Shadow

Mulder talking to himself: "Most men live their whole life as a whole man; in control of their whole mind. Some men trade away a part of their mind for wealth or health or peace of mind. I've had a piece of my mind stolen from me. I want back what I once took for granted, I need to be once more in control, but each step I take to recapture what I have lost pushes me further away. In some philosophical traditions it is taught that motion only comes once complete stillness is attained. If I wait and watch will my captors forget their duty and let me slip from my bonds? If I wait too long will anything of me remain?"

The Lone Gunmen approach the door to Mulder's apartment. Frohike says, "Three, answer two, one, answer three." Langly knocks three times on the door, "Rap, rap, rap." They wait. They look at each other. Byers raises his arm to knock again, but Frohike jumps up and grabs his fist. Inside, Mulder looks through the peep hole and knocks twice on the door. Langly smiles at Byers and Frohike and knocks one more time. They hear Mulder give just two more knocks. Langly looks at Byers in horror and mouths, "Two knocks?"

Frohike shouts, "Run for it!" and takes off down the hallway. Mulder opens the door and pulls Langly inside.

Byers strolls in calmly, and says to Langly, "I told you it was 3-2-1-2."

Mulder looks down the hall for Frohike, sees nothing, and closes the door, throwing two dead bolts. Mulder says, "Tell me again why we need a pass code for a poker game?" Mulder, Byers, and Langly sit down at a card table and start buying poker chips from the bank.

Langly says, "It was Frohike's idea. Man, has he been acting weird."

Byers and Langly keep looking at each other and giving each other signals with their eyes and gesturing towards Mulder. Byers says, "I tried to tell him that there's no need for a code."

Mulder looks up from counting his poker chips and sees them each trying to get the other to ask Mulder something. Just then Frohike knocks at the door. Mulder sighs and goes to the door and lets him in.

Frohike looks at Mulder sheepishly and hold up a six pack. "Forgot the beer in the van." Mulder takes the beer.

Langly and Byers are still arguing quietly when Mulder and Frohike come over and join them at the card table. Mulder puts the beer on the table and Frohike throws down a twenty. Frohike says, "Hey, Fox, what's wrong with the Yanks this year?"

Mulder gives Frohike some poker chips and while Mulder is looking down counting chips Byers and Langly and Frohike are all silently mouthing to each other and gesturing towards Mulder. Mulder says, "There's nothing wrong with the Yankees that another 200 million can't fix." Mulder looks at each of the three. "Come on, guys, what is it?"

Byers says, "Truth is Mulder, Langly has not been well, either."

Langly says, "Hey, you're worse off than me, man. He's been wetting his bed." Mulder can't stop a grin from reaching his face. "Really, he pissed in his bed!"

Mulder says, "Did I ever tell you this? First week at the academy, they show us this set of crime scene images. Blood and body parts. It gave me a nightmare and I messed my bed. Literally scared the-"

Langly pops open a beer bottle and foam squirts out all over Mulder. "Damn! Sorry, man." Mulder goes to the kitchen and gets a towel. As soon as Mulder leaves the room, Byers, Langly and Frohike are whispering frantically.

Mulder comes back to the table and Byers asks, "How about you Mulder, how are you doing, now?"

Mulder picks up a deck of cards and sets it in front of Byers, who cuts the deck. Mulder says, "Five card draw." He deals the cards. "No better than last week. In fact, I'm probably worse. You know- Ante up." They all put a chip in the middle of the table. "For a while I was sure that Dana was on the Moon. Now I do not feel that any more. I've lost her, totally lost the connection."

Langly says, "Pass".

Frohike asks, "Connection?" And adds, "Pass."

Byers shrugs and says, "Spooky Mulder. Pass."

Mulder says, "I don't know, I just feel it." He bets a chip and everyone stays in.

Langly discards, "Three."

Frohike says, "Three." Byers takes three and Mulder takes four cards.

Frohike observes, "He has an ace up his sleeve."

Byers asks Mulder, "Any word from your sources in the Bureau about that missing artifact?"

"I saw Doggett a couple of days ago. The artifact is gone without a trace. The crew members of the Floreana were in better shape when they reappeared than we were. They have not been having the same problems we developed after getting back. No flashbacks. No sleep disruption. "

Langly throws his cards down, "Fold."

Frohike comments, "Such bravery. I bet 25." He throws a chip into the pot.

Mulder has been struggling with a vague memory of something Scully said on the Moon. Or was it something she had said many years ago? Mulder asks, "Do any of you remember Scully talking about a way for us to remember what had happened to us? A way to prevent the clones from erasing our memories?"

Byers says, "I'm in," And adds to the pot.

Langly says, "All I remember is Scully saying she was going to stay with the clones."

Frohike says, "Do you really remember her saying that or did the clones tell us that?"

Byers warns Frohike, "Don't start that again."

Mulder says, "Your 25, another 25."

Frohike says, "Oooo. A pair of aces? I'm all a tremble. 25. Call. "

Byers starts to sweat profusely. Frohike kicks Langly under the table. "Byers is nervous about losing his lunch money again."

Mulder looks at Byers with concern. "You alright, Byers?

Byers' hand slowly moves to pick up a chip, and then he flips it into the pot. "Drugs!" He blurts out, and then sits panting.

Mulder gets out of his chair and does a little victory dance. "Yes!" He pumps his arm. "Scully said it would be possible to block the memory erasure with drugs. Byers, what is that stuff you take?"

Byers wipes sweat of his brow. "Amantadine."

Mulder snaps his fingers, "Right. What if the amantadine in your system kept some of your memories intact? What else do you remember?" Byers starts to get very dizzy. Mulder is still excitedly pacing around behind Byers and can't see the green color of his face. Frohike is watching Mulder and Langly is staring at Byers with sick fascination. Mulder pounds a fist in his palm, "There was something else. Something about her...brain."

Frohike says, "Brain?"

Langly asks, "Her brain cancer?"

Mulder puts a finger to his lips and warns Langly and Frohike, "Quiet, you two. Byers is my man."

Byers suddenly rises out of his chair knocking over the table. Poker chips, beer bottles and cards go flying and Byers turns and vomits on Mulder's feet. Mulder jumps back and Byers continues retching unproductively. Langly brings some towels from the kitchen. Frohike is at Byers' side and says, "He's trying to say something."

Byers says, "Sing...sing...gu...let." He sits on the floor with his head between his legs for a minute while the others clean up the room. Finally he says quietly but clearly, "cingulate cortex. She was talking about the cingulate cortex."

Langly says, "What the hell is that?"

Mulder says, "I remember that!" He is very happy with each tiny memory that he can recover. "Dana was talking about memory and the cingulate cortex. She had a theory. A way to prevent the clones from steeling our memories."

Langly says, "Bull shit, man. This is the worst kind of bogus memory recovery. You might as well get out your Ouija board."

Frohike says, "Maybe Langly is right, Mulder. You have to relax and trust Scully. What can you do? Think what we are up against. You're just making this hard on yourself"

Mulder comes crashing off of his enthusiastic outburst. "Ya, ya. Drugs. Cortex. It leads me no where."

Langly says, "Maybe it's better to let it go, Fox."

Mulder scowls at Langly. "Come on, spill it, guys. What are you hiding from me? If its news about Scully, I'll...I'll..." He looks desperately at each of them then turns away.

The Lone Gunmen start their act again, each trying to get the other to tell their news to Mulder. Without turning, Mulder says, "Tell me. I need to know. Is she dead?"

Byers says, "No, Mulder! No. Nothing like that. Its Langly's work."

Langly says, "Maybe it means nothing."

Frohike says, "Just tell him."

Langly explains, "We still have a tap into the FBI video feed from Scully's computer, her webcam. One of the clones searched her house again yesterday."

Mulder says, "A clone was looking for Scully?"

"He did a quick tour of her house, then left."

Mulder turns around, "The clones are looking for Scully?"

Byers nods. Mulder knows that Scully is back on Earth. He nods knowingly. That's why she's not on the Moon. She's on Earth! Mulder decides that there is only one way to find Dana. If the clones are back on Earth searching for Dana, she must have escaped from them. If the clones are back on Earth, then the FBI will be tracking them. Mulder knows he must shadow Doggett and Reyes. He runs out of the apartment leaving the Lone Gunmen standing there looking mystified.