episode by Paul Brown
summary by Pellinor
Internal dating: The hostage negotiation in "Duane Barry" begins in daylight on August 7th 1994 and is over the same night. It isn't clear whether it's hours or days that have elapsed before Barry escapes from the hospital at the end, so it isn't clear when Scully was abducted. August 8th 1994, or a day or two later, presumably. The events of "Ascension" take a few days immediately after that, during which Skinner re-opens the X-Files.
11.23 pm. Mulder returns home and listens to Scully's phone message (from the end of Duane Barry). He rushes round to find the police everywhere. As he looks at the broken glass in her window, and later on her floor, he imagines what it was like to her to be taken. There is some blood on the coffee table and he gets some on his fingers. Mrs Scully arrives and Mulder says Scully's not here. "Where is she? Where is she?" she asks, and he can't answer.
The credits roll, with the altered tag-line: Deny Everything.
11.46 pm. Mrs Scully says she had a dream about Dana being taken away, but didn't call her. She'd have laughed, she said, as she doesn't believe in such things.
8.03 am. Skinner addresses a team assembled to discuss the situation. Cancerman is there, and the same people who dismiss Scully in Blessing Way, and are seen in other disciplinary hearings. He asks Mulder a question, but Mulder is silent, lost in thought, and Krycek answers for him. They are working on the hypothesis that Barry is taking her to the abduction site, so she can be taken instead of him. Mulder thinks he found her because she was carrying the tracking device. When he says there's no other explanation of how he found her, Cancer Man and Krycek exchange a look. Skinner wants Mulder to hand the case over to the Hostage Retrieval Team, but Mulder wants to stay on the case. Skinner says he's had no sleep and must go home. "You're too close to this case," he says, then barks "that's an order," when Mulder tries to object.
11.23 am. Duane Barry drives along route 229, Rixeyville, Virginia. "Red Right Hand" plays on the radio. He's stopped by the police but shoots the patrolman who pulls him over, saying he has somewhere he has to go and mustn't be late. Scully can be glimpsed in the trunk, tied up but conscious.
3.11 pm. The Video Production Unit. Mulder watches a surveillance video of this incident, and sees Scully in the trunk. He gets the picture of her face magnified.
4.03 pm. Mulder is staring at the picture of Scully, listening to the tape of what Barry said to him during the hostage negotiation. Hearing Barry talking about a mountain ascending to the stars, and noticing the road he was on when apprehended, he works out Barry is heading to Skyland Mountain, advertised as "ascend to the stars." He tells Krycek to get the car and meet him outside.
Krycek calls Cancer Man and tells him what Mulder's worked out. Cancer Man watches as they drive out of the garage.
5.43 pm. Mulder is falling asleep at the wheel and nearly drives straight into a truck. Krycek wants to drive, but Mulder insists he's fine. Krycek reminds him how many accidents have been caused by sleeplessness. Mulder says he knows Krycek thinks he should have told Skinner, but he's afraid that "if he sends in the whole cavalry Duane Barry might go over the edge." They then discuss how Barry found her. Mulder thinks the implant is the easiest explanation, but the most implausible. Krycek asks what the alternative is. "Somebody would have given him her address," he says. "I don't know who."
They arrive at Skyland Mountain and are told Barry started driving to the top 45 minutes ago, so should be there in about 15 minutes. The cable car is out of order, but Mulder insists on going up on it. He goes alone, telling Krycek to watch the operator and make sure he doesn't stop it. He's told not to go too fast, but sets off, not listening to the instructions, and drives it really fast. The operator warns him over the radio to slow down, but Krycek knocks him out and stops the tram. He then calls Cancer Man and says he'll hold Mulder there until he's told otherwise.
Barry arrives at the summit, and Mulder, receiving no reply on the radio, climbs out through the top of the tram. Seeing this, Krycek starts it up again, but Mulder manages to cling on and reaches the top safely.
Mulder finds Barry's car, with Scully's gold cross in the trunk. Then he sees the bright light of a helicopter, and finds Barry shouting with joy, with burn marks on his face. "You can't touch Duane Barry any more!" he shouts, ignoring Mulder when he asks where Scully is. "They took her!" he says, at last. "I told you they were going to take somebody else."
8.46 pm. A large search team has been assembled to look for Scully. Mulder again asks Barry what happened, and he again says "they" took her. "Did you kill her?" Mulder whispers, and he swears he didn't. He says there was a ship, and that Mulder saw it, but Mulder says he saw only a helicopter. Barry then seems to see men in black suits outside the window and shouts "they know what happened!", but then slip away. Barry jumps up, shouting that he should stop the men in suits, but Mulder wrestles him down onto a table. When he sees a few strands of red hair stuck on Barry's hospital wrist band, he loses his temper. "Did you hurt her? Did you hurt her?" he shouts, voice cracking, before squeezing Barry round the neck. Then he covers his face with his hands, leaving Barry coughing. "I'm sorry," Barry says, as Mulder turns to leave. "They had to take her. I hope they're not hurting her too much with the tests."
Mulder walks out, telling Krycek Barry's given him nothing. He asks Krycek if there was anyone else outside the room, but Krycek says he was alone. Mulder asks him not to let anyone in to see Barry. Then he looks at the reflection of a light in the window and imagines Scully, staring at a bright light as a machine enlarges her abdomen.
Mulder returns to the room to see Krycek talking to Barry. He summons Krycek out and shouts at him, saying he was the only one who can talk to him. Krycek says Barry was having trouble breathing and said Mulder choked him. Mulder asks if Barry said anything about Scully, and Krycek says he whistled "Stairway to Heaven."
Skinner arrives. "Agent Mulder, you disobeyed my direct order," he says, but then a guard calls for a paramedic and Barry is found, gasping for breath. He dies before he can say anything.
6.07 am, FBI Morgue, Quantico. Mulder asks for a copy of the autopsy report. The report is incomplete, but the pathologist says the cause of death looks like asphyxiation. Mulder asks if she has run a toxicological yet, but she says she hasn't. She says he will have to go through military channels to get the report, saying that the regular FBI pathologist wasn't available so it was treated under military jurisdiction.
6.16 am. Krycek meets Cancer Man in his car and asks what his report to Skinner should be. Cancer Man says he should confirm Mulder's version. "You've earned his trust," he says. "The object now is to preserve it." Krycek asks why, if Mulder's such a threat, he's not eliminated. "That's not policy," Cancer Man says. "Kill Mulder and you risk turning one man's religion into a crusade," he says. Krycek asks about Scully, and Cancer Man says "We've taken care of that now. We tell you only what you need to know." Krycek says he has rights, but Cancer Man says "you have no rights, only orders to be carried out. If you have a problem with that we'll make other arrangements."
Skinner reads the autopsy report to a committee, saying Barry was killed by bruises to the throat. Mulder admits he lost control for a little while, but insists he didn't kill Barry. Skinner says Krycek said he saw Barry gagging after Mulder left the room. "Is Agent Krycek asserting that I killed him too?" Mulder asks, but Skinner says Krycek corroborates his story, even though there is no other plausible cause of death. The Office of Professional Conduct wants them both to take a lie-detector test. Mulder says someone could have poisoned Barry, and accuses the military of covering up the toxicological findings, because "they know where Scully is." "Why are you so paranoid, Mulder?" asks one of the committee members, sighing. "Oh, I don't know," he replies. "Maybe it's because I find it hard to trust anybody."
Mulder borrows Krycek's car keys, ignoring Krycek's reminder that they have to do a lie detector test. He goes to the office of Senator Matheson, but X is there instead. "You wasted a trip, Mr Mulder" he says. "There's nothing the senator can do for you now, not without committing political suicide." Mulder asks if they have something on him. "They have something on everyone," X replies. "The question is when they'll use it." Mulder says he needs some help, but X says "No-one can help you now. Your channels of recourse and appeal are closed." Mulder accuses him of knowing what has happened to Scully, but X says, "this reaches beyond any of us, Mr Mulder - even my predecessor. Why kill Duane Barry if there was nothing to hide?" "You mean the government?" Mulder asks. "There are no answers for you, Mr Mulder," X tells him. "They only have one policy: Deny Everything."
Back in Krycek's car, Mulder finds cigarette ends in the ashtray, and looks thoughtful.
8.11 am, Skinner's office. Mulder accuses Krycek of killing Barry and impeding the investigation. "There's a lot of blood on this document," Skinner says, and demands evidence. "I can't protect you, Agent Mulder," he says, saying it has become a larger Bureau matter. Mulder shows Skinner the cigarette ends, and tells him how Krycek was the last person with Barry before he died, and with the tram operator before he disappeared. Skinner asks what organisation he's accusing Krycek of belonging to. Mulder points to the ashtray, and says it's the same organisation that the man who smokes them works for, whether that's military of some covert organisation within the government. Scully got too close to what they were trying to deny, as she had the implant in her possession, or else they were trying to get her away from him. Skinner begins to look convinced, and asked if he thinks Scully's dead. "I don't know," Mulder says. "How far do you think they'd go? What do you know about Agent Krycek?"
They learn that Krycek didn't show up to work this morning, and his phone has been disconnected. Mulder is angry, saying he's just disappeared into the woodwork and will get away with it. "Who are these people?" he demands. "They just murder with impunity and we can't do anything about it." Skinner urges him to let it go, saying there is nothing he can do. "What can you do about it?" Mulder demands. "There's only one thing I can do, Agent Mulder," he says. "As of right now I'm reopening the X-Files. That's what they fear the most."
Mulder meets with Mrs Scully and says he doesn't know anything. She says he knows he's doing all he can, and tells him she had the dream again about Dana being taken away. "I can't tell you how it scares me," she says. "It's probably scarier when you stop having it, don't you think?" he says, and she nods, wonderingly. He tries to give her Scully's gold cross, saying he'd never thought she was religious. "If she was such a sceptic," he says, "why did she wear this?" She says she gave it to her on her 15th birthday, and tells Mulder to keep it. "When you find her, you give it to her," she says.
At night, Mulder climbs Skyland mountain and stands in the dark, staring up at the sky.