Oh, God.
FCELL PHONE DIALING]
FANSWERING MACHINE BEEPS]
Forty, 41, 19.
FGUN COCKS]
Seventy-four, zero-two, 42.
You should have known better.
I do.
Which is why you're here to kill me.
And soon the people will know.
They'll all know what happened.
Where is it?
Heh. I like it when you're scared.
Your wife is gonna die in her sleep tonight...
...if I don't get that film.
Save her. You're dead already.
TICKNOR: I met Irene in college in 1959.
She had a bright yellow dress on and this radiant smile.
I fell so hard in love with her.
And I was so surprised, so grateful...
...when she said yes.
I'll miss her.
FGRUNTS]
FSILENCED GUNSHOTS]
Let's go say goodnight to Irene.
FPANTING]
Who the hell are you?
MAN: Just a memory.
Well, this is just a gun. How did you get in here?
MAN: I was dreaming of my life.
Damn it, what is going on?
Fear is stronger than reason, Sara.
It is a hopeless emotion that will always fail you.
Get down on the floor and put your hands above your head.
MAN: Look at how bright this world can be.
Even with eyes closed, it's blinding.
I could kill you.
I am already dead, Sara.
Hey, boys.
Vicky, what do we got?
- Suicide? VICKY: No.
Not unless he was double-jointed with a 5-foot right arm.
- Weapon? - It looks like a.22.
The mob can't afford 9 mm anymore?
This was sort of an nostalgic hit.
Assassins used to love the.22 for up close and personal kills.
Smaller weapon, quieter shot, harder to trace.
- ID yet? VICKY: Yeah.
William Ticknor, 62 years old.
Texas driver's license and a metro card.
Texas? Nothing else?
Room key for a "Spank me by the hour" motel...
...over on Avenue A.
No weapon, no shell casings, no witnesses.
FSIREN WAILS]
A genuine whodunit.
Detective?
- What do you got? - Cell phone.
I found it in the bushes behind the dead guy's bench.
Let's see who he called last.
FCELL PHONE DIALING]
Oh, jeez.
FGABRIEL SIGHS]
- Who's dead? - How do you know someone's dead?
Well, you're homicide cops, right?
It's 4 in the morning and you got blood on your shoes.
But come on in.
- Lf you don't mind, wipe your feet. - Yeah.
Mr. Bowman, I'm Detective McCartey. This is Detective Woo.
In relation to an investigation, we ran your phone records.
You know Detective Pezzini?
Yeah, I consider her a friend.
- Why? What's this about? Is she all right? - She's fine.
- Probably getting a good night's sleep. - Mm.
So, Mr. Bowman, you buy and sell rare artifacts, huh?
Uh, yeah. So, what is this about?
- Did you get a call from a William Ticknor? - Don't know. Haven't checked my machine.
What have you been doing?
Um, well, I've been, you know, taking care of the task at hand.
What task might that be?
Well, it's 4 in the morning, detective. What task do you think?
- Listen, what's up with Ticknor? - He's dead.
Oh.
Let me get you a tissue. You might wanna sit down.
Uh, well, look, l... 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.
- He was buying? - No.
DANNY: Selling? - 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.
- Share with whom? - The public.
He wanted you to share something dangerous with the public?
- Yeah. JAKE: What?
I don't know. He's dead.
FlN BULGARIAN]
FlN ENGLISH] Yeah.
What language was that?
Bulgarian.
JAKE: Ticknor was executed in a downtown plaza.
We found his cell phone. Yours was the last number he dialed.
Oh, well, okay. Um, excuse me.
FMACHINE BEEPS]
TICKNOR fON RECORDING]: Forty, 41, 19.
Seventy-four, zero-two, 42.
Okay, um, before you guys even ask, I have no idea what that means.
Well, thanks for your time, Gabriel.
Why don't you, uh...
...get back to the task at hand.
We'll stay in touch. Ahem.
What do you do, Sara, when you're not entertaining ghosts?
I'm a cop.
Why?
Because I wanna help others.
Because I hate bullies.
The rights of all men are diminished when the rights of any man are denied.
SARA: I agree.
Thank you.
Why thank me?
Because I, uh... I said that.
There is an eloquence and valor to public service...
...to bearing the standard for the poor and the victimized...
...to assuage the incongruity of law and justice...
...which persecute the less fortunate.
SARA: Hey, good morning. DANNY: Hey.
Oh.
- You look like you haven't slept all night. - Got an early call on this case.
A guy named Ticknor whacked close-range in the plaza.
First, it seemed like a mob hit, but checking out Ticknor...
...he was strictly government ops. Covert.
Last person he called from the plaza: Gabriel Bowman.
Really? About what?
It's hard to say. I mean, it's all there.
Your boy's okay, though. He's not involved.
- Have I met him before? - Uh...
- What else? - Well, Dick.
- I love it when you talk like that. - No, Danny.
Dick Arness, my friend at the FBI.
- Hello? McWoo. - Oh, yeah, Richard.
He left me four messages this morning.
Give him a call.
TICKNOR fON MACHINE]: Forty, 41, 19, 74. - Okay, 40, 41, 19, 74.
- Zero-two, 42. - 0h-two, 42.
What were you up to, Ticknor?
FKNOCKING ON DOOR]
Hmm.
Hey, good morning.
I've got a work order here for Gabriel Bowman, 1122 Ulysses.
Uh, yeah, that's me, but my phones are fine.
- How did you get in the front? - Uh, it was open.
- So you got more than one line? - Um, three.
Well, two phone lines and a, uh, T1 for the computer, but they're all fine.
- Are you sure? - Yeah.
You want me to check anyway? I mean, because I'm here.
No, I'm good.
All right. Your voice mail's working, you getting all your messages okay?
Mm-hm. Yeah. Uh, listen, I'm really busy right now.
Oh, okay. Yeah.
All right then, Mr. Bowman. Sorry to have bothered you. You have a nice day.
- Yeah, you too. Thanks. - Alrighty.
Okay.
IRONS: There are no casual connections, Nottingham.
Sara Pezzini, the Witchblade, myself.
Call it what you will.
Destiny, fate, fortune.
Napoleon used to say that fortune is like a woman.
She favors the bold.
NOTTINGHAM: And what would he say of a bold woman?
IRONS: I'll ask him sometime. Ha.
Do you believe in destiny, Sara?
SARA: I believe that, uh, things are a lot more connected than they appear.
IRONS: They are.
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.
So he was what? CIA?
CIA 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.
Look, this is background. What I could get on Ticknor.
- Oh, thanks. - The legit stuff.
Thank you.
So this cabal, you think they had him doing covert ops?
Beyond the valley of covert. These...
These people kill heads of state, usurp elected governments...
...paramilitary stuff.
Arness, what are you saying?
There's some sort of... Of government within our government?
Yes.
These guys are a government of their own.
They've got more money, influence, than most countries.
And they're no fans of democracy. Although they say they are.
And they're in our country? Doing what?
Making it their own.
And all of this is sanctioned by Washington?
Washington. They don't even know these private killers exist.
They hide in plain sight, act with complete autonomy.
Sara, these guys are rich, untouchable.
And they'll kill you in a heartbeat.
Why bother with Ticknor?
You only kill your own when they got something on you.
Well, Dick, what about you? I mean, you're FBI.
You're not scared that they're gonna think that you betrayed them?
We only betray our country with silence.
Look, Ticknor got ahold of something deadly serious to these people.
- Find it. I'll help you any way I can. - Thanks, Dick.
- Listen. - Yeah?
If I should suddenly commit suicide...
...or mysteriously drive my car into a lamp post...
...watch your back.
FCELL PHONE RINGING]
Yeah, yeah, this is Pezzini.
Sara, uh, listen, I figured out Ticknor's message.
- Oh. What's it mean? - They're map coordinates.
- To where? - Downtown.
A plaza near the Village. You wanna meet there?
- Gabriel, is this plaza off Mulberry Street? - Uh, yeah. How'd you know?
That's where Ticknor was murdered.
I'll see you there.
IRONS: From the heart of darkness...
... where remote stores of black crude is the industrial world's life blood.
To the veins of raw ore buried in the sinew of the earth's hardest rock...
... to the most desolate, yet promising corners...
... of the nuclear and bio-technical frontiers.
Vorschlag Industries enjoys the privilege of suffering no peers...
... with which to share its place upon the pantheon of multinational corporations.
Vorschlag, there can only be one.
- Hey. - Hey.
This might not be the best time to sneak up on me.
Yeah, a dangerous time.
I got visited today from a guy pretending to be from the phone company.
He had a car waiting for him, so he's definitely more phony than phone.
So, what's up with all this?
Well, it seems that Ticknor was involved with some high-level super-secret outfit.
He strayed, or so it seems, and they killed him.
And whatever he wanted to give to you, they want badly.
Okay.
- Hey, global positioning. - Yeah.
It's gonna give us the exact longitude and latitude that Ticknor gave.
- Oh. - It's over there.
- You're armed, right? - I've already got a round in the pipe.
Good. Oh, hold it, hold it.
Yeah, it's here.
- Right here? - Yeah. Why?
- You sure? - Yeah.
Because this is exactly where Ticknor was murdered.
Sit down with me, will you?
Uh, now put your arm around me.
- Really? - Just do it.
Okay.
FGABRIEL CLEARS THRO AT]
Oh, hey. No pillow talk, I guess, huh?
Don't get wet, Bowman. I'm just looking for something.
- Oh. - What? What do you got?
There's something taped to the bottom of the seat here.
- What is it? - I don't know.
Uh, but let's not open it here.
- We should probably move. - Okay.
Now.
Run.
FSILENCED GUNSHOTS]
When did you live, John?
I was born in 1917.
Died in my 40s.
What did you do?
I was a, uh, politician.
Heh, I'm sorry to hear that.
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?
I'm 29.
- Do you vote? - Not really.
Why not?
My vote doesn't matter.
Tell that to those who are buried in the hallowed ground at Arlington.
- To those who were never found. - 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.
Our forefathers believed that every citizen should have a voice.
Now you're telling me that's no longer so.
That means they won.
Uh, who?
The ones who killed me.
Sara. Sara, come on.
We gotta get out of here, okay?
FTALKING INDISTINCTLY]
Danny, got a minute?
Close the door.
What's going on out there?
Those guys? Feds, FBI.
- All looking for Sara. - Sara?
- Why? - Where is she?
I don't know. What...? What's happening?
- She killed a federal agent. - Yeah, right.
I'm not saying she did. They're saying it.
- How come you're so tight with them? - Think about it, man.
Any info I get from them helps us help Pez.
Am I right?
Yeah, well, until about five seconds ago, I didn't know that she needed help.
FSIGHS]
Now you know.
Hey. So where'd you go back there?
You ever have dreams that you don't remember when you wake...
...but you catch glimpses of throughout the day?
- Yeah, sure. - Here. What do we got?
Take a look. Open.
- What is it? - It's a roll of 8 mm movie film, unprocessed.
- I didn't think they made 8-mil anymore. - Well, they don't, not this particular style.
- They haven't since the mid-'70s. - We need to get it developed.
- See what's on it. - Sara, listen.
We should give this back to whoever's trying to kill us.
I'm all for good intrigue, I ain't willing to die for it.
These guys aren't gonna believe us if we cross our hearts and hope to die...
...saying that we didn't take a look at that film.
Sara...
How did you find me...
...and what are you doing here? - I come in peace.
What a nice change.
You've not a long time to live, Sara.
Why do you say that...
...with a smile on your face? - I can't help myself.
There's more than the little of the erotic in death's arms.
And more than a little of the same in you.
Your puerile companion will soon be a memory...
...having left no mark upon this life...
...save for an unrequited love.
- You have nice eyes though. - Hey! Hey!
Come on. Come here.
What do you know about all this?
I know you're in possession of a terrible secret.
Who's trying to kill me?
Forces darker and more morally sterile than anything in recent history.
When kings turn, their armies and guard slay them.
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.
You're trying to scare me.
You're already terrified.
Will the Witchblade abandon me?
Fear doesn't become you, Sara.
Nottingham, I'm outgunned, I'm outnumbered, and now I'm out of time.
So please, stop trying to seduce me with bad news.
Without hope...
...we live in desire. - Wha...?
FCELL PHONE RINGING]
- Yeah? DANNY: Sara, it's me.
What is it, Danny?
Wherever you are, stay there. Don't come in.
- What are you talking about? - Do not come into the precinct.
- Why? What's going on? - Arness is dead.
The FBI thinks you killed him.
You know I didn't.
Sara, it doesn't matter what I think. There is a squad of feds in the office.
And they're coming after you.
JOHN: The consequences of immoral silence...
... to ignore what we know is true...
... but are too afraid to admit...
... therein lies unatonable sin.
The resurrection of courageous faith which was once this nation's seal...
... lies in the hearts, minds, and actions of this country's youth...
... of, for, and by the people.
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.
ANNOUNCER fON RADIO]: Three-time decorated Homicide Detective Sara Pezzini...
... is the object of a city-wide manhunt...
... for the brutal shooting of FBI Agent Richard Arness.
Pezzini is known to be armed and dangerous.
A federal dragnet has been set up in the tri...
fSHUTS OFF RADIO]
Anyway, it's nice to be wanted.
Yeah. But you didn't do it, did you?
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.
So how do we get out of this?
We might not.
You mean, no matter where we go, we're probably gonna be seen.
You know, five years ago, the average American...
...was surreptitiously photographed five times a day.
Now that number's up to 60 times or better.
You know what I mean? Like, there's cameras everywhere you go.
A nation under surveillance.
Instill a little fear and paranoia, we start wiping our butts with the Bill of Rights.
You think Ticknor could have done us a favor and told you what was on the film.
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. - 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.
That's the anti-Castro Cubans in Louisiana, right?
Louisiana, Miami, South Texas.
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.
FSIGHS]
FENGINE STARTS]
CLERK: I don't know, Gabriel.
This film was exposed about 40 years ago.
You can still develop it, right?
Yeah, I think so.
Where'd you get it?
Does it matter?
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.
Mm.
So about an hour?
- Sure. - All right. You're a good man, Vic.
All right, man, be in touch.
I'm here if you need me. All right. Thanks.
- Hey, McCartey. - Yo.
What's with you, man?
- What do you mean? - Don't piss on me and tell me it's raining.
I'm trying to get information.
Hey, don't walk away from me. I'm not finished.
Let's move this.
Someone's throwing Pez to the wolves.
So it's instantly me? How come not you?
Hey, I've been Sara's partner a long time.
Doesn't mean jack.
Why are the feds always talking to you so much?
You always have something going on...
...pulling information no one else has access to.
- How come you're so well-connected? - How come you're so paranoid?
- I'm a cop. - And I'm...
- And I'm a criminal? - I don't know what you are.
A friend to you and to Sara.
And whatever's happening with her, coming down on me isn't gonna help it.
Don't mind my back, it's just me walking away from you.
FTIRES SCREECHING]
Come on, let's go!
Sara, look out!
FHORN HONKING]
Sorry, you guys missed the movie.
FGUN COCKS]
FGUNSHOT]
- Your name? - You know it.
Sara Magdalene Pezzini.
Occupation?
N.Y.P.D. Homicide detective.
- What's your name? - Did you retrieve a package...
...William Ticknor left in a plaza last night?
- He didn't leave anything for me. - He left it for Gabriel Bowman.
I'm thinking maybe he left it so you couldn't destroy it.
- Is that a threat? - It's a visual aid.
Did you see what was on that film?
You're really scared, aren't you?
What is on that film that makes you lose sleep?
A fortuitous accident that saved this republic.
You killed them all, didn't you? Ticknor.
Agent Arness.
The man at Hudson Video.
I had help.
Who are you people?
We are in charge.
Really?
- By whose sanction? - Our own.
We're patriots of a new revolution.
We make up our own laws.
By abridging ours.
FCHUCKLES]
Your laws are old and polluted with historical sentiment.
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.
This interview is over.
FGRUNTS]
FBLADE UNSHEATHES]
Live free or die.
FGRO ANS]
FMAN HITS FLOOR]
Um, this is wrong.
Hello.
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, uh, I'm more than a little nervous sitting here...
...with a woman who possesses the, uh, skills, shall we say, that you do.
I, uh, do, however, admire the aptitude with which you dispatch death.
The film you want, it shows the murder of someone, doesn't it?
Someone you people killed.
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.
Um, it's the only thing that proves my innocence.
I have arranged to have the warrants for your arrest rescinded.
- You have that kind of power? - Don't ever doubt it.
We're not elected and we're not named.
We're, uh... We're invisible.
We don't operate the same way we used to.
But there are many of us still around who just wanna be left alone.
So who did you kill?
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.
Driver, pull over here.
And to show you, Sara, our heart's in the right place...
...we've decided to give you a token of our pledge.
Until that day when we need you.
Oh, Gabriel.
You okay?
- Oh, my God. - Yeah. Yeah.
You know, they caught me, uh, but I made it back in one piece.
I'm so sorry. Come here.
It's okay, it's okay.
Oh, God.
Hey.
Listen, I just heard.
- Bureau's issued a statement clearing Sara. - Yeah?
Agent Arness left a registered letter, points fingers a whole other direction.
Conspiracy stuff, crazy off-the-wall.
Turns out, he was kind of psycho, shot himself.
Uh-huh.
Danny...
...the good news is that Pez is off-the-hook, right?
Yeah, right.
JOHN: You should lie down.
It's been a long night.
I'm leaving soon.
Why did you come?
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?
Be aware that the events of the past few days...
...are just a portent of the challenges you will soon face.
Believe the noble in man will prevail.
Believe that you can help make it so.
FLAUGHS]
FCLEARS THRO AT]
How did it all happen?
Just as most things do.
Timing, bad luck.
Collusion among those who otherwise were sworn to protect us.
Did you know?
I must have.
What do you miss most?
Family.
I miss my family.
FCROWD CHEERING]
MAN 1: Alpha team, are you in position? MAN 2: Alpha team, roger.
MAN 1: Baker team, are you in position? MAN 3: Baker team, roger.
MAN 1: They've made the turn. They've made the right turn.
We are a go. We are a go.
- Charlie team, are you in position? MAN 4: Charlie team, roger.
He's coming right at us.
MAN 1: Go on my signal.
FGUNSHOT, CROWD SCREAMS]
MAN 4: We've got a rogue shooter in the book depository.
- Where'd he come from? MAN 1: I don't know.
Everyone, pull back. Pull back!
KENNED Y: For peace is a process, a way of solving problems.
We all breathe the same air.
We all cherish our children's futures.
And we are all mortal.
No problem of human destiny is beyond human beings.
Man's reason and spirit have often solved the seemingly unsolvable...
... and we believe they can do it again.
We are not here distributing blame or pointing the finger of judgment.
We must deal with the world as it is and not as it might have been.
FENGLISH SDH]