The X-Files - 2.

3.24 Talitha Cumi

German title: Der Tag Steht Schon Fest
translation: The Day's Already Set

<-ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA->

(A busy fast food restaurant. A very agitated man sits at a booth, talking to himself, not touching his food.)

MUNTZ: "Yeah, we've given your grievances a lot of consideration." Yeah, a lot... "don't think you're not expendable, no."

(A woman sitting next to Muntz as he talks. He turns his direction towards her, frightening her slightly.)

MUNTZ: He never once said I was doing a good job. All my hard work.

(He looks over to a man to his right.)

MUNTZ: Nobody ever stuck up for me.

(The man, getting a bit frightened, leaves.)

MUNTZ: They were all treated special.

(He stands.)

MUNTZ: Nobody moves! Everybody stays!

(He pulls out a gun. A woman screams.)

MUNTZ: Shut up! I said shut up! Now listen to me...

(A worker goes for a phone.)

MUNTZ: Everyone... listen to me! Okay, the children can go. Everybody else, nobody move.

(The worker is on the phone.)

WORKER: I need the police, quick!

(A woman starts to take her child out.)

MUNTZ: You hear me? I said nobody else moves!

(They go back to their seats. The children file out. A man stands in the back. His face is warm, very kind. He slowly walks towards Muntz.)

JEREMIAH SMITH: Please don't harm anyone.

MUNTZ: Stay away! I'll shoot!

JEREMIAH SMITH: You're frightening these people!

MUNTZ: I'll do it. Hey! I will do it!

(Smith remains calm, standing a few inches in front of the gun.)

JEREMIAH SMITH: They've done nothing to you.

MUNTZ: Oh... oh, you don't know.

JEREMIAH SMITH: Give me the gun.

MUNTZ: I am not a loser.

JEREMIAH SMITH: No, you're not.

(Muntz starts to sob, giving in. Cars pull up outside.)

MUNTZ: They made me do it. They made me.

(Men file out of cars outside, obviously the police. Smith puts his hands on Muntz's, slowly lowering the gun.)

JEREMIAH SMITH: But you're not going to do it.

WOMAN: I don't believe this...

JEREMIAH SMITH: You're going to show them. You're going to show them.

(A sniper readies from across the street, next to another officer with binoculars. A man and a woman have been watching Smith, and seeing Muntz's weakness, open the door. Muntz freaks.)

MUNTZ: No!

(He shoots the man at the door, spins around, shoots a woman, then spins and shoots another man. The sniper pulls the trigger, shattering the window. Muntz groans and falls.)

WOMAN: Get down!

(The crowd watches as Smith kneels over Muntz.)

MUNTZ: I'm going to die.

JEREMIAH SMITH: Nobody's going to die.

(To the amazement of the onlookers, Smith puts his hand on Muntz's chest. The blood disappears. The wound closes. Later, Mulder and Scully pull up. The police move the crowd out of the way for them. A paramedic crew looks pretty bored. Scully gets out and goes over to one of them.)

SCULLY: Where are the wounded?

PARAMEDIC: What?

SCULLY: I'm F.B.I. Where are the people who were shot?

(She shows him her badge.)

PARAMEDIC: Everybody's inside, but you aren't going to find any wounded.

(She walks past him into the building. Mulder walks up to him, showing his badge.)

MULDER: You the first medic on the scene?

PARAMEDIC: Yes, sir.

MULDER: Can you tell me what happened?

PARAMEDIC: Well, it doesn't make any sense. We got a call there had been a shooting. At least one man was down, but when we got here, there wasn't a damn thing to do.

(Mulder walks in. Scully shows her badge to a nearby suit-and-tie officer.)

SCULLY: Excuse me, I'm Dana Scully, F.B.I. I want to talk to somebody who can tell me what happened.

DETECTIVE: Well, I can tell you what I saw, but I don't think there's a man here who can tell you what happened.

SCULLY: Wh, what did you see?

DETECTIVE: Maybe you should talk to this man. He was one of the ones shot.

(The man who was shot near the door nods to Scully. He isn't wounded, though. Scully is shocked.)

SCULLY: You were shot?

MAN: Right here.

(He points to his stomach. The only remnants of the wound is a small hole in the shirt.)

MAN: Right in the stomach. I felt the bullet enter me and the next thing I remember was, was being on the floor.

(Scully lifts his shirt. No wound.)

MAN: My legs and arms were numb and I could taste blood in my throat. Then I see the man's face.

SCULLY: What man?

MAN: It was the same guy who tried to talk the gun guy out of hurting anyone.

SCULLY: What did he do?

MAN: He touched me and he said I was going to be okay. And all of a sudden, I could feel my legs and arms again.

(Scully looks back at the detective. Outside, the shooter sits in a police car. Mulder gets in and the two look at each other.)

MUNTZ: Who are you?

MULDER: My name is Fox Mulder, I'm an F.B.I. agent. I understand you've been read your rights. Will you talk to me, Mister Muntz? Can you tell me what happened?

(Muntz looks straight ahead, looking rather enlightened.)

MUNTZ: God... spared my life today. He took pity on my soul, and washed away my sins.

MULDER: How do you mean?

MUNTZ: He reached down and healed me with his hand... with the palm of his hand.

MULDER: Who did?

MUNTZ: A man. A holy man.

(He looks at Mulder.)

MUNTZ: All I can think is... it must have been the good Lord himself.

(Scully walks outside and over to Mulder, who gets out of the car.)

MULDER: Did you talk to him?

SCULLY: Who?

MULDER: The shooter described a man, a man who reached down and healed him with the palm of his hand.

SCULLY: He's gone.

MULDER: They let him leave the scene?

SCULLY: Well, nobody let him leave, he was in custody and they were talking to him and then, somehow, he just disappeared.

MULDER: Just vanished.

SCULLY: Without a trace.

(He walks past her. She follows.)

<-QUONOCHONTAUG, RHODE ISLAND->

(Mrs. Mulder is at her summer house. She stops on the path and looks at it with slight disdain. After a few seconds, she walks the rest of the way and then inside. As if searching for someone, she looks around carefully, then into the dining room. She looks out the window, onto the back porch, and walks there. She barely notices the man standing off to the side, holding a cigarette.)

CIGARETTE-SMOKING MAN: It struck me as I was sitting here.

MRS. MULDER: What?

(The villain steps towards her. Seagulls can be heard in the distance.)

CIGARETTE-SMOKING MAN: Everything changes but the sea.

MRS. MULDER: What do you want from me?

CIGARETTE-SMOKING MAN: I thought we might at least allow ourselves to reminisce.

(He takes a drag.)

MRS. MULDER: I have nothing to say to you.

CIGARETTE-SMOKING MAN: Really? We used to have so much to say to each other. So many good times at the Mulders' summer place. Your kids... young and energetic.

(He smirks.)

CIGARETTE-SMOKING MAN: I remember water-skiing down there with Bill. He was a good water-skier, your husband. Not as good as I was, but...

(He takes another drag.)

CIGARETTE-SMOKING MAN: That could be said about so many things...

(She stares grimly at him.)

CIGARETTE-SMOKING MAN: Couldn't it?

MRS. MULDER: I've repressed it all.

CIGARETTE-SMOKING MAN: Well... I find that hard to believe... particularly since I've come here today to ask you to remember something. Something I'm going to have to ask you to try very hard to recollect.

(They stare at each other. Off in the distance, too far to hear, the conversation grows heated. The two are walking around, screaming at each other, but still unheard. The conversation is being watched through a camera lens.)

<-ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA->

(The agents are conferring with the detective.)

DETECTIVE: Yeah, he gave his name as Jeremiah Smith of Suitland, Virginia. He gave a P.O. box that turned out to be a phony. He had no driver's license.

MULDER: All the cars in the parking lot have been accounted for?

DETECTIVE: Yeah, which means he must have walked from somewhere nearby. We got a canvass out.

SCULLY: And you talked to him personally?

DETECTIVE: Yeah. Damnedest thing. And I swear this is how it happened. I look down in my notebook to write something, I look up... the guy's not standing there anymore. It was like he just disappeared.

(Mulder watches a car pull out outside. His cell phone rings. The detective walks away.)

MULDER: Mulder.

SECRETARY: Agent Mulder, this is Assistant Director Skinner's office, would you please hold for him?

MULDER: Yeah.

(Cut to Skinner, who is standing at his desk.)

SKINNER: Agent Mulder?

(Cut back to Mulder.)

MULDER: Uh-huh.

SKINNER: I just received a call that might cause you some alarm.

MULDER: What is it?

(Cut to Skinner.)

SKINNER: Your mother's just been admitted to a hospital in serious condition in a small coastal town in Rhode Island called, uh, Quono...

(Cut to Mulder.)

MULDER: Quonochontaug?

(Cut back to Skinner.)

MULDER: I'm on my way.

<-11:21 P.M.->

(Mulder walks into the hallway to the rooms as Scully confers with the nurse at the desk down the hall. Mulder opens the door to room six and looks in horror. He walks over to his mother, who is attached to a respirator and hooked up to various machines. He holds her hand, then places his hand on her forehead. Scully walks in.)

SCULLY: The nurse said she had a stroke. They don't yet know the nature or severity of it, but the doctor's on his way down.

(A nurse looks in the room.)

MULDER: She's cold.

(He starts to tuck her in.)

SCULLY: Mulder, I don't want to jump to conclusions. I don't want you to think the worst. People recover from these situations all of the time.

(He kneels down, looking at his mother.)

MULDER: Mom...

NURSE: She hasn't been able to speak. She's been in and out of consciousness.

MULDER: How did she get here?

NURSE: A nine-one-one call came in. The paramedics from Shelter Harbor... found her on the floor of her house.

(She walks out. Mulder sighs slightly and whispers to his mother.)

MULDER: Mom...

(His mother looks at him slowly.)

MULDER: Hi.

(He smiles.)

MULDER: It's okay. Everything's going to be okay.

(She makes a writing motion.)

MULDER: What is it? What do you want?

SCULLY: I think she wants something to write on.

(She hands him her notepad. He fits the pen into her hand and holds the notepad for her. She writes "PALM." They stare at the message.)

MULDER: Palm?

(She nods slightly. Outside, Scully is conferring with a doctor. Mulder walks down the hall and watches as her mother is loaded into an ambulance. The ambulance drives off. Scully walks over to Mulder.)

SCULLY: She's had what's called a subarachnoid hemorrhage, but they're very hopeful because the circulation was restored so quickly. She's going to be under constant supervision and the best care in the hospital up in Providence. It could be a lot worse.

MULDER: Thanks.

(He ekes out a smile.)

SCULLY: Are you okay?

MULDER: Yeah. I'm, um... I just can't help thinking there's a correlation.

SCULLY: Correlation?

MULDER: A connection to the shootings at the fast food restaurant.

SCULLY: I... I'm sorry, I, I don't understand...

MULDER: My mother wrote the word "palm." And that's what the man who healed his victims, that's what he used, the palm of his hand.

(Scully squints, then gives Mulder an "are you serious?" look.)

MULDER: You, you think it's a leap?

SCULLY: Mulder, there's no deep mystery here, the, your mother is at the right age for something like this to happen.

MULDER: Yeah, but why the word "palm?"

SCULLY: Well, there could be several reasons. But to be honest, I don't think it means anything. Her, her brain and her thought processes have been... have been radically changed by what's happened. It could very well have affected her, her center of speech, her language.

MULDER: But you can't explain it exactly, nor can it be explained how the wounded were miraculously healed, or how the man who healed them just vanished into thin air, can it?

SCULLY: I'm sure it can... and will be. Mulder, I'm going to drive you to the nearest motel, it's been a very long day.

MULDER: I want to go back to D.C.

SCULLY: To do what?

MULDER: I want to find out who this miracle man is.

<-WASHINGTON, D.C.; 8:25 AM->

(Mulder loads a tape into the VCR. He sits on the desk next to Scully, holding the control.)

MULDER: This is everything shot by the first news crew on the scene, outtakes and unedited footage.

SCULLY: Did they get any tape of the man in question?

MULDER: Yeah, it's supposed to be at about eight-twenty-two.

(He fast forwards it to the point and presses play. The footage rolls, then there is a shot of Smith talking to a detective. Mulder freezes the frame.)

MULDER: There. That must be him.

(He presses play. A man walks in front of the camera and suddenly, Smith is not there anymore, but a mustached man wearing the same suit.)

SCULLY: Whoa, what happened there?

(The detective looks around in confusion as the mustached man walks off.)

MULDER: Yeah, he's gone. Where did he go?

(He rewinds it as it plays, then plays it again. He pauses just after the man crosses, revealing the new man in Smith's place.)

MULDER: Did you see that?

SCULLY: Y, yeah...

MULDER: It's like he's gone, but there's... somebody else in his place. Wearing the same clothes.

SCULLY: Could that be another detective?

(He hands her the control and stands.)

MULDER: Why don't you find out?

SCULLY: Where are you going?

(He takes his overcoat.)

MULDER: If I told you, you'd never let me go.

SCULLY: Mulder, you haven't slept in almost twenty-four hours.

MULDER: Call me if you find anything.

(He leaves. Scully sighs and watches the footage again.)

<-SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION; WASHINGTON, D.C.->

(A quiet day at the office. There are rows of small desks, with computers, chairs, and workers. It's relative quiet, except for a low mumbling of noise and the constant sound of keystrokes. Around six men-in-black walk in. Soon, a whole contingent of them do from the next set of doors. Smith, working here, watches them carefully. He sees the Cigarette-Smoking Man in the entrance, smoking. Smith nervously gets up and goes towards a back room, but opens the door to find two men-in-black. The first one shakes his head and grabs him. They pull him off into he next room. The other agents leave, and so does Cancer Man.)

<-UNKNOWN LOCATION->

(Smith, wearing an orange jumper, is strapped down in all ways to a transport. Men cart him along. He looks strangely placid, even though slightly frightened of his location. He is put in cell B18 along with a few men. The door is slammed shut.)

<-QUONOCHONTAUG, RHODE ISLAND->

(Mulder walks down the path, hearing the seagulls off in the distance. He looks down at his old summer home. Walking inside, he sees no one. The sound of rain hitting the back porch echoes out, as does the thunder. He checks the handle to the back door. It is ajar. He walks outside. Another man watches him from inside the house, then walks out.)

X: He was here with her.

(Mulder turns in shock.)

MULDER: What?

X: With your mother. The Cancer Man.

MULDER: What are you talking about?

X: Maybe I can bring you up to speed, Agent Mulder.

(He hands him various photographs of Mrs. Mulder and the Cigarette-Smoking Man fighting.)

MULDER: Did you take these?

X: They had quite an argument, as you might gather from the snapshots. You seem surprised. Surely you were aware they knew each other... or what brought them here together.

MULDER: I don't know.

(Mulder looks at X as if he is both his greatest ally and his worst enemy.)

MULDER: Did he hurt her?

X: No. No, she collapsed after he left. I dare say if I hadn't been here to make the call, she might not have survived.

MULDER: What did they argue about?

X: I don't know. I was forced to keep a discreet distance.

MULDER: You must have had some idea or else you wouldn't have followed them here.

X: He wants something from her. Something she may have kept in this house. Unless you know another reason they would have chosen to meet here.

(Mulder scoffs at the idea.)

MULDER: On the day my parents divorced, my mother vowed never to set foot in the summer house again. I know my mother. She kept her word.

X: It could be something very old. Certainly something very important.

MULDER: I have no idea what that could be.

X: No idea at all?

MULDER: No.

(X stares at him incredulously. Mulder walks out.)

<-FBI HEADQUARTERS; WASHINGTON, D.C.->

(Another busy day for the crime-fighters of America. A metal detector goes off somewhere. Jeremiah Smith walks in, looking around nervously. Scully, taking her gun from the man at the metal detector, looks at Smith in shock.)

SCULLY: Sir? Excuse me, I...

JEREMIAH SMITH: Yes?

SCULLY: Are you Jeremiah Smith?

JEREMIAH SMITH: Yes. I'm afraid there's been some mistake. I saw my photo on the news saying I fled a crime scene. I'm here to turn myself in.

SCULLY: Well, uh... would you come with me, sir?

JEREMIAH SMITH: Mmm-hmm.

(Smith smiles warmly. They walk back towards the main building. Upstairs, later, a number of people are interrogating Smith in Skinner's office. Among them are Skinner, Scully, and the detective from the crime scene.)

JEREMIAH SMITH: From the moment I stepped from the crowd and asked the man to put down his gun, it seemed like... a dream... as if I was out of my body.

SCULLY: Well, there were reports, somewhat... fantastic reports about what happened next.

JEREMIAH SMITH: I know, I saw the news reports. I'll have to say that I don't remember any of it. Nothing.

DETECTIVE: You gave me the wrong address, sir. Then you left the crime scene during an interview.

JEREMIAH SMITH: I don't remember that, I'm sorry.

SKINNER: What do you remember, Mister Smith?

JEREMIAH SMITH: I remember showing up for work the next day, being at my desk. That's... my first recollection.

SKINNER: At the Social Security Administration?

(Smith nods.)

JEREMIAH SMITH: I'm not sure what I've done wrong.

SCULLY: You haven't done anything wrong, sir.

JEREMIAH SMITH: May I go?

(Scully looks to Skinner.)

SKINNER: Yes. But until this matter is resolved completely, I'd ask that you notify us if you'll be out of town for any reason.

(Smith nods, smiles to Scully, nods to Skinner and the detective, and leaves.)

SKINNER: Agent Scully?

(Scully shrugs slightly and sighs.)

<-QUONOCHONTAUG, RHODE ISLAND->

(A man walks into the house and starts looking around with a flashlight. He turns on a lamp. Agent Mulder. He opens up the cabinets in the kitchen one at a time, then goes to the closets, digging through the various clothes. He opens up the jewelry boxes, cabinets and small drawers one at a time, but still finds nothing. Checking the shelves and the clothes drawers gives no help, neither does the suitcases under the bed. He even checks the couch cushions, then sits, defeated. He takes out his notepad and looks at his mother's message. Taking out a pen and going over the message, he writes a word above it. "LAMP." Mulder puts the pad and pen away, then pulls the plastic off the lamp, checks it, and unscrews the lightbulb. Taking off the lampshade, he stands, shaking it. He throws it against the wall. It shatters, but there is nothing in the pieces. Mulder does the same to another lamp, ripping out the cord and tossing it. He sees a long silver tube attached to the inside. He unattaches it, then finds a small button. He presses it. The stiletto shoots out. Mulder's seen this before. Used by the Alien Bounty Hunter.)

<-UNKNOWN LOCATION->

(The Cigarette-Smoking Man looks through the door window at Smith sitting in a chair in his cell. He closes the window and opens the door. The door slams behind him and a light slowly turns on. The villain unlocks Smith's facial restraint and sits directly across from him, but not before lighting a cigarette.)

CIGARETTE-SMOKING MAN: This now becomes a responsibility... the thing I'm now called upon to put right and put down. Certainly you expected nothing less.

JEREMIAH SMITH: I'm not ashamed of my actions.

CIGARETTE-SMOKING MAN: Ashamed? You're not allowed the luxury of human weakness in penitence. You're not allowed to put your indulgences ahead of the greater purpose.

(He takes a drag.)

JEREMIAH SMITH: I no longer believe in the greater purpose.

CIGARETTE-SMOKING MAN: Then your fate is just.

JEREMIAH SMITH: My justice is not for you to mete out. You may have reason, but you have no right. You have no means either.

CIGARETTE-SMOKING MAN: You presume to dictate duty to me? Have you any idea what the cost of your actions is? What their effect might be? Who are you to give them hope?

(He takes a small drag.)

JEREMIAH SMITH: What do you give them?

CIGARETTE-SMOKING MAN: I give them happiness and they give us authority.

JEREMIAH SMITH: The authority to take away their freedom under the guise of democracy.

CIGARETTE-SMOKING MAN: Men can never be free... because they are weak, corrupt, worthless and restless. The people believe in authority. They've grown tired of waiting for miracle and mystery. Science is their religion. No greater explanation exists for them. They must never believe any differently if the project is to go forward.

(He takes another small drag.)

JEREMIAH SMITH: At what cost to them?

CIGARETTE-SMOKING MAN: The question's irrelevant... and the outcome inevitable. The date is set.

(Smith looks away, but his face changes into something not his own. He looks up at his enemy as Deep Throat. The Cigarette-Smoking Man is deeply shocked to see his betrayed friend. He gasps.)

JEREMIAH SMITH: (as Deep Throat) At what cost to them for your own selfish benefit? How many must die at your hand to preserve your stake in the project?

(Cancer Man stands and pounds on the door.)

CIGARETTE-SMOKING MAN: I'm not impressed by your miracles or moved by your trickery. Your justice will be meted out.

(Smith/Deep Throat scoffs.)

JEREMIAH SMITH: (as Deep Throat) By whom this time and by what tool?

(The door opens behind Cancer Man.)

CIGARETTE-SMOKING MAN: By those who possess the tool of your destruction.

(The Cigarette-Smoking Man stares at his old friend's face for a second, then walks out.)

<-FBI HEADQUARTERS; WASHINGTON, D.C.->

(Mulder walks into Skinner's secretary's office. She stands.)

MULDER: Hold his calls.

(Mulder keeps walking, into Skinner's office.)

MULDER: I want his name. I want to know everything about him.

(Skinner, sitting at his desk talking to Scully, is shocked.)

SKINNER: Excuse me?

MULDER: I want the Smoking Man smoked out. I want him exposed as the murdering son of a bitch that he is.

(Skinner stands, as does Scully.)

SKINNER: What's your problem, Mulder?

SCULLY: Where have you been?

MULDER: At our summer house. He was there with my mother.

(He hands Skinner the snapshots.)

MULDER: He's the reason for what happened to her.

SKINNER: Where'd you get these?

MULDER: It doesn't matter where I got those. The only thing that matters is that that man is called to answer, now I want his name.

SKINNER: I don't know his name.

MULDER: You know how to get it!

SKINNER: These men don't have names!

MULDER: Well, then you tell me how to find him!

SKINNER: Agent Mulder, there was a time when I might have been able to tell you how to contact him, but that time is past.

MULDER: He knows about the man that disappeared from the restaurant shooting.

SCULLY: What are you talking about?

MULDER: He's trying to kill him.

SCULLY: Mulder, he just came in yesterday. He turned himself in.

MULDER: What?

SCULLY: He, he gave a statement.

MULDER: Where is he now?

SCULLY: He works for the Social Security Administration.

(Mulder walks out, Scully soon following.)

<-SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION; WASHINGTON, D.C.->

(The work day continues. Mulder and Scully walk down the aisles, Mulder flashing his badge to the workers.)

MULDER: I'm looking for Jeremiah Smith.

MAN: Uh, right there.

(He points to Smith. Mulder and Scully walk over to him. Smith looks less than pleased.)

MULDER: Mister Smith?

JEREMIAH SMITH: Hello.

(Mulder flashes his badge.)

MULDER: I'm with the F.B.I. I'd like you to come with me.

JEREMIAH SMITH: For what? I told you everything I know. I thought they said you'd call for anything.

MULDER: I'm sure you don't want to cause a scene at work, sir.

JEREMIAH SMITH: No, of course not.

(He stands.)

JEREMIAH SMITH: I'll come along.

(They walk out. They get out of the elevator. There is a line of people waiting for one.)

JEREMIAH SMITH: Where are you taking me? Can you tell me where you're taking me?

MULDER: We'll have plenty of time to talk, sir.

(Smith dives into the line, knocking over a number of men. Scully and Mulder start to pull people off. Mulder pulls off a bald man with a gray beard and mustache with the exact same clothes as well. Mulder pulls off a man with the same suit, but he isn't Smith either.)

MULDER: You see him?

SCULLY: No, I lost him.

(They look around frantically, spotting no one. Outside, the bearded man scans the area, looking rather evil.)

<-UNKNOWN LOCATION->

(The Cigarette-Smoking Man walks back into the cell, holding a lit cigarette, and smirks.)

CIGARETTE-SMOKING MAN: It's only a matter of time now.

JEREMIAH SMITH: You put me in a cage... within a cage. Why are you so afraid of me?

CIGARETTE-SMOKING MAN: I'm not.

JEREMIAH SMITH: Yes, you are. You live in fear. That's your whole life.

CIGARETTE-SMOKING MAN: You don't know anything about me.

JEREMIAH SMITH: I know everything about you. You think the miracles I perform... are the extent of my power?

CIGARETTE-SMOKING MAN: You think you're God? You're a drone... a cataloger... chattel.

JEREMIAH SMITH: What you're afraid of is... they'll believe I am God.

CIGARETTE-SMOKING MAN: Well, it doesn't matter. Most of them have ceased to believe in God.

JEREMIAH SMITH: Why?

CIGARETTE-SMOKING MAN: Because God presents them with no miracles to earn their faith.

JEREMIAH SMITH: You think when man ceases to believe in miracles, he rejects God?

CIGARETTE-SMOKING MAN: Of course.

JEREMIAH SMITH: You rule over them in God's name.

CIGARETTE-SMOKING MAN: They don't believe in Him, but they still fear Him. They're afraid not to because they're afraid of freedom.

JEREMIAH SMITH: And you give them happiness.

CIGARETTE-SMOKING MAN: We appease their conscience. Anyone who can appease a man's conscience can take his freedom away from him.

(He takes a drag from his cigarette and looks down as he stomps it out. He hears a different voice. His best friend's voice. He looks up in shock at William Mulder's face, but not as much as before.)

JEREMIAH SMITH: (as William Mulder) And if you can't appease their conscience, you kill them. But you can't kill them all.

(Cancer Man quickly shoves a new cigarette into his mouth.)

JEREMIAH SMITH: You can't kill their love, which is what makes them who they are, makes them better than us... better than you.

CIGARETTE-SMOKING MAN: You talk. I'm not one of you.

(He lights his cigarette nervously.)

JEREMIAH SMITH: (as William Mulder) No. All you want is to be a part of it, is to be one of the commandants when the process begins...

(He morphs back to normal.)

JEREMIAH SMITH: But you are wrong.

CIGARETTE-SMOKING MAN: Oh? Am I?

JEREMIAH SMITH: Yes. You are dying of lung cancer.

(The Cigarette-Smoking Man looks slightly horrified, eking out a whisper.)

CIGARETTE-SMOKING MAN: It's a lie.

JEREMIAH SMITH: You think it's a lie?

CIGARETTE-SMOKING MAN: You want to save your life.

JEREMIAH SMITH: And you?

(Later, outside the penitentiary where Smith is being kept, the bearded man, wearing a new suit, looks around. Then morphs. He is the Alien Bounty Hunter. He flicks open his weapon, then closes it. He is brought to Smith's cell, fingering the tube, but finds it is empty.)

<-PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND->

(A doctor is talking to Mulder about his mother's condition, who is lying in the bed.)

DOCTOR: We have been hopeful, but there was substantial blood loss during the stroke event, which has put a lot of pressure on the brain.

MULDER: Will she regain consciousness?

DOCTOR: I know this is hard... but she may not.

(Mulder looks about to cry.)

DOCTOR: I can be paged if you need me.

MULDER: Thank you.

(He walks out. Mulder closes the door and sits next at his mother's bedside. He stares at her face, then cries, pressing her palm against this cheek. He sobs softly. Later, Mulder walks out of room 128. He lays his head back against the door, then looks down the hallway at the Cigarette-Smoking Man, who is standing with an unlit cigarette in his mouth, watching Mulder. Mulder rushes him and slams him against the wall.)

MULDER: You going to smoke that?

(He whips out his gun.)

MULDER: Or do you want to smoke on this?

CIGARETTE-SMOKING MAN: Are you giving me a choice?

(Mulder grabs the cigarette out of his mouth and throws it down, then resumes his hold.)

MULDER: I should shoot you right here, but they'd probably be able to save you.

CIGARETTE-SMOKING MAN: Do it. Do it, Agent Mulder.

MULDER: Or maybe put a bullet through your brain so you'll be bedridden for the rest of your life like my mother.

(He short-slams him against the wall a few times.)

CIGARETTE-SMOKING MAN: How is she?

MULDER: What do you care?

CIGARETTE-SMOKING MAN: I've known your mother since before you were born, Fox.

(Mulder untenses for a second, understanding what he's hearing, then tenses again.)

MULDER: I don't care.

CIGARETTE-SMOKING MAN: I'd gone to see her recently.

MULDER: Yeah. And I know what you were looking for.

CIGARETTE-SMOKING MAN: I wasn't looking for anything. It's what she was looking for, actually. She contacted me.

MULDER: Liar.

(He short-slams him against the wall angrily.)

CIGARETTE-SMOKING MAN: I had information, possibly... on the whereabouts of your sister.

(Mulder's eyes widen. He hears a nurse walking down the hall and puts his gun away.)

MULDER: Where is she?

(Mulder puts his arm on Cancer Man's shoulder, pretending to be buddies. He smiles at the nurse, who watches them carefully, then turns the corner.)

MULDER: Where is she?

CIGARETTE-SMOKING MAN: It seems the man who had the information has disappeared.

MULDER: I have what you want.

CIGARETTE-SMOKING MAN: There's nothing I want, Agent Mulder ... except to see how your mother's doing.

(He walks down the hallway, Mulder still hiding his gun under his jacket. As Cancer Man talks to the nurse, Mulder holsters his gun and walks out.)

<-11:21->

(Scully sits at her computer, wearing glasses, looking through files. She highlights five names under "Jeremiah Smith." The first comes up with a picture of Smith and:

"Smith, Jeremiah #420-1110 Kendle Seattle, WA 98101"

She brings up a second picture. Same man.

"Smith, Jeremiah 42 Portside Lane Cupertino, CA 95041"

The third picture comes up.

"Smith, Jeremiah 4251 Angus Cres Chicago, IL 60607"

The fourth.

"Smith, Jeremiah #7-1012 Beckwith Miami, FL 33101"

The last one.

"Smith, Jeremiah 3813 Bay Bridge Ave. New York, NY 10001"

She stares at the screen. They are all the same man. She starts to dial Mulder.)

<-PARKING LOT->

(Mulder sits in his car. He looks at his cell phone, which reads "No Service." He hits it lightly and gets out of the car, hearing someone. He walks down a way until he hears someone behind him.)

X: Do you have it?

(Mulder is shocked. X reiterates.)

X: Do you have it?

MULDER: Yes.

X: Give it to me.

MULDER: I can't do that.

X: It's of no value to you.

MULDER: And to you?

X: When the time comes. When the truth is finally determined, its value will soar.

MULDER: Why?

X: I think you know why, Agent Mulder.

(They hear a car race by.)

MULDER: It's a weapon, isn't it? Used to pierce the back of the neck. It's the only way we can kill them.

X: A simple gunshot won't do.

MULDER: Why do you want it?

X: They will kill you for it, Agent Mulder. That's a fact. They'll stop at nothing for it, nothing, even if they have to martyr you and risk turning your work into a crusade.

(Mulder steps towards him.)

MULDER: Let me get clear on something here. What we're talking about is colonization. The date is set, isn't it?

X: Give me the weapon, Agent Mulder.

MULDER: No.

(He turns to leave. X sucker punches him in the back of the head, then throws a hard left follow-up when Mulder turns back around. He throws another right that connects, but misses the left when Mulder ducks and rushes him, slamming him into the pole. X knees him in the stomach, then elbows him in the back. Mulder falls, bleeding from the mouth, hurt. X then picks Mulder up and grabs his gun, but Mulder twists his wrist, making him drop it. He then backhands X and slams him against the pole. X goes for Mulder's holster again, but Mulder stops him, allowing X to deliver another hard right hand. X picks up Mulder by the collar and slams him back against the pole, then slams him into the back of the station wagon nearby. X reaches for his gun desperately and, when he finds himself unable to get it, knees Mulder in the gut, twists his wrist and wrenches him backwards by his hair. Mulder slams against the ground and X picks him, up, but is met by a headbutt. Both men fall, exhausted and beaten. X picks up Mulder's fallen gun, Mulder takes out his own. The two slowly rise to their feet, aiming their guns at each other. Mulder winces, feeling the blood run down his chin.)

MULDER: You shoot me and you'll never find it.

X: I ought to shoot you anyway... after everything I've given you.

MULDER: I'm walking... away.

(The two circle each other tensely. Then Mulder starts to back away, still training his gun on X.)

X: You're a dead man, Agent Mulder. One way or the other.

(X looks around, then starts to back away as well. Mulder gets behind his car and gets in.)

<-SCULLY'S HOUSE; WASHINGTON, D.C.->

(Scully walks in, turns on the light and picks up the phone. She starts to dial when there is a knock on the door. She checks her watch, then there is another knock.)

SCULLY: Who is it?

JEREMIAH SMITH: Jeremiah Smith.

(Scully is shocked.)

JEREMIAH SMITH: Please, let me in.

(Scully takes out her gun and heads to the door. She sees Smith standing outside her door through the peephole.)

SCULLY: I want you to put your hands up where I can see them.

(She looks through again, Smith is doing so.)

SCULLY: Okay, I want you to keep your hands up. I'm going to unlock the door. I want you to count to five, come in, close the door, and lock it behind you.

(She unlocks the door. Smith opens it and walks into the newly dark apartment. He locks the door. His hands are still raised.)

SCULLY: Keep your hands up, please.

JEREMIAH SMITH: I have important information for you... something your partner has been seeking. It concerns an elaborate plan, a project, and his sister.

(Scully steps into the light, gun trained on Smith.)

SCULLY: Why didn't you tell me before?

JEREMIAH SMITH: I've never spoken to you before. The man you spoke to was an impostor. He was sent here to kill me.

SCULLY: Who are you?

JEREMIAH SMITH: I'll explain everything.

(The phone rings. She answers it slowly.)

SCULLY: Yeah.

(Cut to Mulder. His lip is still cut. He's driving in his car.)

MULDER: Scully, it's me.

(Cut to Scully.)

SCULLY: Mulder, where are you?

(Cut to Mulder.)

MULDER: I've been up with my mother, listen to me.

(Cut back to Scully.)

SCULLY: Mulder, listen to me, there's somebody here, somebody you need to talk to.

MULDER: Who?

SCULLY: Jeremiah Smith.

(Cut back to Mulder.)

MULDER: All right, Scully, you got to get out of your apartment. They're going to be looking for him. I want you to meet me.

(Cut to Scully.)

SCULLY: Where?

(Cut to Mulder.)

MULDER: Off the I-ninety-five, uh, Bond Mill Road.

<-BOND MILL ROAD->

(Night time. It appears to be a lumber yard. Scully and Smith get out of the car.)

MULDER: Scully!

(Mulder walks towards them from a pier. They walk towards him.)

MULDER: Scully, move away from him. Come stand behind me.

(She walks over and stands next to him.)

JEREMIAH SMITH: I've come to you at great risk. I mean you no harm.

(Mulder has the stiletto in hand, blade out.)

JEREMIAH SMITH: I have a long and complicated story to tell you.

SCULLY: Mulder, he knows about your sister.

MULDER: How do I know you're for real?

JEREMIAH SMITH: I was at that restaurant, I healed those people.

SCULLY: Yes, but how?

JEREMIAH SMITH: I can explain everything to you.

MULDER: First I want you to come somewhere with me. I want you to come with me to see my mother.

(Smith nods. A bright light shines upon them and they look over to see headlights quickly approaching. The car stops as Mulder and Smith look at each other. The bounty hunter steps out of his car and draws the blade out of his icepick.)

JEREMIAH SMITH: He's here to kill me.

(Scully has drawn her gun. The three stare at the bounty hunter coming towards them, spelling possible doom.)

"TO BE CONTINUED"