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TRANSCRIPT:
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Act I

Open at night with a man in his sixties being chased by two other men in suits who are in their thirties. The one being chased reaches a plaza and pulls out his cell phone. {We'll find out later that his name is Ticknor.}

Ticknor (under his breath): Oh, God …

A number is speed-dialed on the cell phone. The sound of an answering machine's beep can be heard.

Ticknor (into phone): 40, 41, 19 …

His two pursuers enter the plaza. They draw guns and chamber rounds.

Ticknor (into phone): … 74, 02, 42.

He closes the cell phone and casually tosses it away. He sits down on a nearby bench, still breathing hard from his run, as the two other men walk up. One is dark-haired and the other has light brown hair. We will find out much later that the dark-haired man is named Turell.

Turell: You should've known better.

Ticknor: I do … which is why you're here to kill me.

Turell looks to his companion. He in turn pulls Ticknor to his feet and pats him down.

Ticknor: And soon, the people will know. They'll all know what happened.

Light Hair finishes patting down Ticknor and shakes his head at Turell. Ticknor resumes his seat on the bench.

Turell: Where is it?

Ticknor (little laugh): I like it when you're scared.

Turell: Your wife is going to die in her sleep tonight, if I don't get that film. Save her … you're dead already.

Ticknor begins twisting his wedding band around on his finger.

Ticknor: I met Irene in college in 1959. She had a bright yellow dress on and this radiant smile.

Turell looks away for a moment and sighs.

Ticknor: I fell so hard in love with her. And I was so surprised, so grateful … when she said, "Yes."

Ticknor stands.

Ticknor: I'll miss her.

Turell shoots Ticknor three times with a silenced pistol. Ticknor falls back to the bench, already dead.

Turell: Let's go say "Good night" to Irene.

{Pause for opening sequence.}

When we return, we see Ian looking at the spines of a shelf of books in Irons' library. {I do believe this is the first we have seen of the library itself.} Some of the titles in the bookcase are: Dialectics by Hegel; The Republic by Plato; Guns of August by Tuchman; Love's Labour Lost by Shakespeare; New Atlantis by Bacon; Marriage of Heaven and Hell by Blake; Remembrance of Things Past by Proust; and The United States Constitution.

Cut to Sara sleeping in bed. The stone in the Witchblade begins to glow. Sara suddenly sits upright and grabs her gun from her bedside table. She is panting and pointing the gun at a man standing at her window looking out. Though it is night, a white glow comes in the window.

Sara: Who the hell are you?

Man: Just a memory.

He speaks with a Massachusetts accent.

Sara: Well, this is just a gun. How did you get in here?

Man: I was dreaming … of my life.

Sara: Damn it, what is going on?

Man: Fear is stronger than reason, Sara. It is a hopeless emotion that will always fail you.

Sara rises from her bed, her gun wavering a bit. She's still breathing hard.

Sara: Get down on the floor … and put your hands above your head.

He continues looking out the window.

Man: Look at how bright this world can be. Even with eyes closed, it's blinding.

Sara: I could kill you.

He turns from the window, but his face is still in shadow. He passes behind a small metal fan, the blades slowly revolving.

Man: I am already dead, Sara.

Cut to Ticknor's body in the plaza. There are uniformed police at the scene, as well as a photographer and other forensics. Vicky Po is examining the body when Danny and Jake walk onto the scene.

Danny (to uniforms): Hey, boys.

Danny: Vicky, what do we got? Suicide?

Vicky: No, not unless he was double-jointed with a five-foot right arm.

Danny: Weapon?

Vicky looks closer at Ticknor's chest.

Vicky: Looks like a .22.

Jake: The mob can't afford a 9-millimeter anymore?

Danny: This was sort of a nostalgic hit. Assassins used to love the .22 for up close and personal kills. Smaller weapon, quieter shot, harder to trace.

Jake: I.D. yet?

Vicky pulls out Ticknor's wallet.

Vicky: Yeah. William Ticknor, 62 years old. Texas driver's license and a Metro card.

Jake: Texas? Nothing else?

Vicky reaches down and pulls up a hotel key.

Vicky: Room key for a spank-me-by-the-hour motel over on Avenue A.

Jake: No weapon, no shell casings, no witnesses.

Jake looks around the plaza and sees a couple men talking together.

Jake: A genuine whodunit.

One of the uniforms approaches Danny. {Oh, cool. I think this is McGrath from Convergence.}

Uniformed officer: Detective.

Danny: What do you got?

The uniformed officer holds up a cell phone using a handkerchief.

Uniform: Cell phone … found in the bushes behind the dead guy's bench.

He gives Danny the cell phone and handkerchief.

Danny: Let's see who he called last.

Danny pushes the redial and holds the phone up to his ear.

Cut to Jake and Danny knocking on the door to Talismaniac.com. Shift to see Gabriel peeking through the peephole in the door. Gabriel is dressed in a plaid robe.

Gabriel: Aw … jeez.

Gabriel opens the door and both Danny and Jake show him their badges.

Gabriel: Who's dead?

Danny: How do you know someone's dead?

Gabriel: Well, you're homicide cops, right? {Does it say that on their badges?} It's 4:00 in the morning and you got blood on your shoes. But come on in.

Gabriel steps back from the door and Jake and Danny enter.

Gabriel: If you don't mind, wipe your feet.

Jake: Yeah.

Danny sighs.

Jake: Mr. Bowman, I'm Detective McCartey. This is Detective Woo. In relation to an investigation, we ran your phone records. You know Detective Pezzini? {But Danny knows this already - he specifically asked about Gabriel in Lagrimas.}

Gabriel: Yeah. I consider her a friend. Why? What's this about? Is she all right?

Danny: She's fine. Probably getting a good night's sleep.

Gabriel nods.

Gabriel: Um-hmm.

Danny: So, Mr. Bowman, you buy and sell rare artifacts, huh?

Gabriel: Uh, yeah. So, what is this about?

Jake: Did you get a call from a William Ticknor tonight?

Gabriel: I don't know. I haven't checked my machine.

Jake: What have you been doing tonight?

Gabriel: Uh … well, I've been, you know, taking care of the task at hand.

Danny: What task might that be?

Gabriel: Well, it's 4:00 in the morning, Detective. What task do you think?

Danny glances over at Gabriel. Gabriel shakes his head gently.

Gabriel (to Jake): Listen, what's up with Ticknor?

Danny: He's dead.

Gabriel: Oh.

Danny (sarcastic): Let me get you a tissue. You might want to sit down.

Gabriel: Uh, well, look, I didn't, I didn't know him that well. Uh, he called me last week. He said he saw my name in a power trade rag, or something.

Danny: He was buying?

Gabriel: No.

Danny: Selling?

Gabriel: No. Giving, actually. He, uh … he said he was in possession of something very dangerous. Uh … could he give it to me, so that I could share it?

Danny: Share it with whom?

Gabriel: The public.

Jake: He wanted you to share something dangerous with the public?

Gabriel: Yeah.

Jake: What?

Gabriel: I don't know. He's dead.

A young blond woman walks up behind Gabriel. She seems to be wearing just a button-down shirt.

Woman (speaking Bulgarian): Are they cops?

Gabriel turns to her.

Gabriel (speaking Bulgarian): Can't you tell?

Woman (speaking Bulgarian): Yeah. Hurry back.

With a look to Danny and Jake, she heads back the way she came.

Jake and Danny share an appreciative look between them.

Danny: What language was that?

Gabriel watches the woman open his refrigerator.

Gabriel: Bulgarian.

Gabriel turns back to Jake and Danny.

Jake: Ticknor was executed in a downtown plaza. We found his cell phone. Yours was the last number he dialed.

Gabriel: Oh … well, OK. Um, excuse me.

Gabriel walks over to his desk and pushes the button to replay his messages.

Ticknor's voice (over machine): 40, 41, 19, 74, 02, 42.

Danny is writing all this down in his notepad.

Gabriel: OK, um … before you guys even ask, I have no idea what that means.

Jake: Well, thanks for your time, Gabriel. Why don't you, uh …

Jake smiles and looks back over his shoulder.

Jake: … get back to the task at hand. We'll stay in touch.

Cut back to Kenneth Irons' mansion. Ian is still looking at books on the library shelves. We see that Irons' collection also contains a set of The Times Law Reports for the years 1903-04. Ian finally finds what he has been looking for on one of the upper shelves. It is a large old photo album.

Cut to Sara's apartment and the self-proclaimed dead man.

Man: What do you do, Sara … when you're not entertaining ghosts?

Sara: I'm a cop.

Man: Why?

Sara: Because I wanna help others. Because I hate bullies.

Man: The rights of all men are diminished when the rights of any man are denied.

He picks up a signed photo of Muhammad Ali from Sara's desk.

Sara: I agree.

Man: Thank you.

Sara: Why thank me?

Man: Because, I, uh … I said that. {Actually, in this famous man's speech, "denied" was "threatened".}

Sara raises her brows.

Man: There is an eloquence and valor to public service. To bearing the standard for the poor and the victimized.

Shift to see Sara still lying in bed in actuality.

Man (voiceover): To assuage the incongruity in law and justice which persecute the less fortunate.

Sara sits up in bed. The small fan is not turned on.

Cut to the precinct in the morning. Sara walks in and removes her coat as she enters her office. Danny is still there.

Sara: Hey, good morning.

Danny (tired): Hey.

Sara: Whoa ... you look like you haven't slept all night.

Danny: Got an early call on this case. Guy named Ticknor. Whacked, close range, in a plaza.

Danny passes the case file to Sara.

Danny: First, it seemed like a mob hit. After checking out Ticknor, he was strictly government ops - covert. Last person he called from the plaza? Gabriel Bowman.

Sara: Really? About what?

Danny: It's hard to say. I mean, it's all there. Your boy's OK, though. He's not involved.

Sara nods and looks down.

Danny: Have I met him before?

Sara shrugs. Danny shakes his head.

Danny: What else?

Sara: Well ... Dick.

Danny: I love it when you talk like that.

Sara: No, Danny. Dick Arness, my friend at the F.B.I.

Danny smiles.

Sara: Hello? McWoo?

Sara raps her knuckles against her head a la "Back to the Future".

Danny: Yeah, yeah, Richard.

Sara: He left me four messages this morning.

Danny: Give him a call.

Cut to Gabriel's. He plays back Ticknor's message and enters the numbers into his computer.

Gabriel: OK. 40, 41, 19, 74, 02, 42.

A globe of circling numbers appears on Gabriel's monitor.

Gabriel: What were you up to, Ticknor?

Gabriel looks over his shoulder at some faint knocking sounds. He turns back to his computer and switches the display to one of his camera feeds. This one shows a black car parked in the alley behind Talismaniac.

Gabriel: Hmm.

Gabriel gets up to answer a knock at his door. He looks through the peephole and opens the door. Standing there is a man in a work shirt and cap. There is a tool belt around his waist with phone implements hanging from it.

Workman: Hey, good morning. I've got a work order here for a Gabriel Bowman, 1122 Ulysses.

Gabriel: Uh, yeah, that's me, but my phones are fine. How did you get in the front?

Workman: Uh, it was open. So, you got more than one line?

Gabriel: Uh, three ... well, two phone lines and a T-1 for the computer, but they're all fine.

Workman: Are you sure?

Gabriel: Yeah.

Workman: Well, you want me to check anyway? I mean, 'cause I'm here?

Gabriel: No, I'm good.

Workman: All right. Your voice mail's working? You're getting all your messages OK?

Gabriel (nods): Mm-hmm. Yeah, uh, listen, I'm really busy right now.

Workman: Oh, OK, yeah. All right then, Mr. Bowman. Sorry to have bothered you. You have a nice day.

Gabriel: Yeah, you too. Thanks.

Workman: All righty.

Gabriel closes the door and the workman finally turns to face the camera. It is Turell.

Inside Talismaniac, Gabriel looks back over his shoulder at the door as he walks away. He goes to his computer and sees the "workman" put his gear into the trunk of the black sedan parked in his alley and then get in the back seat.

Gabriel: OK.

Gabriel goes back to his front door and bolts it.

Cut to Ian Nottingham. He is lounging atop the long wooden table in the den, propped up on one elbow. He is flipping through the photo album that he found earlier. The pictures are of Irons and various historical figures.

The first is Irons with President Lyndon Johnson. Where Ian's hand holds the page, we see that he {presumably} has painted his right thumbnail a carnelian red - the color of the quiescent Witchblade.

Ian flips the page and we see Irons with President Dwight Eisenhower and another man {have no idea who he is}.

Irons (memory voiceover): There are no casual connections, Nottingham.

Ian turns the page and we see a picture of Irons in a military uniform {country uncertain, though I think it was British} standing with Joseph Stalin and Winston Churchill {I think.

Irons (memory voiceover): Sara Pezzini, the Witchblade, myself.

As Ian flips the page, it is revealed that all of the nails of his right hand have been painted.

Irons (memory voiceover): Call it what you will. Destiny, fate, fortune …

The picture on this page is of Irons and Winston Churchill. Flip to the next page..

Irons (memory voiceover): Napoleon used to say that Fortune is like a woman - she favors the bold.

On this page of the album, Irons is standing next to Charles Lindbergh, definitely one of the bold.

Ian (memory voiceover): And what would he say of a bold woman?

Irons (memory voiceover): I'll ask him sometime. Hmph.

The next photo shows Irons seated next to a young J. Edgar Hoover, both in light-colored suits and fedoras.

Irons (memory voiceover): Do you believe in destiny, Sara?

The next photo shows Irons with Adolf Hitler and Josef Mengele. {At least, I think it is.} Whoever it is, Irons seems to looking at this man and ignoring Hitler.

Sara (memory voiceover): I believe that … uh …things are a lot more connected than they appear.

The next page in the album presents a photo of Kenneth Irons standing between two giants in the business and scientific worlds: Henry Ford and Thomas Edison.

Irons (memory voiceover): They are.

This is the last photo we see, but this is not the end of the album. {And you did notice that the pictures were going back in time, no?} Of special note: In all of the pictures, Irons looked the same, implying he has not aged perceptibly in at least 100 years.

Cut to a diner. Sara is meeting with her F.B.I. friend, Richard (Dick) Arness. She and Arness are sitting at a booth. Other diners occupy booths and the counter area. {Arness reminded me of a thirtyish Kurt Russell.}

Arness: Ticknor started out in the intelligence community. He had a higher security clearance than the President. I couldn't find one declassified document about him, and there are thousands listed.

Sara: So he was what? C.I.A.?

Arness: C.I.A. is junior varsity compared with guys like Ticknor. My guess is, Ticknor left legit government work, joined a cabal of multinational businessmen ... do their dirty work.

Arness takes some papers from his inside his jacket.

Arness: Look, this is background. What I could get on Ticknor.

Sara: Oh, thanks.

Arness: The legit stuff.

A waitress comes by to freshen Sara's coffee.

Sara (to waitress): Thank you.

Sara (low): So this cabal ... you think that they had him doing covert ops?

Arness: Beyond the valley of covert. These ... these people kill heads of state, usurp elected governments. Paramilitary stuff.

Sara: Arness, what are you saying? There's some sort of, of government within our government?

Arness: Yes. These guys are a government of their own. They've got more money, influence, than most countries. And they're no friends of democracy, although they say they are.

Sara: And they're in our country? Doing what?

Arness: Making it their own.

Sara: And all of this is sanctioned by Washington?

Arness (scorn): Washington ... they don't even know these private killers exist.

Arness: They hide in plain sight, act with complete autonomy. Sara, these guys are rich, untouchable, and they'll kill you in a heartbeat.

Sara: Why bother with Ticknor?

Arness: You only kill your own when they got something on you.

Sara: Well, Dick, what about you? I mean, you're F.B.I. You're not scared that they're gonna think that you betrayed them?

Arness: We only betray our country with silence.

Arness rises from his seat to stand next to the table.

Arness: Look ... Ticknor got a hold of something deadly serious to these people. Find it. I'll help you any way I can.

Sara nods.

Sara: Thanks, Dick.

Arness turns towards the exit and spots a man in the booth nearest the door staring at him. Arness turns back to Sara.

Arness: Listen ...

Sara: Yeah?

Arness: If I should suddenly commit suicide, or mysteriously drive my car into a lamp post ... watch your back.

Arness walks out of the diner. The man who was staring at him gets up and leaves right after him. Sara starts to get up, but her cell phone rings. Shift viewpoint to see Lazar sitting at the counter eating his lunch. Sara gets her phone.

Sara (into phone): Yeah, yeah. This is Pezzini.

Gabriel is calling her from his place. He is seated in front of his computer.

Gabriel: Sara, uh, listen, I figured out Ticknor's message.

Sara: Oh, what's it mean?

Gabriel: They're map coordinates.

Sara: To where?

Gabriel: Downtown. A plaza near the Village. You want to meet there?

Sara: Gabriel, is this plaza off Mulberry Street?

Gabriel: Uh, yeah. How'd you know?

Sara: That's where Ticknor was murdered. See you there.

Sara closes her phone.

Fade.

End Act I.

Act II

Open with a commercial for Vorschlag Industries. This one must have been produced before Irons died, since he provides the voice to go along with the various scenes.

The commercial begins by showing a rainforest.

Irons (voiceover): From the heart of darkness, where remote stores of black crude is the industrial world's life blood ...

The scene shifts to oil drilling equipment. The next scene is a gaping hole in the earth. An explosion sends rock and dust into the air.

Irons (voiceover): ... to the veins of raw ore buried in the sinew of the earth's hardest rock ...

We see the ore traveling along conveyer belts. The next scene is a scientific laboratory with glass containers filled with colored liquids. A scientist in a protective suit looks into a microscope. Blood {?} cells can be seen.

Irons (voiceover): ... to the most desolate, yet promising, corners of the nuclear and biotechnical frontiers ...

Next shown in the commercial is a stylized representation of chemical compounds.

Irons (voiceover): ... Vorschlag Industries enjoys the privilege of suffering ...

Niagara Falls comes on the screen.

Irons (voiceover): ... no peers with which to share its place ...

We see high-rise office buildings next.

Irons (voiceover): ... upon the pantheon of multinational corporations.

To end the commercial, we see the Vorschlag Industries sign in front of Irons' office tower.

Irons (voiceover, triumphant): Vorschlag - there can only be one.

Cut to the plaza where Ticknor died. Sara is there and is looking around at the other people in the plaza. Gabriel comes up behind her and playfully grabs at her ponytail. Sara ducks a bit and turns toward him.

Gabriel: Hey.

Sara: Hey. This might not be the best time to sneak up on me.

Gabriel: Yeah, dangerous times.

Sara raises her brows and nods.

Gabriel: I got visited today, from a guy pretending to be from the phone company. Only he had a car waiting for him, so he's definitely more "phony" than hone. So what's up with all this?

Sara: Well, it seems that Ticknor was involved with some high level, super secret outfit. He strayed, or so it seems, and they killed him. Whatever he wanted to give to you, they want ... badly.

Gabriel: OK.

Gabriel pulls a GPS device out of his pocket as Sara takes another look around the plaza. She returns her attention to Gabriel.

Sara: Hey. Global positioner.

Gabriel: Yeah, it's gonna give us the exact longitude and latitude that Ticknor gave.

Sara (nod): Hmm.

Gabriel: It's over there.

They begin walking across the plaza.

Gabriel: You're armed, right?

Sara: Already got a round in the pipe.

The positioner beeps at Gabriel.

Gabriel: Oh, whoa, whoa, whoa ...

Gabriel walks a couple feet back. About five feet to the side of where he stops is a bench.

Gabriel: Yeah. It's here.

Sara: Right here?

Gabriel: Yeah. Why?

Sara: You're sure?

Gabriel: Yeah.

Sara: 'Cause this is exactly where Ticknor was murdered.

They both look around where they are standing. Sara looks at the bench.

Sara: Sit down with me, will ya?

They sit on the bench, Sara to Gabriel's right.

Sara: Uh, now put your arm around me.

Gabriel: Really?

Sara: Just do it.

Gabriel: OK.

Gabriel puts his right arm across Sara's shoulders as she slips her left behind him. Her left hand starts searching under the bench, evidently making contact with parts of Gabriel, too.

Gabriel: Oh, hey. No pillow talk, I guess, huh?

Sara: Don't get wet, Bowman. I'm just looking for something.

Gabriel smiles and nods. Soon Sara's hand runs across an object attached to the bottom of the bench.

Sara: Oh.

Gabriel: What? What do you got?

Sara: There's something taped to the bottom of the seat here.

Sara works it loose and pulls it up between them.

Gabriel: What is it?

Sara: I don't know.

Sara spies two men in dark suits walking their way.

Sara: Uh, but let's not open it here. We should probably move.

Gabriel: OK.

Sara: Now.

They get up and start walking rapidly. Looking back, Sara sees the two men in suits pull out pistols and begin running after her and Gabriel.

Sara: Run.

As Sara and Gabriel enter a parking lot, one of the men fires his silenced pistol at them a couple times, shattering one car's rear window. Gabriel and Sara both duck down and run between cars. The two men following them separate, as Sara and Gabriel have become separated. When one of the men gets too close, Gabriel dashes to another car to hide behind. As most normal people would be, he's terrified. He can see one of the gunmen approaching Sara's position and wants to warn her, but cannot. He needn't have worried.

As the gunman nears Sara, she quickly stands and kicks him in the midsection, doubling him over. She follows up with a double-fisted hit to the back of his head that drops him to the pavement. Unfortunately, the man's partner now has a bead on Sara. He jumps up on a car's trunk. As he brings his gun up to fire, Sara puts three bullets in him. Sara looks around the parking lot.

We get the effect indicating a Witchblade vision, only now Sara goes back to her ghostly visit from earlier. The man is still seen only in shadows, and is sitting now in Sara's easy chair.

Sara: When did you live, John?

John: I was born in 1917. Died in my 40's.

Sara: What did you do?

John: I was a, uh ... politician.

Sara: Hmm, sorry to hear that. (little laugh)

John: Public service is nothing to be ashamed of. It meant something once, to be your brother's keeper, to take an interest in the welfare of others, to lend a hand. How old are you, Sara?

Sara: I'm 29.

John: You vote?

Sara: Not ... really.

John: Why not?

Sara: My vote doesn't matter.

John: Tell that to those who are buried in the hallowed ground at Arlington. To those who were never found ...

Sara (interrupts): I-I-I'm not the only one. I mean, no one believes that real change is possible anymore, that good triumphs over evil. So we kind of let the government just ... be.

John: Our forefathers believed that every citizen should have a voice. Now you're telling me that's no longer so.

Sara considers this for a moment and nods slightly. John rubs his brow.

John: That means they won.

Sara: Uh, who?

John: The ones who killed me.

Back to Sara holding her gun in the parking lot. Gabriel runs up to her and holds her shoulder.

Gabriel: Sara! Sara, come on. We gotta get outta here.

They take off across the parking lot as sirens approach.

Cut to the precinct. Jake is surrounded by several men in suits as Danny watches from his office. Jake is talking comfortably with the men, one of whom glances back at Danny. Jake breaks away from the men and enters Danny's office, patting one of the men on the arm as he passes by.

Jake: Danny, got a minute?

Danny: Close the door.

Jake closes the door.

Danny: What's going on out there?

Jake glances out the window to the group of men.

Jake: Those guys? Feds. F.B.I. ... all looking for Sara.

Jake sits on Danny's desk.

Danny: Sara? Why?

Jake: Where is she?

Danny: I don't know. What - what's happening?

Jake: She killed a federal agent.

Danny smiles and laughs a little.

Danny: Yeah, right.

Jake: I'm not saying she did it. (points out the window) They're saying it.

Danny: How come you're so tight with them?

Jake: Think about it, man. Any info I get from them helps us help Pez. Am I right?

Danny still has a look of suspicion on his face.

Danny: Yeah, well, until about 5 seconds ago, I didn't know that she needed help.

Jake sighs and stands again.

Jake: Now you know.

Jake leaves the office.

Cut to Gabriel and Sara running into an open area topped with concrete held up by large pillars {under a freeway overpass, maybe?}. Sara still has her gun in her hand. They gradually come to a stop while looking behind them. Gabriel grabs Sara's arm for a second.

Gabriel: Hey. So where'd you go back there?

Sara: You ever have one of those dreams that you don't fully remember when you wake up, but you keep catching glimpses of throughout the day?

Gabriel: Yeah, sure.

Sara digs their recovered item out of her pocket and holds it out to Gabriel.

Sara: Here. What do we got? Take a look. Open.

The object is a small metal container. Gabriel pries it open to find a small 8-millimeter film canister with a number affixed to the top.

Sara: What is it?

Gabriel: It's a roll of 8-millimeter movie film, unprocessed.

Sara: Didn't think they made 8-mil anymore.

Gabriel: Ah, well, they don't ... not this particular style. They haven't since the mid-seventies.

Sara: Well, we need to get it developed, see what's on it.

Gabriel: Sara, listen. We should give this back to whoever's trying to kill us. I'm all for a good intrigue. I ain't willing to die for it.

Sara: Gabriel, these guys aren't going to believe us if we cross our hearts and hope to die saying that we didn't take a look at what's on that film.

Gabriel starts to say something, but his attention is diverted to something, or someone, to his right behind Sara.

Gabriel (warning tone): Sara.

Sara spins and points her gun at Ian standing just a few feet away.

Sara: How did you find me and what are you doing here?

Ian: I come in peace.

Sara: What a nice change.

Sara lowers her gun and Ian strolls closer.

Ian: You've not a long time to live, Sara.

Ian smiles widely.

Sara: Why do you say that with a smile on your face?

Ian (still smiling): I can't help myself. There's more than a little of the erotic in death's arms.

Gabriel looks over at Sara.

Ian: And more than a little of the same ... in you.

Sara glances aside.

Ian: Your puerile companion will soon be a trivial memory, having left no mark upon this life ...

Gabriel considers these words then looks away.

Ian: ... save for an unrequited love.

Gabriel brings his gaze back to Ian.

Ian: You have nice eyes, though ...

Sara steps between them, bringing Ian's arm down.

Sara: Hey, hey!

Sara (to Gabriel): Come on. Come here.

She puts Gabriel behind her.

Sara (to Ian): What do you know about all this?

Ian: I know you're in possession of a terrible secret.

Sara: Who's trying to kill me?

Ian: Forces darker and more morally sterile than anything in recent history. When kings turn, their armies and guards slay them.

The look on Sara's face says, "More cryptic nonsense," and she turns to look back at Gabriel. He seems to understand the historic reference.

Ian: Romans were lethal and, as a result, thrived because guilt found no purchase on their lives. The men who will kill you are of a like mind ... therefore, invincible.

Sara: You're trying to scare me.

Ian: You're already terrified.

Sara (apprehensive): Will the Witchblade abandon me?

Ian: Fear doesn't become you, Sara.

Sara: Nottingham, I'm out-gunned. I'm out-numbered. And now I'm out of time. So, please, stop trying to seduce me with bad news.

Ian: Without hope ... we live in desire.

Ian backs away a bit.

Sara: What ...

Her cell phone ringing interrupts Sara. She turns to Gabriel as she answers it.

Sara (into phone): Yeah?

Danny (over phone): Sara, it's me.

Sara turns back around to find Ian gone.

Sara: What is it, Danny?

Cut to the precinct. Out the office window, Jake is still talking with the group of Feds. Cut between Sara and Danny as they speak.

Danny: Wherever you are, stay there. Don't come in.

Sara: Wh-what are you talking about?

Danny: Do not come into the precinct.

Sara: Why? What's going on?

Danny: Arness is dead. The F.B.I. thinks you killed him.

Sara: You know I didn't.

Danny: Sara, it doesn't matter what I think. There is a squad of Feds in the office ... and they're coming after you.

Sara closes her phone.

Fade.

End Act II

Act III

Open back with Sara's visit with the spirit of John. As John speaks we see {I don't know if Sara does} a myriad of scenes.

First is the Lincoln Memorial and the Jefferson Memorial. Then a shot of the Reflecting Pool on the Mall during the March on Washington in 1963.

John (voiceover): The consequences of immoral silence ...

Next is a scene of men, including National Guardsmen, standing outside a door. {Sorry, didn't recognize the circumstances. Martin Luther King, maybe?}

The scene of Robert Kennedy's assassination is next.

John (voiceover): ... to ignore what we know is true ...

A little girl touches the wall of names that is the Vietnam War Memorial.

John (voiceover): ... but are too afraid to admit ...

Soldiers jump from a helicopter in Vietnam.

John (voiceover): ... therein lies unatonable sin.

Pan across firemen's coat hung on a wall.

John (voiceover): The resurrection of courageous faith ...

An astronaut standing beside a planted American flag on the moon salutes.

John (voiceover): ... which was once this nation's seal ...

The statue of the raising the flag on Iwo Jima appears next. {I think that's it.}

John (voiceover): ... lies in the hearts ...

Two girls, backlit by the sun, hold up an American flag.

John (voiceover): ... minds, and actions of this country's youth.

The last image is Abraham Lincoln's visage from the Lincoln Memorial superimposed with writing carved in stone. {Didn't recognize where the words were taken from.}

John (voiceover): Of, for, and by the people.

Back to Sara's apartment.

John: So, you see, Sara, without you, and I mean your generation ... nothing is possible. Without your spiritual requiem, I died in vain ... a forgotten cinder buried among the ashes of history ... along with all the others.

There are tears in Sara's eyes and one slips down her right cheek.

Cut to Sara at the wheel of her car.

Radio announcer: Three-time decorated homicide detective, Sara Pezzini, is the object of a city-wide manhunt for the brutal shooting of F.B.I. agent Richard Arness. Pezzini is known to be armed and dangerous.

Gabriel, in the passenger seat, taps his teeth with a fingernail as he listens. Sara closes her eyes briefly and shakes her head.

Radio announcer: A federal dragnet has been set up in the tri- ...

Sara switches the radio off.

Sara: Anyway, it's nice to be wanted.

Gabriel: Hmm, yeah. But you didn't do it, did you?

Sara looks over at Gabriel.

Sara: Yes, Gabriel, I did it. I murdered a federal agent who was a friend of mine so I could go out on the lam with you.

Gabriel just holds back a smile as Sara looks away.

Gabriel: So, how do we get out of this?

Sara: We might not.

Gabriel: You mean, no matter where we go, we're probably going to be seen.

Sara says nothing.

Gabriel: You know, 5 years ago, the average American was surreptitiously photographed 5 times a day. Now that number is up to 60 times or better. You know what I mean? Like ... there's cameras everywhere you go.

Sara: A nation under surveillance. Just a little fear and paranoia, we start wiping our butts with the Bill of Rights. You know, you think Ticknor could have done us a favor and told you what was on the film.

Gabriel: All he told me was that he used to work for Naval and Defense Intelligence, so ... maybe whatever's on the film has something to do with that. I don't know.

Sara: Maybe. But he was deeper than just that. Recruited while he was a Marine in Korea, spoke five languages, was an assassin, basically. He even worked for a group called "Alpha 66."

Gabriel: That's the anti-Castro Cubans in, uh, Louisiana, right?

Sara: Louisiana, Miami, South Texas.

Gabriel: You know, he told me that by giving me the film, and me turning it over to the public, that it might earn him some favor in heaven.

Sara blows out a breath, starts the car, and drives off.

Cut to Hudson Video and Transfer. Gabriel has taken the film inside to get it processed while Sara stays in the car. Gabriel knows the man working here. His name is Vic. Vic examines the film canister.

Vic: I don't know, Gabriel. This film was exposed about 40 years ago.

Gabriel: You can still develop it, right?

Vic: Yah, I think so. (smile) Where'd you get it?

Gabriel: Does it matter?

Vic: Well, this is a Defense Intelligence serial number. This film came from a government warehouse, not Rite-Aid, which probably means that whatever images there are on the film are classified.

Gabriel nods.

Gabriel: Hmmm ... so about an hour?

Vic: Sure.

Gabriel: All right. You're a good man, Vic.

Cut to the precinct. The group from the F.B.I. walks out of a room, Jake with them.

Jake (to one, shaking hands): All right, man. Be in touch.

Jake (to another, shaking hands): I'm here if you need me. All right? Thanks.

Danny has observed this exchange as he came down the stairs behind Jake.

Danny: Hey, McCartey.

Jake turns toward Danny.

Jake: Yo.

Danny: What's with you, man?

Danny looks to the departing agents.

Jake: What do you mean?

Danny: Don't piss on me and tell me it's raining.

Jake: Pff! I'm trying to get information.

Jake turns and starts to leave but is hauled back by Danny as he grabs Jake's arm.

Danny: Hey, don't walk away from me. I'm not finished.

Jake glances around the room.

Jake: Let's move this.

Next we see them opening a door and stepping into a corridor.

Danny: Someone's throwing Pez to the wolves.

Jake: So it's instantly me? How come not you?

Danny: Hey, I've been Sara's partner a long time.

Jake: Doesn't mean Jack.

Danny: Why are the Feds always talking to you so much? You always have some thing going on, pulling information no one else has access to. How come you're so well-connected?

Jake: How come you're so paranoid?

Danny: I'm a cop.

Jake: And I'm ...

A uniformed officer walks between them.,

Jake: And I'm a criminal?

Danny: I don't know what you are.

Jake: A friend ... to you and to Sara. And whatever's happening with her, coming down on me isn't going to help it.

Jake walks away.

Jake: Don't mind my back ... it's just me walking away from you.

Danny watches him go.

Cut to Sara and Gabriel in the car. Sara pulls over in front of the Hudson film developers and Gabriel gets out of the car. He has barely entered the shop when Sara sees two identical black sedans in her rearview mirror speeding toward her. There's also one approaching from her front. Sara peels out of her parking spot and shouts to Gabriel as he exits the shop.

Sara (shout): Come on! Let's go!

Gabriel runs to the end of the block, where Sara has turned the corner, pulled over, and flung open the door for Gabriel. Gabriel scrambles into the passenger seat and Sara peels out again. There are three cars chasing Sara as she drives at high speed down the street. A truck pulls out in front of her from the right.

Gabriel (shout): Sara, look out!

Sara weaves around the truck and finds another of the black cars blocking the way on the other side. She makes a quick left into a gravel-paved enclosed area. She weaves between buildings on the lot until she is boxed in and has to stop. Men with guns get out of the cars around her. As they approach her car, we see that Gabriel is no longer in the passenger seat.

Turell walks up to Sara's window.

Sara: Sorry you guys missed the movie.

Sara shrugs.

Fade.

End Act III

Act IV

Open back at Hudson Film and Transfer. Turell enters the workroom to find Vic. He grabs Vic by the coat and forces him deeper into the shop, out of camera range. We hear the slide of an automatic and then a single gunshot.

Cut to Sara sitting at a table in a basement with a black bag over her head. Her hands are cuffed to a ring in the table. The Witchblade starts glowing. Turell walks slowly down the wooden stairs to the basement. He removes the bag from Sara's head and pushes the Record button on a cassette tape player on the table by Sara's hands. Sara stretches her jaw.

Turell: Your name?

Sara: You know it ... Sara Magdalene Pezzini.

Turell: Occupation?

Sara (exaggerated for recorder): NYPD Homicide detective.

Sara: What's your name?

Turell: Did you retrieve a package William Ticknor left in a plaza last night?

Sara: He didn't leave anything for me.

Turell: He left it for Gabriel Bowman.

Sara: I'm thinking maybe he left it so you couldn't destroy it.

Turell pulls out his gun from inside his jacket and lays it on the table.

Sara: Is that a threat?

Turell: It's a visual aid. Did you see what was on that film?

Sara: You're really scared, aren't you? What is on that film that makes you lose sleep?

Turell: A fortuitous accident that saved this republic.

Sara: You killed 'em all, didn't you? Ticknor ...

Quick view of the cassette recorder taping this conversation.

Sara: ... Agent Arness, the man at Hudson Video.

Turell: I had help.

Sara: Who are you people?

Turell: We ... are in charge.

Sara: Really? By whose sanction?

Turell: Our own. We're patriots of a new revolution. We make up our own laws.

Sara: By abridging ours.

Turell: Your laws are old and polluted with historical sentiment.

Sara: And you're cowards. You live in the shadows because you don't have the courage to be seen for who you really are. You kill, you kidnap, you assassinate. You do not support this country ... you pervert it.

Turell: This interview is over.

He takes his gun from the table, walks a few feet away, and pulls the slide, chambering a round. As he points the pistol at her, Sara tilts the stone in the Witchblade to point it at him. A brilliant blue-white light shoots from the stone. Turell is blinded and throws up his hands to block the light. The Witchblade transforms into the gauntlet and Sara uses it to break the cuff on her right hand and then her left. She stands and Turell again aims at her. He fires and Sara uses the Witchblade to punch the bullet back at him. It hits him right between his eyes and he falls back. Coming down the stairs now is a man with a submachine gun.

The new guy fires repeatedly and the Witchblade deflects the shots as Sara spins. The man loses sight of Sara and stops firing. He looks around but doesn't spot her. We hear the Witchblade changing forms and he turns around to find the point of a sword at his throat.

Sara: Live free ... or die.

He spits to the side and Sara pushes the blade through his throat. She draws her arm back and he drops to the floor.

Cut to Sara in the back of a cab at night. She has her head back and her eyes closed. The cab stops and she looks up.

Sara: Um ... this is wrong.

The cabbie doesn't respond.

A man opens the cab door and gets in with Sara. The cab starts moving again. {I think this is the same guy who followed Arness out of the diner, but not sure.}

Man: There's been so much killing, Sara. You'd think we'd learn our lesson. But we just keep digging the holes and burying the bodies, one on top of the other. There was a camera in the room when you killed Turell and Specter. I have to admit, I'm more than a little nervous sitting here with a woman who possesses the, uh, skills, shall we say, that you do. I, ah ... do, however, admire the aptitude with which you dispatch death.

Sara: The film you want, it shows the murder of someone, doesn't it? Someone you people killed.

He nods.

Man: It was meant to be a record of the event, yes ... not a trophy to gloat over. In case things went wrong, we needed the faces of the witnesses in order to protect ourselves. But things went in our favor. Give me the audio tape ... the one with Turell's confession.

Sara: Um, it's the only thing that proves my innocence.

Man: I've arranged to have the warrants for your arrest rescinded.

Sara: You have that kind of power?

Man: Don't ever doubt it. We're not elected and we're not named. We're, uh ...

Sara hands him the tape.

Man: ... we're invisible. We don't operate the same way we used to. But there are many of us still around who just want to be left alone.

Sara: So who did you kill?

Man: We're going to allow you to live, Sara. You know about us, and we know about you. And there may come a day when we will ask you for a favor ... in exchange for your life now.

Man (to driver): Driver, pull over here.

The cab pulls over to the left and stops. The man with Sara lights a cigar with a wooden match.

Man: And to show you, Sara, our heart's in the right place, we've decided to give you a token of our pledge.

He opens his door and gets out of the cab. He leans back in to speak once more.

Man: Until that day when we need you.

Sara nods slightly. He leaves and Sara notices his matchbox on the seat beside her. She picks it up and reads "Vorschlag Industries" on the box. Her attention is drawn from the matchbox by Gabriel being shoved into the cab.

Sara: Oh, Gabriel.

The man who put Gabriel in the cab shuts the car door. Sara reaches for Gabriel and sees blood on his face.

Sara: You OK? Oh, my God ...

Gabriel: Yeah ... you know, they caught me. Uh ... but I made it back in one piece.

Sara: I'm so sorry. Come here, sweetie. It's OK.

They hold each other, Sara still murmuring reassurance. The cab drives off.

Cut to the precinct. It's still night. Danny pours himself a cup of coffee and Jake walks up.

Jake: Hey. Listen, I just heard ... the Bureau's issued a statement clearing Sara.

Danny: Yeah?

Jake: Agent Arness left a registered letter ...

Danny starts walking and Jake follows.

Jake: ... points fingers in a whole other direction. Conspiracy stuff, crazy, off-the-wall. Turns out, he was kind of psycho ... shot himself.

Danny: Uh-huh.

Jake: Danny ... the good news is that Pez is off the hook, right?

Danny: Right.

Cut to Sara walking through the front door of her apartment. She closes and locks it then continues into the apartment. She has a visitor.

John: You should lie down. It's been a long night.

Sara seems surprised to see John. He was just a dream, after all. He is still seen only in shadow.

John: I'm leaving soon.

Sara: Why did you come?

John: I was beckoned here by a ... force. A force that refuses to let evil prevail. A force that exhorts the greatness of the human heart. A force that you, Sara Pezzini, must embrace and wield. Dark clouds are on the horizon. And your destiny, our destiny, rests on your shoulders, Sara. Diamonds are forged under intense pressure. How much more intense the pressure upon the one who wields the stone of power?

Sara covers the Witchblade with her left hand.

John: Be aware that the events of the past few days are ... just a portent of the challenges you will soon face.

Sara takes a few steps closer to John.

John: Believe ... the noble in man will prevail. Believe ... that you can help make it so.

Sara (smile): Huh.

Sara: How did it all happen?

John: Just as most things do ... timing, bad luck, collusion among those who otherwise were sworn to protect us.

Sara: Did you know?

John (nodding): I must have.

Sara: What do you miss most?

John: Family.

He starts walking toward Sara.

John: I miss my family.

He leans forward into an area of light and we see that "John" is President John F. Kennedy. Sara has tears in her eyes. Then he disappears.

The episode ends with some scenes from President Kennedy's life overlaid with what is presumably the audio component to the film that Sara and Gabriel retrieved.

The first scene comes from that fateful parade in Dallas.

Leader (voiceover): Alpha team, are you in position?

Alpha team (voiceover): Alpha team, roger.

Next seen is a still picture of John and Jackie. They both look so young.

Leader (voiceover): Baker team, are you in position?

Baker team (voiceover): Baker team, roger.

Next is a still picture of John Kennedy inside an airplane. {Air Force One?}

Leader (voiceover): They made the turn. They made the right turn. We are a go. We are a go.

On the screen now is a home video of President Kennedy and his daughter Caroline in a boat.

Leader (voiceover): Charlie team, are you in position?

Charlie team (voiceover): Charlie team, roger.

John and Caroline are now swimming.

Charlie team (voiceover): He's coming right at us.

Now Kennedy holds up his son, also named John.

Leader (voiceover): Go on my signal.

We hear the sound of a gunshot.

The picture now is President Kennedy standing at the top of the stairs leading to Air Force One and waving.

Charlie team (voiceover): We got a rogue shooter in the Book Depository. Where'd he come from?

Leader (voiceover): Everyone ... pull back! Pull back!

Return to Sara, tears beginning to fall.

Fade.

End Act IV

END OF EPISODE

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