[The episode commences a woman and her two boys are sailing small boats in a large fountain. As she is shown enjoying a sunny day with her boys, Al Gough's voice is heard reading a letter in the background.]
AGENT GOUGH: Dear Celia, I don't know your last name and I don't know where you live. But I know you have two young boys. Twins, I believe.
[Celia and her boys are walking away from the fountain to their parked SUV.]
AGENT GOUGH: And I know you didn't have a flash-forward. I understand how terrifying that is and how powerless you must be feeling.
[Celia notices a piece of paper underneath the driver's side windshield wiper. A blue hand is partially seen.]
AGENT GOUGH: But I want you to know that you are not alone.
[Celia takes the paper and looks at it. There is a blue hand and a website, WWW.ALREDYGHOSTS.COM on the front. She turns the paper over and there is writing on the back. It reads, "We know you are one of us." Frightened, she looks around to see if she can locate the person who left the paper. Switch to Demetri and Zoey's residence. Demetri is working on his laptop. Zoey enters the room.]
ZOEY: E-Mailing your other girlfriends?
DEMETRI: [closes laptop] No, we, uh, we uh broke up. This is just porn.
ZOEY: [chuckles] Oh, okay.
[Zoey kisses Demetri on the check.]
DEMETRI: Yeah.
ZOEY: [chuckles] I'm in pre-trial conference all day so totally unreachable, but don't forget we need to sign off on the proofs later.
DEMETRI: Proofs?
ZOEY: For the wedding invitations.
DEMETRI: Right.
ZOEY: Bet you twenty bucks they spell my name wrong.
DEMETRI: Bet you on hundred they got mine wrong.
ZOEY: You know they say couples with commonly misspelled names are the most successful.
[Zoey kisses Demetri.]
DEMETRI: Really?
[They kiss again.]
ZOEY: Mm-hmm. [quickly turns then walks away] Meet me at the printers at six, okay?
DEMETRI: Can’t you just pick one?
ZOEY: I'm gonna pretend I didn't hear that.
DEMETRI: I'm just saying you have great taste. I mean, I don't need to be there, right?
[Zoey stops, looks back at Demetri then continues to walk to the door.]
DEMETRI: Hey, kick ass today.
[Demetri opens his laptop again and the monitor shows WWW.ALREDYGHOSTS.COM. Switch to Benford residence. Olivia and Mark are in the bathroom getting ready for the day. Mark is brushing his teeth.]
OLIVIA: I might be home a little late tonight. I'm covering the ER for Sally again. I tried to get out of it but …
MARK: You don't have to explain.
OLIVIA: It's just hard 'cause Crosby's out of town, so there really is no one else.
MARK: Olivia, you don't have to explain. I trust you.
OLIVIA: Good. [pause] I trust you, too.
[Olivia leaves and Mark tosses something forcefully behind him. Switch to Mark, Al and Demetri in an elevator.]
DEMETRI: It's like everything I say comes out wrong, everything. Even when we're getting along, it's tense.
MARK: Things have changed for everybody. It's a new world.
DEMETRI: Yeah? I miss the old one then.
AGENT GOUGH: Really? The one where you used to crash on my couch playing "Madden" till 4:00 A.M.?
DEMETRI: Don't you mean futon and don't you mean kicking your ass until 4:00 A.M.?
AGENT GOUGH: What?
DEMETRI: What? [laughs] I said it.
AGENT GOUGH: No, you didn't kick anything. You were, you were cheating. That's what you were doing.
DEMETRI: Hey man, what you call cheating I call finding a way to change the game, my friend.
AGENT GOUGH: [sarcastically] Oh.
[The elevator bell dings. Switch to the morgue. Mark is inspecting one of three bodies on gurneys. Demetri and Al are standing nearby. Dewey enters the morgue.]
DEWEY: How's Agent Hawk doing?
MARK: She's out of the woods. Should be back to work in a few weeks.
DEWEY: You think these three had something to do with her shooting?
MARK: Well, we followed the hand stamp from the guy who shot Janis, led us to the house where we found these guys.
DEWEY: The blue hand stamp?
DEMETRI: Mm-hmm.
DEWEY: I'm sensing a theme.
MARK: Yeah? You want to share?
DEWEY: The contact ring, residue patterns and bullet trajectories are consistent with self-inflicted gunshot wounds.
DEMETRI: Self-inflicted?
MARK: Was it [pause] you think this is some kind of suicide pact?
AGENT GOUGH: Had to be. But then who arranged the bodies and covered them with the sheets that night?
DEWEY: All had alcohol in their systems. She had ecstasy and heroin.
MARK: Dem, who, who are these people?
[Demetri reads from a folder.]
DEMETRI: Um, Jason Martinez, thirty seven, married, two children. This is Diana Davis, still looking for the next of kin and…
AGENT GOUGH: [interrupts] and Ian Rutherford, twenty five. British National reported missing from a cargo vessel docked in Long Beach.
[Snippet of Al's flash-forward where he is sitting with Fiona Banks reviewing a case file. The tab on the folder reads. "Rutherford Case No.6548-32483321." Real time.]
MARK: Your Rutherford Case?
AGENT GOUGH: Yeah.
[Snippet of Al's flash-forward where he is working with Fiona as a bird flies into the glass window. Both turn to see what caused the impact. Real time.]
AGENT GOUGH: Here we go.
FLASHFORWARD
[Switch to daylight scene. Three men are talking and laughing. In front of them is a stop sign. Aaron pulls up in his blue pick-up truck. One of the men walks over to the truck as Aaron stops.]
JACK: Hi Aaron.
AARON: What's up, Jack?
JACK: There's a guy waiting for you inside. Says he served with Tracy.
[Aaron nods and proceeds into the parking lot. He pulls into a space. A man stands up. Aaron exits the truck and the man walks toward Aaron.]
AARON: How can I help you?
MIKE: You're Aaron Stark? [Aaron nods] Corporal Mike Willingham.
[Mike extends his hand to Aaron. They shake hands.]
MIKE: I've been meaning to come talk to you for a while, but I've been mixed up trying to get a job, trying to get a place to live.
AARON: It's tough readjusting to civilian life.
MIKE: Especially with the way things are now. I just gotta hope it gets better.
AARON: Yeah.
MIKE: Sorry to bother you at your place of work but I promised Tracy that if anything ever happened to her, I'd give you this.
[Mike hands a penknife to Aaron. Snippet of Aaron's flash with Tracy.]
TRACY: [flash] How did you find me?
AARON: [flash] I'll always find you, kiddo.
[Aaron hands Tracy his penknife.]
AARON: [flash] I think right now you need this more than I do.
[Aaron cups his hands around Tracy's hand holding the penknife. Real time.]
AARON: [fights tears] I hadn't seen this knife since Tracy deployed four years ago but somehow, now I understand [snippet again] how in my flash-forward I was giving it back to her.
MIKE: She said it was a good luck charm. Maybe there's something to that.
AARON: For two years I've had to listen to people telling me to move on, to accept what happened to her. But I always knew I'd see her again. Now you showing up here and [long pause] it's all happening, isn't it? It's all happening.
[Aaron hugs Mike and pats him on the back.]
AARON: Thank you, Mike. Thank you.
[Switch to FBI building. Wedeck, Mark, Demetri and Al are present. They surround a conference table.]
WEDECK: Why do a copy machine salesman, a librarian and a Scottish journalist all decide to get together to shoot themselves?
[Fiona Banks enters the room.]
FIONA BANKS: Because print is dead?
WEDECK: Gough, say hello to your vision. You all know Fiona Banks, MI6, fresh off the plane from London.
FIONA BANKS: [to Al] Nice to meet you again, for the first time.
AGENT GOUGH: Yeah, nice to meet you.
MARK: Suicide seems a little low incident for MI6.
FIONA BANKS: Ian Rutherford was reported missing off a cargo ship two weeks ago. The British Embassy was notified. I saw the report and came here because…
AGENT GOUGH: [interrupts] 'Cause you knew you'd be working this case from your flash-forward.
[Fiona nods]
WEDECK: That's all well and good, but what do we got in the present?
DEMETRI: When I found out all three vics committed suicide I cross reference their visions on Mosaic. Turns out they're all ghosts. People who didn't see anything in their flash-forwards, that's what they call themselves.
FIONA BANKS: So none of them had visions and now they're all dead. Am I the only one who finds that disturbing?
DEMETRI: No, you're not. Here, check this out.
[Demetri types on his laptop and the results are shown on a large monitor at the end of the table. A skeletal hand on a black background.]
DEMETRI: It's a Ghost website. It's where they connect with each other.
[The monitor shows a blue hand and its skeleton along with the site's URL of WWW.ALREDYGHOSTS.COM. There is a sign in box. Demetri presses a key.]
DEMETRI: Find out about up coming events.
FIONA BANKS: Anchorage, Buenos Aires, Dubai. Whatever this is, it's happening everywhere.
[The monitor shows a calendar with dates and times for meetings. Under November is a sentence and under this is four columns of places and dates. Al begins to read from the monitor.]
AGENT GOUGH: “The Blue Hand. No Limits. No Fear. A place where ghosts can gather to embrace the inevitable."
WEDECK: You got to be kidding me. A death club?
MARK: Like a book club with bullets.
WEDECK: Whatever it is, the guy who shot Janis is a part of it. We need to find these people, figure out who they are and shut them down.
DEMETRI: The next meeting in Los Angeles is being hosted by a guy named Raynaud, Dr. Maurice Raynaud.
DEMETRI: When's the meeting?
[Demetri taps a key and an audio clip plays from the site as the camera focuses on the stopwatch on the monitor. It is ticking as a man's voice speaks.]
AUDIO VOICE: Tonight go downtown and check the time. Tonight go downtown and check the time. Tonight go downtown and check the time
[Switch to daytime at the FBI building. Fiona puts photographs on Al's desk.]
FIONA BANKS: Ian Blaine Rutherford. Born in Edinburgh, 1984. Father's an aviation mechanic. Mother, uh, …
AGENT GOUGH: Works in a factory, makes cell phone components. I've already seen that file.
FIONA BANKS: [chuckles] Yes, of course. [pause] Sorry. I just, uh, never expected to be working on this case so soon.
AGENT GOUGH: The dominos seem to be falling into place, don't they?
FIONA BANKS: It's funny. I don't remember anything from the actual dossier other than his name. I just remember you [pause] and the bird.
[Snippet of flash in the background of the bird flying into the window from Al and Fiona's flash-forward.]
FIONA BANKS: When it hit the window I literally felt my heart skip a beat. Then you had the phone call.
[Al looking at his cell phone during the flash.]
AGENT GOUGH: [flash] Excuse me for a moment.
[Fiona's flash continues in the background then real time several times..]
FIONA BANKS: [flash] After you left, I looked out onto the ledge. [real time] I went over.
[Fiona looks at the bird on the ledge. It is still breathing.]
FIONA BANKS: [flash] I wanted to help it, [real time] if only to end its pain. But I couldn't. [flash] That was the worst part. [real time] There was nothing I could do to stop it.
[Fiona's cell phone rings. She reaches for the phone. She reads the message.]
FIONA BANKS: What was your phone call about?
AGENT GOUGH: [flash] It was my attorney.
FIONA BANKS: Why were you speaking to an attorney? Did something happen?
[Snippet of Al's flash-forward when he is speaking with his attorney.]
AGENT GOUGH: [flash] I killed her. [real time] No, everything was fine.
[Gough returns to the case file on his desk. Switch to Los Angeles at night. Demetri is putting on his jacket, checks himself in the mirror as the door opens to the residence. Zoey walks in and says nothing to Demetri.]
DEMETRI: Hey babe. Hey, I'm working downtown tonight. Thought I might stop by that bakery on Grand on the way back, pick us up some of those cinnamon rolls…
[Demetri walks from the mirror into the kitchen. Zoey pours a glass of wine. There is one glass on the counter.]
DEMETRI: or not.
ZOEY: You don't have any idea why I am mad, do you?
DEMETRI: No.
ZOEY: The printers? Our invitations?
DEMETRI: [lowers head] Oh, my God. I'm so sorry. Work was so crazy. All right? We got a lead on the guy who shot Janis, and now we're going to this underground club…
ZOEY: Yeah, you're not the only one who had a crazy day. I've been cranking out motions in limine all afternoon but somehow I made it to the printers anyway.
DEMETRI: You're right. I suck. I should have been there. I'm really sorry.
ZOEY: It's not about the invitations, Dem. It's about you and me and the fact that you've been checked out ever since I got home from Seattle.
DEMETRI: You know I've been slammed since the blackout.
ZOEY: Yes, since the blackout, yeah.
DEMETRI: Babe, please.
ZOEY: That's been your excuse for everything. Yeah, no, why you are late coming home, why you don't feel like talking, why you shut your computer every time I walk in the room. It's, it's like I don't even exist.
DEMETRI: Hey, that's unfair.
ZOEY: What's unfair is being in love with someone who treats you like a stranger. That's unfair. You know, and I don't want you to apologize. I don't. I want you to want to be here. Talk to me. Just, just be honest about whatever's going on.
DEMETRI: You want me to be honest.
ZOEY: Yes.
DEMETRI: The more you jump down my throat, the less I want to be here. How's that for honesty?
[Demetri turns and leaves to go to work. He slams the door as he exits.]
ZOEY: Demetri. Dem!
[Switch to the hospital. It is nighttime. Nicole is following Olivia. Nicole is wearing a pink volunteer apron.]
NICOLE: Thanks so much for having me.
OLIVIA: Oh, not at all. We always need volunteers. I gotta tell you there's a lot of menial tasks, a lot of charts to be filed and blood to be run to the lab. It's not exactly glamorous.
NICOLE: I'm not looking for glamour.
BRYCE: Dr. Benford?
OLIVIA: Hey, aren’t you supposed to be at that intern conference?
BRYCE: Yeah, but lab's lost the coags on our spider girl, the O.R. is trying to bump our appy another hour, and volvulus guy is leaving A.M.A. to see his kids in this "Ice Capades" thing.
OLIVIA: Okay, so redraw the coags, tell the O.R. no, and I'll talk to the skater dad.
BRYCE: Okay.
OLIVIA: Bryce, do you know Nicole?
BRYCE: Uh, yeah. Yeah, I think we met at your Christmas party last year. Hi.
[Nicole and Bryce shake hands.]
OLIVIA: Nicole's volunteering here. [to Nicole] You know what, shadow Bryce. He'll show you the lay of the land.
NICOLE: All right.
OLIVIA: I will catch you later.
[Olivia rushes from the nurses' station.]
BRYCE: Thanks.
NICOLE: What's volvulus?
BRYCE: Twisted gut. You pre-med?
NICOLE: No, I, I'm just volunteering, helping people, you know.
[A short, gray haired Japanese woman in a hospital gown, give a vase of flowers to Nurse Deb. Deb doesn't understand the woman because she is speaking Japanese.]
NURSE DEB: Uh…
[The woman tries to get Deb to take the vase.]
NURSE DEB: Um, ma'am…
[The woman is getting angry and puts the vase on the counter of the nurses' station.]
NURSE DEB: Ma'am. Okay, slow down, I'm sorry. We don't understand you.
[Nicole interrupts and starts speaking Japanese. The woman is upset and speaks to Nicole quickly. She is very upset. Nicole comforts her and takes the vase. Deb, Bryce and those at the station just watch. The woman calms down and starts to walk away.]
JAPANESE WOMAN: Thank you. Arigato. [thank you in Japanese]
[The woman walks away from the nurses' station.]
NICOLE: Sweet peas symbolize good-bye in Japanese culture. It’s considered a bad omen to give it to the sick.
NURSE DEB: Ah.
[Bryce looks at Nicole. Switch to outside at night. Mark, Demetri and Al are walking to the meeting.]
DEMETRI: Is that a cardigan?
AGENT GOUGH: What? I was going for average Joe.
MARK: Back off Dem. That jacket? Ridiculous.
DEMETRI: Says the FBI agent in a police t-shirt. Good going.
[They stop walking. Mark looks up at a large stopwatch on the side of a building.]
MARK: Huh.
DEMETRI: What?
MARK: "Go downtown, check the time."
[A black pick up truck speeds by behind them. They start walking again and stop at an entry. There is a blue, skeletal hand on the wall. Mark bangs on the door. A tall, husky man opens the door and steps out. He says nothing.]
DEMETRI: We're, here for the meeting.
MARK: At, uh, Dr. Raynaud's invitation.
[The man holds up a blue hand stamp. He stamps Mark's hand and allows him in the door. He does the same for Demetri and Al. He leads them down a corridor and shows them a butcher's block table. An elderly man, using a cane, opens a door behind the table and enters the room. As he reaches the table he puts a revolver on it.]
ELDERLY MAN: Who's gonna play?
MARK: Play?
[The man spins the revolver on the table, quickly picks it up and places the barrel under his chin, signifying a game called Russian roulette. Mark, Demetri and Al look at the man then each other. The man pulls the trigger and all that is heard is a click. The chamber is missing a bullet. He puts the revolver on the table again.]
ELDERLY MAN: Who is going to play?
[Al quickly picks up the gun, puts the barrel under his chin and pulls the trigger. Al finds another empty chamber. He puts the revolver back on the table.]
DEMETRI: I get it. No bullets. Good gag.
[The man opens the cylinder, spins it, and holds it so one falls onto the table. The man picks up the bullet and hands it to Al.]
ELDERLY MAN: Your ticket [pause] in.
[All looks at the bullet.]
ELDERLY MAN: Welcome to the Blue Hand, gentlemen.
[The man turns around, opens the door and leaves the room.]
MARK: You got a death wish? You could have been killed.
AGENT GOUGH: Not today.
[Al tosses the bullet to Mark. On the side is printed, "NOT TODAY." The three men enter the club. There are many indistinct conversations in progress. They walk up to the bar.]
DEMETRI: That was a real bullet in that gun.. You know that, right?
AGENT GOUGH: Listen, Demetri, unlike the rest of these people, I know I'm gonna be alive in six months. I've seen it so bullet or no bullet, there's no way I was gonna die tonight.
[A female bartender approaches the three men.]
MARK: Hi.
FEMALE BARTENDER: What can I get you?
MARK: Could you get us to talk to Raynaud?
[Bartender chuckles.]
MARK: Is he here?
FEMALE BARTENDER: Hmm. You guys first timers?
MARK: No, maybe.
FEMALE BARTENDER: The Raynaud changes at each gathering.
MARK: And where is tonight's Raynaud?
FEMALE BARTENDER: He's around. You'll know him when you see him.
[Marks glances at the bar and picks up a match book cover. On it is printed. "The Blue Hand."]
DEMETRI: What you got?
MARK: It was on my board. [hands to Demetri] Another piece of the puzzle.
[Snippet of the matchbook cover pinned to Marks' board.]
AGENT GOUGH: So what do we [pause] do here?
FEMALE BARTENDER: Anything you want. No limits. No fear. There's something for everybody.
[Lion's roar, people gasp, people cheer, glass is broken. The three men and the bartender look toward the noise. Switch to the hospital. Lloyd slowly enters Olivia's office. She is busy writing.]
LLOYD: Hi.
OLIVIA: [looks up] Hi.
LLOYD: Look, I really, really need to talk to you about…
OLIVIA: [looks down] I really don't think we should really be doing the, uh, any of the.
LLOYD: Me first?
OLIVIA: Um, okay.
LLOYD: Um, okay, fine. [sits down] Um I really just came by to say thank you for everything you've done for Dylan.
OLIVIA: He did all the hard work himself.
LLOYD: Well, you saved his life, [pause] and in doing that, um, you saved mine, as well. Look, the very last thing that I would want to do is ruin yours.
OLIVIA: I really mean it. I really don't think we should be…
LLOYD: I understand that this is really very awkward. So please, just let me be perfectly clear. Nothing is going to happen between us.
OLIVIA: No, I know that.
LLOYD: I would never do anything to come between you and your husband despite what we may have seen or experienced.
OLIVIA: Good.
LLOYD: Okay, good. So, uh, Dylan and I are gonna move back to the Bay area as soon as they approve the hospital transfer.
OLIVIA: Good. Oh good. That's, that's um, you must be anxious to um, you know, get back to work and…
LLOYD: Yeah, right. Um…
OLIVIA:…I should go. So…
[Olivia picks up papers from her desk and proceeds to walk out of her office.]
LLOYD: Listen, um, thank you so much for everything again.
OLIVIA: Yeah, I'll do everything I can to push that transfer through.
LLOYD: Okay, great. Thanks.
OLIVIA: Um, just excuse me.
LLOYD: Thank you.
[Switch to Nicole pushing a file cart as Bryce catches up to her.]
BRYCE: Hey. Where did you learn to speak Japanese?
NICOLE: My dad was stationed in Okinawa when I was little and I picked it up. When we moved back, I took it in school.
BRYCE: Can I show you something? Just for a second.
[Bryce flips thru his notebook and shows Nicole a picture of a young Japanese woman he sketched.]
BRYCE: Uh, in my flash-forward, I saw this symbol behind her.
NICOLE: Who's the woman?
BRYCE: I have no idea. I was hoping that if I could figure out what the symbol meant, then I might be able to find her. I know it's an Asian character, but nobody seems to recognize it.
NICOLE: They didn't see it because it wasn't finished. You have a pen?
BRYCE: Yeah, uh, a pencil.
NICOLE: May I?
BRYCE: Please.
[Nicole continues the symbol down the side of the woman and fills it in. She puts the pencil down.]
NICOLE: There. It's Kanji. It's a Japanese letter.
BRYCE: Kanji. What's it mean?
NICOLE: Believe.
[Switch to Aaron next to a gas pump with his truck. He is readying his truck for the next day's work. Mike walks to him.]
MIKE: Mr. Stark?
AARON: Mike, what are you doing here?
MIKE: Sorry to bother you again. I just didn't feel right leaving things the way we did earlier.
AARON: I'm not sure I understand.
MIKE: It's just, you seemed so happy. I didn't know how to tell you but I think you deserve to know the truth.
AARON: The truth about what?
MIKE: About what you saw in your vision with Tracy. It's not possible.
AARON: What are you talking about?
MIKE: I was with her in the humvee.
[As Mike tells the story to Aaron, it is played out in the background. The humvee is chasing a white SUV on a dirt road. Mike is driving. Tracy is in the passenger seat.]
TRACY: Godfather, this is Hit Man 2 requesting backup. We're Oscar Mike pursuing Hajis heading north, about two clicks away from checkpoint Victor Tango. Over. Damn!
[They continue the pursuit. Suddenly they complete a turn and are surprised.]
MIKE: Who the hell are these guys? Those aren't Hajis.
[Men dressed in black, wearing helmets, come around the a black pick up truck carrying grenade launchers.]
TRACY: Back up! Back up! Those are Jericho! We got to get out! Burro, Burro! We're gonna get waxed.
[The soldiers all exit the humvee except Tracy. Her door is stuck and will not open.]
MIKE: Get out!
TRACY: Look out!
MIKE: Come on! Tracy! Tracy!
[The Jericho man shoots a grenade at the humvee. It explodes upon impact. Parts of the humvee are tossed in the air and scatter. Real time.]
MIKE: I'm sorry, sir.
[The aftermath of the incident is shown in the background. Mike is speaking in real time.]
MIKE: When I went back to check on her…
MIKE: [incident] Tracy! Tracy!
[He looks around in the dust and sees her left leg, just below the knee, lying on the ground after being blown off her body. As he finds her body, she is laying unconscious and bleeding from shrapnel. The sound of automatic weapons being fired forces Mike to run.]
MIKE: [real time] I had to run. I had to. But I saw her die. I saw her die.
[Snippet of Aaron's flash as he is handing her the penknife. Real time. Aaron is mad. Switch to the Blue Hand club. There is heavy metal, rock music playing. The song is "I Will Never Forget," by Tim Skold. The verses are indistinguishable. A man is sitting in an electrified chair as a bucket of water is being thrown on him. Other forms of torture are being administered. Drowning, chained and whipped are the milder forms seen.]
MARK: This is pathetic.
DEMETRI: What have they got to lose, man? Doesn't matter whether it's tonight or next month. They're dead anyway.
[A horn sounds. Everyone stops and all turn to a small stage. They all walk in sync and stop in front of the stage. They being chanting, "Raynaud" and do not stop until a man comes out of a door and is on the stage. A man, Raynaud, shows his right blue hand.]
DEMETRI: [to Gough] Blue hands.
[The female bartender is standing alongside Demetri. She whispers to him.]
FEMALE BARTENDER: They represent a portal, a gateway from one understanding to another. The blue hand marks a surrender to the inevitable.
MARK: [whispers] Raynaud.
[Raynaud takes a revolver from his pocket, spins the cylinder, cocks the gun and puts the barrel under his chin.]
MARK: [whispers] Okay. Here we go. You got me?
DEMETRI: Yeah.
[Mark, Demetri and Al take out their guns as Demetri starts the take down.]
MARK: [charges and pulls down Raynaud] FBI!
DEMETRI: Everybody get down! Get down!
AGENT GOUGH: [yells] Everybody down! Get down!
MARK: FBI! Get down! Everybody down.
RAYNAUD: Get off me!
DEMETRI: Now! Now!
[An FBI swat team breaks open the door behind Raynaud. They enter fully armed. They are wearing Kevlar vests and helmets.]
RAYNAUD: Ahh! I want to…
MARK: Turn around. Turn around!
[Mark handcuffs Raynaud's hands behind his back.]
RAYNAUD: I want this to end.
MARK: Not today. Not today.
[Switch to the FBI conference room. Raynaud is seated at one end of the table. Mark, Demetri and Al are in the room. Demetri is reading from a document in a folder.]
DEMETRI: Dr. Maurice Raynaud, discovered Raynaud's phenomenon, also known as "Blue Hands," died 1881. Guess it really does beat your real name, Jeff Slingerland. Am I saying that right?
MARK: Says here you taught American history at South Fairfax High, teacher of the year '08. Then the blackout happens and you turn into Friedrich Nietzsche. Why is that, Jeff? Or do you prefer Dr. Raynaud?
RAYNAUD: You know what Nietzsche said. "If you gaze into the abyss, the abyss also gazes into you."
MARK: Is that the kind of optimism that comes from [I]not[/b] having a vision?
RAYNAUD: [scoffs] I had a vision. A bottomless pit of darkness and indifference, infinite in its nothingness, as if I never existed at all, and I never would again.
MARK: These people that didn't have a vision, these ghosts, where do you Raynauds find them?
RAYNAUD: We don't find them. You do.
[Marks looks at Raynaud quizzically.]
RAYNAUD: There's no better place to go than your Mosaic site. [pauses then smiles] Couldn't do it without you. [laughs]
[Demetri is annoyed. He takes a photograph of one of the dead men that are in the morgue and places it on the table in front of Raynaud.]
DEMETRI: Do you see this guy?
[Raynaud does not look at the photograph. He grabs Raynaud by the scruff of his neck and shoves his head almost into the photograph.]
DEMETRI: One of your fellow 'blue hands' shot and nearly killed an FBI agent. You better start talking or I'm gonna charge you as an accomplice after the fact.
RAYNAUD: Fine. Throw me in prison. I don't care. It's all mapped out. Don't you understand? The script for this conversation has already been written. Whatever you've all seen is gonna happen.
AGENT GOUGH: What if you're wrong? What if April 29th comes and goes, and you're still alive? What then?
RAYNAUD: You can run and you can hide but you can't escape what's coming. No one can.
[Al stares at Raynaud emotionless. Switch to another FBI office. Fiona Banks is getting ready to leave the office. As she is putting items into her attaché case, Al enters.]
AGENT GOUGH: Heading out?
FIONA BANKS: Yes, back to my luxury suite.
AGENT GOUGH: They still putting visiting agents up at those crappy hotels by the airport?
FIONA BANKS: Now you're just rubbing it in.
AGENT GOUGH: You ever try dirty rice?
FIONA BANKS: Dirty rice? What, you mean, like eating it off the floor?
[Al laughs and Fiona laughs with him.]
AGENT GOUGH: No, no, it's, uh, it's a Cajun dish. It's my favorite. My mom makes it for me when I go home at the holidays. Thought I might try and make a batch of it tonight. If you're feeling hungry at all?
FIONA BANKS: That's uh, sweet of you. That really is, but I'm jet-lagged.
AGENT GOUGH: I understand. I'd be tired, too.
[Al slowly turns and starts to walk out the door as Fiona continues to gather her belongings. Al turns to Fiona.]
AGENT GOUGH: You know, I've been thinking about our bird. What if you tape the window?
FIONA BANKS: How do you mean?
AGENT GOUGH: Well, if you cover the window, the bird might not crash into it.
FIONA BANKS: It's a nice thought. I think it'll probably just crash into a different window.
AGENT GOUGH: Maybe. But it's worth a shot.
FIONA BANKS: [smiles] Hmm.
[Al turns and walks out of the office. Switch to Mark's office. He picks up the matchbook cover, bullet and an evidence bag to hold the bullet. He then proceeds to pin the two items to his board.]
MARK: Can't accuse him of sugarcoating things. That guy makes Marilyn Manson look like Mr. Rogers.
DEMETRI: Everybody deals with it differently, I guess.
MARK: I'm sorry, I …
DEMETRI: It's all right. At least I don't have to deal with the uncertainty. It is the one good thing about knowing the exact date of your murder. Gives you time to prepare.
MARK: So what's gonna happen? March 15th comes around, you're just gonna pack it in?
DEMETRI: Come on, man.
MARK: Huh? Say your good-byes. Have a nice farewell dinner?
DEMETRI: I'll deal with it the way I choose to deal with it.
MARK: You deal with it by [I]fighting[/b] it. That's what we're doing here.
[Demetri is angered. He gets out of the chair behind the desk and walks to the board.]
DEMETRI: Wake up, would you, please? Wake up! D. Gibbons. The, the doll factory. 137 Sekunden. The Blue Hand. It’s all come true.
MARK: No, no. Listen it doesn't mean that you're…
DEMETRI: [interrupts] Mark, look around you. Look around, man. [pause] Raynaud was right. It's all happening, every single day.
[Demetri walks back and sits in the chair.]
DEMETRI: There's no way out. There's nothing you, I or anyone can do to escape what's coming.
[Switch to Benford residence. It is nighttime. Mark, Charlie, who is snuggling into Olivia, are all watching Squirrlio on TV.]
TIM TIM: Give you twenty bucks for it.
CARTOON WIZARD: The page is blank. This tome says this its magic is beyond all comprehension. It surges with power unimaginable. It seems that cosmic energies, not meant for ordinary mortal men, they stay crumbled and sense its shattering omnipotence.
[Charlie yawns. The cartoon continues in the background indistinctly.]
OLIVIA: Okay, I'm tired, you're tired. It's time for bed.
CHARLIE: Oh, mommy? Please?
MARK: That's all right. I got it.
OLIVIA: Okay, five minutes.
CHARLIE: Okay.
OLIVIA: Five.
CHARLIE: Okay.
OLIVIA: I love you.
[Olivia kisses Charlie's head.]
CHARLIE: I love you too.
OLIVIA: Sleep well. Good night.
CHARLIE: Okay.
[Mark watches as Olivia leaves the sofa. He returns to watching the cartoon with Charlie.]
CHARLIE: Daddy, are you sad?
MARK: No, no baby.
[Charlie now snuggles into Mark. He hugs her.]
MARK: Daddy's happy.
[Mark kisses Charlie's head. Switch to Al making dirty rice at his home. He is wearing shorts and an athletic style under shirt. He stirs, seasons, tastes then puts some in a bowl. He sits at the table and begins to eat. A snippet from his flash-forward as he takes the phone call in the corridor. He is holding back tears. Real time. He is holding back tears as he eats. He stops and takes a drink from his bottle of beer. Switch to Demetri returning home from work. He is carrying a box from a bakery. Zoey is sitting on the sofa. She is wearing lingerie and pays no attention to Demetri's return.]
DEMETRI: I got you something.
ZOEY: Um, I'm not really hungry. But thanks.
[Zoey continues to work. Demetri places the box on the coffee table and sits across from Zoey.]
DEMETRI: [exhales] I really do love you. You know that, right?
[Zoey remains silent.]
DEMETRI: I know I've, uh, I've been distant lately, but I didn't know how to tell you, uh [pause] and what to tell you. I, I, I, I didn't know what to do.
ZOEY: About?
DEMETRI: About my flash-forward.
[Zoey puts her work aside and give Demetri her full attention.]
DEMETRI: I told you I saw myself on the beach at our wedding. That was a lie. I didn't see anything, only darkness. Nothingness. I didn't have a flash-forward because I'm gonna be dead. Tonight I met all these people, just like me. No visions, no hope. They were just [pause] waiting to die. I don't wanna be like that. I don't wanna be like that. I wanna be here with you.
ZOEY: Dem?
DEMETRI: Yes?
ZOEY: I know what I saw.
[Snippet of Zoey's flash-forward is shown in the background as she speaks to Demetri. She is walking along a beach, wearing a flowing white dress with waves crashing along the shoreline.]
ZOEY: The beach, our wedding, I know you were there.
DEMETRI: You gotta know how much I wanted that. I wanted to marry you, have a baby with you, grow old with you.
ZOEY: [nods] It was a mistake. You just made a mistake. There's no way of knowing for sure, so…
DEMETRI: Zoey, I'm sure. [pause] I'm sure. Listen to me. I love you. I love you, you are the life that I wanted.
ZOEY: Then let's have that life.
DEMETRI: Zo…
ZOEY: We can have that life. You said you didn't want to give up hope. Then don't. We have two conflicting visions. We can choose which one we wanna believe in. [pause] I choose hope.
DEMETRI: You're right.
[Demetri and Zoey kiss. Demetri holds Zoey and kisses her again. Switch to Aaron's in front of his locker at work. Mike enters.]
AARON: Thanks for coming out, Mike.
MIKE: Is everything all right sir?
AARON: Everything's fine.
[Aaron opens his locker.]
AARON: That's why I called you out, actually.
MIKE: I thought you might be upset with me, sir, for [pause] telling you what I told you.
AARON: I've spent the last few weeks tortured by what I saw, up and down, living in Limbo. But your story, what you told me, you've finally given me some peace. And I was hoping maybe I could return the favor.
[Aaron takes out and shows Mike an orange and yellow jacket, still in the plastic packaging. It has Mile Willingham as the name on the back of the jacket.]
MIKE: Wow.
AARON: You won't be the first screwed up vet this place has hired.
MIKE: Aaron, thank you.
AARON: No, thank you.
[Aaron closes his locker. Switch to Nicole with Bryce in a storage room. Nicole is looking through Bryce's artwork.]
NICOLE: You’re a real artist. You could totally sell these.
BRYCE: Thanks. I'd give them away for nothing if somebody could help me find her.
[Bryce brings two cups of tea as he stops next to Nicole. He offers her one of the mugs. They are standing in front of a large portrait of a Japanese lady set on an easel.]
NICOLE: Thanks. So you don't remember her name or where she lives.
BRYCE: Uh, just, I remember the images.
[A portion of Bryce's flash forward are shown. We see a waterwheel, Bryce speaking with this young Japanese lady, a porcelain cat figurine sitting with its left paw raised.]
BRYCE: But I, I just can't put them together.
NICOLE: But you remember how you felt about her?
[Another piece of Bryce's flash forward is shown. There is the Japanese lady smiling and laughing.]
BRYCE: Oh yeah.
NICOLE: You have to find her, Bryce.
BRYCE: How? She could be anywhere.
NICOLE: Well, look at your paintings. Look at her. It's Japan. It has to be.
BRYCE: Do you have any idea how many people live in Japan?
NICOLE: You could put your story up on Mosaic. Even if she doesn't see it, someone she knows might. It's worth a shot.
[Bryce nods. Switch to the FBI building. Al is walking down a corridor. He is expressionless. He places a manila envelope addressed to Demetri on Demetri's desk. He continues to walk his office. He takes off his suit jacket and places it on the back of his chair then exits his office. He encounters Mark in the corridor.]
AGENT GOUGH: Morning guys.
MARK: You coming to the meeting?
AGENT GOUGH: You two go ahead.
[Al continues to walk in the opposite direction of Mark and Demetri. Al stops and turns around.]
AGENT GOUGH: Hey Demetri.
DEMETRI: Yeah.
AGENT GOUGH: I left something on your desk. Can you make sure it gets into the right hands?
DEMETRI: Yeah. See you later.
[Al continues to walk down some stairs. Switch to the meeting room. Wedeck is speaking.]
WEDECK: We've got this Raynaud guy in custody. Now what?
FIONA BANKS: He's still refusing to name names, give us an idea of who's in charge.
[Demetri joins the meeting. He is carrying his notebook and the manila envelope Al left on his desk.]
MARK: My sense is these people aren't killers, just lost, aggressive nihilists.
WEDECK: Your sense? You've got to do better than that, Mark. You can break any perp, you’ve just gotta change your approach.
MARK: No, Raynaud's different. Can't threaten him with anything. He's got nothing to lose. He has seen his future, and it is bleak.
[Demetri opens the manila envelope. There is another white envelope inside addressed For Celia. There is a post-it note attached to the inside envelope that reads, "Demetri, There is always a way out. Demetri takes the letter out of the envelope.]
MARK: He doesn't even know how it's gonna happen. Could be a fall, a fight, a shooting, a car accident. The possibilities are infinite.
[As Demetri reads, switch to Al walking toward an Exit door.]
MARK: The guy's walking on eggshells every minute of the day, just waiting for the hammer to drop.
[All stops by an elevator and pushes a button. As he waits we see a snippet of his flash-forward. He answers his cell phone.]
AGENT GOUGH: [flash] Hello?
ATTORNEY: [flash] Al, I, um, I just got off the phone with the hospital. They took her off life support an hour ago. I'm sorry Al. She's gone.
[Real time. The elevator door opens and Al walks in. Mark speaks in the background as we see Al's actions.]
MARK: Everyday he wakes up wondering if today is the day. If today is the day his future's finally gonna catch up with him.
[Demetri leans forward to the table as he reads Al's letter. A snippet of Al's flash-forward as he the elevator door closes.]
AGENT GOUGH: [flash] What's gonna happen to her children?
ATTORNEY: [flash] It look like the kids will have to be placed in foster care.
[Al is seen walking up stairs real time as he replays his flash-forward in his mind.]
AGENT GOUGH: [flash] Those two boys are orphans because of me?
ATTORNEY: No, Celia's death was an accident, okay? It could've happened to anyone.
AGENT GOUGH: [flash] But it didn’t. It was my fault. I killed her.
[Switch to the meeting room.]
DEMETRI: Stop. Stop!
[Switch to Al standing on the roof of the FBI building. He is on the ledge looking down at the street as cars and trucks go by. Demetri is the first one the roof. Mark, Wedeck and Fiona follow.]
DEMETRI: Al! Al! Al! Talk to us Al.
MARK: Just, talk to us. We can fix this.
DEMETRI: Hey, man. We can find her. We can find Celia. We can protect her.
WEDECK: Anything you need, we can find a way to make it happen, son.
MARK: Come on, Al.
AGENT GOUGH: It can happen anytime, anywhere. I don't even know how it happens.
DEMETRI: Al, listen to me. You're alive six months from now. You saw it. You saw it! Man, you saw it!
AGENT GOUGH: But if I'm not here…
DEMETRI: Come on, Al. Get down.
AGENT GOUGH: If I'm not here…
[Quick shot from Al's flash-forward as he is listening on his cell phone.]
AGENT GOUGH: …it means we can change things.
DEMETRI: Al, please get down.
AGENT GOUGH: What I saw…
AGENT GOUGH: [flash] I killed her.
AGENT GOUGH: …what you saw, doesn't have to play out that way.
DEMETRI: Al, what are you talking about.
AGENT GOUGH: I found a way to change the game.
[Shots from Al's flash-forward]
ATTORNEY: [flash] Al, listen to me. Celia's death was an accident, okay? A terrible, random accident. There's nothing you could've done to avoid this. Nothing.
[Al working with Fiona Banks as the bird hits the window. Real time. All prepares to fall off the roof of the FBI building. Friends yell to him.]
DEMETRI: Al!
MARK: Al!
[Al leans forward slowly. He spreads his arms to the sides. He now has the shape of a cross. He leans forward and allows his body weight to not fight gravity. He falls from the roof.]
DEMETRI, MARK, WEDECK [scream] AL!
[They all run to the ledge. Demetri looks down and sees Al's dead body lying on the sidewalk. Demetri is stunned. Mark turns away. A shot of the rooftop is shown. Switch to EMT's pushing a gurney to Al's body, which is already in a body bag. They put it on a gurney and push it away. Demetri and Wedeck watch. Demetri then turns and takes the letter from his inside jacket pocket. He reads it as a narrator. As he narrates, the scenes change.]
Dear Celia,
I don't know your last name, and I don't know where you live, but I know you have two young boys. Twins, I believe.
[Scene of Celia and her two boys playing with their sailboats in the water of a large fountain.]
And I know you didn't have a flash-forward. I understand how terrifying that is and how powerless you must be feeling.
[Wedeck in his office crying and wiping tears from his eyes.]
But I want you to know that you are not alone and that your situation is not as hopeless as you think.
[Mark comes home, puts his keys on the dining room table then tosses his jacket on a bench. He walks into the kitchen. Olivia is facing a counter. Mark walks up behind her, puts his hands on her shoulders, turns her around, kisses her cheek and hugs her tightly.]
Our paths were meant to cross, I didn't know how.
[Fiona Banks is placing masking tape in a diamond pattern on the window that the bird flew into during the flash-forward she once shared with Al.]
I didn't know when but things have changed now. Things are no longer going to unfold, as I had feared.
[Aaron looks at the picture of Tracy that he has attached to his sun visor.]
My gift to you is release from that dread.
[Bryce is sketching in his notebook. Nicole is walking down a corridor carrying files. Lloyd is talking to Dylan in the hospital room.]
From the feeling you are no longer in control.
[Simon is sitting in front of a laptop. He is twisting a beaded baby bracelet. The name on the beads reads Annabelle. Aaron driving his pick up truck.]
We will never meet. I will never know you. So live your life.
[Demetri and Zoey are looking at wedding invitations from a large bound book.]
Live every day and know that the future is unwritten. Make the most of that.
[Celia and her two boys are getting ready for bed. The boys are jumping on their beds. Celia is laughing. She gets them under the covers and shuts off the lamp.]
[Switch to Aaron walking into his house after a day at work. He puts his keys on the table next to the door, fingers through the mail then puts it on another table. He then puts the rest of what he is carrying on another table. He walks to a doorway, stops and gasps. He doesn't move at all. There are crutches leaning against the dining room table.]
TRACY: [sitting at table.] Hi, dad.
[END]
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