Title: "All Is Calm, All Is Bright"
Written by: Cassie
Date: September 24-27, 2006; October 6-7, 2006; March 7, 2007
Air Date: March 12, 2007
Rating: PG-13
Series: FRVS - Episode #182
Spoilers: Past episodes of FRVS may be spoiled.
Feedback: We love it. There is a form at the bottom of this story that you can use to send us feedback. Thank you.
Archiving: "Fox & Rat" Virtual Series only!
Disclaimer: We do not own anyone. They belong to Chris Carter, Ten-Thirteen Productions, and 20th Century FOX Broadcasting.
Author's Note: The personalities of the characters within the world of "Fox & Rat" are not those you know from "The X-Files" television series. We have warped them and given them a common past, immature behavior and a sense of humor. Any horrid behavior should not be mimicked in your every day life.
Summary: Mulder, Krycek and Marita work on digging themselves out of their underground bunker, while Scully gives Knowle a Christmas present that's hard to part with.
FADE IN:
INT. BUNKIE – 7:00 P.M.
NOVEMBER 18, 2006 – SATURDAY”The Streak” is playing on the CD player. The rhythm and beat of the song are slower than it should be. The lights in the hallway have been flickering for several hours as the power generator threatens to die on Mulder, Krycek, and Marita.
Marita steps out into the dark hallway with a flashlight.
MARITA
Fox…? Sasha…?
She shines the flashlight bean down the empty corridor.
MARITA
You ask me to help you find a flashlight
so you can better repair the power generator
and then you hide on me?
She cautiously makes her way down the hallway, knowing that at any minute they will jump out and scare her.
MARITA
If you don’t come out now you’ll
never be able to listen to “The Streak”
and we’ll have to live in complete darkness.
She hears a giggle from behind a door.
MARITA
I hear you.
She stops walking just as Mulder and Krycek jump into view.
MULDER / KRYCEK
BOO!
Marita smiles at them.
MARITA
Here’s the flashlight.
She hands the flashlight to Krycek.
KRYCEK
(sexy)
Now you just let your pretty eyes
saviour the hotness of me turning
on the power generator.
Marita smiles at him.
MULDER
Wait… was that a come on to the
power generator? Because if it is…
that’s just… wrong.KRYCEK
No, you idiot. That was me bein’
smooth to my lovely Marita Lynn.
He looks at Marita and winks at her.
MARITA
Can we just figure out this power
generator? The flickering lights
are going to make me go mad.
All three of them walk down the hallway towards where the alternate power generator is and they look at it. Mulder and Krycek tilt their heads in confusion. They have no clue how this thing works. Marita watches them.
MARITA
Well?KRYCEK
Right. Ok.
He shrugs his shoulders and goes up to the power generator and makes his way behind it. Marita and Mulder watch on, randomly hearing the sounds of clanking from behind. They hear a zap and see a flash of light.
KRYCEK
(off screen)
Ow.
Krycek stands up and walks back over to Marita and Mulder. The lights continue to flicker.
MULDER
Well, buddy, I don’t think
you powered it up.
Krycek hands the flashlight to Mulder.
KRYCEK
I don’t know what I was doing
back there. You bought it, you do it.
Mulder slowly takes the flashlight and looks at the generator. He gulps and looks back at Krycek and Marita.
MULDER
I don’t know how to do it either.KRYCEK
Where’s the manual?MULDER
In our apartment.KRYCEK
You idiot.MULDER
(defensive)
Well, how was I supposed to know
the bunker doors would be closed
sooner than expected?
He looks at Krycek, then remembers Krycek was the idiot who pushed the button early and locked them down here.
MULDER
You know, the manual would be down here
if I had an extra day to prepare. But no!
You had to push the button early! Even though
I had a post-it note saying not to hit it until
June tenth. (beat) So it’s your fault the
manual isn’t down here.KRYCEK
(defensive)
If I didn’t push that button, then we’d
all be smushed pancakes.MULDER
Yeah, well-MARITA
- Enough!
Mulder and Krycek stop arguing immediately and look at her. Marita snatches the flashlight from Mulder and goes over to the power generator.
MARITA
(to herself)
Why’d I send two boys in
to do a woman’s job?
She lets out an irritated huff as she goes behind the generator. Mulder and Krycek watch her.
KRYCEK
Sweetums… what are you doing back there?MARITA
(from behind generator)
When I was little my mother had a
bomb shelter built in our back yard
in Sommerset.
Mulder and Krycek listen as she tinkers around behind the generator.
MARITA
She was scared that the second nuclear
war would be the end of the world.
Mulder looks puzzled.
MULDER
(whisper, to Krycek)
What nuclear war?
Marita pokes her head out from behind the power generator.
MARITA
My mother was crazy, remember?
She disappears behind the generator again.
MARITA
This was before Daddy had her committed
to the asylum. (beat) Anyway, she had this
shelter and gave Maria and I roles and
assignments to do incase we ever had to live
out the remainder of our lives down there.
(beat) My job just so happened to be maintaining
the back up generators.
Mulder gives Krycek a look. Marita’s mother really was a nutcase. Suddenly the power jumps on in full and “The Streak” plays at its normal speed.
Marita comes out from behind the generator. She dusts herself off and smiles at them.
MARITA
Ta da! (beat) My mother gave me homework.
Each night I had to study manuals for
each generator. (beat) It’s practically
second nature for me.
Suddenly loud metallic clanks are heard in the hallway of the FBI basement bunker. The bunker is unlocking itself automatically, nearly six months after Krycek accidentally locked them in. The loud sound startles all three of them.
KRYCEK
I didn’t do that. That’s
not my fault, whatever broke.MULDER
(excited)
Nothing broke. The bunker is unlocked!
We can finally get out of here and
breathe fresh air!KRYCEK
My stinkers have not been the only
ones polluting the bunker, Mulder.
You saved too many refried beans
for us to eat, and you ate most of them.MARITA
Actually, it’s the smell of shoes and
dirty socks, but that’s beside the
point. We can get out!
Marita hugs Krycek and kisses him on the cheek.
KRYCEK
Dat’s right! I da man, hunky
punk, pee-wee.MULDER
What are we waiting for?!
Let’s get out of here! Our
Super Buddies are waiting for us!
Mulder runs out into the hallway. He stops and giggles as he hears “The Streak” playing. Marita and Krycek join him.
KRYCEK
What are you laugh happy about?MULDER
How funny it would be if I were
actually streaking to “The Streak”.KRYCEK
Do it!MULDER
Should I?KRYCEK
Streak!MULDER
I should!
Mulder strips off his white T-shirt and unzips his jeans and kicks off his shoes. Marita covers her eyes.
MARITA
I can’t believe you’re gonna
streak when we could be getting out.
At that, Krycek peels off his clothing too and as Marita covers her eyes, Mulder and Kryek run naked all about the FBI basement hallway to the song “The Streak”. After a few minutes they stop, buck-naked, next to Marita. They pause and laugh at each other and then Krycek hugs Mulder. Let me rephrase that… naked Krycek hugs naked Mulder. Mulder kisses his buddy on the cheek, the one on his face that is.
They pause, realizing they are hugging and kissing each other while the other is naked. They slowly step away from each other and look at Marita. She’s still covering her eyes, she didn’t see this bit of slashy goodness, or in the way they perceive it as no-no goodness. Mulder places his index finger on his lips to indicate to Krycek to be quiet.
Marita’s eyebrow raises. She can sense something is up.
The boys finally get dressed. Krycek coughs loudly.
KRYCEK
Ahem! Well that was so funny.MULDER
We are straight men.KRYCEK
That we are. Straight as an arrow.MULDER
Straight as a ruler.KRYCEK
Straight as a pole vault.MULDER
Straight as the lines on a crosswalk.KRYCEK
Straight as two straight men on
a football team, smacking each other’s butts.
Marita uncovers her eyes.
MARITA
Whatever you two did, I don’t want
to know, but because you’re soincredibly straight…
She shakes her head and heads toward the elevator doors. She presses the button and the doors creak open. The interior of the elevator is collapsed.
MARITA
Looks like we’re gonna have
to use the stairwell.KRYCEK
I got the door, sugar plum, your
straight-as-an-arrow man will open
the door for his lovely lady.
Krycek opens the door to the stairwell and debris from the destroyed FBI building falls at his feet.
MULDER
Man! We’re gonna have to dig
through the debris in order to get out.
Marita laughs.
MARITA
Well, this looks like a job for
two very straight men. I’ll just
sit down over here and enjoy the
view as you dig us out of here.
Marita sits down on the floor. She leans against the wall. Mulder and Krycek look at each other and then look at her.
MARITA
What? Why aren’t you working? (beat)
Unless you two aren’t the straightest
manly men to do this job.
Krycek puffs out his chest.
KRYCEK
I am so up to the challenge.MULDER
Me too. Just think the sooner we
dig out of here, the quicker we
can see our buddies.
Mulder and Krycek start pulling the debris out of the stairwell.
KRYCEK
Just think, in a couple hours
we’ll be outta here!MULDER
Yeah buddy!KRYCEK
Mashed potatoes and roast beef
for dinner, baby!MULDER
Finally I’ll be able to go home
and sleep in my own bed!KRYCEK
Pogo stick night tonight!
Ha! Ha! Spender! Ha! Ha!
Marita rolls her eyes.
MARITA
You two don’t really think the
world above is as we last saw it, do you?MULDER
(sadder)
There’s nothing wrong with trying
to remain optimistic…KRYCEK
It’s great! All this rubble is small
and light. I can’t wait to get out!
FADE OUT FADE IN:
INT. BUNKIE – 3:07 P.M.
DECEMBER 24, 2006 – CHRISTMAS EVEIt’s been a month since the bunker automatically unlocked itself and Mulder, Krycek, and Marita are still working on safely removing debris from the stairwell so that hopefully, soon, they’ll be able to emerge to the world above.
After all this time they’ve had the chance to calm down about getting out. Optimism has faded and now they wonder about how safe it is now that aliens have invaded the planet. It’s been seven months since invasion began. What if aliens are the only living entities roaming the streets above?
The air in the underground bunker is dusty and increasingly more difficult to breathe. Marita sits at the far end of the hallway watching Mulder and Krycek work. Krycek carries an armful of cement debris into an office that was left unused while the FBI was still a functioning federal agency. The empty basement rooms of the FBI have been acting as storage for debris for weeks.
MARITA
I’m feeling a bit better, Fox.
(beat) I can help.
Marita places her hands on the floor and pushes herself up to stand.
MULDER
Are you sure? We don’t want you to
get dizzy and fall down again.MARITA
I’m sure. I’ve re-hydrated.
She picks up an empty water bottle. She drops it back on the dirty ground and brushes a strand of her blond hair behind her hear. Her face is filthy with dust and dirt.
MARITA
The longer I sit out, the more
time it’ll take to get out of this cave.
Marita follows Mulder back into the stairwell where they are removing debris from the collapsed FBI building. There’s significantly less debris left to dig through in order to hopefully get out. Krycek rejoins them. He’s holding a bottle of water.
KRYCEK
Our air supply is getting low.
Carbon monoxide levels are higher.
And to top it all off, our water supply
is down to six more bottles. If we don’t
get out of here soon, building this bunker
will have been digging our own grave.
Krycek takes a gulp of water. He offers it to Marita.
MARITA
No thank you. I just had water.
You and Mulder share it, you need
more water than I do.
Krycek sets his bottle of water down on the ground.
KRYCEK
Right, right... women retain more
water than men… is that why you got
dizzy and fainted?
Marita gives him a look.
MARITA
I was just slightly dehydrated,
nothing to get worried about.KRYCEK
What about the throwing up?MULDER
Could be food poisoning, some of
the food has expired down here.KRYCEK
But we’ve all been eating the
same thing and neither one of
us has thrown up.
Mulder shrugs his shoulders.
MULDER
Maybe we have a higher tolerance
for spoiled food. Remember our
refrigerator at home?KRYCEK
Oh yeah. We let a lot of stuff expire.
And then we’d eat it anyway.
Mulder helps place more debris in Krycek’s arms and they carry more of the building into the storage office. Marita watches them go off, she too is concerned about her health. She hasn’t felt too well these past couple weeks. She hopes it’s nothing serious. If they do get out chances are there are no doctors she’d be able to see, and she doubts if Scully survived, that she’d be able to stick around in D.C.
Off her worried look.
CUT TO:
INT. FACILITY – 3:43 P.M.
Scully sits alone on the bed in her room. She’s going through her bag to see if there’s anything that she packed that she could give away as Christmas gifts to Knowle, Skinner, and Montgomery. Elsewhere in the building she hears Knowle playing “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas” on his guitar.
She’s set aside one of her medial books for John Montgomery. A bulky sweater for Skinner, he can use it as a pillow since she knows he can’t stand sleeping with just one pillow.
She holds her nice white dress in her hands, she shakes her head, why in the world did she pack this? There’s no use for a nice dress now. She smiles and sets it down, maybe she’ll wear it later tonight since it is Christmas Eve. Just because they live in a post-alien colonization world does not mean she can’t dress up nicely once a year, and Christmas is as good a time as any. She sets the dress down carefully next to her.
She takes out John Doggett’s USMC T-shirt from her bag. She hasn’t worn this shirt often since the day colonization began. She didn’t want his scent to fade. She brings the shirt up to her nose and inhales. If she closes her eyes she can almost smell him, this warms her heart.
If she didn’t have such an emotional attachment to the shirt she’d set it aside to give to Knowle for Christmas, but she just can’t let go. She would feel as if she were letting go of John if she did that. She sets the T-shirt down on top of her dress.
She pulls out John’s Purple Heart and holds it delicately in her hand. She looks at it. She doesn’t even know why John was awarded the Purple Heart, she remembers once John mentioned a building collapsing on him and Knowle during the war, perhaps that event is how he was given this award.
Scully gets off the bed and grabs the gifts she found. She heads out of her room and down the empty hallway. Even though the facility has been destroyed, walking these hallways still makes her feel uneasy. Just the look of the buildings reminds her too often of what she went through here with Charles Spender, the Cigarette-Smoking Man. His almost daily violations of her body… the memory sends haunting chills up her spine. The Smoking Man was shot dead by Alex Krycek in the research building. She’s glad she doesn’t sense his evil spirit at this place, that would make living here again even more difficult than it already is.
She sees Knowle sitting outside the building. He’s leaning against the brick wall, guitar in hand. He’s playing another song, “Greensleeves”.
SCULLY
Hey.
Knowle stops playing guitar and looks up at her.
KNOWLE
Hey yourself. Haven’t seen you
about much lately. How you holding up?SCULLY
I’ve been Christmas shopping.
Scully purposely ignores his question, she knows he’s asking about her recovery from what she went through at the breeding camp. She extends her hand out to him, it’s balled up in a fist.
SCULLY
Unwrap my hand, get your Christmas gift.
Scully smiles at him. He stands up and holds her hand in his. He studies her fist carefully.
KNOWLE
Well, it’s gotta be awfully
small to fit in your fist…SCULLY
You want to shake it to see
if it’s breakable?
Knowle uses his fingers to spread her fingers apart. He feels as if his heart has stopped when he sees John Doggett’s Purple Heart in her palm. He didn’t know that she had kept it or that John had even told her he had it. He looks Scully in the eyes, he sees tears threatening to fall.
KNOWLE
Thank you, but… I don’t feel comfortable
accepting this.SCULLY
John would want you to have it, Knowle.
You saved my life, he’d want you to be
honored for that. (beat) This is my
way of making sure that happens. You didn’t
have to come and save me, but you did and
I believe you did that because you know that’s
what John would have done.
Scully places the Purple Heart in Knowle’s palm and closes his fingers around it.
SCULLY
Merry Christmas, Knowle.
She goes up on her toes and does her best to hug him, he’s so tall.
KNOWLE
Thank you, Dana. (beat) I wish I had
something to give you, but I don’t.SCULLY
It’s the thought that counts, don’t
worry about it. You’ve already done
so much for all of us, that’s a gift
that we receive every day.
She smiles at him and walks away with the medical book and sweater to give to John Montgomery and Skinner. Knowle looks down at the Purple Heart in his hand and he thinks back to the day his and John’s Marines barracks were hit by a missile in the first Gulf War in 1992.
He can’t believe it’s been 14 years since that sunny day in Saudi Arabia. It was February, middle of winter for most of the world, even in Saudi Arabia, but the afternoon temperatures usually averaged in the mid-80s. Not exactly scorching hot for a country that doesn’t find it unusual in the summer months to see highs in the mid-120s.
Only thing is, he doesn’t remember everything about that day. He remembers lying in the bunk above John’s, reading “The Brothers Karamozov” in the Russian language. The day had been uneventful. As rumor had it, a cease-fire was being discussed. That morning had had breakfast in the mess hall with other U.S. soldiers. He woke roughly around 4:40 A.M. when prayer was being called at a nearby mosque. After being out in battle, close to the Kuwaiti border, he wasn’t used to waking up so early in the morning by the loud and sometimes not-so-beautiful call to prayer in Al-Khobar.
”Allah Akhbar!”
”God is great”. He began to recognoze that phrase in the prayer. Despite the less than talented prayer caller’s singing voices, he had come to appreciate the beauty of the Arabic language and picked up a few teach-yourself Arabic text books.
As he read his Russian book, John talked to him from below. Something about his son, Luke, and his wife, Barbara, and how when he got home he’d like to have another kid, maybe two.
Knowle remembers feeling how much John loved his family. He always carried a picture of Luke with him, in his pocket, close to his heart. Just the month before he had missed his son’s 4th birthday. He hadn’t seen him since his third.
DOGGETT
I don’t see why it’s takin’ so long
to get in there and take out Sadaam.
Once man can’t be that hard to remove from power.KNOWLE
Let’s hope he pulls a Hitler and kills himself.DOGGETT
That’d be luck, wouldn’t it?
John laughs.
DOGGETT
At least this hasn’t become
World War three.KNOWLE
Or Vietnam, though I don’t really see
us accomplishing any goals set out by
our President. Even he said that Sadaam
ought to be killd and that ought to
be a goal while we’re here.
Knowle turns a page in his book.
DOGGETT
Are you reading?KNOWLE
Da. Ya chi-tai-oo ruskie kniga.DOGGETT
What?KNOWLE
It’s a Russian book.DOGGETT
You read Russian now?KNOWLE
I’m good with languages, catch
onto them like they’re my mother tongue.DOGGETT
Shit man. I’d be lucky to do Spanish
fluently and I grew up near Mexico and
have friends who speak it fluently.KNOWLE
Didn’t you study French?DOGGETT
(laughs)
Yeah, that’s what I told all the girls.
Knowle laughs.
KNOWLE
French tongue, I get it.DOGGETT
I know simple phrases enough
to impress ‘em.
Suddenly there’s a loud explosion and the building shakes. Knowle sits up immediately.
KNOWLE
What the hell was that?DOGGETT
Fuck that I know.
John stands up just as the ground beneath him and his and Knowle’s bunk caves in. John, Knowle, and many other men fall through the floor. John does his best to cover his head, protecting it from falling debris. Once falling has stopped, John feels a terrible throbbing in his leg. He looks down and sees that a heavy metal beam has crushed his right kneecap. With all his might, he sits up and uses his hands and arms to push the beam off his broken knee. He lies back down and looks around him, he sees Knowle lying unconscious a few feet away from him.
DOGGETT
Knowle!
Knowle doesn’t respond.
DOGGETT
Knowle? You ok?
Still no answer.
DOGGETT
Shit.
Though in agony, John rolls his way over to Knowle and checks his vitals. He’s still got a pulse. He checks him over, placing his hand under his back to check for any obvious breaks in his spine. Knowle’s all right. John looks around trying to figure out where he fell to. Where’s the exit? He’s got to get Knowle out and both of them need medical attention. Through the dust he sees sunlight. Maybe 60ft. ahead of him. He looks down at his crushed knee and then looks at Knowle. He’s got to get him out.
DOGGETT
I’m gonna get you outta here.
John kneels next to Knowle, grunting through the pain in his knee as he lifts Knowle up. He’s heavy, but adrenaline is flowing through John’s body. He easily lifts him and begins carrying his friend through the rubble, towards safety. The building isn’t built strong. What hasn’t yet fallen is bound to collapse at any moment.
As he passes others who need help, he makes promises to them that he’ll come back to save them too. Semper fi, always faithful. Leave no man behind.
Once he gets outside, he carries Knowle as far from the building as he can. Everything is chaotic. People shouting orders in English and in Arabic. Men in pain, wounded, he’s sure some of the bodies are dead. What the hell happened?
John helps Knowle to lie down on the ground. He’s still unconscious. John remains standing, the throbbing in his leg is worse and worse. He starts to head back to the building to help those he promised he would help, but his body gives in to the wound he’s sustained and he collapses to the ground. Another soldier comes up to him.
SOLDIER
Stand down. The ‘choppers
are on their way.DOGGETT
I gotta help the others.
A loud rumble is heard and John watches in horror as the rest of the barracks building, nine stories, entirely collapses. Collapsing down, crushing the men he promised he’d save. FADE OUT
FADE IN:
INT. RAMSTEIN AIR BASE HOSPITAL – FEBRUARY 1992
One week later, Knowle woke up in a room full of other men injured in the missile attack on his barracks in Al-Khobar, Saudi Arabia. He doesn’t see John Doggett anywhere. His arm is in a cast. Whatever that blast was, he’s been left with a physical injury. Knowle wonders if John made it out alive or if he’s widowed his wife and left his son without a father.
KNOWLE
Doctor?
A doctor comes to his side.
DOCTOR
Yes?KNOWLE
John Doggett, Sergeant E-5, is he here?
The doctor smiles.
DOCTOR
Yes, he keep asking about you
and if you’ve woken up yet.KNOWLE
How is he?DOCTOR
He’ll live. Kneecap is shattered.
I hear he’ll be receiving a Purple
Heart and he’s been honorably discharged.
Knowle closes his eyes and sighs. Fourteens years since he and John went through that tragic event in the war. If it hadn’t been for John, he would have been crushed when the building collapsed. Knowle opens his eyes and looks at John’s Purple Heart in his hand. He wonders why Scully gave this away. She doesn’t have many things to remember John by, this Purple Heart was one of them and she gave it to him.
CUT TO:
INT. BUNKIE – 4:53 P.M.
Alex Krycek stands in the stairwell looking up. There’s a crack in the rubble above and he can see sunlight. He hasn’t seen sunlight in months. He wonders how much damage the aliens have caused above. Is it safe for them to leave the bunker? They have to, they are running out of air, they’d rather risk death above than face it head on down here.
His emerald green eyes drift over to the post-it note on the wall next to the button he pushed to set the locks on the bunker.
He carries some more debris out of the stairwell. Fate seems to work in mysterious ways. “Do not push until June 10th.” If he hadn’t accidentally locked the bunker when he did, he, Marita and Mulder may have been killed and never lived to see today because of the alien invasion.
Mulder walks out of one of the offices.
MULDER
Alex, come quick! Look what I found!
Mulder motions for Krycek to follow him back into the office. Krycek lets out a sigh and sets the debris down on the ground.
He enters Mulder’s office and sees Marita sitting behind Mulder’s desk. Mulder’s laptop computer is open in front of her
KRYCEK
What’s going on?MARITA
Mulder says he found a video file
on his computer that you guys
would want me to see.KRYCEK
It isn’t a video of how I kissed
Diana, is it?MULDER
No, it’s the highway video.KRYCEK
The highway video?MULDER
Yes… the highway video.
Mulder double clicks on an icon on his monitor’s desktop and a video starts playing. Footage from a show similar to “Police Wildest Car Chases” plays on the monitor. Mulder and Krycek watch eagerly with amusement. Marita winces and glances at them. She’s not sure she wants to see the rest of this. There’s only so much Mulder and Krycek one can take in a day.
MARITA
(annoyed)
Boys…MULDER / KRYCEK
(eyes glued to screen)
Shush! Marita, it’s about to get
to the best part.
Marita gives them an unsure look and hesitantly looks back at the laptop screen just in time to see the car being chased by the police, hit the rail on the highway and spin out of control to a stop. The cops get out of their car, yelling orders at the two male passengers to get out of their car with their hands up. However, the cop is taken back when the two passengers, whom we know all to well as our unlikely, loveable heroes, come falling out of the car, wrestling each other.
KRYCEK
(on video)
Why’d you go and push me out
of the car?!MULDER
(on video)
You’re causing unnecessary ruckus, Alexandre!
On the video Mulder bitch slaps Krycek, Krycek bitch slaps Mulder, and they continue this childish act until the unfortunate police officer can break them up. Mulder and Krycek, in the flesh, start to bob their heads with amusement as they watch themselves on the video. Marita looks at them appalled.
MARITA
(scolding)
Alex… Fox…
They stop giggling.
MARITA
Why- no, what did you do
to get yourselves on a wildest
police chase program?
She looks at them with disappointment. The boys don’t say a word for a long time. Marita glares at them, demanding an answer.
MULDER
(scolding)
Tell her, Alexandre.
He whacks Alex on the arm.
KRYCEK
(serious)
Save it for another time. (beat)
I saw daylight through the rubble
we still need to remove, we’re
almost out of here.
Mulder checks his wrist watch.
MULDER
It’s five o’clock, the sun will
be setting soon. I think we need
to stay the night down here and then
early tomorrow morning we’ll get up
and get out of here. We need to plan
for the worst case scenario. We don’t
know what dangers lurk above, it’s best
to be safe and wait until we have a whole
day’s light to resurface.MARITA
Well what do we do until then?
Mulder shrugs his shoulders.
MULDER
I don’t now… Alex? You’re
the entertainer, plan something.KRYCEK
We could have a talent show or
something. So long as we don’t
do things that require us to
breathe heavily, air supply is low.MARITA
Then maybe we should go to sleep.
We’ll use less oxygen that way.MULDER
But it’s so early.MARITA
Early-schmirley, we’ll need to be
well-rested anyway. It’s bound to be
a whole new world up there.KRYCEK
I agree with Marita, we ought to
get rested. We shouldn’t waste our
energy on a silly talent show.
Mulder’s eyes are sad, he wishes that everything could be fun and games, like back in the days when Super Buddies was still around. The three of them start walking back to where the bunk beds are in one of the other offices.
MULDER
Guys, if the aliens have taken over there’s
always the chance that there are other
survivors… maybe if I brought back Super
Buddies… maybe love and friendship could conquer
all. Maybe the aliens would accept an offering
of friendship and peace.
Krycek looks back at Mulder as they enter the office where their bunk beds are. Marita crawls into the one she shares with Alex. She carefully sets her shoes at the side of the bed.
KRYCEK
Mulder, I don’t think these aliens
are going to go for a fun, friendship,
and adventure group.MULDER
There’s always hope.
Mulder’s tone is sad. His gut tells him that all his hope and optimism is about to be blown right out the door when they resurface tomorrow morning. He crawls into his bed and stares up at the ceiling above him, remembering back to when all they heard from above sounded like death and destruction. He wipes a tear from his eyes. He wonders about his friends, the ones he had hoped would join him, Alex and Marita down in the bunker. What is their fate? What of his friends who were called to military duty? How many of his friends could have survived the alien attacks? He rolls onto his side and his thoughts fall to Kim Cook. He and Kim had been dating since February, only three months by the time he got locked in the bunker and before the aliens attacked. Is she all right? Is she somewhere out there wondering if he’s all right? The answer to that question and many more will soon come, he’s sure of that.
TIME CUT TO:
EXT. CHICAGO AIRPORT – 8:17 P.M.
CHRISTMAS EVEJohn Doggett sits alone outside of the Chicago O’Hare airport. He’s leaning against the wall. Inside over the speakers, soft Christmas music plays “Silent Night”. Dana’s favorite traditional Christmas song. This time of year is difficult for the both of them and these past couple of years he’s found comfort in knowing he’d share Christmas with Dana and that would bring them happiness.
This year he has no one. He had only uncertainty. Will he live to see tomorrow? Will he live to see next week? And what about next year? The world he knew is not the world he faces today and the day after. This is not the world he had imagined he and Dana would live in together, if she is still alive.
He’s thankful his jumpiness to loud noises has decreased. He must be getting used to this lifestyle. Every minute of every day he must control his thoughts, always be alert and ready for battle. In war, he has learned that you must become a machine, a fighting machine. Only he feels like a machine with heart which gives him a sense of vulnerability. He cares too deeply not only for his country but also for every life which has been sparred since the aliens attacked seven months ago.
He’s often wondered if he’s been selfish, Dana’s always on his mind, always his priority. If he saw her standing across a field of land mines, in danger, he’d risk everything to run and save her.
But is he really selfish?
She’s always his number one priority, but he stays with Shannon McMahon and Charles Scully. He could easily up and leave them to go search for Dana, but he does not. But why then does he feel selfish? Is it because he allows himself to self-indulge in thoughts and memories of Dana when he should be focused in the immediate priority of protecting those he is with and keeping himself alive?
Uncertainty surrounding Dana’s fate makes him determined in every battle to come out alive, to not get killed.
And what of Mulder and Krycek? Too often they behaved incompetent, so much that he believes it would be impossible for them to survive on their own in this world. He hopes he is wrong.
He worries for Monica as well. Since returning from that facility she hasn’t been quite right. What if her gift hadn’t been able to help her?
His mother, father and brothers, surely they couldn’t have survived. John wants to remain optimistic that they’re out there somewhere. He wants to tell them that he’s engaged to Dana. He wants them to know how happy his life is with her. He wants so badly to have them welcome Dana into their family with open arms, to become the family that she never had in her own. To love her, as he does, for everything that she is. But he knows better… they couldn’t have possibly survived.
The Cigarette-Smoking Man steps outside, lighting up a cigarette. He looks down at John.
CIGARETTE-SMOKING MAN
You’re not the jolly Christmas type?
John looks up at him.
DOGGETT
Christmas has always been difficult,
moreso this year, but I don’t think
I had to tell you that.CIGARETTE-SMOKING MAN
Mind if I join you?DOGGETT
Not at all. The company of
friends is always welcome.
The Smoking Man sits down next to him and puts forward his pack of Morleys, offering one to John.
DOGGETT
No thank you, I gave that up years ago.CIGARETTE-SMOKING MAN
What’s been eating away at your mind?DOGGETT
Is there an end to all this?
The Smoking Man is quiet.
DOGGETT
It doesn’t seem right to be celebrating
Christmas, not in times like this, not
without loved ones and family.CIGARETTE-SMOKING MAN
To give up this celebration would be
accepting defeat. We give up our
traditions, the aliens have most certainly won.DOGGETT
(quiet)
I know.CIGARETTE-SMOKING MAN
Then why aren’t you inside
with the others?DOGGETT
Taking time out to spend with the
memory of ones I love. That’s what
Christmas is about, to me anyway. (beat)
I hold onto hope that they have lived
and that I’ll see them again one day.CIGARETTE-SMOKING MAN
There’s a woman I love. I don’t
know where she is or if she made it,
and I want to find anyway to grasp
onto anything that I think may
lead me to her.DOGGETT
Tell me about her.
The Smoking Man smiles, if only John knew.
CIGARETTE-SMOKING MAN
Her very soul carries so much life.
She’d go through hell and back to save
The man she loves or to protect him.
One might say she’s self-sacrificing,
caring too much about others than herself.
That’s her gift and her curse. She’s beautiful,
John, her eyes, her hair, her lips… the
memory of her touch is enough to give me
goosebumps. She’s slender, shorter than you and I.
John nods his head.
DOGGETT
Sounds like she’s got a lot
in common with Dana.CIGARETTE-SMOKING MAN
Or maybe every man describes the
woman he loves in the same way.DOGGETT
Is she your wife?CIGARETTE-SMOKING MAN
I would like her to be.
John smiles at the old man.
DOGGETT
Well, I hope one day you find her.CIGARETTE-SMOKING MAN
I hope so too.
The two men stare up at the night sky. It’s hot and humid.
DOGGETT
What I wouldn’t give for a white
Christmas. (beat) Two years ago I
spent Christmas with my family down
in deep south Texas, that Christmas Eve
the valley got its first snow in over
one-hundred years. Granted once the sun
came up it all melted, but it still snowed
in a place where the temperature is usually
in the 70s possibly 80s during the winter.CIGARETTE-SMOKING MAN
I think it would take a miracle
for that to happen now.DOGGETT
This Christmas I like to believe in miracles.
John looks at the Smoking Man then stands up.
DOGGETT
I better get inside and celebrate
the holiday before Charles gets
on my ass about it.
The Smoking Man laughs.
CIGARETTE-SMOKING MAN
Charles Scully is quite the
holiday motivator, isn’t he?DOGGETT
Runs in his family.CIGARETTE-SMOKING MAN
How do you mean?DOGGETT
He’s Dana’s brother… she was the
first woman to help me decorate my
home a few years back after I hadn’t
done it in over a decade. So… it runs
in the family.
John walks inside the airport and is greeted by Shannon McMahon. The Smoking Man watches on. He’s been growing impatient with this group. Staying stationary does not help him hunt for Dana Scully. How can they possibly find her if they’ve set up shop in Chicago? Maybe this John Doggett isn’t as determined as he thought about finding Dana Scully. CUT TO:
INT. FACILITY – 10:18 P.M.
CHRISTMAS EVEKnowle walks through the dark halls of the facility living quarters. Skinner and Montgomery are downstairs enjoying themselves, telling stories of their Christmas childhood. Knowle would have joined them, but he’s been concerned about why Dana has been secluding herself today.
He stops walking in front of Dana’s bedroom door. He quietly knocks three times and cracks the door open. The lights in the room are out and only the moonlight shining through the window allows him enough light to see Dana lying in bed, wearing a beautiful white dress. She does nothing to acknowledge he’s entered her room.
KNOWLE
(whisper)
Dana? You awake?SCULLY
(strong)
Leave me alone, Knowle.
It sounds like she’s been crying. Knowle walks toward her bed. When he gets to her, he sits down next to her.
SCULLY
(softer)
I want to be alone.
Knowle gently places his hand on her shoulder. Her muscles tense up under his touch.
KNOWLE
I’m worried about you, Dana.SCULLY
There’s nothing to be worried
about. I’m fine.
Scully rolls over to face the other direction. Knowle sees that she’s holding John’s USMC T-shirt in her hand. He lowers his eyes to his own hand where he’s holding John’s Purple Heart.
KNOWLE
That’s a pretty dress. It’s nice
to know that in this world someone
thought enough ahead to save something
nice to wear for Christmas.SCULLY
I don’t even remember packing it.
I should just get rid of it.KNOWLE
Why do you say that?
Scully rolls back over and sits up, facing Knowle.
SCULLY
This isn’t a pretty world anymore,
Knowle, why should I have such a thing?KNOWLE
To be human.
Scully is quiet, thinking about what that means. She wipes the stray tears from her cheeks with the back of her hand.
KNOWLE
I have a gift for you…
give me your hand.
Scully opens her palm to him and he places John’s Purple Heart in her hand.
SCULLY
(objecting)
Knowle, I gave that to you.KNOWLE
John received this Purple Heart upon
honorable discharge from the Corps in
1992. Our barracks were attacked, hit by
a missile. The building collapsed on John
and I, and many other men. I was knocked
unconscious and John carried me out to safety
even though his kneecap had been shattered.
Tears sting Dana’s eyes, it makes her love John more every time Knowle tells stories of him that she hadn’t heard.
KNOWLE
I’m giving this Purple Heart to you
not only because I know you don’t have
many things to remember John by, but also
because those who are awarded the Purple
Heart have been wounded or killed by
the enemy in time of war.
Scully wipes a tear from her face.
KNOWLE
You deserve this honor, Dana. You’ve
survived being held captive by our enemy,
they hurt you and you survived. (beat)
John’s life was taken by the enemy and
you know better than I that his memory
lives through you.
Scully chokes back a cry and covers her mouth with her hand as tears fall freely down her face.
KNOWLE
You were his life, Dana, and he
is yours. After everything… he would
want you to have his Purple Heart. (beat)
He never talked about it because he held
so much pride in what he had done, but also
held on to so much guilt for not being able
to save others. He didn’t want to be honored
for something he felt he didn’t deserve since
he promised men and then left them behind. (beat)
In that way you and him are similar, self-giving,
caring for others more than your own self in
difficult times.
Scully closes her eyes, squeezing out more tears. She lowers her head. Knowle reaches to his back pant’s pocket and takes out his wallet.
KNOWLE
(quieter)
I also noticed you don’t have
a picture of him.
Knowle opens his wallet and pulls out a picture of himself and John that was taken in 1992 before their barracks was hit. John stands proudly in front of Knowle, at ease. Knowle is behind him yelling his war cry. Scully opens her eyes and looks at the picture. This is the first time since the aliens attacked that she’s seen a photograph of John. She gently takes the picture into her hand and touches John’s image with her fingertip.
SCULLY
(crying, soft)
Thank you.
Scully wraps her arms around Knowle and hugs him, pulling him close to her body as if hanging onto him is one way of feeling John near her. She buries her face into his neck and cries. Knowle wraps his arms around her, allowing for maybe the first time to let his emotions show, a tear falls down the side of his face.
SCULLY
(crying)
I keep asking myself why. Why him?
Why’d he leave me? Why didn’t I fight
harder for him to stay? Why did he enter
my life only to bring me so much happiness
and then be taken from me so soon?
Knowle caresses the top of her head with his hand.
SCULLY
Why… after everything John and I have
been through… why… I’m trying to accept
his death, I’m trying and trying…
Her voice trails off.
SCULLY
Some days it hurts so much and
I don’t know how I’ll go on and
I keep it inside because I don’t
… don’t want to burden everyone
with my grief.
Knowle kisses the top of her head.
KNOWLE
(whisper)
It hurts all of us everyday.
You’re not alone.SCULLY
(crying)
I want to be strong, but I feel
helpless. If he were here…
She shakes her head and pulls away from Knowle, looking into his eyes. Her eyes plead with him to stay with her tonight, no matter what words may come out of her mouth. She’s tried to lean on Skinner for support all these months, but she doesn’t feel a deep connection with him. She knows Skinner’s concern and help is sincere, but he doesn’t feel like “John” in the way that Knowle does.
SCULLY
… John gives me strength.
Scully lies back down, lying the photograph of John in front of her to look at. Knowle watches her. He sees that he is the one she feels closest to. He is the one she wants comfort from, not Skinner, not Montgomery. He is the one she is capable of showing her vulnerability to, her grief. She can tell him exactly how she feels without feeling she’s placing extra burden on him. Knowle lies down next to Dana, he wraps his arms around her, holding her close, bringing her the comfort she’s been looking for for months. John would trust him the most to watch and protect her for him. He’d trust him to be the one man – other than himself – to hold her and comfort her in his absence.
Scully takes his hand in hers and squeezes it. He hears her take a deep breath, releasing it slowly from her mouth. In his protective arms he feels her body relax.
KNOWLE
(whisper)
We’ll find strength in ourselves
and in each other, Dana.
Knowle pulls her closer to him.
KNOWLE
You’re going to be all right.
He feels her hand rub his arm. It’s one of those moments he’d expect her to say “thank you”, but she does not. Instead she says something even a man who plans for the unforeseen did not see coming…
SCULLY
(soft)
I love you, Knowle…
All is calm in the room. Silent. Dana’s body relaxes and in a short time she is asleep. Knowle on the other hand does not sleep. It is his duty to watch over her, to make sure everything will be all right. ”I love you”… those three words have screwed up his relationships in the past and have confused him here. In what way does she love him? Surely not in the same manner as she loves John, that would be impossible. He feels that she’ll never allow herself to love again, not after what she’s been through with John. He’s all she has now, he reminds her of John and rightfully so, he and John are very similar. And in a way he loves her too, not as a potential lover, but as a close friend, like family. Because now in this world that’s all they are to each other, family.
CUT TO:
EXT. BUNKIE – DAY
CHRISTMAS DAYFreedom shines down in warm beams of sunlight as Mulder slowly emerges from the dusty, dark bomb shelter below the ground of Washington, D.C. His eyes squint not yet familiar with the harsh sun. He shuts his eyes and takes a breath, a deep breath of fresh air.
A smile crosses his face. He has to let Krycek and Marita feel the sensation of freedom.
No more air filters to worry about. No more old food. No more restricted space to move around.
Now they can enjoy their freedom.
MULDER
Guys, I’m gonna help you up.KRYCEK
Hurry up already!
Mulder pulls the rest of his body out from the ground below. Much to his surprise there is not much debris from the fallen J. Edgar Hoover building. Mulder peers down into the opening of the bunker. He takes hold of Marita’s hands and pulls her out to freedom.
Marita dusts herself off and looks around Washington, D.C. has been flattened. She should be happy to be free from the confinement of the bomb shelter, but a feeling deep inside her sinks. She has a bad feeling about this.
Krycek pulls himself up while Mulder assists.
KRYCEK
Ah, smell that fresh air.
He smiles.
KRYCEK
Do you know what that is?MULDER
What what is?KRYCEK
What we’re breathing. (beat)
It’s our freedom, brother.
He pats him on the shoulder and turns to Marita. He stops dead in his tracks and draws his weapon, taking aim.
KRYCEK
Let her go.
His emerald green eyes stare intensely at his enemy.
LEAD ALIEN SOLDIER
You’re weapons have no effect on us.
Two more alien solders approach Mulder and Krycek – taking Krycek’s weapon from him.
LEAD ALIEN SOLDIER
Welcome to hell.
Black cloths are pulled over their heads, as we: SMASH TO BLACK:
THE END.
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