That Mirror Was Modest Productions - 'Fox & Rat'
Title: Mulder's Presence
Authors: Kristi
Summary: Doggett goes on a date, and Monica is suspicious about their office...
Spoilers: None
Disclaimer: Doggett, Reyes, Mulder and Krycek do not belong to me, they belong to Chris Carter, 1013 Productions and 20th Century FOX. Satroi doesn't belong to me, she belongs to John Brancato and Michael Ferris, Delusional Pictures, and NCB broadcasting.


FADE IN:

SOME PARTY IN THE AFTERLIVE

They are all at the same place we left them in the previous episode, Static. Some swing music is playing, and Scully and Skinner are dancing to it.

Mulder and Krycek are sitting at the bar. Marita is watching Scully and Skinner dance. Mulder and Krycek are talking quietly. We can't hear them until:

MULDER
(loud)
You were what?

KRYCEK
(whisper)
Keep your voice down.

We now move into their conversation.

KRYCEK
I had to, to save Marita.

MULDER
But you were alive?

Krycek nods his head.

MULDER
(eager to know)
What happened?

KRYCEK
Well, you know that hot
psychic chick, Satori?

Mulder nods.

KRYCEK
Doggett's got a thing for her.
I told him to go for it.

Mulder looks emotionless. Dead pan. Even a littl mad.

MULDER
No he doesn't.

Krycek takes a sip of his drink.

KRYCEK
Yes he does.

Mulder looks mad and walks off. Krycek shrugs him off and turns his attention to the dance floor.

CUT TO:

INT. DOGGETT'S HOUSE - MORNING AFTER "STATIC"

Doggett is making his way down the stairs. He stops before passing his basement door. He takes a beat to look at it. He moves on, but we hold on the door. Creeping toward it slowly. A light breeze passes. Doggett returns and puts a chair unter the door knob. After making sure the door is secure, Doggett grabs his coat and heard out the door.

CUT TO:

INT. DARK SMOKE-FILLED ROOM - DAY

The Syndicate members are in a meeting. The Well-Manicured Man is in a chair. The First Elder doesn't look happy with what has just been said.

FIRST ELDER
What do you mean he's still alive?

WELL-MANICURED MAN
He came to my house.

The Cigarette-Smoking Man emerges from a dark corner.

CIGARETTE-SMOKING MAN
He's taunting us.

SECOND ELDER
Was he with anyone?

The Well-Manicured Man waits a dramatic beat.

WELL-MANICURED MAN
Yes.

FIRST ELDER
Who?

WELL-MANICURED MAN
Special Agent John Doggett,
and a woman I've never seen before.

The Cigarette-Smoking Man lights up.

CIGARETTE-SMOKING MAN
We must take care of this.

Quiet Willy walks out of the room. Off their overly dramatic paranoid looks we...

CUT TO:

INT. DOGGETT & REYES' OFFICE - HALLWAY - SAME DAY

Monica steps out of the elevator and heads towards the office. As she approaches the door, it opens unexpectedly. Monica is taken aback. But it's only a janitor.

JANITOR
Sorry ma'am.

REYES
No problem. (beat) What
were you doing in there?

JANITOR
Got a call that one of your
lights were out. Fixed it.

Monica smiles at him.

REYES
Thank you (reads name
tag) Todd.

He nods and walks off. Monica looks at him suspiciously. She walks in.

INT. OFFICE

She looks around. Nothing has moved. The only difference is that the light above her desk is no longer blinking. She walks over to her desk and sits in the chair. She's still a little suspicious of the room.

Doggett enters.

DOGGETT
(hurried)
I'm sorry I'm late Mon',
but I over slept.

REYES
Do you notice anything different?

Doggett looks at her.

DOGGETT
Cut your hair?

Monica shakes her head "no".

REYES
Not with me.

Doggett gives her a look and then looks around the room.

DOGGETT
Your light doesn't blink.

REYES
Yes, anything else?

Doggett once again looks around the room.

DOGGETT
Nope, nothin' else.

Monica sits there thinking.

DOGGETT
Is something bothering you?

Monica shakes her head "no".

REYES
No, it just feels different in here.
(beat) Anyway... how are you?
You're never late.

DOGGETT
Slept in.

REYES
Wild night?

Doggett laughs, but says nothing.

REYES
(after a beat)
You met someone. Didn't you?

Doggett gives her a look, trying to deny it.

REYES
(smiling)
Who is she? Doe I know her?

DOGGETT
We have work to do.

REYES
Not really. Tell me, who is she?

DOGGETT
You're not going to
give up, are you?

REYES
You know me too well.

Doggett reluctantly gives in.

DOGGETT
Her name is Satori.

Monica's eyes go wide. Doggett's jacket suddenly falls off the coat rack. Doggett glances over.

REYES
But I thought you didn't like her.

Doggett gives his attention back to Monica.

DOGGETT
(dead pan)
Very long story.

REYES
(eager)
I'm not busy.

She gets comfortable in her chair.

DOGGETT
I don't want to tell you,
You'll just laugh at me.

REYES
Ok. Fine. (beat) What
if I promise I won't laugh?

DOGGETT
(re-arranging files on desk)
Nope.

Monica gives him a loko and logs onto her computer.

REYES
(after a beat)
John? Do you know a
janitor named Todd?

DOGGETT
No, why?

REYES
No reason. I was just wondering.

Doggett gives her a look, convinced there is something bothering her.

TIME CUT TO:

INT. DOGGETT'S BEDROOM - EVENING

Doggett is in front of a mirror, putting on a tie. He fixes his hair a bit, and grabs a nice suit jacket off his bed. As he leaves the room, a cologn bottle starts to move.

CUT TO:

EXT. APARTMENT HALLWAY

Doggett has flowers in his hands as he walks down the hallway. He gets to a door with the number 21 on it. He knocks on the door. After a beat, Satori answers. Doggett has hidden the flowers behind his back. He pulls them out and gives them to her. She takes them and smiles. She lets him in.

INT. SATORI'S APARTMENT

SATORI
Make yourself at him.
I'm not quite ready.

DOGGETT
Alright.

She goes into another room. Doggett finds a seat and sits down. He looks around. She's got a lot of candles and crystals all around. Doggett notices a picture of a man and a little girl. It's in a frame, it's got candles on each side of it. The picture looks old. Doggett stands up to see it better.

SATORI
(from behind)
That's my father.

Doggett turns around. She comes closer, picks up the frame.

SATORI
He went to the Other Side
when I was very young.

DOGGETT
Was he like you?

SATORI
Runs in the family. I've
never been able to contact him though.

She looks at the photo with sad eyes. She sets the frame down and takes a deep breath.

SATORI
Anyway, let's go.

She smiles at him.

CUT TO:

INT. DOGGETT & REYES' OFFICE

The office is a mess. Monica is on the ground unscrewing an outlet. Her paranoid suspicions have gone a little too far. Even Doggett's computer has been taken apart.

Once she gets the outlet cover off, she sees something that looks different from the others. There is a knock on the door. Monica perks up and goes to the door. She opens it and Alfredo is there.

ALFREDO
Hey Monica.

Monica signals for him to be quiet. She goes over to her desk and writes something on a pad of paper. She hands it to him. After he reads it, he looks at her concerned.

REYES
Let's listen to some music.

She signals to the outlet. Alfredo checks it out, he now realizes what a messs the place is. Monica turns on a CD player. Whale noises blare through the room. Alfredo gives her a wierd look.

REYES
(embarassed)
Oops...

She changes the CD, and Bach comes on. Reyes goes up to Alfredo and says something quietly in his ear. His eyes go wide.

CUT TO:

INT. LA FLEUR RESTAURANT - SAME NIGHT

It's a little later, the restaurant isn't very busy. Soft violin music plays in the background. Doggett and Satori are sitting at a small table. Their plates are empty. Satori takes a sip of wine.

DOGGETT
... So there we are, in the
middle of no where, and we
find this dog.

SATORI
In the middle of nowhere?

DOGGETT
Yeah, so I bring him back
and Krycek is scared of
this harmless little puppy.

Satori laughs.

DOGGETT
I'm amazed that little
guy survived the tornado.

SATORI
Now, how did Mulder hurt himself?

DOGGETT
(little laugh)
He decided it would be funny
To tug on my hair. But the
side door flew open. So he's
hangin' on for dear life, and
Dana keeps driving!

Satori laughs again. Doggett's drink almost tips over by an unknown force, but Doggett grabs it on time.

SATORI
Poor guy.

DOGGETT
And in the end, it was
Mulder's hurt ankle and
The Super Buddy group going
back to save him that got them killed.

SATORI
And the moral to the story
is not to pull people's hair.

DOGGETT
And not drive into tornados.

Satori laughs again.

SATORI
Unbelievable. And it's all true?

DOGGETT
All the way down to the
old woman trying to shoot
Mulder with a bazooka. (beat)
Nothing was ever normal with them.

They sit there for a beat. Doggett checks his watch.

DOGGETT
Looks like they'll be closing
soon. Better get the bill.

TIME CUT TO:

INT. HALLWAY OUTSIDE SATORI'S APARTMENT

The hallway is very quiet.

SATORI
I had fun tonight.

DOGGETT
Me too.

They reach her door.

SATORI
Would you like to come
in for a little while?

Doggett checks his watch.

DOGGETT
I better not, got to feed the dog.

SATORI
Don't want to foget him.

Doggett smiles at her. He moves in close to her. Their eyes lock. He makes his move, and kisses her gently. A light in the hallway starts to blink and then goes out.

CUT TO:

INT. DOGGETT & REYES' OFFICE - LATER THAT NIGHT

Monica is still destroying the office. She's found only one 'bug', and it's been destroyed. She's convinced that there are more.

Something outside catches her attention. Thinking it's Alfredo, she opens the door. No one is out there. Curious, she ventures out into the hall.

INT. HALLWAY

REYES
Hello?

SUDDENLY! She's grabbed from behind. A cloth over her nose and mouth. She struggles a bit, but then passes out.

CUT TO:

INT. DOGGETT'S HOUSE

All the lights are off. Doggett enters and locks the door behind him. The dog runs up to him. He's whimpering.

DOGGETT
I'll get you some food, little buddy.

Doggett heads into the kitchen. The dog is still whimpering.

INT. KITCHEN

Doggett gets the food and pours it into a bowl. The dog doesn't go to eat it. He still whimpers. Doggett becomes very concerned. He sits on the ground next to the dog.

DOGGETT
What's the matter?

The dog whimpers and moves towards Doggett some more. Doggett notices the dog is limping.

DOGGETT
Did you hurt yourself?

He checks the dog's legs. He sees blood. The dog lies down and Doggett gets up to find a phone book to call a vet. But something catches his eye. It's a note on the counter: "Next time it'll be you"

Doggett turns around quick and turns on all the lights in the house. He finds no one, and no sign of a break in. He goes up stairs.

INT. DOGGETT'S BEDROOM

The room is just as he left it... except for his cologn bottle that has crashed to the floor. The liquid spells out "Mulder" on the floor. Just as Doggett notices, his door bell rings. He grabs his gun and goes to the door.

INT. FOYER

He checks who it is from the peep hole. He opens the door, and Monica walks in.

REYES
Jonny, we have to be careful.

Doggett notices a cut on her lip and a large bruise on her face.

DOGGETT
(concerned)
Monica, what happened?

REYES
Somehow we've pissed someone off...

DOGGETT
Someone broke into my
house and hurt my dog.

Doggett looks into the kitchen at the dog. Monica follows his gaze. She goes into the kitchen.

INT. KITCHEN

The dog is laying on the ground whimpering. Monica kneels beside him. Doggett enters.

DOGGETT
I found this note.

Monica isn't interested in the note, she's concerned with the dog.

REYES
His leg is broken, we
should take him to the vet.

Doggett puts the note in his pocket and picks up the dog.

REYES
I know a great vet,
we'll take my car.

DOGGETT
What about you? Are
you going to be alright?

REYES
I'll be fine.

They head out the door and into Monica's bright blue beetle. As they pull out the drive way, we:

FADE OUT:

THE END.