FADE IN:
INT. MULDER & KRYCEK'S BASEMENT OFFICE - DAY
Krycek is cleaning some of the files that have
been tossed around the office. The door opens. Krycek turns around
and gives Mudler a little wave. Krycek seems a little bit troubled...
but doesn't know why.
MULDER
You're here early.
KRYCEK
(fileing away a file)
I thought I'd clean up
before you got in.
MULDER
Hey thanks.
The phone rings.
MULDER
Could you get that.
Krycek picks up the phone.
KRYCEK
(into phone)
This is Agent Krycek.
A shy voice comes over the phone.
JILL
(filterd)
Yes umm... are you the
agent who works on the
x-files?
KRYCEK
Yes.
JILL
(filtered)
Good. (beat) I know this is
going to sound crazy, but
have you heard of the Black
Betty that is in New Jersey?
KRYCEK
Sounds familiar to me.
(beat; then to Mulder)
Mulder, you subscribe
to "Weird New Jersey"
don't you?
MULDER (O.S.)
Yeah, why?
KRYCEK
Ever heard of the
Black Betty?
Mulder runs up to him.
MULDER
Oh yeah! (beat; looks at phone)
Has there been a case?
KRYCEK
I think you know more about
this. (back to Jill) Miss
did you say what your name
was?
JILL
(filtered)
Jill O'Connell.
KRYCEK
Alright, Jill, I'm going
to have you talk to Agent
Mulder about this, he's more
of the expert.
JILL
Alright.
Mulder takes the phone from Krycek. Krycek gives
Mulder a siganl that he's going to get some coffee. Mulder nods.
MULDER
(into phone)
Miss O'Connell...
JILL
(correcting him)
Mrs. O'Connell.
MULDER
Sorry, (beat) Mrs. O'Connell
could you tell me some more
about this Black Betty...
Krycek exits the office.
CUT TO:
INT. FBI LOUNGE - CON'T
Krycek is pouring hot coffee into a mug. He
pours some sugar into it and stirs.
WOMAN (O.S.)
Agent Krycek?
Krycek turns around as he takes a sip of
his coffee. He sees A.D. Skinner's Assistant.
KRYCEK
Yes?
SKINNER'S ASSISTANT
A.D. Skinner needs to see
you in his office right away.
CUT TO:
INT. SKINNER'S OFFICE - CON'T
Krycek walks into his office, almost expecting
to see the Smoking Man there, but it's just Skinner.
KRYCEK
Sir? Is there a problem?
SKINNER
Take a seat Agent Krycek.
KRYCEK
(sitting down)
What has Mulder done now
that I have to fix?
SKINNER
(very serious)
I've got some terrible
news for you, Agent.
Krycek is now serious.
SKINNER
I recieved a call from Russia
just a while ago. (beat) It's
your mother, she's in the
hospital.
A frightened look comes over Krycek.
SKINNER
She's dying of brain cancer.
(beat) She's in the last stages.
Krycek is trying to take it in. There is
an eerie silence.
KRYCEK
B-but... she... (beat)
Why wasn't I told of
this earlier?
Skinner doesn't have the answers.
KRYCEK
I-I...
SKINNER
I've arranged a leave
for you.
Off Krycek's blank look...
CUT TO:
INT. KRYCEK'S APT. - DAY
Krycek is packing a bag. He is on the phone.
KRYCEK
(into phone)
I really need you there (beat)
I can get you a ticket. (beat)
I just... (sits down) I just
don't know what to do, Marita.
(beat) Thank you.
He hangs up the phone. He is still sitting on
his bed. It's all getting to him. He holds his head in his hands.
Off this:
DISSOLVE CUT TO:
INT. OLD RUSSIAN HOSPITAL ROOM - EVENING
Two days later. The room is very old and dim.
Krycek's mother, Elena, is lying in her bed. She wears a hospital
gown, and a turban on her head. She is obviously dying of brain cancer.
She looks very weak and thin. Almost near her death. She looks out
a window.
Krycek enters her room quietly, almost afraid
of knowing the truth he will have to face. She turns her attention
away from the window and towards the door to face Alex.
ELENA
Sasha, my boy (she attempts to
raise her arms to him) Come
here. (she motions to him)
Krycek slowly comes to her bed side. A
carring look comes over him, a look never before seen before. He forces
a grin to hide his sadness.
ELENA
Why'd you come all this
way to see me?
Krycek realizes she doesn't know she is
dying.
KRYCEK
(carefully)
I got a call, they told me
you were very sick.
ELENA
Oh, doctors don't
know anything.
She's acting like everything is fine.
KRYCEK
Do you feel alright, mom?
He takes her hand and holds it. He knows
the truth... but is afraid.
ELENA
(as if nothing has ever been wrong)
Yes. (beat) Tell me, what you do?
Still work with FBI?
KRYCEK
Yes.
ELENA
(straight forward)
When you get married?
KRYCEK
Married?
He laughs it off, trying to hide his feelings
for Marita.
ELENA
Yes. (beat) What about
beautiful girl you come
with, huh?
Krycek looks out into the hallway at Marita,
who is sitting in a lobby chair.
ELENA
Well? You like her, yes?
KRYCEK
(laughs a bit)
Well...
ELENA
(very demanding)
I want to meet beautiful
girl, let her in.
Krycek looks to his mother, unsure if this
is a wise thing to do.
ELENA
What you wait for?
Off this, Krycek heads to the door, he
knows better than to argue with her.
CUT TO:
INT. HOSPITAL HALLWAY
Marita is still sitting in the chair. Krycek
walks over to her. She looks up at him.
MARITA
Is everything ok, Alex?
KRYCEK
(unsure)
Yeah. (beat) It's my mother,
she wants to meet you.
Marita looks shocked. He leads her by the
hand back to Elena's room. We follow them continuously into the hospital
room.
INT. ELENA'S HOSPITAL ROOM
Elena looks towards the door as Krycek and Marita
enter.
ELENA
What your name?
MARITA
Marita Covarrubias.
ELENA
(to Krycek)
Leave, I want to talk to
her alone.
She takes Marita's hand and holds it.
Krycek leaves into the hallway.
INT. HOSPITAL HALLWAY
He shuts the door to his mother's room. Turning
around, he spots someone down the hallway. He's pissed now.
He fast-walks down the hallway and slams the
Cigarette-Smoking Man into the wall.
KRYCEK
(angry as hell, keeps voice low)
What are you doing her?!
CSM
(thinking he's all that)
I can help you, Alex.
Krycek pulls away from the Smoking Man.
CSM
I can help your mother.
KRYCEK
(showing no weakness)
I don't need your help. I'm
not going to torture my
mother to one of your tests.
(beat) Get the hell away
from her.
He starts to walk off.
CSM
Your mother is dying of brain
cancer, (takes a drag) and you
don't even want to save her?
Krycek turns around even more angry and
walks back into the conversation.
CUT TO:
INT. ELENA'S HOSPITAL ROOM - EVENING
Marita is sitting in a chair next to Elena's
bed.
ELENA
Oh, he loves the skating. He
fall from going so fast.
Marita laughs remembering the tape she
has seen.
ELENA
You see him skate?
MARITA
Yes, actually.
A slight silence.
ELENA
(serious now)
I know I'm dying.
Marita looks up shocked at the sudden change
of conversation.
ELENA
I don't want Sasha to know.
(beat) Too hard for him, I
think. He's always so sad.
MARITA
(carefully)
I think you should let him
know what's going on. (beat)
It would be easier for him.
A nurse opens the door and interrupts.
NURSE
(in Russian)
She has to get rest now.
Marita nods her head.
MARITA
(to Elena)
We'll see you tomorrow.
She bends down and kisses her forehead
and leaves the room.
Marita leaves the room. She looks around the
hallway for Krycek. She turns a corner and sees him arguing with the
Smoking Man. She can't hear the argument, only notices how angry Krycek
is by his actions.
Marita walks up to the conversation.
KRYCEK
(pissed as hell;speaking low yet strong)
Just get the hell out of
here, before I kill you.
Krycek looks as if he might do it right
there and right now. The Smoking Man is calm, grinning at Krycek in
this state of mind.
MARITA
Alex, no.
Krycek glares at the Smoking Man. They
start to walk off leaving the Smoking Man in the empty hallway.
CSM
My offer still stands, Alex.
They ignore him and round the corner, as
the Cigarette-Smoking Man pulls out his Morleys and lights up in the
hospital hallway.
INT. HOSPITAL HALLWAY
Krycek and Marita are walking down the hallway
away from the the Smoking Man. Krycek is still very angry.
MARITA
Alex, what's going on?
Krycek stops walking and moves in closer
to her, taking her by the arm. He talks quietly.
KRYCEK
He claims he has a cure
for all diseases.
MARITA
How?
KRYCEK
I don't know how. (beat)
But he wants to use my
mother as some sort of
test subject for this cure.
Marita listens.
KRYCEK
He wants to make a deal.
MARITA
What's the deal?
KRYCEK
Doesn't matter. (beat;
getting louder and upset)
I'm not going to torture
my mother before she dies.
Krycek starts to walk off. Obviously still
upset and angry.
CUT TO:
INT. OLD RUSSIAN HOTEL ROOM - MORNING
The light from outside fills the room. It's
a small room with two beds. One of the beds has been slept in but
is now unoccupied.
Marita awakens alone in her bed. She looks around
the room... it's empty. She notices a note on a table. She walks over
and picks it up.
The note reads: Marita, I couldn't sleep,
I'm at the hospital. I just have a feeling I should be there. Alex
TIME CUT TO:
INT. OLD HOSPITAL - LATE MORNING
Marita enters the hospital. Some orderlies are
wheeling a body out of a room. Marita looks worried and fast-walks
into the room they just left, only to find Krycek sitting alone in
a chair with a blank, empty expression over him.
Marita walks over to him.
MARITA
Alex?
He doesn't look at her. In his hands he
holds an old snow globe of St. Petersburg.
KRYCEK
(empty, lost)
She gave this to me when
I was ten. (beat as he
shakes the snow globe) I
never really cared.
Marita kneels down. Krycek stands up and
puts the snow globe down and walks to the window.
KRYCEK
It's beautiful, isn't it?
Marita walks over to the window, and looks
at Krycek.
MARITA
Yes. (beat) Yes, it is.
She stares out the window with him. He's
in control of his emotions, but wants to let them out. He looks down
at the floor.
Marita puts a hand on his back. She cannot see
his face.
MARITA
Alex?
She moves in. He has tears in his eyes.
He has lost all control. He takes Marita in his arms and holds her
close, she holds him in tighter. Nothing is said.
DISSOLVE TIME CUT TO:
INT. MULDER & KRYCEK'S APT. - NIGHT (TWO DAYS
LATER)
The lights are out. Jay Leno's Tonight Show
is on the TV. Mulder sits on the couch with a big bag of potatoe chips.
JAY LENO(on tv)
(laughing)
Anyways... We've got a great show
tonight. (beat) Keanu Reeves is here!
(audience cheers) He'll be talking about
the next two "Matrix" movies, and his
band, Dogstar.
Leno drains out as the door opens. Mulder
looks towards the door, to see Krycek walk in quietly. Mulder stands
up. He hesitates before speaking.
MULDER
Alex...
Mulder turns off the tv. Krycek only looks towards
him. Mulder walks up to him.
MULDER
I'm really sorry about your
mother. (beat) I've been
through these kinds of
things before.
Krycek realizes that for once Mulder doesn't
have any wise ass remarks. They have an unspoken understanding, communicated
through eye contact. Their friendship's at a new level.
KRYCEK
I just can't believe she's gone.
There is a silence in the room, Mulder
doesn't know what else to say to his friend. All he can do is be there
for him. Krycek goes into his room to put his bag away. Mulder sits
at the kitchen table.
A few moments later, Krycek comes back. He holds
the snow globe in his hand and sets it down in front of Mulder.
KRYCEK
You never know what you
have until it's gone.
Appreciate what you have
now. (he looks up at Mulder)
'Cause you never know when
it'll be taken away.
They sit there silently as Krycek turns
the snow globe upside down... forever a reminder of his mother.
FADE OUT:
THE END.