Season 3 · Episode 2

Paper Clip

Character-labelled dialogue prepared from the official DVD subtitle track.

Production code3X02Original airdate · September 29, 1995

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346 dialogue entries

Scene 01

Albert Hosteen

To the Navajo, the earth and its creatures... Have great influence over our existence. The stories passed from generation to generation... Help us to understand the reason for our tears of sadness... And tears of joy. Animals like the bear, the spider and the coyote... Are powerful symbols to our people. When the FBI man Mulder was cured by the holy people, we were reminded of the story of the gila monster, who symbolizes the healing powers of the medicine man. In this myth, the gila monster restores a man... By taking all his parts and putting them back together. His blood is gathered by ants, his eyes and ears by sun, his mind by talking god and pollen boy. Then lightning and thunder bring the man back to life.

[ thunder crashes ]

Albert Hosteen

At the end of the ceremony, when the FBI man had been healed, we heard the news from other native americans in the northern plains... That a great event had taken place. One of these stories tells of the white buffalo woman... Who came down from the heavens and taught the indians... How to lead virtuous lives... And how to pray to the creator. She told the people she would return one day. Then she turned into a white buffalo and ascended into the clouds, never to be seen again. But on this day, when the holy people had given the FBI man a miracle, a white buffalo was born. And every native american knew, whether he believed the story or not, that this was a powerful omen... And that great changes were coming.

Scene 02

MULDER'S APARTMENT

Walter Skinner

I've got the digital tape.

Dana Scully

You're lying.

Walter Skinner

I've got it in my pocket. I took it out of Mulder's desk.

[ footsteps approaching ]

Walter Skinner

Drop your weapon! Put it down, Scully!

Dana Scully

No way.

Walter Skinner

I said put it down!

Dana Scully

I said no! You're setting me up!

Walter Skinner

I'm trying to help you.

Dana Scully

Then put your weapon down and sit down! You said you weren't here to kill me.

Walter Skinner

I didn't come here to have a gun shoved in my face either.

Dana Scully

Damn it, Skinner!

Fox Mulder

Drop your weapon! I said drop it!

Walter Skinner

Back off!

Fox Mulder

Put it down!

Walter Skinner

What the hell is this? What are you pulling here?

Fox Mulder

You okay, Scully?

Dana Scully

Yeah.

Fox Mulder

Get his gun. Give her the gun! Give it to her!

Walter Skinner

All right.

Fox Mulder

Now I want an explanation.

Dana Scully

I was warned that somebody would kill me. Someone I trusted.

Walter Skinner

I am gonna reach into my coat pocket and end this charade, all right? I presume you both know what this is. Now, I want an explanation.

Fox Mulder

Your cigarette-smoking friend killed my father for that tape, and then he killed me.

Walter Skinner

What are you talking about?

Fox Mulder

I was a dead man. Now I'm back.

Walter Skinner

What is on this tape?

Fox Mulder

Defense department files that weren't supposed to exist. The truth about our government's involvement in a global conspiracy of silence... About the existence of extraterrestrial life.

Dana Scully

Give me that tape.

Walter Skinner

Uh-uh. This tape stays with me.

Fox Mulder

Give her the tape.

Walter Skinner

If what you say is true, if the information on this tape is valuable enough to kill for, then it's the only leverage we've got to bring these men to justice. It's not going to do us any good if it falls back into their hands.

Fox Mulder

Then you better make sure it doesn't. Come on, Scully. Let's go.

Dana Scully

Where?

Fox Mulder

There are truths out there that aren't on that tape.

Dana Scully

Mulder, I--

Fox Mulder

Scully, whatever you're going to say--

Dana Scully

I went to your father's funeral. I told your mother that you were gonna be okay.

Fox Mulder

How did you know?

[ elevator bell dings ]

Dana Scully

I just knew.

[ chattering, indistinct ]

Scene 03

HOSPITAL

Margaret Scully

Uh, my daughter was brought here. I'm trying to find her.

Doctor

All right. What's her name?

Margaret Scully

Uh, Scully. Dana Scully.

Doctor

Melissa Scully?

Margaret Scully

No-- that's her sister.

Doctor

Well, we just had a Melissa Scully in surgery with a cranial gunshot wound.

Margaret Scully

Missy? It's mom.

Doctor

We took drastic precautionary measures... Due to the nature of the head wound. We've induced coma to try and relieve the trauma on the brain.

Margaret Scully

Is she gonna be okay?

Doctor

We've done everything we can right now. We'll be monitoring her around the clock. Nurse, why don't we get mrs. Scully a comfortable chair.

Scene 04

THE LONE GUNMEN'S OFFICE · WASHINGTON, D.C.

Fox Mulder

[ Mulder ] that's my father on the left.

Byers

This was taken when?

Fox Mulder

About 1973.

Byers

Amazing. Langley, take a look.

Dana Scully

Do you recognize any of those men?

Byers

Are you familiar with a post-world war ii project known as operation paper clip?

Fox Mulder

Our deal with the devil. The u.s. Government provided safe haven... For certain nazi war criminals in exchange for their scientific knowledge.

Langly

I know who this man is. Victor Klemper.

Byers

The man standing next to your father is one of those criminals, though not the most famous of the bunch. Werner von braun, designer of the v2 rockets that leveled london... May be the most notorious, but Victor Klemper certainly takes the prize... For the most evil nazi to escape the nuremberg trials.

Dana Scully

What did he do?

Langly

Experimented on the jews. Drowned them, suffocated them, put them in pressure chambers. All in the name of science.

Byers

Together with von braun, Klemper helped us win the space race. Using his scientific data on the effects of high-altitude flying, we were able to put astronauts on the moon before the soviets.

Langly

One giant step for mankind.

Dana Scully

What would he be doing in a photo with your father?

Fox Mulder

I don't know. Do you recognize anybody else in the photograph?

Byers

No. Operation paper clip...

Dana Scully

Whatever happened to Klemper?

Langly

He's still here, living very well at the expense of the american taxpayer.

[ door opens ]

Frohike

Unbelievable! We thought you were history.

Fox Mulder

You're going to have to wait a little longer for my video collection, Frohike.

Langly

Where were you? We were looking all over.

Frohike

Down at D.C. General. I was scanning the police frequency... When I heard the report of a shooting. Agent Scully.

Dana Scully

What? What is it?

Frohike

Your sister's in critical condition.

Fox Mulder

Scully! Scully, wait! Scully! Scully, wait! Scully!

Dana Scully

I have to go there, Mulder. That bullet was meant for me.

Fox Mulder

If they're trying to kill you, that's the first place they're gonna look.

Dana Scully

Those bastards.

Fox Mulder

We're gonna call someone I think can help. The only thing you can do for her right now is to try to crucify them.

Scene 05

46TH STREET, NEW YORK CITY · 7:09 AM

Well-Manicured Man

This is a serious mistake. An innocent woman has been shot.

Syndicate Elder

Can this be traced?

Well-Manicured Man

This is your man.

Cigarette-Smoking Man

There was a mistake. It will be rectified.

Well-Manicured Man

By whom? By whom will this be rectified? Your ridiculously ineffectual assassins?

Cigarette-Smoking Man

These men are professionals.

Well-Manicured Man

This is not a profession for men who make mistakes. My god, you presume to make us believe... You can simply fix it with enough bullets?

Cigarette-Smoking Man

No.

Well-Manicured Man

This woman-- Scully-- you know, she believes her partner is still alive.

Cigarette-Smoking Man

Mulder's dead. I took care of it myself.

Well-Manicured Man

And the computer tape containing the stolen files... You tell us was recovered-- you can show it to us?

Cigarette-Smoking Man

I wasn't aware that my honesty was in question or doubt. You have the tape? Of course I have it. I think I'd like to see it. So would I. I have vouchsafed it for reasons of security. I'll have it here for you tomorrow. By which time this whole matter will be cleared up.

[ door opens, closes ]

[ door opens ]

Fox Mulder

Victor Klemper?

Victor Klemper

Yes.

Fox Mulder

My name is Fox Mulder. This is Dana Scully.

Victor Klemper

Your name is Mulder?

Fox Mulder

Yes. I think you knew my father.

Victor Klemper

What's this about?

Fox Mulder

When you came to this country, you did some work for our government.

Victor Klemper

I'm an old man now. History bores me.

Dana Scully

Because it escaped you? Or because you escaped it?

Victor Klemper

Freud, salk, crick, watson. These will be the names they celebrate at the end of the millennium. Great scientists. And Klemper? He will be remembered only as a butcher.

Dana Scully

History may be the only justice you'll ever know.

Victor Klemper

Do you know my work? Do you know what we accomplished?

Dana Scully

As a nazi or for the blood money we paid you?

Victor Klemper

We were young men caught in a fervor. But our experiments changed the world.

Dana Scully

For a lot of innocent jews.

Victor Klemper

Progress demands sacrifice, and I-- I have confronted my demons. And soon I will die too.

Fox Mulder

Like my father. They killed him, and I believe you know why.

Victor Klemper

I believe they would kill anyone if it is in the best interest of the work.

Fox Mulder

What is this "work" that my father was involved in?

Victor Klemper

I have no answer for you.

Fox Mulder

Well, you knew him! Was he a murderer too?

Victor Klemper

There are some things you don't have to know.

Fox Mulder

No, I need to know. I need to know the truth. Isn't that what you want? For the truth to be known?

Victor Klemper

Do you know the formula of napier's constant?

Dana Scully

Yes. Why?

Victor Klemper

The photo was taken at the Strughold mining company in West Virginia, and that is all I will tell you. The rest you can find out yourself.

Fox Mulder

Let's go, Scully.

Scene 06

46TH STREET, NEW YORK CITY

[ ringing ]

Aide

[ beeps ] hello? [ indistinct ] yes, one moment. It's for you, sir.

Well-Manicured Man

Yes.

Victor Klemper

It's Klemper.

Well-Manicured Man

Victor.

Victor Klemper

How are you, old friend? It's been far too many years.

Well-Manicured Man

What is it, Victor?

Victor Klemper

I was just paid a visit... By the son of one of our old colleagues.

Well-Manicured Man

What did you tell him, Victor?

Victor Klemper

I told him that you were the most venal man I've ever met. Beyond that, I told him nothing.

[ hangs up ]

[ phone beeps ]

Well-Manicured Man

Mulder is alive. I think it's time that we call our friends, who will handle this matter more satisfactorily.

[ machinery beeping ]

Scene 07

HOSPITAL

Nurse

Are you expecting any visitors?

Margaret Scully

Is it Dana? Is Dana here?

Nurse

No, it's a man. He says he was asked to come here.

Albert Hosteen

My name is Albert Hosteen. I was asked to come here and help with your daughter.

Margaret Scully

There must be some mistake.

Albert Hosteen

Is your daughter the FBI woman?

Margaret Scully

Dana?

Albert Hosteen

Yes. She's very sorry... She can't come here to comfort you.

Margaret Scully

You know where she is? Is she okay?

Albert Hosteen

Yes. I believe so. She is weak.

Margaret Scully

She's getting better. She has the best doctors. They're watching her around the clock.

Albert Hosteen

If it's all right, I would like to pray over her here.

Scene 08

RURAL WEST VIRGINIA

[ wings flapping ]

Dana Scully

What do you think your father would have been doing here?

Fox Mulder

I don't know, but he never came home wearing a miner's cap.

Dana Scully

Mulder, take a look at this. What do you think?

Fox Mulder

I'd like to try door number one, Monty.

[ beeping ]

Fox Mulder

I'm trying 27828. It's not working.

Dana Scully

It's not working here either.

Fox Mulder

You sure that's the right number?

Dana Scully

Positive. Napier's constant is the basis of all natural logarithms.

Fox Mulder

I think with a crowbar and a small nuclear device... We might be able to get through one of these things.

[ beeping ]

[ latch turns ]

Dana Scully

Mulder. No, wait. Hang on a second. Whatever we find in here, I don't think you've had time to process everything that you've been through.

Fox Mulder

I'm okay, Scully.

Dana Scully

You weren't even able to go to your father's funeral, and if something in here was to cast doubt on the kind of man he was-- I just know how it would affect me.

Scene 09

FBI HEADQUARTERS · WASHINGTON, D.C.

Cigarette-Smoking Man

You called me.

Walter Skinner

Yes, I did.

Cigarette-Smoking Man

About?

Walter Skinner

I may have located the digital tape that you're looking for.

Cigarette-Smoking Man

You may have located it?

Walter Skinner

Yes, though there's a great chance... It may fall into the hands of people who might use it for purposes not your own.

Cigarette-Smoking Man

You want to work a deal? Is that what this is? Let me tell you something. I don't work deals.

Walter Skinner

I just thought you should know of certain potentialities.

Cigarette-Smoking Man

Do you have the tape?

Walter Skinner

As I said, I may have located it.

Cigarette-Smoking Man

Do you have the damn tape?

Walter Skinner

I'll know more when we next meet.

Cigarette-Smoking Man

I do not negotiate. Do you understand?

Walter Skinner

Yes, sir.

Cigarette-Smoking Man

I don't think you do. I don't think you understand at all.

Walter Skinner

No, I'm quite aware of your policies in those regards.

Cigarette-Smoking Man

Then I hope your next course of action will be more... Cautious and informed.

Scene 10

RURAL WEST VIRGINIA

[ door closes ]

Dana Scully

Mulder, look at this. It looks like they're storing records.

Fox Mulder

Of what?

Dana Scully

Medical files, by the look of it. Got names, alphabetized.

Fox Mulder

Lots of files.

Dana Scully

Lots and lots of files.

Fox Mulder

What's in these files?

Dana Scully

Standard medical forms. These are birth certificates, smallpox vaccination certificate. And then there's this.

Fox Mulder

What is this?

Dana Scully

It's an old tissue collection cassette. The new ones are plastic.

Fox Mulder

Do all these files contain the same materials?

Dana Scully

Yes, exactly.

Fox Mulder

What year was this person born?

Dana Scully

1955. All of these files are 1955.

Fox Mulder

What year were you born?

Dana Scully

1964. Why?

Fox Mulder

Let's go find 1964.

Dana Scully

You're looking for a file on me?

Fox Mulder

Dana catherine Scully.

Dana Scully

What? That's a recent tissue sample. What the hell is going on here, Mulder?

Fox Mulder

I don't know, Scully.

Dana Scully

That's your sister's file.

Fox Mulder

Yeah.

Dana Scully

What are you looking for?

Fox Mulder

I don't know.

Fox Mulder

Look at this, Scully. This file was originally mine.

Dana Scully

I don't understand.

Fox Mulder

Wait here, Scully.

Dana Scully

Mulder, where are you going? Mulder? Mulder!

[ cocks weapon ]

Man #1

Let's go!

Man #2

There!

[ gunshots ]

[ shells clattering ]

Man #3

Find the woman too!

[ beeping ]

[ shouting, indistinct ]

Dana Scully

Mulder! Scully? Mulder, down here!

Fox Mulder

You okay, Scully?

Dana Scully

I heard gunshots.

Fox Mulder

I've been looking for you.

Dana Scully

What happened to you?

Fox Mulder

Got a small army outside. I think they got us trapped.

Dana Scully

I think there's a way out down here.

Scene 11

ROUTE 320A · CRAIGER, MARYLAND

Walter Skinner

This place isn't even on the map. How'd you get here?

Fox Mulder

You'd be surprised what's not on the map in this country... And what our government will do to keep it that way.

Walter Skinner

How's that?

Fox Mulder

Last night we were chased by some kind of hit squad... Driving what looked an awful lot like CIA fleet sedans.

Walter Skinner

Well, I may be able to negotiate a deal that would guarantee your safety.

Dana Scully

What kind of deal?

Walter Skinner

I'll turn over the digital tape... In return for your reinstatement.

Fox Mulder

No, sir. I need that tape. I need those files.

Walter Skinner

I'm talking about a way to save your lives.

Fox Mulder

And I'm talking about an elaborate conspiracy against the american public. Do you know what we found last night?

Walter Skinner

What?

Dana Scully

An extremely elaborate filing system of medical records.

Fox Mulder

Locked inside a mountain vault.

Walter Skinner

For the purpose of?

Fox Mulder

I don't know. But the answer's gotta be on that tape, in those files.

Walter Skinner

Is that worth your lives?

Fox Mulder

It's obviously worth killing us for.

Walter Skinner

In your wildest dreams, what do you hope to find, agent Mulder?

Fox Mulder

Why they killed my father. And what happened to my sister. And what they did to agent Scully.

Dana Scully

I think we should let him make the deal, Mulder. Look, those answers mean nothing if we're gonna be hunted down like animals. We are operating so far outside of the law right now, we've given up on the very notion of justice. We have turned ourselves into outsiders. We have lost our access and our protection.

Fox Mulder

What makes you think there's any such thing as justice, Scully?

Dana Scully

Then what good are those answers to anybody but you, Mulder?

Fox Mulder

What we found last night--

Dana Scully

Look, I want exactly what you want. But I need to see my sister.

Fox Mulder

I suppose you already tried to make a backup of the tape.

Walter Skinner

Whoever downloaded those files put a copy protector on them. I couldn't get a hard copy to print either.

Fox Mulder

What makes you think they'll even honor this deal?

Walter Skinner

Because if they don't, I'll go state's evidence and testify. Or they'll have to kill me too.

Fox Mulder

It's up to you, Scully.

[ door opens, closes ]

[ car door closes ]

Dana Scully

I told Skinner to make the deal, but not to hand over the tape until you agreed to it.

Fox Mulder

I'm sorry about your sister, Scully.

Dana Scully

I just need to know she's gonna be okay.

[ engine starts ]

Albert Hosteen

For two days I had prayed for the FBI woman's sister. Her doctors said she was getting better, and her mother, who would not leave her bedside, was able to sleep. But word had come from my brothers in the north... That did not give me hope. The white buffalo calf had survived. But after a day, it would no longer drink its mother's milk.

[ speaking native american language ]

Albert Hosteen

On the third day, the mother buffalo laid down in her stall... And would not get up. They said the men could do nothing for her. That night, she died. My father taught me when I was a boy... That this is how life is, that for something to live, another thing must often be sacrificed.

[ footsteps approaching ]

Albert Hosteen

This was my fear now for the young woman.

Walter Skinner

I'm here to see Melissa Scully. My name is walter Skinner. I'm an assistant director at the FBI. I'm very sorry about your daughter. Dana asked me to come here to deliver a message.

Margaret Scully

You've been in contact with her?

Walter Skinner

Yes.

Margaret Scully

I want to know where she is and if she's okay.

Walter Skinner

She's okay, but she's in a very serious situation which prevents her from being here.

Margaret Scully

What kind of situation?

Walter Skinner

One that we hope to reverse... So that Dana can come back to work.

Albert Hosteen

That man you just saw, he's been very curious about this room.

Walter Skinner

Who are you?

Albert Hosteen

My name is Albert Hosteen. I was asked to come here.

Walter Skinner

All right, Albert. Do not leave this room. Do you understand?

Albert Hosteen

Yes.

[ grunts ]

Krycek’s Associate

I could use a beer.

Scene 12

SOUTHEAST WASHINGTON, D.C.

Krycek’s Associate

Do you want anything?

Alex Krycek

No.

Krycek’s Associate

Are you sure?

Alex Krycek

Yeah.

[ gasps ]

[ shouts ]

Fox Mulder

Mr. Klemper? Mr. Klemper?

[ thunder rumbling ]

Well-Manicured Man

Hello again, young lady.

Dana Scully

Where's Victor Klemper?

Well-Manicured Man

Oh. Poor Klemper. They found him yesterday here among his flowers. Apparently his heart had given out.

Fox Mulder

You killed him, didn't you? You're one of the men in this photo. You knew my father.

Well-Manicured Man

Yes. Since we were young men.

Fox Mulder

You were involved in this project. You know why the data was being collected.

Well-Manicured Man

Yes, I do indeed. In 1947, a spacecraft was reportedly recovered in New Mexico. No doubt you know of this, and of the reported recovery of a body at the site. These incidents coincided with not only the end of world war ii... But an ignominious project which brought nazi scientists and war criminals... To this country to exploit their knowledge.

Dana Scully

Operation paper clip.

Well-Manicured Man

Yes. You know of it already. And you must also know of the work of dr. Joseph mengele, the nazi angel of death.

Dana Scully

Mengele thought that he could produce a super race through genetic engineering.

Well-Manicured Man

As did many of his colleagues... At the institute of hereditary biology and racial hygiene.

Dana Scully

Like Victor Klemper?

Well-Manicured Man

Poor Victor. He loved his orchids. Did you know that he was able to create some of the most beautiful hybrids?

Fox Mulder

Klemper was trying to create an alien-human hybrid. That's what I saw in the boxcar. He was using human test subjects.

Dana Scully

Mulder, wait.

Fox Mulder

My father was involved in this?

Dana Scully

The technology wasn't there, Mulder. DNA wasn't even identified until 1944. This is all a lie.

Well-Manicured Man

When your father realized... What the medical data was being used for, he objected strenuously.

Fox Mulder

He collected those files?

Well-Manicured Man

With the threat of nuclear holocaust in the 1950s, the government instructed men like your father to gather genetic data... On the general populace for the purposes... Of post-apocalyptic identification.

Fox Mulder

The vaccination records. They took tissue from everyone who received a smallpox inoculation.

Well-Manicured Man

Hundreds of millions of americans.

Fox Mulder

So that Victor Klemper had access to a DNA database... Of nearly everyone who was born since 1950.

Dana Scully

Mulder, this man is telling you everything that you want to hear. But it is a fabrication. It is pure science fiction. There were no experiments with aliens.

Well-Manicured Man

Why would I lie to you?

Dana Scully

Like you said before, to protect yourself... And the continuation of the nazi agenda-- human tests.

Fox Mulder

Why was your file there, Scully?

Dana Scully

I don't know.

Fox Mulder

There were current records on file.

Dana Scully

Yes, but records of what, Mulder?

Fox Mulder

Of abductions! Of abductees! They took my sister. Why?

Well-Manicured Man

They took her as insurance because your father... Threatened to expose the project.

Fox Mulder

Why her? Why not me?

Well-Manicured Man

It's not for me to say. But your life is in danger now too. You also threaten to expose the project. You have become your father.

Fox Mulder

Why are you telling me this?

Well-Manicured Man

It's what you want to know, isn't it?

Fox Mulder

Is there more?

Well-Manicured Man

More than you'll ever know.

[ ringing ]

Scene 13

Aide

Yes. [ indistinct ] yes, he's just arrived. One moment, please. You have a call, sir.

Cigarette-Smoking Man

Thank you. Hello?

Alex Krycek

I'm alive. Isn't that a surprise?

Cigarette-Smoking Man

Yes. Good, good, good. Where are you?

Alex Krycek

Somewhere that you will never find me, you double-crossing son of a bitch.

Cigarette-Smoking Man

Are you sure?

Alex Krycek

I'm sure of this-- if I so much as feel your presence, I'm going to make you a very, very famous man. You understand?

Cigarette-Smoking Man

Yes. Thank you. I'm going to report that to the group.

[ slams phone ]

[ beeps ]

Cigarette-Smoking Man

I've just received confirmation that the digital tape... Containing the stolen files was destroyed in a car bomb explosion, which killed agent Scully's would-be assassin. What about Mulder and Scully? I have a meeting with the FBI. They, uh-- they want to make a deal. For what? For nothing. There'll be no deal. There's no deal to make.

Scene 14

GREENWICH, CONNECTICUT

Mrs. Mulder

Fox?

Fox Mulder

Yeah.

Mrs. Mulder

What time is it?

Fox Mulder

It's after 2:00.

Mrs. Mulder

Did you drive up here? Why didn't you call?

Fox Mulder

I needed to see you in person. I need to ask you something. I need to ask you about something that happened a long time ago.

Mrs. Mulder

Oh, Fox. I don't remember anything. I told you before.

Fox Mulder

Mom, listen to me. When Samantha-- before she was gone, did dad ever ask you if you had a favorite? Did he ever ask you that?

Mrs. Mulder

Fox, please.

Fox Mulder

Mom, did he ever ask you to make a choice?

Mrs. Mulder

Don't do thi--

Fox Mulder

Mom, listen to me! I need to know! Did he make you make a choice?

Mrs. Mulder

No. I couldn't choose. It was your father's choice. And I hated him for it. Even in his grave I hate him still.

Scene 15

FBI HEADQUARTERS · WASHINGTON, D.C.

[ sobbing ]

Cigarette-Smoking Man

Now, you wanted to see me?

Walter Skinner

I have the tape you've been looking for.

Cigarette-Smoking Man

Really?

Walter Skinner

I'm prepared to hand it over or destroy it in exchange for Mulder and Scully's safety... And for their reinstatement here.

Cigarette-Smoking Man

What did I tell you, mr. Skinner? I don't negotiate. Especially with punks like you who think they can bluff me.

Walter Skinner

Bluff you?

Cigarette-Smoking Man

You haven't got any tape, and you haven't got any deal. You can't play poker if you aren't holding any cards, mr. Skinner. You ever wondered what it would be like to, uh, die in a plane crash? Of botulism? Even a heart attack's not uncommon for a man your age. Think I'm bluffing?

Walter Skinner

I'm not finished yet. Albert.

[ speaking native american language ]

Cigarette-Smoking Man

What is this?

Walter Skinner

This is where you pucker up and kiss my ass.

Cigarette-Smoking Man

Now, listen, you--

Walter Skinner

You listen to me, you son of a bitch. This man's name is Albert Hosteen. You should remember that, because if agents Mulder and Scully come down with so much as a case of the flu, Albert is prepared to recite, chapter and verse, everything on your precious tape.

Cigarette-Smoking Man

That's a nice try, Skinner.

Walter Skinner

I'm sure you're thinking Albert is an old man, and there are plenty of ways you might kill him too. Which is why, in the ancient oral tradition of his people, he's told 20 other men the information on those files. So unless you kill every Navajo living in four states, that information is available with a simple phone call. Welcome to the wonderful world of high technology.

Cigarette-Smoking Man

You're bluffing.

Walter Skinner

Am I?

[ door opens, closes ]

Dana Scully

It happened three hours ago. She went into surgery, and the damage to her brain was worse then they had hoped. Her blood pressure started to rise, and, um, she slipped away. She died for me, and I tried to tell her that I was sorry, but I don't think she'll ever really know.

Fox Mulder

Oh, she knows. Melissa knows.

Dana Scully

You were right. There is no justice.

Fox Mulder

I don't think this is about justice, Scully.

Dana Scully

Then what is it about?

Fox Mulder

I think it's about something we have no personal choice in. I think it's about fate. Skinner told me that he talked to you, that you were insistent about coming back to work. Now, if Melissa's death is--

Dana Scully

I need something to put my back up against.

Fox Mulder

I feel the same way. We both lost so much. I believe that what we're looking for... Is in the X-Files and more certain than ever that the truth is in there.

Dana Scully

I've heard the truth, Mulder. Now what I want are the answers.

About this transcript

The dialogue comes from the official DVD subtitle track supplied by Boggsfiles. Speaker and scene attribution was cross-checked against character-labelled reference material. Subtitle wording is preserved while capitalization and spacing are standardized for easier reading.