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Summer Break - Part 2

written by Jeroen de Jong

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About this story

Published: 1997 | Size: 50 KB (9647 words) | Language: english | Rating: PG-13
Average: 3.3/5   3.3/5 (6 votes)
Abstract:
MSCL / X-Files Crossover

based on stories and characters created by Winnie Holzman

SCENE 1

Interior tent. From outside the sunlight shines through the tent on a sleeping bag, where somebody is moaning and waking up. We hear the sound of roaring water and birds singing. After some struggling the person inside the sleeping bag finds the zipper and then we see it’s Mulder. He moves himself into a sitting position, rubs his eyes and yawns. He looks at his watch and sees it’s 6.30. As he realizes how early it is, he sighs disapproving and falls back on his sleeping mat.

At that moment we CUT to interior Scully’s apartment, the spare bed room. Angela is waking up. We see her blink her eyes and immediately realizing where she is. The room is small, with a big bed and two closets. An iron board is leaning against one of the closets. Angela sits up and looks at her watch, it’s 8.30. She’s wearing a huge white XXL T-shirt; the short sleeves go over her elbows. From her bed, she opens the curtains and looks over a small park surrounded by 3 story-houses. It looks somewhat like a miniature version of Central Park, New York City.

CUT back to Mulder, who has get out of his tent and lighting a small stove for making coffee. The spot where he’s put his tent is beautiful. It’s near a very small white water river in an open place in the woods. The sun is shining and Mulder is humming something that sounds like "Hotel California". He is wearing the hiking pants and a Keith Haring T-shirt, with a picture of an angel and the words "litt’l angel", which looks a little silly on him. He puts a pan with water on the stove and puts some instant coffee in a plastic mug. Mulder’s humming smoothly goes over in an acoustic version of "Hotel California" by the Eagles and the music continues as the scene cuts back and forth from Mulder to Angela.

CUT to Angela, who is still staring out of the window. She is smiling and moves a little, so that her face and arms are in the sun.

ANGELA VO: It’s been a while since I’ve slept this good. [yawns and stretches her arms] And I can’t remember dreaming anything, which is also good for a change.

She watches an old couple with a big St.Bernard walking in the park. As they reach a pond the woman gets some bread out of a plastic bag and starts feeding some ducks. The Eagles sing: "Welcome to the Hotel California. Such a lovely place, such a lovely place, such a lovely face."

ANGELA VO: I’m really glad I could get out of Three Rivers. And away from everybody. Even from Jordan. [pauses, her face tightens a little] Or especially from Jordan.

CUT to Mulder. Who is now drinking coffee and eating a bagel. He’s looking at a detailed hiking map that he has put on the ground in front of him. He moves his finger over the map, trying to find out a good route. Just a few inches from the map a squirrel appears and for a second it seems to watch Mulder, then it runs off. Mulder watches it run away.

MULDER: [mumbling] So I even have that effect on squirrels.

He folds the map and gets up, looking at his tent.

MULDER: OK I close my eyes and count to three. At three you will all be stuffed into my backpack. [his hands in his face, sighs] Alright, who am I kidding?

CUT to Angela. Who is now out of bed, getting clothes out of her overnight bag. The sleeping T-shirt is nearly reaching her knees. She seems to linger, still staring out of the window.

ANGELA VO: I mean, what is wrong with me? I have been together with Jordan for *months* now and he’s really great and all, yesterday was wonderful even. But somehow - . [pauses, and then more firm] And that’s why I looked forward to this week. To get my mind clear. Or whatever.

She gets a towel and a bottle of shampoo. And just as The Eagles sing the line "You can check out anytime you like, but you can never leave", Angela opens the door and walks out of the room.

 

SCENE 2

Interior Chase kitchen. Graham is wearing a robe and pouring two cups of coffee. He walks through the living room and opens the front door to get the paper. As he picks it up he watches the Krakows putting suitcases in the station wagon. Then Brian comes walking out of their house with an overnight bag with wheels and a shoulder bag that clearly shows the words "Toshiba Notebooks". Brian walks towards the station wagon, but instead of putting his stuff in the car he just looks in both directions, impatient. Then an old, red Volkswagen Golf comes around the corner and stops near Brian. Graham tries to see who is in it, but we can’t see it really good. It’s a girl or woman with half-long, blond hair and a baseball cap. Brian puts his overnight bag in the back seat of the Volkswagen and then steps into the front seat. Without saying goodbye to his parents - who are stuffing more and more suitcases in their car - Brian closes the car door and they’re off. Graham frowns and gets back into the house. As he closes the door, Patty comes walking down the stairs, smiling and looking more relaxed than we’ve ever seen her.

GRAHAM: That was odd.

PATTY: What’s odd, honey?

GRAHAM: I just saw Brian leaving, but not with Bob and Bereniece. [pauses, thinking] I thought they were going to Paris together.

PATTY: They are. At least, I thought so.

GRAHAM: [still looking a little puzzled] It’s probably nothing.

PATTY: And you know you shouldn’t be spying on the neighbors.

They both walk to the kitchen and sit down at that little kitchen table in the corner. Graham has got some muffins and is now looking at Patty, who is still looking happy and relaxed. She is absently stirring her coffee.

PATTY: So, what are we going to do today?

GRAHAM: Today? [smiling, like he’s hiding something] How about today, tomorrow and the day after that?

PATTY: [surprised] What do you mean?

GRAHAM: Well, you remember that weekend in that hotel place where we never went ice-skating and you made those origami swan-things?

PATTY: [happy look quickly changes into look from hell, slowly] Yes, I remember.

GRAHAM: Well, since it was so beautiful out there, I thought we should go there again.

PATTY: [angry] You did what? You know I can never show my face around those people again. Did you make reservations? I bet they have our name in a big fat black font in their computer. With the comment "Never, never, never." You are going to cancel that reservation right now.

GRAHAM: [extremely amused] Of course we’re not going back to that same place. On the other side of the lake is a much nicer hotel, where they actually serve wine. [pauses] So no more alcohol drives and definitely no more Neil and whatever girlfriend.

Patty sighs with relief and smiles again.

PATTY: We’d better start packing.

GRAHAM: No need for that. Did that yesterday. And the girls know where we are, so we can leave in fifteen minutes. [moves closer to Patty, kisses her on her cheek, softly speaking]. But there’s no real need for that, right?

PATTY: [giggling a little] What about the cat?

GRAHAM: [gently kissing her nose] What cat?

SCENE 3

Interior dorm-like room. As the camera pans through the room, it reveals some crammed bookshelves, an unmade bed with a lot of clothes on it, a big Tori Amos poster and next to the window there’s a huge desk, with a huge computer. The Ethan Hawke type of guy is sitting behind the computer, starting it up. Just as the Windows98 logo has gone, a dialog box pops up, reading: "Goodmoring, Gregg. What’s the magic word?" Gregg mumbles disapproving and types in a thirteen-letter word, instead of letters little stars (*) appear in the dialog box. The Windows desktop appears. Gregg puts the black zip-disk in the drive and tries to see what’s on it. But when he’s checking the content, he starts to moan in disbelief. The camera focuses on a part of the screen saying: "Drive E: no items, 100mb of free disk space." Gregg gets up, his face shows first disappointment, then anger and then fear. He picks up the cell-phone on his desk and dials a number.

GREGG: It’s me – the disk has been erased – let me talk to him – what do you mean switched? – Alright, I’ll check the label [Gregg goes to MS-DOS in his computer, types some stuff, then the screen reads: "disk has no label"] You labeled it, that doesn’t prove shit, man - It’s all been useless - You really think they switched it? – Even if they did, somebody already knows what we know, and I don’t like that. At all. – When are you going to get here? – Alright. I’ll be here. Just hurry, will you. – Yeah, bye.

Gregg puts the phone down and looks at his screen again. Then he gets a hooded sweater from his bed, puts it on and leaves his room. The camera focuses on the closed door, with the Apple-add poster with a picture of Picasso and the words "Think Different".

 

SCENE 4

Interior high building. We see an old man – the Cigarette Smoking Man’s so-called friend - from the back talking into a phone, he is standing in front of a window somewhere in Washington D.C. We can see The Capitol in the distance. We hear the phone conversation, but it’s too soft to understand what he’s saying. The camera moves towards a desk, where we see a younger man sitting behind a computer. We see the back of a black zip-disk sticking into the computer. On the screen pictures of cartoon-like aliens quickly follow each other. The guy behind the computer sighs deeply, reaching for a large mug of coffee. The camera moves to the old man again, and this time we can hear him speaking.

OLD MAN: He obviously switched the disks. What do you want me to do? – Alright, I’ll get back to you later.

He hangs up the phone and looks at the computer screen, where we see a large picture of ET and the words "Take me to your leader." The old man smiles vaguely.

OLD MAN: Come on. We’re going to water somebody’s plants.

 

SCENE 5

Interior FBI-building. Angela and Scully are walking through a hallway. Angela is wearing her overall with a T-shirt. An FBI-visitor badge is clipped to the overall. Angela is looking confident and excited.

ANGELA VO: I never imagined what the FBI-building would look like from the inside. It really looks like just another dull office building, there are no screaming policemen, coffee ladies, ringing phones or anything. Closed doors, silence and it’s incredibly clean. [pauses, smiling] My mom would love it.

They’re walking towards an elevator. Scully pushes the down-button.

SCULLY: So, forensics is not really your style, is it?

ANGELA: No, I’m not really into microscopes and stuff like that. All though I like the way those people work, analyzing stuff in like every single microscopic detail. Only I’d lose the microscope.

SCULLY: That’s one way to say it. [smiling] A way that agent Mulder would certainly approve of. [elevator opens, they step in, Scully pushes the button "-3"] And that’s only one reason for why they put *his* office in the depths of the FBI-underworld.

Elevator door closes. CUT to basement hallway. It’s a badly lit as last night when Gregg was walking there. Angela looks curious at all the closed doors.

ANGELA VO: Upstairs was weird, but this basement is even weirder. I mean, can you actually live 40 feet beneath the face of earth?

They come to Mulder’s door and Scully gets a key ring out of her pocket. She opens the door.

SCULLY: Well, here we are. Mulder-world. I’m one of the very few people who is allowed to come here. With a visa, that is. [pauses] And a key.

As the door opens further Scully and Angela go in and Scully turns on a light. Angela looks around and doesn’t dare to move, as if she would disturb the dark silence that was here before they opened the door. The camera pans (once again) through the room. We see the bulletin board with the newspaper clippings and unrecognizable Xeroxed photographs. The file cabinet is closed, the desk is cleaned-up. The sign Scully steps in the room, a little surprised herself. Angela follows her. They look a little like two people who have no business stepping into somebody else’s office.

ANGELA: [amazed] So, you guys really work here? With like, no windows? At all.

SCULLY: Well, actually I only come and visit agent Mulder once in a while to take him outside, to the real world. [pauses, smiling] But this is the place where Mulder analyzes things in every single microscopic detail. And without a microscope.

ANGELA: [smiling] But it’s so spooky down here.

SCULLY: Yeah, but "spooky" is probably Mulder’s Indian name.

ANGELA: [walking around, pointing at the file cabinet] And that is where all these so-called X-files are kept?

SCULLY: At least the ones Mulder has a more or less slight interest in. [pauses, looking thoughtful] When you think about it, you could see this office as the subconscious of the FBI. It’s muffled away in the basement, hard to reach and there are all these unsolved cases, that no one wants to deal with. [smiling] And then there Mulder, poking around in this subconscious like a real bad nightmare. [pauses] Mulder will love this thought.

ANGELA: [looking at the big "I want to believe" poster] So you’re saying that they don’t like what you and agent Mulder do? But they’re like your bosses, right?

SCULLY: [hesitating, like she doesn’t want to say too much] Well, sometimes it’s easier to forget about things that lack an easy explanation. Agent Mulder is here to remind the FBI not to think too easy. [pauses]

ANGELA: And you?

SCULLY: I’m here to make sure that Mulder’s nightmarish way of working gets a little more substantial. So that his thoughts can exist outside this office, too. [more cheerful] So, now you want to shoot some paper guys, before we get all spooky ourselves?

ANGELA VO: [still looking around, while nodding at Scully] It was like this attic of this real old house. Like the attics in those exciting children’s books. An attic full of secrets. But this office was like so much better. [staring at a vague picture of an u.f.o.] Because the secrets hidden here were real. [follows Scully out of the room, the door closes slowly, Angela looks around into the dark room once again] And probably huge.

Then the door finally closes and we hear Scully lock it. The screen fades to black.

 

SCENE 6

Interior hallway appartment building. A guy in black pants and a black leather jacket stands near a door. He’s wearing leather gloves. It’s the same man that sat behind the computer with the Cigarette Smoking Man’s "friend". The man opens the door with some burglar’s device kind of thing and quickly sneaks into the apartment. It’s during the day, but in the apartment all the curtains are closed. Some light enters the main room in a stream, that typical X-files way. The camera pans through the room and reveals the well-known leather couch of Mulder’s. It’s clear we are at his place. The burglar looks around the room, walks over to a desk with a computer and opens some drawers. When he doesn’t find what he’s looking for, his way becomes more violent. He pulls the drawers out of the desk and turns them upside down. He walks over to Mulder’s coffee table and shoves the stack of magazines and papers to the ground. The camera zooms in on the coffee table and when it zooms out, we see that Mulder’s place is a total mess. Books and papers are all on the floor, a chair is pushed upside down and more stuff like that. The burglar is sitting on the couch, taking out a cell phone and pushes a number.

BURGLAR: It’s not here, I’m positive about that. - Should I go over to her place? - Fine, with me. - OK

He puts the cell phone away, stands up and leaves quietly.

 

SCENE 7

Interior shooting practice hall, FBI-building. It’s a big space with ten booths, so shooters don’t bother each other while practicing. The paper silhouettes are hanging fifty feet from the booths. Scully and Angela are standing in the first booth. They have just put on the yellow plastic glasses and look a little funny. Scully checks the guns that are lying in front of them, on a shelf. She unlocks the safety hatches. Scully hands Angela a gun. Angela is surprised by the weight of it. Scully pushes a button and "their" paper silhouette comes closer, to a distance of 30 feet. Scully picks up the other gun.

SCULLY: Well, it’s pretty easy. You hold it like this. [she holds the gun in front of her, using both hands] You aim and then you pull the trigger. Try it.

ANGELA: [a little excited] OK

Angela steps forward in the booth, puts on the ear guards. Now she looks even more silly. She aims the gun carefully and then she shoots it. Angela jumps up a little, surprised by the effect the force of the bullit leaving the gun has on her body. The loud sound of the gunshot echos in the hall. She looks at Scully in surprise.

ANGELA: [loud, not realizing she wears ear protection] What a blast. I can’t imagine you can control that kind of power. I probably hit the paper guy in lane eight.

SCULLY: [stepping forward, lifting one of Angela’s ear guards, smiling] Well, you’d be surprised. Try again, hold the gun more firmly.

Angela aims again. Camera takes over her point of view and focuses on the paper silhouette, which is covered with white circles, indicating vulnerable body parts.

ANGELA VO: While I was staring at that paper guy, suddenly a shiver went through my entire body. A pleasant shiver. And that scared me a little, ‘cause shooting people up isn’t supposed to be fun or anything. Even if they’re just made of paper. [pauses] But then again, if Danielle likes playing Tomb Raider at Ryan’s - [pauses, grim look] Whatever.

Still Angela’s point of view. Right after she said "whatever" a gunshot rings and at the same second we see a hole in the piece of paper, a few inches from the head. Another shot rings - in the stomach, another one - two inches from the head, another one - in the head and the final one goes into the shoulder. The paper silhouette comes closer and the camera takes a shot of Angela’s face, looking bewildered. She takes off the ear guards and looks at Scully.

SCULLY: [approving] You certainly did a good job.

ANGELA: [proud] I did? [pauses, uncertain smile] Well, I have hold guns before. Only they were either empty or filled with water.

SCULLY: [replacing the paper with a new one] So, you want to try again?

ANGELA: [looking at the gun] Definitely.

Scully pushes the button and the paper silhouette moves away, now to the orginal distance of fifty feet. The camera focuses on it, because of the speed it moves with the paper seems to float a little.

ANGELA VO: [softly, off-screen] The people were made of paper. [on screen, ear guards on, aiming the gun, grim look again] Like paper dolls.

Right after the last word the screen fades to black and a very loud (louder than before) gunshot rings over the black screen.

 

SCENE 8

Exterior mountains. The gunshot from the scene before becomes the sound of a very loud roaring waterfall. After a beautiful shot from the waterfall, the camera pans to a big rock, against which Mulder is sitting. His eyes are closed, he looks tired. A half-eaten bar of chocolate rests on his thigh. Then the real out of place sound of a phone ringing disturbs this peaceful picture. Mulder opens his eyes and reaches for his backpack. At the fourth ring, he’s found the cell phone.

MULDER: Park Ranger one, I read you, come in.

The camera switches to a dark room and Beyers, one of the three Lone Gunmen is on the phone. *** digression for the Lifers not too familiar with the X-files: the Lone Gunmen are three so-called geeks, completely obsessed with computers, science and much more. They’re Mulder’s friends and help him out sometimes, if he needs help on some case. Their names are Langley, Beyers and Frohike. And they’re one of those cool X-Files treasures. Beyers has a small beard and has dark brown hair, Langley has long blond hair, glasses and looks the weirdest, Frohike is a little older, a little bold and a little fat - but he’s the cutest, in my humble opinion. *** During the phone conversation, we mostly stay at Mulder’s outdoor scene.

BEYERS: This is serious, Mulder. It’s about the disk you gave us.

MULDER: You wouldn’t know how much I don’t want to hear about the disk. Are you the hiking type of guy, Beyers?

BEYERS: Not really. About the disk, Mulder.

MULDER: [sighs] Alright then. What about it?

BEYERS: The encryption was really tough. But we know what’s on it. And we know who made it. [pauses]

MULDER: Well, are you building the tension, or what. Tell me.

BEYERS: Some graduate biology student made it. He did some research on bees and somehow he found out about some bees that carry viruses.

MULDER: We’ve heard that before.

BEYERS: But, this guy has proof. The disk contains pictures of bees, places he found them, and he even managed to analyze the virus it was carrying.

MULDER: [eager] What was it?

BEYERS: Smallpox. And the bees were all found near governmental institutions for biomedical research. [pauses] I mean, bees spreading *smallpox*. We thought they were working on that, but now we know for sure.

MULDER: [excited] How good is the proof?

BEYERS: Well, if he still has some of the actual bees, it’s good enough. [pauses] Here’s a chance, Mulder.

MULDER: I’m coming back right now.

BEYERS: Sorry to spoil your trip.

MULDER: [looks around] Well, actually it is kind of beautiful here. [pauses] But that’s just too bad. I’ll be back tomorrow somewhere in the afternoon. If I can get a ride from a park ranger, that is. You know where that student lives?

BEYERS: Not yet, but I’m sure we can find that out.

MULDER: Do that and stop by. I don’t want him to disappear. And don’t get noticed. Our student might be a subject of interest to other people too.

BEYERS: Sure. See you tomorrow Mulder.

MULDER: You’re buying the beer this time.

He puts the phone away and looks at the waterfall again, thinking. Then he puts the chocolate and the phone in his backpack, puts in on and walks away.

 

SCENE 9

Exterior sidewalk cafe. Scully and Angela are sitting under a colored parasol. Two finished empty Pepsi-glasses are on the table. Angela moves a little so she completely sits in the sun. She puts on her sunglasses.

ANGELA: So, where did you grow up?

SCULLY: Well, I was born here in Washington. But my father was in the navy, which means I spent my most of my childhood in on a navy-base in San Francisco.

ANGELA: [interested] Really? What’s that like?

SCULLY: Small, good, fun. You know everybody. [pauses] But in the end it was kind of choking me. Such a small community, everybody is in the navy. My brother joined the navy, too. At some point, it just was enough. I needed to break free. Get a life of my own. In the real world.

ANGELA: [thoughtful, leaning back] Sometimes I think of Three Rivers like that. It is actually a pretty small town and there’s like nothing important going on. But somehow nobody seems to care that much. [voice over] And I’d like to get a life of my own. [pauses, aloud] I mean, everybody seems so satisfied with living in a small town. And Pittsburgh is near. But I hate Pittsburgh.

SCULLY: Well, you can always apply for a college that’s not in Pittsburgh. At least, that’s what I did. I came back here to study medicine. To get away from the navy base. That was kind of drastic. But it felt good. Then my father died and my mother and my sister came back east too. And we were all home again. [pauses, changing the subject] Do you have any idea what you want to do after high school?

ANGELA VO: [her face tightens] I felt like such a shallow person. Again. I have no life and no future. I mean, how shallow can you actually get? [aloud, a little embarrassed] I don’t know. [sighs] You know, I just haven’t found a thing that I actually love doing. [voice over] Except obsessing over my shallow, pathetic life. But that’s more of a compulsion than a hobby.

SCULLY: [smiling, putting a hand on Angela’s arm in a reassuring way] Hey, cheer up. It’s completely fine that you don’t know that yet. But after today, I have to say that you’d probably make a great sniper.

ANGELA: [laughing a little, comforted by Scully’s hand] I can’t wait to tell my mom. Danielle would love it. [voice over] That’s one option. Shooting people for a job. [smiling to herself] Weird.

SCULLY: [standing up] Come on, let’s go for a ride.

Angela stands up, fastening one of the straps of her overalls, that went loose. She puts the sunglasses in her pocket. The waiter, a young guy, comes to take their glasses.

WAITER: [cheerful] You know they say that meeting two red-head sisters on a sunny day, brings one week of happiness.

Scully and Angela stare at him in surprise.

ANGELA: You actually think –

SCULLY: - that we are –

ANGELA &

SCULLY: [together] sisters?

They both laugh, which makes Scully look a lot younger. Now it’s the waiter’s turn to look in surprise.

WAITER: So, you’re not?

ANGELA: [still laughing a little] No, but we hope you’ll get a week of happiness, anyway. [looking at Scully] Don’t we?

SCULLY: [cheerful] Sure, we do. And thanks for the compliment.

ANGELA: [cheerful] Me too.

They start to walk away. Camera focuses on the waiter, who watches them leave.

WAITER: You’re welcome. [pauses] I guess.

 

SCENE 10

Interior Gregg’s room. Gregg and a girl, with half-long blond hair in a short ponytail and about 20 years old, are sitting on the bed. She looks a lot like Becky from "Roseanne", only more mature. The computer is on, showing that real silly "flying windows" screensaver. Softly we hear the song "Round Here" by Counting Crows coming from a stereo. The blond girl is leaning against the wall, with her eyes closed. Gregg looks tired; he rubs his eyes and stands up to walk around the room. The girl is mumbling along with the song. At a certain part, she sings louder.

GIRL: [singing] She knows she’s more than a little misunderstood. She has trouble acting normal. [loud] Well *I* have trouble acting normal. But round here –

Then the door opens and Brian Krakow comes in, carrying two pizza boxes. The girl stops singing and opens her eyes.

GREGG: [enthusiast] Food. Great.

Brian puts the pizza boxes on the floor. He amazingly fits in with these older people. A lot better than he does with his peers at Liberty.

BRIAN: [serious] So, the pizza guy didn’t look suspicious or anything. And there we’re out of place looking cars parked in front of the house. I think we’d better stop worrying.

GREGG: Sure. As long as that disk is gone, I’m not gonna stop worrying. [pauses] Why haven’t we heard from Mulder yet? I mean, that encryption code wasn’t that hard to break. I can’t believe we got into anything this big.

The girl is still leaning against the wall with her eyes closed. Gregg pulls her leg, she immediately opens her eyes and tries to kick him.

GREGG: Your pizza is getting cold, Karen.

KAREN: [flat voice] Moron.

She gets down from the bed; they all sit on the floor now. Brian opens one box.

KAREN: [eager] Alright! Tuna and olives, I love it.

BRIAN: Fish is considered to be brain food, right?

GREGG: Like we haven’t already enough food for thought.

KAREN: That’s not just the same thing, Gregg. I think we all could use a little brain food. To get our heads straight. [pauses, gets a slice and takes a bite] This is good. But really. Let’s go over it one more time. And forget about the paranoia this time. You [looking at Gregg] delivered the disk at the FBI-building. And then what?

GREGG: [swallows] Well, I like was going to hand the disk at over at this reception kind of desk. But at that moment this big bold man, with glasses came in and heard me mention Mulder’s name to the receptionist. He said he’d give it to him, ‘cause he was going to see him right away. I was nervous, but I gave him the envelope.

BRIAN: And the receptionist called this man "sir", right?

GREGG: Right. But that doesn’t say anything. From that moment there are two options. The man gave Mulder the disk or he didn’t.

KAREN: Come on, Gregg. It was probably a colleague of Mulder’s. He gave Mulder the disk. But you got all paranoid and went back the same night. I still can’t believe they bought it that you were some agent’s kid and you were going to surprise your father.

GREGG: [casual, but proud] It took me the whole afternoon to find somebody with my last name and the proper age to be my bad. When I found that out, my college I.D. was enough to convince them. They even gave me one of those visitors’ badges. Pretty cool, huh?

BRIAN: [interrupting] You found Mulder’s office and then these other guys came. But you didn’t see them.

GREGG: I found a place to hide, before they caught me trying to open Mulder’s door. But they got in and could have taken the disk. And left another one. [pointing at the computer] That one.

BRIAN: It just doesn’t make sense. Mulder must have gotten the disk. Why else would he leave another one at his desk for grabs. I mean, told you about him, ‘cause I know he’s smart and all. I think he took the disk with him and left another one in his office to fool anyone else.

GREGG: But why? You think he de-crypted it right away, read what was on it, thought it made sense and figured somebody else might be interested in it too? [pauses, mocking a sarcastic] You think he’s *that* smart?

BRIAN: [sighs] I don’t know. Maybe he assumed it was important and left another disk just in case. And now the other guys got Mulder’s fake disk and we got theirs.

KAREN: [triumphant] Ergo: Mulder has got our disk. Nice way of thinking Brian.

Karen holds up her hand and she and Brian high-five. Brian does it a little clumsy, but he manages to smile. Gregg looks at them, faking feeling unwell.

GREGG: Maybe you’re right. You’re deduction is pretty good for a sophomore, Brian. [pauses] So, now we’re waiting for a phone call from Mulder, right?

KAREN: Yes. [pushes his shoulder] And now turn up the music and get us something to drink, you lousy host.

Gregg gets up and turns the music louder. It’s still Counting Crows, but it’s a different song: "Angels of the silences". Karen - this is obviously her kind of music - starts to sing along with the music right away. Brian lies back, smiling and eating pizza.

KAREN: [singing loud] Come back, to you. All my innocence is just wasted oh, didn’t dream it.

Gregg gets a bottle of coke from a little fridge in a corner of the room. From a closet, in which we also see his clothes, he gets three glasses and fills them up. He puts the bottle back in the fridge and just as he closes it, we hear a loud knock on the door. They all look scared at each other. Brian – the closest to the door – gets up and turns the key, which was still in the lock.

GREGG: [firmly] Who is it?

VOICE: [not too loud] A friend.

Gregg looks at Karen, then at Brian, as he wants them to tell him what to do.

GREGG: What do you want?

VOICE: You to let me in, for starters. Mulder sent me.

Gregg looks really surprised. Karen is pointing to let him in. Brian looks still a little afraid.

VOICE: Bumblebeehive.

At the sound of that word, their faces look relieved and Gregg unlocks the door and opens it. It’s Beyers.

GREGG: [little nervous] Come in.

BEYERS: Hello. [looking around] I’m Beyers. You must be Karen, Gregg and Brian.

KAREN: Right. You’re with the FBI too?

BEYERS: [smiling] Not really, but he gave me the disk, so me and my friends could take a look at it.

BRIAN: [worried] You’re *not* with the FBI? Why did he give you the disk?

BEYERS: The same reasons why you just didn’t go to the local police department with your findings. [pauses] Here’s the situation. We read most of the disk, but we think it needs some work. And of course we need the hard proof: the bees, the virus extractions et cetera. Mulder is coming back tomorrow. We still have some work to do, before he gets here. The sooner we’re done, the better

GREGG: What do the other people know?

BEYERS: What other people?

GREGG: The people that broke into Mulder’s office.

BEYERS: [surprised] They did? How do you know that?

GREGG: Because I was there, trying to get the disk back.

BEYERS: [interested] You have to tell me all about that later. But the "other" people only found a disk full of weird pictures and a very sneaky virus - designed by me - which will totally screw up their computer. Totally.

Karen smiles. Brian is looking a little nervous.

BRIAN: So, there are actually *other* people, right?

BEYERS: Oh, yes. [pauses] And they’re not the right people to mess around with. And since they’ll soon find out who you are, you’d better start packing your toothbrush, because you’re going to spend the night somewhere else.

KAREN: [ironic, but in a good way] Cool, sleepover. [steely look at Beyers] Maybe you could show me that virus you were talking about.

Beyers looks a little uncomfortable by the flirty tone of Karen’s voice.

GREGG: Cut it out, Karen. [to Beyers] You think they’d come looking for the disk here?

BEYERS: That’s why I want to get you out of here in the first place. I’d say, you’d remove everything from your computer that has anything to do with the bees and the smallpox. Where are the actual bees and stuff?

GREGG: Hidden in our basement. We’ll pick them up on the way out.

Gregg starts to work at his computer, saving files to a disk and then deleting them from the harddisk.

BEYERS: I haven’t said it yet, but I really think you guys did something amazing. How did you find it?

KAREN: Gregg and I were doing some research on bees in Pittsburgh. Like how bees are affected by large industries. Gregg is a graduate student, I was his assistant. [explaining] I’m only in my third year of biology. [pauses]

Shot of Karen and Gregg, wearing kaki clothes, walking around a field full of wild flowers. They walks towards a tree. And Karen points up to a small hive on a branch, about eight feet from the ground. During this shot, we hear Karen talking in voice over.

KAREN VO: One day we found a complete, wild hive with all dead bees. It was pure luck, I guess. After examination we found that something was wrong, in stead of the natural venom bees carry, these bees had something different.

Karen and Gregg look around the tree, trying to find a way to get up to the hive. Then Gregg finds a spot with a couple of hundred dead bees and living ants crawling over them. It looks real gross.

KAREN VO: Since we’re not actually chemistry wizards, we tried to get somebody at Pittsburgh University to analyze it. Nobody was going to help us.

CUT from bee-site to the dorm-room. Karen is still talking, Beyers is listening with big interest.

KAREN: [smiling at Brian, then looking at Beyers again] Brian is attending some geek pre-college chemistry course and that’s how he got involved. It took him some time to find out about the smallpox-virus and then it took him some time to convince himself and us. That how it all started. [pauses, looks at Brian again, smiling] Actually, you deserve most of the credit.

Brian looks a little embarrassed. He avoids Beyers’ look.

BRIAN: I just analysed what they gave. The dead bees were only the first ones. But they found them, again and again. At all these different places.

GREGG: [turning off the computer] Yeah. [fake voice] But we couldn’t have done it if we hadn’t acted like a team. [serious] Let’s get going.

Brian and Karen get their small backpacks from behind the bed. Gregg puts some computer disks in a plastic bag and then they’re off. The door closes and the camera focuses again at the Picasso/Think Different poster.

 

SCENE 11

Interior Scully’s apartment. Scully’s bedroom. Angela is sitting on Scully’s bed, wearing the huge T-shirt and sleeping shorts. Her is a little wet, like she’s just had a shower or a bath. The TV is on. Angela is absent-mindedly looking at MTV; R.E.M.’s "Daysleeper" is on. She has a faint smile on her face. She rolls on her stomach and as she hears Scully coming in she rolls over on her back. Scully comes in wearing silk pajamas. In her hands she has a carton of Ben & Jerry’s and two spoons. Even though this whole picture looks extremely un-Angela and un-Scully, they both seem perfectly comfortable with it.

ANGELA: [laughing, excited] I can’t believe you actually *like* Ally McBeal.

SCULLY: Well, it *is* one of my darker sides. So, don’t tell anyone. [pauses, sits down on the bed]. So do you like this flavour? It’s the one with the caramel fudge fishes in it.

ANGELA: Caramel fudge fishes; that sounds cool. My dad would love it. [pauses] Bet we finish that carton before the third commercial break.

SCULLY: Is that a bet or an assumption?

ANGELA: I don’t know.

Angela gets up and seats herself next to Scully against the headboard of the bed. Scully reaches for the remote control of the TV/VCR combo. Angela gets a spoonful of ice cream and looks for the fudge fishes.

ANGELA: [holding the spoon up to Scully, giggling a little] Look, here’s one cute little fishy. [inserts the spoon in her mouth, full mouth] Hmmm. This is good. [swallows] Isn’t fish supposed to be brain food?

SCULLY: [laughing] You’re right, give me that carton.

Angela hands Scully the carton. Before Scully gets any ice cream, she pushes the remote and we hear Ally’s voice saying: "previously on Ally McBeal." De TV-sound fades and some happy, slow MSCL-music comes up as the camera focuses on Angela and Scully. Angela laughs – but the music over takes all sounds and we don’t hear her. Scully says something to her with a fake strict look, but then has to laugh herself. Angela puts her finger on lips – as to ask for silence - and points at the TV. The camera moves away to the windows with closed curtains and after a few seconds it pans back to the bed. The ice-cream carton is empty and stands – with the two spoons in it - next to Scully’s alarm clock, which indicates 11.45. Scully is sitting where Angela was sitting and Angela lies on her back with her head on the end of the back, staring at the ceiling. Her hair is drier now. The feel of the picture has changed from big fun to more serious. Angela is talking and Scully is listening.

ANGELA: But, you know, I actually spent all year obsessing over Jordan and now that I actually *got* him, it all seems less worthwhile. In one stupid way or another. [blushes] Not always, of course. [pauses] But days like yesterday are exceptions. And even now I wonder if it was great, because I wanted it so much to be great or that it actually was great. Like in itself, or whatever. [pauses] I mean, the fun things are still fun, but the last couple of weeks I didn’t see Jordan a lot, and I didn’t mind. I actually liked it. And I say the word "actually" way too much. [pauses, not expecting an answer, sighs] And in some way I got the feeling that he knows it. On some level. And that it is slowly sipping into a conscious level. It’s only a matter of time before he realizes I just kept him lingering along. [pauses] But I can’t just break up with Jordan. That’s like impossible. And the thought of going back to school in four weeks makes me almost physically ill.

Angela turns around – her head is at the head of the bed again – and looks at Scully.

ANGELA: Ally would totally screw up in a situation like this. And so will I.

SCULLY: [smiling reassuringly] No you won’t. Or maybe just a little. [sighs] What am I talking about? I don’t know *what* you should do. If you’re certain you feel this way about Jordan, well, then you know what you probably should do. And you shouldn’t be dealing with it too long. I mean, I *do* know what it feels like to drag your feelings around for years.

ANGELA: [interested] You do?

SCULLY: [laughing] Yes, I do. It’s a long story. Some other time. [pauses] You want a sleepover?

Angela looks pleasantly surprised.

ANGELA: Sure. I love sleepovers.

SCULLY: The bed is certainly big enough. And we’ll talk some more in the dark.

ANGELA: [smiling] Good. I’ll go and brush my teeth. Back in a minute.

Angela gets off the bed and leaves the room. When Angela is gone, Scully gets up and picks up the ice cream carton and walks slowly out of the room.

 

SCENE 12

Interior cheap looking diner, same as we saw before. It’s dark outside, inside are just a few customers. The Cigarette Smoking Man and the other old man are drinking coffee. The CSM lights up a cigarette and inhales deeply. He speaks with his usual full of subtle contempt voice.

CSM: [slowly] So, your trips didn’t quite do the job, did they?

OLD MAN: [uncertain] Mulder hasn’t got the disk anymore. Or he took it with him to the mountains.

CSM: To do what? Bury it in some National Park? [pauses] I want to know exactly what’s on the disk, so we can make a proper damage estimate. [pauses, gets a piece of paper out of his pocket] Here’s the address of the college kid; maybe you’ll find something there.

OLD MAN: Why bother looking? What happened to the old methods?

CSM: [subtle contempt isn’t subtle anymore] The old methods are *old*. We have to keep this extremely low profile. [pauses] Before we take any actions, I want to know what those kids know. Plausible denial might not work here and there simple is no time or money to replace or rebuild our research sites. Times have changed. Biological warfare isn’t exactly an appealing issue to the American people. So we don’t want them to find out, that we’re spending their tax dollars on dirty weapons.

OLD MAN: And we can’t just get rid of these college kids?

CSM: That’s also an old method. But that one might just be going through a revival.

The CSM puts his half-burnt cigarette in the ashtray.

CSM: Find the disk. Then we’ll talk again.

 

SCENE 13

Interior Scully’s bedroom. It’s dark but not too dark, so we can still see Angela and Scully lying in bed. The digital alarm clock read "01.45". Scully is on the left side of the bed. They are both lying on their backs, staring at the ceiling. Angela yawns.

ANGELA: I can hardly keep my eyes open anymore.

SCULLY: That’s it then. We should have been asleep hours ago. [pauses, sweet voice] Goodnight Angela.

ANGELA: [yawns again] Goodnight.

They both turn on their side, facing away from each other. The camera focuses on Angela, who just closes her eyes. Then an acoustic guitar fades in. It’s the song "Quiet Little Place" by K’s Choice. It’s a real simple, slow, acoustic song. The song gains volume and during the three minutes it’s lasting, we get to see shots of most characters. (** note: the lyrics go with the shots right beneath it. So: new lyrics mean at the same time new shot. Got it, :-) ?**)

In this quiet little place,

I can’t remember having known a different pace

In this quiet little place,

I can surrender to the beauty of its face

Angela opens her eyes again. She tries to find a good part of the pillow with her head, and then she lays her head down and smiles. And closes her eyes again.

And now everything I see

Whether it’s an airplane or a tree

It makes me wonder

Shot of Mulder drinking coffee in the departure hall of some small, deserted airport. He’s looking tired, but his face shows a hint of smile.

About the things I must have missed

About the chains around my wrists

They are no longer

Shot of Jordan driving through the night over a well-lit highway. The top is up, his face is expressionless. He overtakes a white tanker truck and then the highway is empty again.

In this quiet little place

I can’t imagine what it’s like to be back home

Shot of Danielle and Cindy sitting in a tent. They’re shining torches at each other and making funny faces.

Where they care about what time it is

And spend their days answering the phone

Shot of Graham and Patty sleeping peacefully in each other’s arms in a rather small bed, as the camera moves up a little we see an incredibly corny painting of a mother duck with six little ducks.

And now everything I feel

Whether it’s fiction or it’s real

It’s so much clearer

Shot of the burglar-guy standing in Gregg’s room. He’s disconnecting the computer. It takes a while, but then he leaves with the midi-tower and a small bag with disks.

Like the color of this light

It seems more dangerous and bright

But I don’t fear her

And slowly it fades, I’m back in the race

I have to fight it, I know

I don’t want to go away

Long shot of all three Lone Gunmen and Brian, Gregg and Karen. They’re in a room with some computers, a microscope and other lab-stuff. A black and white clock on a wall shows that it’s 4.30 in the morning. Brian and Langley (with the long blond hair) are looking at some test tubes and microscopic slides. Gregg and Beyers are working at different computers, which are showing statistics. Frohike (the bold one) is going through a stack of photographs and Karen is sitting next to him putting dead bees in small tubes. The table is filled with coffee mugs, a bottle of coke and an empty muffin box.

In this quiet little place

You run your fingers through my hair and whisper "Hey"

And no matter how I try

I can’t seem to think of anything better to say

Final shot, interior bedroom Scully. Camera focuses on her sleeping face with a peaceful expression on it. Then the camera takes some distance and we see that Angela turns around in her sleep, her face now looking at the back of Scully’s head. The music fades out, and so does the screen. Fade to black.

TO BE CONTINUED...

 

Some notes on the music I used:

"Quiet little place" by K’s Choice is from their album "Cocoon Crash" (1998). You should really look around for that album. It’s worth it. Definitely.

"Round here" and "Angels of the Silences" by Counting Crows can be found on their incredible live-CD "Across a wire, live in New York City." Another so-called unmissable album.

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Summer Break - Part 3 by Jeroen de Jong
Published: 1997 | Size: 61 KB (11753 words) | Language: english english | Rating: PG-13
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MSCL / X-Files Crossover

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“Lately, I can't even look at my mother without wanting to stab her repeatedly.”

Angela Chase, Episode 1: "My So-Called Life (Pilot)"