The X-Files Page #7

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MULDER:

(grasping the irony)

But it's not the lives we saved. It's

the lives we didn't.

SKINNER:

(reciting the dictum)

-- if it looks bad, it's bad for the

FBI --

MULDER:

-- if they want someone to blame,

they can blame me. Agent Scully

doesn't deserve this.

SKINNER:

She's in there right now saying the

same thing about you.

MULDER:

I breached protocol. I broke contact

with the S.A.C. I ignored a primary

tactical rule and left him alone with

the device.

SKINNER:

Agent Scully says it was she who

ordered you out of the building. That

you wanted to go back.

Mulder doesn't get to respond, because the door opens

again and Agent Scully exits. She looks like she's been

through it.

SCULLY:

(to Skinner)

They're asking for you, Sir.

Skinner gives one last look to Mulder, then re-enters.

Leaving Mulder and Scully alone. Scully wearing a pained

look.

MULDER:

Whatever you told them in there, you

don't have to protect me.

SCULLY:

All I told them was the truth.

MULDER:

They're trying to divide us on this,

Scully. We can't let them.

SCULLY:

They have divided us, Mulder. They're

splitting us up.

MULDER:

(beat)

What? What are you talking about?

SCULLY:

I meet with the OPR day after tomorrow

for remediation and reassignment...

MULDER:

Why?

SCULLY:

I think you must have an idea. They

cited a history of problems relating

back to 1993.

MULDER:

They were the ones that put us

together.

SCULLY:

Because they wanted me to invalidate

your work, your investigations into

the paranormal. But I think this goes

deeper than that.

MULDER:

This isn't about you, Scully. They're

doing this to me.

SCULLY:

They're not doing this, Mulder.

(off his look)

I left behind a career in medicine

because I thought I might make a

difference at the FBI. When they

recruited me they told me women made

up nine percent of the bureau. I felt

this was not an impediment, but an

opportunity to distinguish myself. But

it hasn't turned out that way. And

now, if I were to be transferred to

Omaha, or Wichita or some field office

where I'm sure I could rise, it just

doesn't hold the interest for me it

once did. Not after what I've seen and

done.

MULDER:

You're... quitting?

SCULLY:

There's really no reason left for me

to stay anymore.

(off his look)

Maybe you should ask yourself if your

heart's still in it, too.

The door opens to the hearing room again now. A.D.

Skinner steps part way out, gesturing to him.

SKINNER:

Agent Mulder. You're up.

SCULLY:

(regretfully)

I'm sorry. Good luck.

Mulder rises. Scully studying his poorly disguised hurt.

Before he turns and goes into the room.

Scully watching the door close behind him. Her feelings

poorly disguised, too.

CUT TO:

INT. DOWNSCALE D.C. BAR - NIGHT

CLOSE ON A SHOOTER OF TEQUILA being poured. CAMERA

ADJUSTING to reveal the ATTRACTIVE BARMAID tipping the

bottle. Pushing it across the bar to where TWO EMPTY

SHOOTERS sit, making the exchange.

BARMAID:

I'd say this about exceeds your

minimum daily requirement.

The person she's talking to us:

MULDER:

He sits by himself on a stool, staring down at the bar.

Staring at the shooter which he spins with his fingers.

BARMAID:

Gotta train for this kind of heavy

lifting.

Mulder tosses back the shooter anyway. She watches him

as she retrieves the small shot glass, intrigued by his

dark silence.

BARMAID:

Poopy day?

MULDER:

Yup.

BARMAID:

A woman?

(Mulder shakes his head no)

Work.

Mulder nods, pointing to the tequila bottle again. The

Barmaid agrees to pour another one, reluctantly.

ANGLE OVER TO A MAN AT THE END OF THE BAR

Staring at Mulder intently. He's older than Mulder,

dressed in an old Brooke Brothers light summer suit.

Mulder notices him, feels his gaze, but doesn't give it

thought.

RESUME BARMAID, MULDER

BARMAID:

What do you do?

MULDER:

What do I do.

(off her curious look)

I'm a key figure in an ongoing

government charade. An annoyance to my

superiors. A joke among my peers.

"Spooky," they call me. Spooky Mulder.

Whose sister was abducted by aliens

when he was a kid. Who now chases

little green men with a badge and a

gun, shouting to the heavens and

anyone who'll listen that the fix is

in. That our government's hip to the

truth and a part of the conspiracy.

That the sky is falling and when it

hits it's gonna be the shitstorm of

all time.

She stares at him for a moment, startled by his drunken

screed. She pulls back the shooter she's just poured

Mulder.

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