(Mulder lays asleep on his couch when he wakes up and notices something on the ceiling. A small red dot. The red dot moves down off the ceiling and onto the wall as Mulder sits up. The red dot stops and forms the word "Follow." It continues down onto the floor. Mulder stands and follows. He follows it outside, where it goes onto a white El Camino and forms the words "Mad Hat." It then continues past a sign that reads "Bosher's Run Park, Manassas Parks & Rec." The red dot shoots off into the woods. Mulder runs after it and sees it on a tree. It slides down onto the floor, onto the chest of a little girl. She is dead, laying in a pile leaves. The red dot forms a heart on the right side of her chest and she sinks down into the ground, the heart remaining for a few seconds, then disappearing as leaves cover the girl. Mulder gasps as he wakes up on his couch. He sighs and looks around, then gets up and throws a phone book down onto the desk. It is the Fairfax County phone book, and the first address under "Parks" is "Bosher's Run Park." The address is "6002 Lonetree Rd." Getting in his car, he drives off and pulls up to the park. Carrying a flashlight, he walks past the sign he saw in his dream and over to the spot where he had been. There is no little girl there, but he kneels and moves the leaves out of the way. In the morning, an excavator scoops up some dirt and places it in the screen.)

EXCAVATOR: Here, try the screen.

(The second excavator shuffles the dirt around. Mulder walks quickly over towards them.)

MULDER: Concentrate on this area, over here. Right there.

(He points to the spot.)

SCULLY: Mulder...

(He turns to see Scully walking towards him.)

What's going on?

(Mulder walks over to her.)

MULDER: I'm not sure I can explain, Scully.

SCULLY: You called for a forensic excavation at five A.M. on a Sunday? What are you looking for?

MULDER: Just give me a minute, Scully, okay?

SCULLY: Mulder, what are you doing out here?

MULDER: I keep having this dream. It's about a little blond girl.

SCULLY: You're saying that you're out here because of something you saw in a dream?

(He nods slightly, knowing it sounds ridiculous.)

EXCAVATOR: Sir!

(They run over to the excavator and kneel down. They have uncovered a skull.)

(The excavator is unearthing the skeleton, scooping out the dirt around it. A grid has been placed over it to separate areas. Mulder and Scully watch.)

EXCAVATOR: Carefully remove the dirt around it...

SCULLY: So, tell me about this dream.

MULDER: I've had... flashes of it, three nights in a row. And last night, it went on long enough to lead me right to her.

(He walks towards the two excavators.)

I need the chest exposed.

EXCAVATOR: Yes, sir. It just takes a little time.

(Mulder picks up some rubber gloves and kneels down wear the second excavator was, who got up and walked away.)

Sir, let us do that... sir...

(Mulder starts to scoop away the dirt with his hands.)

SCULLY: Mulder, if you destroy evidence, we may never find out what happened here.

MULDER: I know what happened here. She was strangled. He used an eight-gauge electrical cord. He took something from the body post-mortem... a trophy. A piece of fabric cut from her clothes... in the shape of a heart.

SCULLY: You're saying you got all these details from your dream?

MULDER: No. I know this M.O. I know it from memory.

SCULLY: Whose M.O.?

MULDER: John Lee Roche. He killed thirteen eight-to-ten year-old girls.

(He exposes the chest partly, revealing a set of ribs, over which is a nightgown with a cloth heart cut out.)

This makes fourteen.

(Scully looks down at it.)

(Mulder opens the file cabinet and begins digging through the folders.)

MULDER: It was a difficult case, he was extremely hard to catch.

(He pulls out a folder marked "Roche, John L" and hands it to Scully, who is sitting.)

By 1990, ten victims had been found scattered across the eastern seaboard. The earliest dated back to 1979.

(He sits.)

V.I.C.A.P. named the case "paper hearts" because of the trophies the killer took.

(Scully looks at pictures of young girls in the folder, the victims.)

All the victims were abducted from their homes. Reggie Purdue brought me onto the case because he thought I could get inside the killer's head.

SCULLY: Did you?

MULDER: I concluded that, that we were probably looking for a salesman. Someone who, who traveled around a lot, someone who could gain people's confidence, someone ordinary.

(Scully looks at the mugshots of Roche.)

Turns out Roche was a vacuum cleaner salesman. His job took him all over the northeast. He'd be in someone's home, demonstrating his vacuum cleaner. All the while, he'd be checking out their kids. He'd choose a victim then come back for her months later.

SCULLY: But it was your profile that caught him.

(Mulder shrugs slightly, agreeing.)

What about the, uh, the trophies he took, the cloth hearts?

MULDER: We never found them, but we didn't need them to make the case. We had him cold on thirteen counts of murder. He admitted to thirteen. Polygraph said he was telling the truth. But that always bugged me about this case. I always wanted to find those hearts and count them, see if they really added up to thirteen. I guess they didn't.

SCULLY: Well, if nothing else... I think I can at least help explain your dream.

(She closes the folder.)

I don't think you ever stopped thinking about this case. I believe that you may have solved it in your sleep.

MULDER: So you think that I've somehow had this information about a fourteenth victim all the time and I've been processing it unconsciously?

SCULLY: You said it yourself once. You said that a... a dream is an answer to a question we haven't learned how to ask. You did good work, Mulder. Let's identify this girl so we can put her to rest.

(Mulder sits, looking at the skeleton of the girl. Her ribs have been pulled open, and the cloth is sitting on the table. There is a small pocket with a dollar sign stitched in. The door opens and Scully walks in with a folder.)

SCULLY: I believe her name is Addie Sparks. She went missing from her home in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, in June of 1975. I contacted the Center For Missing and Exploited Children, ran a search through the database.

(Mulder nods.)

MULDER: 1975 is too early.

SCULLY: The match is right, Mulder. The, the, the height is right, the description of the sleeper is right.

MULDER: That would mean Roche started way before we thought he did.

SCULLY: Mulder, we're going to have to verify this. Are you up for that?

(Mulder nods.)

(Mulder and Scully pull up to the house of Frank Sparks. Children are playing nearby. Mulder uses the knocker and Sparks opens the door.)

SCULLY: Frank Sparks?

FRANK SPARKS: Can I help you?

(Scully shows him her badge.)

SCULLY: Yes, I'm Agent Scully, this is Agent Mulder. We're with the Federal Bureau of Investigation. May we speak with you?

FRANK SPARKS: You found Addie?

(Inside, they are all sitting. Sparks pulls the cloth heart out of a bag and looks at the small pocket with a dollar sign stitched in. His voice is hoarse with sorrow.)

This was for the tooth fairy. When Addie was asleep at night, I'd... I'd come and put a quarter in this pocket. Her mother sewed it.

SCULLY: Where is your wife, sir?

FRANK SPARKS: She passed away last summer.

(He stares off, trying to contain his sadness.)

So, you, you, uh... you're saying the, uh... the man that did this is already in prison.

MULDER: Yes, sir, and he won't get out.

FRANK SPARKS: You do this full-time, telling people... this kind of news?

SCULLY: No, sir, not full-time.

MULDER: It's not a good job.

FRANK SPARKS: No. I used to think... that missing was worse than dead because...

(He clears his throat.)

You never knew what happened.

(Mulder stares at him, understanding.)

Now that I know... I'm glad my wife's not here. She got luckier.

(Mulder looks over to a picture of a little girl on the mantel.)

How many more people, uh... like me are you going to visit today?

MULDER: Sir?

FRANK SPARKS: Were there other victims... you didn't know about?

(Scully looks at Mulder, unsure. Afterwards, Sparks closes the door as they start back to their car. Mulder's eyes flash to the white car with the red dot on it that he saw in his dream.)

MULDER: Roche's car... Roche drove a white El Camino, Scully. I saw it in my dream.

(He runs to his car.)

SCULLY: What are you saying that means?

MULDER: The cloth hearts he collected, he would have wanted to keep them close to him. For a traveling salesman, that means inside the car, right?

(He pulls out a folder and starts to look through it.)

SCULLY: Maybe... you're saying the hearts might still be in his car?

MULDER: Well, he doesn't have them in prison, the cell is searched regularly, his mail is examined. His car was sold at auction in 1992, put beyond his reach. It's worth a look, Scully. We've got to find those hearts in order to count them.

SCULLY: Don't you think the car might have been searched at least once already?

MULDER: Not by me.

(The garage door slides up and a man shows the car to Mulder and Scully. It's a nice white car, with flames painted on the sides.)

MAN: Here it is. I've been, you know, detailing it. Dropped the bed shell and did the decals, stuff like that.

SCULLY: Thank you.

MAN: Honest-to-God, serial killer owned my car? For real?

(Mulder gets in the front seat. He checks the visors as Scully gets in the passenger side. They search the glove compartment and under the seats, but to no avail. Mulder pulls out a pocket knife and starts ripping up the upholstery. Scully looks at him.)

MULDER: Helping him detail.

(Scully shrugs slightly and reaches around on the floor of the back seat. She pads the ceiling for a bump, but finds nothing, as does Mulder.)

Something's wrong here, Scully.

SCULLY: Maybe it's underneath.

(She gets out of the car. He slides the visor over then realizes something. His memory flashes the dream part where the red dot turned to "Mad Hat.")

MULDER: "Mad Hat..."

(He goes over the words in his head.)

Hey, Scully. The camper shell.

(He gets out.)

The kid said he took the camper shell off.

(They walk outside and through a path in the woods to the side of the house. Mulder pulls out the camper shell, which has been covered in a plastic sheet. He steps on the underside, searching for a bump. He kneels down and pads around, then rips off the cloth on the side. He pulls out a copy of the book "Alice in Wonderland" and stands.)

"Mad Hat." Mad Hatter.

(He starts to flip through as Scully looks. They find the first heart. He continues flipping, then starts counting out loud after a while.)

MULDER: Eight... nine, ten... eleven, twelve... thirteen, fourteen...

(Scully stops and looks at it.)

SCULLY: Addie Sparks.

(Mulder continues flipping.)

Fifteen... sixteen.

(Mulder finishes flipping through.)

MULDER: He had two more victims.

(We hear a sound of a buzzing over the scene.)

(A guard leads Mulder and Scully towards a cell. Mulder and Scully place their guns in a drawer, then Mulder takes off his ankle gun and places it in as well. The drawer shuts and their is another buzz. The gate next to them slides open and they walk through. A basketball can be heard. Mulder opens the door at the end of the hallway and the two walk towards John Lee Roche, who is playing basketball. He looks at them.)

JOHN LEE ROCHE: Mulder. Long time, no see. You got a new partner.

(He lightly tosses the basketball through the hoop.)

MULDER: Agent Scully.

JOHN LEE ROCHE: So what's up?

MULDER: We found Addie Sparks, John.

JOHN LEE ROCHE: Congratulations, I guess.

(He takes a soft hook shot.)

SCULLY: We also found your cloth hearts. All sixteen of them.

JOHN LEE ROCHE: Huh.

MULDER: Sixteen victims, John. How come you only said there were only thirteen?

(Roche sinks another shot.)

JOHN LEE ROCHE: I don't know. Thirteen sounds more magical, you know?

MULDER: Why don't you tell us about your last two victims, then?

SCULLY: You're in here for life, you've got nothing to lose.

JOHN LEE ROCHE: I got nothing to gain.

MULDER: You can gain one moment of decency in your life. You can finally let those families put their daughters to rest.

JOHN LEE ROCHE: I understand you take this very personally, Mulder.

(The next shot bounces off the rim.)

How about this?

(He twirls the basketball on his finger.)

Sink one from there and I'll tell you.

(He tosses it to Mulder, who is standing at the foul line. Mulder sinks it and smirks.)

You'd trust a child molester?

(Roche walks past them.)

You bring my hearts and give them back to me... I'll tell you everything you want to know.

(He looks to the guard.)

Let me out.

(There is a buzz and he walks out.)

(The thirteen hearts that had been named are now all lined up in bags, with nametags on them. Mulder looks at the two left and takes off his glasses. He puts his head down on the desk, rubbing his eyes, then looks up and sees the red dot on the wall. He watches as it moves down the wall and under the door. Walking to do the door, he can barely hear a television talking. To his surprise, it is the house. Samantha sitting in front of the television, a Stratego board game set up, Mulder loses his breath in shock.)

MAN: ...she had erased a conversation between President Nixon and H.R. Haldeman while transcribing the subpoenaed tape. Woods testified that she had erased only about five minutes of the conversation but the tape contained an eighteen-minute gap.

SAMANTHA MULDER: Fox, it's your move.

MAN ON TV #1: Under investigation from Senator Howard Baker, H.R. Haldeman reiterated the White House explanation that Rosemary Woods mistakenly erased...

(Mulder walks around to the other side of the board game.)

MULDER: Samantha...

SAMANTHA MULDER: Are you going to move or not?

(He kneels down, staring at his sister.)

MAN ON TV #1: ...foot on the footpedal...

SAMANTHA MULDER: Do we have to watch this, Fox?

MAN ON TV #1: ...and then accidentally hitting the record button.

(Leon Jaworski, the Special Watergate Prosecutor, comes on screen.)

LEON JAWORSKI ON TV: It must be very difficult to reach a conclusion. It was an accident.

(Realizing the situation, he recalls the basic idea of his past sentences and states them.)

MULDER: "The Magician" comes on at nine.

SAMANTHA MULDER: Mom and Dad said I could watch the movie, buttmunch.

MULDER: They're next door at the Galbrands'. They left me in charge.

(There is a clattering and the lights shut off.)

No.

(The room starts to shake, the picture vibrating against the wall. Samantha stands as the Stratego pieces start to shuffle across the board. Mulder stands, remembering every detail, as the pictures fall and knickknacks topple over on the mantel.)

Not again.

(There is a sound of an engine revving and a bright light shines through the windows. A weird humming starts as Mulder and Samantha avert their eyes from the light. The doorknob turns. Mulder reaches for his gun, but it is not on him.)

Samantha, run!

(He runs over to the cabinet and throws a case down on the floor, which breaks open. He picks up the gun and looks over to see not aliens standing in the doorway, but Roche, illuminated by the headlights of his car. Mulder stares at him, kneeling. Roche walks over and stands over him, smiling, before walking away.)

SAMANTHA MULDER: Fox! Fox!

(Mulder wakes up with a start.)

MULDER: Samantha!

(He stares at the two cloth hearts.)

(Mulder is seated at a table. There is a window in back of him. A buzzing sounds and Mulder stands. Roche walks in and sits across from him. They sit in silence.)

JOHN LEE ROCHE: Did you bring me my hearts?

MULDER: Yesterday, you said something about me taking it personally. Why did you say that to me?

(Roche smirks.)

Where were you in 1973?

JOHN LEE ROCHE: What, the whole year?

MULDER: November. Twenty-seventh of November. Do you know what I'm getting at?

JOHN LEE ROCHE: I was selling vacuum cleaners in 1973. I made a sales trip to Martha's Vineyard that year and... I sold a vacuum cleaner to your dad. He bought it for your mom. I believe it was a, um... Electrovac Duchess or the Princess model and... your dad and I talked about it at great length. He... he had a really hard time choosing.

MULDER: What do you know about my sister?

JOHN LEE ROCHE: You bring me my hearts... and maybe I'll tell you more.

(Anger strong in Mulder's eyes, he throws a hard right, which soundly connects with Roche's jaw. Roche flies off the chair and lands on the floor. He stands slowly as Mulder holds his fist. The guard walks in.)

This man... this man hit me.

(The guard looks at Mulder.)

GUARD: I didn't see it.

(He walks over to the door and bangs on it while Scully walks in from the other door. The door opens and the guard and Roche walk out.)

SCULLY: I did.

(Mulder shakes the feeling back into his hand. Another buzz and they walk out, Mulder putting his coat on.)

MULDER: He was there, Scully. He was in the house. He took Samantha.

SCULLY: In your dream, Mulder. It was a dream. Your mind made it up.

MULDER: A dream is an answer to a question we haven't yet figured out how to ask, right? Something buried in your subconsciousness. You heard him in there, he knew something. He mentioned being on Martha's Vineyard.

SCULLY: Is it a state secret you lived in Martha's Vineyard?

MULDER: Well, how would he find out about that?

SCULLY: Through the prison library. The inmates have access to computers and the internet. I checked. Roche logged on just yesterday.

(They stop walking.)

MULDER: Looking for what?

SCULLY: The server records don't show, but on the Net, Mulder, he can find out practically anything about you. Look, he is playing with you, Mulder. He is committing emotional blackmail and you are letting him. You walked into that room with your heart on your sleeve. He saw vulnerability, and he took advantage of it. You had a dream... a nightmare... and you, and you had it because of all the emotions that this case is stirring up for you. But... it was nothing but a dream.

MULDER: My last dream came true. Scully, do you believe that my sister Samantha was abducted by aliens?

(Scully looks away.)

Have you ever believed that? No. So what do you think happened to her?

SCULLY: What are you saying you believe now?

MULDER: I don't know. I don't know what happened. I don't know what to believe. I just know that I have to find out now.

(He walks past her.)

(Mulder uncovers a desk and looks through a drawer.)

MRS. MULDER: Fox?

MULDER: Mom, I'm in the basement.

(Mulder walks over to the stairs in the basement where is mother is walking down, still recuperating.)

I'm sorry, how are you feeling?

MRS. MULDER: Good, Fox, I'm fine. Honey, what are you doing down here in the middle of the night?

(Mulder takes out the cloth hearts.)

MULDER: Do you recognize... these fabrics? Either one of them?

MRS. MULDER: What am I looking at?

MULDER: Just look closely. Do... do they seem familiar to you?

MRS. MULDER: Familiar how?

MULDER: Just familiar. Have you seen them before?

MRS. MULDER: Fox, I don't know what you want me to say. You know my memory isn't as good as it used to be, ever since I had the stroke, I just don't know...

(They hug.)

MULDER: It's all right.

MRS. MULDER: Oh, Fox...

MULDER: Dad never bought you a vacuum cleaner, did he?

MRS. MULDER: Yeah. A long time ago.

(They pull out of the hug. Mulder seems shocked.)

I don't use it anymore.

MULDER: Where is it?

MRS. MULDER: Well, it's here, under the stairs, in the storage.

(He heads under the stairs.)

Fox, what is going on?

(He pulls open the door to the storage and turns on the light. Pulling other things away, he pulls out an old circular vacuum cleaner. An Electrovac Princess. Mulder slams it down into it's box.)

(Skinner is sitting at his desk. Mulder and Scully walk in.)

MULDER: Sir? I've been denied further access to John Lee Roche. I've been told that order comes down from you.

SKINNER: Could you tell me why you saw fit to strike a prisoner in federal custody?

(Mulder looks back at Scully.)

Agent Scully didn't report that to me, Mulder, though she should have. The whole thing was videotaped as per prison policy. I saw it. You're lucky I don't have your ass in a sling!

MULDER: Sir...

SKINNER: You gotten too close to this, Mulder. You've let this man get to you.

MULDER: I have reason to believe he can tell us what happened to my sister Samantha.

SCULLY: It is looking possible, sir. John Lee Roche apparently spent most of 1973 in Boston. He did take one sales trip up to Martha's Vineyard in October of that year. The timing is right.

MULDER: I need to know. I just need to speak with him one more time, sir.

SKINNER: It just makes it even less of a good idea, Mulder.

SCULLY: Sir, the fact remains that we still have two more victims that we need to find and identify, and no one has more insight into Roche than Agent Mulder and this is still Agent Mulder's case.

(Skinner sighs.)

SKINNER: You tread very lightly.

(Mulder nods. Skinner looks to Scully.)

You see that he does.

(Scully looks away, and she and Mulder walk out.)

(Roche pulls up a seat and stares angrily at Mulder, who is seated across from him.)

JOHN LEE ROCHE: I'm not talking to you if you're going to hit me again.

(Scully looks at Mulder as well, who pulls out the two remaining cloth hearts and puts them down in front of Roche. Roche pulls open the bag and is about to pull out the heart when Mulder grabs his hand.)

MULDER: No. You don't get to touch them. They stay in the bag. Name them.

JOHN LEE ROCHE: I think you know one of them already.

(They stare at each other.)

SCULLY: Prove it.

(Roche smiles.)

JOHN LEE ROCHE: Watergate was on TV. You and your sister... were sitting in front of it... playing a board game with, uh, little red and, uh... blue plastic pieces. And you wanted to watch a TV show... the one, the one with Bill Bixby? What the heck was the name of that thing?

MULDER: How could you know what I said?

JOHN LEE ROCHE: I was watching... from the window. I was, I was very careful.

MULDER: If that's true, tell me where my sister is.

(Roche looks down at the hearts.)

JOHN LEE ROCHE: Pick her out.

MULDER: What?

JOHN LEE ROCHE: You choose the one that was your sister, and I'll tell you where she is. Hey, come on, it's a fifty-fifty chance.

(He positions the hearts next to each other.)

Either way, I'm giving you a victim.

(Mulder picks the one to his right.)

That one? You're sure you want that one?

(Mulder looks a bit confused, thinking he might have picked the wrong one. Scully continues to glare at Roche, who smiles slyly.)

No, just kidding, it's... it's a good choice. Okay, you want to write this down?

(Scully moves a small plant out of the way to reveal the words "Mad Hat" carved into a rock. Mulder falls to his knees and starts to dig at a spot in the dirt, much to the chagrin of Scully.)

SCULLY: Mulder... let's get a team out here. Let somebody else do this.

MULDER: Help me, Scully.

(Scully, knowing how obstinate Mulder is, starts to dig as well. They keep digging until they see something in the dirt. Mulder brushes off a set of ribs covered with cloth that has a paper heart cut out. Scully sighs and looks back at Mulder, who stares at the heart.)

(Mulder stands at the far end of the room, looking at the body, which is covered. He walks over to it and opens a folder, then looks at an x-ray. He looks down at the body for a long time, then pulls off the cover and stares at it. He looks over at it's shoulder as Scully looks in.)

SCULLY: Mulder?

MULDER: It's not her, Scully. Am I right? Samantha broke her collarbone when she was six.

(Scully walks over.)

It was her left collarbone. We had, we had a rope swing out in the backyard. It's not broken, is it?

SCULLY: You're right, Mulder, it's not a match.

(Mulder sighs in relief.)

It's not her.

MULDER: It's somebody, though.

(Roche's voice starts over the scene.)

JOHN LEE ROCHE: You know, like I said...

(Mulder and Scully are interrogating Roche again. A guard is in the back room.)

JOHN LEE ROCHE: It was a fifty-fifty chance.

SCULLY: Tell us the name of that girl.

JOHN LEE ROCHE: It was Karen Ann Philiponte.

(Scully takes notes. Mulder just glares at him.)

She lived in a green rancher in... East Amherst, New York. Mint grew outside her window. I stood outside her window atop sprigs of mint. It smelled wonderful.

(Scully is agitated by Roche's lawlessness. She spits out her words.)

SCULLY: What year?

JOHN LEE ROCHE: July... 1974. I had her mother on the hook for an Electrovac Argosy, but at the last minute, she said "thanks but no thanks."

(Scully looks up at him, no flicker of emotion.)

Oh, well.

(They sit in silence for a few seconds, the agents glaring at him. Mulder pulls out the last paper heart. He slides it across and Roche picks it up, studies it, and slides it back.)

It's your sister.

MULDER: If that's true, tell me where.

JOHN LEE ROCHE: You want to know a lot more than that, don't you? You want to know everything, right? The big mystery revealed.

SCULLY: Drop the mind games.

JOHN LEE ROCHE: I can't just tell you. I know you don't believe me. You need me to show you, you need me to lead you through because... after all these years, anything less than that's not going to satisfy you, right?

MULDER: You just want to get out of here.

(He stands and walks to the back.)

JOHN LEE ROCHE: You're damn right I do... if only for a day or two. I'm realistic. And more than that, I... I can't wait to see your face.

SCULLY: Oh, God...

(She stands.)

You're going to see the inside of your cell instead. You're going to rot there.

(She looks at Mulder and walks to the door. He picks up the heart and follows. He looks through the window at Roche, Scully looking at Mulder.)

Are you okay? Mulder, the last thing you should do is give this man his way on this. If you do, he could string us along forever. I know you appreciate that. There has to be another way to come to the truth.

(Mulder nods slightly. Roche looks at them in the window and walks out, the door buzzing. Scully sighs.)

(Mulder lays on his bed, thinking, staring at the ceiling. After a while, he sits up, picks up the phone, and dials.)

WOMAN: Clerk's office.

MULDER: This is Special Agent Fox Mulder with the F.B.I.

(A stewardess opens coke cans as the drink tray is going by. Mulder continues to talk on the phone over the scene.)

Badge number J-T-T-o-four-seven-one-o-one-one-one-one. I need a removal order for a federal prisoner.

(Roche looks back at the stewardess, handcuffed.)

JOHN LEE ROCHE: Can I use the lavatory?

MULDER: Keep your hands in your lap.

(He covers the handcuffs with the jacket. They get up and start towards the back of the plane, but Roche manages to get by the drink cart while Mulder is stopped by them.)

STEWARDESS: Need a drink?

MULDER: Excuse me.

(Roche looks at a young mother and her daughter, who is looking out the window.)

JOHN LEE ROCHE: First flight?

MULDER: Excuse me, I have to get by.

YOUNG MOTHER: Yeah.

STEWARDESS: Could you just wait one second, please?

(Roche kneels, eyeing the little girl.)

MULDER: Now!

JOHN LEE ROCHE: You having fun?

CAITLIN ROSS: Mmm-hmmm.

JOHN LEE ROCHE: What's your name?

CAITLIN ROSS: Caitlin.

(Mulder gets by the stewardesses as Roche stands. Mulder nods to the young woman as they walk by. Skinner can be heard over the scene.)

SKINNER: What the hell do you mean...

(Skinner is conferring with Scully.)

SKINNER: He checked out Roche?

SCULLY: Agent Mulder convinced the judge that it was an emergency situation.

SKINNER: And where were you while this was happening?

SCULLY: I had left Agent Mulder for the day. I suggested that he get some sleep. Sir, I have a clear idea of where he might have gone and I am sure that I can catch up with him.

SKINNER: I'll be the one to catch up with him. Where's he headed?

(He stands and puts on his coat.)

SCULLY: Martha's Vineyard. And I would hope that you'd appreciate the uniqueness of this situation and it's effect on Agent Mulder.

SKINNER: No, I fully understand the effect it has on him, Agent Scully. As I recall, that was the sum and total of my last words to you on the subject. You let me down. Let's clean up this mess before it gets completely out of hand.

(He starts out.)

(Mulder flicks on the light switch as he opens the door, Roche following him inside. They walk into the hallway, then Roche peeks into the main room.)

JOHN LEE ROCHE: No one home?

(Mulder remains stoic. Roche smiles and sits on the plastic-covered couch.)

I sat on this couch... when your dad bought the vacuum. You're ready?

MULDER: Go.

JOHN LEE ROCHE: November twenty-seventh, 1973. I watched the house for hours. I parked across the way, out over there. I was just casing, I wasn't planning for this to be the night. But then, all of a sudden, your parents leave and I figure...

MULDER: Where'd they go?

(Roche stands and goes to the window.)

JOHN LEE ROCHE: House next door. To play pinochle, I don't know... whatever it was people did back then.

MULDER: Go on.

JOHN LEE ROCHE: So after they're gone, I get out of my car and I move closer.

(He kneels down in front of the television.)

And I watched you and your sister playing that board game.

(He stands.)

A little bit after eight, I'm about ready so I move to the junction box.

(He starts to walk around.)

I cut the power, and the lights go off, and then I moved around the front door. And I was ready to kick the door in... it was unlocked. It was 1973. It was... a different world back then.

MULDER: And then what did you do?

JOHN LEE ROCHE: Well, you remember that. I... came in the front door. And you tried to get to your father's gun, I g, I give you credit for that. But then you sort of froze, and then... I took your sister away from all this. To a happier place.

(Mulder walks over to him.)

MULDER: That's exactly how it happened? Right here in this room?

(Roche looks a little unsure, confused.)

JOHN LEE ROCHE: Yeah.

MULDER: Wrong house.

(Roche is shocked.)

My father bought this house after he and my mother divorced. This house is in West Tisbury. The house that Samantha was abducted from is in Chilmark. That's six miles from here!

(Roche looks away.)

You screwed up. You were never here. You didn't take Samantha.

JOHN LEE ROCHE: Wishful thinking.

MULDER: No. No, but I think I know what happened. Somehow you got inside my dreams.

JOHN LEE ROCHE: Come again?

MULDER: I profiled you. I got inside your head, maybe you got inside mine. Maybe some nexus or connection was formed between us and through that, you got access to my memories of my sister Samantha and you used them against me for this.

JOHN LEE ROCHE: You're just resisting me.

MULDER: And you're in the wrong house, you stupid son of a bitch! You were never here, you liar!

JOHN LEE ROCHE: It's geography, man. It's just geography. It was twenty-three years ago, that was geography we're talking about.

MULDER: Yeah, but you remember all the other details so vividly. That's because you watched it through my eyes... through my dreams.

(Roche sits in the chair, laughing.)

JOHN LEE ROCHE: I hear things about you, Mulder. You know what I heard? I heard you go after aliens... from space. It's like your world will be okay as long as you can believe in, like, flying saucers.

(He makes a twirling motion with his finger and a corny sci-fi noise.)

But I'm telling you the God's honest truth. I can see you're not as open-minded as you think you are.

MULDER: You must have been one hell of a salesman, Roche. First flight's at six A.M. Why don't you enjoy your last few hours of freedom? Come on.

(Roche stands and they walk out.)

(Mulder sits at the table, studying the paper heart. Roche is asleep on the couch. He hears something outside.)

SAMANTHA MULDER: Fox!

(He stands.)

Fox, help! Unlock me! Help! Help me!

(He goes over to the window and sees the white car outside. He gasps. Samantha pounds on the car window.)

Fox, help me! Help me!

(Mulder looks over at Roche, then dashes out as the engine revs.)

Unlock me! Fox!

(Mulder tries the door handle, but it is locked.)

Fox, help me! Unlock me! Fox!

(He opens the door and pulls her out. He hugs Samantha tightly, then pulls her away to look at her. Smile wide, he hugs her tight again and notices something on the floor. The red dot. It forms "bye." Mulder hears the car's engine rev and turns, holding nothing, to see is gone. He wakes up, hearing a pounding on the door. His hands are beneath the table, and he throws it over as he stands, finding he is handcuffed. Roche is gone.)

SCULLY: Mulder?

SKINNER: Mulder, open the door!

(Mulder looks around. Afterwards, in the morning, Mulder is talking to Scully and Skinner.)

MULDER: He must have done it in my sleep, I had another dream.

(Skinner sighs.)

SKINNER: Why don't you check to see if anybody saw him leave?

(Skinner motions to two men, who walk out.)

MULDER: He took the last cloth heart.

SCULLY: He also took your badge and your phone.

SKINNER: Where's your gun?

(Mulder stares at him blankly.)

How do you explain yourself, Agent Mulder?

MULDER: I don't.

SKINNER: You don't. A predator is loose because of you. God only knows how many hours lead he's got. Any idea where he might be headed?

(Mulder thinks for a second.)

MULDER: Yeah.

SCULLY: Where?

MULDER: Where's your phone?

(Skinner sighs and hands him his phone. Mulder sits.)

There was a small child on the plane.

SCULLY: What child?

(Mulder dials the number.)

WOMAN ON PHONE: Seaboard Air...

MULDER: Yeah, please put me through to your supervisor.

SCULLY: Mulder, what child?

MULDER: This is Fox Mulder of the F.B.I. I'd like a passenger manifest for flight sixteen-fifty from Washington National to Boston, 8:50 P.M. last night. My badge number is J-T-T...

(The woman talks illegibly. Mulder hangs up.)

An Agent Mulder just called ten minutes ago. They gave him the same information.

(They start off.)

(The agents pulls up to the scene to find the person in charge talking to police.)

WOMAN: He said he was from the F.B.I. He said her mother was in an accident. He needed to take Caitlin...

(She sobs. The agents get out of the car.)

LOCAL COP: You said he was a, a white male?

WOMAN: Yeah.

LOCAL COP: About how tall was he?

WOMAN: Um, he was about six foot five or something.

(Mulder, Skinner and Scully walk over to her.)

He said his name was Mulder. He had a badge. He said he was official. Oh my God, what have I done?

(The local cop looks over to Skinner.)

LOCAL COP: We sent a unit over to pick up the girl's mother. She's on her way down.

SKINNER: Okay.

WOMAN: Wh, what am I going to tell her? It's all my fault.

MULDER: It's not your fault. It's my fault.

(He walks back towards his car, Scully following.)

Sorry, Scully, you were right. He was playing me the whole time.

SCULLY: You don't think he took Samantha?

MULDER: None of that really matters now, does it?

(They stop at the car.)

SCULLY: Well, where do you think he'd take this girl? Would he follow his M.O. and drive her out of state?

MULDER: There's no reason for that, he knows we're going to catch him. He just needs it be sooner than later. He's going to stay in the Boston area. It'll be somewhere nearby.

SCULLY: Well, how much of a creature of habit is he? Do you think he'd want to take her someplace familiar?

MULDER: Try to relive some past glory? Is that what you're thinking? I don't know, what?

SCULLY: Well, he lived in Boston in the early '70s, right?

(She reaches through the open window and takes a folder off the dashboard. Skinner walks over.)

SKINNER: What do you got?

SCULLY: Roche's old address in the area. Revere. Nine-eight-o-nine Alice Road, apartment number six...

MULDER: He's there.

SKINNER: How do you know?

MULDER: Alice, "Alice in Wonderland," he's the Mad Hatter.

SKINNER: Mulder, that's, that's...

MULDER: That's where he got the idea in the first place.

(He gets in the driver's seat.)

SKINNER: All right, let's go!

(He whistles and the agents and officials start piling into their cars.)

<-9809 ALICE ROAD->

(Mulder is the first to enter, busting down the door. The apartment is empty and abandoned.)

SKINNER: Check the other rooms!

(The agents go ahead.)

SCULLY: I don't think he brought her here.

(Mulder looks out the window and sees a bus terminal with hundreds of buses across the way.)

MULDER: He never brought anyone here.

(He runs out. Skinner puts away his gun as they follow. Mulder walks across the field and starts to climb the metal barrier.)

SKINNER: Plug the entrance!

(He looks out at the hundreds of abandoned buses and climbs down. He pulls out his gun on his ankle and hears a girl scream. Running in that direction, he looks around and, as if led by some unknown force, starts to walk slowly past buses. He finds the bus he thinks is the one and slowly approaches the doors. Pulling it open, he pops out of the entrance, gun raised, and sees Roche sitting at the back, Caitlin in the seat in front of him. He lowers his gun and slowly starts towards them.)

JOHN LEE ROCHE: I'm beginning to believe we do share that... nexus you spoke of. You always seem to find me.

MULDER: Are you okay, Caitlin?

(Caitlin nods.)

Good. My name is Fox, I'm going to take you home.

(She nods again.)

JOHN LEE ROCHE: I have your gun, Fox.

MULDER: Caitlin, can you do me a favor? Can you count to twenty? Can you do that? Will you close your eyes and count to twenty out loud, quietly and slowly?

(She nods and closes her eyes.)

CAITLIN ROSS/MULDER: One, two...

(Mulder cocks his gun and puts it directly in Roche's face.)

CAITLIN ROSS: Three...

JOHN LEE ROCHE: I will shoot.

CAITLIN ROSS: Four...

MULDER: Don't make this end badly.

CAITLIN ROSS: Five...

(Mulder looks down to see Roche pointing Mulder's gun at the seat in front of him, a path that would go right through Caitlin.)

Six... seven...

JOHN LEE ROCHE: You're not giving me very much choice.

CAITLIN ROSS: Eight...

(Skinner and Scully appear in the entrance, guns pointed at Roche.)

Nine...

JOHN LEE ROCHE: I really don't want to go back to prison.

SKINNER: Put the gun down, Roche!

CAITLIN ROSS: Ten... eleven... twelve...

(Roche pulls out the last paper heart, still in the bag.)

JOHN LEE ROCHE: You have one left.

CAITLIN ROSS: Thirteen...

JOHN LEE ROCHE: How are you going to find her without me?

CAITLIN ROSS: Fourteen... fifteen...

JOHN LEE ROCHE: How sure are you it's not Samantha?

CAITLIN ROSS: Sixteen...

JOHN LEE ROCHE: Huh?

CAITLIN ROSS: Seventeen...

JOHN LEE ROCHE: How do you know?

CAITLIN ROSS: Eighteen... nineteen...

(Mulder blows Roche's brains out, leaving blood all over the window behind his head. Caitlin screams and runs towards Scully.)

SCULLY: Come here.

(Roche slumps down.)

SKINNER: Get her out of here. Call an ambulance!

(Caitlin sobs. Mulder keeps his gun trained on Roche, then slowly lowers it, breathing raggedly.)

(Mulder sits at his desk, staring at it. Scully knocks and walks in. They stare at each other in silence for a few seconds before Scully puts down a stack of papers on Mulder's desk.)

SCULLY: I got back some lab results. The dye analysis determined that the fabric of the last heart was manufactured between 1969 and 1974... but beyond that, there's nothing more they can tell us. Mulder, it's not Samantha... and whoever that little girl really is, we'll find her.

MULDER: How?

SCULLY: I don't know... but I do know you.

(He looks up at her, then back down.)

Why don't you go on home and get some sleep?

(He laughs heartily. She does the same. They hug, Mulder's head against her bosom. She strokes his hair, then walks out. He continues to smile, then it fades. Mulder pulls open his desk drawer and cradles the last paper heart, before placing it in the desk drawer and closing it.)

[THE END]