I don't know; I just know that Mulder's being held here indefinitely.

SCULLY:
What for?

SKINNER:
For the murder of a military man.


SCENE 4 - MULDER'S CELL

(The GUARD opens the door and SCULLY and SKINNER enter, to find MULDER by the window. He doesn't turn at the sound of someone entering, only at SCULLY's voice)

SCULLY:
Mulder.

MULDER:
Dana.

(SCULLY hugs him tight and kisses him on the cheek)

SCULLY:
Oh, my God.

(She pulls away and they look at each other)

MULDER:
You okay?

SCULLY:
Am I okay? Mulder, I haven't seen you in such a long time.

(SCULLY smiles and reaches out and touches MULDER'S face)

SCULLY:
I was so worried.

MULDER:
Well, it's okay, I'm all right. They're treating me really well in here.

SCULLY:
What's happened to you?

MULDER:
Nothing. I'm squared away.

(MULDER looks up to SKINNER)

MULDER:
Oh, hey, Walter. It's good to see you, man.

SKINNER:
Have they told you what the charges are, Mulder? What you're doing here?

MULDER:
Oh, yeah, yeah. We're clear on that.

SCULLY:
You're clear on what?

MULDER:
My crimes.

(SCULLY looks at MULDER but she knows he is only pretending)

SCULLY:
Mulder -

MULDER:
I murdered a man, Dana. I went looking for something that didn't exist, and I... I made a terrible mistake. I should be punished severely.

SKINNER:
Whatever you were doing you have the right to a lawyer... to an inquiry and process of law.

MULDER:
I don't think you heard me.

GUARD:
All right - time's up.

SCULLY:
We're going to get you out of here.

MULDER:
And why is that? I'm a guilty man.

GUARD:
Time's up. Let's go.

MULDER:
Uh... excuse me.

(MULDER returns to where he was, not looking back as SCULLY and SKINNER take one last look at him and leave the room. SCULLY turns once more to look at MULDER before leaving for good. MULDER looks in front of him, at something only he can see)

MULDER:
(Whispering) I don't understand. Why are you helping me?

(It is KRYCEK, standing in front of him)

KRYCEK:
Because you can't do this alone.

GUARD:
Let's go.

(THE GUARD shocks MULDER and he turns, but when he turns back KRYCEK is gone. The GUARD marches MULDER out of his cell)


SCENE 5 - SKINNER'S OFFICE

(SKINNER is on the phone. SCULLY is talking to DOGGETT and REYES)

DOGGETT:
You saw him? Mulder?

REYES:
They've accused him of murder?

SCULLY:
And they have him believing that he did it.

DOGGETT:
Murdered who?

SCULLY:
Knowle Rohrer.

DOGGETT:
Knowle Rohrer? It can't be. I watched Knowle Rohrer die.

REYES:
He can't die. Knowle Rohrer's a super soldier.

(SKINNER hangs up the phone)

SKINNER:
Mulder side-stepped security at a facility known as Mount Weather - a place where they say our so-called ‘shadow government’ is installed.

REYES:
What about this murder charge?

SKINNER:
Thirty government workers are ready to testify they witnessed Mulder push a military officer to his death.

DOGGETT:
Killing the man who can't be killed?

(All four of them remain quiet, wondering what they can do now. SCULLY walks out of the office)

DOGGETT:
Where are you going?

(SCULLY turns around)

SCULLY:
To beg mercy with the man upstairs.

(The other three can only stare in shock as she walks out of the room)


SCENE 6 - USMC BASE BRIG, QUANTICO, VIRGINIA

(KERSH knocks on the door of GENERAL MARK SUVEG)

GENERAL SUVEG:
Come in.

(KERSH enters and approaches the man sitting behind the desk)

GENERAL SUVEG:
Deputy Director Kersh. I've just been going over my notes on this whole business. Please, have a seat.

KERSH:
Thank you.

GENERAL SUVEG:
We both got a problem with this man of yours, Agent Mulder.

KERSH:
Mulder's been a running problem for the FBI. But nothing this serious.

GENERAL SUVEG:
I would think ...

KERSH:
(Interrupting) I've been asked by a female agent... Mulder's closest associate to beg mercy of the military court to give Mulder every consideration based on his good character.

GENERAL SUVEG:
You've reviewed the charges, yes?

KERSH:
Yes. There's a charge of murder.

GENERAL SUVEG:
This would look bad for the Marines if it didn't look worse for the FBI. What does Mulder intend to plea?

(KERSH shrugs his shoulders and shakes his head. He doesn't know)

GENERAL SUVEG:
You wanted a chance to clear up this mess, Mister Kersh and I'm going to give it to you. Give it to the FBI.

KERSH:
How?

GENERAL SUVEG:
A fair hearing for your agent by his own agency. Your prosecutor, your judges. Held in my court.

KERSH:
That can't be legal. Why do this?

GENERAL SUVEG:
I want a verdict. A guilty verdict. This man Mulder has made a lot of enemies. He's a crusader. And a lot of people do not like the crusade.

KERSH:
I can't do that.

GENERAL SUVEG:
Oh, you'll do it, Deputy Director. You and I both know there are forces inside the government now that a man would be foolish to disobey.


SCENE 7- MULDER'S CELL

(MULDER's new cell door is opened, the GUARD permits SCULLY and SKINNER to enter and stays outside)

SCULLY:
Mulder.

(MULDER moves over to them)

SCULLY:
Mulder!

(MULDER seems odd. He sniffs the air and looks at SCULLY strangely)

MULDER:
I smelled you coming, Clarice.

(For a moment, he has SCULLY and SKINNER worried but he smiles and both of them seem a little relieved to know he hasn't lost his sense of humour, or his taste in movies)

SCULLY:
Oh, my ...

SCULLY:
Damn it, Mulder. It's not funny to see you putting on that act.

MULDER:
No, that is funny.

(MULDER fixes SCULLY with a look and begins to walk toward her)

MULDER:
What's not funny is what they do to you in here if you don't put on that act.

(MULDER draws SCULLY towards him and they kiss. He holds her closer and for a moment they stand, lost in each other, 9 years of memories at last coming to mean something. Finally they pull away and MULDER turns to SKINNER)

MULDER:
Come here, you big, bald, beautiful man.

SKINNER:
The only thing you're going to be kissing, Mulder, is your sweet ass good-bye, with the trouble your in.

MULDER:
Uh-huh, I kind of gathered that right around the fifty brainwashing session.

(MULDER lifts SCULLY's hand to his lips)

SCULLY:
Mulder, why are they doing this to you?

MULDER:
They think that they're preparing me for my trial. For my testimony.

SKINNER:
Your testimony's not going to matter. Not with the case they're building.

MULDER:
Not building. Rigging.

SKINNER:
Yeah, I don't think you understand the seriousness of the charges. This isn't some routine wrist slapping. You're on trial for your life.

MULDER:
My trial's a forgone conclusion. What they really want is for me to admit my guilt and help them out. What's really on trial here is the truth.

SCULLY:
Mulder, they're saying you killed a man.

MULDER:
Have they produced a body?

(SCULLY and SKINNER cannot answer)

MULDER:
You can't produce a body because you can't kill a man who won't die.

SKINNER:
Well, body or not, they've got thirty witnesses from that government facility ready to testify against you.

SCULLY:
Mulder, we'll get you the best lawyer.

(MULDER lets out a smile and a laugh)

MULDER:
Would you defend a man who believes in aliens against the FBI and the military? It's never going to happen. Skinner can defend me.

SKINNER:
I can't represent you.

MULDER:
You know all the facts, the details the whole government conspiracy. More than that, I trust you.

SCULLY:
Mulder ...

MULDER:
They can't try me without exposing themselves. I know what I'm doing.

(All three of them stand silent, pondering their own future, and their own trust in each other. DOGGETT and REYES enter)

MULDER:
Whoo, now it's a party.

(DOGGETT and MULDER come face to face)

DOGGETT:
Agent Mulder.

SCULLY:
What's the matter?

REYES:
We've been working off what little we have but the military just got back to us.

DOGGETT:
You ready for this? I know this is impossible, but they're saying they got Knowle Rohrer's body.

(Everyone in the room knows that this is a complete lie. What to do now?)


SCENE 8 - CELL, 7:12 AM

(MULDER is dressed in the familiar orange prison uniform as someone walks up to him and wakes him up. It is SCULLY)

SCULLY:
Mulder, it's me.

MULDER:
Is it time to go?

SCULLY:
No. That's why I'm here. Mulder, I need you to talk to me. Confide in me... or we'll lose.

MULDER:
We can't win, Scully. We can only hope to go down fighting.

SCULLY:
You're scaring me. Mulder, I'm so scared that I've just got you back and now I'm going to lose you again.

MULDER:
I know what I'm doing.

SCULLY:
Well... whatever you're doing... you have no idea how much has already been lost... What I've had to do ...

MULDER:
I do know. Skinner told me.

(SCULLY begins to cry)

SCULLY:
Our son, Mulder... I gave him up.

(MULDER hugs SCULLY again)

SCULLY:
Our son. I'm so afraid you could never forgive me.

MULDER:
I know you had no choice. I just missed both of you so much.

SCULLY:
God, where have you been? Where have you been hiding?

MULDER:
In New Mexico.

SCULLY:
Doing what?

MULDER:
Looking for the truth.

(They both laugh quietly)

SCULLY:
You found something, didn't you? Huh?

(SCULLY pulls away from him to look into his eyes)

SCULLY:
What did you find?

MULDER:
I can't tell you.

SCULLY:
You found something in that facility? That's what you were doing, right? Mulder, what did you find out there?

MULDER:
Scully, I can't tell you.

SCULLY:
That doesn't make sense.

MULDER:
(Sadly) You've got to trust me, Scully. I know things. It's better you don't.


SCENE 9 - COURTROOM, MULDER'S MILITARY TRIBUNAL

(SKINNER enters the empty room where the *trial* will begin. He takes in the room for a moment before moving to his seat. SPECIAL AGENT KALLENBRUNNER enters the room)

KALLENBRUNNER:
Assistant Director Skinner.

KALLENBRUNNER:
Special Agent Kallenbrunner. I'll be handling the prosecution. I'm out of the L.A. Field office.

SKINNER:
How did you get this assignment?

KALLENBRUNNER:
I was a Federal Prosecutor in D.C. Before joining the FBI. And you?

SKINNER:
That's a good question.

(KALLENBRUNNER sits at the table opposite SKINNER. The panel enters next, the people who will decide Mulder's fate. The TOOTHPICK MAN and KERSH, and three other men whom we have not seen. As they sit, KERSH remains standing)

KERSH:
Let's bring in the defendant. This proceeding is called to order.

(MULDER is escorted in)

KERSH:
Mister Kallenbrunner you may proceed.

KALLENBRUNNER:
I have no witnesses to call. I will submit to the court, however the sworn testimony of thrity men and women who saw the crime.

KERSH:
Assistant Director.

SKINNER:
I move to dismiss these proceedings on the grounds it violates the accused's rights to a fair trail. I'm not a lawyer. You're not a judge. This is not a court of law.

KERSH:
This is a military court of law. You may want to familiarise yourself with title ten of the U.S. Code. But I suggest you call a witness.

SKINNER:
Then I move to delay this trial. My central witness, Marita Covarrubias works for the united nations and I can't locate her. And I've received no help from the U.S. Government locating her.

KERSH:
I have to deny that request. Do you another witness, Mister Skinner?

SKINNER:
I'll call a witness but I would like to do so under protest.

KERSH:
Both the panel's judgments and rulings are sovereign, Mister Skinner. There is no record.

SKINNER:
Excuse me? This isn't a secret tribunal. As you've so kindly informed me, it's a court of law.

KERSH:
Military court of law, Mister Skinner

MULDER:
(To SKINNER) It's okay. Try your case.


SCENE 10 - COURTROOM, LATER

(The panel watches as SCULLY testifies for the court)

SKINNER:
Please state your name for the court.

SCULLY:
My name is Dana Katherine Scully. I was assigned nine years ago to the X-Files to spy on Agent Mulder whose methods the FBI distrusted.

SKINNER:
Assigned not just as an agent, but as a medical doctor. A scientist. And as a serious scientist you came to believe in Agent Mulder's theories.

(As SCULLY talks we see clips from 'The Erlenmeyer Flask' of Scully finding the alien, and of Deep Throat being executed)

SCULLY:
I came to believe in the existence of extraterrestrial life and in a conspiracy inside the government to keep their existence a secret.

SKINNER:
The proof was overwhelming. It was even scientifically undeniable.

SCULLY:
I believe as do many respected scientists that life came to earth millions of years ago from a meteor or a rock from Mars.

SKINNER:
So, what you're saying is, life - human life - is extraterrestrial by definition.

KALLENBRUNNER:
Objection. What does this nonsense have to do with Mulder murdering a man in cold blood?

SKINNER:
Agent Scully will prove that a government conspiracy exists to deny the existence of extra-terrestrials.

KERSH:
You are not here proving government conspiracies Mister Skinner. You are here to defend Fox Mulder.

SKINNER:
And I'm trying to do that.

KERSH:
It's your case, Mister Skinner.

SKINNER:
So, a meteor crashed to earth but along with the biological building blocks on it there was something else - an alien virus.

(Clips from the X-Files movie show a caveman and modern-day human infected by the virus)

SCULLY:
I believe there was a virus which thrived here prehistorically. I believe that virus infected early man and transformed his physiology.

SKINNER:
Changed him into something else.

SCULLY:
Into an alien life-form himself.

SKINNER:
And what happened to these aliens?

SCULLY:
They died in the last ice age, thirty-five-thousand years ago.

SKINNER:
And the virus?

SCULLY:
It lay dormant underground until it surfaced once again during our current geologic period.

SKINNER:
And the government knows of this?

(We see various newspaper articles and official documents as SCULLY speaks, all of which seem to hold proof as to the conspiracy)

SCULLY:
The government learned of this virus in 1947 when a UFO crashed in Roswell, New Mexico.

SKINNER:
A UFO crash revealed a virus?

SCULLY:
The virus thrived underground in petroleum deposits. In black oil. It has sentience. It can think. It has the ability to communicate and it communicated with the UFOs.

(Clip sequence shows scene from the movie, ‘Terma’, and other episodes of the oil infecting various people, including Krycek)

SKINNER:
And the government knows this, too.

SCULLY:
In Roswell, they captured aliens from the spacecraft wreckage. They salvaged various alien technology from them and from their Data banks. They learned of the alien plan to re-colonise the Earth

(Through clips we see scenes from 'Musings of a Cigarette Smoking Man'of an EBE on life support)

KERSH:
Is this all leading anywhere?

MULDER:
Yeah. The destruction of mankind.

KERSH:
I'll warn you once, Agent Mulder.

(MULDER smiles at SCULLY)

SKINNER:
And what did the government do with this... information of an alien takeover?

SCULLY:
They kept it a Dark secret. If it had gotten out there would have been wild panic.

KERSH:
Mister Skinner, are we finished?

SKINNER:
No. There's the matter of Agent Scully's own abduction in 1994.

KERSH:
Abduction by whom?

SCULLY:
By the military working with the government conspirators to develop a breed of human-alien hybrids that the aliens would use as a slave race.

(We see scene of SCULLY's abduction in ‘’One Breath', and ‘’Memento Mori')

SKINNER:
Thank you, Agent Scully. Your witness, Mister Kallenbrunner.

(KALLENBRUNNER stands)

KALLENBRUNNER:
All these E.T.'S running around... it's hard to keep these aliens straight without a scorecard. I myself have never seen an alien. Could we call one as a witness?

SCULLY:
You're being facetious.

KALLENBRUNNER:
No, I'm not. I'd like to see some proof.

SCULLY:
There are the mars rocks...

KALLENBRUNNER:
No. I need something good. Something amazing. Something really cool.

SCULLY:
I don't know what you mean.

KALLENBRUNNER:
Well, what I mean is, you have no proof to back up one word you just told us.

(Scully is silent)

KALLENBRUNNER:
Agent Scully, isn't it true that you and Mulder were lovers, and you got pregnant and had his love child?

SKINNER:
Objection!

KALLENBRUNNER:
Thank you. Next witness.

(SCULLY is a bit shaken and she looks to MULDER for support, he seems to be fine)


SCENE 11 - SPENDER'S TESTIMONY

(JEFFREY SPENDER, scarred and badly injured as in 'William' enters. Everyone seems shocked by his appearance, in particular MUDLER who acknowledges his half-brother with a nod)

SKINNER:
Can you state your full name?

JEFFREY SPENDER:
Jeffrey Frank Spender.

SKINNER:
Mister Spender, I know you didn't hear Mister Kallenbrunner, but he'd like to make a mockery of the X-Files. You worked on the X-Files yourself.

JEFFREY SPENDER:
Yes, until three years ago.

SKINNER:
When you were shot in the X-files office. Shot by your father.

(We see the scene from 'One Son')

SKINNER:
Can I ask you to please tell the court exactly who your father was?

JEFFREY SPENDER:
He led the government conspiracy to exploit the existence of aliens.

KALLENBRUNNER:
Objection. There's no government conspiracy that I've seen established here.

KERSH:
I agree with Mister Kallenbrunner. I don't see where this is going.

SKINNER:
If I can prove this conspiracy, it will justify Mulder's actions and you will have no choice but to acquit.

KERSH:
I hope this isn't the entire basis of your defence, Mister Skinner.

(For a moment, SKINNER is silent but MULDER compels him to keep going)

SKINNER:
You have a relationship to Agent Mulder don't you, Mister Spender?

(We see a scene of Mrs Mulder and Spender's father, the CIGARETTE-SMOKING MAN)

JEFFREY SPENDER:
He's my half brother. His mother had an affair with my father.

SKINNER:
And he never knew that. Not until he met you at the FBI.

(Scenes from 'Anasazi' showing the lead-up and aftermath of Bill Mulder's death)

JEFFREY SPENDER:
He didn't know both his father and mine were in the alien conspiracy. His father was a reluctant member. When Agent Mulder began to know the truth about this connection, my father had his father killed by an assassin named Alex Krycek.

SKINNER:
He killed him to silence him?

(We see MULDER uncovering some secrets about his sister in 'Paper Clip')

JEFFREY SPENDER:
Mulder's father lived his life in shame. No, no, not for the conspiracy but for a terrible decision he made.

SKINNER:
Involving Agent Mulder's sister.

JEFFREY SPENDER:
The aliens distrusted their human collaborators. Members of the conspiracy were made to surrender family members as human collateral.

SKINNER:
So, Mulder's father gave up Mulder's sister. His own eight-year-old Daughter.

(We see scenes of the night of the abduction)

JEFFREY SPENDER:
Mulder witnessed his sister being abducted by aliens. It haunted him to no end. It's why he pursued the X-Files.

SKINNER:
What became of her? Samantha?

(We see the discovery of what happened to Samantha in 'Closure')

JEFFREY SPENDER:
She was returned. She was sent to California where we were raised together. She was taken many more times and suffered horrible tests.

(MULDER has an incredibly sad look on his face as he thinks about Samantha)

SKINNER:
Mulder spent years looking for her... several times thinking that he'd found her but he was tricked.

(Samantha Mulder clones are seen)

JEFFREY SPENDER:
Samantha was part of a cloning experiment done by the conspiracy. She herself died in 1987.

SKINNER:
By your own father's hand essentially.

JEFFREY SPENDER:
When I went to work for the FBI, I didn't know of my father's crimes. When I stood up to him, he shot me.

(We see the scenes from 'William' showing SPENDER's fate)

JEFFREY SPENDER:
When I didn't die he subjected me to the same horrible tests

SKINNER:
Your witness.

(The room is silent. SKINNER walks back to his seat and sits down)

KALLENBRUNNER:
Mister Spender, I'm sorry for your suffering. I'm sure none of us can really imagine what it's like. Your father must be brought to justice.

(The scene from 'Requiem' of Krycek pushing CIGARETTE-SMOKING MAN down the flight of stairs)

JEFFREY SPENDER:
I believe my father is dead.

KALLENBRUNNER:
Mister Spender, you're here to speak for the character of Agent Mulder. In reports you filed while an FBI agent I see here you describe Mulder as ‘arrogant,’ ‘difficult,’ ‘a control freak widely disliked by his peers.’

JEFFREY SPENDER:
Those reports were written before I knew the truth.

(A scene of MULDER fighting SPENDER)

KALLENBRUNNER:
This report calls him ‘unstable prone to violent outbursts.’ I have the report right here if your memory needs refreshing.

KALLENBRUNNER:
Thank you, Mister Spender.

(SPENDER is sad, having not been able to help MULDER)


SCENE 12 - WEED HOPE, NEW MEXICO

(A long haired man drives up to a trailer and parks. He enters the trailer and finds GIBSON PRAISE)

GIBSON PRAISE:
You found out about Mulder. You found out he's in trouble. I'll get ready now.


SCENE 13 - MULDER'S CELL

(SCULLY enters MULDER's cell. He is on the floor. She remains standing, looking down at him as he looks up at her)

MULDER:
I know what you want and I can't give it to you.

SCULLY:
Make them a deal, Mulder. Guilty on a lesser charge. Maybe they'll go for it and they'll let you walk out of here.

MULDER:
I'd rather die, Scully.

SCULLY:
How can you say that? How can you say that, Mulder, to me?

MULDER:
Because this is greater than you or me. This is about everything we worked for for nine years. The truth that we both sacrificed so much to uncover and to expose.

(SCULLY moves to get down on her knees in front of MULDER)

SCULLY:
Well, then, expose it, Mulder! Take the stand. Whatever it is that you're withholding take the stand and hit them full force.

MULDER:
I can't.

SCULLY:
Why?

MULDER:
I just can't.

SCULLY:
You say this is greater than us, and maybe it is, but this is us fighting this fight, Mulder, not you. It's you and me. That's what I'm fighting for, Mulder. You and me.

(MULDER shakes his head. Although he would like to he can't. SCULLY leaves and MULDER remains. A voice breaks the silence)

X O.O.V.:
Get up.

MULDER:
Who's that? Who's there?

(X steps out of the shadows)

MULDER:
What are you doing here?

X:
That's what I'm here to ask you.

MULDER:
I'm putting the truth on trial.

X:
What truth? Who's truth? You think these men will even hear it?

MULDER:
They're afraid to hear it.

X:
They're not afraid. They have too much power to be afraid. You're going to learn that, just like I did. You'll die learning it.

MULDER:
I'm not afraid of that.

X:
There's a truth even you're afraid to speak now because you know it's futile.

MULDER:
No. Because I refuse to accept it.

X:
Then you're going to need help.

MULDER:
How can you possibly help me?

(X hands MULDER a piece of paper which has MARITA COVARRUBIAS' address on it, in Annapolis, Maryland. When MULDER looks up, X is gone)


SCENE 14 - DOGGETT'S HOUSE

(It is night time. DOGGETT is on the phone. REYES is also there, listening)

DOGGETT:
They said this is where I could find the body, at Fort Marlene. Right. The deceased's name is Knowle Rohrer, former marine last employed by the D.O.D. No, I don't want a call back. I want to talk to your superior

(REYES notices someone passing by the window)

DOGGETT:
Son of a bitch hung up on me!

REYES:
Shhh! There's somebody in your yard.

(DOGGETT gets his gun. REYES pulls hers out also)

DOGGETT:
Where is he?

REYES:
He was at the back door.

(They go to the back door as DOGGETT turns out the lights. The shadow passes another window)

DOGGETT:
I got him. He's coming around.

(They wait at the front door as the doorknob rattles, DOGGETT opens the door and the two aim their guns)

DOGGETT:
Stay where you are! Federal agent! Hands in the air!

(It is the INDIAN BOY who went to GIBSON's. DOGGETT pulls him into the house and searches him)

DOGGETT:
Who are you? What are you doing skulking around my house?

INDIAN BOY:
I didn't want to be seen. I don't want to endanger him.

DOGGETT:
Who are you talking about?

INDIAN BOY:
Someone who wants to help Mulder.


SCENE 15 - MARITA'S TESTIMONY

(Everyone is at the trial. MARITA COVARRUBIAS takes the stand)

SKINNER:
State your full name for the court.

MARITA:
Marita Covarrubias.

SKINNER:
And your former government title?

MARITA:
Special Representative to the Secretary General of the U. N.

SKINNER:
The United Nations. A position giving you unrestricted access to countries and leaders around the world. Isn't that right?

MARITA:
Yes.

SKINNER:
How did you use this power?

MARITA:
Basically, to further the interests of a secretive group of men who called themselves the syndicate.

SKINNER:
What were their interests?

MARITA:
Developing an alien virus vaccine before the Russians developed one.

SKINNER:
And how'd they go about that?

(We see various scenes of MULDER and KRYCEK in Russia from 'Tunguska', and 'Terma')

MARITA:
By testing innocent civilians all over the world. Test subjects were tracked through a DNA identifiers in their small pox vaccination scars.

SKINNER:
Without subject's knowledge?

MARITA:
Mostly. Some developed suspicions. I saw Russians who cut off their arms to prevent being tracked.

SKINNER:
As they did to an American man that you worked quite intimately with.

MARITA:
Yes. Alex Krycek.

SKINNER:
Did you believe in the syndicate? In their international conspiracy?

MARITA:
No. I was paid for my access.

SKINNER:
In fact, you came to hate them.

MARITA:
Yes. It's why I helped Agent Mulder when he approached me.

SKINNER:
But you were found out. And the syndicate punished you for this.

(MARITA's hard composure gives way for a moment as she remembers her time as a test subject and we see scenes from 'The Red and the Black' of her being tested and various scenes of alien activity from such episodes as 'Requiem' and 'Without')

MARITA:
They turned me into a test subject

SKINNER:
Testing what?

MARITA:
They were pretending to work with the aliens to infect the entire population with an alien virus, but the conspirators were trying to save themselves by secretly and selfishly developing a vaccine. The conspirators believed all life in the universe had been infected with the virus including a race of shape-shifting alien bounty hunters who policed the conspiracy for the aliens. But they were wrong and it led to the destruction of the conspiracy.

SKINNER:
And who destroyed it?

(Scenes from 'Patient X' and 'One Son')

MARITA:
A group of renegade aliens who had avoided infection with the virus through self-disfigurement.

SKINNER:
And the conspirators themselves - what happened to them?

MARITA:
They're all dead now. Killed by these same faceless aliens.

SKINNER:
Then what are you afraid of now?

(MULDER watches SKINNER. MARITA remains silent)

SKINNER:
Why resist testifying here today?

SKINNER:
Because the conspiracy continues just in another form by other men.

KALLENBRUNNER:
Objection. Mister Skinner can't ask questions and give the answers.

KERSH:
Sustained.

SKINNER:
Fox Mulder's on trial for murder here. The man he's accused of killing is one of these new conspirators. An alien replacement for a human being. What they're calling a super soldier. You can prove this, can't you?

(MARITA remains silent)

SKINNER:
You know who these men are, don't you? Ms. Covarrubias?

(MARITA is deathly afraid of speaking. As MULDER watches, a hand is placed on his shoulder. It is KRYCEK)

KRYCEK:
They'll kill her.

SKINNER:
Ms. Covarrubias, I asked you a question. I need an answer.

MULDER:
No.

(Everyone turns to MULDER. MARITA, with a look of relief, KALLENBRUNNER and the court with a look of shock and SKINNER with a look of extreme surprise and confusion)

MULDER:
It's okay. Let her go.

SKINNER:
What the hell are you doing, Mulder? She's the last best witness that we have.

MULDER:
Doesn't matter.

(SKINNER turns back to her, who is less afraid but still a bit freaked out)

SKINNER:
Thank you, Ms. Covarrubias. I got nothing else.

(SKINNER returns to his seat, not knowing where to take the trial now. MARITA nods at MULDER in thanks and leaves. As she exits, DOGGETT enters)

DOGGETT:
Assistant Director.

(SKINNER and DOGGETT have a quiet meeting in the courtroom while everyone else waits. Finally SKINNER turns back to the panel)

SKINNER:
I have an unscheduled witness that I'd like to call here today.

(GIBSON PRAISE is brought in)

MULDER:
No, not him.

SKINNER:
Mulder, sit down.

MULDER:
You don't understand. I'm trying to protect that boy.

SKINNER:
Well, now he's here to protect you.

KERSH:
Mister Kallenbrunner? Do you have any objections to this witness?

KALLENBRUNNER:
Not like Mister Mulder here does.


SCENE 16 - COURTROOM

(The trial continues)

SKINNER:
Can you tell us your name?

GIBSON PRAISE:
Gibson Andrew Praise.

SKINNER:
Do you know this man? (Indicates MULDER)

GIBSON PRAISE:
Yes. He's my friend. I hid him in the desert for the last year.

(Scenes of Gibson in 'The End' and 'The Beginning')

SKINNER:
Mulder met you as a chess protégé. Your life was endangered because of your highly unusual brain activity.

KERSH:
Cut to the chase, Mister Skinner.

SKINNER:
Gibson Praise can read people's minds. Mulder and Scully proved this scientifically. There's a certain ‘junk DNA’ which all humans share but has no apparent function. Gibson's ‘junk DNA’ is functional. DNA which is believed to be alien.

KALLENBRUNNER:
You're trying to tell us this boy can read minds?

GIBSON:
Yes.

MULDER:
He's reading your mind right now.

(GIBSON PRAISE turns to look at KALLENBRUNNER)

KALLENBRUNNER:
And the minds of the judges, too?

GIBSON PRAISE:
Yes.

(GIBSON PRAISE turns to look at each of the judges. As he looks at them, he stops on the TOOTHPICK MAN)

GIBSON PRAISE:
Even his.

(Everyone looks as GIBSON points to TOOTHPICK MAN. He smiles)

KALLENBRUNNER:
And what makes him so special?

GIBSON PRAISE:
He's not human.

MULDER:
He's one of them.

(MULDER rises and TOOTHPICK MAN stops smiling and rises also)

MULDER:
One of them! I want that man examined!

(SKINNER stops MULDER and KERSH rises)

KERSH:
Mister Skinner control him!

MULDER:
You're afraid!

(GUARDS move to restrain MULDER and begin taking him out of the room)

SKINNER:
Mulder!

(MULDER yells as he is removed)

MULDER:
(Yelling) You're afraid of what I know! You're afraid of the truth!

(KALLENBRUNNER watches as MULDER is removed. GIBSON looks at TOOTHPICK MAN, who stares back at him. GIBSON is clearly scared)

[TO BE CONTINUED...]



PART 1
David Duchovney (Special Agent Fox Mulder), Gillian Anderson (Special Agent Dana Scully), Robert Patrick (Special Agent John Doggett), Annabeth Gish (Special Agent Monica Reyes), Adam Baldwin (Knowle Rohrer), Laurie Holden (Marita Covarrubias), Nicholas Lea (Alex Krycek), Chris Owens (Jeffrey Spender), James Pickens Jr (Deputy Director Kersh), Steven Williams (X), John Eric Bentley (Guard), Alan Dale (Toothpick Man), William Devane (General Mark Suveg), Matthew Glave (Special Agent Kallenbrunner), Jeff Gulka (Gibson Praise), Cody Lightning, Christopher Stapleton, Patrick St Esprit and Julia Vera


PART 2

SCENE 1 - MULDER'S CELL

(MULDER is escorted into a cell where SKINNER, REYES and DOGGETT wait)

MULDER:
Where's Gibson?

REYES:
He's with Scully... in good hands.

(MULDER begins to shake his head in disappointment)

DOGGETT:
We spent the night talking to him. Gibson knows you're concerned. We're protecting him now.

MULDER:
He shouldn't have done what he did - exposing himself like that.

SKINNER:
Well, the boy was trying to protect you and it looks like it may have worked.

REYES:
He says three judges are wavering. They're leaning in your favour.

MULDER:
It's going to take a little more than that the way things are going. We were never going to win.

SKINNER:
Take the stand, Mulder. Testify.

MULDER:
No.

DOGGETT:
Then we'll testify, me and Monica.

MULDER:
No.

REYES:
Both of us have seen too much...

MULDER:
Listen to me, they'll destroy you. They'll put you out on the street.

DOGGETT:
What's left for us on the X-Files?

REYES:
We came to this job to give it our best. It's the way we're going to leave.

MULDER:
It's not about how good you are. They control the game. They own it.

DOGGETT:
Then let's shove it up their ass.


SCENE 2 - DOGGETT'S TESTIMONY

(Everything is the same as the trial in the previous episode)

KERSH:
Mister Skinner?

SKINNER:
I'd like to call John Doggett.

(DOGGETT sits in the witness chair)

SKINNER:
Agent Doggett... you've been on the X-Files for two years. And with all that you've seen how do you feel about this term ‘paranormal’?

DOGGETT:
Well, the way I look at it, calling something paranormal is just a way of avoiding a real explanation.

SKINNER:
You're a sceptic. But I see here in your own case reports some very detailed descriptions of things that a sceptic would never believe in... these so called ‘Super-Soldiers.’

DOGGETT:
Well, that's a whole different deal.

SKINNER:
In what way?

(We see scenes from 'Essence', 'Existence', 'Nothing Important Happened Today' showing the various supersoldiers)

DOGGETT:
'Cause I've seen it with my own eyes; shot... drowned... even ground up in a garbage truck. And they just come right back to life.

(KERSH, upon hearing this, looks at TOOTHPICK MAN for a moment)

SKINNER:
What are they?

DOGGETT:
Well, the best I can figure they're some kind of secret military project-ordinary men made invincible.

KALLENBRUNNER:
Objection. What does this science fiction have to do with anything?

SKINNER:
Agent Doggett is going to tell you that the man that Mulder is accused of killing is a super soldier. A man that Agent Doggett served with in the marines. Name of Knowle Rohrer.

KALLENBRUNNER:
Objection. Agent Doggett was not present at the murder nor has he seen or examined the victim.

DOGGETT:
That's because I've been getting the bum's rush from the government.

KERSH:
Objection sustained.

(DOOGETT looks at KERSH. Up until now he has been willing to hope KERSH was on the right side of the law, now he is not so sure)

SKINNER:
Well, then, let me ask you, Agent Doggett if a super soldier is invincible, how could Mulder have killed this man?

DOGGETT:
He couldn't.

(MULDER has now found faith in DOGGETT and sees him as an ally for he, SKINNER and SCULLY)

DOGGETT:
The way I understand it they only way to kill a super soldier is with some rare metal. Agent Scully says it's a form of magnetite from some meteor that fell to earth.

(We see scenes from 'William' of a supersoldier dying that way)

SKINNER:
And Mulder's not accused of doing that, is he?

DOGGETT:
No, sir.

SKINNER:
Your witness.

(KALLENBRUNNER stands up)

KALLENBRUNNER:
Agent Doggett... in going over your files I must say... it's an honour to speak to a man whose record is distinguished by such duty to his country. Now, I'm not going to doubt a man of your integrity, Agent Doggett, even if he tells me a story I find too incredible to believe.

DOGGETT:
Thank you.

KALLENBRUNNER:
Just as you must not doubt the integrity of Fox Mulder on whose behalf you're here to testify.

DOGGETT:
Correct.

KALLENBRUNNER:
Even if Mulder believes these so-called super soldiers are aliens?

(At the same time, MULDER and DOGGETT realise where this is going and look at each other, realising that they must play the game to keep MULDER alive)

KALLENBRUNNER:
He believes they're aliens, you know. You said you were a sceptic.

DOGGETT:
That's right.

KALLENBRUNNER:
So an alien conspiracy which Mulder has built his defence on must be entirely unbelievable to you, too.

(DOGGETT cannot lie on the stand, he knows that he doesn't believe. KERSH looks at DOGGETT, who looks at MULDER. KALLENBRUNNER sits back down)


SCENE 3 - REYES' TESTIMONY

(REYES has taken the stand)

REYES:
My name is Monica Reyes. I've been with the FBI since 1990.

SKINNER:
Before coming onto the X-Files, Agent Reyes, you worked in the New Orleans field office investigating cases of satanic ritual abuse.

REYES:
I did.

SKINNER:
Did you ever prosecute any of these satanic cases?

REYES:
No.

KALLENBRUNNER:
For god's sake, Mister Skinner, we're trying a man for murder not taking a trip down memory lane.

SKINNER:
I'm showing the court that Agent Reyes is level-headed and objective on strange and extraordinary cases. That her belief in aliens comes from firsthand experience. And she can offer you hard proof that there is an alien conspiracy!

REYES:
I was called on last year to protect Agent Scully who was pregnant and whose life was in danger because of her pregnancy.

KALLENBRUNNER:
What does this have to do with aliens?

REYES:
I drove Agent Scully to a secluded location in Georgia where it was believed she could deliver safely. But we soon discovered we weren't alone. I was attacked and had to defend myself against an assailant, who was shot at point-blank range. Who should have died, but didn't. This assailant was then joined by others like him who surrounded Agent Scully and me, and witnessed her as she gave birth to her son.

(We see scenes of Scully giving birth in 'Existence'. MULDER sits, having to hear what SCULLY went through)

KALLENBRUNNER:
Witnessed her? What do you mean?

REYES:
We were confused as well. But we came to understand that her son was a kind of miracle child. Its birth was all important to these people; these so-called Super-Soldiers, who I believe are humans replaced by aliens.

KALLENBRUNNER:
Why would Scully's child be important to aliens, Agent Reyes?

REYES:
We came to learn that Scully was one of a number of random women who had miraculous childbirths and these women all had been abducted as part of a government program to secretly manipulate their biology operating offshore on a navy ship using these women as surrogates.

(We see scenes from 'Trust No1')

KALLENBRUNNER:
Surrogates?

REYES:
For alien babies.

KALLENBRUNNER:
To create a slave race.

REYES:
Yes.

KALLENBRUNNER:
A program conducted by the Navy, on a ship which is where?

REYES:
The ship housing this program was exploded on the Baltimore dock.

(We see this happening in a scene from 'Nothing Important Happened Today II')

KALLENBRUNNER:
So, in other words, we have no true evidence past your good word.

(SKINNER knows that at this rate, they are not going to win this trial)

KALLENBRUNNER:
You claim Scully gave birth to one of these alien babies. How can you be sure of this, Agent Reyes?

REYES:
I saw her child do things that could be explained no other way. I saw him display amazing powers. He'd move objects with his mind.

(We see a clip from 'Providence', where this happens)

KALLENBRUNNER:
Really? Do you think we could arrange a demonstration for the court? That we could see that ourselves?

REYES:
No. The child was given up for adoption to an anonymous family.

KALLENBRUNNER:
She gave up the miracle child? The proof of everything that she and Mulder claim that they've risked their lives for over the last nine years - she just sent it off to some strangers?

REYES:
Yes, to protect him!

KALLENBRUNNER:
Thank you, Agent Reyes. That's all.

(Instead of returning to her seat, REYES stands and prepares to seal her fate)

REYES:
You don't care about that child or what Scully had to sacrifice. You're only too happy she had to give it up so there's no proof.

KERSH:
Agent Reyes.

(REYES turns to look at KERSH as she speaks again)

REYES:
You don't care what these people have sacrificed over the last nine years - what's been lost to their cause. You make a mockery of it, gladdened it proves your point.

KERSH:
Agent Reyes, that's enough!

REYES:
What is the point of all of this? To destroy a man who seeks the truth or to destroy the truth so no man can seek it? Either way, you lose.

(REYES stares, a look of hatred in her eyes as she looks at KERSH. For a moment her eyes meet MULDER's, he can hardly hide his respect for his fourth ally. REYES slams the door behind her as she leaves and SKINNER looks at an uncomfortable KERSH)


SCENE 4 - GEORGETOWN, WASHINGTON D.C.

(DOGGETT drives through the night to SCULLY's apartment where REYES has just arrived. They both rush to her apartment)

DOGGETT:
Are you ready for this? We may have found Knowle Rohrer.

SCULLY:
You found him?

REYES:
His body.

SCULLY:
What are you talking about? There can't be a body; he can't die. Knowle Rohrer is a super soldier.

REYES:
Exactly. But they're saying it's him - the man Mulder killed.

SCULLY:
Who's saying it's him?

DOGGETT:
I got some guy on the phone at Fort Marlene who didn't know that he was supposed to give me the run-around. I got him to send the victim's corpse to Quantico.

SCULLY:
It's there now?

REYES:
We got a car out front.

GIBSON PRAISE:
Agent Scully?

(The three wonder what they should do, they can hardly leave GIBSON alone)

REYES:
Agent Doggett can stay with him.


SCENE 5 - FBI ACADEMY, QUANTICO, VIRGINIA

(SCULLY and REYES examine a badly burnt body and SCULLY looks at the paperwork)

REYES:
Oh, my god. This is Knowle Rohrer?

SCULLY:
That's what it says here.

REYES:
Well, how could anyone tell if it wasn't?

SCULLY:
I need you to get me Knowle Rohrer's medical records.

REYES:
They'd have to come from the military. I don't know if I can.

SCULLY:
You've got to, Monica; whatever it takes. I need those records for Skinner. I need them for Mulder.

(For a moment, REYES looks at SCULLY and then she silently agrees, walking out to find them. SCULLY prepares to begin her examination)


SCENE 6 - COURTROOM

(KERSH seems bored. SKINNER is looking through notes)

KERSH:
Mister Skinner. Please call your next witness.

(SKINNER stands, presumably to say that he has nothing left, when SCULLY rushes in)

SCULLY:
Assistant Director...

(SCULLY gives SKINNER the report, which he reads. She looks at MULDER)

SCULLY:
…I found it.

MULDER:
What?

SCULLY:
What's going to get you off.

SKINNER:
I want to move to dismiss again based on new evidence I just received that there is no victim. That the body of Knowle Rohrer is not Knowle Rohrer, but that of a man who died of a broken neck and whose body was burned post-mortem.

KERSH:
Motion denied.

SCULLY:
You can't deny it.

KERSH:
You're out of order and in contempt of court, Agent Scully.

SCULLY:
You're in contempt. I have evidence proving that Agent Mulder is innocent.

KERSH:
You have no authorisation to examine the body, Agent Scully. Have her removed from the courtroom.

MULDER:
If she's got evidence, you got to listen.

(MULDER stands and watches as guards escort SCULLY out)

KERSH:
Order! Remove the defendant from the courtroom. This trial is adjourned.

(KALLENBRUNNER and SKINNER watch in confusion as MULDER is removed)


SCENE 7- COURTROOM, LATER

(The verdict has been reached. Everyone is there. The panel enters and sits. KERSH remains standing. SKINNER stands, also)

KERSH:
Gentlemen... we have a verdict. If you'd rise. Acting fairly and impartially, this panel finds the defendant... guilty of first degree murder under aggravated circumstances. Is there anything you'd like to say on your behalf, Mister Mulder... before we decide your sentence?

MULDER:
Yes.

(Everyone sits as MULDER stands and focuses his speech on KERSH)

MULDER:
I'd like to congratulate you on succeeding where so many before you have failed. A bullet between the eyes would have been preferable to this charade. But I've learned to pretend over the past nine years - to pretend that my victories mattered only to realise that no one was keeping score. To realise that liars do not fear the truth if there are enough liars. That the devil is just one man with a plan but evil, true evil, is a collaboration of men which is what we have here today. If I am a guilty man, my crime is in DA ring to believe that the truth will out and that no one lie can live forever. I believe it still. Much as you try to bury it, the truth is out there. Greater than your lies, the truth wants to be known. You will know it. It'll come to you, as it's come to me faster than the speed of light.

(MULDER sees KRYCEK and X standing behind the panel)

MULDER:
You may believe yourselves rid of your headache now and maybe you are .. but you're only done it by cutting off your own heads.

(KRYCEK and X are gone. MULDER leaves the room and SKINNER glares at KERSH)


SCENE 8 -SCULLY'S APARTMENT

(DOGGETT, REYES and GIBSON are in the kitchen. SCULLY sits still on the couch. The phone rings but she doesn't answer. DOGGETT picks it up and talks)

DOGGETT:
Yeah. I'll tell her

(DOGGETT hangs up)

SCULLY:
Who was it?

DOGGETT:
Skinner.

SCULLY:
Agent Doggett?

(DOGGETT slowly turns to look at SCULLY. He doesn't know how to say what he has to say)

DOGGETT:
Death by lethal injection.

(SCULLY breaks down - nine years of fighting has come to this. She buries her head in her hands)


SCENE 9 - USMC BASE BRIG, 11:21 PM

(The GUARD leaves the booth to check on the ID of a driver of a car)

GUARD:
Evening. ID, please.

(The GUARD checks the ID of KNOWLE ROHRER)

GUARD:
Master Sergeant Rohrer? Go on ahead.

(ROHRER drives in)


SCENE 10 - MULDER'S CELL

(MULDER is lying on the floor as the door opens. He wakes. It is DOGGETT)

DOGGETT:
Get up.

MULDER:
Who's there?

DOGGETT:
I'm here with Skinner. Get up.

SKINNER:
Move it, Mulder.

MULDER:
What are you doing?

(DOGGETT helps MULDER up)

DOGGETT:
We're getting you out of here. Come on.

(The three men exit the cell and make their way down the hallways as quietly as possible. SKINNER pulls out a key to open a door and we come back to the cell where KNOWLE ROHRER has entered. No-one is there and he is shocked)

ROHRER:
Guard!

(Two guards appear in the doorway)

ROHRER:
Where is he?

(The guard shakes his head. He doesn't know)

ROHRER:
Seal the building. Seal the base.

GUARD:
(Into two-way) We have an escaped prisoner.

(ROHRER heads off down the corridors. Alarms begin blaring everywhere. SKINNER unlocks a gate but there is an OFFICER waiting at the desk. SKINNER goes to see if they can get past when the OFFICER is called away. The men run past the gate and SKINNER unlocks the next one, walking straight into....KERSH)

KERSH:
You're never going to make it this way.

(For a moment, the four men stare at each other before KERSH makes up his mind)

KERSH:
Come on.

(KERSH leads the three men to another exit where REYES has cut a hole in the fence. The four men climb out and into a waiting vehicle. MULDER climbs out and puts on a jacket, making his way to where SCULLY and GIBSON are waiting in another car. GIBSON, KERSH, SKINNER, DOGGETT and REYES their only real friends in the world, stand behind them, knowing that this is goodbye)

SCULLY:
Mulder?

KERSH:
You've got to move out.

SCULLY:
What's he doing?

KERSH:
What I should have done from the start. You want to go north to Canada. Get to an airport. If you're not off the continent in twenty-four hours you may never get out, you understand?

MULDER:
None of you will be safe now.

DOGGETT:
You let us worry about that.

REYES:
Good luck.

(GIBSON joins the others by the car as MULDER and SCULLY climb in. They wave a sad goodbye and drive off. GIBSON already knows that they aren't going to Canada)


SCENE 11 - INTERSTATE 95 (SOUTH BOUND)

(SCULLY notices the sign that says South)

SCULLY:
Mulder, Kersh told us to head north. You just got on a road going south.

MULDER:
That's right.

SCULLY:
Where are you going?

MULDER:
To see a man about The truth.


SCENE 12 - FBI BUILDING, 7:12 AM

(DOGGETT, REYES and GIBSON exit the elevator)

GIBSON PRAISE:
You can't hide me forever.

REYES:
We can destroy your files - make it next to impossible to find you.

GIBSON PRIASE:
You don't know these people.

DOGGETT:
I'm going to protect you, Gibson.

(GIBSON knows it can't happen. Who knows if any of them will survive? REYES enters the office)

REYES:
John ...

DOGGETT:
What the hell is this? What the hell is going on?

(The filing cabinets are gone, as is most everything else. A few things lie on the ground still. DOGGETT picks up the ‘I Want to Believe’ poster and starts rolling it up)

DOGGETT:
They can't do this. Who authorised this?

REYES:
I'm going to find out.

(REYES calls SKINNER's office)

SKINNER:
(On phone) Skinner.

REYES:
They've packed up The X-Files.

SKINNER:


(on phone)I know. It's out of control. I'm trying to get to the bottom of it. I'm trying to get to Kersh.


SCENE 13 - KERSH'S OFFICE

(DOGGETT, REYES and GIBSON arrive at KERSH's office as SKINNER does. They knock)

SKINNER:
All I can think is it's punishment for taking Mulder's side. Unless they found out that we helped him escape.

DOGGETT:
Then they know about the Deputy Director's involvement, too.

(TOOTHPICK MAN opens the door)

SKINNER:
I need to see the Deputy Director.

TOOTHPICK MAN:
And he needs to see you.

(Everyone looks grim. GIBSON and TOOTHPICK MAN share a look as SKINNER enters the office and the door is closed)

GIBSON PRAISE:
He knows.

DOGGETT:
Then we're all in Danger here.

(DOGGETT is prepared to rescue KERSH and SKINNER, whose fate we may never know)

GIBSON PRAISE:
No. He knows about Mulder and Scully - where they're going.

REYES:
You mean the border?

GIBSON PRAISE:
No, that's not where they went and they know that. They're going to find them and kill them.

DOGGETT:
Where are they, Gibson? Mulder and Scully - where'd they go?

(GIBSON realises he has to tell them)


SCENE 14 - TEXAS-NEW MEXICO BORDER, 5:07 AM

(MULDER cuts the engine and kisses SCULLY who is sleeping. He unzips his pants and goes to relieve himself when the spirit FROHIKE pops up)

FROHIKE:
Hey, hot shot! You might have the common courtesy of doing your business there downwind.

MULDER:
Oh, boy.

(LANGLY and BYERS are here also)

LANGLY:
Why don't you just finish draining the little lizard and then we'll talk?

BYERS:
We're very worried about you.

FROHIKE:
It's craziness, man. Turn around.

LANGLY:
Just hang a big ‘U’-ie and never look back.

MULDER:
I can't.

BYERS:
Why risk perfect happiness, Mulder? Why risk your lives?

MULDER:
Because I need to know the truth.

BYERS:
You already know the truth.

MULDER:
I need to know if I can change it.

LANGLY:
Change it?

FROHIKE:
For crying out loud. All you're going to do is get yourself killed.

(SCULLY steps out of the car)

SCULLY:
Mulder! What are you doing?

MULDER:
I'll be right with you, Scully.

(They climb back in and continue driving)


SCENE 15 - ANASAZI PUEBLO

(The pueblo carved in the mountain is their destination. MULDER and SCULLY get out of the car)

SCULLY:
What are they?

MULDER:
Pueblos. Anasazi Indian. Abandoned two-thousand years ago. Nobody knows why.

SCULLY:
Yeah, Mulder, but what are we doing here?

(MULDER points high to the window of a ruin along the way. There's smoking coming out from the window. Someone is there. MULDER and SCULLY begin the walk up there. An old INDIAN WOMAN is tending to a fire)

MULDER:
Hello. My name is Fox Mulder. Do you understand me?

(The WOMAN disappears behind a curtain. SCULLY moves closer to the curtain and then turns around to face MULDER)

SCULLY:
Mulder, what is it?

MULDER:
I was sent a message and a key to the government facility at Mount Weather. The Indians said it was from a wise man who lived in the ruins: A Keeper of the truth.


SCENE 16 - HELICOPTER

(REYES and DOGGETT are travelling above by helicopter looking for any clue to tell them where MULDER and SCULLY are)

REYES:
Do you see anything at all?

(DOGGETT shakes his head)


SCENE 17 - THE CAVE

(The INDIAN WOMAN leads MULDER to where an old man with white hair sits. The two enter - it is C.G.B SPENDER, THE CIGARETTE SMOKING MAN who we haven't seen his near demise in 'Requiem'. He is, as ever, smoking, this time through a hole in his trachea)

CIGARETTE-SMOKING MAN:
What's the matter, Agent Mulder? You come to see the wise man but you look as if you've seen a ghost.

MULDER:
You're no wise man. You're a dead man. Just like Krycek and X.

CIGARETTE-SMOKING MAN:
You see a dead man, Agent Scully?

SCULLY:
I hoped and prayed you were dead you chain-smoking, son of a bitch.

CIGARETTE-SMOKING MAN:
You waste your time. Ask Mulder. He knows the futility of hopes and prayers. He knows the truth now.

CIGARETTE-SMOKING MAN:
You have told her the truth haven't you, Fox? I helped you find it.

MULDER:
You didn't help me. You sent me to that government facility knowing exactly what I'd find.

CIGARETTE-SMOKING MAN:
And now you refuse to speak it. Not to Scully, not to anyone. You've even refused to testify what you learned... even though it would have saved your life. You Damned me for my secrets... but you're afraid to speak the truth.

MULDER:
You call me afraid? Look at you sitting here alone in the Dark like a fossil.

(CIGARETTE-SMOKING MAN exhales a puff of smoke around him)

CIGARETTE-SMOKING MAN:
It's the final refuge. The last place to hide from those who are insidiously taking power now.

SCULLY:
Who?

CIGARETTE-SMOKING MAN:
The aliens. They fear this place... its geology. Magnetite. Like that which brought down the original UFO in Roswell. Indian wise men realised this over two-thousand years ago. They hid here and watched their own culture die. The Original Shadow Government.


SCENE 18 - OUTSIDE

(The helicopter land, letting DOGGETT and REYES out before leaving. They find MULDER and SCULLY's car but REYES has already seen another making it's way toward them)

REYES:
Agent Doggett!

DOGGETT:
Who the hell's that?

(The driver is none other than KNOWLE ROHRER)


SCENE 19 - ANASAZI PUEBLO

CIGARETTE-SMOKING MAN:
It leaves me to tell you what Mulder's afraid to, Agent Scully.

MULDER:
Come on, let's go.

CIGARETTE-SMOKING MAN:
It's a scary story. You want to come sit on my lap?

SCULLY:
You don't scare me.

CIGARETTE-SMOKING MAN:
My story's scared every president since Truman in '47.

MULDER:
You don't have to hear this.

SCULLY:
No, I want to hear it, Mulder.

CIGARETTE-SMOKING MAN:
Ten centuries ago the Mayans were so afraid that their calendar stopped on the exact date that my story begins. December twenty-second, the year 2012. The date of the final alien invasion. Mulder can confirm the date. He saw it at Mount Weather... where our own ‘Secret Government’ will be hiding when it all comes down.

(SCULLY looks at MULDER, but he continues staring at the CIGARETTE-SMOKING MAN)

MULDER:
Yeah, you smile... feeling drunk with power. The power to do nothing.

CIGARETTE-SMOKING MAN:
My power comes from telling you. Seeing your powerlessness hearing it. They wanted to kill you, Fox. I protected you all these years... waiting for this moment... to see you broken. Afraid. Now you can die.


SCENE 20 - OUTSIDE

(Two large helicopters make their way toward the pueblos. ROHRER, meanwhile, advances on DOGGETT and REYES. They both hold their guns on him, knowing full well that it is useless)

DOGGETT:
Run, Monica. Get out of here.

REYES :
No.

DOGGETT:
Knowle Rohrer. That's far enough.

(ROHRER continues moving closer)

ROHRER:
Shoot me, Agent Doggett, if you think it'll make a difference this time.

(DOGGETT shoots, the bullet doing nothing although it hits ROHRER in the chest. He continues advancing and both the agents back up. ROHRER stops, he is struggling now. The geology of the pueblo has finally got to him. DOGGETT lowers his weapon and they watch as ROHRER is sucked into the rocks and DOGGETT pulls REYES out of the way. They stare at the remains of what was once KNOWLE ROHRER. MULDER and SCULLY appear from the doorway)

MULDER:
Agent Doggett!

DOGGETT:
Mulder, get out of there!

REYES:
They know where you are!

(The helicopters close in as DOGGETT and REYES climb into MULDER's vehicle. MULDER and SCULLY run towards the ruins and DOGGETT moves the car closer to them)

MULDER:
Get out of here!

DOGGETT:
Get in the car.

MULDER:
No! Go! Go!

(MULDER and SCULLY climb into KNOWLE ROHRER's abandoned car. DOGGETT and REYES drive away, but they are now in the car of the enemy and we may never know if they live or die..)


SCENE 21 - PUEBLOS

(The helicopters are approaching as MULDER and SCULLY take off in the opposite direction, moving away just in time to avoid the helicopters seeing them. The INDIAN WOMAN panics inside the pueblo as the helicopters hover outside the window. They fire several missiles at them, destroying sections of the pueblo. The INDIAN WOMAN screams but the helicopters are determined to get the agents. The CIGARETTE-SMOKING MAN sits inside, with a cigarette in hand. The penultimate missile destroys almost the entire pueblo. CIGARETTE-SMOKING MAN throws the cigarette butt on the ground. The helicopter fires its last missile, impacting and filling the cave with fire, killing the CIGARETTE-SMOKING MAN. With the pueblo destroyed, the helicopters fly away)


SCENE 22 - ROSWELL, NEW MEXICO

(We are in a hotel room in Roswell. MULDER is on the floor, leaning back against the bed, on which SCULLY lays)

SCULLY:
What are you thinking?

(MULDER is silent)

SCULLY:
Mulder?

MULDER:
I'm thinking... I'm a guilty man. I've failed in every respect. I deserve the harshest punishment for my crimes.

SCULLY:
You don't believe that.

MULDER:
I believe that I sat in a motel room like this with you when we first met and I tried to convince you of the truth. And in that respect, I succeeded ,but in every other way I failed.

SCULLY:
You don't believe that, either.

MULDER:
I've been chasing after monsters with a butterfly net. You heard the man - the date's set. I can't change that.

SCULLY:
You wouldn't tell me. Not because you were afraid or broken.... but because you didn't want to accept defeat.

MULDER:
Well, I was afraid of what knowing would do to you. I was afraid that it would crush your spirit.

SCULLY:
Why would I accept defeat? Why would I accept it, if you won't? Mulder, you say that you've failed but you only fail if you give up. And I know you - you can't give up. It's what I saw in you when we first met. It's what made me follow you... why I'd do it all over again.

MULDER:
And look what it's gotten you.

SCULLY:
And what has it gotten you? Not your sister. Nothing that you've set out for. But you won't give up, even now.

(SCULLY takes MULDER's hand in hers)

SCULLY:
You've always said that you want to believe. But believe in what Mulder? If this is the truth that you've been looking for then what is left to believe in?

MULDER:
I want to believe that the dead are not lost to us. That they speak to us as part of something greater than us- greater than any alien force. And if you and I are powerless now, I want to believe that if we listen to what's speaking, it can give us the power to save ourselves.

SCULLY:
Then we believe the same thing.

(SCULLY and MULDER looks at each other and smile. MULDER picks up SCULLY's cross and caresses her lips. He sits on the bed next to her and they hug, holding each other)

MULDER:
Maybe there's hope.

[THE END]



PART 2
David Duchovney (Special Agent Fox Mulder), Gillian Anderson (Special Agent Dana Scully), Robert Patrick (Special Agent John Doggett), Annabeth Gish (Special Agent Monica Reyes), Adam Baldwin (Knowle Rohrer), Tom Braidwood (Frohike), William B. Davis (The Cigarette Smoking Man), Dean Haglund (Langly), Bruce Harwood (Byers), Nicholas Lea (Alex Krycek), James Pickens Jr (Deputy Director Kersh), Steven Williams (X), John Eric Bentley (Guard), Alan Dale (Toothpick Man), Matthew Glave (Special Agent Kallenbrunner), Jeff Gulka (Gibson Praise), Cody Lightning, Christopher Stapleton, Patrick St Esprit and Julia Vera (Indian Woman)

Directed by Kim Manners

TX:
US TX - 19th May 2002

Notes:
*Featuring Special Special Agent Fox 'Spooky' Mulder, Special Special Agent Dana Scully, Special Agent John Doggett, Special Agent Monica Reyes and A.D. Walter Skinner