The Other Side of Hell

by Parda, 19 September 2000

Author's Foreword

The movie Highlander: Endgame haunted me after I saw it. Both for what it was, and even more for what it could have been. The very first HL story I ever wrote was inspired by a flashback I didn't care for (the FB was in "The Innocent"; the story was Faery Child), and so I thought I'd try writing some variations on a Highlander story again.

This turned into more of a project than I had expected, and the characters turned out different, too. Therefore, I've used different names for the non-regular characters to avoid confusion with the ones in HL4, since the characters in this story (though similar to the ones in HL4) have different motivations and histories. (Except I kept the name Faith because I liked it.) I borrowed some of the scenes and lines they used in HL4 "lock , stock, and barrel." Others, I altered. Some I cut completely. I included some items from HL3, so that's part of this story-universe. I followed the new canon about Holy Ground (i.e., it doesn't seem to make one bit of difference), but Duncan doesn't get married.

This is not a rewrite of HL4, but a variation of the theme. As always, just for fun, not for profit, no harm intended, not my characters, not my universe, etc. I'd like to thank TPTB for the many hours of enjoyment and intellectual challenge I've gotten from their work over the years. It's been fun, and I'll miss it.

I'd also like to thank all those who wrote to the discussion lists with their comments. I've tried to incorporate those suggestions into this script, so there's more Methos, more Joe, a bit more explanation here and there, and more of that nekkid-sweaty kata. (Only I can't possibly begin to do it justice with printed words. Sorry.)

This story is written in script format. For the writer, scripts are faster than stories, but for the reader, they demand a bit more effort. Since we've seen these characters on-screen before, though, I hope it's not too hard to follow along and imagine the characters saying these lines, exchanging those all-important meaningful glances, performing those nekkid-sweaty katas, impressing us with their swordwork, and transporting us into the Highlander Universe

CAST LIST

Connor MacLeod
Duncan MacLeod
Rachel Ellenstein
Joe Dawson
Methos
Alexandra Johnson MacLeod
John MacLeod
Brenda Wyatt MacLeod
Heather MacLeod
Caolin MacLeod
Liam Karn
Shen Ji
Maura/Faith
William
Tomas

EXT. Antique Store in NYC, 1995 - DAY
SCREEN CAPTION: NEW YORK CITY, 1995

(Hudson Street. Sign on door reads "Ellenstein and MacLeod Antiques, Formerly Russell Nash." Rachel is about to go into store. Duncan and Connor are on the sidewalk nearby.)

CONNOR
"Rachel!"

RACHEL
(stops, turns) "Connor!" (goes down steps to hug Connor) "And Duncan!" (hugs Duncan.) "I wasn't expecting to see you two until the estate auction this weekend!"

CONNOR
"I came early to see you."

RACHEL
"Flatterer."

DUNCAN
"As always. Connor has a way with women."

RACHEL
(laughing) "I've known that since he adopted me when I was six. You have a way with women, too, Duncan, and you know it."

CONNOR
"So do I." (To Duncan, not seriously) "Keep away from my daughter." (He and Rachel exchange special glances)

RACHEL
(To Connor) "How's Alex? I haven't seen you two since your wedding last fall. And how's John?"

CONNOR
(smiling, happy, comfortable) "Good. Alex is good. John's grown about a foot. You should come visit us in Scotland."

RACHEL
"This store keeps me so busy. But soon, I promise. Come on in! I've just redecorated."

CONNOR
"We'll be right back. Duncan said he wanted some real New York bagels. He's been in Europe too long."

(Rachel waves goodbye, goes into store. Connor and Duncan go down street. Rachel in store, picking up telephone.)

CUT TO: Duncan and Connor outside, then big explosion knocks them to the ground. The store is a mass of flames.

CONNOR
"Rachel!" (picks himself up) "Rachel!" (Duncan holds Connor back from running into building) "Oh God, Rachel!"

DUNCAN
"Connor, it's over!" (Grabs Connor and shakes him.) "Connor! She's dead." (Connor slowly stops struggling. Duncan calms down too.) "There's nothing you can do, Connor. We both know that. That's the first lesson you ever taught you, remember?"

CONNOR
(agreeing, raggedly and near tears) "Yes ... your first lesson. And mine."

Flashback TRANSITION TO aftermath of a battle, dead bodies, etc.
EXT. Battle Field in Scotland, 1625 - DAY

DUNCAN
(revives slowly, examines his bloody clothing, looking for a wound. He's fine.) "Not again. Oh, not again." (He looks around, crawls over and desperately tries to help one of his friends) "Donald, O blessed Mother of God, Donald ..."

(Donald is obviously dead, Duncan crawls to another one, then another, starts to weep. BUZZ. Duncan stops, looks up to see a figure silhouetted against the sky)

DUNCAN
(Stands, draws his sword) "Who are you?"

CONNOR
"I'm Connor MacLeod of the Clan MacLeod."

DUNCAN
"Connor MacLeod? I've heard of you. They say you're a demon who came back from the dead, before my grandfather's time."

CONNOR
"I've been called demon. And worse." (comes closer) "But like you, my friend, I just have a hard time dying." (Looks around at the bodies.) "These others..." (shakes head.)

DUNCAN
(bitterly) "They're not so lucky as you and I, is that it?"

CONNOR
(sad smile) "Sometimes, I wonder." (turns to Duncan.) "There is nothing we can do for them."

DUNCAN
"But-"

CONNOR
(blunt) "They're dead. But you and I ... we are Immortal."

DUNCAN
(shaking head, looking confused)

EXT. Campfire, Scotland, 1625 - LATER THAT DAY
(Connor and Duncan sit around a campfire, not far from the battlefield)

CONNOR
"We are Immortal, Duncan." (He takes out a knife, cuts his palm, it heals with little flickers of blue, gashes Duncan on the hand, and Duncan heals, too.) "We heal." (He reaches over and pokes at the blood on Duncan's plaid). "We even come back from the dead. Unless..."

DUNCAN
"Unless...?"

CONNOR
"When your head comes away from your neck, it's over. And trust me, Immortals hunt for each other's heads. We call it the Game."

DUNCAN
"The Game?" (Gets up to leave) "This is daft."

CONNOR
(stands and grabs him) "Listen to me! The Immortal who takes your head gets all your power, and everything you know. We call that the Quickening. And the last Immortal left alive wins the Prize. He will win all the power of every Immortal who ever lived, and he will be able to rule the world."

DUNCAN
(starts to laugh, then stops) "You're serious."

CONNOR
(nods)

DUNCAN
(thinks it over) "What's it like? When you take someone's head? The ... the Quickening?"

CONNOR
(joins him looking over the battlefield, where the ravens have started to feed.) "The power of the Quickening ... is lightning."

(FLASH of Connor in a Quickening somewhere, some when, getting zapped, bloody head and body nearby, Connor with bloody sword, bloody hands, bloody shirt.)(back to Connor and Duncan)

CONNOR
"It tears you open and peels away your skin ..."

(Connor getting zapped, the other body levitating)

CONNOR Voiceover
"... it rips your heart out and puts it back together beating ..."

(lightning blowing things up, Connor screaming)

CONNOR Voiceover
"... you cannot breathe, you cannot think, you cannot move ..."

(lightning still going, mist, fog, etc., Connor in the midst of it now)

CONNOR Voiceover
"... and you are alive as you have never been before ..."

(lightning dying away, Connor dropping to his knees)

CONNOR Voiceover
"Then you know that you have walked straight into hell..."

(Back to Connor and Duncan, standing side by side on the top of the hill, as the sun sets and the ravens fly away, and the fires burn on.)

CONNOR (continuing)
"... and you can only pray that you come out the other side."

TRANSITION From fires of battlefield to fires of burning antique store
EXT. Antique Store in NYC, 1995 - AFTERNOON
(Antique store is a disaster. Crowd watching behind police tape. Ambulance there, police and fire cars there. Duncan and Connor watch from the sidewalk as medics put an empty stretcher in the ambulance and slam the doors.)

CONNOR
(whispering) "Rachel."

DUNCAN
(waits a bit, suggests) "Should we have the burial here in New York?"

CONNOR
"And bury what?" (looks at ruined building, then at the ambulance driving away) "There's nothing left."

DUNCAN:
(puts his arm around his shoulders.) "Come, Connor. I'll take you home."

(In the background, a man smiles and turns away)

EXT. Connor's House in Scotland, 1995 -DAY
(montage of pretty parts of the Highlands, zoom (but not too fast!) to a farmhouse on a hillside, with horses running in a field. Connor and Duncan drive up and park in front of house.)

ALEXANDRA JOHNSON MACLEOD (slender, blonde, beautiful) and JOHN MACLEOD (dark curly hair, twelve years old) come out of the house. Alex goes to Connor, they hug.

CONNOR
"Alex."

ALEX
"I'm so sorry, Connor."

JOHN
"Dad?"

CONNOR
(Connor gathers John into the embrace. After a minute, he ruffles John's hair, puts his arm around the boy's shoulders, the other arm around Alex's waist.)

"It's good to be home."

(They go inside, Duncan follows with two bags from the car).

EXT. Connor's House in Scotland, 1995 -LATE AFTERNOON
(Near the barn, Connor and Duncan leaning on a rock wall or chopping wood or something. It's late afternoon, the sun is sinking, and they can see a loch in the distance.)

DUNCAN
"I'm glad to be in the Highlands again."

CONNOR
(nods as he looks around at the scenery) "Scotland is like us, Duncan. Immortal." (looks a bit pensive)

DUNCAN
(an encouraging grin) "It's hard at times, I know, but we have had some fun along the way."

Flashback TRANSITION TO:
EXT. Ireland, 1712-DAY
(Straight from the movie)

(Connor and Duncan are out in the forest. A band of brigands stops a coach with two women in it and demands money. They protest, Duncan and Connor come gallantly to the rescue. Duncan smiles at the pretty woman in the coach, and she drops a handkerchief as the coach drives away.)

TRANSITION TO:
EXT. Connor's House in Scotland, 1995 -LATE AFTERNOON

CONNOR
"Yeah. We've had fun." (smiles and claps Duncan on the back) "But I'm not going to let you have all of it."

DUNCAN
(laughing) "No."

JOHN
(comes over, dressed in shorts, T-shirt, running shoes)
"Hey, Dad, Uncle Duncan, you want to go running before it gets dark?"

CONNOR
(enthusiastically) "Let's go!"

INT. Connor's House in Scotland, 1995 -NIGHT
(Duncan and Alex are sitting in the living room. John walks by in the hall.)

JOHN
(calling) "Goodnight!"

ALEX
"Goodnight, John!"

DUNCAN
"Goodnight!"

ALEX
(after he goes upstairs, she says quietly to Duncan) "Do the police know...?"

DUNCAN
"A bomb definitely, but nowadays, it could be anyone. A gang, a terrorist group, someone just out for kicks."

ALEX
(not buying it) "Or another Immortal?"

DUNCAN
"It's possible. But ... that's not how the Game is played, Alex. You know that."

ALEX
(not comforted) "Oh yes. Connor explained the Game to me: one-on-one, battles to the death, no fighting on Holy Ground, the last one left alive wins the Prize. All of that." (shakes her head, stands, starts to pace) "He's taking this so hard."

DUNCAN
"He's known Rachel since she was six."

ALEX
"And raised her as his daughter, I know." (looks at wall of pictures of Rachel and Connor from long ago. Looks at another picture, Brenda and Connor this time, with a toddler between them.) "And he adopted John, too." (more pictures of John growing up through the years. Alex shows up in the last two pictures, one a wedding photo. Alex turns back to Duncan.) "It's just ... Connor was finally getting over Brenda's death in that car crash eight years ago."

DUNCAN
(going to her) "With your help, Alex. You and John. You've given Connor a family, something he's always wanted. He loves you both. You give him a reason to live."

ALEX
(looking up at Duncan, smiling a little) "Thanks, Duncan." (gives him a hug, then looks toward the hallway, where Connor appears) "I have to go."

DUNCAN
"He needs you."

ALEX
"He needs you, too, Duncan."

DUNCAN
(smiling) "And we'll be there for him."

ALEX
(understanding the mortal and immortal sides of it) "As long as we can."

DUNCAN
(watches her go to Connor, and then the two of them go up the stairs together, arms around each other. Duncan looks at pictures of Brenda, Rachel, and a portrait of Heather on the wall.)

"All the good women, Connor."

TRANSITION to a memory of the pretty woman from the carriage in 1712, smiling and in Duncan's arms.

DUNCAN
(whispering) "Maura."

(Duncan glances upstairs, looks around the happy home, then heads for his bedroom, alone.)

EXT. Connor's Farm in Scotland, 1995 -NIGHT
(Same man from NYC sneaking around outside the barn, setting wires.)

EXT. Connor's Farm in Scotland, 1995 -EARLY MORNING
(Alex, John, Connor, and Duncan all dressed for riding, heading for the barn.)

INT. Barn -EARLY MORNING
Horses whinny in greeting, People start saddling up.

CUT TO: The man from NY watching from a field far away, counting down.

CUT TO: The barn explodes, horses scream, fire everywhere. After the explosion, Connor revives.

FLASH ON: Connor reviving in a car wreck on a road in the Highlands.

BACK TO: Connor shoves his way out from under wreckage of the barn, starts crawling about, looking for his wife and son.

FLASH ON: Connor crawling out of the car, looking for Brenda.

BACK TO: Connor finds Alex's body.

FLASH ON: Connor finds Brenda's body in the car wreck.

CUT TO: Duncan coming over to see Connor sitting with Alex's body on his lap, rocking back and forth a little, both of them burned and torn.

FLASH ON: Connor holding what's left of Brenda in just the same way.

BACK TO the barn. Connor is silent. He can't even cry. A boy's hand lies nearby. A leg sticks out somewhere. Horse pieces are scattered about, too.

Duncan sits down nearby. There's nothing he can do.

EXT. Church in the Highlands, 1995
(Connor and Duncan are standing near two fresh graves. An older gravestone nearby says "Brenda Wyatt MacLeod 1958-1987" Other mourners stand in the churchyard in the distance.)

DUNCAN
"I'll help you find the one who did this."

CONNOR
(nodding his thanks, but looking at the graves) "It won't bring them back. Do you know how many of my family I've buried, here in the Highlands? My son, John. My wives, Alex and Brenda. My first wife, Heather, over four hundred years ago. My father, my mother ... " (turns away)

Flashback TRANSITION: (Connor looks out to the hills in the distance, come back off the hills to find the year 1555, a hut standing in place of the modern day cars)

EXT. Connor and Heather's Forge in Glen Coe, 1555- DAY
(Connor and Heather outside their cottage; a lone rider in a priest's garb comes over the hill. It's the guy from the bombings in NY and Scotland, only with a beard and long hair. Connor puts his hand to his sword, then recognizes the man and relaxes. The man dismounts, they clasp hands in friendship.)

CONNOR
"Liam Karn. It's good to see you."

KARN
"Connor MacLeod. It's been a long time since you and I went hunting together."

CONNOR
(not smiling now.) "Yes."

FLASH TO: Connor getting banished from the village, rocks thrown at him, etc. The priest of the village chanting prayers.

CONNOR
"Nearly twenty years since the clan banished me from Glenfinnan."

KARN
"And I was away at the seminary. If only I'd been there, to stop them."

CONNOR
"They wouldn't have listened."

KARN
"No. And they're not listening now, either. There've been bad harvests, too much rain ... People are muttering of witchcraft."

CONNOR
(shrugs) "'Tis naught to do with us. Heather and I are here in Glencoe. They're in Glenfinnan."

KARN
"And your mother?"

(Connor and Heather exchange worried glances)

KARN
"There's talk of burning her at the stake."

HEATHER
"She's done nothing!"

KARN
(to Heather) "They say she's the mother of Connor MacLeod, spawn of the devil, and that means she's in league with the devil, too. Both when Connor was born, and now."

CONNOR
"But I'm a foundling, just as you are. She could-"

KARN
"She will not deny you. She insists you are her son. That's all they need."

CONNOR
(cold and angry) "That priest again?"

KARN
"I know you hate Father Ambrose for casting you out, Connor, but he's cared for me since I was five, taught me, raised me as his own. He's a good man, just frightened."

CONNOR
"I'll not leave my mother to the likes of him. I'm going to Glenfinnan."

HEATHER
"They'll kill you, Connor."

KARN
"Your wife is right. You mustn't come into the village. I'll bring your mother to the forest, to the glen with the white rock, where you and I went hunting, long ago."

CONNOR
(nods, turns to Heather to say goodbye. They embrace, kiss.)

HEATHER
"Connor, be careful."

CONNOR
"I'll be back soon, Heather."

HEATHER
"Connor-"

CONNOR
"Nothing can keep me from you, Blossom. Nothing."

(Connor and Liam ride off across the Highlands, pretty scenery, etc. Eventually, the Castle with Loch Shiel in the distance.)

KARN
(riding off) "I'll meet you tonight in the glen!"

EXT. Glen with a white rock near Glenfinnan, 1555 - NIGHT
(Connor waits near the white rock in the glen, his horse tethered nearby. An owl hoots once, twice, Connor hoots in return. Liam and Caolin appear. Caolin and Connor embrace, Liam looks around anxiously.)

CAOLIN
"Oh, Connor." (she touches his cheek) "It's so good to see you."

CONNOR
(clears his throat) "Aye, Mother, and you, too."

CAOLIN
"I should have come with you ten years ago, when you asked me after your father died."

CONNOR
"Hush. You didn't want to leave your sisters. I understand. But we should go now." (turns to thank Liam, but Liam's looking into the trees. Connor turns too, searching)

Men come running at them, carrying torches, led by Father Ambrose, the priest. Big fight, with Connor trying to get his mother away, but they overpower him and grab his mother.

CONNOR
"Liam!"

(Liam opens his mouth to answer, but is interrupted by the priest.)

FATHER AMBROSE
"Well done, lad!"

CONNOR
(realizes he's been betrayed, goes for Liam's throat with his bare hands, somebody knocks Connor out)

EXT. Village of Glenfinnan, 1555- NIGHT
The witch burning, as done in the movie. Can include a shot of them hacking off her hair. Connor escapes from the jail cell, but not in time to save his mother. She dies at the stake. Connor stabs Father Ambrose, turns on Liam.

KARN
"Connor, no, I-"

CONNOR
(Doesn't listen, guts the man and happily watches him die.)

(End on burning stake, dead bodies, etc.)

TRANSITION: focus on a cross on dead priest, shift to a cross on a church in 1995.

EXT. Church in the Highlands, 1995

CONNOR
"They're all dead, Duncan, and they all died because of me."

DUNCAN
"It's not your fault, Connor."

CONNOR
"Bullshit, Duncan. We both know it's an Immortal, trying to get to me through the people I-" (he chokes up, forces himself to keep going) "The hell of it is, it works."

DUNCAN
"Connor, you're the one who taught me that when there's life, there's hope."

CONNOR
(not remembering) "Did I?" (back to looking at the graves, tries to explain.) "I'm not giving up, Duncan. I just need some time." (grimly) "Whoever it is, he'll be waiting."

DUNCAN
(nodding in understanding) "You're going to Holy Ground."

CONNOR
"For a while." (hands Duncan an envelope.) "Here's a power of attorney. Sell the house for me."

DUNCAN
"Sure."

CONNOR
(looks over at crowd of people, where JOE DAWSON detaches himself from the group and nods in greeting.)

"And there's your good friend and Watcher, Joe Dawson. Of course. You think they'd get bored, following us around."

DUNCAN
"Where's your Watcher?"

CONNOR
(nasty grin) "Trying to get the sugar out of her radiator, no doubt." (Connor gives Duncan a hug) "I'll be seeing you."

DUNCAN
(a nod) "Connor."

CONNOR
"Duncan."

(Connor walks to his car and drives away.)

JOE DAWSON
(stands by Duncan, and they watch the car leave. Somehow get a shot of Joe's wrist, so we can see his tattoo.) "Didn't say goodbye, did he?"

DUNCAN
"We never do."

INT. Connor's house, evening
(Joe, Methos, and Duncan drinking beer)

METHOS
"So, your kinsman's bowed out of the Game and gone to Holy Ground. No fighting. No beheadings. No death."

EXT. The Sanctuary
(SHOT OF: Connor's car driving up to a large building. People in monk robes walking around)

INT. Connor's house

DUNCAN
"I've done it. Haven't you?"

METHOS
"A few times."

JOE
(hoping for information) "Really?"

EXT. The Sanctuary
Connor gets out, walks up the steps of the large building slowly, a monk comes out to greet him. They shake hands civilly. Connor goes inside.

INT. Connor's house
METHOS
(smiling, giving Joe a snippet of information he wanted) "Nine hundred years ago." (leans back and stretches) "And thirteen hundred years before that."

INT. The Sanctuary-a corridor
(Connor goes with the monk into a room, monk hands him a robe.)

INT. Connor's house

METHOS
"I got a lot of reading done." (Drinks his beer, then shakes his head sadly.) "Though the one in Syria did have terrible beer."

JOE
"How long did you stay?"

METHOS
(shrugging) "Twenty years the first time, about fifty the next. You get into a routine."

DUNCAN
(to Joe) "You Watchers have people in monasteries all over the world, don't you, Dawson?"

INT. The Sanctuary
(Connor in a large room, adjusting the belt around his robe. Two other monks exchange glances as they reach up to get books off a shelf, thus fortuitously revealing their Watcher tattoos.)

JOE (Voice over)
"We have to, to keep track of all of you guys. Observe and record, that's our motto."

(Two more monk-Watchers come into the room, exchange sneaky glances with the other two. Connor is looking for a book to read.)

METHOS (voice over)
(dryly) "And never interfere."

(One monk-Watcher asks Connor a question, and while he's answering, another injects him with a drug from behind. Connor tries to fight back, but the drug is kicking in.)

JOE (voice over)
(defensively) "Yeah, well ... sometimes, you gotta do more than just watch."

(The monk-Watchers hurriedly drag Connor down a short hallway, down some stairs, and through a hidden doorway, into a large basement room. Eight people are sitting strapped to machines with tubes and wires coming out, metal hoods on their heads.)

JOE (Voice over)
"And I recall saving your ass on occasion, Methos. You didn't have any complaints then."

(The Watchers take Connor's sword away. Connor is put in a chair, the wrist clamps are tightened, the metal hood comes down. Connor stops struggling.)

INT. Connor's house

METHOS
(Raising his glass to Joe) "No. No complaints."

DUNCAN
(lifting his glass, too.) "None from me, either, Dawson. Not about you."

METHOS
(checking his watch) "I suppose Connor's singing Vespers right about now."

JOE
"Safe on Holy Ground."

INT. The Sanctuary-the holding room
Connor and others sit silent and immobile in their chairs.

continued in Chapter 2