Without a Trace s03e03 Episode Script

Light Years

Teddy? Teddy, what's wrong? Don't! Why? They can sense the heat.
What are you talking about? From the lights.
They'll know I'm here.
It's not really safe to be near me.
Teddy, what's going on? Nothing.
I'm sorry.
You have to leave.
What? Wait.
No.
Wait.
Name's Teddy Cota.
He's 37 years old.
Works as an x ray technician.
Disappeared two days ago, and was last seen by the friendly call girl who happens to live across the hall in 8D.
Where is she? Danny's tracking her down on the job.
Hello, Sci Fi Channel.
Get the impression he was trying to keep something out? I don't know, but I get the impression he liked it warm.
Sam, come check this out.
What do you make of this? Well, he's an x ray technician.
Could be a little side work.
How about that? All right, promise you won't mock? I can't promise, but give it a shot.
It's a constellation called Pleiades.
Also known as the Seven Sisters.
I'm not even gonna ask how you know, but is it gonna help us find our guy? Well, it's about but considering the circumstances, I'd say it's a start.
Ms.
Tomko? Hi, I'm Danny Taylor.
I've got a lawyer, okay? His number's in my purse.
I don't think you're gonna need that number today, so you can relax.
I wanna ask you about Teddy Cota.
We've been assigned his case and you were the last to see him before he went missing.
That's what I told the cops.
Tell me about you and Teddy.
We're just friends.
He's a sweet guy.
Was your relationship professional? Meaning, did I let him take my x rays? Teddy's a friend.
He feeds my cats when I work late.
He's not a john, okay? Okay.
Now, you told the police Teddy thought there were people after him.
Any idea who? No.
But when I was coming home later, I heard this racket in the hallway.
Cota.
Open the damn door.
I'm not fooling around.
Open this door.
Did you know the guy? No.
Since Teddy let him in, I figured they were friends.
You didn't hear anything after that? Not that I remember.
I checked to see if he was okay in the morning, but he wasn't around.
Next day, same thing.
So I called the hospital, and they said he hadn't shown up for two days.
That's when I called the cops.
When did Teddy move into the building? A few years ago.
How's it going? Hooker says she saw a guy banging on Teddy's door the night he disappeared.
According to her, Teddy let him in.
She recognize him? She says no.
I'm gonna have a sketch artist come down, but she didn't get a great look.
You believe her? Yeah, I do.
Other than aliens, do you have any idea why Teddy would be upset? Teddy had a girlfriend.
I hadn't seen her around much lately.
I think they were having problems.
Do you know her name? Sonya something.
She works at the hospital with Teddy.
We'll have to do background on Teddy, find out who this door banger is.
I'm on it.
Thanks.
Jack Malone? You've been served.
That's Sonya Trammel you're looking for.
I'll page her for you.
You have a seat right around the corner.
Thank you.
So how are things going on the home front? I flew to Chicago last weekend and took the girls to the zoo.
I'm just trying to keep them out of the war zone.
Must be complicated.
You could say that.
Excuse me? I'm Sonya Trammel.
They said you were looking for me.
Jack Malone, FBI.
This is Special Agent Spade.
Need to ask you about Teddy.
Why? What's going on? Not sure if you're aware, but he hasn't been at work for the last two days.
No.
We haven't been talking the last couple of weeks.
Is that the reason why? What are you, four months? Just over.
Does Teddy know about it? Of course.
I told him as soon as I knew.
Don't you love it when I make you a romantic meal? I especially like your skill with the telephone utensil.
And I can say "moo goo gai pan" with perfect enunciation.
Teddy? What? I need to tell you something.
Wh? Is everything okay? I think.
I mean, I hope.
I'm pregnant, Teddy.
Really? Yes, really.
You don't seem happy.
No.
I'm fine.
Really.
Okay.
This is good.
It's good.
I thought he was just feeling the pressure of having a baby, but We've only been together for about a year.
He's the sweetest guy I've met but there's a side to him he kept very private.
You mean the aliens.
What did he tell you about them? That he thought he'd been abducted by aliens when he was little.
He said they did horrible things to him.
What kind of things? Experiments.
Painful surgeries.
He only told me about this after I got pregnant.
He thought aliens were gonna abduct our baby.
That's when I told him I didn't think we should stay together.
And how did he deal with that? He went downhill pretty fast.
He started spending more time down at this support group the Clear Skies Society.
It's for people who believe they were abducted.
He had a friend named Duncan there.
How about his family? His parents died when he was little.
His aunt and uncle raised him.
There's a cousin in Jersey he mentioned, but I don't know his name.
Okay, thanks for your time.
We'll be in touch.
Thank you.
Teddy's a good guy.
He's very reliable.
He even volunteers at the dialysis center.
He reads comics to the kids.
I actually saw him acting out all the parts of an X Men one time.
Just as I thought, these are all Teddy's.
Like I said, we found them in his apartment.
No, that's not what I mean.
These are all images of Teddy's head.
So you've seen these before? Well, a few, but I didn't know he had such a large collection.
As you can see, he's got quite a fixation with this object in his head.
What is it? It looks like some kind of mass to me.
It could be a tumor, but you need more tests.
I don't have time for a test.
I want it out.
No surgeon will do this operation until they know what they are dealing with.
You can always find somebody if you have the money.
What is the urgency here? Nothing.
Never mind.
Thanks for your help, Dr.
McCann.
If it is a tumor, could it cause erratic behavior? Technically, yes.
If the tumor were putting pressure on his brain.
Now, tell me, doctor, did he? Did he ever consult a surgeon here? Not that I know of.
Any idea where he might go to have this operation? No.
But there are hacks who take advantage of people like Teddy.
And if he found one of them then you'll probably find him hooked up to a ventilator somewhere.
It's a warning from Maria's lawyer.
Says you got 30 days to respond to the OSC papers.
Do you need a process server for that? She's intimidating you.
Did you sign the papers? Not yet.
Well, I need them signed.
Are you getting cold feet, Jack? Not up for this fight? I'm up for the fight.
You better be.
This is a copy of a writ I received this morning.
Your wife is subpoenaing third parties to testify against you.
Who did she subpoena? All your coworkers.
Taylor, Fitzgerald, Johnson, Spade.
Even Spade's shrink, Dr.
Lisa Harris.
They're gonna use your affair with Spade to make you look like an unfit parent.
I can't believe she'd do this.
She's a lawyer too, Jack.
She doesn't operate this way.
She does.
She's been taking notes all year long, Jack.
Even after you got together for the second chance she's been taking notes.
When you came late, times you missed dinner didn't pick up the girls from school.
This is war, Jack.
So, what do you wanna do? Intruders! Hey.
Hey.
Stay right where you are.
FBI.
Sit down.
Sit down.
We're looking for Duncan.
That's me.
We need to ask you about Teddy Cota.
You're friends with him, right? Kind of.
What do you mean, "kind of?" He's been around here for the last three months or so.
He's missing.
We're trying to find out where he is.
You're not, like, men in black? The movie? You mean the government alien conspiracy? That's a theory, yeah.
Wait, what conspiracy? It's basically a pact between the gray aliens and a government faction intent on destroying the human race.
Really? Yes.
So why are you asking about MIB? Because they were following us, me and Teddy.
Run, run! This way.
Come on.
This way.
It's a dead end! Teddy.
Back off.
I'm warning you.
If that thing worked so well, why was Teddy still worried? What he's gone through, it's a lifetime of worry.
Have you seen these men in black again? No, but that does not mean that they didn't get Teddy.
They are very determined.
Great.
Thank you very much.
Hey, wait a minute.
You're, like, the real Mulder and Scully, right? I mean, that's it, isn't it? Yeah.
That's us.
Yes! Radiologist said the oldest dates back 15 years.
Did he specify what's in his head? No, he wasn't sure.
But whatever it is, Teddy wants it out.
My guess is that Teddy thinks it's an alien implant.
An implant? Yeah, it's a common fear among abductees that aliens implant them with a device in order to track their whereabouts.
What, so they can re abduct them? Or read their minds.
Control them remotely.
There are different theories.
Look, if Teddy fears that he has an implant the run in with the men in black could only make things worse.
You seem to have quite extensive knowledge on the subject.
I might have done some reading.
Don't get him started on the whole blue gray alien division.
Trust me, I won't.
Anyway, this men in black thing is probably a scam.
Vivian found a check Teddy wrote a couple weeks ago for 5000 bucks to this alien guru, Dr.
Bedford.
The same Dr.
Bedford who sold him the medallion.
Sounds like he's trying to scare Teddy into forking over more cash.
I'm gonna talk to Bedford.
Let's get into Teddy's hospital records.
If he's been getting his head x rayed all over maybe he's gone to an old hospital to get whatever's in his head removed.
I'm on it.
I tracked down the next of kin.
A cousin in Jersey by the name of Leo Cota.
Good.
Do you want me to check him out? Sure.
That'll be great.
Agent Malone, thanks for waiting.
I see you've taken in my wall of fame.
Interesting.
You're skeptical.
Comes with the job.
Please.
November 5th, 1975.
Six men see Travis Walton get hit by a bolt of green light coming from an object hovering in the Arizona sky.
All took and passed a lie detector test.
November 30th, 1989.
At least three men, including a UN statesman witnessed Linda Cortile being transported from her 12th story apartment window to a UFO.
None knew the woman, yet all their descriptions matched.
These examples go back thousands of years to the Greeks, the Incas, the Mayans.
It simply can't all be a myth.
So when was Teddy Cota taken? With him, for some reason, it's cloudy.
But I have no doubt of his experience.
And why is that? The vividness with which he describes the event, for one.
But mostly, it's his fear.
It's this thing that follows me around.
It's like a shadow.
I think it's them.
And lately, it's been getting worse.
I see it everywhere.
When did you first see it? I can't remember exactly.
Sometime when I was a kid.
Was it around the time you were abducted? Look maybe I'm crazy.
All I know is that I'm dying here.
I know what happened to me.
I can remember all of it.
But who's gonna believe me? I will.
Yeah, right.
You're not crazy, Teddy.
Thousands of others have experience similar to yours.
They've found a way to live through the pain.
What happened to you was real.
Don't turn away from it.
So, what am I supposed to do? Stop running away.
That's the only way you can beat them.
Did Teddy take your advice? I believe so.
It wasn't easy, but I think he's headed in the right direction.
These look familiar? They're checks written by you on the day Teddy was chased by these so called men in black.
Now, if he's as troubled as you say why would you hire people to shake him down? I didn't write those checks.
Then who did? One of my employees decided to take advantage of Teddy and a few others.
He hired two actors to harass them.
And what's his name? David Cooper.
Is this David Cooper? No.
And so you understand, when I discovered what happened, I fired him.
Unfortunately, in this line of work, you get all kinds of people.
And so you understand, Dr.
Bedford, this is an ongoing investigation.
If I find out you're involved you're gonna be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
You have a great day.
I'm checking the UFO guru's alibi, but he looks clean.
What about his employee, David Cooper? In the clear.
He was at a wedding at a place called Raviv's out in Great Neck.
We can get him on extortion.
Other than that, I got nothing.
I spoke with the hospital where Teddy had his first x ray taken 15 years ago.
He came in asking to have an x ray taken of his head but he wasn't even hurt.
Back to square one.
Yeah.
It's pretty clear why he became an x ray tech.
Wanted to keep track of that alien implant.
You should be in law enforcement.
The hours are terrible.
Yeah, but the benefits are pretty good.
Yeah, I know all about Teddy's alien B.
S.
He's been making up stories since Mom and Dad took him in.
But he was always reading sci fi comics and watching those movies.
Those stories came right out of that.
Excuse me.
Mom, she passed last year and she made me promise to take care of him.
Now, you say that your mother and father raised Teddy.
What happened to his parents? They died in a car accident when he was 10.
He never really recovered from the loss.
I mean, I'm no shrink, but it's obvious these alien stories are his way of dealing with it.
You see, we found a collection of x rays in Teddy's apartment.
Now, they show an object in his head.
We think he believes it's some kind of alien implant.
His head was pretty banged up in the crash with his parents.
I'm not surprised he made that part of his stories too.
He was really into this alien stuff, you know? See, my dad worked at a converted air base.
It was rumored that they did alien testing back in the '50s.
So I think he just took that and ran with it.
Did he ever mention the implant to you? No, but we've kind of lost touch.
I mean, he'd call a couple times a year and I thought he'd calmed down about all this alien stuff.
When he came by last week he was back to that crazy talk.
It's this kid at the hospital.
He's got bruises on his neck and his shoulder.
I think they're hurting him because of me.
Now, by "them," Teddy, you mean the aliens, right? I know how it sounds, Leo.
But you gotta believe me.
I'm not trying to judge.
I just I just want you to explain it, okay? When I resist them, they hurt people close to me.
Innocent people, Leo.
And they're hurting people to get back at you? Yeah.
To punish me.
They want me to stop fighting.
Look Teddy, I'm gonna ask you a question and I want you to tell me the truth, okay? Are you hurting this kid? No.
God, I couldn't do that.
Are you sure? Yeah, of course.
Well, then you need to report this to Social Services.
If this kid is being abused, they can deal with it.
This is very important that you take care of this.
Do you understand what I'm saying? Yeah.
I know.
Did he report it? I don't know.
Did he mention the child's name? Not that I remember.
Right over there.
Great.
Thanks.
Kevin Burke? Hey.
I'm Danny, this is Jack.
We're with the FBI.
What's up? Mind if I sit down? What are you reading? I don't know.
It's lame.
Yeah, it looks pretty lame.
I hear Teddy reads you the X Men.
He brings them from home.
This is all they got here.
Have you seen Teddy around here lately? No.
The nurses said he was taking a break from work.
He's worried about you.
That bruise on your neck, has he talked to you about that? He He asked me some questions.
Well, what did you tell him? He told me not to tell anyone.
Kevin, did he hurt you? No.
Are you sure? It wasn't him.
He tried to help me.
He tried to make them stop.
Them? Who's "them"? Who hurt you? It was the aliens.
So the aliens hurt you? Yeah.
Did Teddy tell you that? Not really.
He just helped me remember it.
What happened this time? Nothing.
I was just messing around with Ryland and I hit a chair.
Who did this to you? No one.
I told you, I fell on a chair.
I want you to listen to me, okay? I talked to a friend of mine and he said that we really need to do something about this.
I promise you, I can help.
Just tell me.
It's okay.
It was the aliens, wasn't it? You can tell me.
It's okay.
Did they do it? Yeah.
It was the aliens.
I'll be right back, all right? This kid is definitely covering up for someone.
Well, either that or we're gonna have to open up our minds.
My guess is that the dad found out Teddy was snooping around and he wanted to shut him up.
Keep talking to him, see what you can find out.
I'm gonna talk to the father.
All right.
Is that the guy? Yeah.
You sure? That's him.
That's the guy I saw at Teddy's door.
Okay.
Thanks.
Pat Burke, right? Yeah.
Are you the sandwich guy? Excuse me? The last person in here told me I could have a sandwich.
I've been waiting.
Sorry.
It'll be here in a minute.
Oh, whatever.
While we're waiting, I'd like to ask you about Teddy Cota.
Teddy who? Teddy Cota.
Lives on West 38th Street.
A witness places you at his apartment two nights ago.
Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.
No, no, I didn't know his last name.
Well, Mr.
Cota believes that your son is being physically abused.
He was gonna file a report with Social Services.
That's news to me.
I don't think so.
I think you went to his apartment to stop him.
All right, look I saw bruises on Kevin.
I figure this guy's doing something to my kid and I wasn't about to let it happen anymore.
Stay away from Kevin, you got it? Listen, you don't understand.
You have to protect him.
They'll keep on hurting him.
What? Who are you talking about? I'm going to make them stop.
I promise.
Look, buddy.
I don't know what's going on but you come near my son again and I'll kill you.
You got it? You went from trying to crack his skull to walking away? I got my message across.
Yeah? Yeah.
Why didn't you just say that in the beginning? I'll tell you why.
Because Teddy Cota wasn't abusing your son, you were.
That's a load Shut up.
You do not speak unless I tell you to speak.
Your son has told us everything and he's telling the DA the exact same thing.
You wanna tell me where you went after you left Teddy Cota's apartment? I picked up my cab from the garage.
I work the graveyard shift.
What's the name of the company? Royal.
You just stay there.
N.
Y.
P.
D.
Will be along to question you further.
What the? Next time you wanna hit someone, come find me.
Jack.
Sonya Trammel just called.
She received a videotape in the mail.
She says it's a goodbye message.
Hi.
It's me, obviously.
Okay, first thing I'm sorry to tell you this way.
I had to take care of this problem.
I know it's what you wanted me to do.
You were right.
I'm done fighting.
I have to go back to the beginning to give them what they want.
It's the only way they'll stop.
See? They hurt children because I fight them.
And they wanna hurt our baby and there's no way I will let anybody do that.
I love you.
And when that baby comes, you tell him I love him too.
I'm sorry I won 't be around .
but he's gonna have the greatest mom in the world to raise him.
So that's it.
I'm gonna say bye.
I love you.
I've never seen him this bad before.
He's gonna kill himself.
I would not jump to that conclusion.
I would not jump to that conclusion.
Listen, thank you very much for bringing the tape to our attention and we'll get in touch with you soon.
Thanks for coming.
Well, he seems pretty traumatized.
It is possible that it's a suicide.
He said he had to protect the children, plural.
So, what does that mean? Someone other than Kevin Burke? Maybe the other children he's referring to are himself.
Perhaps he suffered some kind of childhood trauma.
The car accident.
Wait, he's been running from aliens his entire life, right? After all these years, he decides to give up.
Not kill himself, but give up and let himself be abducted again.
Well, he did say, "Go back to the beginning.
" So, what, you think he's sitting on the side of some road waiting for the aliens? I think we should find out where this car accident happened.
All right, here we go.
The accident occurred on a frontage road off of Highway 220 in Lock Haven, Pennsylvania.
Three hours from here? Yeah.
I'll have the locals call and check it out.
Teddy's cousin said that he suffered a head injury.
Yeah, that's what he told Viv.
Says here he walked away without a scratch.
Really? Does the date October 13th, 1978, ring a bell? I don't know.
I'm supposed to remember it? You said that Teddy was injured in a car accident in 1977.
Now, according to the hospital records, he wasn't.
Yeah.
So, what are you saying? Teddy was shot a year later, October 13th, 1978.
He was admitted to the hospital where he had surgery to remove a bullet fragment from his head.
Those x rays that he has in his apartment they show the scar tissue from where the fragment was removed.
He lived in this house.
You can't tell me you didn't know.
All right, I knew about it.
So, what happened? I shot him.
Why did you shoot him? Well, I didn't mean to.
Actually, I was I was trying to save him.
I was aiming for my dad.
You were trying to shoot your father? My dad started coming into my room when I was about 9.
That went on for a couple years, until Teddy moved in.
Then he made Teddy his special friend, took him everywhere.
Said he needed the attention on account of his parents.
They would come back from their trips and he would launch into these stories about what a great time they had.
You know, I would just I would look at Teddy and I I would know.
One night, I just decided that it had gone on long enough.
Dad was a He was a security guard at a At a converted air base.
I mean, it wasn 't much of a job, but he managed to keep busy.
My aim was good.
Not good enough, but managed It managed to put him in a chair for life.
Teddy caught a piece of buckshot in his head.
And you didn't tell anybody else? No.
What about Teddy? Teddy.
You know, I honestly thought that Teddy was better off.
I mean, at least he had his alien stories.
Where is the airport where your father worked? It's out in Mayfield.
It's been shut down now for about 10 years.
Are we not talking? Is that? Is that what's going on here? It's been two weeks.
You still haven't unpacked the boxes at your desk.
What's that for? Is that for my benefit? Don't flatter yourself, Jack, please.
You know what, Viv? I understand that you're upset.
Just knock off the whole martyr thing, will you? Me? A martyr? Look who's talking.
You walk around with the weight of the world on your shoulders.
As far as I'm concerned you should be back in Chicago for your kids.
A shot at me about work is one thing.
But you shut up about my personal life.
Stop bringing your life into work.
What does that mean? It means you screwed Samantha and dumped her like garbage.
You go back to your wife, but you don't really try and make that work.
Recommend me for a job, then take that back.
Then you come along and say sorry as if nothing happened.
You need to take responsibility for the things you do, Jack, and grow up.
Teddy.
Teddy, it's okay.
I'm with the FBI.
We're here to help you.
Why? Teddy, you're gonna be okay.
Come on.
I can't go.
I have to stay.
Teddy, I'm Special Agent Vivian Johnson.
We're gonna take you home.
Let him go.
Danny, come with me.
Jack.
What, they haven't taken you yet? It's what you're waiting for, right? Yeah.
We talked to your girlfriend.
She told us about implants, surgeries.
I don't wanna talk to you.
I didn't break any laws.
So I have the right to do whatever I want to.
Just go away.
Why don't you tell me how it happened.
What do you want? If you tell me exactly how you were abducted I'll go, I'll leave you alone.
Tell me.
Just tell me what happened.
They came through the window.
I saw lights in the sky.
They were moving fast.
It was bright, and I couldn 't move.
Everything started getting loud.
That's when I saw it.
It was one of them coming after me.
Was that it? Yeah.
So are we done? No.
You just said I know what I said.
But you're not telling me the truth.
I don't wanna talk to you anymore.
I know what happened.
I'm sick of this crap.
Come over here.
Look out the window.
Twenty years ago, that was a working airport.
Isn't it possible the lights you saw were just planes? Isn't it possible those lights you think are alien spaceships are just planes landing? No, I didn't see any planes.
Didn't you say that this building shook? That it was loud? Look at where we are.
We're 50 feet from the runway.
Every time a plane touched down, this place would've shaken.
I know what I saw.
I was here and you weren't.
And just because you got some badge doesn't mean I'm crazy.
I didn't say you were crazy.
I talked to your cousin Leo.
He told me what happened.
You wanna know what he said? He wasn't here.
He doesn't know.
He was here.
He was the one that stopped what was happening to you.
There's no aliens, Teddy.
It was your uncle.
Jack, enough.
He raped you.
Your uncle raped you.
Please don't, don't.
Okay.
You're an 11 year old boy.
Parents are dead, no one to protect you.
Your cousin Leo comes and takes care of it, shooting your uncle.
It was your uncle.
I'd like to go home, please.
Come on, Teddy.
I'll take you home.
Night.
Good night.
Hey, Viv.
Yeah? Are you okay? Yeah, I'm fine.
I'll see you tomorrow.
Okay.
So, Scully, you done yet? I've still got about another half hour here.
Okay.
You know, I still haven't seen your apartment.
No, you haven't.
So I'll come by later? Good idea.
Stay tuned for scenes from our next episode.

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