In her statement before the joint Bureau panel in the conference room at FBI Headquarters, partially detailed in Case File 4X24 (Code Name: Gethsemane), Agt.Scully declined to reveal much of what she knew of the actual events of twenty-four hours earlier, detailed here. Following their argument in the warehouse where the alleged alien autopsy had taken place, Agts. Mulder and Scully had returned to their respective residences. Agt. Mulder had wept while watching a television broadcast from the late 1970's in which eminent scientists discuss the strong probability of intelligent extraterrestrial life. He had loaded his weapon with an apparent intention of committing suicide. He had then received a telephone call from Michael Kritschgau, who stated that Agt. Mulder was being watched. Noting a small hole in his ceiling that contained a fiber-optic camera lens, Agt. Mulder proceeded to the apartment above his own. There, he discovered the man identified as Scott Ostelhoff, who had been keeping Agt. Mulder under video surveillance. Ostelhoff was burning papers when Agt. Mulder entered to room. As Agt. Mulder attempted to put out the fire, Ostelhoff retrieved his shotgun; Agt. Mulder then shot and killed Ostelhoff. Using Ostelhoff’s shotgun, he also fired into the dead man’s face, rendering it unrecognizable. Agt. Mulder placed Ostelhoff’s body in his own apartment.

Agt. Mulder then proceeded to Agt. Scully’s apartment and waited for her to return. When Agt. Scully arrived there, Agt. Mulder informed Agt. Scully that he had killed Ostelhoff. He also informed her that he had been under video surveillance for at least two months. He identified Ostelhoff as an employee of the Department of Defense. Countering Agt. Scully’s suggestion that they immediately contact the Bureau, Agt. Mulder stated that the Bureau was deeply involved in the alleged hoax involving extraterrestrial life, Agt. Scully’s cancer, and other matters under the agents’ investigation. Papers that Agt. Mulder had salvaged from the fire indicated that Ostelhoff had made seventeen calls to the PBX operator at the Bureau. Agt. Mulder suggested that while he and Agt. Scully could not effectively make accusations, they might discover whom they could trust by perpetrating a deception on Bureau officials. It was in that context that, early the next morning, Agt. Scully identified for Det. Rempulski the body in Agt. Mulder’s apartment as that of Agt. Mulder, as detailed in Case File 4X24.

After making that identification, Agt. Scully encountered Assistant Director Skinner in the hall outside Agt. Mulder’s apartment. Agt. Scully responded to A. D. Skinner’s question as to how she had identified the body by stating that she had recognized the clothing Agt. Mulder had worn the day before. A. D. Skinner informed Agt. Scully that Section Chief Blevins wanted to question her on the matter.

Meanwhile, Agt. Mulder proceeded to the Department of Defense Advanced Research Facility (DARPA), to which Agt. Scully had earlier trailed Kritschgau, and gained entrance to the facility using Ostelhoff’s passcard. There he encountered Kritschgau, who informed him that Ostelhoff’s passcard would provide Level 4 clearance, allowing Agt. Mulder access to highly classified information, including a possible cure for Agt. Scully’s cancer. Kritschgau explained that elements in the government had perpetrated a hoax involving extraterrestrial beings in order to fund advanced weapons research during the Cold War. He further stated that biological weapons and DNA synthesis were under development in the DARPA facility, and that the alleged alien corpse Agt. Mulder had examined in the warehouse was a highly effective simulation of extraterrestrial life. Kritschgau described his motivation in assisting Agt. Mulder as a desire to find a cure for his son’s Gulf War Syndrome. Using Ostelhoff’s passcard, Agt. Mulder gained entry to a secured room. Kritschgau was arrested by military police shortly afterwards.

Agt. Scully and A. D. Skinner met with S.C. Blevins in S. C. Blevins’ office at Bureau Headquarters. Also present was the unidentified Senior Agent. Pressing her to name the man who had given her classified information, S. C. Blevins informed Agt. Scully that she would be asked to make a statement that night at a joint Bureau panel he had assembled to investigate the matter. Shown a picture of Kritschgau by A. D. Skinner, Agt. Scully identified him as the man from whom she had received the information.

Meanwhile, the man identified as the Cigarette-Smoking Man entered Agt. Mulder’s apartment. He observed the tape outline of the body found there. He examined a photograph of Agt. Mulder and Samantha Mulder as children. He observed the small hole in Agt. Mulder’s ceiling through which Agt. Mulder had been kept under video surveillance. He then proceeded to a horse track, where he met the Elder, apparent leader of the unidentified group with whom the Cigarette-Smoking Man had met before, as first detailed in Case File 3X01 (Code Name: Blessing Way). The Cigarette-Smoking Man demanded to know why he had not been informed of Agt. Mulder’s surveillance. The Elder informed the Cigarette-Smoking Man that Agt. Mulder had committed suicide. The Cigarette-Smoking Man suggested that Agt. Mulder was not to be underestimated.

At Bureau Headquarters, Agt. Scully checked the destination of the calls that had been made from the apartment above Agt. Mulder’s, determining that they had been directed to an executive-level branch extension, of which A. D. Skinner was one of the users. She then received a call from Dr. Vitagliano, who suggested that she review personally his analysis of cellular material found in ice-core samples taken from the location of the alleged alien corpse, described in Case File 4x24 (Code Name: Gethsemane). Agt. Scully proceeded to the paleoclimatology lab at American University. There, Dr. Vitagliano described the cells as unclassifiable. Using a microscope, he showed Agt. Scully that the cells had undergone first a mitotic and then a meiosis-like cell division, developing into an unknown embryonic life form. Agt. Scully insisted that Dr. Vitagliano immediately compare a virus found in the cells with her own DNA. In the hall outside the lab, Agt. Scully encountered A. D. Skinner. Agt. Scully accused A. D. Skinner of using her in efforts to obstruct a search for truth. He accused her of lying about Agt. Mulder’s death, informed her that he possessed the pathology and forensics reports proving that the dead man in Agt. Mulder’s apartment was not Agt. Mulder, and demanded to know the whereabouts of Agt. Mulder. He also warned her against lying to the joint Bureau panel.

In the DARPA facility, Agt. Mulder discovered a room containing many bodies of apparent alien life forms lying on hospital gurneys. In another room, he observed apparent female bodies, bellies distended, lying on tables; grids of light, apparently projected from above, covered the women’s bellies. Following an underground corridor, Agt. Mulder entered a storage room in the Pentagon, which contained an old and massive filing system. In a filing cabinet Agt. Mulder located index cards with the names of Agt. Scully, Michael Lee Kritschgau, and Michael Lee Jr. Michael Lee Kritschgau Jr.’s card contained no data. Using the number MN 1068-06 on Agt. Scully’s card as a reference, Agt. Mulder located a vial with a corresponding number in a different set of files nearby. He took the vial and left the building, observed by the Cigarette-Smoking Man, who had been informed by a Military Security Guard that Ostelhoff’s passcard had been used to enter the facility. The Cigarette-Smoking Man ordered sentries to allow Agt. Mulder to leave.

At the American University paleoclimatology lab, Agt. Scully and Dr. Vitagliano determined that Agt. Scully’s body contained DNA from the unclassifiable cells found in the ice core. Agt. Scully expressed her belief that she had been exposed to the cellular material and that the exposure had caused her incurable cancer.

That night, appearing before the joint Bureau panel in the FBI Conference Room, Agt. Scully stated her belief that Agt. Mulder’s work was fundamentally illegitimate. She explained that Agt. Mulder’s investigations of paranormal phenomena had been revealed to her as one element in a larger conspiracy to perpetrate falsehoods regarding public policy. Agt. Mulder’s personal desire to believe in such phenomena had made Agts. Mulder and Scully unwitting tools of that conspiracy. Agt. Scully stated her purpose now as exposing the larger lie. As she was alleging that Agt. Mulder had committed suicide, A. D. Skinner entered the FBI Conference Room carrying a file. Agt. Scully went on to state that she had been deliberately given cancer as part of the conspiracy, and that the person responsible for that plan and its execution was in the room. As Agt. Scully produced cell transparencies showing the match between her DNA and that of the cellular material from the ice core, her nose began to bleed, and she collapsed. A. D. Skinner called for a doctor. Agt. Scully was heard to say the word "you" to A. D. Skinner.

Agt. Mulder meanwhile proceeded to the offices of the Lone Gunmen, where he solicited the assistance of Byers, Frohike, and Langly in analyzing the contents of the vial he had removed from the storage room at the Pentagon. The vial appeared to contain only deionized water. Mulder then proceeded to Trinity Hospital, where Agt. Scully had been rushed. There he encountered A. D. Skinner, who informed him that Agt. Scully was in ICU, suffering from hypovolemic shock and massive blood loss; A. D. Skinner stated that Agt. Scully was dying. He attempted to restrain Agt. Mulder, who resisted. A. D. Skinner and other agents then escorted Agt. Mulder to the office of S. C. Blevins, where S. C. Blevins and the unidentified Senior Agent interviewed Agt. Mulder. During the interview, Agt. Mulder evinced defiance. Informed that he was involved in a murder investigation and pressed to tell what he knew. Agt. Mulder declined to answer and left the office. In the hall outside the office, A. D. Skinner informed Agt. Mulder that he had known Agt. Mulder was alive and had kept the secret; he threatened to reveal it now. Agt. Mulder informed A. D. Skinner that there was a mole in the Bureau.

The Cigarette-Smoking Man returned to the horse track, where he found the Elder watching a small television to monitor Senate hearings on cloning. The Elder complained that with Agt. Mulder alive, their man in the Bureau might soon be exposed. The Cigarette-Smoking Man, evincing pleasure in the Elder's having been wrong about the death of Agt. Mulder, suggested that Agt. Mulder would be valuable to them alive. After the Cigarette-Smoking Man left the horse track, the Elder gave his unidentified Associate an order to proceed with a plan.

Agt. Mulder met with Agt. Scully in her hospital room. Agt. Scully warned him against A. D. Skinner; Agt. Mulder expressed doubt that A. D. Skinner was the mole. Agt. Scully suggested that Agt. Mulder place the blame for Ostelhoff’s murder on her. Agt. Scully’s mother and her brother Bill Scully then arrived at the hospital room. As Agt. Mulder left the room, Bill Scully demanded that Agt. Mulder leave Agt. Scully alone and let her die with dignity. Preparing to leave the hospital, Agt. Mulder encountered the Cigarette-Smoking Man, who informed him that the contents of the vial would be essential to Agt. Scully’s survival. Agt. Mulder returned to the office of the Lone Gunmen, where he, Byers, Langly, and Frohike found a previously undiscovered microchip in the vial Agt. Mulder had taken from the Pentagon storeroom. Agt. Mulder informed the other three that a similar chip had been removed from Agt. Scully’s and other women’s necks following their alleged abductions by alien beings.

In the FBI Conference Room, S. C. Blevins and the joint panel interrogated Kritschgau. He admitted to having given Agts. Mulder and Scully classified information and claimed that his motivation for doing so was the desire to reveal an illegal government conspiracy. Asked whether he knew how Ostelhoff had died, Kritschgau stated that he did not; he also informed the panel of the death of his son earlier that morning. He further stated that as an employee of the Department of Defense, he had also been paid by a congressional lobbying firm identified as Roush. A. D. Skinner noted that name on a pad.

In Agt. Scully’s hospital room, Agt. Mulder, Mrs. Scully, Bill Scully, and an oncologist identified as Dr. Zuckerman, discussed a plan to use the microchip to cure Agt. Scully’s cancer. Bill Scully objected strongly to the idea, referring to it as science fiction. Dr. Zuckerman admitted that given the severity of Agt. Scully’s condition, all approaches to her treatment would be unconventional. Agt. Scully expressed her desire to execute the plan. Outside the hospital room, Bill Scully and Agt. Mulder argued; Bill Scully blamed Agt. Mulder for Agt. Scully’s condition. After Bill Scully left, Agt. Mulder received a call on his cell phone from the Cigarette-Smoking Man, offering further proofs of his trustworthiness by inviting Agt. Mulder to a meeting.

Agt. Mulder proceeded to a local diner and waited. The Cigarette-Smoking Man arrived at the diner by car, accompanied by a woman whom Agt. Mulder identified as his long lost sister Samantha Mulder. The Cigarette-Smoking Man waited in the car while Agt. Mulder and Samantha Mulder talked in the diner. Samantha Mulder referred to the Cigarette-Smoking Man as her father. She stated that she could not remember the circumstances of her abduction and claimed that fear had inspired her to try to forget them. She informed Agt. Mulder that she had been raised as an orphan by foster parents, who one day had introduced her to the Cigarette-Smoking Man as her father. The Cigarette-Smoking Man had convinced Samantha Mulder that he and Samantha's mother, Mrs. Teena Mulder, had had a secret sexual affair of which Samantha Mulder was the result. The Cigarette-Smoking Man had also recently informed Samantha that Agt. Mulder had been looking for her for a long time, and that the Cigarette-Smoking Man had only just now found him. Agt Mulder objected, stating that the Cigarette-Smoking Man could have put her in touch with Agt. Mulder at any time. He urged Samantha Mulder to see their mother. Samantha Mulder appeared surprised to learn that their mother was alive but refused to see her, stating that she now had children of her own and expressing anxiety at the prospect of awakening old memories. Refusing to give Agt. Mulder means of contacting her, she left with the Cigarette-Smoking Man.

At Trinity Hospital, Dr. Zuckerman gave Agt. Scully a PET scan. They discussed the poor recovery rate of cancers like Agt. Scully’s. In response to Agt. Scully’s inquiry about miracles, Dr. Zuckerman pointed out that while he had never witnessed a miracle, he had witnessed inexplicable recoveries.

Agt. Mulder and the Cigarette-Smoking Man met on a public street. Quiet Willy, as per the Elder, was hiding in a nearby building, aiming a high-powered rifle at Agt. Mulder and at the Cigarette-Smoking Man. The Cigarette-Smoking Man claimed that Kritschgau had deceived Agt. Mulder. He suggested that Agt. Mulder pursue the truth by leaving the Bureau and working for him. Agt. Mulder accused the Cigarette-Smoking Man of breaking his promises to cure Agt. Scully’s cancer and restore Samantha Mulder to Agt. Mulder; he also accused the Cigarette-Smoking Man of killing Agt. Mulder’s father and Agt. Scully’s sister. The Cigarette-Smoking Man insisted that he would keep his promises; he also referred to the next day’s hearing, at which Agt. Mulder would testify regarding the death of Ostelhoff. Having missed a clean shot, the Elder’s Associate refrained from firing.

In her hospital room, Agt. Scully and Mrs. Scully discussed Agt. Scully’s loss of faith in Roman Catholicism. Agt. Scully informed her mother that the PET scan had shown no improvement. Mrs. Scully suggested that Agt. Scully speak to someone about her fears.

In an unidentified location, the Elder monitored Senate testimony on human cloning. Noting the presence of A. D. Skinner in the committee room, the Elder made a call to an unknown source during which he repeated his insistence on fixing the "FBI problem."

That night, Agt. Mulder entered Agt. Scully’s hospital room and cried by her bedside while she slept. The next morning, S. C. Blevins called Agt. Mulder to his office and informed Agt. Mulder that forensic evidence pointed to Agt. Mulder as Ostelhoff’s murderer. He further informed Agt. Mulder that Agt. Scully had intended to name A. D. Skinner as the Bureau mole. S. C. Blevins suggested that if Agt. Mulder named A. D. Skinner as the mole, Agt. Mulder would be exonerated of all charges. Agt. Mulder remained noncommittal. Returning to Agt. Scully’s hospital room, he described himself to Agt. Scully as having been lost. He admitted to Agt. Scully that he had been in her room the night before and had been considering making a deal, which he did not define, but had decided not to make the deal. He revealed that S. C. Blevins had suggested he name A. D. Skinner as the Bureau mole. Agt. Scully renewed her suggestion that he place the blame for Ostelhoff’s death on her. Agt. Mulder refused to do so, citing his faith in the power of the truth. Father McCue then entered the room. After Agt. Mulder left, Father McCue and Agt. Scully prayed together.

Agt. Mulder arrived late for the hearing in the Bureau Conference Room. During the hearing, S. C. Blevins described possible charges against Agt. Mulder; also in attendance were A. D. Skinner and the unidentified Senior Agent. Agt. Mulder announced that he would name the Bureau mole. A. D. Skinner requested a break; Agt. Mulder pressed to be allowed to continue; S. C. Blevins concurred with Agt. Mulder’s request. Agt. Mulder stated that Agt. Scully had lied only at his behest. He alleged a government conspiracy, responsible for Agt. Scully’s cancer, furthering a secret agenda at the expense of U.S. citizens. Pressed to answer whether he had shot Ostelhoff, Agt. Mulder named S. C. Blevins as a Bureau mole and operative in the conspiracy.

Meanwhile, in his apartment, the Cigarette-Smoking Man was examining the photograph of Agt. Mulder and Samantha Mulder as children when he was shot and apparently killed by the Elder's Associate, who was aiming from a nearby building. As the Cigarette-Smoking Man died, he pulled the photograph toward him.

Immediately after being accused by Agt. Mulder, S. C. Blevins entered his office in a state of agitation and discovered the unidentified Senior Agent speaking on the phone there. The Senior Agent shot and killed S. C. Blevins, leaving the gun wiped clean in S. C. Blevins’ hand, to indicate an apparent suicide.

Late that night, at Trinity Hospital, A. D. Skinner found Agt. Mulder outside Agt. Scully’s hospital room. A. D. Skinner informed Agt. Mulder that the Cigarette-Smoking Man was dead and although no body had been found, there was too much blood loss for anyone to survive. He gave Agt. Mulder the childhood photograph of Agt. Mulder and his sister, which had been discovered at the murder scene. A. D. Skinner also informed Agt. Mulder that S. C. Blevins had been employed by Roush, a biotechnology firm. Agt. Mulder, in an apparent state of relief and elation, informed A. D. Skinner that Agt. Scully’s cancer had gone into remission and that the cause of the remission was unknown. A. D. Skinner entered Agt. Scully’s hospital room. Agt. Mulder examined the childhood photograph and wept.