Season 5 Episode #15
Travellers.

In the year 1990, a sheriff escorts a landlord into a boarded-up, dilapidated house for the purpose of evicting the tenant, Edward Skur. Once inside, the pair smell a terrible odor, then discover a human body, collapsed, as if all of the internal organs have been removed. A figure springs from the shadows and the sheriff opens fire. The attacker, an elderly man, falls to the ground, mortally wounded. His last words are, "Mulder... Mulder."

FBI Agent Mulder, still a year away from working on the X-Files, pays a visit to a man named Arthur Dales. Mulder questions Dales, a former special agent with the Bureau, about his work on an unsolved case from 1952... one focusing on Edward Skur (the attacker from the opening teaser). According to the censored report, Skur disappeared 38 years earlier before he could be arrested for a series of killings in which the victims' internal organs were removed. When Mulder utters his own last name, a flash of recognition passes on Dales' face. Dales makes cryptic reference to HUAC, and the communist witch hunts of the 1950s, prompting Mulder to review newsreel footage of the McCarthy hearings. While watching the tape, Mulder notices his own father sitting amidst McCarthy's group. When Mulder returns to Dales' apartment, Dales elaborates on Skur, who, years earlier, was labeled a communist.

The story flashes back to 1952. A young Ed Skur is arrested by FBI agents Dales and Michel, and charged with contempt of Congress for failing to appear before the committee. That night, Dales relaxes at a bar called the Hoot Owl. He receives a phone call from his partner, informing him that Skur hanged himself inside his jail cell. Dales travels back to the Skur residence to inform the family of the death. But before he exits his car, he sees Skur walking down the street. An incredulous Dales gives chase. A struggle ensues, during which black tendrils creep out of Skur's mouth. The fight attracts attention, and Skur runs off.

Dales files a report about the farfetched incident. Shortly thereafter, he is summoned to the office of Special Assistant Roy Cohn. Cohn tells Dales to amend the report by removing any reference to Skur. Dales does as he is told. A short time later, he and Michel are dispatched to a homicide. They discover the body of a dead German doctor, his body flattened. Dales notices a coaster from the Hoot Owl, on the back of which is a message: "come alone." That night at the bar, Dales is approached by a young Bill Mulder. He explains that it was he who summoned the agents to the doctor's home. He confirms that Skur is the perpetrator. He also explains that Skur is not a communist, but a patriot. Skur, along with two other men, Gissing and Oberman, worked for the State Department. Gissing and Oberman both took their own lives. Skur was arrested, and his death faked, so that the government could cover-up what it had done to him. Bill Mulder wants the truth to be known, explaining that Skur was a colleague. But he warns that Skur believes that Dales and Michel are part of the conspiracy against him. Shortly thereafter, Skur attacks Michel. A spider-like creature crawls from Skur's mouth and enters Michel.

Cohn orders that Michel's body be transported to Bethesda instead of allowing a county coroner to perform the autopsy. Dales protestsãuntil Cohn threatens to label him a communist. When Dales returns to the Bureau, he notices a heavily-censored document on the desk of Dorothy Bahnsen, a clerk. Dorothy explains that the document is a deposition that branded Skur and his co-workers communists. She then states that she recognized one of the men named in the document from an X-File. She explains that an X-File pertains to unsolved casesãand that only the director's office decides which file is designated with the "X." She pulls out the file on the man whose named she recognized. It belongs to a German *migr*, Dr. Strohman. Dales recognizes Strohman as the man found inside the house. Dales tracks down Gissing's body and supervises an autopsy. Inside the corpse is a cocoon containing a spider-like creature, which Dales kills. Later, Dales informs Mrs. Skur that her husband, along with two co-workers, was tricked by the government. He elaborates, explaining that all three men underwent surgery for treatment of war injuries, but, in reality, received an operation called xenotransplantationãthe grafting of a species into the human body. That night, Bill Mulder and Cohn's assistant escort Dales to the bar where he is scheduled to meet Skur. Dales is equipped with a hidden microphone and told that Skur will be arrested the moment his guard is lowered. Later, Skur enters the empty bar. He tells Dales the other men will not be coming, explaining that they assumed he (Skur) would kill him.

Dales sees the logic of Skur's words. A struggle ensues, during which Dales is able to handcuff Skur to the bar. Back in 1990, Dales finishes telling his story to Mulder. But the puzzle still remains: why did Skur die saying the name of Mulder's father? The story then flashes back to 1952... when a young Bill Mulder stopped on a road and gave Skur the keys to his handcuffs.

Season 5 Episode #16
Mind's eye.

As Marty Glenn, a twenty-something woman, moves about her apartment, she suddenly experiences an internal vision. As she watches, horrorstruck, a murderer, switchblade in hand, advances on a another man standing before a bathroom sink. A short time later, police are summoned to a motel, where the body of the murderer's victim lies on the bathroom floor. Marty, a bloody sponge clutched in her hand, is discovered hiding in the shower. As the officers place Marty into handcuffs, they realize she is blind.

Scully and Mulder meet with Wilmington Homicide Detective Lloyd Pennock, who has been assigned the murder case. Pennock explains that, under normal circumstances, Marty would have been charged with the murder. But since Marty has been blind since birth, he is at a loss as to how--or why--she managed to kill the heroin dealer, Paco Ordonez. Pennock states that he has 48 hours to prove to the District Attorney that his suspect possesses a kind of "sixth sense"... or wait until she kills someone else.

The detectives meet with Marty inside her jail cell. During questioning, it becomes obvious that Marty--who has adopted an uncooperative attitude--possesses knowledge that only the murderer should know. As Mulder stays behind to supervise Marty's polygraph test, Scully visits the scene of the crime. There she discovers a bloody leather glove hidden behind the bathroom mirror. Meanwhile, by phrasing a question in a certain manner, Mulder determines that Marty did somehow manage to witness the murder.

Marty experiences another internal vision. This time, the killer makes advances on a sexy woman, Susan Forester, who sits at a bar. Marty notices the name of the bar reflected in a mirror. She requests that she be allowed to make a phone call from jail. By using an information operator, Marty phones the bar and makes contact with the murderer, a man named Gotts. She warns him to leave the woman alone.

Scully brings the bloody glove to the jail. She informs Marty that her fingerprints were located on the glove, and perhaps even more importantly, the glove fits Marty perfectly. Pennock concludes that Marty is the murderer. Mulder, however, is plagued with doubt. Scully offers a possible explanation: Marty may not be blind. Scully expands upon this theory, noting disorders that would permit sight on a subconscious level. As Marty undergoes an eye exam, she is suddenly struck by another internal vision. Mulder notes a reaction on a measurement mode screen used by the opthamologist. But Marty refuses to explain what she saw. Though the examiner concludes that Marty is completely blind, Mulder tells Pennock and the District Attorney that there is evidence of neurological activity which caused her pupils to dilate--perhaps a physical response to images in the mind's eye. The District Attorney concludes that it is unlikely her office could convict a blind woman based on fingerprints alone. As a result, Marty is released from custody.

As Marty makes her way through the city, she is struck by another vision. This time, she witnesses Gotts attack the sexy woman from the bar. With some help from a passerby, Marty makes her way to the alley where the attack occurred. She discovers the woman's body inside a dumpster. Marty then returns to the police station and confesses to both murders.

Marty supplies Pennock with the location of a locker that contains a briefcase filled with Gotts' heroin. Meanwhile, a lab test reveals that neither of the stains found on the leather glove match Marty's blood type, bolstering Mulder's suspicion that Marty is innocent. So confident is Mulder that he approaches Marty directly. He tells her he discovered the original police report detailing her mother's murder--a single stab wound to the right kidney--which is identical to the manner in which Ordonez and Forester were killed. Mulder concludes that Marty gained her unique sense when her then-pregnant mother died at the murderer's hands.

Marty is released from custody after police match fingerprints on the briefcase taken from the locker to Gotts... who turns out to be Marty's own father. Marty tells police that Gotts, who was recently paroled from prison, can be located at the Blarney Stone tavern. Mulder and Scully stake out the bar, waiting for Gotts' appearance. Meanwhile, Pennock provides Marty with protection from harm by guarding her at her apartment. Marty experiences another vision, this time seeing Gotts reading names on mailboxes in the lobby. Using a coffee pot, Marty knocks Pennock unconscious. She pulls his gun from his holster and takes position, waiting for Gotts. Meanwhile, Mulder realizes that the blind Marty has been experiencing visions of the inside of Gotts's prison cell for almost thirty years. He tells Scully that Marty misdirected them on purpose... to keep Gotts from going back to prison. They race to Marty's apartment, where they find Gotts dead on the floor. Later, Marty asks for no special treatment in her defense and is sent to prison--where she is finally free of Gotts.

Season 5 Episode #17
All souls.

Father McCue, the family priest who comforted Scully during her bout with cancer (see episode 5X03), baptizes Dara Kernof, a sixteen-year-old, severely mentally-retarded girl confined to a wheelchair. Later that night, as a thunderstorm rages, Dara somehow gains strength in her legs and leaves her house. Dara's father, Lance, realizes something is amiss and makes his way outside. There he sees Dara in the middle of the street, her arms raised upward, kneeling before a Dark Figure. Suddenly, lightning flashes, supernaturally bright. When Lance reaches his daughter, he realizes she is dead--her eyes gone, as if having been burned out of their sockets. The Dark Figure, however, is nowhere in sight.

Father McCue contacts Scully and asks for her help in solving the mystery of the girl's death. Later, Scully visits the Kerofs, and learns that Dara was adopted six years earlier. The girl suffered from severe spinal deformities which confined her to a wheelchair her entire life. There is no explanation as to how Dara walked out of the house, though Lance is convinced he saw the Devil standing over her in the street.

Scully and a pathologist, Vicki Belon, examine Dara's body. Belon notes her misshapen hands and feet, which contain six digits (the extra fingers having been removed via surgery). Belon reluctantly proposes that the girl was struck down by God, as if she was a mistake.

Meanwhile, a man named Father Gregory visits a psychiatric hospital hoping to visit a girl named Paula Koklos, Dara's twin sister. But his progress is hindered by Aaron Starkey, a department of social services worker, who notes that the priest's adoption petition lacks his approval. Upset, the priest leaves the hospital. That night, a man enters Paula's room. An intense halo of light surrounds the figure and wings form its back. The next day, Scully examines Paula's body, her eyes burned out, kneeling much like Dara. Mulder joins his partner and reveals he has located Dara's birth records, which show she was one of quadruplets. Shortly thereafter, Starkey reveals that Paula was about to be adopted by Gregory.

The agents pay Gregory a visit at his church. He insists he was trying to protect Paula from harm, and makes reference to an ongoing struggle between good and evil for all souls. Later, while examining Paula's body, Scully experiences a vision of Emily.

Mulder performs further research on the adoption records. He uncovers information on a third sister, who walked into a teen crisis center a week earlier and is apparently homeless. With Starkey's help, he canvases abandoned buildings in a desolate part of town. But the Dark Figure, this time sporting a hideous lion's face, finds the girl first. Mulder draws his weapon and orders a darkened figure to step into the light. It is revealed to be Father Gregory. Gregory laments that they are too late, as he found the third sister dead.

Mulder concludes Gregory is responsible for the murders. But Gregory insists he tried to protect the girls' souls from the Devil. He warns that the fourth sister must be located before it is too late. The agents step out of the police interrogation room where Gregory is being held when new information about the fourth sister, Roberta Dyer, comes to light. Scully urges Mulder to find the girl. Meanwhile, Starkey enters the interrogation room where Gregory is being held. He demands to know the location of the fourth girl. When Gregory does not answer, he is burned alive by the demon.

Mulder makes his way to the home of George Dyer, the fourth sister's adoptive father. Dyer eventually reveals that Father Gregory took Roberta away. Shortly thereafter, Scully is approached by the Dark Figure, whose head rotates, revealing the faces of a lion, a fierce bird, and a satyr. Stunned, Scully seeks out Father McCue for answers. He explains that the vision she experienced is a Seraphim, an angel who descended from the heavens and fathered four children with a mortal woman. The Lord sent Seraphim to earth to return the girls, who have the souls of angels, back to heaven to keep the Devil from claiming them as his own.

Later, Starkey tells Scully that the fourth girl is at Father Gregory's church. Once inside the church, Scully sees Starkey's shadow, which is in the form of a demon. Scully rescues the girl from a crawlspace and attempts to make her way out a back exit. A blinding white light suddenly erupts, the source of which is the mysterious Dark Figure. The fourth girl changes into the form of Emily--and begs Scully to let go. Scully reluctantly releases the girl's hand, and she disappears into the light. When the light fades, only the girl's body remains, her eyes burnt away. Later, Scully tells Mulder they should have been protecting the girls from Starkey, not Father Gregory. She also believes that no one killed the girls... but they are now in a place where they were meant to be. She concludes the incident was about letting go... of Emily.

Season 5 Episode #18
The Pine Bluff Variant.

Skinner, Scully, Mulder and a dozen FBI agents participate in an undercover operation in a Washington, D.C. park. Its purpose: to catch Jacob Haley, a militia group member wanted on domestic terrorism charges. As Skinner and Scully monitor events from a surveillance van, Mulder and several other undercover agents slowly close in on their suspect, who meets with a Goateed Man sitting on a park bench. Haley hands the Goatee Man an envelope, then suddenly runs off. Mulder gives chase, unaware that the skin on Goatee Man's face and hands is slowly being eaten away. Scully jumps from the van, intending to warn her partner. But when she reaches Mulder, she is astounded to discover that the suspect eluded capture.

Scully voices her concerns to her partner, looking for some explanation as to why he allowed Haley to escape. But Mulder sidesteps the issue. Shortly thereafter, the agents attend a meeting of a counter-terrorism council, which is headed by Skinner and U.S. Attorney Leamus. During the meeting, Scully states that the Goatee Man was killed by some form of bioweapon. Skinner then shows those in attendance a photo of August Bremer, the militia group's mastermind. He notes that Bremer and Haley are reportedly vying for control.

Her curiosity piqued, Scully begins surveilling her partner's movements from afar. Mulder rents a room at a motel, where he has a heated telephone conversation with Haley, one that implies the pair are working together. Shortly thereafter, a BMW rolls into the motel parking lot, and Mulder climbs in. Scully tails the car, but her progress is halted when two sedans force her to stop. Four large men then approach her vehicle. Scully is escorted to a government building where, to her surprise, she is met by Skinner and Leamus. They explain that Mulder is participating in a deep cover assignment, the existence of which is known only to Skinner and Leamus. Someone in the militia group reached out to Mulder after he voiced his opinions about governmental conspiracies during a UFO conference.

The BMW transports Mulder to a remote farmhouse. There, Mulder is questioned by Haley, who accuses him of spying on the group. When Mulder fails to give acceptable answers, a Skin-Head Man pushes back on his finger, causing Mulder to scream in pain. The torture session continues until Mulder suggests a mole exists within the group. Suddenly, the Skin-Head man pulls back on the finger, snapping it like a piece of celery. When Mulder passes out, Haley turns to him and says, "I believe you." Meanwhile, Bremer tests the bioweapon on patrons at a small movie theater, killing fourteen people. But the question remains as to how the pathogen was spread to the victims.

When Mulder returns to his apartment, he is surprised by Scully. She tends to his broken finger and discusses the undercover operation. Unbeknownst to them, Bremer is secretly recording their conversation. Later, Mulder reports back to Skinner and Leamus. It is determined that the militia group intends to rob a bank. Mulder also relays word that Haley demanded copies of surveillance files of militia group members (hoping to flush out the mole). Leamus reveals he anticipated such a request, and already has redacted microfilm documents prepared. Mulder returns to the motel and gives Haley the microfilm. He is then transported back to the farmhouse, where the militia group is readying its assault on the bank.

Scully determines that the toxin was not developed by the Russians as previously believed. In private, she tells Skinner that the United States is operating a secret bioweapons program--and that someone in the government may have sent Mulder on a suicide mission. Later, it suddenly dawns on Scully that the source of pathogen's distribution is money.

Wearing monster masks, Mulder and the militia members storm a bank. Bremer accesses the vault and sprays the money with the pathogen. The group stages a successful getaway, and later Mulder realizes that the entire purpose of the break-in was to contaminate the money. Bremer pulls a gun on Mulder, announcing that his undercover work has been exposed. But Haley intercedes, noting that Bremer's alias was discovered on the microfilm, exposing him as the mole. Bremer responds by playing back the secret tape recording he made of Mulder and Scully's conversation. Bremer hands Haley a leather car key holder, allowing him to leave the group unharmed. But Bremer and the Skin-Head Man march Mulder away, intending to execute him. Suddenly, Bremer kills the Skin-Head Man. Bremer tells Mulder to run before they are both exposed. Mulder makes his way back to the bank, which has already been sealed off by Scully and Skinner. Scully explains that she recognized Mulder on a bank surveillance tape by the bandage on his finger. As the money is hauled out of the bank, Leamus tells the agents that the bills have tested clean. Scully accuses Leamus of having orchestrated the entire plan. Later, Haley slumps over in his car, his face eaten away by the biotoxin, which was transmitted by the key holder given him by Bremer.

Season 5 Episode #19
Folie a deux.

Gary Lambert works as a vinyl siding telemarketer in Oak Brook, Illinois. On the surface, Gary would seem to be a mild-mannered Everyman. But unbeknownst to his co-workers, Gary is convinced that his boss is an evil monster who preys on his own staff, turning them into the undead. One morning, Skinner summons Mulder and Scully to his office. He explains that the company Gary works for, VinylRight, received an anonymous, audio-taped manifesto, on which a man threatens to commit a violent act. As a result, the company wishes to have the threat investigated. Mulder is puzzled as to why Skinner is sending he and Scully to investigate. Skinner then explains that the maker of the tape spoke of a monster threatening employees. Somewhat irked, Mulder tells Scully he will handle the case alone, labeling himself "Monster Boy."

When Mulder arrives at the company, he is greeted by office manager Greg Pincus, who plays him the taped message. Mulder's interest is piqued by a reference to "hiding in the light." He telephones Scully and asks her to investigate previous X-Files cases for such a phrase. Meanwhile, Gary grows concerned when a fellow employee, Nancy Aaronson, is summoned to Greg's office. When Nancy returns to her cubicle, Gary notices that, from his point of view, she appears to be dead.

Scully telephones Mulder when she finishes researching the files. It turns out that the phrase "hiding in the light" was also used by a deacon at a Lakeland, Florida church. The deacon was convinced that one of his parishioners was an evil presence. One Sunday, he entered the church for mass and opened fire on his flock. When Mulder returns to VinylRight, he finds a sea of deserted cubicles. Nancy's head peeks out from behind a wall and warns Mulder to take cover. Before he has time to react, Gary approaches--armed with an AK-47. Mulder slowly raises his hands into the air.

Scully flies to Illinois and joins FBI and SWAT team members who have surrounded the building. Inside, Gary uses his co-workers to form a human barricade. A SWAT team commander overrules Scully and dials Mulder's cell phone. Gary opens Mulder's jacket... and notices his gun within. Gary kicks Mulder in the head, knocking him to the ground. A hostage then charges Gary, but he swivels and opens fire, killing the man. Gary then speaks with an FBI agent, and demands that a television crew be sent into the building so he can broadcast his fears to the public. Using a closed-circuit system, the FBI fools Gary into thinking his image is being broadcast throughout the city. Addressing the camera, Gary raises his gun and points it at Greg. He instructs everyone to look at Greg... to look at "it." Mulder glances over his shoulder... and sees a monster where Pincus was standing. Suddenly, an Armored Personnel Carrier bursts through a wall. A SWAT team member opens fire, striking Gary.

Mulder cannot dismiss what he saw inside the office complex. After performing additional research, Mulder determines that five previous X-Files cases involve monster that went unnoticed by all accept the claimant. Scully reacts with incredulity when Mulder suggests that Gary was not insane, but actually saw the creature he described. Scully attributes Mulder's behavior to "folie ö deux," a madness shared by people under tense conditions.

Meanwhile, Mulder follows Greg Pincus to the home of Gretchen Starns, one of his employees. As Mulder stands outside of the house, and gazes through a window, he sees the monster advance behind Gretchen, its insect-like mouth aiming for the back of her neck. The woman suddenly screams, prompting Mulder to shatter the window glass. The monster defies gravity by crawling over the house.

Gretchen lodges a complaint with the FBI, accusing Mulder of breaking into her home. During a meeting with Skinner, Mulder sees Pincus, in the form of the monster, advancing. Mulder draws his gun, but Skinner, believing Mulder has lost his mind, gains the upper hand. Mulder is then admitted to a mental institution. Later, at Mulder's prompting, Scully examines the back of the dead hostage's neck. There she discovers tiny puncture marks. At the hospital, a restrained Mulder listens in horror as the monster approaches the window to his room. Mulder calls for the nurse... only to realize that she is one of the monster's minions. Scully visits the hospital... and experiences a vision of the nurse as one of the living dead. She races to Mulder's room, where she discovers the creature crawling on the ceiling. She opens fire, but the creature escapes. Later, Scully meets with Skinner. She voices her belief that Mulder is of sound mind. She notes that an unidentified toxin was found in the dead hostage, and notes that Pincus has disappeared, along with the nurse and several VinylRight employees. After recovering from his ordeal, Mulder returns to work. Scully informs him she told Skinner the truth: the incident can only be explained as a "folie ö deux."

Season 5 Episode #20
The end

Inside a sports arena, two chess masters, a Russian man and an odd-looking 12-year-old boy named Gibson Praise, engage in a battle of the minds as an audience sits in reverential silence. High above the crowd, on a catwalk overhanging the arena, a sniper aims his rifle towards the back of the child's head. As the gunman slowly squeezes the trigger, the little boy announces "checkmate," and slides back in his chair. A gunshot rings out... and the Russian falls to the floor, dead. Meanwhile, two armed, masked figures close in on the cabin where the Cigarette-Smoking Man has holed up. A sensor alerts the Cigarette-Smoking Man to their presence, and he manages to kill one of them before making his escape into the woods. The second masked gunman gets the drop on his prey... and reveals himself as Alex Krycek.

Skinner briefs Mulder on the death of the Russian chess player. It turns out that the sniper is a former member of the National Security Agency. The case was assigned to Agent Spender, who specified that Mulder be excluded from the investigation. Despite this, Mulder and Skinner crash Spender's briefing. While viewing videotape of the assassination, Mulder reaches the conclusion that the shooter's target was Gibson--not the Russian--as the boy reacted in an almost precognitive fashion moments before the shot rang out. Spender disagrees with the theory. Agent Diana Fowley, an attractive woman in her thirties, opines that Mulder is correct. Spender rewinds the tape... and forms the same conclusion.

The Cigarette-Smoking Man meets with the Syndicate Elders. Labeling Gibson a threat, they ask for the Cigarette-Smoking Man's help in orchestrating his elimination.

Mulder, Scully and Diana Fowley visit Gibson inside a psychiatric hospital. The boy declines Mulder's invitation to match wits against a cheap chess computer... giving credence to Mulder's suspicion that the boy is not a chess master, but a mind reader. Tests on the child's brain reveal that Gibson is, indeed, clairvoyant. Later, Mulder visits the shooter in his cell. He offers him immunity from prosecution in exchange for his cooperation.

Scully cannot help but notice chemistry between Mulder and Fowley. She pays the Lone Gunman an unexpected visit. She gives them data from the tests performed on Gibson, and asks that it be analyzed. Scully also asks for information on Diana Fowley. The three men confirm that she and Mulder were an item back when Mulder graduated from the Academy and first discovered the existence of the X-Files. Scully returns to the psychiatric hospital intending to show Mulder the data she has accumulated. But when she approaches the observation room, she notices Mulder and Diana inside... and Diana holding Mulder's hand. Scully, a confusion of emotions, both personal and professional, leaves the hospital. When Mulder enters the hospital's parking garage to retrieve his car, he notices Spender talking to the Cigarette-Smoking Man. Mulder pushes Spender hard in the chest, demanding to know his business. Spender explains that he does not know the identity of the mysterious man. He then reveals that the shooter wishes to speak with Mulder.

Scully meets with Skinner and Mulder to reveal the results of the psychiatric tests on Gibson. It turns out that an area of the child's brain, dubbed the "God Module" by neurophysicists, exhibits extraordinary activity. Mulder believes the child's life is in danger because of his gift, as it might be the key to solving the unexplained phenomena contained within the X-Files. He also suspects that the assassin holds the key to the vast conspiracy working against him. Skinner points out that the very existence of the X-Files would be put at risk if he asks the Attorney General to grant immunity to the assassin. Later, Mulder approaches the shooter and asks him for information he can corroborate. He reveals that Gibson is a missing link--genetic proof of man's relationship to an alien race .

The Cigarette-Smoking Man puts his plan in motion. The assassin is murdered inside his cell. Shortly thereafter, a bullet strikes Fowley as she stands watch over Gibson. The Cigarette-Smoking Man delivers the child to the Well-Manicured Man and Krycek.

When Mulder sees Spender at the Bureau, he pushes him into a wall. He angrily accuses him of orchestrating Gibson's disappearance in conjunction with the Cigarette Smoking Man. Other agents restrain Mulder, dragging him away. Spender responds by stating that Mulder's days are numbered. Later, Scully informs her partner there is talk of shutting down the X-Files. That night, the Cigarette-Smoking Man sneaks into Mulder's office and steals a file on Samantha Mulder. He then addresses Spender face-to-face. He informs him that he is his father. Suddenly, a fire alarm sounds and agents make their way into the hallway. The Cigarette-Smoking Man disappears into the crowd. Later, Mulder inspects the damage to his office, where the cabinet containing the X-Files is a melted skeleton. Scully places her arms around her partner, offering support.