Let No Man Tear Asunder Forever Knight, Season 3, Episode 9 Written by Diane Cary Transcribed by Marg Baskin Proofread by Nancy Warlocke Guest Cast: Hans Victor....................................Jesse Collins Veronica...................................Colette Stevenson Tattoo Artist.....................................Henry Chan Mel Purdy......................................Kelly Fiddick Malora's Boyfriend..............................Scott Gibson Dr. Valerie Freeman...........................Donna Goodhand Prostitute...................................Deborah Demille Walters.......................................Jonathan Potts Sage Freeman.................................Jaya Kansemeyer TEASER [SCENE: A tattoo parlor. A woman is lying on her stomach, while an elderly Asian man applies a tattoo to her hip. Someone is watching them from the shadows beyond the room.] Tattoo Artist: I'm out of ink. I'll be right back. [He goes into the back of his shop. While he's refilling his ink, a man comes up behind him and hits him with a crowbar. The intruder continues into the parlor. He runs his hand sensually up the woman's leg, and when she looks over her shoulder in surprise, he hits her, too, knocking her unconscious. He then carries her outside, drops her into the back of a cube van, and drives away.] OPENING CREDITS [SCENE: an alley which is a crime scene. Forensics technicians work in the background. Natalie is standing beside the body of the woman from the tattoo parlor. The body is already bagged and lying on a gurney.] [Nick arrives.] Nick: Butcher or baker? Natalie: The former, I'm afraid. Her heart was extracted. There are also signs of blunt trauma to the head. Looks like it might be a knockout blow. Nick: A stolen heart? Why? Natalie: I have no idea. [Nick pulls back the sheet covering the woman's body.] Nick: I'm not an expert, but it looks as if someone tried to remove it without damaging it. Natalie: [thoughtfully] You know, you could be right. It looks to me like someone tried to keep the aorta and the connecting tissue intact. This wasn't done out here on the street, that's for sure. Nick: So it's not mutilation--it's open-heart surgery. [Tracy joins them.] Tracy: I covered the grounds. No other evidence suggests that the murder took place here. A homeless guy rooting around in the dumpster found her. He said he comes here quite frequently, and he didn't see anything... And I found this, about half a block away. [Tracy hands Natalie an evidence bag containing a red Chinese slipper. Nat pulls the sheet back from the dead woman's feet, revealing a single matching slipper.] Natalie: It's a match. Cinderella has both her slippers. Warm feet-- Nick: Cold heart. [FLASHBACK: A laboratory straight out of a "Frankenstein" movie, complete with bubbling flasks and Jacob's ladders. Nick is strapped to a wooden table, writhing in the grip of zapping electrical charges. A young man in early 19th Century clothing--Hans Victor--walks into view, and pulls a couple of oversized breakers, cutting off the electricity.] Nick: I swear, my dear Hans, it becomes more intoxicating with each session. [Hans goes to the table and unstraps Nick while they talk.] Hans: Call it a mortality cocktail. The electrical charges catalyze the serum injections, and stimulate production of normal blood cells. [earnestly] And you will be cured. Personally, I would give my fortune for your vitality, Nicholas. [Nick gets off the table. He's moving stiffly and looks to be in pain.] Nick: So, you'd like to step into my boots, would you, Hans? You'd have to give up the women. Your lovely Veronica. Hans: It would be easier to excise my own heart. The voltage we're using can be quite brutal, even on your metabolism. Fortunately, it's nothing that this shouldn't remedy. [Hans hands Nick a test tube filled with blood. Picking up a glass, he offers a toast.] Hans: A toast, to your first day in the sun. Nick: In anticipation of the fruits of our labor. [They clink glasses and drink.] Nick: To you, my dear Doctor. And to Veronica, that magnificent diva who has so captured your soul. Hans: And every other part of me as well. [SCENE: the morgue. Natalie is giving her preliminary report to Nick and Tracy.] Natalie: Rare blood type. Same as mine: AB-negative. I'd say it happened less than, oh, eighteen hours ago. And take a look at this. [She pulls back the sheet, revealing the partly completed tattoo which was being applied just before the woman's murder.] Tracy: Hm. Nice work. Not as ugly as some of the tattoos I've seen. Natalie: Freshly applied. From the looks of it, I'd say the artist never got to finish his work. Nick: Okay, so we take a picture of this with us, and check out all the tattoo parlors in town. Tracy: Oh, let me save the trip. I think I know the place. I'm a bit of an expert on the subject, actually. [Nick looks surprised, then he casts a curious, speculative glance in the direction of Tracy's rump.] Tracy: [grinning] Hey, it's not what you're thinking. I don't have one hidden somewhere. It's a friend of mine--he's really into tattoos. And this is an Asian design. I recognize the handiwork. It's a place in Chinatown. [Nick and Natalie have been exchanging amused, disbelieving glances while Tracy talks.] Nick: [getting back to business] What about the heart extraction? Natalie: Expertly done. Somebody knew what they were doing. Knew what they wanted. Nick: To maintain its usefulness in somebody else's body? Natalie: No, I'd say that's a long shot at best. Even if the surgeon managed to deliver the organ safely, it should have been declared unsuitable for transplant. I found evidence of incipient hepatitis A in what little bit of blood remained. Probably she didn't even realize she had it yet. Nick: So, if someone needed this young lady's heart to replace their own, they're out of luck. Tracy: Yeah, and back on a long waiting list. My Uncle Sonny needs a transplant. He's just waiting for a donor. Nick: [sympathetically] That's got to be tough on the family. Natalie: Yeah, the waiting's the hard part. I, myself, am due to go under the knife as soon as my doctor can find an opening. Tracy: [with amused sarcasm] That's your bad knee, right? Natalie: Okay, okay. I know it's not as drastic as open-heart surgery, but I understand the stress. Tracy: Yeah. We're all praying for a miracle. [SCENE: later, out on the streets. Nick and Tracy are in the Caddy.] Nick: I didn't know your uncle was sick. He was a cop, wasn't he? Tracy: Yeah, but his bad heart forced him to take early retirement. It's getting pretty tense now. Almost desperation time. It's... the waiting is just so hard... You know, if someone actually stole another person's heart, as ridiculous as that sounds-- Nick: It would be a tremendously complex conspiracy, that's for sure. Tracy: [troubled] I mean, obviously you could not condone something like that, but if they did it for someone they really loved, it's almost understandable, isn't it? Nick: Almost. [CUT to FLASHBACK: An elegant drawing room. Hans's love, Veronica, is performing an operatic aria for an audience which includes Hans and Nick.] Hans: [sotto voce] She's being wooed by every opera company in Europe. Nick: It's no wonder, with a voice like hers. She's remarkable. Hans: She is. And I'll go with her wherever she goes. Nick: Well, that would be some undertaking--moving a laboratory like yours to a new city. Hans: I'll give it all up, and more, to be with her, Nicholas. [Veronica finishes her performance, takes her bows, then joins them. They each kiss her cheek, and congratulate her.] Hans: Magnificent, Veronica. Truly magnificent. Veronica: I was so nervous. I've done better, I'm sure. Nick: Never better--you were superb. [Veronica glances over her shoulder, towards her patron.] Veronica: [excitedly] With the Baron's blessing, I may receive an appointment to the Royal Company in Hamburg next season. Hans: And if we stay here a moment longer, you'll have to do an encore--and I have much work to finish before the night is done. [SCENE/FLASHBACK: Later the same evening. Nick, Hans and Veronica are outside, heading for a carriage.] Veronica: Good night, Hans. Thank you for another wonderful evening. Hans: Thank you, my darling. And you, Nicholas--will you be staying the evening? [The carriage horses are starting to fuss, dance around and whinny.] Nick: No, I must really get back to the village. [Nick looks at the horses with trepidation, sensing that they're upset by his presence. Hans goes to the carriage, and tries to calm them.] Hans: Easy there. Steady on that. Steady. Veronica: I've never seen him so unnerved. Hans: Easy! Veronica: Perhaps he's ailing. [The horses grow wilder, and begin to rear. Hans continues to fight with them.] Veronica: Hans! [Nick rushes forward at vampire speed and pulls Hans clear before he can be trampled. The two men tumble to the cobblestones. Veronica runs forward just as the horses bolt. She is knocked to the ground, and the horses and carriage run over her.] Hans: Veronica! [He repeats her name over and over as he runs to her, and kneels beside her.] Hans: Oh, my God! Veronica... Quickly, Nicholas, you must help me get her inside. Nick: We must take her to a hospital. Hans: No! No one is as qualified as I am to care for her. Come--bring her to the laboratory. [Reluctantly, Nick picks her up and follows Hans inside.] [CUT to the present. Nick is pulled from his memories by Tracy's voice. They have arrived at the tattoo parlor.] Tracy: If I remember correctly, this is the place. [With vampire hearing, Nick hears the tattoo artist inside the building, moaning. He jumps out of the car.] Tracy: Nick? [Tracy catches up to him as he is peering through the front door of the parlor. The place is locked up.] Tracy: It looks like no one's home. Nick: Someone's inside. I think someone's in trouble. You stay here. Watch the front. I'll go around the back. [He pulls out his pistol, and runs toward the side of the building. He lets himself in the back, and finds the tattoo artist tied to a chair and gagged.] Nick: It's all right. [He removes the gag, and unties the man.] Tattoo Artist: Who are you? Please, who are you? Nick: It's all right. I'm a police officer. [CUT to Tracy. She waits by the front door for a couple of minutes, sees nothing, then goes after Nick.] [CUT to Nick, inside the building.] Tattoo Artist: You catch him, huh? You catch him. Very bad man. Nick: You okay? [CUT to the alley, where a man with a knife lurks. His face isn't visible, but from his jewelry, he is recognizable as the intruder who kidnapped the dead woman. He hears Tracy approach, hides, then grabs her as she goes past him.] [CUT to Nick, who hears the struggle taking place in the alley.] Nick: Rest here. Tattoo Artist: You catch him! Nick: Yeah, all right. Stay here. I'll be right back. [Nick rushes into the alley, moving at vampire speed, grabs Tracy's assailant and drags him back. The thug still has hold of Tracy, and they both fall to the ground. Nick, still showing fangs and golden eyes, hides before Tracy sees him.] [Tracy recovers her feet, kicks the thug's knife out of reach and retrieves her gun. Her attacker is unconscious, but she covers him with the weapon, anyway.] Tracy: [shouting] Nick! Back here! [She stares at the unconscious man in disbelief.] Tracy: Wow. Adrenalin. Amazing stuff. COMMERCIAL [SCENE: the squad room at the precinct. Tracy is reading the highlights of a report to Nick. Behind them, Natalie is sitting on a bench by the wall, talking to a distraught young man.] Tracy: Victim's name is Malora Willoughby--pretty name. Twenty- four. Recently moved here from Halifax. Nick: According to the old man, she was a fairly frequent visitor at his tattoo parlor. [Reese joins them.] Reese: The old tattoo guy is too shook up for any more questions right now. I sent him home with his daughter as soon as she got here. Tracy: Suspect's name is Mel Purdy. He's on parole, and the old man hired him at the tattoo parlor just a week ago. Reese: Big question: do we think he grabbed the girl? And for whom? Tracy: Well, the old man thinks he did. Nick: Purdy kidnapped her all right. Forensics found her blood in the back of his van. And he's working for someone else. He had twenty grand in a box under the floorboard in his truck, and he didn't get it doing tattoos. Reese: Why the hell did he go back to the tattoo parlor? He should be on his way to South America by now. Tracy: Maybe he's trying to cover his tracks? Reese: I think he's a little bereft in the IQ department. Come on, let's join this criminal genius in the barbie pit, shall we? Nick: I'll catch up with you. [Reese and Tracy walk away. Natalie comes over to Nick.] Nick: [looking at the man on the bench] Malora's boyfriend? Natalie: Yeah. Poor guy. He collapsed in the morgue when he had to identify her body. One minute, she's everything he lives for, and the next... Nick: Anything I can do? Natalie: Yeah, find the people responsible. [FLASHBACK: Veronica is lying on a table in Hans's laboratory, unconscious. Hans is listening to her heart with the precursor to a stethoscope, while Nick hovers in the background.] Nick: Is there nothing I can do? Hans: There is something you can do, Nicholas. I've done what I can for her wounds, but the injury has severely traumatized her heart. It's weakening by the minute. Her pulse is fading and irregular. Bring her over. Make her into what you are. [desperately] You must bring her over before it's too late. She's slipping away. Nick: Hans... I cannot do that. Hans: [shouting] Do it now! [voice dropping] I beg you. I am losing her. Nick: The choice to become what I am is Veronica's alone. I cannot make that decision for her, Hans. I will not inflict my condition on her. I will not condemn her. I have sworn against-- Hans: Sworn to whom? To a god that you have scarcely obeyed for centuries? [Nick turns abruptly away from him.] Hans: You owe this to me, Nicholas. To Veronica. It was because of you, because of what you are that the horse reared and bolted. [Nick faces him again, knowing it's true.] Hans: He sensed what you are. Bring her back to me. Bring her back. [CUT to the present. Natalie's pager goes off, shaking Nick from his reverie.] Natalie: [checking the number of the pager.] Ooh, my savior beckons. Dr. Freeman. My orthopedic surgeon. I guess she found an opening for me. [winces] I suppose I should bite the bullet, and get this over with. I've been putting it off for years. Nick: I suppose that means you'll be laid up for a bit? Natalie: Oh, ppft, a couple of weeks. The operation itself is no big deal. Basically an outpatient procedure. I've arranged to take some time off to recuperate. Nick: Just let me know if you need anything after, okay? Natalie: Some flowers? Nick: [grinning] Yeah. Natalie: Seriously? I could use a ride home from the clinic after the procedure. Nick: It's a done deal. I'll stop by after my shift. Just tell me where I have to be. Natalie: Dr. Valerie Freeman, Mount Pleasant and Grover. [Nick kisses her cheek.] Natalie: Don't worry. I'm in the best possible hands. Nick: Yeah. Natalie: Good luck to you. Nick: Sure. [She leaves, and Nick takes a final look at Malora's boyfriend, who is sitting alone on the bench, crying.] [SCENE: an interview room at the precinct. Reese and Tracy are already inside, seated across the table from Mel Purdy. Nick enters and settles against the wall, in the shadows.] Reese: Okay, Mr. Purdy, this is what you're looking at: kidnapping, accessory to murder, aggravated assault on a peace officer. The best deal you're going to get is life. Help us out, and we'll see if we can get you a room with a window. [Purdy is obviously a frequent customer of tattoo parlors himself--both of his arms are decorated from shoulder to wrist. He's relaxed, and insolent.] Purdy: Hey, look--I was hired as an assistant at the parlor. The old man's senile. Can't remember anything. He says he paid me for my work, but he didn't. I just came back for my money. That's it. I showed up just before these two cops did. He was already tied up. He was okay, man. I just wanted what he owed me. Tracy: Why? We found $20,000 hidden in your van. [Nick begins to prowl restlessly around the room.] Nick: [sarcastic] And, of course, you jumped Detective Vetter here because you thought she was a prowler. Purdy: Yeah. Nick: You being the security-minded type. Reese: Let's get down to business here. Why Malora Willoughby? Purdy: [casually] I don't know anything about her. Nick: We found her blood in the back of your van. Can you explain that? Purdy: I don't know what you're talking about. Look, don't I get a lawyer right about now? [SCENE: the squad room. Reese is heading from the interview room to his office, with Nick and Tracy trailing after him.] Reese: ...too sick for me. The idea of someone being kidnapped and murdered for their internal organs. I cannot wrap my brain around that one. [He stops by the water cooler, tries to get a drink and, as always, can't make the thing surrender any water to him. He hits it a few times, then gives up.] Reese: Well, should've known. [straightening up] Well, what now? Nick: Well, to start with, I want to look at the transplant waiting list. Somebody on it might just be desperate enough to kill for what they need. [Reese crumples his empty cup, and leaves them to it.] Tracy: Nick, I have a contact... or I have a feeling someone I know can provide us with information. If there is a black market for organ transplants operating in this city, he might know something about it. Nick: You trust this person? Tracy: Well... not really. But it's worth a shot--could save us some time. Nick: All right, go for it, and be careful. Tracy: Maybe I could find someone to lead us to whoever hired Purdy. Nick: Well, there's one thing that we know for certain. Someone still has a desperate need for a human heart. The one Purdy brought them isn't usable. And I have a feeling they're not going to stop until they get one that is. COMMERCIAL [SCENE: Dr. Freeman's office. Natalie, dressed in a hospital gown, is sitting on the examination table.] Natalie: Ooh, believe me, I am really happy to get this over with. I'm glad you could fit me in. Dr. Freeman: Well, a cancellation came up. I'm glad you could take it. The latest X-rays we received shown an additional complication. I bet the pain's back and worse than ever. [Freeman starts to examine her knee.] Natalie: Really? Dr. Freeman: Not to worry. And you are going to love the results. We get minimal scarring with the laser. Now, what did you say your blood type was? Natalie: Ah, AB--AB-negative. Dr. Freeman: [with an odd smile] Hm. Natalie: [falsely cheerful] Well, I can't wait to get this over with. Dr. Freeman: I can videotape the whole thing for you, if you like. You can critique my handiwork after? Natalie: Wouldn't presume, Doctor. I know that you're the best in your field. Dr. Freeman: We'll give you a sedative, and I'll start the IV drip as soon as possible. Natalie: [surprised and uneasy] Wait a minute--you're... you're going with a general anesthetic? Dr. Freeman: Does that bother you? Natalie: Well, I dunno. I sorta figured it was a fairly non- invasive procedure. I thought maybe you'd go with an epidural. Dr. Freeman: Armchair quarterbacking now? You have a problem with going under? Natalie: It's not my favorite thing in the world, no. Dr. Freeman: Well, it helps to keep the knee as immobile as possible, so I use the general. Unless, of course, you'd like to do it yourself? Natalie: No. Sorry, Doctor. Well, let's do it, then. Dr. Freeman: Yeah. Let's get started. Up we go then. [Natalie rolls up her sleeve, and Freeman gives her an injection.] [SCENE: the kitchen of Tracy's apartment. Tracy is squeezing lemon into a cup of tea; Vachon is not believing what he's hearing.] Vachon: Black market *what?* Tracy: Organ transplants. Hearts, specifically. I've heard of these things happening in China or Central America. Where, um, organs are harvested for transplant from political prisoners. Vachon: So, what is this now? Every time you run across something really weird, you run to your supernatural chum, Vachon, for the inside dope? Tracy: Well, you're the only supernatural friend I have. [giving him a disarming grin] Look, all I'm asking is, just keep an ear to the ground. Just ask around. Vachon: What kind of friends do you think I hang around with, anyway? Tracy: Hey, I've met them, remember? [Vachon rolls his eyes.] Tracy: [seriously] Anyway, it's not really just a police matter... It's my uncle. He's in desperate need of a heart transplant, and he's way down on the list for a donor heart. [Vachon thinks about it for a moment, then reaches a decision.] Vachon: Screed told me about something. He said that he'd heard of a group of doctors that travel back and forth between here and Rio. And some of them have connections to us--you know, our Community. Tracy: Vampires? [Vachon nods slightly.] Vachon: Anyway, they have a thing going. Millions of dollars involved. They prey on people's desperation. Tracy: I can understand that. I see it more and more in my own family. Vachon: So, they accelerate the process of procurement. That's what Screed told me. For a fee--an astronomical fee, of course--they find you what you need, and, uh... You know, take care of the particulars. Tracy: Find it? Where do they find it? Vachon: [sarcastically] Do you want me to draw you a picture? Hey, I don't have anything to do with this. I'm just repeating what Screed told me. Tracy: Okay. I'm going to need names. Places. Vachon: If you really think it's the only way to go...? You're that desperate? [Tracy doesn't answer. Vachon picks up a pen, and writes the address on a slip of paper for her.] Vachon: I think his name is Walters. Tell him Enrique from the clinic in Rio sent you. Tell him you'll pay him whatever he wants. Okay? [SCENE: LaCroix on the air as the Nightcrawler. Nick is listening on the Cadillac's radio.] LaCroix: Do you suppose they celebrate death days on the other side? Will the day we give up the ghost be a cause for celebration in Heaven? Or are we just another log on the fires of Hell? The only extraordinary thing about birth, it seems to me, is that we are no longer dead--which we presume to be an inferior predicament. How fiercely we struggle to avoid death. How the death of our loved ones pains us. How desperately we hold on... Hold on for dear life. [FLASHBACK: Hans's laboratory. There's a wild electrical storm outside. Inside, Hans is attacking a block of ice with an ice pick, breaking it into shards. As he gathers the shards, he pours them into a wooden tub which holds Veronica's inert form. Nick arrives, and takes in what's happening with horror.] Nick: Hans, what are you doing? Hans: [wildly] I will not allow death to cheat me of my only reason for living. She's almost gone, Nicholas, but I will bring her back. I can reanimate her. I've been able to sustain her dying heart with intermittent bursts of regulated voltage. But the power is diminishing rapidly. I need a human heart. One that is still warm from pumping blood. Nick: For what? Hans: I believe that I can surgically replace it with a healthy one. I want you to bring one to me. [His voice grows threatening.] You will help me, Nicholas. Yes, you shall. Or you will forfeit the reversal treatments. Refuse to help me to bring life back to Veronica, and you will live on interminably with blood thirst and fear of the sun. Nick: [still staring at Veronica] Hans, you are mad with grief. Hans: [shouting] You have no choice! I hold the key to your future. Your only hope for a normal life. Go! Do as I say! There is no time to waste. Nick: This is insanity, Hans. This is insanity, pure and simple. I will not be a party to this. [Nick walks out of the laboratory. Hans pursues him into the main area of the house.] Hans: How can you deny me? You come to me to restore your mortality. To give you life. But you draw the line when I beg you to help me. Nick: What you are contemplating is murder. Hans: Then bring me the heart of a murderer, I don't care. Look around you, Nicholas. Hundreds to choose from. Evil men and women who prey on the decent people of this city. Criminals who kill for pleasure and profit. Nick: I'm not judge and jury. Hans: What was Veronica's crime but her misfortune? She used her life to bring light to the world. To bring joy and beauty. Nick: You are meddling where you should not. You are interfering with the natural course of life. Hans: And you never have? How many, Nicholas? How many lives interrupted to feed your blood lust through the centuries? How much beauty lost? What have you ever brought to the world but pain and darkness? [Nick walks out of the room.] Hans: [shouting after him] How many hearts stopped cold? How many fates interrupted, Nicholas? Or can you even count them? [SCENE: later that night, a street somewhere. Nick is accosted by a raggedly dressed prostitute.] Woman: A fine evening, isn't it, sir? You look like you might use some company. Or the comfort of a woman perhaps? Nick: Please, let me pass. [He tries to pass her, but she grabs his arm.] Woman: Yours for a fair price. Nick: Please, let me be. [As Nick turns his back on her, she pulls out a knife and stabs him.] Woman: All right, I'll have your gold then. [Nick whirls around, grabs her, and feeds from her.] [CUT to the present. Nick is stopped at a traffic light, his mind lost in the past. The light turns green, and the driver behind him honks. Nick snaps back to the present and drives away.] [SCENE: a hospital. Nick approaches a nurse.] Nick: Excuse me. [He shows his badge.] Nick: Detective Knight. I'd like to see the national organ transplant waiting list, if I could, please? Nurse: Sure. [SCENE: Dr. Freeman's office. Natalie is lying on the table, still conscious but very groggy. Dr. Freeman comes in.] Dr. Freeman: How are you feeling, Natalie? Natalie: Okay... Tired.... Still not dressed yet, huh? I guess we've... we've got a while to wait? Dr. Freeman: [taking her pulse] Not much longer. [Natalie passes out.] COMMERCIAL [SCENE: the hospital. Nick is reading off a computer screen, scanning through the organ recipient waiting list. He sees an entry for "Sonny Vetter - heart". ] [SCENE: Dr. Walters' clinic, 336 Church. Walters is pulling the same organ recipient list up onto his terminal while Tracy waits. Dr. Walters: This'll just take a moment... Yes, here he is. Tracy: We've been waiting a long time for a donor. And there's a question at this point about his survival. Dr. Walters: I have all the particulars here. We have access to the nationwide waiting list. It's updated constantly, and every perspective transplant recipient is on it. [He calls up the details of Sonny Vetter's file, which include medical notations: "Family history of heart disease (paternal); Minor case of asthma; no history of surgery."] Dr. Walters: Here he is. Vetter, Sonny--that's him, right? Tracy: Yes, that's him. Dr. Walters: Looks like a good candidate. Your uncle was a police officer, I see. Tracy: Yes, until his condition forced him to retire. [Walters stares at the screen thoughtfully.] Dr. Walters: Ms. Vetter, what exactly do you think we do here? Tracy: Well, I was told that... you can... influence matters, so to speak. That you can get my uncle to the top of the list. Dr. Walters: Who told you that? Tracy: My aunt. She contacted a clinic--the Benitez Clinic, in Rio. They specialize-- Dr. Walters: [interrupting] Ms. Vetter, I understand the... desperation that drives people to seek alternatives at the fringes of medicine to save their lives. To save the lives of people they love. But I can assure you, the work we do here is all strictly above board. I'm sorry, but I think you've been misled by some unscrupulous people. I feel for you, I honestly do. [SCENE: the hospital. Nick reaches the bottom of the computer list. CUT to FLASHBACK. Hans is leaving over Veronica, who is still in lying in the tub of ice. He is talking to her desperately.] Hans: Please.... please, Veronica, come to me. Come to me. Please. Please. Veronica. [Nick watches from the background.] Nick: It's done then, Hans. It's over. Let it be. [Veronica stirs weakly, and blinks.] Hans: Nicholas... Nicholas! Come here now. Now, Nicholas! She is alive! She is alive! Veronica... [Veronica opens her eyes.] Hans: Oh, my God. Veronica. Yes, it's me, Veronica. Yes. [Hans kisses her.] [CUT to Nick. He tries to pull up the detailed data on one of the patients on the waiting list, but needs a password.] Nick: Angie, I need to access background information on this patient, Sage Freeman, right away, please. [The nurse, Angie, reaches past him and types in the needed password.] Nick: Thanks. [SCENE: Dr. Freeman's office. Natalie has been moved to a wheeled gurney. An IV drip keeps her unconscious as Freeman and a couple of attendants move the gurney out of the room.] Dr. Freeman: Quickly, the medic techs will meet us on second level parking. Attendant: Yes, Doctor. Dr. Freeman: Now, move it, quick. [SCENE: Walters' clinic, where Tracy is still trying to convince Walters she's sincere.] Tracy: I know you can do something. Please. My family has more than adequate resources. Dr. Walters: Let me take the matter under advisement. Talk with the other members of the group. Sometimes the situation changes by the hour. It's not simply a matter of priority on the list, but suitability of the candidate. Genetic characteristics of the donor... Ms. Vetter, you understand that to get a transplant donor that is suitable this quickly is... Well, it's feasible, but it requires a tremendous amount of special effort. Which costs a lot of money. Tracy: [immediately] Whatever it costs. My family will get it. There's nothing that we won't do. My uncle is a wonderful man. We love him very much. [The intercom beeps.] Dr. Walters: [pushing the "talk" button] I'll be there in a moment... [He studies Tracy, who is radiating sincerity, then reaches a decision.] Dr. Walters: There's some forms in that folder on that table. You can fill one out for me. [He leaves. Tracy picks up the forms he indicated.] [CUT to Nick, who is reading the background information on Sage Freeman, and growing concerned.] [CUT to Tracy, as she leaves Walters' office and begins to surreptitiously look around the clinic. She peeks through a door. In the room beyond, a young girl--Sage Freeman--is lying in bed, surrounded by tubes, a respirator, etc. Her mother--Natalie's orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Freeman--sits at her bedside.] Sage: Mum... I feel so weak... I don't know if I can make it through this... Dr. Freeman: Honey, now you listen to me. They found a donor. She's right here. They're getting her ready right now in the other room. [Overhearing the conversation, Tracy looks concerned.] Sage: I know you're just saying that... anything to make me do it. I'm tired of these operations. Dr. Freeman: This will be the last one, Sage. The one we've been waiting for. I love you, sweetie. Hang in there. [Tracy closes the door silently and continues to explore. The next room she peers into is an operating theater, and she sees Natalie, unconscious on a gurney, being wheeled towards an operating table. Quickly, she grabs her phone and dials Nick's cellular number.] [CUT to Nick, as the cell phone rings.] Nick: [into the phone] Knight. [CUT to Tracy.] Tracy: [into the phone] Nick--it's Tracy. Listen, they've got Natalie-- [Her voice cuts off suddenly as she hears the "click" of a pistol being cocked. She turns to find Dr. Walters pointing a gun at her.] [CUT to Nick.] Nick: [into the phone] What? Who's got Natalie? [The connection goes dead.] [CUT to Tracy, as Walters forces her down the hall.] Dr. Walters: Did you find what you were looking for, Miss Vetter? Tell me, what's your blood type? Come on, move! Here! Go! Move! COMMERCIAL [SCENE: the parking lot outside Dr. Freeman's office. Nick is sitting in the Cadillac, talking to Reese on his cell phone.] Nick: Got a call from Tracy--she said someone's got Natalie, then the phone went dead. I think they're both in trouble, Cap. I'm at Natalie's doctor's office. Her car's here, but she's not. The building's locked. Reese: [on the phone from his office] Where's Vetter? You know, I really wish you two would stay in sync. Nick: Just put out an APB. I don't know where Tracy is now, but I know who she was with. [Nick hangs up, abandons the Cadillac, and flies off. CUT to Reese, at his desk.] Reese: [into the phone] Nick? Nick? Nick! [in disgust] I'm going to have to sit those two down and show them what the word "partner" means. [He breaks the connection, then dials another number.] Reese: [into the phone] Dispatch? Dispatcher: [on the phone] Go ahead. Reese: Yeah, listen carefully. [SCENE: Walters has herded Tracy into a supply room at the clinic.] Dr. Walters: Sit down. I'd appreciate it very much if you'd stay put. You might distract our doctors in the middle of a very difficult procedure. Tracy: I was just looking around. Dr. Walters: And you saw the wrong thing. [SCENE: the Raven, where Nick has gone in search of Vachon.] Vachon: ...336 Church Lane. That's where Screed told me it's happening. It's a clinic or something. That's their cover. That's as much as I know. Nick: She went alone? [impatiently] Nah, of course she did. Vachon: Hey, look, I'm sorry, I thought I was helping. What else can I say? I'll come along. [Vachon jumps to his feet, ready to leave.] Nick: No--thanks! Thanks. [Nick leaves the Raven, and takes to the air again. Staying where he is, Vachon gulps down the rest of his drink.] [SCENE: the clinic. Walters is still holding Tracy at gunpoint while he talks into a phone.] Dr. Walters: [into the phone] I've got a bit of a situation here, but I think we can turn it to our advantage... That's right.... Twenties. Seems to be in excellent health. I can start a genetic profile, blood work immediately, if you like. She may be a better option for a non-local case.... Uh huh... Sure... I'll take care of everything from this end. You make arrangements for disposal. [He hangs up.] [SCENE: the operating theater, where a team of doctors are preparing to extract Natalie's heart. Nick lands outside the clinic and runs inside, straight into the operating theater.] Nick: [waving his gun around wildly while he shouts] Police! Everybody against the wall! Now! Move against the wall! Do it! [The doctors scuttle hastily to the wall, and stand there, hands in the air.] [CUT to Walters and Tracy. Hearing the disturbance, Walters backs over to the door, opens it and peers into the hallway. The instant he takes his eyes off her, Tracy leaps up, kicks the gun from his hand, and knocks him out. Grabbing his gun, she runs into the hallway.] [Dr. Freeman is in the hall, wheeling Sage towards the operating theater.] Tracy: Stay right where you are. I'm a police officer. [CUT to Nick, who is still terrorizing the medical staff, yelling "Against the wall!" whenever one of them twitches, while he detaches Natalie from the medical equipment and IV drip.] [CUT to FLASHBACK: Veronica is awake and on her feet, wandering around the laboratory in a daze while Hans and Nicholas watch.] Hans: We've done it, Nicholas. We've actually done it. Nick: This is so wrong, Hans. It's all wrong. [Veronica finds a mirror, and stares at her image in horror.] Hans: Veronica, you have been gravely ill. You must rest. [She tries to speak, but can only make strangled noises. Each time she tries, she grows more panic-stricken.] Hans: Your voice will come back. Veronica, give yourself time. Veronica, you will be better. You will sing again. [She shoves him away, turns back to the mirror, then spots a blade lying on the table. Grabbing it up, she stabs herself.] Nick: [shouting a warning too late] Hans! Hans: Veronica, no!... [He catches her as she falls, and lowers her to the floor as she dies.] Hans: My God. [CUT to Nick, shaken back to the present by the sound of Natalie coughing.] Nick: Nat! [CUT to the hallway outside, where Tracy is holding Dr. Freeman at gunpoint.] Dr. Freeman: My daughter. She needs help right away. [Tracy lowers her pistol and approaches the other woman.] Tracy: All right. We'll get her to a hospital as quickly as we can. Dr. Freeman: [desperately] No, please, listen to me. She's not going to make it. Her heart. She needs a new heart. My child is going to die. Don't you understand? Tracy: [sadly] Yes. Unfortunately, I do. I know what it's like when someone you love is in pain. Dr. Freeman: No... No, please--you've got to do something. Oh, help me. Help me, please! [She kneels beside her daughter and begins to cry.] [CUT to FLASHBACK, as Hans kneels beside Veronica's corpse.] Hans: My God, what have you done? [CUT to Nick. Realizing that Natalie is all right, he leans down and rests his forehead against hers.] COMMERCIAL [SCENE: the morgue. Natalie is staring into her microscope. Nick walks in, holding one hand conspicuously behind his back.] Nick: They doing anything interesting in there? Natalie: Only if you like watching cellular mitosis as much as I do. And people say that I'm a boring person. Nick: Imagine that? What do you have there, anyway? Natalie: Hair follicles. You can learn an amazing amount just by looking at people's hair. Exercise habits. Sexual preferences, believe it or not. No, I'm serious. L'Oreal. Dippity Do. You name it. [Nick comes up beside her, still hiding the bouquet of flowers he has behind his back. He pulls them out, hands them to her, and kisses her cheek.] Nick: A little something to speed your recovery. Natalie: Well, that's awfully sweet of you. Thank you. Nick: How's your knee? Natalie: It appears to have gone into some sort of spontaneous remission. I think I'm going to live. Nick: Well, that's the best way, isn't it? Nature, looking after everything on its own without man's intervention. [He picks up her coat and holds it for her while she puts it on.] Natalie: Well, don't go all holistic and alternative on me. We all know that medical science does occasionally still come up with the odd miracle, now and then. Nick: All I'm saying is that I think I like your knee the way it is. And I'm glad that you're in one piece. [They head for the door.] Natalie: Well, thank you. Thank you from the bottom of my... Oh, never mind. [Natalie turns off the lights in the lab, leaving the two of them silhouetted against the lights of the hallway.] Natalie: Am I to take this to mean then that you idolize my knee? Nick: Oh, absolutely. [laughing] It's my personal choice in the body parts Hall of Fame... Natalie: Anything else? Nick: Everything. [She turns to go out the door, but his arm stops her.] Nick: I like the whole package the way it is. [Nick leans forward, apparently to kiss her, but Natalie eludes him and leaves. He follows.] END CREDITS