A worker sneaks a cigarette break in the bathroom and is swarmed by a mass of bees that invade the bathroom. Minutes later her co-worker goes to find her and, though the room is now clear of bees, her friend is dead in the bathroom stall covered in lesions. In a scene that crosses covert action with Mr. Clean, Skinner sanitizes the crime scene discarding any evidence and sweeping and vacuuming the floor for trace evidence. He even gets on his hands and knees and scrubs the floor. Weirdness. Skinner breaks into the morgue and steals the body of the victim, almost getting caught. But he leaves the morgue unseen. He takes the body to what looks like an industrial plant or refinery and places it in an incinerator, effectively destroying all the physical evidence. Mulder shows Skinner pictures of the body which Skinner is surprised to see. He says he got them from Detective Thomas' partner after he was questioned about Thomas' death. This comes as a real shock to Skinner who just left the man alive. Mulder says he was shot execution style "possibly by the same man who forged my name to gain access to the forensic lab." M: Agent Scully is in the hospital. S: Has something happened that I should know about? M: She's undergoing some imaging tests. Her oncologist was concerned about some microscopy results. That her tumor may be metastasizing. Skinner meets with CSM in the parking garage of his building. CSM's driver is the Gray-Haired Man. S: Was it you? Did you pull the trigger or did you have HIM do it for you? Mulder says he has one lead. The gun that killed Detective Thomas is a Sig-Sauer P228 and the look of sick recognition on Skinner's face shows his dawning realization. He checks the drawer where his gun is and finds it missing. He's been set-up. S: I need to know what that man died for. C: He died for you, Mr. Skinner. He died so that you could have what you wanted. A cure for Agent Scully. He goes to take a second look at the crime scene. He climbs on the sink to get a better look at the crack near the ceiling and once again finds the golden substance. Asking for a hammer, he breaks through the wall and reveals a maze of honeycomb. A security camera from the bank next door caught an image of Thomas in the parking lot with an unidentified man (Skinner). With some work in the photo lab, Mulder thinks the identity of the man will be revealed. Skinner calls Marita to ask her about the information she provided for Mulder. Skinner tells her he may have access to those bees. She seems concerned. He shows Skinner the lesions on the body and says they are signs of small pox; the first reported case in over seven years. Mulder shows him the venom sacs and stingers removed from the body which explain the method of transmission. Mulder goes to the photo lab to see the improved image from the videotape. As the picture's resolution is improved, he is stunned to see the image of Skinner revealed. CSM is reporting to the Consortium on the status of the cover-up effort. "Should we assume the trial run is proceeding as planned?" they inquire. CSM replies, "It's already begun." In a scene reminiscent of Alfred Hitchcock's "The Birds", young children on a playground are attacked by a swarm of bees. Skinner tries to tell the attending doctor that he should be treating the children for small pox, not just bee stings. The doctor doesn't believe him and balks at the idea of vaccinating the children and staff for a disease that has been eradicated. M: Is that the gun you used to shoot the detective? S: I didn't kill him. M: You're a liar. You've been working with the Smoking Man all along. You knew when he had my father killed and you knew when they took Scully. "But there's a reason that I did what I did. One that I think you're in a unique position to understand. I advised you against a certain course of action some time ago...concerning Agent Scully. I didn't follow my own advice." The gun comes up a match and when asked where he found the gun, Mulder says, "In a sewer grate around the corner from the crime scene," much to Skinner grateful surprise. C: Yours isn't the first gun I've had pointed in my face, Mr. Skinner. I'm not afraid to die. But if you kill me now you also kill Agent Scully. S: You have no intention of saving her. You never did. C: Are you certain? You'll never know if you pull the trigger, will you? We see Skinner, gun leveled, pause then fire off three rounds. The phone continues to ring as Skinner slowly walks out the door and only then do we see CSM still standing with three bullet holes arrayed around his head on the wall behind him.

Zero Sum Transcontinental Express Routing Center, Virginia. A worker sneaks a cigarette break in the bathroom and is swarmed by a mass of bees that invade the bathroom. Before they attack we see them coming from the drain vents in the sink and blanketing the floors and counter of the room. Minutes later her co-worker goes to find her and, though the room is now clear of bees, her friend is dead in the bathroom stall covered in lesions. We see Assistant Director Skinner in Mulder's basement office deleting the pertinent files regarding the death from Mulder's computer. Following the teaser, we see Skinner dressed all in black including gloves. He takes his phone off the hook and grabs a gym bag he's just packed. He goes to the crime scene at the Transcontinental Express Center and enters the bathroom, breaking the "Do Not Enter" crime scene seal. In a scene that crosses covert action with Mr. Clean, he sanitizes the crime scene discarding any evidence and sweeping and vacuuming the floor for trace evidence. He even gets on his hands and knees and scrubs the floor. Weirdness. As he scans the room, he sees a strange substance oozing from a crack near the ceiling. It's a clear, golden substance. Next, Skinner breaks into the morgue and steals the body of the victim, almost getting caught. But he leaves the morgue unseen. He takes the body to what looks like an industrial plant or refinery and places it in an incinerator, effectively destroying all the physical evidence. His final stop is at the Police Forensic Lab in Virginia where he flashes Mulder's badge and asks to see the catalogued evidence. He takes the opportunity to replace the victim's vial of blood with one he smuggled in. Thinking he made a clean escape, he is surprised when he is chased down by Detective Thomas, the man who contacted Mulder about the case. He is the one who e-mailed the pictures and case report to Mulder and he wants to know what Skinner thinks. He obviously believes Skinner to BE Mulder. Skinner tells him he saw nothing to warrant his further involvement. Detective Thomas is surprised that he found nothing odd about the case. He says he thought Mulder was part of the X-Files which was why he contacted him and if there was nothing to it, why did he come down to the lab in the middle of the night? Skinner says he was just doing his job and drives off leaving Thomas standing in the middle of the parking lot. As his car leaves the lot, we see the Gray-Haired Man sitting in a darkened car, watching. It's now almost four in the morning and Skinner is back from his little mission, throwing all the items he used and clothes he wore into a garbage sack. He puts the phone back on the hook and is about to take the trash out but is surprised to find Mulder on his front step when he opens the door. Mulder says he's been trying to reach Skinner but his phone must have been off the hook. He wants answers about the strange death of the postal worker that someone has gone to great lengths to cover-up. He shows Skinner pictures of the body which Skinner is surprised to see. He says he got them from Detective Thomas' partner after he was questioned about Thomas' death. This comes as a real shock to Skinner who just left the man alive. Mulder says he was shot execution style "possibly by the same man who forged my name to gain access to the forensic lab." Mulder says he wants Skinner's help. S: What about Agent Scully? M: Agent Scully is in the hospital. S: Has something happened that I should know about? M: She's undergoing some imaging tests. Her oncologist was concerned about some microscopy results. That her tumor may be metastasizing. Skinner looks mildly horrified. Skinner meets with CSM in the parking garage of his building. CSM's driver is the Gray-Haired Man. S: Was it you? Did you pull the trigger or did you have HIM do it for you? C: I'm not here to answer your questions. S: You murdered him. C: I suggest you keep your voice down unless you want your neighbors to know the hours and the company you keep. S: I won't be a party to murder. C: I wouldn't get too comfortable on your moral high ground, Mr. Skinner. CSM says this happened because Skinner left his job unfinished. Skinner says he handled it like he's handled everything else CSM has asked him to do. S: I've followed your instructions. C: You're in no position to question the terms of our arrangement. S: Then we have no arrangement. C: You'll find it's not that easy to walk away from. A man digs a hole, he risks falling into it. Skinner looks at CSM then the Gray-Haired Man and realizes there is a real threat in that statement. Mulder calls at a more reasonable time in the morning to tell Skinner that the body is missing along with all evidence and that the blood sample has been replaced. Skinner asks how he knows the blood has been switched and is told the postal worker had a folic deficiency which would have been detected. The blood is clearly not hers. Mulder says he has one lead. The gun that killed Detective Thomas is a Sig-Sauer P228 and the look of sick recognition on Skinner's face shows his dawning realization. He checks the drawer where his gun is and finds it missing. He's been set-up. He calls CSM and asks if it was his gun that killed Detective Thomas. CSM says if it was, he should report it, otherwise why is Skinner calling him? Perhaps because, CSM says, "You'd be admitting to the obstruction of justice, criminal conspiracy, and the destruction of evidence?" Skinner knows he's trapped and wants to know what CSM had him cover up. CSM thinks the less he knows, the better. S: I need to know what that man died for. C: He died for you, Mr. Skinner. He died so that you could have what you wanted. A cure for Agent Scully. Skinner tells CSM that she's in the hospital and if he can do anything for her, he wants it done now. CSM says he's aware of her progress. Skinner tells CSM that if anything happens to Scully, he'll turn state's evidence and expose CSM without a care for what happens to himself. CSM replies that "Agent Scully stands to live a long and healthy life." Now Skinner wants some answers of his own. He goes to take a second look at the crime scene. He climbs on the sink to get a better look at the crack near the ceiling and once again finds the golden substance. Asking for a hammer, he breaks through the wall and reveals a maze of honeycomb. He takes a chunk of the comb to a specialized scientist telling him a story about bureau security to explain his use of an outside lab. The comb contains royal jelly and several larval forms of the unidentified bees. When he's had a chance to study the larvae and hatched form, he tells Skinner he'll be able to call him with definitive answers. As Skinner leaves, the scientist asks him if this is "related to that other case." He tells Skinner he got a call about six months ago from a Fox Mulder asking about killer bees and wondered if there was a connection. Skinner denies everything. Skinner sneaks a look at Mulder's files and finds the information from Marita Covarrubias. As he's flipping through Mulder's rolodex and jotting down the number for Marita, Mulder walks in and Skinner tells him he was just leaving him a note. He's not a great liar. Mulder shows him some security camera photos of the police parking lot where Skinner talked with Detective Thomas. A security camera from the bank next door caught an image of Thomas in the parking lot with an unidentified man (Skinner). With some work in the photo lab, Mulder thinks the identity of the man will be revealed. Skinner tries for some enthusiasm and fails. Skinner has even less time now and Mulder seems more and more suspicious of his behavior. Skinner calls Marita to ask her about the information she provided for Mulder. She says she couldn't help Mulder because the project he was asking about turned up no viable evidence of bee hives or bee husbandry. Skinner tells her he may have that evidence; he may have access to those bees. She seems concerned. Back at the bee specialist's lab, we see the scientist entering the room and flipping the light switch on and off. The room is in complete darkness and the light fails to turn on. As he switches on a table lamp, he sees the container with the comb and larvae has been breached. He hears a low hum and when he turns the light toward the windows, we realize why the room is in darkness. Bees cover the windows and the light fixture and, as they swarm the poor man leaving their positions, the room is again flooded with daylight and the screams of the dying man. Mulder calls Skinner down to the morgue to view the body of the dead scientist. He says he wanted Skinner to view this possible lead before someone stole it. He shows Skinner the lesions on the body and says they are signs of small pox; the first reported case in over seven years. An especially virulent strain caused by a mutated form of variola virus. Mulder shows him the venom sacs and stingers removed from the body which explain the method of transmission. Mulder says he consulted with the man before, referring to the lineman in "Herrenvolk" that he and Jeremiah Smith found dead. Mulder thinks someone's trying to engineer a method of delivery for small pox. Mulder says their best chance of catching the people responsible lies in the photo. Skinner goes to talk to the victim's co-worker and friend who we saw in the opening teaser. She tells Skinner that some men came to talk to her and told her if she talked to anyone else, she'd lose her job. They didn't say who they were, but just asked for the package. She tells Skinner they store damaged packages in a store room next to the restrooms but she can't remember offhand where the package in question was being sent. She offers to look up the information using the tracking number. Meanwhile, Mulder goes to the photo lab to see the improved image from the videotape. As the picture's resolution is improved, he is stunned to see the image of Skinner revealed. He asks for a hard copy. 46th Street, New York City. CSM is reporting to the Consortium on the status of the cover-up effort. He says the bees have all been collected and the body has been sanitized. When asked how it happened he says it's been taken care of and the details are unimportant. "Details are everything," he is informed. He tells the group they'll have to trust his assurances. He says he has "a man in place - a man with no other choice but to succeed." "Should we assume the trial run is proceeding as planned?" they inquire. CSM replies, "It's already begun." J.F.K. Elementary School, South Carolina. In a scene reminiscent of Alfred Hitchcock's "The Birds", young children on a playground are attacked by a swarm of bees. As the teacher tries to get the children inside, they are unavoidably stung. In the pandemonium, a small boy falls, losing his glasses. In an attempt to help him, the teacher finds herself the final target on the playground and is stung to death as her students look on in horror. A little too much for my taste...children as test subjects? Skinner arrives at the hospital to find beds full of sick and dying children; victims of the stinging bees. Skinner tries to tell the attending doctor that he should be treating the children for small pox, not just bee stings. The doctor doesn't believe him and balks at the idea of vaccinating the children and staff for a disease that has been eradicated. Besides, he tells Skinner that the children were stung only hours ago and small pox has an 8 day incubation period so the lesions can't be small pox. At this point Marita arrives at the hospital and wants to talk to Skinner. She tells him his phone call to her prompted her to make some inquiries and she's here because seven packages were sent from Canada to South Carolina. He says she's a little late to do anything about it. She tries to muscle Skinner into telling her what he knows using her UN status as leverage (really intimidating). He tells her he thinks it's an experiment using bees as carriers. She asks if he's told Mulder and when he says no, she wants to know shy? Is he involved? She tells him if he knows who's behind this he needs to come forward. Back in Skinner's apartment, he finds his desk drawer broken into and his gun replaced. As he picks it up, Mulder appears in the doorway with a gun trained on Skinner. S: You don't understand. M: No. I do now. Is that the gun you used to shoot the detective? S: I didn't kill him. M: You're a liar. You've been working with the Smoking Man all along. You knew when he had my father killed and you knew when they took Scully. S: Listen to me. M: I've heard enough from you. S: He set me up. He stole my gun and put it back. Skinner continues, "If I've lied to you... I HAVE lied to you and I won't make excuses for those lies. But there's a reason that I did what I did. One that I think you're in a unique position to understand. I advised you against a certain course of action some time ago...concerning Agent Scully. I didn't follow my own advice." Mulder knows he's referring to a deal with the devil...I mean, CSM. He demands Skinner's gun and drags Skinner along to get the ballistics checked. The gun comes up a match and when asked where he found the gun, Mulder says, "In a sewer grate around the corner from the crime scene," much to Skinner grateful surprise. Coincidentally, the serial number has been filed off making the gun untraceable. CSM arrives home only to find Skinner inside, waiting for him. With a gun pointed at CSM's head, he says they have no deal since Scully's not getting any better. CSM only smiles saying he's enjoying the irony since just yesterday Skinner said he would not be party to a murder, yet here they are. C: Yours isn't the first gun I've had pointed in my face, Mr. Skinner. I'm not afraid to die. But if you kill me now you also kill Agent Scully. S: You have no intention of saving her. You never did. C: Are you certain? You'll never know if you pull the trigger, will you? The phone rings and CSM casually says that unless Skinner intends to kill him, he'd like to answer his phone. We see Skinner, gun leveled, pause then fire off three rounds. The phone continues to ring as Skinner slowly walks out the door and only then do we see CSM still standing with three bullet holes arrayed around his head on the wall behind him. He seems slightly shaken and pulls out a cigarette as he answers the phone. He tells the caller, "He was just here. He threatened to kill me. I'm sure Mulder will be contacting you. He'll want to know if Skinner's seen all there is to see." We see the caller, Marita Covarrubias, with a mysterious blurry figure of a man behind her. "I'll tell him what you want me to tell him," she says. "Tell him what he wants to hear," CSM replies.