"The Fire Inside" by Marc Scott Zicree transcribed by Allison Sabo Abbreviations: LC = Lacroix, S = Schanke, J = Janette, N = Nick, Nat = Natalie, FC = female cop (Angie), M = man (bad guy/dragon), D = Danny, H = Tom Phillips, R = runaway slave (Jonah), G = guy (with the gun), Z = Dr. Zang, B = boy (Fountain) notes: >All flashbacks are marked **flashback** >All scene changes are denoted --------------- >All scenes/character movement is denoted (* *) >All descriptions of lines are in ( ), ex, (to Nick) >All comments/corrections requested And now, the episode: ========================================= (*city sidewalk*) (*two uniformed cops, male and female, walk along chatting, homeless guy watches them through a grate*) FC: Everyone knows where it is, but nobody wants to go there. Can you believe my grandmother told me that one? At the academy graduation ceremony no less. Ninety-three years old and she still gets a twelve pack delivered to her house every Saturday morning. Oh, can she tell a mean joke. And did I tell you the one about the baby polar bear.... (*both cops walk on to another part of the street*) (*homeless guy steps out from behind the grate, starts digging through a trash can, finds a kaleidoscope; a man all in black with a ski mask and flame-thrower on his back walks up*) M: Oh, trash. It's everywhere you go. (*throws trash can at homeless guy*) Used to be the streets were clean. No more though. (*throws another trash can*) Now the trash is everywhere. They sleep on the streets, they beg for handouts, "Hey buddy, got any spare change?" Well, as a matter of fact, I do. (*tosses a coin on the ground towards the guy, gut looks tentatively at the coin*) (urging the guy) Go ahead, get you halfway to a cup of coffee, or a bottle of cheap wine. (*guy starts to reach for the coin*) Best thing to do with trash...is burn it. (*sets flame-thrower on homeless guy. Guy screams, engulfed in flames*) ---------------------- (*same place, later*) (*Female cop talking to Nick*) FC: A scream like that has its own sound, you know? You hear it, and your gut tells you right away that someone's dying. You ever hear screams like that, Detective? N: You're sure you didn't see anyone? FC: No, just him. N: Okay. Thanks Angie. (*looks over at Angie's partner standing against a wall next to a trash can*) Better check to see if Vern needs anything. (*walks over to Natalie*) You okay? Nat: (*looks like she has been crying*) Yeah, I'm fine. N: Look, Nat, if, ah, you don't want to do this? Nat: I'm fine, really. I've dealt with worse. How about you? Death by fire. N: (whispering) Yeah, it's my worst nightmare. (*Schanke walks up*) What've you got, Schank? S: Forensics figures the guy was torched with a flame-thrower. Just when you thought you'd seen everything. There's no ID on him yet, and, um...How soon can we get a dental cast, Nat? Nat: Ah, soon as I can. S: You know we might catch a break here. Flame-thrower's a pretty conspicuous piece of hardware. It's not like, you know, somebody can toddle around town without somebody seeing it. N: Unless... (*looks over at wall*) S: Unless what? N: Angie? Come on Schank. (*Nick, Schanke, and Angie walk over to the grate*) Where does this lead to? FC: Far as I know, sewers, ventilation shafts, service tunnels. The system stretches for miles. N: Can we get a couple of maps of this right away? FC: I'm on it. (*leaves*) S: Think our firefly went down there? N: A flame-thrower's a pretty conspicuous piece of hardware, Schank. (*Natalie walks up*) And we know for a fact there are homeless people living underground all over the city. S: Mole people? N: Disposable people, easy targets. S: But, if he went down there, that means that... N: Yeah, right. We're gonna have to go down after him. (*Natalie pulls Nick aside*) Nat: Ah, Nick. If this guy catches you before you catch him... N: Yeah, I know. We'll stay low. (to Schanke) Well? S: Well, I'm really glad that I got this suit dry-cleaned. (*starts in*) Nat: Be careful. Both of you. S: Hell of a place to hide. ------------------------ **flashback** (*a rustic cabin, sunrise, with Nick, Janette, and Lacroix*) (*Nick pulls a rug from over a trap door in the floor, opens the door*) N: This will do for the day. J: (*takes off her gloves, etc; coming in from an outing*) Oh, you should have been with us, Nicholah, it was such a glorious night. N: I find my own nourishment, thank you. LC: Why travel with us if you won't hunt? N: I find security in numbers. LC: Perhaps you just dislike the solitude of your own thoughts. (*Janette laughs, stops when she hears a noise*) You assured me that this house was abandoned. N: It is. (*looks down through trap door; a black man and young boy walk into view*) (*Lacroix laughs at Nick, Janette looks concerned*) ----------------------------- (*in the tunnels*) (*Nick and Schanke walk along, with one flashlight*) S: We have, ah, uniforms coming in from the other side. We'll meet them in the middle. I'm feeling very, very vulnerable here, Nick. N: Don't tell me you're afraid. S: Hah! Going into the bowels of the earth to get a homicidal maniac. Oh, yeah, no problem. N: Well, it's not my idea of fun either. (*shines flashlight on a pipe crossing the path at shin level*) Oh, watch this. S: Well, if I look on the bright side, I don't have to do that PTA career thing at my daughter's school. Sorry boys and girls, Jennifer Schanke's father couldn't be with us today because he was eaten by rats. N: You're really not looking forward to that, are you? S: No, I'll take the rats. N: You know, you should stay in your element - give the kids a tour of, ah, the precinct. S: No, kids today have different ideas of heroes, it's kind of a bad- N: Shh, shh! Did you hear something? (*looks around, keeps walking*) S: Check that out. (*sees clothes hanging from a line*) Strange place to hang laundry. N: Unless you live here. (*looks at map*) Okay, according to this, this should open up to, ah, (*turns corner*) a dead end. S: Oh, great. N: Nice map. ---------------------------- (*coroner's office*) (*Natalie is gowned and gloved for examination. She slowly approaches the body bag, hesitates. Starts to opens the bag's zipper - it gets stuck. She yanks at the zipper, all on edge, and is startled when the zipper finally releases. Slowly, she pulls up a charred arm. She drops the arm back down into the body bag, frantically closes the bag, and sits back down at her desk*) ---------------------------- (*in the tunnels*) S: Yeah, this map's old, these tunnels are always changing. They get bricked up, rerouted, they build 'em over. Certain(?) you think you know where you're going, you're absolutely lost. N: You know these tunnels? S: Well, not these exact tunnels, but, ah, yeah. My ah, my dad was a s------- N: A what? S: My dad was a sewer worker. N: Well, so what's wrong with that? S: Yeah, tell that to a nine year old, huh? When he goes to school every day he's taunted with the name "rat boy". (*sniffs*) Yeah, this smell really brings back a lot of memories. Haven't I come far, huh? Work in the sewers just like my old man, doing Jenny proud. N: Will you stop it? Come one, we've got a lot of ground to cover. --------------------------- (*elsewhere in the tunnels*) (*a woman draws water into a pail from one of the pipes; the man with the flame-thrower walks up*) M: Hi. Laundry day? (*points the flame-thrower at her, she screams, he turns it on; flames shoot up through a grate in the ceiling to pop up just behind Nick and Schanke at their feet*) ============================ (end part one - commercial) ============================ ===================================== The Fire Inside, transcript, part two ===================================== (*in the tunnels*) (*Nick and Schanke*) S: (into radio) All units, we got a situation here. We're about a half a block east of Bloor and Yonge. You copy? (*hears only static*) Damn this thing, dammit! (*walks further, tries again*) We just had another attack, same MO as before. Copy? (*hear the response "Copy" and some chatter*) Tell dispatch to send more people, pronto. (*"Right"*) (*Nick rips the grate out of the floor, examines the passage through to the next level, walks over to Schanke*) N: Shaft's too narrow. We're gonna have to find another way down. (*walks on with Schanke*) S: Good news is, backup could be here any minute. The bad news is they might have zigged when they should have zagged and they're in Albuquerque. N: We can't afford to wait, Schank. S: Maybe we should've left some, uh, bread crumbs... N: Shh! Someone's following us. You take that one. (*motions down one tunnel*) S: Where? To the center of the earth? N: Wherever it takes you. (*Schanke takes the flashlight and they split up*) (*time passes*) (*Nick gets a fix on the person, from his sound, and goes to hide in order to catch him*) (*a boy walks down some steps, Nick drops down from above and grabs hold of him) D: Let go of me! Get off me! (*Schanke hears, starts to come help*) N: Take it easy. D: Okay, okay, I'm cool. You got me, I ain't going anywhere. (*pulls free and runs down the tunnel; Nick chases him; boy runs into Schanke, kicks him before Nick catches up*) N: Hold it. Take it easy. We're police officers. Why were you following us? D: I'm starved for entertainment. S: Well there is plenty in juvenile court. You just assaulted a cop. D: I'm crushed. N: You live down here? D: No, I come here for the waters. S: Listen, my little friend-- D: Look. You gonna bust me? Let's get on with it. N: That's not why we're down here, all right? We are homicide detectives. There's been a murder, maybe two. D: Oh, like I care. S: Maybe you know something about it? N: Show us the way down to the level below this one. D: Why should I? S: Because you're smarter than you pretend, and you know we're telling the truth. D: And if you're not? You grab us all, arrest all my friends. N: Maybe you could help us save their lives. D: What makes you think anyone down here cares about living? ------------------------------ **flashback** (*in the cabin; the man and boy come up out of the cellar*) R: Stay back. We ain't here for no fight. I just want to go about our lives, you go on with yours. (*picks up shovel, points it at Nick, Janette, and Lacroix*) LC: (laughs) You're slaves, aren't you? N: Runaways. R: Man who owns us, he's been wanting to sell Fountain here down the river. I can't have that. He's my boy. I can't have it. (*Janette steps forward, looks eagerly, devouringly? at the boy*) J: (hypnotizing, to the father) Why did you come here?...Why did you come here? R: Railroad man. He supposed to be meetin' us here at sunset. Take us across. N: (breaking Janette's concentration) The underground railroad. They're making a bid for freedom. LC: My heart bleeds. J: Others will come, they're being followed. They're a danger to us. N: They are outcasts. Hunted as animals, like us. LC: They're expendable. They are lunch. N: You've had you fill, leave them be. LC: Of course. J: This will not stand, Nicholah. They endanger us. It will not stand. ----------------------------- (*in the tunnels*) N: Help us. D: Come on, this way. S: Jees, kid, isn't the word shower in your vocabulary? D: I'm surprised "vocabulary" is in yours. S: Ha, he's a comedian. Stay downwind, smartmouth. ------------------------------ (*precinct*) (*Cohen talking to the officers in front of a map of the tunnels*) C: Get emergency task force officers down there right now. All the men they can spare. If we can't track Knight and Schanke by radio, we'll have to cover that maze the hard way. (*officer replies "You got it, captain"; Cohen sees Natalie walk by, carrying a stack of files*) Dr. Lambert, you got a minute? Nat: I, ah, was just catching up on some file work. C: Did you start the post mortem on the torching victim yet? Nat: No, actually captain, I thought I'd let Dr. Zang do it. He, ah, he needs the experience. C: I need an ID as soon as possible, Natalie. Dr. Zang is an intern, has he ever handled one like this? Nat: I'm not sure. C: Have *you* ever handled one like this? Nat: No, Captain. I don't think that I can. ----------------------------- (*in the tunnels*) (*Schanke, Nick, and the boy come upon the second victim*) S: Oh man is this sick. This is really sick. (into radio) Anybody there? Any units receiving? Anybody? D: You weren't lying. N: Stay close, he might be nearby. S: I'm getting nothing on this, Nick. N: We might be too far down. (*boy kneels down by the body*) (to boy) Don't. Don't touch anything. Do you know who this belongs to? Do you know who this is? D: Margaret Phillips. Maggie. N: Is there someone who we should notify? D: Ah, her husband, her kid. N: Where do they live? D: Ah, the level up, just, ah, just up there. S: Wait, there's a family here? D: Yeah, that way. (*points along the tunnel*) N: Go with him, Schank. I'll scout ahead. Just keep trying the radio. S: Whoa, whoa, wait. We should turn around, Nick. We should get the entire force. Hell, we should bring in the calvary. N: We'll meet at the intersection of the three passageways. Half an hour, no more. (to boy) Show him the way? Hey! (*gets his attention*) Show him the way? D: Uh huh. S: Come on, kid, let's find her family. (*goes off one way with the boy; Nick goes a different direction*) (*time passes*) S: Oh man, I just stepped in something. D: You don't want to know what. They're just over here. S: So, my little friend, you got a name? D: Yeah, "smartmouth", remember? S: Ah, sarcasm. I know it well. (into radio) All units this is 81 kilo, we got another torching in the tunnel here, somewhere underneath, ah, Charles, near Yonge. Coordinates on the map are C360, B5. Copy? Voice on radio: 81 copy that. Um, kind of. We think we're closing in on you 81. Hard to get your bearings down here. S: Send in the calvary. This one's getting out of hand, and fast. (*voice on the radio is the man with the flame-thrower) M: Roger, on the way. Stay loose. Out. S: (to boy) Stay loose? Do you feel loose? Cause I certainly don't. (*time passes*) D: Danny. S: What? D: My name is Danny Weathers. S: Thanks, Danny. D: (*motions behind a hanging blanket*) In here. S: Ah, home sweet home. Somebody get Norman Rockwell in here. D: Probably heard us coming and took off. (*picks up a piece of metal, bangs it on a pipe*) S: What're you doing? D: Phone call. (*man comes in holding a baby*) S: Oh my god. ----------------------------- (*Nick walking in the tunnels; sees the man with the flame-thrower, ends up around the corner from him, separated by a doorway with a locked gate*) ============================= (end part two -- commercial) ============================= ======================================= The Fire Inside, transcript, part three ======================================= (*in the tunnels, with Nick and the man with the flame-thrower*) M: You're not from down here. N: No. And you? M: I'm here on business. N: Important business, I gather. M: It's a problem that has to be taken care of. (*Nick moves towards the doorway; guy shoots a short burst from the flame-thrower as a warning; Nick ducks back*) Let's just keep our distance until we get to know each other a little better. N: That's all right by me. Look, I'm, ah, a police officer, Detective Knight. And you? M: Call me....Dragon. N: Dragon. Is that a first name or a last name? M: Job description. N: And what kind of job is it that you're doing? M: You know. Business. ---------------------------- **flashback** (*daytime; a couple of men on the cabin porch; the one with the gun bangs on the door*) G: Open up in there! (*moves to shoot the door with the rifle; Nick opens the door*) N: That won't be necessary. G: This your place? N: I'm here, am I not? G: Can we look around? N: Well, you're the one with the gun. I suppose that means you do what you want. G: (to others) Wait here. (*goes inside*) (*Nick sits down on a chair above the trap door; guy starts looking around*) Awful rundown, ain't she? N: I'm handy. G: Aim to fix her up, do ya?...You ain't seen two boys about? N: Boys? G: Blackamoors. My boss' slaves. A youngun and his daddy. Two of 'em made a break for it. N: I've seen no one. G: (*comes up in front of Nick*) I don't know who you are, mister, but don't go gettin' into my business. Don't let me find out you've been hidin' them boys, or worse still, takin' them for yourself to work around here. N: (hypnotizing) They're not here. You've looked for them already. G: Ain't here. Looked everywhere. N: You heard they went up to Charlotte, didn't you? (*breaks spell*) G: They ain't here then. I know them two boys, they probably head up to Charlotte way. N: That's two days hard ride from here. G: I must be on my way, then. You see anybody, you let them know up at the plantation. They'll get the word to me. (*leaves*) (calls out to others outside) They headed up Charlotte way. ----------------------------- (*in the tunnels, with Nick*) N: Tell me, then, about your business. M: I'm cleaning up. I'm an exterminator. I'm the bug man. N: It's a dirty job, but someone's got to do it, huh? M: And it looks like I'm the only one that can. It seems that no one else has the stomach or the know-how. You wanna know what the secret is? You gotta get the nest. N: The nest? M: Get up under the house and burn it. Maybe the house will go up, too. It happens, you know that. But you can never get just the cancer. Sometimes you got to take a lung as well. You got to find the nest and make it burn. Nice talking to you. (*leaves quickly*) N: Wait, don't go! (*breaks the lock on the gate, opens it; guy waits around the corner, shoots the flame-thrower at Nick, runs off; the arm of Nick's coat catches on fire, he pulls off the coat and smothers flames*) --------------------------- (*precinct*) (*Cohen and Natalie walk into Cohen's office*) C: Are you saying you can't do it, or you don't want to? Nat: I guess I'm saying that I'm frightened. C: With all you've seen on this job? I would think you'd be desensitized by now. Nat: I should be. Once on a family vacation when I was a kid, there was a car accident on the highway up ahead of us. One of the cars was on fire. Engulfed in flames, really. I could see the people trapped inside. And I could hear them screaming. I still do sometimes. C: I know how you feel. Nat: You do? ----------------------------- (*in the tunnels, with Schanke, Danny, and Margaret Phillips' husband*) H: Where is she then? Take me to her. S: I don't think that's a really good idea, Mr. um..... H: Phillips. Tom Phillips. S: Listen, Mr. Phillips, I'm sorry about your wife. But you should take yourself and your baby out of here as quickly as possible, I mean, right now. H: We'd been working. Got a day or two on the part(?). She'd been collecting stuff to.... We were going out to Alberta. She's got family out there. It's pretty, you know. Wide open. S: Go directly out to the street, find a police officer, tell him that Detective Don Schanke from Metro Homicide sent you. They'll find you shelter, okay? H: Yeah, sure. S: Good. Good. (*leaves with Danny*) This is no way to live, kid. No way to live. D: Tell me about it. ---------------------------- (*in the tunnels; Schanke and Danny at the three way intersection, waiting for Nick*) S: Oh, man, I knew we shouldn't have split up. Dammit, Nick, I *knew* we shouldn't have split up. Dammit! D: You should take it easy, you know? Go easy on the caffeine. You're getting all type A. (*Nick appears at the end of a tunnel*) N: I've been telling him that for years. S: Nick, you said 30 minutes. N: Yeah, well I got tied up in conversation, calls himself the "dragon". S: Get out. What happened to your sleeve? N: Nah, it's okay, it'll be okay. I think I know where he's going. (to Danny) Is there any place down here that can be called a nest? D: A nest? N: A nest of people. S: Oh, man. D: (*hesitates*) I don't know. S: Come on, Danny. D: If there was a nest, they'd be able to take care of themselves, right? S: Danny, this guy is *dangerous*. D: Yeah? How do I know that? I take you to one, now you want me to bring you to all of them. I don't know you. S: You saw what he did to that woman. That's what he's going to do to everyone down here if he gets a chance. Everyone, Danny. All your friends. D: There is a place on the lowest level. It's called the "camp". Got about 20 people, a couple of, ah, couple of families. --------------------------- **flashback** (*nighttime; upstairs in the cabin; Nick, Janette, Lacroix, and the two slaves*) R: Don't be afraid, son, it won't be long now. We'll be out of here soon. (*crowd approaches with torches*) G: Hey in there, we brung you somebody here. The railroad man. (*toss a man on the ground*) Seems your friend here had a need to......unburden himself. LC: This is your doing, Nicholas. G: Jonah? I know you're in there, boy. Now I'd like to forgive you, take you home, but you'd just be giving the others ideas. So we've gotta make us a lesson. (*shoots the railroad man*) All right, boys. (*they torch the house*) LC: They're setting it on fire. We *have* to get out. ---------------------------- (*in the tunnels; Nick, Schanke, and Danny*) N: (to Danny) Take us there, please. =============================== (end part three -- commercial) =============================== ====================================== The Fire Inside, transcript, part four ====================================== (*in the tunnels; Nick, Schanke, Danny heading for the camp*) N: How much further? D: We got a bit yet. S: Hey, remember before, you were signaling on the pipes? What was that, ah, Morse code or something? D: I was calling. We call it the phone. S: Well, can you, ah, call ahead and warn everybody? D: I don't know. I can try. S: (*holds up his handcuffs*) Well here, try. Use these. (*Danny bangs on the pipes; Dragon hears it and starts to move faster*) (*time passes*) (*see a doll lying on the floor*) S: Oh, jees. (*picks up the doll*) I just can't get used to the idea that there are kids down here. (*puts the doll on a pipe*) D: You got kids? S: What, is this a setup for a one liner? N: Yeah, he's got a little girl, name's Jenny. Tomorrow he's going to make her real proud on parent's day. S: Yeah, if I ever get done with this honeymoon cruise. D: Parents Day! Yeah, I remember that. Teachers lie to your parents, parents lie to your teachers, if they aren't too drunk or high to show up at all. Nah, who needs them. S: (*Schanke stops*) Hey kid! You're too young to be so cynical. D: Yeah? Well everything sucks, so what? (*Schanke walks on*) N: Hey Danny, come on. (*Nick and Danny start to walk again, behind Schanke*) D: This really matters to you, doesn't it? And to him. I mean, I can tell it's not just your job. N: No. No it isn't. D: How come? N: Well you see, Danny, some people think that others are disposable. You live long enough, you find out nobody is. (*Nick stops walking*) ---------------------------- **flashback** (*Lacroix, Janette, Nick, Jonah and Fountain in the burning cabin*) LC: Forget them! We must leave *now*! J: Nicholah, they cannot be our concern. N: We cannot leave them here. LC: The flames have reached the roof. We have only seconds. J: Nicholah, please! N: No. LC: For them, Nicholas! Our lives, and yours, for them! (*flies through the roof with Janette holding on to him*) (*Nick walks over to the runaways*) R: If you're gonna kill us, kill us now. Before the fire breaks through. ----------------------------- (*in the tunnels*) S: Come on, boys, pick up the clip. You're holding up the parade. N: Come on, Danny, keep signaling. (*elsewhere in the tunnels*) M: (singing) The eensy weensy spider banged on the water spout. Down came the fire, burned the spider out. ----------------------------- (*Cohen's office*) C: We all have our worst fears - fears that incapacitate us, fears that haunt us. When I started in law enforcement, I was a federal agent. We broke up a drug ring - there was a firefight. Terrible, just like combat. Three agents were killed that day, including my partner at the time. Nat: I'm sorry. C: Never found the bullet that killed him. The evidence suggested that....Well, they thought maybe it was friendly fire. My fire. When I returned to duty...God, I was so afraid. You know the old saying, "Friends close, enemies closer." Fear is an enemy you can't ignore, because it's a part of you. Accept it, it makes you stronger. Run from it and.... ------------------------------ (*in the tunnels, with the Dragon*) (*guy turns the corner*) M: Gotcha! ============================= (end part four -- commercial) ============================= ====================================== The Fire Inside, transcript, part five ====================================== (*coroner's office, Dr. Zang working on the burn victim*) (*Natalie and Cohen walk in the doorway*) Z: Dr. Lambert. Captain Cohen. (*Natalie walks over behind Dr. Zang*) Nat: Have you managed to get a dental impression yet, Doctor? Z: Um, I can't seem to get a clear imprint. (*Natalie looks at Cohen, Cohen nods her head*) Nat: (*walks up to the body*) Here. Let me give it a try. (*starts to work on the body while Cohen watches from the doorway*) ------------------------ (*in the tunnels*) D: Just around the corner and we're almost there. N: Danny? Find somewhere safe, you're done. S: See ya around, kid. (*hands Danny the flashlight, walks on ahead while Nick pauses*) ------------------------ **flashback** (*Nick with the two runaways in the burning cabin*) R: They're still out there. N: We have no choice. Stay behind me. Ready? (*Jonah and Fountain hesitate*) The only way out is to face your fears. Come. (*wraps Fountain in his coat, knocks down the door; runs through the flames, carrying the Fountain, with Jonah right behind him*) G: This one's mine. (*shoots at Nick; Nick looks up with his red eyes, punches the guy, bites him; other people flee*) N: (*looks normal again*) Get to the river, fast. B: Come with us, sir! N: I'd like to, but I can't. Go on. R: Thank you. Whoever you are. Whatever you are. (*leaves with the boy*) --------------------------- (*in the tunnels*) (*Nick still flashing back*) S: Nick! (whistles) (*Nick moves to catch up with Schanke*) (*they enter the camp*) Looks deserted. Kid's message must have gotten through. N: Let's hope so. M: (*in another section of the camp*) Ladybug, ladybug fly away home. (*Nick and Schanke see/hear him*) N: (whispering) Let's flank him. S: All right. N: Pick your shot. Don't fire unless you have to. We hit one of those tanks this whole place goes up. S: I hear you. M: (*wandering around the camp*) Come out come out wherever you are...Come on out! I'm gonna have a party, and you're all invited. We'll have some cake and ice cream, play games. Have a fun time....Where is everybody?! Okay, so you don't want to play. Then the party's over. Come on out, bugs, you can't hide forever. Dragon's gonna find ya! Make you pay. That's right. Make *you* pay for a change. Nothin's free in this world. Not for me and not for you. Hey! I got some spare change for you. Getcha a cup of coffee, bottle of cheap wine. Come on! Well, who do we have here? (*sees a makeshift tent, woman inside*) (*tosses out a coin towards the tent*) Look! Nice shiny coin for ya. (*woman reaches her hand out*) Come on....thatta girl. S: (*stands up in view behind the man*) Hey! (*man turns around, fires at Schanke; Schanke drops out of sight; man fires in random directions, while Nick is still hidden*) (*Schanke adjusts his position, knocks a piece of metal onto the floor; guy hears him, turns and aims at him; Schanke stands up*) M: Oops. Looks like I gotcha. N: (*Nick pops out*) Over here! (*guy turns and fires; Nick ducks, comes back up with his gun pointed at him; they have standoff*) M: Drop it. (*Nick shakes his head a little, looks like he may shoot*) I wouldn't do that. (*points flame-thrower at the woman in the tent*) Because you're probably the type that cares about trash like this. Am I right? (*Nick drops his gun*) Now it's your turn. (*aims flame-thrower at Nick*) (*mini flashback -- "The only way out is to face your fears."*) (*guy shoots at him, Nick uses vampire speed, gets behind the guy and knocks him out; Schanke and others from the camp walk out, Nick knocks on wood*) N: You okay? S: I tell you, Nick, after facing this, Jenny's class doesn't look so bad, huh? --------------------------- (*precinct*) (*Schanke surrounded by a bunch of kids*) S: (to class) It's not the cleanest job in the world, and it doesn't pay all that well for the work you do. It's, it's dirty and thankless. My daughter Jenny, your classmate, would back me up on that fact, if she wasn't home with the mumps, on her dad's big day off. (*laughs*) But that's another story. Anyway- Kid: Show us the jail! (*others agree, start chanting "jail, jail, jail...."*) S: (*trying to be heard over the noise*) Okay, do you kids just want to keep it down and control....Kids. (*Cohen walks up*) C: You're losing them, Detective. S: I know. (to kids) Hey, come on! C: Okay! Knock it off. (*kids quiet down*) Pay attention here. Detective Schanke is a hero. Last night he helped a lot of people stay alive. Kid: That right? S: Well, yeah, I, ah, I guess that's right. Ah, who wants to see the jail? (*kids cheer*) Over there. Come on, get over here. (*kids go to other side of the room*) (*laughs*) (to Cohen) Thanks a lot, Captain. (calls to the kids) I'll be right there. (to Cohen) By the way, if you see Danny, could you steer him to me? I'm gonna take him to a ball game today, if you don't mind. You realize he has not been to one? C: No problem. (*walks away*) Kid: Hey mister, you comin' or not? S: Yeah. Coming. ----------------------------- (*Nick's place*) (*Natalie stokes the fire*) Nat: I'm still afraid. But I don't think I'll ever get over that. You know, I'm proud of myself. Just for having dealt with it. (*Nick crouches down beside her*) N: Well, it's like they say. If it doesn't kill you, it will make you stronger. Nat: (*small laugh*) Sort of like the fire. (*Nick and Natalie share a small embrace*) ================================ end of episode - The Fire Inside ================================