[MacLeod hurries out, checking his watch as he moves. He's running late. As he gets into his car: NEW ANGLE - A blacked-out van lurks nearby. The DRIVER puts down a copy of "In The Ring" magazine and sits up, eyes tracking MacLeod. He speaks into a handheld radio.]

DRIVER - He's on the move.

[ON MACLEOD'S CAR as it pulls out. Headlights go on down the street and pull out after him.]
 

[MacLeod parks. An N.D. sedan pulls into the next space, and two guys get out. CISCO, mid-thirties, is an ex-fighter turned leg breaker who fought almost a hundred times professionally and looks it. His partner, BERT, is young and overpumped, wearing a muscle shirt that shows off his sculpted arms.]

CISCO - Got a cigarette?

[MacLeod turns, ready to be friendly.]

MacLEOD - Don't smoke.

[A moving shadow alerts him, and he pivots sideways in time to avoid the LEAD PIPE that Bert is swinging at his head. MacLeod blocks a second blow and the pipe goes flying. CISCO grabs MacLeod from behind, pinning his arms to his side. Bert lands a solid punch. Using Cisco for leverage, MacLeod lifts both feet and kicks Bert hard in the chest. He goes flying and CISCO slams back into the car. MacLeod breaks free, belts CISCO, who takes a hell of a punch. CISCO tastes blood in his mouth and likes it.]

CISCO - Not bad.

MacLEOD - It gets better.

[CISCO stands in a classic boxer crouch. MacLeod throws a cross that misses. CISCO throws a quick jab that catches MacLeod.]

CISCO - You're right. It does.

[MACLEOD tastes the blood in his own mouth and smiles and throws two quick rights that knock CISCO down. BERT whacks MacLeod hard from behind, staggering him. As Bert moves in for the kill -- The Van is approaching from the end of the street. MACLEOD slips the punch and staggers Bert with one of his own.]
 

 
AMANDA - No, but I did keep the Stones from breaking up one time.
 

[The Driver drives up slowly, stops and gets out of the van. CISCO body-checks MacLeod into the street. THE DRIVER moves behind MacLeod and clubs him over the head with a baseball bat. MACLEOD falls to his knees. CISCO finishes him with a haymaker. MACLEOD is out.]

CISCO - [rubbing his jaw] Son-of-a-bitch could punch.

[Cisco slides open the side door of the van. Bert hauls MacLeod's limp body over, tosses him onto the corrugated metal floor of the van. Cisco turns to Bert.]

CISCO - (CONT'D) Catch you later.
 

[Cisco bundles him quickly into a straitjacket, cinches it tight.]

CISCO - Sleep tight.

[He slams the door and the van ROARS off.]

[MacLeod, bound and unconscious, lies in a heap in the corner of the speeding van.]
 

[The van stops and Cisco and the Driver get out.]

DRIVER - I thought you were a big shot fighter.

CISCO - [offended] I was a contender. Seventy-six and seventeen with forty-seven knockouts.

DRIVER - If I didn't break my Louisville Slugger, he would've kicked your ass.

[MacLeod is becoming conscious. He finds himself in a straitjacket. He reacts as the doors of the van open. He closes his eyes, feigning sleep. They reach in and drag him out roughly. As they do, he lashes out with a kick that drives Cisco back.]

[The Driver turns on MacLeod. MacLeod gets both legs around his neck.]

[Cisco comes off the floor with a blackjack and knocks MacLeod cold. As they carry him into the--]

CISCO - Who the hell is this guy?
 

[Amanda and Dawson are in mid-conversation.]

DAWSON - You ever think about doing something else for a living?

AMANDA - Nope.

DAWSON - It never bothered you... the stealing?

[She brushes it off.]

AMANDA - You see a field of flowers, you pick a few. [smiles] I only steal from people who can afford it.

DAWSON - A regular Robin Hood.

AMANDA - [shakes her head] Uh, uh. I take from the rich... but I keep it all for myself.

[She checks her watch. Where's MacLeod? Dawson gives her an "I told you so" look, then moves off to take care of another customer. Amanda's eyes go across the room.]

[AMANDA'S POV - BY THE STAGE - MELISSA is an eye-catching sight in 90's chic -- barely 21, barely legal. She wears a formfitting dress in retro-70's colors, a cropped leather jacket, and oversized plastic earrings setting off straight blonde hair that falls practically to her waist. Every lounge lizard's dream. She's sitting at one of the little twofer tables with a guy in his 40s who looks at her like he just won the lottery. His hands are all over her.]

[As the guy leans forward, Melissa "accidentally" knocks her drink into his lap. He jumps up and she grabs a napkin and begins wiping him off. As she does, she extracts something from his pocket and slips it into her jacket. Then she turns her back on him without a second glance and moves toward the door, passing Amanda. Amanda's hand brushes lightly against Melissa's back as she passes by her. Melissa hardly feels it.]
 

[MacLeod's lying on his side, trussed in the straitjacket. He looks outside and sees: MACLEOD'S POV - Cisco and the Driver smoking and waiting impatiently.]

[BACK TO SCENE - MacLeod shifts around carefully, silently, testing the straitjacket. It's tight.]

[Cisco and the Driver scope out the empty lot.

CISCO - He's late.

DRIVER - The Colonel's never late. [checks his watch] We're thirteen minutes early.

[He reaches into the cab of the van and snares the magazine he was reading earlier, leans on a fender to read, unworried.]
 

 
[Melissa nods. Amanda opens the door.]

AMANDA - Just step right there. It's a pressure plate.

[Melissa steps inside the store and all hell breaks loose as alarms start to wail.]
 

[MacLEOD puts one shoulder up against the center metal pole of the hydraulic lift, then brings it back and slams it into it. It doesn't work. He tries again. He has to bite his lip to keep from screaming as his shoulder dislocates with a ragged pop. He stops, panting, listening to make sure his captors didn't hear. Working through the excruciating pain, MacLeod pulls the arm out of position, working his way out of the straitjacket. MacLeod's forehead glistens with sweat and his teeth are clenched in pain as he finally gets one arm free. He's close, but he's had about as much pain as he can bear. He slumps against the wall a little too hard, making a thump.]

[Cisco reacts to the noise from inside the service bay.]

CISCO - Didja hear that?

DRIVER - What?

CISCO - I'd better check on our boy.

[He turns to the service bay. The jig would be up, but he's interrupted by APPROACHING HEADLIGHTS. Their appointment has arrived.]

[MacLeod is reaching back over his mangled shoulder with the other arm, trying to free the buckles. The headlights sweep across the wall and he looks up, realizing this means a rendezvous. Then, THE BUZZ. There's no more time. With a mighty effort, he manages to yank free of the straitjacket, grinding bone on bone. He gasps harshly with the effort, but he's free.]
 

 
[Cisco moves toward the service bay and looks inside. HIS POV - An empty straitjacket. BACK TO SCENE]

CISCO - He's not here--
 

[The charred remnants of German and British equipment and the bodies of dead soldiers litter the landscape. The air is full of smoke and the whine of artillery shells. A ruined tank lie half in a shell crater.]

[A battered British military ambulance braves enemy fire as it heads towards a fortified position. ANGLE ON AMBULANCE - Dressed in the soiled uniform of a Red Cross volunteer, MacLeod is at the wheel. A shell bursts nearby and shrapnel pings off the door. He zigzags and keeps going, finally pulling into a sheltered area. As MacLeod climbs from the ambulance, he gets the BUZZ. Looks around to see--]

[ANGLE ON COMMAND BUNKER: emerging from the reinforced doorway of the command bunker is Killian. Ramrod straight and pure military in his surprisingly clean Colonel's uniform. His eyes lock on MacLeod's and the two of them move towards each other in the trench. ANGLE IN TRENCH: The two Immortals cautiously size each other up.]
 

[A manacled Killian, dressed in drab prison garb, is led by two burly guards carrying batons down a long corridor of doors. Through the open grates or bars of the door, we catch glimpses of the dangerously mad refuse of humanity.]

[KILLIAN'S veneer of military righteousness seems uncrackable, even as the rasped and haunted voices call to him. He continues on silently against a cacophony of cries and mad laughter.]

[They stop and enter--]

[Killian stands motionless in the cell, his face cold and unreadable. The cell is unclean and furnished with a bucket and a small basin. One of the guards stands ready with the baton as the other unhooks his manacles. As they do, Killian looks up.]

[KILLIAN'S POV - A spider in the midst of her web.]

[BACK TO SCENE - Killian looks back down as they close the door on his life.]
 

 
AMANDA - So you dig him up and challenge him.

MacLEOD - And if I'd lost?
 

 
KILLIAN - The secret is knowing which is which.
 

 
KILLIAN - Does he know it for a work of art, I wonder? Or does he know only the satisfaction of seeing his prey entangled in the merciless strands?
 

[Melissa sits terrified in a chair as Killian walks around her. Her hands are tied behind her back. He holds a tarantula in his hand that he pets lovingly as he walks.]

KILLIAN - You're pretty? Is that why he likes you, or is it your youth?

MELISSA - Mister, I don't know what you're talking about. Who likes me?

KILLIAN - He'll surely miss you.

MELISSA - Nobody's gonna miss me.

KILLIAN - Really?
 

 
MELISSA - I was a blond until yesterday.
 

 
MELISSA - I'm a hairdresser. I swear.
 

[MacLeod, sword in hand, races into the dojo to find MELISSA slumped against the door, a few spiders crawling over her. She is barely conscious. MacLeod moves toward her, brushes the spiders off and stomps them as AMANDA arrives, sword in hand, and reacts.]

AMANDA - [in horror] Melissa! [Amanda races to her.]

MacLEOD - Stay with her. [MacLeod races out of the dojo.]

[MacLeod moves outside, looks around.
MACLEOD'S POV: Killian in the distance, turning a corner.
BACK TO SCENE: MacLeod moves after him.]

AMANDA - [cradles the dying Melissa] Hold on, Melissa, the ambulance is coming.

[Melissa looks even younger in Amanda's arms. She appears as a child.]

MELISSA - I'm cold.

[Amanda holds her closer, rubs her arms. Amanda's eyes fill with tears.]

MELISSA - (CONT'D) He thought I was you. [beat; with a weak smile] I must look pretty good.

AMANDA - You look beautiful.

MELISSA - I don't want to die.

AMANDA - You're not gonna die, Melissa.

MELISSA - [looks up at her, offers a half smile] I just wanted to have some fun.

[She shudders and closes her eyes, like a child going to sleep. Amanda cries as she holds Melissa and rocks her.]
 

 
MacLEOD - Why the girl?
 

 
KILLIAN - In a few years you'll know every spot and blemish.
 

 
HENSON - Joe Dawson? [off Dawson's nod] Arthur Henson. [sotto] I watch Simon Killian.
 

 
DAWSON - You want to tell me about the fight? [almost chokes on it] Where did he die?
 

 
HENSON - They shot him, but Killian didn't take his head. He's locked him in one of those old fallout shelters under the Air Force Base.
 

[MacLeod's still working on the concrete by the hinge with the can opener. It's been a few hours and he hasn't made much progress. He changes tacks. Taking a food tin from the nearest bin, he hits the edge of it against the portion of wall he's been working on. A chip of cement flies off. MacLeod smiles grimly. Progress. He strikes the spot again, another chip of concrete flies free. And a third time -- and then he stops.]

[HIS POV - THE WALL: The concrete was only a veneer. Beneath it, solid steel. He's screwed.]

[MacLEOD flings the food tin against the far wall. Sends another two or three flying after it. The noise and energy are a welcome change from the silent solitude of the room. But he stops himself, forces himself still, getting calm, knowing rage won't serve him. He presses his palms against the wall, shutting his eyes, clearing his brain.... And then, THE BUZZ. MacLeod straightens, eyes hardening. There's a clicking sound from the door -- the sound of the lock turning. MacLeod hefts one of the cans. Maybe he can brain Killian when the door opens.]

[There's a beat while MacLeod stands there, poised, before the door finally swings open to reveal...]
 

 
AMANDA - She's dead.

MacLEOD - [beat] How'd you find me?
 

 
[MacLeod steps across to where his sword is impaled in the wall. Pulls it out, gazes into the blade, then--]

MacLEOD - That's exactly what I want. But not quite yet. [beat] First, I'm having a drink at Gleason's Bar.

[Amanda and Dawson exchange puzzled looks.]
 

 
CISCO - I had a couple of beers, that's all.
 

 
CISCO - [freaked] Are you kidding? I'm not going near that place.

KILLIAN - [looks up sharply] Cowardice in the face of duty is a terrible thing.

[With surprising speed Killian grabs Cisco by the back of his neck and slowly forces his face into the aquarium.]

CISCO - No, don't... Please.

[Cisco screams as a dozen spiders bite and release their venom. Killian lets him go. Cisco's hands go to his face as he falls to his knees. He looks down at the gasping Cisco coolly.]

KILLIAN - [beat] The secret is not to be scared into moving. If you hold still, they don't bite.
 

 
[Killian moves with surprising speed and cuts MacLeod on the upper. He attacks with a series of strong strokes and MacLEOD blocks each one, then beats Killian back. KILLIAN snarls with rage and lunges. MACLEOD twists aside, sending Killian crashing into the wall. KILLIAN jumps to his feet and strikes. MACLEOD ducks and Killian's sword hits the steel door. TWANG!]

[MacLeod strikes and cuts Killian's chest. KILLIAN flinches back with a roar of pain. He desperately kicks MacLeod, knocking him back. MACLEOD stumbles, goes down. KILLIAN moves in for the kill but MacLeod rolls and thrusts, skewering him. Killian staggers a few feet, grabs hold of the barred door, hangs onto it for support.]

[MACLEOD stands, raises his sword and... THWACK! The gate swings and Killian's body falls into the shelter.]

[THE QUICKENING explodes through the basement. Electricity ripples along the bars of the gate and along the exposed pipe. The boxes of supplies explode. The water drums burst and water pours out.]

[Finally it's over. MacLeod rises from his knees. Gazes for a moment into the fallout shelter that almost became his living coffin, that will now be Killian's final resting place. MacLeod swings the steel door closed and spins the lock wheel.]
 

 
AMANDA - Then whose fault was it? She died because she wanted to be like me and I let her. I'm just a vain, selfish...