[Smoke and rubble as seen from above, with the close by deafening THUKA-THUKA-THUKA of the helicopter blades. We can barely hear:]

CHOPPER REPORTER - (V.O.) [shouting to be heard] ...and it looks like a war zone down there. According to Water and Power, a gas main under one of the city's busiest subway stations has exploded. We already have three confirmed dead and thirty-eight injured. This couldn't have come at a worse time for--

[Down on the street, the chaos is even more pressing and terrible. The cacophony of disaster, including the noisy helicopters circling above, is so intense people can barely hear themselves. AN AMBULANCE negotiates the rubble moving forward as directed by a Cop who has to stop hanging yellow tape to let it by. A DAZED OLD WOMAN wanders aimlessly until a Paramedic finds her and guides her to safety.]
 

 
[FIRE CHIEF HARDY is at the very heart of the operation, very much in charge as he dispatches people and commands with confident efficiency. RESCUE WORKERS rush to the scene, among them, ANNE LINDSEY, seven months pregnant. She is one of the several ER Doctors arriving off duty, to help, along with a variety of other colleagues from the hospital, including Nurses, EMT's and Equipment Techs (including MIKE LUNDY, the paramedic from Season Three). They congregate around Hardy.]

CHIEF HARDY - 'Preciate y'all getting here so quick. [suddenly shouting to O.S.] No, no. Take it around behind. Around behind.

[ANGLE on THE FIREMEN that Hardy's talking to as they stop, turn, and head off the other way with their equipment.]

ANNE - [to Hardy] How do we get in?

CHIEF HARDY - You don't... for now. Might as well grab some coffee. It could be a while.

ANNE - Coffee? You know how critical the first hour is.

CHIEF HARDY - Sorry, Doc, we can't let you in until it's been secured. The whole place could come down around your ears.

[He moves off. There's work to do and he walks off to confer with one of his captains.]
 

[An AMBULANCE pulls away, SIREN screaming as MacLeod and Richie arrive on the scene. Rescue operations have intensified and the disaster site is ruled by barely controlled panic. Several Rescue Workers rush by in front of Mac.]

[MAN, DAZED AND MOURNING sits with his back against the wall of a building. SEVERAL WOMEN SOBBING with relief at their rescue are huddled around a Red Cross worker.]

[ANGLE MACLEOD -- all of this too familiar to him. Off the RED CROSS on a first aid kit we--]
 

[Chief Hardy is caught up with three Firemen near the entrance to the subway station. MacLeod and Richie stand by, anxious for the return of the Chief's attention.]
 

 
[As the three Firemen rush off, the Chief turns back to MacLeod.]
 

 
MacLEOD - Where would I look for her?

CHIEF HARDY - Didn't you hear me? I'm pulling everyone out of there. You can't go down.
 

[Dust, debris, and darkness hamper their every step as MacLeod and Richie make their way through the tunnel. They HEAR a whimpering and stop to listen more carefully.]

RICHIE - Anne?

[They hear it again.]

MacLEOD - Sounds like a kid.

[It's not Anne but they can't ignore it. They follow the sound. As they move down the dark tunnel, THE CAMERA MOVES INTO BLACK--]
 

 
[THE MUSIC stops. THE EMCEE steps to the microphone. ]

EMCEE - [calmly] Ladies and Gentlemen, it seems the Fuhrer is once again paying an uninvited call.

[Around him, people are already leaving.]

EMCEE - (CONT'D) It would be to everyone's distinct advantage to proceed calmly to the basement shelter until Mr. Hitler gets the message that he is decidedly not welcome and calls his hooligans home.
 

 
DIANE - Who wants to live forever?
 

 
DIANE - I am here to report... [She pauses and looks around.] ...on the planes, the bombs, and the fires. It is all going on again tonight.

[INSERT STOCK SHOT: A German warplane, very close, swooping right down on: RESUME Diane and MacLeod as we HEAR the plane swoop down just overhead.]

[MacLeod spins to watch it go. Diane SHOVES her microphone, stand and all, up in the air to pick up the sounds of the departing plane.]
 

 
[Diane looks to MacLeod for confirmation that they are still on the air. He checks the console and gives her the thumbs up.]
 

 
DIANE - Was I okay?

MacLEOD - Okay? You were great.

DIANE - It all just came out. I never did anything like that before.

[They look at each other... their hearts pounding. She moves into his arms. They kiss.]

[As the kissing progresses, we begin to HEAR, as a crackling old RADIO BROADCAST, Winston Churchill.]

CHURCHILL - (V.0.) We shall not flag or fail. We shall go on to the end.

[MacLeod slides the gown strap free and kisses her newly bared shoulder. She SIGHS with pleasure.]

CHURCHILL - (V.O.) We shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans...

[MacLeod reaches for the other shoulder strap and she laughs as it falls free.]

CHURCHILL - (V.0.) ...we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air...

[MacLeod reaches around to unzip the back of the gown. Diane suddenly freezes with modesty. They are so exposed. She looks around and... it seems fairly private after all and she relents.]

[LAP DISSOLVE TO: Her gown hangs fluttering on the microphone stand. They stand embraced, very connected, very passionate.]

CHURCHILL - (V.0.) (CONT'D) ...we shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills...

[LAP DISSOLVE TO: MacLeod sits with his back to the chimney. She sits on his lap, in her slip, his jacket draped over her for warmth.]

CHURCHILL - (V.0.) (CONT'D) We shall never surrender.

[Her head is in his chest. They share a moment of peace. The world, for now, is quiet.]

CHURCHILL - (V.0.) (CONT'D) Let us therefore... brace ourselves to our duties, and so bear ourselves that if the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will still say: This was their finest hour.
 

 
MacLEOD - It's the middle of the night in the middle of the Blitz and you want to go sightseeing?
 

[Richie pulls a metal bar from a pile of collapsed rubble and carries it back to where MACLEOD is digging away dirt and rubble near a partially collapsed wall.]

MacLEOD - We're getting close.

[RICHIE returns with his metal bar and uses it like a spade to loosen the debris MacLeod is working on. A very small hole begins to appear in the wall behind the debris. Suddenly MacLeod stops.]

RICHIE - What?

[MacLeod listens more carefully.]

MacLEOD - I don't hear him anymore.

[Richie listens. He doesn't hear anything either.]

RICHIE - Kid! Hey, Kid!

[No response.]

MacLEOD - Keep digging. We know we're heading in the right direction. [He sets back to work with ferocious determination.] Widen the hole. Let some air in.

[He and Richie clear away rubble as fast as they can. MacLeod's desperation to reach the kid in time is clear. MacLeod and Richie pull a huge timber free and expose a protected little alcove created by the blast. Richie is the first to the hole and checks.]

RICHIE - He's in there. [a beat] He's not moving.

MacLEOD - Is he alive?

[There's only one way to find out. Richie climbs through the hole to the boy.]

RICHIE - [after a moment] He's breathing!

[MacLeod waits at the entry to the little alcove until Richie hands the Boy out through the hole. MacLeod carries him away from the rubble.]

MacLEOD - He's in shock.

[Richie crawls out of the hole.]

MacLEOD - We have to get him up, he needs a doctor.

[Richie arrives, brushing himself off.]

RICHIE - I'll do it. You find Anne.

[MacLeod hands the Boy to Richie.]

MacLEOD - You better hurry.

[RICHIE races back down the tunnel with the boy. MACLEOD continues into the wrecked station, searching for Anne.]
 

 
[Anne turns to see Karen freaking out as MIKE'S WHOLE BODY spasms. He is GASPING for air. Anne immediately launches into emergency mode. Dropping any concerns about her own personal condition, she grabs her stethoscope and starts listening.]

ANNE - No, Mike. No! Don't do this.

KAREN - Ohmigod, he's going to die.

ANNE - [furious] He's not going to die.

[ANNE thumps his chest three or four times. It doesn't start him breathing.]

ANNE - (CONT'D) Mike, I need you! Dammit, I need you!

[She listens again with the stethoscope. Still no heart beat.]

KAREN - I knew it, he's dead!

ANNE - He's not dead.

[Racing time, she gets her kit bag and hauls out a huge adrenalin syringe. When she turns back to Mike he's still in spasm, unconscious, with his arms flailing.]

ANNE - (CONT'D) [to Karen] Hold his arms.

[Karen is staring, too frightened to respond.]

ANNE - (CONT'D) [shouting] Hold his arms down.

[Karen jumps into action and grabs his arms. Anne tests the syringe. It's ready. She finds an intercostal space over the heart and plunges the needle in. It's too late. With one last seizure, Mike's body lets go and he dies.]

ANNE - (CONT'D) Mike... Mike.

[Karen can't handle it.]

KAREN - We're all going to die. All of us!

[Anne, ignoring her, leans back against the wall, sagging with failure. After a moment, Anne shuts Mike's eyes. Karen struggles with it and gets her tears under control.]

KAREN - (CONT'D) [terrified] They're never going to find us.

[As Anne reacts...]
 

 
MacLEOD - When the Bubonic Plague decimated the city, nobody thought it could ever recover.

[He seems far away, his eyes lost in another time.]

MacLEOD - (CONT'D) There was so much dying, so much hopelessness, all of London practically fell silent.

[He stops for a moment, caught up in remembering.]

MacLEOD - (CONT'D) People died without a whimper. Survivors mourned without a tear. [a beat] The only sound you could count on was the collectors and their wagons picking up the bodies. And the stench. Everything smelled of disease. The food, the water, the air.

[Diane is completely caught up.]
 

 
MacLEOD - Us? I guess I'll teach history and you'll go back to a desk and send the new young turks out for a taste of the journalist's life.
 

[MacLeod and Diane are among the last to make their way into the shelter. They hurry down the stairs. MacLeod is relieved. Diane is not at all sure she's doing the right thing. They are still on the stairs when AN EXPLOSION rocks the stairwell. It's a direct hit and everything comes down around them.]
 

 
DIANE - Perfect.

[With urgency they start shifting rubble to dig their way out.]
 

 
KAREN - My oldest came in a taxi on the way to the hospital.
 

 
CHIEF HARDY - No, you're not.

[Hardy blows TWO TOOTS on his whistle and almost instantly TWO BURLY FIREMEN show up and grab Richie.]

RICHIE - My friend's are down there!
 

[Some Gas Company guys have just managed to close down a main valve. One of the Guys gets on a Walkie Talkie to: CHIEF HARDY has the Walkie Talkie up to his ear, listening.]
 

 
CHIEF HARDY - [a beat; an order] Okay, let's move it.

[The team starts down into the station. It's slow going.]
 

MacLEOD - [calling] Anne.

[MacLeod is moving through the rubble, continuing his search. His way is blocked by fallen timbers and concrete. He has to move some of it out of the way before he can continue on.]
 

 
MacLEOD - Morning's too late. There's already too much gas and too little air. If we keep at it maybe we can dig an air passage.
 

 
DIANE - Okay, not all the bozos. [He tries to smile.] You're excused.

[Her voice breaks and she turns away, trying to hide her tears. MACLEOD turns her to face him. She tries to laugh it off.]

DIANE - Dirt in my eye.
 

[They're running out of air. Diane lies in MacLeod's arms, PANTING weakly, speaking softly.]

DIANE - I'm sorry I got you into this. If I hadn't pushed you into going out...

MacLEOD - Don't talk. Save your strength.

DIANE - I just never imagined it would end so soon.

[She smiles, touches his cheek.]
 

 
MacLEOD - There's only two ways in. Pack in over the pass from Aspen, or you can take the river, The Meanders.
 

 
MacLEOD - If you come down the river in the late spring, after all the snow is gone, the fields are bursting with color. They seem to give off their own light. [He's looking inside, seeing it.] Everything is perfect... The sky, the river, but it's the flowers, the flowers stay with you forever.
 

 
DIANE - Tell me more.

[He knows the end can't be very far away, and it's very hard for him. She relaxes in his arms.]

MacLEOD - It's the mountain that'll take your breath away. In the late afternoon in the summer, backlit by the sun, it feels like a gigantic cathedral.

DIANE - It's beautiful.

[Her eyes close. He touches her face and confirms that she has died. He closes her eyes. He himself is very weak now.]

MacLEOD - It feels like the mountain is gathering the world into its embrace... [a beat] At night it's always very quiet.

[There is no more air left for him either, and holding her MACLEOD closes his eyes and dies.]

[There is a SCREAM, a GASP for air. It's Anne and we TRANSITION TO:]
 

 
Karen hands the baby to her. MacLeod hastily peels off his shirt to wrap around the wet baby. Anne, in joyous tears, cradles her healthy, squalling daughter. MacLeod, overwhelmed, cradles them both.
 

[On a FLASHLIGHT BEAM, as Richie and a rescue team reach MacLeod, Anne and Karen.]

RICHIE - Mac? Mac, I'm back. We'll have you out in a minute.

[A Second Rescuer peers in at them.]

SECOND RESCUER - Three of you in there?

[Off the baby, a glowing Anne answers:]

ANNE - Four.

[As the others work to get them out, we stay with Anne et al.]
 

 
RICHIE - I do, too... that's why I was saying about the colors.
 

 
MacLEOD - You don't have to. I put the house in the baby's name.

ANNE - But even so...

MacLEOD - Anne... I want to do this for you and Mary. It's just my way of telling you if you need anything, ever...

[She knows him well enough to know what that means.]
 

[Richie and MacLeod are walking through the woods not far from the Victorian.]
 

 
RICHIE - Got it.

MacLEOD - I think it's time to go home.

RICHIE - One more thing... [beat] If you ever feel like playing contracter... I hate the apartment I'm in. The bedroom's tiny, the shower's a joke...

MacLEOD - [with a smile] I'll keep it in mind.

[As they go off together.]