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FIGHT THE FUTURE

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Next we see Mulder sitting at a desk in what's usually referred to as a bullpen, an area that's not exactly offices and not exactly cubicles where the agents gather. He's not in the X-Files office, that's for sure. There's a machine in front of him with large spools of audiotape on it, and he's using a board in front of him to rewind and play through the wiretap. On it a woman is saying that she's "waitin' here like some stupid bimbo." Ooh, look, Mulder's got Word open to transcribe. That seems like a really sucky job. As he types the camera pushes off him to the background, where a young agent stands. Guess who, kids? That's right! It's Alex Krycek in a gray suit, red tie, and white shirt, his hair slicked to the side with enormous amounts of hair product. Aww, you can't help but love him anyway. He stands there for a few moments, awkwardly waiting for Mulder to acknowledge him, because he's fidgeting. He even licks his lips. Then he calls to Mulder, who had his headphones on, so you can't really fault him for not noticing Krycek. Taped to a filing cabinet that abuts Mulder's desk are four photos, three black and white, and one color, of he and Samantha. Both he and Sam are wrapped in towels, so perhaps they were at the beach. Krycek walks up and hands Mulder a file, saying it's the 302 that Skinner just approved. Wow, Mulder's hair was really light back then. It's all sticking up, too, hee. Mulder tells Krycek that there's been a mistake and that another agent has been assigned to the case, and Krycek says that he's the other agent. He holds out his hand in greeting, but Mulder doesn't take it, saying that Skinner didn't mention taking on a partner. Krycek tells him that it wasn't Skinner, and that he opened the file two hours before Mulder's request, making it the young blood's case! Back off, Mulder! He doesn't actually say that, but I'm rooting for the guy. Mulder does that thing he does when he's nervous, which is playing with his bottom lip while he speaks. Chemistry! Look at them! It's CHEMISTRY! It's undeniable.

Mulder asks the young agent if he already talked to the police, and Krycek says that he just hung up with the officer in charge, Horton. While answering, Krycek pulls out his Handy Dandy FBI Notebook from his suit jacket pocket. Aw, he's so cute. He tells Mulder that Grissom called 911 to report a fire, and Mulder off-handedly mentions that he already heard the tape. Oh yeah? But did Mulder hear that Forensics found a spent fire extinguisher on the floor with Grissom's prints on it? Huh? Did ya? Didn't think so! Krycek shows Mulder photos from the scene, saying that the floors and walls were covered with ammonium phosphate, but no trace of fire. And then Mulder asks him if that's all he knows, and you have to look close before he answers, because Nick Lea quirks this little grin. Right before he says, "What do you think it means?" You should pause it. Of course, one must assume that Krycek is being friendly. Or trying to be, because Mulder sure isn't responsive to that cute little smile. He tells Krycek not to take it personally, but that he works alone. And as Mulder passes in front of Krycek, you see a glimmer of what is to come many years from now, because Krycek has this kind of dark look on his face. Mulder tells him he'll straighten things out with Skinner. But Alex won't give up the case so easily, and says that he "may be green, but I had the case first, so I'm not gonna give it away so quickly."

Mulder seems to take his enthusiasm to heart, and tells Krycek that he has some things to finish up. He asks Alex to go down to the motor pool to requisition them a car, and he'll meet him down there. Krycek is surprised, wondering why all of a sudden Mulder doesn't have a problem with them working together. Mulder's playing nice here, of course, and even puts on a fake grin to match the other man's honest one (Krycek actually smiles twice while he's talking to Mulder, once when he's handed the file, and then again as he walks away). But from the look on Mulder's face as the young agent leaves, you just *know* he ain't gonna be down in the parking garage.

Quantico, Virginia, home to the FBI Academy and a Marine Corps training base, but right now we're interested in the Academy, where your favorite skeptic and mine Dana Scully is teaching a group of students about electrocution. There's a body lying face down on an autopsy table. They all look like they're 10 years older than the teacher, whose pregnant tummy (well, GA's, anyway) is being hidden by the dead guy. Hey, did you know death from electrocution actually occurs when parts of the heart die? Huh. A guy interrupts Scully's class to say that she has an urgent call from George Hale. And if you're still playing along at home, kids, that's the alias Mulder went by in the previous episode, "Little Green Men." George Hale was an astronomer who found the Hale-Bopp comet.