The X-Files (1993–…): Season 8, Episode 1 - Within - full transcript

Previously on The X Files:

Gas, expenses--
by FBI standards

these numbers are
out of control.

I believe I was taken by men
who subjected me

to medical tests

which left me barren.

They're taking abductees.

You're an abductee.

There was something out
there in that field.

It knocked me back

because it didn't want me.



You'd never know it's a UFO.

...if you didn't know
what you were looking at.

I don't know what else

I can say-- I lost him.

We both thanked him.

I'm having a hard time
believing it.

I'm pregnant.

What is this?!

Excuse me.

Can somebody please tell me
what's going on here?

We're collecting material.

For?

For anything that might be
pertinent to the manhunt.

What manhunt?



Manhunt for who?

You're kidding, right?

Look, there's nothing.

If you're looking for Mulder,
you're wasting your time.

Are you listening to me?

I'm not the man
to talk to.

Well, then whose
stupid idea is this?

Yeah, well, somebody might have
had the courtesy to tell me.

There are agents tearing apart
Mulder's office

who say they're part
of an FBI manhunt.

I know. I heard.

Believe me, this is not my idea.

I just found out about it
myself.

They're not going
to find Mulder this way.

You know that and I know that.

I told you last night,
I will find him.

I'm going to do that.

Okay?

Now, I want you
just to cool out.

I don't want you doing anything
to upset your pregnancy.

Look, I don't understand.

You are the assistant director.

Who is going over
your head on this?

Our brand-new deputy director.

A.D. Skinner,
Agent Scully

Thanks for getting
right over.

I don't want to lose any time.

We have one of our own missing

and the only acceptable outcome
is that we find him

safe and alive.

I'm sure the two
of you agree.

That goes without saying, sir.

Good.

This comes at a stressful time,
with my new appointment.

But I'm thankful
for your cooperation

in the hunt for Mulder.

Our cooperation?

With due respect,
there aren't two people

better qualified to be
directing this action, sir.

Right now, you and A.D. Skinner

are the two primary witnesses
to Mulder's disappearance.

I want your statement
taken ASAP.

You make us out
to be suspects, sir.

Taken by who?

My Task Force leader on this--

Special Agent John Doggett.

He's waiting
to hear from you now.

One more thing.

Anything leaves this building
about aliens

or alien abductions
or any other nonsense

that might cast the Bureau
in a ridiculous light--

and you can forget
about looking for Agent Mulder.

You'll both be looking
for new jobs.

That's all.

I don't believe this.

This isn't about
finding Mulder--

this is about Kersh
covering the FBI's ass.

Why do I get the feeling
they'd be happy

if we never found him at all?

Look...

I saw what I saw.

I have to make
a statement in there.

I'm not going to tell them
it didn't happen.

Well, you heard Kersh.

They don't want the truth.

You give them the truth,
and they'll hang you with it.

They can hang me
with a lie, too.

I'm not going
to sell Mulder out.

What good are you to Mulder

if you give them the power
to ruin your career?

We will find him.

Assistant Director,

you can come on back
with me.

Agent Scully,
I'll ask you

to please wait
on the wall

until we call you.

Water?

It could be a wait.

Thank you.

Weren't you his partner?

Mulder?

Yes.

I guess nobody's

beyond suspicion
on this thing.

Why are they
talking to you?

Me?

I knew Mulder
back a bit.

They're developing
a working profile--

a character background.

I'd say they have all
the character profile

they need on him.

Certainly his reputation.

I doubt we agents ever
truly know each other--

even our partners.

Not at the end of the day.

Their real lives,
their friends, girlfriends,

deeply personal
things, issues.

I think I know Mulder
as much as anybody.

Yeah, probably so.

I always took the rumors
with a grain of salt.

What rumors are those?

Well, you know.

Well, that, from the beginning,

he never felt
a real trust with you,

that you were ambitious.

Where'd that come from?

There are women
here at the Bureau

that he would confide in.

I don't know
if you knew that or not.

No.

When was this?

Oh, it's just talk.

What do you
think happened?

To Mulder?

What's your theory?

What's my theory?

My theory is
you don't know Mulder at all.

You never did.

"John Doggett."

Kersh's Task Force Leader.

You might have just
introduced yourself.

Well, I was getting
around to it.

Nice to meet you,
Agent Doggett.

Hi, this is Margaret Scully.

Please leave a message.

Mom, it's Dana.

I, uh... I'm sorry I haven't
called you in a while.

I've been busy with work
and with something else

that I should probably tell you
about in person. Um...

I mean, I don't even know
if you're in town

or if you're checking
your messages.

But, um...

but I really need to see you
and talk to you.

There's a lot of stuff that's
going on with me right now,

and, um... and I just really
need to talk.

Mom?

John Doggett.

You stay out of my business!

What?

Who is this?

You better have a court order.

For what?

Who is this?

How many phones
are you tapping?

How many agents are you
doing surveillance on?

Is this Agent Scully?

Thank you. You just answered
all my questions.

Stop there!

Right there!

Now come on through
the window, nice and easy.

Okay, I'm coming.

It's me.

Your landlord.

Here...

I started fixing the antenna
on the roof, and...

I'm sorry,
Mr. Coeben.

I'm sorry.
There was a man.

There was someone
in the building.

Did you see anyone?

Yeah, yeah, you know,
he works with you.

Tall guy-- brown hair.

Who?

You... you don't
mean Mulder?

Yeah, Mulder.

Mulder?

Are you in here?

It took some
serious voodoo.

Major satellite hacking.

But we got your data.

What am I looking at?

You're seeing
real-time images

right off the JPL
Topex Poseidon.

We're wired right into the dish.

We're not able
to find raw data

with UFO activity on it.

But Langly was
able to hack

into the data storage here

and pull up something
just as tasty.

You're looking
at UFO activity

in the Pacific Northwest,

just prior
to Mulder's abduction.

All these
markers correspond

with reported alien abductions.

It's a regular shopping spree.

So Mulder's abduction...

Was a UFO whistle stop

on the way to the next pickup.

Where?

Where's the UFO activity
after Mulder's abduction?

Like we said, we can't tell.

Not from the data
we're pulling down.

Look, if we can figure out
where that ship was going,

where it's going to be

we've got a chance
to find Mulder.

Got a minute?

Yeah, sure.

You fly, Agent Doggett?

Flying is for birds
and baseballs.

USMC, sir.

In Vietnam, we used
to fly night sorties

ten feet above
the treetops.

Before night vision,
before fly-by-wire.

600 miles an hour
and all we had

was an idiot gauge
and our wits.

Guys used to say they
only knew their altitude

by the smell of
the V.C. rice pots.

You've come
a long way, sir.

Using all the
same instincts.

What can I do for you, Agent?

This task force--
the search for Mulder--

I'm running it, right?

You're the man in charge.

No one else is involved?

Someone out there

acting under orders
from another office?

I think I'd know, Agent.

What prompts
the question?

My idiot gauge.

My wits.

You got a chance
to shine here, John.

Stand in the spotlight.

Show them all you're an ace.

What are you doing here?

I could ask you the same.

I came by to feed
Mulder's fish.

And then you
got tired

and decided
to take a nap.

You've got a way about you,
Agent Doggett.

That might have worked
with the NYPD,

but you're talking
to a fellow FBI agent now

and I'd appreciate
some respect.

Respect like you showed me
over the phone?

Give a little
get a little, Agent Scully.

Who ambushed me

with the phony chitchat
about Mulder

and then put a wiretap
on my phone?

That's B.S.

And now you're
following me.

I just came by
to feed the fish.

What do you want to get on me,
Agent Doggett?

What is it
you hope to find?

I'm just trying
to find Mulder.

You wouldn't know
where to look.

It's in the desk,
middle drawer.

I know the answer,
Agent Scully.

I don't even know the question.

What happened to Mulder?

I know what you're gonna say
or not

because you think
I'm the Big Bad Wolf.

Do you really believe it?

You think by talking in circles,
I'm just going to get dizzy

and-and blurt it out--
this so-called answer?

That he was abducted by aliens?

You said it. I didn't.

I guess I just find it
hard to swallow

that a scientist, a serious
person, could buy that.

Ever see an alien,
Agent Scully?

You want me to go on record?

I will go on record to say this:

That I have seen things
that I cannot explain.

I have observed phenomena
that I cannot deny.

And that as a scientist,

and a serious person,

it is a badge of honor
not to dismiss these things

because someone thinks
they're B.S.

So you think he was abducted?

I'm just trying to find him.

Then what are you doing here?

Trying to figure these out.

I found them in his desk there.

Car rental receipts
on Agent Mulder's Visa.

Four consecutive weekends
in May.

Same mileage each trip--
370 miles

375 miles...

Where was he going?

I don't know.

Like I said, maybe you really
didn't know your partner.

John Doggett.

Agent Mulder at the FBI?

Assistant Director,
follow me.

What's going on?
What is this?

Mr. Skinner,
right this way, please.

You can talk with Agent Scully
after we're done.

Have a seat.

Assistant Director,
someone came into this office

after hours and removed
some material.

Files. We don't know
exactly what just yet.

Who?

The office here is secured
by a pass-card lock

and whoever came in last night
used the pass-card

belonging to Agent Mulder.

You think Agent Mulder
took the files?

We're wondering about
Agent Mulder's state of mind.

In your statement, you said,
prior to his disappearance

Agent Mulder had felt threatened
by the FBI.

No, no.

That's not what I said.

I said he felt the X Files
were threatened

by budget-cutting.

Is there anything
you're not telling us

about Agent Mulder

or his attitude?

Do you think he'd ever
retaliate against the FBI?

Agent Mulder was
only after the truth.

As are we, Assistant Director.

Agent Scully tells us

she was home last night.

We see from your phone log,
you were here

until at least after 10:00.

You think I came in here
last night

using Agent Mulder's pass-card?

You were the last person
to see Mulder.

You and Agent Scully.

Skinner is
telling the truth.

I believe him.

That still doesn't tell us
who used Mulder's card

to get in there.

You think it was Mulder?

I showed you
those car rental receipts.

Well, now I find Agent Mulder's
Visa was used two days ago

in Raleigh, North Carolina.

Two days ago?

By who? For what?

Flowers.

Automatic debit
to a mortuary there.

Mulder's mother is buried
in Raleigh.

That's the reason
he was going every weekend.

It's one reason.

I don't know what to think.

I don't believe it, Dana.

It just doesn't
make any sense to me.

All right.

I got some light on this.

Maybe you can
help me out here...

Agent Scully.

What is it?

Agent Mulder's
medical records--

recent stuff,
over the last year.

Did you know
about a medical condition?

Either of you?

No.

A year ago, Agent Mulder
was hospitalized.

Ring a bell?

Something to do with his brain?

His temporal lobe.

An undiagnosable condition,
it says.

Irregular brain activity.

All right, but he recovered.

There was a full recovery.

Was there?

You knew Mulder; he would've
told us if there was anything.

Would he?

He tell you about this?

About his headstone?

Mulder was dying.

What?!

It's all right here.

For a year, he was
going to doctors.

There's a clear record
of his decline.

How well did you
really know him?

How far would Mulder go?

How far would he go for what?

The truth-- his truth.

Whatever it was
he was trying to prove

how bad did he need to prove it?

It was his whole life.

What are you trying to say?

That Agent Mulder found himself
in a place

none of us want to go.

Life-threatened,
work-threatened

and all for naught.

Nothing proven.

The effort in vain.

No mark left.

Unless he rolled the dice,

took one big last chance
to make it.

You think that Mulder was here?

That he broke in to steal
those files?

Broke into your apartment;
stole your computer.

Took his own computer.

Gathering it up.

To what?

To prove it?

Or cover it up.

Create doubt.

I get Mulder, I get him.

I understand obsession,
believe me.

But the question is:
How far would he go?

I mean, so far as to stage
his own disappearance?

I know what I saw.

I not going to sit here
and listen to this.

I watched it happen.

Agent Mulder?!

Please don't report that.

Don't know what good
it would do me.

Doesn't help me find Mulder.

No, it's not good enough.

These are records
of microburst activity.

What we read is UFO activity
since Mulder's abduction.

I think this is
a waste of time.

No, it's not. Just look at them.

I'm looking, and what I'm seeing
is activity

all over
the Southwestern states.

That's right.

Mulder disappeared
in the Pacific Northwest.

And if Mulder is on that ship,
this is where he is now.

Here?

In the Arizona desert?

This is what we have.

Okay. Say this is true--

then how do we even begin
to start finding him?

Maybe with whoever it is
they're looking to abduct next.

Hey, we're only
trying to help.

We're only trying
to find Mulder.

That's it.

It just came to me.

What?

What you saw,

why they took Mulder,

why they're in Arizona now--
it all makes sense.

Why do people refuse to believe
in aliens and UFOs,

after all these years
of sightings

and eyewitness accounts?

Why?

Because there's
no real proof.

Because, maybe,
if there are aliens

they're simply going around
and they're...

and they're removing
all of the evidence

before it becomes proof.

This isn't Mulder
who's going around

and collecting this stuff.

It's them.

Then why Arizona?

Because they are
looking to find

that which is not in my computer
or Mulder's computer

or in the files

that were removed
from the FBI.

They are looking to find

the whereabouts
of good, hard proof--

that, in this case,
exists in a person--

in a boy named Gibson Praise.

This photograph's
a few years old,

but take a good look,

because the objective
in this case has been reframed.

Subject's name is
Gibson Andrew Praise.

A child prodigy,
pint-sized chess champion

who Mulder and Scully
first investigated in 1997

after a failed attempt
on the boy's life.

His files were the ones
we now believe

were stolen from this office.

In his investigation,

Agent Mulder came to believe

the boy was experiencing
abnormal brain activity.

Unexplained activity.

In his field notes here

he says Gibson Praise could,
and I quote:

"read people's thoughts."

Agent Mulder went so far
in one report to claim

that the boy may have
alien physiology.

Agent Mulder may be
looking for the boy

who was last seen in Arizona.

So maybe to find Mulder

we first have to look
for Gibson Praise.

Let's go, people.
Let's move.

How do you want this handled?

I want you to put that
on every TV station,

post office
and fax machine

in Arizona
and the southwest.

I want to make
that face famous.

You better?

I need some navigation.

How to start looking
for a 12-year-old kid

in the middle
of the Arizona desert.

Well, there aren't
a whole lot of choices.

We got a turnoff
coming up in five miles.

I take it or
keep going straight?

Gibson Praise
was last seen here,

at a power plant about
60 miles outside of Phoenix.

But all
the satellite data

shows activity here

about 100 miles
to the north.

What's out there?

Well, according
to this map...

a whole lot of nothing.

This is Special Agent Craig
calling for Task Force leader.

Yeah, this is John Doggett.

Just confirmed
a location on this kid.

He's at a school for the deaf
in a place called Flemingtown.

Little dot on the map about
90 miles from where I am now.

I just talked to
the school principal there.

Is the kid in school now?

Yeah, he lives at the school.

Have the principal
take him out of class

and put him someplace

where he can keep an eye on him
until we arrive.

Got it. Gonna take me
an hour and 15 to get there.

All right.
Well, I'm going to see

if I can cut
some time off that.

It's a school
20 minutes from here.

Yes, sir, in his science class.

Is it important enough to take
him away from his studies?

I'll go and get him right now.

Where's the boy?

You're just gonna
have to slow down

and explain a few things to us
before we let you...

Is he down there?

He's in my office.

Hi. Um, we're looking for a boy
named Gibson Praise.

Now who are you?

Kid went out the window.

What are you doing here?

What are you doing here?

Trying to find Mulder.

Kid's on the move.

Spread out!

Kid's on the loose.

You have the photo.

- Move!
- Yes, sir.

Let me go!

Let me go!

Let the boy go!

Let him go, Mulder!

I made this!