The following is not a novelization or an actual script but a dry transcript of the aired episode that includes accurate word-to-word dialogues, settings descriptions, action scenes and/or camera movements where the transcriber felt they were necessary. This transcript is posted on "TWIZ TV.COM - FREE TV SCRIPTS DATABASE" by courtesy of SCI_FI ANGEL.

"WITCHBLADE" and other related entities are owned, (TM) and © by WARNER BROS. TELEVISION in associaion with TOP COW PRODUCTIONS and HALSTED PICTURES. This transcript is posted here without their permission, approval, authorization or endorsement. Any reproduction, duplication, distribution or display of this material in any form or by any means is expressly prohibited. It is absolutely forbidden to use it for commercial gain. For entertainment and educational purposes only. No infringement intended.
==========================
TRANSCRIPT:
==========================

Act I

Open at night in an outdoor parking area. There is a man in his twenties, a blonde woman, and an older man who's faced away from us. The younger man and the older argue about money.

The older man gives the younger a light slap.

Older: Give me the rest of it (holding up money)

Younger: Pig

Older: The rest of it!

The younger man walks away. The older man pulls a gun from his belt and shoots him three times in the back. A badge was clipped on the belt.

 

 

Cut to a private dining room in a restaurant. Gathered there are some of the police from Sara and Jake's precinct, including Dante, Orlinsky and Burgess. Several women are in the room also. Dante taps his fork between his brandy snifter and his coffee cup to get attention.

Dante: Your attention, please. OK. All right, everybody. Keep it, keep ... Dorfman, shut up please, will you? All right, I think you should all know that tonight's entertainment has been cordially provided by Refined Escort Service. (Sounds of applause) Now, the usual considerations apply, right? For the next 30 days, any girl showing you a Refined business card will be excused from any compromising positions she may find herself in. Right?

Most of the men there laugh and nod.

Dante: OK. Good, good. Now ladies, uh, we really appreciate your, uh, company. Really. But, uh, we got some business to attend to, so ... Good night.

Various men: Awww ...

Dante: I'm sorry.

Orlinsky: C'mon, ladies. Time to go.

The women head for the exit. Burgess kisses the hand of one.

 

 

Cut to the precinct. An older man with longish blond hair is hanging up the hand set on a pay phone in the hallway {Hi, Bob} when Jake and Sara start escorting a group of people in.

Jake: Males to the right, please. Females to the left. Let's go. Let's keep it moving. Males to the right. Females to the left. Very good. Very orderly and very quiet, please.

Jake guides one man over to the correct side.

Jake: Males to the right, females to the left.

One man in drag with a long blonde wig steps in front of Jake.

Man in drag: Excuse me ...

Jake: Either side.

Jake (to the group): Keep it quiet, now.

Sara (walking between the lines): Anyone acquainted with the deceased flesh peddler, Mr. Prospero McQueen, please raise your hands.

It seems that everyone raises his or her hand.

Jake: Anyone not acquainted with Prospero, please raise your hands.

No one raises his or her hand. Jake and Sara share a "This is going to be a long night" look. Sara closes her eyes and puts her head back for a moment.

One woman walks up to Jake.

Woman: Can we go now?

Jake: No, you can't go now.

Sara's eyes fall on a large envelope propped up on a nearby table. On the outside of the envelope it says, "To: Sara Pezzini." Sara gets the Witchblade vision effect.

Jake: Everybody, quiet. Stay in your line. Back in line. Stay in line.

Sara takes the envelope.

Sara: Hey, rookie. Give me a minute.

Jake (sarcastic): Oh, sure. Take two, ten, an hour. Leave me here.

Jake is soon surrounded.

 

 

Cut to Dante's group at the restaurant.

Dante: Tonight, the White Bulls would like to give special recognition to Detective Tommy Burgess.

The group applauds and Burgess stands.

Dante: Now, within one week of getting his gold shield, Tommy was working a heroin sting. Now, to our great dismay, a dispute broke out between the dealer and the buyer and somehow they both fatally got shot.

Sounds of mock sympathy come from the audience.

Dante: Yeah. Neither the contraband or the cash was ever recovered. But the good news is that the White Bulls' Scholarship fund is approximately $50,000 to the good. (Applause)

 

 

Cut to Sara entering her office. She removes newspaper clippings and other papers from the envelope. She reaches in again and pulls out a videotape. This she puts in her VCR. She turns on the TV and looks at the clippings while the picture starts. She looks up briefly and then stares at the screen, wide-eyed. On the screen is a man in a police uniform.

Man: My name is Officer James Pezzini. New York Police Department, badge number 7945.

Sara stops the tape.

Sara: Dad?

She takes another look at the envelope.

 

 

Cut to the restaurant. The White Bulls are leaving, exchanging handshakes and back slaps.

Dante (to one): Be good. Say "Hello" to Margie for me, will you?

 

 

Cut to Sara. She shuts her door and closes the blinds and then pushes PLAY on the remote again.

James Pezzini: The date is February 22, 1984. If you're watching this ... it means that I'm already dead. And if I am, the likely reason is I've been working to expose a corrupt secret society within the New York P.D. They call themselves the White Bulls.

 

 

Cut to Dante still at the restaurant with Orlinsky and a few others.

Dante: I got some news concerning a certain female pain in the ass homicide detective.

 

 

Cut to Sara.

James Pezzini: They rule by intimidation. They, they abuse the badge in every possible way. And this (he holds up a spent shell) is their trademark. They use this round when the Bulls want to assassinate one of their enemies. If one of their members finds this shell at a murder scene, he'll desist in his investigation of that crime. And they're currently in a renaissance, led by this deadly band of new young recruits ... most notably this rising young sergeant by the name of Bruno Dante.

 

 

Cut to Dante.

Dante: I've warned you guys to be careful around that bitch. Now, some of you know first-hand just how resistant she can be to persuasion.

 

 

Cut to Sara watching the tape.

James Pezzini: I believe the White Bulls have been operating in the department for decades. And they go way up the ranks. Too far for me to solve the problem by any internal means.

 

 

Cut to Dante.

Dante: I'm happy to report that due to some aggressive recruiting by yours truly, we're very very close to solving the Pezzini problem. Because, finally, we have an inside man.

 

 

Cut to Sara watching the tape. The door opens and she pushes STOP on the remote. She turns to see Jake in the doorway.

Jake: Hey. Need a little help here.

Jake points out to the waiting group.

Sara: Yeah ...

Jake leaves.

Sara: ... that makes two of us.

 

 

Cut to Ken Irons with Ian Nottingham in his den. Irons is polishing a walking cane with a cloth, walking around Ian, who is at "parade rest" looking down

Irons: Titillation ... enigma ... seduction. What do these words have in common? Hmm?

Ian doesn't answer. Irons is standing a few feet behind Ian.

Irons: I'll go on then. Intimidation ... temptation ... abandonment ... rejection ... opposition ...

Irons swings the cane at Ian's right shoulder. Ian traps it between his elbows, arms crossed over his shoulder. Irons gives a small pleased smile and a nod. He walks to the front of Ian.

Irons: Is the picture getting clearer?

Ian: These are all stratagems for controlling Sara Pezzini.

Irons: For containing her. I had envisioned a scenario in which Sara would become a member of our family and you could serve us both.

Ian: I still hold that hope.

Irons takes the head of his cane and places it under Ian's chin, raising his head with it.

Irons: Your infatuation and devotion to Sara Pezzini is touchingly apparent.

Irons lowers the cane and turns from Ian.

Irons: However, Sara Pezzini is a lioness. Fascinating as a zoological specimen, but worthless as a pet. And yet ... invaluable for the blood that courses through her veins.

Ian: And it's her blood you covet.

Irons looks back at Ian and Ian lowers his head again slowly.

 

 

Cut to the police station. The woman who had previously asked Jake if they could go approaches him again.

Woman: You can't hold me. I gotta work.

Jake: I will get to you as soon as I can.

Woman: No, no, no. You, you get to me right now, Beavis, or I'm out of here.

Jake turns around from his paperwork, but Sara beats him to her.

Sara: Hey, hey. We got a dead pimp. Your pimp. Can you prove you didn't kill him?

Woman: Prove it? No.

Sara: Then why don't you sit down and shut up?

The streetwalker turns and ambles away. Sara shakes her head minutely and faces Jake again.

Jake: Maybe I explained it wrong. How the hell do you find the truth when everybody lies?

In the background, Dante and Orlinsky enter the precinct.

Sara: I asked my dad that question once. He answered, "Diogenes."

Shift to see Dante and Orlinsky walking past one of the hookers. She was the blonde with the young man {presumably Prospero McQueen} who was shot.

Jake: Diogenes?

Sara: Yeah.

Jake: Who's Diogenes?

Sara: Look him up.

Jake turns away with a sigh.

Shift to the blonde hooker. She looks nervously toward Dante and Orlinsky on the other side of the room. Sara notices her looking.

 

Witchblade vision: McQueen and a few of his people, including the blonde, in the parking area. The blonde argues with him.

McQueen: I ain't no 5-O slave.

The shooter walks up behind the blonde and negligently moves her out of the way.

Shooter (not even looking at her): Get outta here, chickpea.

Shooter (to McQueen): Give me the rest.

McQueen: Pig.

The older man pulls out his gun and shoots McQueen. The blonde was watching from behind a car. She now walks rapidly away.

 

Back to Sara. Jake's nuisance hooker snaps her fingers near Sara's ear.

Woman: This is discrimina ... (she turns to Jake instead)

Sara stares at the blonde.

Woman: This is discrimination is what it is.

Jake: If you don't sit down and wait your turn quietly, I ...

Sara (over her shoulder to Jake): Hey, Jake, let her go.

Jake: What?

Sara: Let 'em all go. All except her. (She points to the blonde.)

Jake: Are you nuts? We just spent the last two hours rounding 'em up.

Sara: Cut 'em loose, Jake. Put this one on an overnight hold. I gotta go see somebody.

Jake: See somebody? At this hour? Thanks, partner.

Jake waves at her departing back.

Shift to Dante and Orlinsky watching at the other side of the room. Dante gestures and Orlinsky follows after Sara.

 

 

Cut to Sara knocking on a door.

Male voice (through the door): OK. I'm coming. Hang on.

Joe Siri, Sara's old Captain, opens the door to the length of the security chain.

Siri: Sara.

Siri unchains the door and gestures Sara in. She walks in, helmet under her arm.

Siri: What time is it?

Sara: It's late. It's too late.

Siri (shakes his head): What're you talking about?

Sara: The White Bulls, Joe.

Woman's voice (off camera): Joe, who is it?

Siri: It's, uh, it's a pizza guy who's got the wrong apartment.

Joe shakes his head at Sara.

Siri: You have to go.

Sara: The White Bulls, Bruno Dante, my father ... Talk to me, Joe.

Siri (shakes head): There's nothing to talk about.

Sara: My dad trusted you. I trust you. You practically raised me. So please don't lie to me, Joe.

Siri: Sara, I'm out of it. I escaped with my life. I am out of it.

Sara: Well, I'm in it.

Siri: I'm sorry.

Sara: Uh ... Joe, I need help.

Siri: No, no. Not from me.

Sara: From who, then? Anyone I ask could be one of them.

Siri: Sara, you know I care a great deal about you, but please ... take my advice. Stick with Homicide. Mind your own business. And try to live to retirement. It's wonderful. I've never been more happy.

Sara: Mind my own business? You know I can't do that, Joe. C'mon. Talk to me.

Woman's voice: Joe ...

A woman walks up behind Sara.

Joe's wife: Sara ...

Sara: Marie, I was just ...

Siri: She was just in the neighborhood.

Sara: Great seeing ya, Joe. Marie, I'm sorry.

Sara leaves and Joe locks the door behind her. He and Marie share a look that says, "We knew this day would come."

 

 

Cut to Sara walking up with two cups of coffee to Talismaniac.com, Gabriel's place. She knocks on the door. Danny appears in the corner by the door.

Danny: One is enriched through unfortunate events.

Sara: Confucius?

Danny: Nah ... I Ching, Book of Changes. Appropriate reading for you right now.

Sara: Yeah, I'll say. You know, you got a fat nerve being dead right now. I could really use someone like you.

Danny: I'm right here.

Sara: Someone alive, Danny.

Danny: You know what I could use right now?

Sara: What?

Danny: One of those. Could you ... ?

Sara opens the top on one of the coffees. Danny moves to take a deep sniff, but ...

Danny: Ah ... I bet that smells good. Oh, there is one person you can trust.

Sara: Yeah ...

Gabriel opens the door.

Sara: ... who would that be?

Sara looks over and sees Gabriel. Gabriel looks around the empty hallway.

Gabriel: So, do you always talk to yourself, or do you just save it for when you're around me?

They enter Gabriel's shop.

Sara: The White Bulls. Ever heard of them?

Gabriel: Uh, racist cops? Alabama ... George Wallace?

Sara: Wrong.

Gabriel: Albinos in Pamplona?

Sara: Last chance, Gabriel.

Gabriel: Why don't you tell me?

Sara: Dirty cops. Right here in New York. I need an overnight education.

Gabriel (not looking at her): Sorry, that's not my department.

Sara, surprised, looks at Gabriel.

Sara: Gabriel?

Gabriel looks up eventually and turns to Sara.

Gabriel: All right. I got this one client. A real conspiracy nut. I don't listen to half of what he says, but his checks don't bounce. You know? He hates cops. Collects brutality memorabilia ... ax handles, lynching nooses ... Stacy Koon's Rodney King nightstick. I got five figures for that ...

Sara: OK, Gabriel, fast forward.

Gabriel: Nothing! He ... he's mentioned the name once. I thought it was his usual nutbag B.S.

Sara: Well, what did he say?

Gabriel: He swears they have this engraved bullet they use to kill people. I have a standing offer for fifty grand if I can deliver a real one.

Sara sees flashes of the casing held up by her videotaped father, the bullet she found in the box Joe Siri gave her, and the casing she found at the shooting of would-be Druid Brian Reilly - all with a bull engraved on them.

Gabriel notices Sara staring off into space.

Gabriel: You OK?

Sara: Yeah. Uh, maybe it's better if you leave this one alone.

Gabriel: Why? What are you not telling me?

Sara: Nothin'.

Sara starts walking to the door.

Gabriel: And now who's lying?

Sara: Hey, Gabriel. I just don't want to put you in danger. All right?

Gabriel: Like I'm scared.

Sara: Like you should be.

 

 

Cut to Dante's office in the precinct. He and Jake are alone.

Dante: So tell me, What is it that Pezzini loves most in this world?

Jake: Provocative question. Why do you ask?

Dante: Because her temper is her Achilles' heel. And whenever she loses control of it, she makes errors in judgment. So, I was thinking, what if one by one everything that Pezzini loves starts to go away?

Jake (nods): Well, she loves that motorcycle she rides.

Dante: Keep going. Something more personal.

 

Fade.

 

 

End Act I

 

 

 

 

Act II

Open with Sara and Jake with the blonde hooker in an interrogation room. Jake and the woman are sitting at the table, Sara standing to the side.

Hooker: You have no right to keep me here. I got nothin' to say to you.

Sara: Good. I'd rather you keep silent than lie to me like everyone else. Now, I know that Prospero was your pimp, Charlene. I'm betting you met him when you were just a kid. What - 15? 16? He bought you clothes. Probably took you out to clubs. He was your daddy. So you know a lot of his business. His girls, his johns, his money. Where he kept it, how he spent it, who he paid off. Come on, Charlene. We all know a businessman cannot operate on the streets unless he takes care of the cops. Right?

Charlene: I'm not talkin' to you, remember?

Sara: That's fine. I'll do the talking. Prospero got fed up with the bribery, didn't he? He said he didn't want to be a slave to the 5-O.

Charlene's eyes start tearing up.

Charlene: I tried to warn the fool. Please, you can't keep me here.

Jake: We can't let you go.

Sara: Wait a minute, wait a minute. Why can't we keep you here, Charlene?

Charlene shakes her head.

Sara (dawning realization): Because the cop that killed Prospero is here, isn't he? Did you see him?

Charlene (scared): No, I didn't see anything.

Sara: Did he see you?

Charlene: I don't know. But you sure aren't putting me on a stand so he can take a shot at me.

Sara: I will not let anything happen to you. I promise you that.

Charlene: Yeah? How you going to do that?

 

 

Cut to Jake and Sara exiting the interrogation room.

Jake: What do you think?

Sara: I think everything is connected.

Jake: You gonna buy that a cop is guilty based on a hooker's testimony?

Sara: What? You think she's lying?

Jake: I think she's telling the truth. I don't know how you got it out of her. You barely even asked her a question. Want me to book her as a material witness?

Sara: No, not yet. Take her back into holding.

Jake: What? We gotta move on this.

Sara: Jake, we can hold her for 72 hours. We still have time. Look, just put her in her own cell. Tell her to keep quiet. I gotta decide how I want to play this.

Jake: Sara ... you gotta let me in.

Sara: I will, just not here (looks up and down the hall)

Jake: Wherever you feel safe.

Sara: I don't feel safe anywhere, Jake.

Jake: Sara ... it's me.

Sara's cell phone rings. Sara walks off a few feet and answers the phone.

Sara: Yeah. Pezzini.

Siri (over phone): Marie's gone to her sister's. Can you come over?

Sara: I'm on my way.

Siri (over phone): Don't tell a soul. Be very careful.

Sara folds her phone and starts down the hall.

Jake: Hey ...

Sara walks toward Jake.

Sara: Cafe Enigma, around the corner from my apartment. Eight o'clock tonight.

Sara turns and walks rapidly down the hall.

 

 

Cut to Joe Siri's place.

Siri: The White Bulls killed your father.

Sara sees a flash of Tommy Gallo shooting her father in an alley.

Sara: No, Tommy Gallo killed Dad.

Siri: He pulled the trigger, but it was a contract hit.

Sara: What? How ... how do you know this?

Siri: Because I caught the roll-out. And, uh ...

Siri gets up and takes something from a small box on his mantle.

Siri: ... when I got there, I found this on the ground beside the body.

He hands Sara a shell casing. There's a bull engraved on it.

Sara: What did you do?

Siri: I did nothing. Not a damn thing. What could I do? The Bulls were all around. I could feel eyes boring into my back for weeks afterwards. I know they were watching me. Marie and I were just married. We were about to have our first baby. I didn't want to be next.

Sara just stares at him. Here's a guy she thought she knew and now feels betrayed.

Siri: Could you please say something?

Sara: Uh ... like what, Joe? Like, uh, like, "That's all right"? Like, "There was nothing you could do"?

Siri: I was scared.

Sara: So was Dad. It didn't stop him.

Siri: He was a better man than I am. I don't expect your sympathy, Sara. I've carried this burden ever since that night and it has cost me dearly.

Sara: You ... ?

Sara walks towards the apartment door. She stops and faces Joe Siri one more time.

Sara: If you can answer me one question, I'll grant you my absolution, for whatever that's worth.

Siri: It would mean the world to me.

Sara: Did Bruno Dante take out the contract?

Siri nods. Sara turns and leaves.

 

 

Cut to Cafe Enigma later that evening. Sara and Jake are sitting at a small table in the middle.

Jake: Diogenes was a Greek philosopher who walked around Athens with a lantern in broad daylight. Said he was looking for an honest man.

Sara: You looked it up.

Jake: I did, but it didn't say whether he ever found one.

Sara: Uh, some accounts say only when he looked in a mirror.

Jake: Meaning ... if you want to find an honest man, be one.

Sara (little shrug): That's the way my dad read it. Jake, I ... I gotta tell you something.

Jake: Hey, if this is about mixing partnership with our personal lives, it's {all right}.

Sara: No, no, no. Nothing like that. We have a problem in our department, a big problem. There's a, uh, force within the force. A bunch of bad cops. They call themselves the White Bulls. They've been around a long time. And, uh ... they actually killed my dad.

Jake: What?!

Sara: Yeah, he was on to them.

 

 

Cut to the alley outside the Cafe Enigma. Burgess drives slowly past in a truck and sees Sara's motorcycle parked in the alley.

Sara (voice over): They mask as these righteous crusaders, but what they're really about is corruption, bribes, protection, the works. This McQueen murder feels like their handiwork.

Burgess reverses the truck to pull into the alley.

 

 

Cut back to Sara and Jake.

Sara: And one of their leaders ...

Jake: Let me guess ... Captain Dante.

Sara nods.

Jake: I knew there was something wrong there.

 

 

Cut back to Burgess in the alley.

Sara (voice over): Dante suddenly got promoted not one, but two, ranks the year after my dad's death. That's public record. And I have other evidence ...

 

 

Cut back to inside the restaurant.

Sara: ... and the word of a witness.

Jake considers this then puts his hand on Sara's near the Witchblade bracelet.

Jake: If you say it, I believe you. I trust you, Sara. And you can trust me, too.

A wineglass breaks at a table behind Sara.

Jake: What do we do? Go to I.A.? Outside agency? FBI?

Sara: I'm not sure yet.

Jake: What kind of evidence do you have?

Sara: I have articles. I have reports. I even have a videotape my dad left me with specific time-date incidences.

Jake: Yeah, but your dad's been dead for years, Sara. Those crimes must be pretty old.

Sara: There's no statute on murder, Jake.

Jake: Who's your witness?

Sara (holds up her hands): I ...

Jake: OK. You'll tell me when you're ready. (Sara nods) Meanwhile, can I see the video?

Sara seems a little reluctant.

Jake: Listen, our best bet might be the media. Get it all public. Make it harder for them to move against us.

Sara: I thought that, too.

Jake: And you're staying on my couch till further notice.

Sara: What?

Jake: We'll swing by your place, pick up what you need for a couple days ... stick together.

Sara: Jake ... if they wanna get me ...

Jake: They have to get both of us.

Sara (smile): How can I say no to that?

 

 

Cut to Jake and Sara walking in the alley beside Cafe Enigma.

Sara: You ever notice how people who say, "Everyone in the world is dishonest" are usually dishonest themselves?

Jake: And folks who think people are basically honest tend to be honest?

Sara: Yeah, exactly.

Sara notices her motorcycle lying on the pavement and walks over to it. Or rather, what remains of it. It's trashed.

Jake: This was no accident, Sara.

Jake puts his left hand on her shoulder from behind and squeezes. Sara's eyes start to water and she turns into Jake's arms.

 

 

Cut to Joe Siri drinking in his apartment. He hears a noise then pours himself another drink.

Siri: What took you so long?

Dante: You finally grew some stones, huh, Joe?

Siri: Yeah. Feels pretty damn good, too.

Dante: What? Telling a girl her dad's a hero instead of telling her the truth?

Siri: That is the truth. Jim was a hero.

Dante: And you're a schmuck. All you did was sign Sara's death warrant.

Siri: Not to mention my own.

Dante gives a little sideways nod as Joe Siri finishes his drink.

Siri: You're right, Bruno. I did sign two death warrants tonight, but they weren't mine and Sara's. They were mine and yours.

Dante raises a revolver and opens and spins the cylinder.

Dante: Joe, I found this in your room. You don't mind if I use it, do you?

Dante puts a bullet in the cylinder then closes it.

Siri makes a "Be my guest" kind of gesture. Dante steps between Siri and the camera.

 

Fade.

 

 

End Act II

 

 

 

 

Act III

Open with Sara reassembling her drum kit in Gabriel's shop.

Gabriel: You don't have to bring 'em back, Pezzini.

Sara: I don't wanna be responsible for them.

Gabriel: You're not.

Sara: They're not mine.

Gabriel: They were a gift.

Sara: They were a loan. Collateral, remember?

She holds up the Witchblade.

Gabriel: Aren't we a little past that?

Sara just continues putting pieces together.

Gabriel: Oh. You know ... I, uh, I hate to ask this, but you seem like you're putting your affairs in order.

Sara: Yeah, something like that.

Sara goes to pick up one of the drums. Gabriel looks worried. Sara faces Gabriel and drops her bombshell.

Sara: The White Bulls are coming after me.

Gabriel: Holy ...

Sara: And I'm not going to give them a stationary target.

Gabriel: Wait, what do you mean, "coming after" you?

Sara: They trashed my bike last night, Gabriel. Sent me a message.

Gabriel: Your Buell? Oh, man. I'm sorry, Sara. Look, uh, are you sure ...

Sara just looks at him.

Gabriel: Yeah, OK. Never mind. You were lucky you weren't there when it happened.

Sara: No, lucky for them. Now you listen to me, Gabriel. I want you to stay away from me for as long as you can. As far as possible.

Gabriel: Why? I'm the one person you can trust.

Gabriel moves closer to Sara.

Gabriel: Hey, listen. When somebody messes with one of my friends, they mess with me.

Sara: I appreciate that. I really do, but you gotta understand something. That people who get close to me - they die.

Gabriel: Come on, Pez. That's just paranoia talking.

Sara: Really? Tell that to my father ... and my partner ... and my boyfriend.

 

 

Cut to Charlene in her cell. She's sitting with her knees pulled up to her chin. Sara walks up and the cell door opens.

Sara: Come on.

Charlene: Where am I going?

Sara: If you're smart, Alaska. Quick, let's go. C'mon.

Charlene slowly gets off the bunk. Shift to see Orlinsky behind Sara entering the hallway outside the cells.

Orlinsky: Pezzini.

 

Witchblade vision: Prospero McQueen and Charlene in the parking area. Prospero's murderer, now seen clearly to be Orlinsky, shoving Charlene away.

Orlinsky: Give me the rest of it. (Slaps Prospero)

Prospero: Pig.

Prospero (walking away): I ain't no 5-O slave.

Orlinsky takes a gun from the waistband of his pants and shoots Prospero. Charlene looks on from behind a car.

 

Back to Sara. Charlene is standing just inside the cell door.

Orlinsky: What's happening, Detective?

Sara: Uh, nothin', Orlinsky. I thought she might have been a witness to the Prospero McQueen shooting, maybe even a suspect, but I was wrong.

Orlinsky: And you're sure?

Sara: Yeah. Vicky Po said that the shooter must have been right-handed judging from the entry wounds. This girl's a southpaw. Besides, her daddy said she was with him the night of the murder.

Orlinsky: If I was her daddy, I'd protect her, too. Make sure you know where you can reach her.

Sara: You got it.

Orlinsky (laugh): Pezzini.

Orlinsky leaves the hallway.

Sara (to Charlene): Look, you stay low, out of sight. I may need you to come forward ...

Charlene: No, I told you ...

Sara: Look, I will only contact you when I can guarantee your safety. Otherwise, I will leave you alone. Do you believe me?

Charlene (nodding): Yeah.

Sara: Charlene, between you and me, that guy was our killer, wasn't he?

Charlene nods affirmatively.

Sara: It's OK. C'mon.

 

 

Cut to a more public portion of the precinct. Sara is walking through when Ken Irons steps out into her path. He doesn't look so good. His color is lousy and he seems to have aged considerably.

Sara: Whoa.

Irons: Behold the future, Sara.

Sara (low): What are you doing here?

Irons: I came to apologize to you.

Sara: For what?

Irons: When I first met you, my only interest was in the Witchblade. I offered you the ...

He pauses as people walk by.

Irons (lower): I offered you the world on a silver platter, but that was not altruistic and genuine. You rejected me and you were right to do so.

Sara: Apology not required, but accepted.

Sara nods and looks around.

Irons: Then later, when you came to me for help, I refused ... out of bitterness.

Sara: But you came through in the end. Two million dollars' worth.

Irons (shakes head): That was Ian's doing. (Nods over his shoulder)

Ian steps around the corner down the corridor behind Irons. To his normal black-on-black-on-black wardrobe, he has added a large pair of sunglasses.

Irons: He shamed me into realizing I was consigning you to death by refusing to help you. So I express my heartfelt regrets and I ask for your forgiveness.

Sara glances down the hall to see Ian shaking his head "no."

Irons: Should you need anything from me in the future ... anything ... I am at your service. Excuse me. (Small bow of his head) I can only eat so much crow at one sitting.

Irons walks toward where Ian is waiting.

Dispatcher (over P.A.): Available detectives, units reporting a dead body roll-out at 4711 Prospect Street.

Sara (recognizing the address): Joe!

 

 

Cut to the street in front of Joe Siri's apartment building. There are marked and unmarked police cars, men milling about and the medical examiner's van. Sara drives up in a blue car. She gets out and runs to the stairs, where a body is being wheeled out.

Sara: Wait a minute, wait a minute. What the hell are you guys doing? You can't do that until the ...

Orlinsky walks out behind the gurney.

Orlinsky: I got the case, Pezzini.

Sara: The call just came in.

Orlinsky: Yeah, I know. I was in the neighborhood.

Sara: You were what?

Orlinsky: You don't want this one, Pezzini. You're too close. It's Joe Siri. People around you keep dying. Why is that?

Sara bares her teeth at him in a snarl. Orlinsky continues down the walkway while Sara turns to Marie and a couple other women at the top of the stairs.

Sara: Marie ...

Marie turns her back on Sara and heads back into the house. Sara's face falls and she walks back down the walkway, alone and crying. When she reaches the sidewalk, Orlinsky gives her a little stare before turning his back on her, too.

Sara: Oh, Joe ...

She covers her face with her hands.

 

 

Cut to Sara unlocking her desk drawer and getting out a revolver, not her normal clip-in-the-grip type of gun. {Possibly her father's?} She takes one bullet out of the cylinder.

Danny: You are turning into something you are not.

Sara: Is that the I Ching again?

Danny: No, Radiohead.

Sara replaces the bullet she removed with another.

Danny: Sara, if you do this, the Bulls win.

Sara snaps the cylinder closed and shuts her desk drawer.

Sara: They're winning anyway.

Danny: Don't forget - nothing is what it seems.

Sara (getting up from the desk): You're right. They killed Joe Siri. Covered it up. Called it a suicide. So nothing is what it seems, Danny. It's worse.

 

 

Cut to Bruno Dante alone in his bed. He slowly wakes and listens. He reaches to his bedside table and opens the top drawer. He reaches for a gun inside, but doesn't get to it before Sara runs over, jumps on the bed and pushes him flat again. She holds her revolver on him while sitting on his chest.

Sara: I am going to take you down.

Dante: Is that a gun at my chest, or are you happy to see me? (He shakes his head) I always knew you were a disgrace to the badge.

Sara: You killed Joe Siri.

Dante: You taking hallucinogens again? 'Cause I understand you have a taste for them, Pezzini.

Sara: Just keep talking. 'Cause nothing would please me more than to pull this trigger and blow your brains all over that pillow.

Dante: Like father, like daughter, huh?

Sara whips the pistol into Dante's mouth.

Dante: Ugh!

Sara: You tell me everything there is to know about the White Bulls.

Dante: Yeah. Like that's gonna happen.

Sara: You know, maybe you can hold your own against hookers and pimps. But, believe me, you have no idea who you're up against.

Dante: Who are you kidding? You're not going to kill me, Pezzini.

Sara: Yeah?

With her left hand, Sara shows Dante a spent bull-engraved casing.

Sara: See this? This is the shell from the round Tommy Gallo used to kill my father. Remember?

Dante is starting to get worried.

Sara: There's one just like it right under my hammer.

She pulls back the hammer on the pistol.

Sara: Now, I might just have to call Tommy Burgess over to check out the hit. And when he finds this brass on the floor, he's just gonna walk away, right?

The look on Dante's face shows he knows she could get away with it if she wanted.

Sara: Damn, Bruno. You wettin' the bed? See, I know you been trying to push me to the breaking point. But guess what, "Captain" - I'm not going to break. You know what else? (Her voice lowers to a whisper) I can take this a lot longer than you can.

Sara climbs off the bed, gun pointed at a shaken Dante, and leaves the room.

 

 

Fade.

 

 

End Act III

 

 

 

 

 

Act IV

Open in Dante's office. Orlinsky, Jake, and a few other White Bulls are there. Dante paces restlessly.

Dante: Sara Pezzini's finally gone too far. She's currently AWOL from the department. She's made it very clear to me, gentlemen, that we - our organization - is her target. Now, she made that statement to me while holding a revolver at my face in my own home loaded with one of our own bullets.

Dante takes a deep breath and lets it out noisily.

Dante: Now, if there's ever been a reason for the expression, "Shoot first and ask questions later," that reason is named Sara Pezzini. Let's go.

The men file out, Jake and Dante last.

Jake: I thought the plan was to gaslight Pezzini. Make her do something stupid.

Dante: It was. It worked.

Jake: But we weren't going to kill her.

Dante: Plans change.

Dante hands Jake two of the engraved bullets. Jake's face after Dante walks out the door plainly shows his reluctance.

 

 

Cut to Sara walking alone through the halls of Vorschlag to Irons' office. She stops in the doorway. Waiting inside the office are Ken Irons and Ian Nottingham. Irons is sitting in a chair facing the door, an overcoat draped around his shoulders. Ian stands, legs braced wide, at his side.

Sara: I didn't much buy that apology of yours.

Irons: You wound me, Sara.

Sara: As for the rest of it, did you mean what you said?

Irons: Which portion of it?

Sara: About helping me. Did you mean it?

Irons: Try me.

Sara glances to Ian. He merely lowers his head.

Sara: I have a story to tell. It concerns the police department. Right now, I have some very serious people that are trying to shut me up. And the only way that I can save myself is to bring my testimony to light in the media right now.

Irons: The offices of my cable network are less than a mile away.

Ian swiftly kneels, offering Irons his walking cane.

Irons: My car is warmed and waiting downstairs.

Sara: Did you know I was coming?

Irons: We're linked, you and I. Does this disturb you?

Sara: Not this time. Let's go.

Ian leads the way down the hall, Sara following after. Irons trails them a little slower, using the cane to help himself.

 

 

Cut to the VCN newsroom set. Sara is sitting in a tall director's chair facing the news director {presumably}, a youngish woman who is also in a tall director's chair.

Director: I'm sorry. I cannot broadcast your story without more evidence.

Sara: Look, I have my father's videotaped deposition. I have articles concerning the deaths of New York Police officers. I ... I even have a witness to the recent extortion murder of a Harlem pimp. And I have the recent death of Captain Joseph Siri, retired.

In the background, Irons is conversing with one of the employees of the station, a blonde woman.

Director: Well, the tape and the clippings are compelling, but I'm still going to investigate further. I don't know ... possibly meet your witness?

Irons has finished his conversation and now looks on at Sara and the other woman.

Sara: That might not be possible. But, but look, Miss Weitzer, this ... (Sara pulls a shell casing out of her pocket) ... see, this is the bullet that the organization uses for assassinations.

In the background, Irons looks at the shell then looks to Weitzer. She catches his look.

Sara: They do not wish to be investigated.

Weitzer: Yeah, if this story is true, it's a journalist's dream.

Sara: Believe me, it is true.

Weitzer: But if it's not true, this will do incalculable damage to the police department and this city.

Sara: Miss Weitzer, they're going to kill me.

Weitzer: Calm down, Miss Pezzini. (Glances at Irons) You know, it appears you are under the protection of one of the most powerful men in the world. Just give me 24 hours to corroborate statements and if I'm satisfied, we'll go on the air.

Sara: No, no. I don't have 24 hours.

Weitzer: Not even if I could turn this into a full, one-hour exposé? This really isn't a story to waste on the nightly news.

Sara: It is if he says it is. (Nods back towards Irons.)

Irons walks up to where they are sitting to stand next to Weitzer.

Irons: I'm sorry, Sara. It's a long-standing policy that the VCN newsroom is totally autonomous. No thinking person would want the network's owner dictating what gets covered and what doesn't.

Sara: What? Now you grow scruples?

The Witchblade glows on Sara's wrist. She gets down from the chair and starts looking around. Dante and several men, including Jake and Burgess, enter through a door across the room.

Dante: Sara Pezzini, you are under arrest.

Sara, a wide-eyed hunted expression on her face, turns and runs. Burgess pulls a gun and aims at her. Before he can pull the trigger, Jake knocks his arm up, sending the bullet into the equipment hanging from the ceiling. Sara dives over a bank of monitors, rolls and clotheslines one man headed her way. She goes out a back exit. Jake heads back to the door the White Bulls had just entered. On a monitor as Jake passes, we see Ken Irons talking with Miss Weitzer.

 

 

Cut to a corridor in the building. Orlinsky has his gun in hand looking through the glass in one door. Sara runs down the corridor toward him. He fires one shot that Sara dodges and then a second. His third shot is deflected by the Witchblade gauntlet now on Sara's arm. Sara runs through a doorway to a set of stairs and heads down. Orlinsky follows, shooting at her a half-dozen more times.

 

 

Cut to see Jake coming out of a door marked "Emergency Exit." Moments later, Sara exits her staircase halfway down the hall from him.

Jake: Sara ... (waves toward himself) ... this way out.

Sara looks at him, still scared. Behind her, at the opposite end of the hall, Ian Nottingham steps out of another doorway.

Ian: I wouldn't, Sara.

Sara turns to face Ian. In the background, Jake pulls out a gun.

Ian: He's been setting you up for some time now.

Ian gestures toward the door he came from.

Sara looks back at Jake. Seeing him with his gun out, she draws her own weapon.

Jake: You gonna listen to him?

Sara's head turns from one to the other as they speak.

Ian: He lured you out last night so they (gestures with thumb) could vandalize your motorcycle.

Jake: He's a hired killer.

Ian: He's a White Bull.

Jake: He's lying, Sara.

Ian starts moving very slowly toward Sara.

Ian: He was recruited by Dante. That's why I wanted to kill him. For betraying you.

Ian gestures to Sara with both gloved hands. There is an earnest expression on his face.

Ian: Irons told you himself. I provided the ransom for your lover. And I gave you the tape of your father.

Sara: You what?!

Ian: Months ago, under orders, I stole it from a box of effects Captain Siri left you.

Sara: You're a bastard, Nottingham.

Ian: But I returned it to you when you needed it most ... against orders.

Jake: What's he talking about?

Ian: Sara, I saved your life. I am the one person ... (glances to his right) ... you can trust. (Nods "yes")

Jake raises his gun and fires 5 times in rapid succession. Ian spins out of frame, possibly hit.

Sara looks at Jake a moment and then runs to where a now-visible Danny is pointing, which is neither of the exits offered by Jake and Ian.

Sara: You I trust.

Just as Sara disappears, Orlinsky and Dante and a couple others enter the hallway the same way Sara did.

Dante: Where'd she go?

Jake (misleading them): End of the hall. She went right.

They all head off on the false trail. Jake looks after them before leaving by a different way. Danny watches unhappily before moving off.

 

 

Cut to Ken Irons' den. He is standing with his cane. Seated with his back to us in Irons' red leather winged chair is a man in a dark suit. Irons is faced away from him.

Irons: You overstepped your authority. Endangered innocent lives, destroyed property. Had you actually operated with a little more discretion and intelligence, you might actually have caught your quarry.

Irons turns to face the man in the chair.

Irons: It is frightening to think society is protected by such an incompetent.

Shift to see that it is Captain Bruno Dante sitting in the chair.

Dante: Sara Pezzini was the one who overstepped her bounds.

Irons: That isn't for you to decide.

Dante: The hell it isn't. Listen, any previous deals that you and I had regarding her are off. I want her dead! In fact ... (rises from the chair) ... if you wanna keep her alive, you're gonna have to kill me instead.

Irons raises his brows a bit and his mouth forms a little moue. He turns away from Dante.

Irons: Have it your way, Captain.

Dante gives a self-satisfied nod as Irons walks away.

 

 

Cut to Jake entering his apartment. He drops a duffel bag and closes the door. He has his mail in his hand. Over his shoulder we can see a figure at the top of the stairs to his second floor. He flips through the mail while walking to a counter. He drops the mail there and removes his coat and an over-shirt. We see the shadow of someone with a gun walking down the staircase. Jake is about to pull off his t-shirt when he's interrupted.

Sara's voice (off camera): Stop right there.

Jake lowers his arms and spins towards her voice, a surprised expression on his face.

Shift to see Sara walking slowly down the stairs. She looks at Jake as if she doesn't know him, distrustful and perhaps a little hostile.

Jake: Where've you been?

Sara: Looking for an honest man ... like Diogenes.

Jake takes a step toward her and she raises her gun toward him, her face hardening. Jake raises his hands and makes a calming motion.

Sara: Only I can't find one ... (little laugh) ... not even in the mirror.

Jake: Sara, listen to me ...

Sara: I know you've been keeping secrets from me.

Jake (walking up a bit): No more than you've been keeping from me. But the fact that you have secrets doesn't mean I don't trust you. And shouldn't mean you don't trust me.

Sara has reached the floor. She still has her gun out, but pointed down. She looks at Jake with hope (or desperation). He meets her gaze steadily. Close up of the Witchblade shows the stone to still be dark, with no life in it. Sara looks briefly puzzled. Then she safes her weapon and puts it in her holster, but doesn't snap the restraining strap. Jake takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly.

Sara (voice unsteady): I can't do this alone. I have to roll the dice on someone. So I'm gonna roll them on you.

Jake nods.

Sara crosses in front of Jake, heading for his door.

Jake: Where you going?

Sara: I gotta keep moving.

Jake: I wanna help ...

Sara: You are ... partner.

Sara goes out his front door, closing it behind her.

 

 

Fade.

 

 

 

End Act IV

END OF EPISODE

==========================
PROVIDED BY TWIZ TV.COM - FREE TV SCRIPTS DATABASE
==========================