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Season Nine Episode Guide - Will the truth finally come out in the last ever season of The X Files?

Nothing Important Happened Today
  A beautiful woman with the ability to remain submerged underwater infiltrates the FBI.

A man, Carl Wormus, intrigues a woman in a bar by mentioning that the government is adding chloramine to the water supply. They go for a drive together but as they near a drawbridge the woman grabs the steering wheel sending them plunging into the water. She grabs his ankle to stop him escaping.

Monica Reyes meets up with Assistant Director Follmer in his office. Follmer hands Reyes two videos which contain footage of the underground garage where Doggett and Skinner fought off "super soldier" FBI agents. But the video shows nothing out of the ordinary.

Meanwhile, at a water reclamation facility, a worker is pulled underwater by the woman from the bar.

Doggett shows up at Scully�s apartment to tell her that Mulder isn�t living in his apartment anymore. Scully already knows but refuses to elaborate further.

Skinner urges Doggett to drop his investigations. Scully agrees but Doggett tells her his supposed friend, Knowle Rohrer, had tried to kill him and Skinner in the garage.

Doggett gets home and finds a photograph of him and Rohrer in the marines so decides to find out about Rohrer. Coincidentally, the woman from the bar, Shannon McMahon, is also in the photo.

McMahon sneaks into the FBI and leaves an envelope containing Wormus� obituary. Doggett pursues the lead by calling Scully into the morgue where she determines that Wormus drowned but notes the bruising on his ankle.

The Lone Gunmen tell Reyes that Doggett and Skinner left to investigate emails sent to Carl Wormus from a worker at the water plant named Roland McFarland - the man Shannon McMahon drowned. Doggett and Skinner sneak into the main control room where Doggett finds files relating to chloramine. Follmer tracks the men but Doggett slips into a filtration tank to get away.

Suddenly Shannon McMahon surfaces and grabs hold of Doggett and pulls him under the water.

To be continued...

A ship captain delivers a message to Dr. Nordlinger, who upon reading the contents instructs the captain to return the vintage World War ll merchant marine craft to its base.

Follmer leaves the reclamation plant when he sees no sign of Doggett. Shannon McMahon has held him underwater but passes air into his lungs to help him breathe.

Doggett regains consciousness at his house to find McMahon there. She tells him she is a bioengineered soldier and that Knowle Rohrer was part of the same programme. Doggett thinks Rohrer is dead but she tells him that his kind cannot be killed.

Meanwhile Rohrer approaches the captain aboard the ship and informs him that he is the new second in command. He quizzes the captain about the vessel's mission. Later, the body of the original younger officer is found in the water.

Reyes, Doggett and McMahon meet with Scully. McMahon tells her that the US government has changed the molecular structure of chloramine to breed a generation of super soldiers. She is a Stage One prototype.

The Lone Gunmen break into the X-Files office after Reyes requests their help. As they access a phone system, they happen upon someone dialing Carl Wormus' phone number. The caller turns out to be the captain, warning that the FBI must be contacted so the lab aboard his ship can be exposed. Rohrer is nearby, eavesdropping. The call is traced to a phone booth.

The Captain gets the jump on a Navy SEAL guarding the lab aboard the ship. He orders Nordlinger to hand over every scrap of data on the project. He doesn't see Rohrer creeping up behind him.

Doggett, Scully and Reyes arrive at the phone booth to find Rohrer. Doggett tries to shoot him but bullets don't work. As Rohrer is about to kill him, McMahon appears and decapitates him. Rohrer's headless body rises and stabs McMahon with its arm. They both fall into the water.

Scully discovers an electronic filing system on board the boat. She realises the scientists were manipulating human ova in the lab for transplantation. Doggett finds a bomb and urges them to leave. They take cover as the ship explodes.

Deep beneath the water, Shannon McMahon's eyes suddenly pop open. And later, after Scully tucks William in for the night, the child's mobile begins to turn, seemingly by itself.

Inside a lonely house located in Weston, West Virginia, a couple, Evelyn and Darren Mountjoy, enjoy a game of Scrabble. When the Mountjoy�s dog begins yelping off in the distance, and the lights in the house suddenly go dark, Darren grabs his gun.

He warns an intruder to stop in his tracks, but when the mysterious figure continues advancing, Darren opens fire. He then moves closer for a better look at the dead man on his floor. Darren then realizes, to his horror, that he shot and killed his wife, whose hands and mouth are bound with duct tape. He then reacts to a strange whispering sound... and sees two demons advancing upon him.

Reyes and Doggett are dispatched to the Mountjoy house to investigate the case. Reyes shows the Scrabble board. Letters have been arranged to spell out �Daemonicus.� Reyes believes the attack is some form of Satanic ritual. A short time later, three bloodied snakes slither out of Evelyn�s chest wound.

Meanwhile, back at Quantico, Scully teaches eager cadets at the FBI training academy. One of the students inquires if she has ever slain a vampire, to which Scully replies the purpose of the course is to study forensic pathology, and only after all scientific methods have been exhausted should an agent consider 'extreme possibilities'.

Later, Scully performs an autopsy on the Mountjoys� bodies. The agents conclude that Darren was somehow tricked into shooting his wife as part of a bizarre game. Evidence at the scene indicates there were two perpetrators. Reyes tells her colleagues that while she was in the house, she felt the presence of evil, which raises Doggett�s ire. Soon after, the agents receive a call from Dr. Monique Sackheim, who works at a mental hospital. She believes the murders were committed by an escaped patient, Dr. Kenneth Richman, who had killed three of his patients by sewing strychnine tablets into their stomach linings during surgery. Sackheim also believes that Richman received help from a prison guard, Paul Gerlach, who disappeared the same time as Richman.

Meanwhile, in a wooded area, the two perpetrators, who wear demon masks, face off some 20 paces apart. One of the men suddenly raises a gun and shoots.

Back at the mental institution, the agents interview Josef Kobold, whose cell is next to the one Richman escaped from. Kobold is of little help, but his answers to the agents� questions prove unsettling, as if he is aware of things he couldn�t possibly have knowledge of. Later, Kobold establishes communication with one of the masked men in the woods.

Kobold tells Doggett and Reyes that one of the perpetrators has killed again. Clad in hand and leg irons, and guarded by a state trooper, Kobold shows the agents a wooded area where 'something awful' awaits. The agents have Kobold remain behind while they investigate. They eventually discover the body of a dead man hanging from a tree, his arms splayed, looking much like the form of an inverted crucifix.

Scully performs an autopsy on the body. It is identified as Paul Gerlach. Reyes notes that Kobold made repeated mention of �The Prince of the Apostles.� Scully links this to St. Peter, who was said to have been crucified upside-down, a symbol linked to Satanism. Reyes hypothesizes that Richman is a host for Satan, and communicates with Kobold through supernatural means. It is unclear, however, why Kobold is still imprisoned if he possesses such powers.

Later, the agents approach Kobold and ask for his help in locating Richman. He is placed under the watchful eye of Officer Custer. The agents react when Kobold begins speaking in a strange backward whispering and erupts in convulsions. Reyes hears the word �medicus,� which means �physician�. Doggett and Reyes race to Dr. Sackheim�s home, where they find Sackheim�s body, a dozen hypodermic needles jammed into her face.

Kobold continues taunting Doggett by revealing information about Doggett�s life he couldn�t possibly know. Doggett loses his temper and grabs Kobold by the shirt. Orange goo spews from Kobold�s mouth. Later, Doggett tells his collegues that Kobold is playing some sort of game. As a storm rages, the power suddenly goes out in the mental institution. Officer Custer approaches the cell door and looks through the window. Inside is Kobold, who changes into a demon.

A short time later, Doggett phones Scully with word that Kobold told Custer where Richman can be found... an old marina. Scully drives to the location, where a man wearing a demon mask closes in on her. Guarded by Custer, Kobold is driven to the marina. Doggett demands to know where Scully has been taken. Kobold smiles. A gunshot rings out, and the agents discover the masked demon figure�Dr. Richman�dead on the floor of an abandoned warehouse. Scully explains that Richman held her at gunpoint until the agents arrived, then shot himself.

Doggett rushes out of the warehouse and finds Kobold in the process of escaping. Doggett opens fire, hitting Kobold, whose body sinks into the water. Doggett approaches Scully with a page from a phone book. Certain names are circled in black marker. It soon becomes apparent that letters in the victim�s name spell out 'daemonicus.' With the exception of Kobold�s, which doesn�t fit the pattern. The agents dredge up the body that fell into the water... and realize Doggett actually shot and killed Custer, whose name completes 'daemonicus'.

Working undercover, Reyes surveils Erwin Lukesh, a man the FBI suspects is a psychotic killer who cuts out his victim�s tongues.

Reyes follows Lukesh into the stairwell of an apartment building. Suddenly, Lukesh steps up behind her, a straight razor in hand. Doggett and Follmer, who had been monitoring Reyes via electronic surveillance equipment, hear a scream. They rush to Reyes, whose throat has been cut and is dying.

Doggett rushes into a nearby alleyway, where he orders Lukesh to stop. Doggett�s gaze leaves Lukesh temporarily, and when he looks back, Lukesh has disappeared, seemingly having vanished into thin air. Suddenly, Lukesh appears behind Doggett and aims Reyes� gun. He fires.

The story continues at Reyes� apartment, where Doggett has arrived with a housewarming gift: Polish sausage. Their conversation is interrupted by a phone call from Skinner, who tells Reyes that Doggett has been shot and is being rushed to a hospital. Reyes cannot fathom what Skinner is talking about, since Doggett is in her apartment. Or so she believes. When she turns to Doggett, he has disappeared.

Reyes makes her way to the hospital, where she tells Follmer her fantastic tale. When a ballistics test matches the bullet removed from Doggett�s body to Reyes� gun, Reyes is brought to a police station for questioning. During the interrogation, Reyes insists she was with Agent Doggett when Skinner informed her that Doggett had been shot. Unbeknownst to Reyes, Lukesh identified her as the shooter.

Scully and Skinner tell Reyes that Follmer�s case has some potential holes: Reyes was at her apartment at the time of the shooting, which is fourteen miles from the crime scene; her gun shows no evidence of fresh gunpowder residue.

A short time later, Doggett regains consciousness in his hospital bed, but he is critically wounded and breathes with the aid of a respirator.

Back at his apartment, Lukesh cares for his overbearing mother. While doing so, he opens the refrigerator and digs deep into the bacon drawer, eventually finding a freezer bag. Inside is a severed human tongue. He stares at it, transfixed. Reyes performs a background check on Lukesh and grows convinced that he is responsible for the shooting. She returns to the hospital, where Doggett is able to communicate via a special computer device. She tells Reyes that she shot him. But he also states that he saw Lukesh cut her throat.

Meanwhile, Lukesh returns to the alleyway. He again vanishes into thin air. When Reyes returns to the hospital for another visit, she develops a theory about what happened. She believes that the only thing that can explain events is the existence of a parallel universe... one that Lukesh can escape from at will. And since the Doggett she knows disappeared, she suspects it�s impossible for two Doggetts to exist simultaneously in the same world. In 'her' universe, Lukesh is a model citizen. But in the other universe, he�s a crazed killer.

Skinner and Follmer question Lukesh, who remains calm until his mother is mentioned. Sensing this, Follmer and Skinner press further. They hint of their intention to question Lukesh�s mother. When Lukesh returns home, he realizes that his mother discovered the revolver that he used to shoot Doggett. When his mother threatens to tell the FBI about her discovery, Lukesh kills her.

When Reyes returns to the hospital, Doggett tells her that the only way to put things right in both worlds is to shut off his respirator and let him die. Believing Reyes is Lukesh� next victim, Scully and Skinner monitor her movements in her apartment via hidden surveillance equipment. Suddenly, Lukesh grabs Reyes from behind and brings his straight razor to her jaw line. Follmer rushes in and opens fire, killing Lukesh.

Reyes then returns to the hospital, where she shuts off Doggett�s respirator. When Doggett dies, Reyes finds herself back at her apartment with Doggett, who is chewing on the last of his Polish sausage. Reyes is stunned. Tears in her eyes, she rests her head on his shoulder.

Using a video camera, David Winkle, aka Sky Commander Winky, photographs a series of ridiculous stunts with the assistance of his friend, Bill Kizzler, aka Cap�n Dare. The pair plan to broadcast the footage on a cable 'reality' program known as 'The Dumb Ass Show.' A group of other teenagers watch the proceedings. Among them are a pretty girl, Natalie Gordon, and a boy, Dylan Lokensgard.

Eventually, David and Bill prepare to videotape the climatic stunt, one involving a shopping cart and some fireworks. But the stunt goes awry and Cap�n Dare is thrown to the ground. Natalie and Winky run to the boy�s side, but when they pull off his protective helmet, are shocked to discover that the boy�s head has collapsed inward like a deflated basketball.

A local medical examiner, Dr. Fountain, contacts the FBI for assistance. As Reyes and Doggett observe, the dead boy�s eyelids begin moving. Using a pair of forceps, Reyes lifts one of the eyelids. Suddenly, a swarm of buzzing blow flies emerges from the socket.

A short time later, Scully arrives at the scene. After examining the victim, she concludes that his insides were devoured by hungry insects, explaining why his skull collapsed from the inside. But she is at a loss to explain why it happened. Later, Dr. Rocky Bronzino, a field entomological expert, joins the investigation.

Meanwhile, inside the school cafeteria, Winky picks a fight with Dylan and splatters pie on his head. Dylan�s mother, who works at the school as an administrator, calls Winky into her office. When Winky enters, he�s greeted by Reyes and Doggett, who question him about events leading up to Bill Kizzler�s death. Shortly thereafter, Winky freaks out when the words 'dumb ass' appear on his back in bloody red welts. The agents are unsure how to respond.

Meanwhile, Dylan retires to his bedroom and blasts some music on his stereo. Suddenly, a swarm of beetles crawl into his room.

Scully calles Reyes and Doggett into an autopsy bay, where she explains that Bronzino discovered that the insects which ate Bill Kizzler�s brain were all female, suggesting that something biological or hormonal was related to the attack. Reyes believes that someone is manipulating bugs and using them as a method of carrying out murder.

Natalie tells Dylan that she�s sorry about what Winky did to him inside the cafeteria. They reminisce about simpler times. Dylan is very attracted to Natalie but cannot express his feelings.

A short time later, the agents approach Dylan and question him about Bill Kizzler�s death. Dylan grows nervous and begins to sweat. Dylan wipes the perspiration away with a Kleenex. Mrs. Lokensgard interrupts the meeting and insists her son is innocent of wrongdoing. Moments later, bugs swarm Dylan and cover his entire body. By the time an emergency team reaches the school, the insects have all disappeared. Reyes then informs Doggett that the boy is unharmed. Mrs. Lokensgard escorts her son home.

Reyes gives Scully and Bronzino the Kleenex that Dylan used during the interrogation. Bronzino�s pheromone-detecting device picks up an overwhelming amount of insect pheromone on the tissue. Scully hypothesizes that the pubescent Dylan�s body chemistry has gone awry. But Reyes believes that Dylan is not only attracting the bugs, he�s manipulating them for his own purposes.

Meanwhile, Natalie sneaks into Dylan�s bedroom, where the two kiss. The pair then French kiss... and Natalie reacts with horror when she discovers blood coming from her mouth. When Natalie runs off, Dylan gives chase, but he soon runs into Winky and his cohorts. Dylan is forced into the group�s car. He soon surprises everyone when a set of bug mandibles shoot out of his mouth, followed by a spray of webbing. The car goes out of control and crashes.

Doggett finds the overturned car and rescues Winky and his buddies, who are encased in spider webbing. When word of Dylan�s rampage reaches Scully, she heads off to find him, leaving Bronzino alone in the Lokensgard house. Shortly thereafter, Bronzino is attacked by Mrs. Lokensgard, who has her own set of insect mandibles.

Meanwhile, Reyes locates Natalie at Natalie�s house. But Dylan also shows up, threatening to do Reyes harm unless she lets Natalie leave with him. Realising that Reyes will draw her weapon, Natalie stands between the pair and defuses the situation. She then walks off with Dylan. A short time later, Doggett finds Reyes inside Natalie�s house, her body covered with webbing.

Scully returns to the Lokensgard house, where she finds Bronzino in the attic, his body encased in webbing. Scully tears it away and sets Bronzino free. When Scully later files her report, she notes Bronzino�s conclusion that Mrs. Lokensgard was neither human nor insect, but something in between. Mrs. Lokensgard and her son flee the area.

Later, Natalie looks out her window and sees fireflies dancing in the night air. The fireflies then spell out the words, 'I love you.'

In Washington, D.C., Scully pushes baby William in his stroller down a sidewalk. She makes her way to an Internet caf�, where she logs on to a server and checks her e-mail. She opens a posting addressed 'Trust No 1.' The message is from Mulder, who speaks of his longing for Scully and William.

Scully�s attention shifts to a young woman, who leaves her baby unattended while arguing with a man on the street. The young woman makes her way back to the Internet caf�, where she apologizes to Scully.

At Quantico, Doggett and Reyes approach Scully with word of an individual contacting the X-Files through intelligence channels who wishes to speak with Mulder because he possesses classified military files on bio-engineered soldiers. But the source will only deal with Mulder personally. But Scully believes it would be a mistake to make contact with Mulder because doing so might endanger him.

As Scully parks her car near her apartment building, she observes the young woman having an argument with a driver. The driver grabs the woman�s baby and speeds off in his car. Scully invites the woman into her apartment, where the woman introduces herself as Patti.

Meanwhile, Doggett summons Reyes to a warehouse. Doggett explains how he successfully traced a phone call from the mysterious source to the building.

A short time later, the young woman�s husband parks in front of the building, exits his vehicle and makes his way inside. The husband speaks with an operative named Shadow Man.

Unbeknownst to Reyes or Doggett, their movements outside the warehouse are being monitored by electronic surveillance. Doggett and Reyes tail the husband from afar. He drives to Scully�s building and makes his way inside. Doggett phones Scully and briefs her on the situation. Scully suddenly grows alarmed. She draws her weapon and confronts Patti, who took baby William out of his crib. Moments later, Doggett observes Patti�s husband attempting to jimmy the lock on Scully�s door. Doggett places the man under arrest.

Patti�s husband explains that he works for the National Security Agency. The couple�s daughter believes there�s something different about their baby, just as there�s something different about William. As Scully�s apartment is secretly wired with surveillance equipment, Patti�s husband witnessed baby William spin a mobile over his crib with the power of his mind. The couple�s baby has performed the same feat. Patti�s husband told his supervisor about his suspicions. According to the supervisor, Mulder is the only person who can put the pieces of the puzzle together.

Moments later, the telephone rings. Scully answers... and speaks with the supervisor, Shadow Man. Shadow Man arranges to meet Scully at the Internet caf� in twenty minutes. The Shadow Man makes Scully take elaborate measures to ensure that she�s alone and not being followed. He makes her drive to a remote location and change clothes. When they meet face-to-face, the Shadow Man threatens to disappear with his information unless Scully makes contact with Mulder.

Doggett tells Scully that the Shadow Man�s demands may be for the purpose of luring Mulder out of hiding so he can be killed. But Scully informs him that Mulder�s return has already been set in motion... and he is arriving by train.

Later, Doggett contacts a forensics technician, Edie Boal, and asks her to examine the change of clothes the Shadow Man gave Scully. Doggett tells Boals he�s looking to identify a man. Agent Boal eventually finds a single gray hair on the clothing and sends it to a lab for analysis. As Mulder�s train approaches the station, Patti�s husband pulls out a gun and appears to aim it at Scully�s head. Reyes alerts Scully.

Scully then sees the Shadow Man at the other end of the platform. He, too, is wielding a gun and pointing it in her direction. Reyes knocks Scully to the ground. It soon becomes apparent that Patti�s husband is aiming at the Shadow Man, not Scully. The Shadow Man opens fire, hitting Patti�s husband. Doggett opens fire, hitting the Shadow Man and knocking him onto the tracks.

The train station manager orders the engineer not to stop at the station because of the shootout. The train continues on its way. Scully can only watch, grief-stricken.

Doggett informs Scully and Reyes that the body of the man he shot cannot be found. The lab results of the hair sample taken from the Shadow Man show that his DNA makeup is part iron, leading Doggett to believe that Shadow Man is also a super soldier.

Scully instructs the station manager to stop Mulder�s train, as she�s convinced Shadow Man boarded it to kill Mulder. The agents receive word that someone jumped off the train and ran toward a nearby rock quarry. Scully and Doggett make their way to the quarry in hopes of locating Mulder. Instead, Scully runs into Shadow Man.

The Shadow Man tells her that either Mulder or baby William must die. Before he can elaborate, his body is suddenly jerked into a red wall of rock, where it disintegrates into a cloud of dust. Later, dust particles at the quarry reform into the Shadow Man�s body.

Doggett awakens inside an abandoned warehouse only to discover a crack addict in the process of removing one of his shoes. Doggett chases the man outside, where the man summons two Mexican police officers and claims he was the victim of a mugging. The policemen hit Doggett with their nightsticks and demand a passport. Doggett suddenly realises he does not know his own name.

Doggett is transported to jail where he strikes up a conversation with a fellow prisoner, a large man named Domingo. A short time later, Domingo�s cohort, Nestor, shows up at the jail with a quantity of cash � money used to bribe the police officers and win Domingo�s freedom. Domingo then offers to use his money to win Doggett�s release, with the proviso Doggett return the favor by performing a job for him.

But once Doggett wins his freedom, he refuses to perform Domingo�s task. Domingo pulls out a gun, but Doggett quickly overpowers him and takes away the weapon. Doggett then returns to the abandoned warehouse in hopes of finding clues to his identity. There, he encounters the crackhead. Doggett retrieves his stolen shoe, then demands to know what else the crackhead removed from his person. The crackhead produces a tiny silver skull.

Unfortunately, Doggett has no memory of the strange clue. With nowhere else to turn, Doggett approaches Domingo, who reveals that he smuggles illegal immigrants into the United States for profit. Domingo then fronts Doggett some spending money so he can rent a room.

Later, Doggett sees a caballero inside a cantina and a hint of recognition passes over him. But the caballero assures Doggett the two have not met. Doggett then make his way to his hotel room, where he discovers two mysterious crescent moon shapes on his temples. He also discovers a marine corps tattoo on his shoulder.

Meanwhile, back at the FBI, Skinner and Scully examine a video grab from a security camera positioned at the Mexican border. It shows Doggett crossing the border bridge on foot at night. But Kersh disbands the task force hunting for Doggett, as he believes the photo is proof that Doggett entered Mexico on his own and was not abducted. It is then revealed that Doggett was investigating the disappearance of a banker named Hollis Rice.

In an FBI field office in Texas, Reyes interviews Mr. Molina, a drug trafficker with whom Doggett most likely interviewed around the time of his disappearance. But Molina and his lawyer refuse to cooperate with the investigation.

Back in Mexico, Doggett phones a Marines public affairs office hoping his tattoo will shed some light on his true identity. But before the marine sergeant who takes his call can be of help, Doggett notices some Mexican policemen nearby. He quickly flees the area.

Meanwhile, Nestor approaches the Caballero and questions him about 'the American' in Domingo�s company. It becomes apparent that the Caballero knows Doggett is an FBI agent and is somehow involved in Doggett� predicament. The Caballero tells Nestor it would be of no concern to him if Nestor wants to kill Doggett.

Scully, meanwhile, receives word of Doggett�s call to the Marines. She then arranges to have the call traced.

Inside a garage, Doggett sets about performing some repair work on an old bus used by Domingo and his smuggling operation. Nestor enters the garage and draws the gun. Thinking quickly, Doggett twists a jack level holding the bus off the ground, dropping the vehicle over him and blocking Nestor�s line of fire... and dropping the bus�s wheel onto Nestor�s foot. Nestor screams in pain. Though he was almost crushed, Doggett extricates himself and gets the jump on Nestor.

Doggett surprises Domingo and demands to know what he knows. Domingo tells him that he�s a 'desaparecido', or one of the disappeared ones. The drug cartel Doggett had been investigating owns the town. Most people snooping around wind up dead, but those who make more trouble dead end up walking around with their memories snatched away. Doggett experiences several flashbacks involving his son, Luke.

Domingo tells the Caballero about his conversation with Doggett. The Caballero grows suspicious, believing Domingo may have said too much. He decides to find out for himself. He then sinks his thumbnails into Domingo�s temples (explaining the crescent marks on Doggett) and proceeds to 'download' his memory.

Meanwhile, Reyes tracks Doggett to the garage and tells him that she is his partner. Suddenly, three Mexican police cars pull up in front of the garage and several shotgun-toting officers disembark. As the agents prepare to do battle with the policemen, Doggett�s memory�and his memories of what happened to Luke�return. The mental anguish leaves Doggett in a near catatonic state.

Eventually, Doggett manages to pull himself together. He climbs into the driver�s seat and puts the bus in motion. But he soon loses control and the vehicle rolls over on its side. The corrupt Mexican policeman come forward, about to finish the job. But suddenly, Skinner appears at the scene, accompanied by a group of Federales.

Later, Doggett confronts the Caballero. The Caballero is surprised that Doggett wanted his memory back, as there is so much pain inside him. But Doggett responds that his pain is his own.

Inside a church in Novi, Virginia, Dr. Lisa Holland holds a management group for ex-convicts. One of the men, Terry Pruit, tells the others that his life has turned around since he joined the group. But another man, Ed, scoffs at the idea of being able to change.

A short time later, another man in the group, whose name is Victor, tells Holland that he has been experiencing bad dreams in which he sees people being skinned alive. After the session ends, Victor experiences a vision... and sees Ed completely skinned from head to toe.

One night, Reyes informs Doggett about Victor Potts� murder. Doggett enters the morgue, where Scully shows him Potts� body, which has been completely skinned. Reyes then informs Doggett that Potts had a premonition about being skinned alive only hours before he was killed. Both Doggett and Scully sense that something about the case is troubling Reyes.

Later, at a meat packing plant, Terry has a vision... in which he sees Ed skinned alive.

With the assistance of Detective Van Allen, Reyes and Doggett interview Dr. Holland, who remains neutral about whether or not Ed could have killed Victor. After the meeting ends, Doggett realizes that Reyes contacted Holland about the case.

Meanwhile, Scully contacts Dr. Bertram Mueller, a retired medical examiner. Scully questions Mueller about a John Doe case from 1960. The victim had been skinned alive. Mueller informs Scully that the sheriff wanted to keep the incident quiet, as the victim was a drifter. One day, the sheriff put a bullet through his own head. Before Scully leaves, Mueller informs her about other similar deaths.

The agents are summoned to the meat packing plant when Terry�s skinned body is discovered. Doggett is shocked when he realizes Terry is still alive. When Doggett asks Terry to name the perpetrator, Terry tells him is was Ed. Later, Doggett takes Ed into custody. Reyes questions Ed... and tells him that she is seeing the same visions. A short time later, Van Allen sets Ed free, as his girlfriend has vouched for his whereabouts at the time of the murder.

Scully runs a background check on two of the victims murdered in 1960. Both were ex-convicts. One man died on Victor�s birthday, while the other died on Terry�s birthday.

When Reyes instincts tell her that Ed may also be in danger, Doggett races to his house. Unfortunately, Doggett finds Ed�s body, which has been stripped of skin. Reyes tells Doggett that she senses she�s somehow involved in the murders, as if she possesses some kind of memory of it from long ago. She believes the perpetrator wanted to murder the victims� souls. Doggett scoffs at the notion that reincarnation is involved. Reyes then realizes that the rag found stuffed in Ed�s mouth is black from coal dust from a mine.

She and Doggett head to the abandoned mine, where Doggett discovers the skeleton of a sheriff. Reyes makes her way deeper into the tunnel, where she discovers human skins in various stages of decay. A figure armed with a hunting knife steps out of the shadows and grabs hold of Reyes.

The figure, it turns out, is Detective Van Allen. Suddenly, Van Allen runs off down a tunnel. Reyes tells Doggett that Van Allen is avenging his own murder in 1860. All the murders linked to the case have been in groups of four. Reyes believes Van Allen takes his own life so he can restart the cycle again and again.

She phones the church, and warns Dr. Holland that her life may be in danger. This gives Holland a slight edge when Van Allen launches his attack. She runs out of the church, with Van Allen in hot pursuit. Reyes suddenly appears and opens fire, putting a bullet through Van Allen�s chest. Before he dies, Van Allen tells Reyes that, in the past, she has always failed.

At the U.S./Canadian border in North Dakota, two night patrol agents spot a motorcyclist attempting an illegal border crossing. The agents give chase until the cyclist runs out of road and soars over a rocky ravine, his motorcycle bursting into flames.

Amidst the cyclists belongings are rubbings of symbols taken from an alien spacecraft. Later, Kersh and Follmer question Scully about the rubbings, but she refuses to cooperate until they reveal more about who or what is under investigation. She then makes her way to the X Files office, where she digs out a file containing the rubbing taken from the alien ship discovered in western Africa. She asks Reyes and Doggett for their help in solving the puzzle.

Doggett goes to the Canadian border, but discovers that the FBI cannot locate the cyclist�s body. In another wooded area nearby, the cyclist heals his injuries using an alien artefact.

Meanwhile, Scully meets with Reyes to discuss the alien rubbings, which seem to contain text from the Bible, the Koran and scripture from around the world, although the spacecraft predates all of those by millions of years. Scully suspects the writings contain secrets about baby William.

Skinner refuses to provide Doggett with information pertaining to the investigation, so he sneaks into Skinner�s office and steals a file and the alien rubbings. Meanwhile, an excavation team in Canada works on unearthing a buried spaceship.

Doggett makes his way to Reyes� apartment and shows her the information stolen from Skinner�s office. It turns out that the cyclist is Special Agent Robert Comer. Doggett and Reyes contact Scully and ask her to meet with them to discuss the findings.

It turns out that Comer infiltrated a UFO-worshiping religious cult based in North Dakota. The cult fled to Canada for reasons unknown to the agents. The FBI then concluded that Comer �turned to the dark side� and became just as crazy as the UFO worshipers he was investigating. Reyes then reveals that the rubbings Comer had in his possession do not match those of the craft found in Africa, so a second spacecraft must have been unearthed.

When Scully returns home, she discovers her mother on the floor, her face bloodied. Mrs Scully warns that someone is trying to kill the baby. Scully draws her weapon and races into the nursery. Comer overpowers Scully, throws her out of the nursery and slams the door shut. He then picks up a pillow and starts to put it over the baby. Scully bursts open the door and opens fire, shooting Comer three times.

Doggett and Reyes race to Scully�s apartment, where Comer lays dying. Despite Scully�s objections, Doggett calls for an ambulance. Before Comer loses consciousness, Comer tells her that baby William must die. Later, Scully finds the alien artefact amidst Comer�s possessions.

In Calgary, a woman in an overcoat reads about Comer�s shooting in a newspaper. She relays the news to the excavation area, where a Lone Man tells her, �there�s only one thing to do.�

Back at the FBI, Kersh and Follmer meet with Scully, Doggett and Skinner. Follmer explains that Comer was dispatched to infiltrate the cult based on a series of threats made on Mulder�s life. The FBI intercepted a message that Mulder was already dead.

Back at home, Scully enters her bedroom when she hears a strange sound. She notices the top drawer of her dresser bouncing violently. Scully opens the drawer, releasing the alien artefact, which flies across the room and into the nursery. It stops just above baby William�s face and he plucks it out of the air. Just as quickly, Scully snatches it back.

Scully packs a small suitcase and Reyes and Doggett follow her out of the apartment. On the street, Doggett spots the Overcoat Woman (from the excavation) sitting in an SUV. Reyes and Scully drive off, but Doggett remains behind. When Doggett approaches the SUV, the engine roars to life and heads toward him. Doggett draws his gun and fires a shot, but is run down.

Meanwhile, Scully and Reyes meet up with the Lone Gunmen, who promise to care for baby William. But as the Gunmen drive away, the Overcoat Woman pulls out a gun, and Langly loses control and crashes. When Scully and Reyes return to the apartment, they learn about Doggett. Scully realizes her baby is in jeopardy and heads off. Meanwhile, the Overcoat Woman places a gun to Byers� head, demanding the baby.

Providence
  As Scully desperately searches for her son, religious cult members prepare to enter a spaceship which they believe houses God.

As Operation Desert Storm unfolds, Captain Zeke Josepho is thrown to the ground by an explosion. Several of his men are killed. Josepho sees four soldiers rush through the building, unaffected by enemy fire and explosions. We see an older Josepho working at the Canadian dig introduced in the previous episode as he helps unearth the buried spaceship.

At FBI headquarters, Brad Follmer briefs a team of agents on the abduction of Scully�s baby, telling them that Doggett is in a coma after being run over, while FBI Agent Robert Comer is also in critical condition after being shot by Scully. Scully identifies the Overcoat Woman with the Lone Gunmen's help.

It�s revealed that Byers managed to slip a cell phone under baby William�s car seat duringhis abduction. The Gunmen pinpoint the car through the phone system, finding it in Warfordsburg, Pennsylvania. By the time Scully and Reyes arrive, though, the baby and the abductor have vanished.

Back at the Canadian dig, a cylindrical bezel rotates around two cult members and then lowers them into the ship. At the hospital, Comer writes the word, "jacket." When Reyes relays this to Scully, she deduces that Comer means the jacket he was wearing when she shot him.

Scully brings the alien artefact in Comer�s jacket to his hospital room. Comer suddenly grabs Scully�s wrist and lowers the artefact to his chest. Scully instructs Reyes to unplug the life support monitors so the hospital staff aren�t alerted to the situation.

When Comer revives, he tells Scully that her son must die and describes Josepho�s belief that the alien ship houses a physical manifestation of God. Josepho also believes baby William will follow in Mulder�s footsteps and try to stop the aliens� return. According to Comer, Mulder was killed to fulfill the prophesy, and unless baby William is killed, all mankind will perish. Suddenly, a nurse and the Toothpick Man enter the hospital room and demand to know what�s going on.

At the alien dig, the bezel rotates once more, and emerges from the ship with two charred corpses on it - the men seen before. Follmer informs Scully and Reyes that the nurse is claiming they killed Comer by pulling him off life support. Outraged, Reyes bursts into Comer�s room and demands to know the location of the alien artefact, but the nurse and the Toothpick Man claim to have no knowledge of its existence.

Josepho arranges a meeting with Scully outside Calgary, Canada. He tells Scully she can have baby William if she brings him the head of Fox Mulder. The Lone Gunmen attach a magnetic transponder to his car to track his whereabouts, but the device goes dead � perhaps because of interference from the ship.

Back at the dig, an opening appears in the ship, giving Josepho hope that he can view the face of God. A blast of light shoots out of the hole, illuminating the night sky and clueing Scully to the dig�s location. The ship then rises into the air, incinerating the cult members. Scully arrives at the scene and finds William, the sole survivor.

At FBI headquarters, Skinner tells Kersh that Comer�s vital signs improved dramatically before he died, confirming Reyes� and Scully�s story. Leaving the meeting, Skinner makes eye contact with the Toothpick Man... and we see spiny ridges on the back of his neck.

Audrey Pauley
  Agent Reyes finds herself trapped between life and death after an accident - her only hope a hospital staffer who can bridge both worlds.

At the end of a long workday, Reyes drives Doggett to his house and they share a momentary rapport before Doggett exits. Moments later, the sound of a car accident fills the air. Reyes is rushed to a hospital, where Dr. Preijers and Nurse Edwards examine her condition.

Strangely, Reyes soon finds herself inside the same hospital trauma room by herself. She makes her way to the exit, but sees nothing but a dark void surrounding the hospital. She soon encounters another patient, Steven Murdoch, who introduces her to a Mr. Barreiro, who is in the same position. A discussion ensues about whether or not they�re all dead. Reyes is convinced they�re not.

Meanwhile, Scully tells Doggett that Reyes is technically dead, but Doggett refuses to accept this. Dr. Preijers tells the agents that Reyes signed her organ donor card and surgeons will soon be harvesting her remains. In the netherworld, Reyes takes an interest in the fact that all writing in the hospital is indecipherable gibberish. She spots a figure in the hallway, but they soon vanish into thin air. Mr. Barreiro begins screaming and is suddenly engulfed in electricity. He, too, vanishes into thin air, but in a different way.

Back in the real world, Dr. Preijers comforts Mrs. Barreiro as she mourns the death of her husband. Nearby stands the mystery woman Reyes chased through the netherworld hospital earlier. Her name badge reads "Audrey Pauley".

Doggett shows an anomaly in Reyes' EKG to Dr. Preijers, then makes his way to Reyes� room, where he finds Audrey at her bedside. She tells him that Reyes�s soul isn�t gone yet.

Audrey makes her way to her room in the hospital basement, where a model of the hospital stands. It looks as if she constructed it herself. She concentrates her energy on the model and is transported into the netherworld version. There she encounters Reyes, who asks her to tell Doggett that he�s "a dog person."

Meanwhile, Nurse Edwards tells Dr. Preijers that she saw him give Reyes an injection of epinephrine, which was not mentioned in his notes. A few moments later Preijers grabs Edwards from behind and injects something into the back of her neck. A hospital staffer finds Edwards� body. In the netherworld, Reyes begins to suspect that whatever she and Murdoch are trapped in is the product of someone else�s doing. Shortly thereafter, Murdoch collapses onto the floor.

Dr. Preijers has disconnected Murdoch from life support at the request of his wife. Audrey conveys Reyes� message to Doggett, who reacts with disbelief. He follows her to her room and quizzes her about the hospital model. Audrey tells him it helps her communicate with the people in the netherworld and tells him about Murdoch and Barriero. Doggett realises that both men were Preijers� patients.

Doggett asks Audrey to convey a message to Reyes. He tells her to say goodbye, and vows to catch the man who put her on life support. But when Audrey returns to the netherworld, Reyes accuses her of creating the place she�s trapped in, which explains why she�s capable of passing between both worlds.

Preijers comes to believe that Audrey could expose him. He injects her with a drug and watches as she dies. In the netherworld, Audrey tells Reyes that the only way out is to jump into the void. Reyes takes the plunge, and awakens in her hospital bed. She speaks one word: "Audrey." Doggett rushes to the basement, where he slams Preijers into a wall and recovers the spent syringe. He then finds Audrey�s body.

When Reyes recovers, Doggett gives her a ride home. Another moment passes between them, but is ruined when Reyes is distracted by headlights from another car.

Underneath
  When DNA evidence exonerates a murderer whom Doggett helped incarcerate thirteen years earlier, the obsessed agent desperately tries to put him back in jail.

In Brooklyn, New York, 1989, cable man Robert Fassl stops his van outside a house on a modest suburban street. As Fassl kisses a rosary, a voice in the shadows directs him to do his job. Fassl gains entry to the house, where he speaks with a teenage girl and her father. Suddenly, the father falls over dead, a screwdriver sticking from his neck, and the teenage girl and her mother are also savagely murdered in the blink of an eye. Fassl looks on in horror. Moments later, two NYPD officers rush in and take Fassl into custody. One of them is John Doggett.

In the present day, Doggett receives word that DNA evidence cleared Fassl of the murders. Doggett is convinced that a mistake has been made, though he admits to Reyes that he did not catch Fassl in the act. Fassl�s attorney, Jana Fain, arranges for him to stay at her enormous estate on his release from prison, where he is introduced to Mrs Dowdy, Jana�s housekeeper.

Shown the room where he�ll be staying, Fassl sees one of the walls defaced with the words "kill her" written in blood.

Assistant District Attorney Damon Kaylor allows Dogett and Scully to review old files pertaining to the case. Meanwhile, Reyes meets with Brian Hutchison, the superintendent of the prison where Fassl was incarcerated. He explains that Fassl�s cell mate was found murdered, and the killer was photographed by a security camera, but didn�t fit the description of anyone held at the prison. A photograph of the mysterious killer shows a Bearded Man seen outside the courthouse when Fassl was set free.

The Bearded Man appears in Fassl�s bedroom, screwdriver in hand. Fassl begs him not to harm Jana.

Scully tells Doggettt that the hair sample used for the DNA test is so similar that it must have come from a blood relative, but Fassl is an only child and both his parents died when he was thirteen. Fassl, meanwhile, discovers the body of Mrs Dowdy stuffed into a dumbwaiter. He disposes of the evidence.

Doggett meets with his old partner Duke Tomasick, who helped arrest Fassl years earlier. Tomasick tells Doggett that he planted the evidence used to convict Fassl, using hair found at a previous murder.

Damon Kaylor shows up at Jana Fain�s estate and tells Fassl he may get some compensation, but Fassl instead begs to be put back in prison. Moments later, the Bearded Man kills Kaylor with a screwdriver, and Fassl hides the body in a sewer tunnel.

Reyes shows Jana and Fassl the photo of the Bearded Man, and Fassl grows noticeably anxious, running rosary beads through his fingers. When Scully attempts to question him, Jana ends the conversation.

Later, Reyes poses a question: What if a devout Catholic was incapable of contrition? She speculates that his sinful side might manifest a second personality, backing this up with the concept of transubstantiation (when a communion wafer transforms into the Body of Christ). The agents then wonder how they can catch a killer who hides within an innocent man.

Later, the Bearded Man insists that Fassl kill Jana Fain, but he refuses to do so. The Bearded Man grabs Jana but, for reasons unknown, lets her go. At Jana�s estate, the agents notice blood on a manhole ladder. Doggett and Reyes descend into the tunnel, where they spot the Bearded Man. Doggett opens fire, but the apparition gets away. After splitting up, Reyes falls into an underground culvert filled with bones and body parts belonging to the Bearded Man�s many victims. Reyes calls Doggett�s name, and as he makes his way to her, the Bearded Man attacks.

The Bearded Man holds the screwdriver to Doggett�s throat, while Reyes tries to reach out to whatever small part of Fassl exists within the Bearded Man. Growing upset, the Bearded Man pulls the screwdriver away and Reyes opens fire. Moments later, the agents realize the Bearded Man is now a dead Robert Fassl.

Improbable
  When Reyes uses numerology to connect the murders of several women, she and Scully become trapped with a mysterious checker-playing man who may or may not be the killer.

In a casino, Mad Wayne loses at cards and heads to the bar to converse with Mr Burt, who is playing solitaire. Wayne's attention turns to a woman, who he follows to the bathroom. A short time later, the woman is found dead.

At the FBI, Reyes asks Scully if she believes in the hypothesis that the universe is knowable as a simple mathematical equation. Scully doesn't, and is disbelieving when Reyes attempts to tie together several murders by using a mathematical calculation. Scully notices a pattern in the bruising of the victims' skin, speculating that it was caused by a ring the killer wears.

Meanwhile, Mad Wayne returns to the rundown hotel where he lives, and notices Mr Burt playing three-card Monte in the street below. Wayne confronts Burt and warns him to stay away.

Reyes enters Wayne's building to consult a numerologist, Vicki Burdick. Burdick doesn't really believe in numerology, however, but reluctantly promises to run a complete numerology in the hope of producing the killer's profile.

Doggett calls Reyes, and reveals that two more victims were found with the pattern bruising on their faces. Returning to the Bureau, she is congratulated by Agent Fordyce for her work. Reyes' revelation of her "special insight" into the case during the debriefing is met with disbelieving silence.

Vicki Burdick calls, but is murdered by Mad Wayne before she can reveal what she discovered.

As Scully performs an autopsy on Burdick's body, the patterns around her are all related to the number six. The pattern left on the victims' skin turns out not to be zeroes, but sixes. After Scully and Reyes finish looking for evidence in Burdick's office, they ride the elevator with Mad Wayne. Scully notices the ring on Wayne's finger and draws her gun, but the elevator doors close.

Scully and Reyes use the stairs, and end up in the hotel garage. Suddenly, a car pulls away, a mechanical gate closing behind it. Scully and Reyes realize they're trapped. They search the garage, and discover Mr Burt. He claims he is waiting for a friend, with whom he was to play checkers. With little else to do but wait, the agents busy themselves playing checkers with Mr Burt.

Scully notices the colours red and black on the checkerboard. She stares at Monica's hair, and then touches her own red hair. As the killer strikes in threes - in the order of blonde, red head and brunette - Scully wonders if she and Reyes are the killer's next target. Mr Burt wonders if the numbers are helping the agents catch the killer... or if they're helping him not get caught.

The agents notice a figure watching them from behind a parked car. Suddenly, the lights go out. As Scully heads for the breaker box, Monica tracks the mysterious figure. Suddenly, Mad Wayne jumps out of the darkness and a struggle ensues. But the stairwell door flies open and a dark figure emerges to fire three shots, killing Mad Wayne. The lights come back on, revealing that the shooter is Agent Doggett.

Doggett tells Reyes and Scully that something in the killer's pattern made him realize that they were his next victims. Moments later, the agents realize that Mr. Burt has vanished. Later, Scully asks Reyes about her numerology. Reyes tells her she's a nine. But when Scully asks about the mysterious checker-playing man they met in the garage, Reyes responds, "God knows."

Back at the hotel, a festival parade gets underway. And as the camera zooms out, we see a bird's eye view of the city, and the lights form a familiar face: That of Mr Burt.

Scary Monsters
  A little boy is surrounded by mysterious happenings involving strange creatures which appear within people's bodies.

Inside his bedroom, a little boy,�Tommy Conlon, hears a scratching sound coming from beneath his bed. He calls to his father, Jeffrey, and tells him about something he saw reflected in the bedroom mirror, but Jeffrey dismisses it as a figment of his imagination. He�leaves the room... and holds the door shut as Tommy screams for help.

Back at Quantico, overeager young FBI accountant Agent Leyla Harrison shows Scully a photograph of a 30-something woman who stabbed herself to death with a pair of scissors. The woman's son, Tommy Conlin, told investigators that a monster took over his mother, and that his father knows all about it.�He�also claimed that the same creature killed Spanky, the family cat. Tommy and his father have since moved to a remote Pennsylvanian mountaintop.

Scully dismisses Leyla's fears that the supernatural is somehow involved, but Leyla convinces Doggett and�Reyes that the boy's life is in danger, and the threesome head for Pennsylvania.� On arrival they speak with Jeffrey Conlon, who�seems to have been burying something. After speaking with Tommy, Doggett and Reyes conclude that something is amiss - then blood spits out of the dashboard of Doggett's car as he tries to start it.

Back at her apartment, Scully is approached by Gabe Rotter, a friend of Leyla's, who produces a box containing Spanky's corpse.� He explains that Leyla said she would go out with him only if he gave it to Scully, who is understandably repulsed, until something catches her eye.

Stranded in Pennsylvania, Doggett, Reyes and Leyla hear Tommy cry for help. Doggett and Reyes run to the boy's room, pushing Jeffery aside.��Inside they discover two creatures resembling giant deformed earwigs. Doggett draws his gun and opens fire, blasting a creature in two, but it regenerates into two new monsters�which disappear beneath the wall molding.

After an autopsy on Spanky,�Scully concludes that it chewed a hole in its own stomach. She notes the similarity to the way Mrs Conlon stabbed herself to death.�She also discovers a strange cavity, as if something had lived inside the cat.�

Doggett digs up bits of mirror in the area where Jeffrey buried something. Jeffrey explains that his son was afraid of the mirror.�Suddenly, Coogan, the local Sheriff, alerted by a call from Scully, pounds on the front door. When Doggett answers, Coogan tells him it's too cold to leave. Jeffrey Conlon warns that the man standing in front of Doggett is not the sheriff. Coogan suddenly draws his gun and aims at Conlon. A scuffle ensues, Doggett hits Coogan in the ribs... puncturing�his chest.

Reyes pushes a wooden spoon into the sheriff's body,�finding no organs inside. A�little later, Tommy shows Reyes a bunch of drawings he made of the earwig creatures,�the sheriff holding a gun... and of a screaming Reyes with a creature exploding out of her stomach.

The sheriff's body suddenly disappears, and Reyes cries out for help, a bulge appearing in her stomach. Trying to confront�Tommy, Doggett tumbles through a seemingly infinite blackness after breaking down a door in search of him. When he lands, dozens of the earwig creatures attack him. Conlon makes his way to his son's room, where�Doggett�appears and explains that the�strange events surrounding the agents must mean that is that everything is imaginary. Conlon's wife stabbed herself�because she believed the creatures were real.

Doggett realizes that the only way to save Reyes and Leyla is to beat the little boy at his own game.�He splashes gasoline around the house, as Tommy watches.� Tommy exclaims that Doggett�wouldn't dare to light a match. But Doggett does, and drops�it into a pool of gasoline, which ignites.

Suddenly, both Reyes and Leyla return to normal. Doggett picks up Tommy, whose clothes are smoldering.�He explains that he played upon the little boy's imagination by using water instead of gasoline. Later, Tommy is transported to a psychiatric facility, where his mind is busied with television.

Jump the Shark
  When scam artist Morris Fletcher claims to know the identity of a super soldier, Reyes and Doggett turn to the Lone Gunmen for help.

Morris Fletcher charms a beautiful, silly woman aboard a yacht in the Caribbean, pulling at the knot securing her bikini top. Suddenly, three Bahamian men board Morris� boat, abduct the girl and set fire to the boat. Morris dives into the water moments before a massive explosion destroys the craft. Fluttering down in the debris are schematics for a flying saucer.

The Coast Guard rescues Morris, who requests Reyes and Doggett�s presence. Morris claims to have been freelancing for a foreign billionaire, after convincing him that the Air Force lost a UFO over the Bermuda Triangle. In reality, Morris was only interested in cruising the Bahamas. The agents don�t believe his story and begin to leave, but when Morris claims to have information about a female super soldier, they grow more interested.

Reyes and Doggett show up at the Lone Gunmen offices with a photograph of Morris� alleged super soldier. The stunned Gunmen immediately identify her as Yves Adele Harlow, a fellow hacker who disappeared a year earlier, and refuse to believe the tale about her being a super soldier. They are outraged when they realize Morris�a scam artist who used them to track down Yves once before�is behind it all. But Reyes and Doggett are less reluctant to dismiss Morris� story.

Meanwhile, Yves enters the office of biology professor Houghton, fires a futuristic-looking pistol at him, then disappears out a window. A college administrator finds Houghton�s body, a gaping wound across the middle of Houghton�s chest. Yves uses a furnace to incinerate an unidentified human organ vacuum-packed in plastic.

Tipped off by Jimmy Bond, the agents speak with the college administrator, John Gillnitz. He explains that Houghton was a marine immunologist experimenting with the remarkable immune system of sharks.

A medical examiner tells Reyes and Doggett that he discovered some type of cartilage grafted into Houghton�s body. With Kimmy the Geek�s help, the Gunmen locate Yves inside a hotel, apparently stalking a bald man. The Gunmen rush into the man�s room, alerting the apparent victim, who rushes outside and escapes. The Gunmen handcuff Yves, only to be told that she�s no super soldier, and unless she�s allowed to finish what she started, innocent people will die.

The Gunmen realise that Morris is wearing a homing device, which he planned on activating once he found Yves - who he was out to find from the very beginning, at the behest of Yves� father, an international arms dealer and "scum of the earth." Yves explains that the man she killed was a terrorist whose research was funded by her father.

Houghton had developed a means of keeping himself alive after having been infected with an engineered virus. Only one other such terrorist remains alive - the bald man Yves tried to kill. Carried within him is a virus-filled vessel which will decay at precisely eight o�clock that evening.

The Gunmen are able to determine where the bald man is headed, but once captured extensive medical testing can find no sign of a virus-carrying vessel within his body.

Morris realizes that the bald man is a decoy, leading Yves to conclude that the other man carrying the virus is John Gillnitz, who is about to attend an international bioethics forum at eight o�clock that evening. She, Jimmy and the Gunmen race to the forum with only minutes to spare. Jimmy calls out Gillnitz�s name, causing him to leave his seat and make his way to a far exit. The Gunmen and the others give chase. With only a couple of minutes to go before the virus breaks out, the Lone Gunmen corner Gillnitz in a room. Realising that there�s not enough time to remove the vessel, they pull the fire alarm, so sealing the room and sacrificing themselves.

The episode ends with Scully, Reyes, Doggett, Skinner, Morris and Kimmer standing in Arlington Cemetery at the funeral of the Lone Gunmen. Scully says that world was a better place for them having been in it.

William
  The agents catch a horrifically scarred man breaking into the X-Files office... a man Doggett believes is Fox Mulder.

At a remote farm house, a husband and wife eager to adopt meet with two social workers. The social workers introduce the couple to their new son: Baby William. Outside Scully�s apartment, a figure with rasping breath (The Breather) watches from afar as Scully carries William into the apartment building.

Later, at the Bureau, Agent Doggett enters the darkened X-Files office, encountering The Breather. Doggett grabs his gun and orders the mysterious man to put his hands up. The Breather complies - and for the first time we get a look at his disfigured face.

Scully is called to the office, where Doggett briefs her on the case. The Breather claims his name is Daniel Miller, and that he gained access to the building by using an access card Mulder gave to him. He also says he�s searching for answers about his disfigurement, which he blames on the government�s secret research.

It becomes apparent that The Breather is intimately familiar with Mulder�s life. He tells Scully that his scars are the result of being injected with an unknown substance. Meanwhile, Doggett has been unable to verify the man�s identity and begins to suspect that he may in fact be Mulder. Scully refuses to believe this, and tells The Breather that the FBI knows his name isn�t Daniel Miller. He confirms this is true - but refuses to divulge his real name. Scully runs a DNA test.

Later, The Breather claims his scars are the result of the government�s failed attempt to turn him into an alien. He then tells the agents the files he was looking for were not in the X-Files office, and Scully admits that she removed them. Mulder knew this, casting doubt on Doggett�s theory

Scully, Reyes and The Breather make their way to Scully�s apartment, where Scully lets him hold her baby. Doggett shows up with results from the DNA test proving that The Breather is Mulder, but Scully refuses to believe.

The Breather sneaks into William's room and injects him with an unknown liquid. Later, Scully discovers a little blood on William�s sheets and rushes him to a hospital, but doctors cannot find anything out of the ordinary.

Scully confronts The Breather, who reveals that he is Mulder�s half-brother, Jeffrey Spender. He then explains that he injected William with a metallic liquid that turned off his alien qualities. As William is the one thing the aliens need, Spender achieved revenge against his father by transforming the child into a normal human being. He warns that as long as the aliens know where William lives, he will never be safe.

The scene returns to that of the opening. The husband hangs a hand-carved mobile over the baby�s crib. After he leaves the room, William reaches up... but the mobile does not spin on its own.

Release
  An FBI cadet with an uncanny instincts for solving crimes sheds new light on the unsolved murder of Doggett�s son.

Inside an abandoned apartment building in a deserted part of town, Doggett sees a figure bolt out of one of the rooms into the night. Shortly thereafter, he hears a scratching sound and steps up to a wet plaster wall. He claws away at the plaster until ribbons of red blood begin streaming downward.

With help from morgue assistant Diener, Scully performs an autopsy on the body Doggett found behind the wet plaster. She reviews her findings with FBI cadets, one of whom, Rudolph Hayes, accurately guesses that the victim hooked up with the wrong man at a bar. Using Hayes� uncanny insights, Scully realizes that this murder is connected to another killing two weeks earlier. Doggett wonders why someone tipped him off about the murder to begin with, as it is clearly not an X-Files case.

Later, Doggett and Reyes approach Hayes, who tells them the killer they�re looking for is a felon linked to organised crime, contradicting the agents� profile. Reyes and Doggett then visit a bar and talk to Nicholas Regali, a tough mobster who claims he�s in town looking for work. Hayes� intuition about Regali proves correct.

Meanwhile, Hayes returns to his apartment, the walls of which are covered with crime scene photos of murder victims, including one of Doggett�s son. Doggett is so impressed by Hayes� gift for solving crimes that he asks him to look into his son�s murder. Hayes takes Doggett to his apartment and tells him that if he sits very quietly, the photographs tell him things. He also admits that he has been following the case of Doggett�s son�s death for a very long time, and shows Doggett a mug shot of Robert Harvey, a suspect in the murder. Hayes believes Harvey abducted Doggett�s son... but that Regali killed him.

Doggett approaches Brad Follmer, who worked in the New York organized crime division, and asks him to look into any connection between Regali and Robert Harvey. Doggett convinces his ex-wife Barbara to come to an identity parade, but she does not recognize Regali.

Meanwhile, Scully finds similarities between the wounds inflicted on Doggett�s son nine years earlier and those on the bodies of the two women recently murdered. Checking through files on Regali, Doggett finds it odd that he has served so little jail time since the late Eighties, despite his connection to illegal activities. He begins to suspect that someone in the FBI is on the take.

Later, Follmer informs Reyes and Doggett that Rudolph Hayes died in an automobile accident in 1978... and that Cadet Hayes� is really Stuart Mimms, a mental patient. Follmer also uncovers evidence that Mimms was living in New York City at the time Doggett�s son was murdered.

A SWAT team storms Mimm�s apartment and takes him into custody. Mimms is placed in a police lineup...and Barbara identifies him.

At a secret meeting between Follmer and Regali, it becomes clear that Follmer took money from Regali to make an indictment go away. Mimms tells Scully that he was drawn to the Doggett case only after he noticed an article about the boy�s murder in a newspaper. He claims he lied to the FBI to become a cadet so he could have access to the Bureau�s inner workings and help solve the case. He tells Doggett that Regali murdered his son.

Approached by Doggett, Regali tells him a "hypothetical" story, in which a paedophile takes a young boy to a mobster�s home. The mobster walks in on the paedophile, and the young boy sees the mobster�s face. Fearing the boy might associate him with the crime, the mobster has him killed. Regali then rises and walks towards the exit.

Filled with rage, Doggett unsnaps his holster. A gunshot rings out, but it's from Follmer's gun, and kills Regali. The mystery of their son�s death now solved, Doggett and his wife make their way to a beach and scatter their son�s ashes into the water.

Sunshine Days
  A series of strange deaths are linked to a man whose house is an exact replica of The Brady Bunch house - complete with The Bradys themselves.

In Van Nuys, California, young slackers Blake and Mike enjoy a beer together. Blake claims that a nearby house is the home used to shoot The Brady Bunch. Mike disagrees, and a few moments later both men sneak inside the house for a better look.

Mike is stunned - the interior of the house is exactly like the home from the TV show. Suddenly, a football bounces down the staircase, reminding Blake of an episode in which the Marcia Brady broke her nose after a football hit her in the face. Freaked out, Mike runs off, and Blake walks up the staircase, where he comes face to face with two children who resemble Bobby and Cindy from the TV show. Moments later, Blake�s body crashes down onto the roof of the car Mike is sitting in.

Doggett and Reyes investigate the strange death. The agents escort Mike to the front door of the house he claims is the Brady Bunch home, where they speak with the owner, Oliver Martin. Martin allows the agents to enter after Doggett threatens to get a search warrant. Inside, Mike is flabbergasted when the house looks nothing like the Brady�s place.

Sensing something amiss, Doggett checks Martin�s dustbin, which contains a pile of asphalt shingles. Doggett realizes that the roof of the home has been freshly patched... leading him to speculate that Blake somehow flew through the roof.

Later, Mike sneaks to the front of Martin�s house and peers in. He sees three girls and three boys having dinner with their mother and father. Mike bursts through the front door... but the family has disappeared. Mike then advances on Oliver, only to find himself floating in the air. Suddenly, he rockets upward and crashes through the ceiling.

Scully arranges a meeting with Dr. John Rietz, a parapsychologist who documented the strange case of Anthony Fogelman, who later changed his name to Oliver Martin, in 1970. Fogelman, the "Mozart of psychokinesis", possessed otherworldly powers of moving objects with his mind. Described as "a lonely little boy", by Reitz, Fogelman�s powers faded as he grew up.

The agents realize that "Oliver Martin" was the name of Carol Brady�s nephew, in the Brady Bunch�s last season. The character was something of a pest and jinx, and Scully wonders if that�s how Fogelman views himself.

Doggett and Reitz make their way to Fogleman�s house, but Fogelman levitates Doggett off the floor and crashes him through the ceiling. When Doggett regains consciousness, he�s stuck upside down in the attic of the house. Rietz tries reasoning with Fogelman, urging him to relax, at which Doggett crashes back through the hallway ceiling.

Oliver says he simply thinks about things and places and they suddenly appear. He concentrates for a few seconds, and the Brady Bunch living room transforms into scenic grasslands. Amazed, Scully asks Oliver to come to Washington so scientists can learn more about him. The agents escort Oliver to the Bureau, where Oliver levitates Skinner.

Later, Oliver experiences a seizure and is rushed to a hospital, where it turns out that he�s suffering from multiple organ failure. Doctors try everything in their power to save him, but nothing seems to work.

When Doggett wonders why Fogelman chose The Brady Bunch, Reyes concludes that the Bradys are the family that everyone wishes they had. This causes Rietz to realizes that he represented a father figure to Fogelman, and he apologises to him for treating him like a lab rat. He also makes him promise to never again use his powers.

The Truth
  Mulder is put on trial by the US military, accused of murdering Knowle Rohrer.

At the Mount Weather complex in Bluemont, Virginia, Mulder makes his way to a room containing a computer terminal. He punches in an access code, but before he�s able to proceed very far, super-soldier Knowle Rohrer appears and a fight ensues. Tossed through a glass screen by the superhuman Rohrer, Mulder picks himself up and heads for an exit, encountering Alex Krycek, who was thought to be dead. He helps Mulder escape.

Encountering Rohrer again, Mulder gains the advantage and tosses him over a railing into electrical wires. Moments later, military officers take Mulder into custody, where he is brutally interrogated by a guard.

Scully and Skinner meet with Mulder, who appears to have been beaten into submission. On Scully�s behalf, Kersh asks General Suveg that Mulder be treated fairly. Suveg allows the FBI to conduct its own hearing within the confines of a military court.

Returning to Mulder�s cell, Scully and Skinner realise that he had been putting on an act during the first visit. Mulder asks Skinner to act as his defence attorney, as he knows about the government conspiracy and alien invasion. Reyes and Doggett arrive, and tell them that the government has Rohrer�s body. Mulder refuses to tell Scully why he was inside the secret facility at Mount Weather.

At Mulder�s trial the prosecution is headed by Special Agent Kallenbrunner. He offers the sworn testimony of thirty witnesses who saw Mulder kill Rohrer. Skinner then calls Scully, who describes how a meteor crashed to earth in prehistoric times, bringing with it an alien virus that lay dormant for thousands of years. The US government learned of the existence of this virus in 1947 when a UFO crashed in Roswell, New Mexico.

The virus, which thrived in oil deposits, communicated with the UFOs. When the government studied the alien technology in the crashed UFO, they learned of an alien plan to colonise Earth. The government then set about creating a breed of human/alien hybrids that the aliens would use as a slave race.

Skinner then calls Mulder�s half-brother, Jeffrey Spender, who explains that the aliens distrusted their human collaborators and kept family members of the collaborators as human collateral, including Mulder�s sister, Samantha. Mulder spent many years attempting to track her down, but she was experimented upon and died in 1987.

Meanwhile, in the New Mexico desert, a young boy warns Gibson Praise that Mulder is in serious trouble.

Marita Covarrubias testifies that she conspired with members of The Syndicate to develop an alien virus vaccine, but grew to hate her employees when she was turned into a test subject. She says that a group of renegade, faceless aliens destroyed the vaccine and killed off members of The Syndicate.

Despite protests from Mulder, Skinner introduces Gibson Praise as a witness, explaining that he can read people�s minds due to DNA believed to be of alien origin. Gibson turns his attention to a panel judge, and tells everyone in attendance that the man is not human. Guards pull Mulder from the courtroom.

Next, Skinner calls self-described skeptic Doggett to the witness stand. Doggett believes in the existence of a secret military project that developed super-soldiers, a group of seemingly indestructible men that included Knowle Rohrer. Doggett also believes that Rohrer cannot be dead, as a super-solider can only be killed using a form of magnetite brought to Earth by a falling meteor.

Reyes takes the stand and describes how she protected a pregnant Scully by driving her to a remote location in Georgia. Reyes later learnt that Scully was one of a number of women who had been abducted by the government in order to secretly manipulate their biology to producing a slave race of aliens. Scully later gave up her baby for adoption in hopes of protecting it from the aliens.

The Truth, part two
  Mulder escapes and searches for a man who knows the truth about the government conspiracy.

Scully performs an examination of Roher�s badly-burned corpse, later presenting her finding that the corpse is not Rohrer to the military court. Kersh rules that Scully did not have authorisation to perform an autopsy, and orders her removed from the courtroom.

Mulder is then found guilty of murder and sentenced to die by lethal injection. Skinner and Doggett gain access to Mulder�s cell and help him escape, but Rohrer discovers the plan and orders the building sealed off. Kersh aids Mulder to escape the building and tells him to head to Canada. Instead, Mulder and Scully drive south.

Doggett and Reyes discover that the X-Files office has been emptied. Skinner concludes that the government is punishing them for taking Mulder�s side during the trial, or is aware that they helped Mulder escape. Gibson Praise tells the agents that the aliens within the government know that Mulder is not headed to Canada, and when they finds Mulder and Scully, they will be killed.

With some help from The Lone Gunmen, Mulder and Scully drive to the Texas-New Mexico border and head for some ruins. Mulder explains that he had been sent a message and a key to the government facility at Mount Weather by an Indian who said it came from a wise man who lived in the ruins - the keeper of the truth.

An old woman leads the agents to a room where the Cigarette Smoking Man sits. He explains that aliens fear the ruins because they contain high levels of the metal that brought down the original UFO in Roswell decades earlier. He explains that the date of the final alien invasion will be December 22, 2012, the date that Mayan calendars stopped some ten centuries earlier.

Doggett and Reyes arrive at the site and see Knowle Rohrer step out of a van nearby. Doggett shoots Rohrer repeatedly, but the bullets are ineffective. Suddenly, though, Rohrer begins to vibrate and is hurled into a stone wall. Military helicopters appear on the horizon as Mulder and Scully jump into Rohrer�s van and drive off. Doggett and Reyes also make their escape as the helicopters blast the village with rockets, killing the Cigarette Smoking Man.

Inside a motel room in Roswell, Mulder and Scully discuss their situation. Mulder says that although he showed Scully the truth, and changed her from skeptic to believer, he�s failed at everything else he set out to do.

He wants to believe that the dead speak to the living, and he believes that if he and Scully can listen to what�s being said, it can give them the power to save themselves. Scully tells Mulder that they believe the same thing. Mulder holds Scully�s cross in his hand, then lays down next to her. He tells her that maybe there�s reason to have hope, after all.