ACT I

FADE IN:

INT. SARA'S APARTMENT/KITCHEN - DAY

Sara pours a huge glass of water straight from the tap and drops two Alka-Seltzer into it. She starts gulping.

INT. TALISMANIAC OFFICES - DAY

Sara opens the door and enters.

SARA
Hey, Gabr --

She stops, hand still on the doorknob. The room is silent. No music. She looks around, draws her gun, closes the door quietly. She sneaks forward, toward the shelves.

Still creeping, she rounds a corner and runs smack into GABRIEL.

GABRIEL
Augh!

SARA
Geez!

GABRIEL
Sara! Dude! It's me! Put the
piece away.

SARA
(doing so)
What the hell is going on in
here? No stereo cranked to
eleven? I thought I was gonna
find you beat up, bound and
gagged in a corner.

GABRIEL
Hendrix blew one of my
tweeters last night. My stereo
guy's not open till later.

SARA
(joking)
Well, get it fixed soon, all
right? It's freaking me out.

GABRIEL
What's up?

SARA
What do you know about gemology?

GABRIEL
Gemology?

SARA
Yeah, like when you look at a
diamond under a microscope and
mark down all its little cracks
and stuff?

GABRIEL
Oh, like the G.I.A. Gemological
Institute of America. When you
buy an engagement ring or some
other expensive rock and they do
a little map of the flaws and
inclusions, for appraisals and
insurance, like.

SARA
Yeah.
(re: Witchblade)
Has anybody ever done something
like that for this?

Gabriel raises his eyebrows. He chews it over.

GABRIEL
I guess we could check the
Vatican Archives and see --

SARA
Vatican's no good.

GABRIEL
How do you know?

FLASHBACK:

Fr. Del Toro, smiling condescendingly.

END FLASHBACK

SARA
Um. Call it a hunch.

GABRIEL
Hunch. Right. So, why do you need
a gem map? You think somebody's
been messing with that thing?

Sara removes the bracelet and tries to hand it to him. He flinches away. She rolls her eyes and shoves it into his hands, then turns a craning work lamp on and moves it so the light shines through the stone.

SARA
(pointing)
There. That thing. I don't think
it was there before.

INSERT - THE VEIN

BACK TO SCENE

GABRIEL
Huh.

He hands it back quickly.

GABRIEL
When'd you notice it?

SARA
This morning.

GABRIEL
Well, I'll see what I can find
out.

SARA
Thanks. Owe you one.

GABRIEL
You mean "another one."

She grins at him and exits.

INT. POLICE STATION/SARA'S OFFICE - DAY

DANNY and JAKE are shuffling through some files when Sara enters, blowing on a styrofoam cup of coffee.

DANNY
Ah! Sleeping Beauty has arisen!

SARA
You wanna come a little closer and
repeat that?

DANNY
Yeow.
(to Jake)
She's a little testy before her
fourth cup of coffee.

JAKE
What's she like after?

DANNY
Wired and testy.

SARA
(re: files)
What've we got here?

She opens the file on her desk, puts down the cup, and starts rubbing her stomach, just below the ribs.

DANNY
Dead guy du jour. Jess Hamilton,
twenty-two years old --

SARA
Jess Hamilton? As in Heismann
winner Jess Hamilton?

DANNY
The one and only.

SARA
Aw, geez, I hate the face cases.

JAKE
Face cases?

DANNY
Dead celebrities. All the hassles
of a regular homicide, plus the
added pleasure of the press
jumping all over you.

SARA
So what happened to the guy?

DANNY
Dropped dead in the bathroom of
some bar. No witnesses. Po's
still working on the body.

SARA
Wait a sec. If he just "dropped
dead," why'd they send it up to
homicide?

DANNY
It's a face case.

SARA
No, it's total crap, and I'm gonna
tell Siri that my --

INSERT - BLACK, FIRE-BREATHING DRAGON

BACK TO SCENE

Sara doubles over, clutching her stomach.

SARA
Ow! Damn!

DANNY
You okay, Pez?

SARA
Yeah. Just my stomach's bugging
me.

JAKE
What'd you have for breakfast?

SARA
(re: coffee)
You're lookin' at it.

JAKE
Maybe that's the problem. You
should eat something in the
morning.

SARA
Yeah, okay, Mom.

Jake looks to Danny for backup, but Danny just throws his hands up and shrugs.

SARA
Has Po run a tox screen yet?

DANNY
I'm sure she's gonna. You thinkin'
he OD'd?

SARA
Star athlete, prime of his life,
drops dead? Yeah, I'm thinking
steroid poisoning.

INT. IRONS' INNER SANCTUM - DAY

Ian, wearing a black gi, practices T'ai Chi.

INT. POLICE STATION/HALLWAY - DAY

Danny, Jake, and Sara (a little behind them) head down the hall. They pass Ian doing T'ai Chi in an empty office.

Sara double takes. No one there. She frowns and walks on.

INSERT - MICROSCOPE'S EYE VIEW OF DAMAGED EPITHELIAL CELLS

PO (O.S.)
Well, the kid was ingesting
something funny.

INT. POLICE STATION/MORGUE - DAY

The trio stand around VICKY PO, who looks up from her microscope.

PO
His stomach lining's shredded.
Looks like ulcers.

JAKE
(sotto voce)
Maybe he never ate breakfast.

Sara shoots him a look. He feigns innocence.

DANNY
What'd the tox screen show?

PO
None of the usual suspects.

SARA
No steroids, pep pills, nothing?

PO
Like I said, none of the usual.
I'm gonna broaden the screen.

JAKE
Y'know, I don't think he was on
anything.

SARA
And you base this expert opinion
on...?

JAKE
Look, just because I guy's in
shape -- okay, in outstanding
shape -- doesn't mean he was
taking junk to do it. None of
the guys I knew ever took stuff.

SARA
You never took anything, Mister
Cowabunga?

JAKE
Never.

SARA
Ginseng? Ephedra?

JAKE
That's different. Those are herbs.
They're harmless.

PO
Actually, five or six people die
of ephedra-induced heart attacks
every year.
(beat)
But he wasn't taking any.

DANNY
Thanks, Po. Let us know if
anything comes up.

Sara and Danny turn to go, Jake following.

SARA
Meanwhile, I think this case lands
at the bottom of the pile.

DANNY
I agree.

JAKE
Okay, what if it was drugs, but
somebody slipped him something?

SARA
What, like a super-roofie?

JAKE
Could happen.

SARA
Anyone ever slip you a super-
roofie, Jake?

JAKE
Forget it.

INT. POLICE STATION/HALLWAY - CONTINUOUS

The three continue on.

DANNY
Okay, so there's three of us and
three jobs to do. Who wants
paperwork, who wants to tell Siri
we're cutting it loose, and who
gets to deal with the press?

SARA
Siri!

JAKE
Paperwork!

DANNY
Aw, guys, come on. Pez --

SARA
Don't even think it, Danny --

INSERT - THE DRAGON

INSERT - SARA'S EYE AS THE PUPIL BLOWS WIDE

INSERT - A LAUGHING FACE, SMEARED WITH ASHES, MOUTH FULL OF ROTTING TEETH

BACK TO SCENE

Sara collapses like a rag doll, leaning forward over her splayed legs, eyes half closed. Danny and Jake lunge for her.

JAKE
Pez! Pez!

DANNY
Jake. Water.

Jake nods and takes off down the hall. Danny takes Sara's face in his hands, tilts her head back, forces open an eye. He sees the blown pupils.

DANNY
(quietly)
Aw, geez, Pez.
(yelling)
Somebody call an ambulance!

Behind Danny, totally unnoticed, Ian emerges from one wall, crosses the hall, and disappears through the opposite wall.

Sara shudders. Her pupils contract. She looks at Danny, bewildered, as Jake returns with a paper cup.

SARA
Danny, wh -- what's going on?

JAKE
You fainted.

DANNY
You collapsed. It looked like a
seizure.

SARA
"Seizure"? Cut it out, Danny. I
just got dizzy.

DANNY
Pez, your eyes --

SARA
I probably just picked up that bug
that's going around.

DANNY
What bug?

SARA
("not now")
You know. The bug.

She struggles to her feet. Jake holds out the water, but she pushes it away.

SARA
One of you is gonna have to face
the wrath of Siri. I'm gonna go
home, try to shake this off.

JAKE
Lemmie take you.

SARA
Jake, I'm fine.

JAKE
You shouldn't be riding that bike
around like this.

SARA
Here. Take my keys.
(gives them)
I'll walk. Get some fresh air.
Well, fresh-ish.

JAKE
Pez --

SARA
Danny, do me a favor. Explain the
part to Jake about how he's not
the boss of me.

She walks out.

EXT. POLICE STATION/PARKING LOT -CONTINUOUS

Sara comes outside. Seeing that she's alone, her nonchalant mask drops, and she lets herself look a little shaken.

EXT. STREET - CONTINUOUS

Sara walks along, on guard. She checks the Witchblade every few seconds.

She sees Ian standing in an alley. She looks away quickly and walks faster.

She sees him again, ahead, beneath a grocery store awning. How'd he do that? She crosses the street away from him.

Again, he's there on the corner. Near a run now, she speeds into --

EXT. PARK - CONTINUOUS

Looking around wildly, breathing hard. She clutches her stomach again and stumbles over to a bench. She flops onto it, checks the Witchblade again.

INSERT - STONE

The vein has grown a new branch, now a little red "Y."

BACK TO SCENE

Sara puts her head between her knees. Her cell phone rings. She fumbles for it and brings it between her knees to her ear.

SARA
(muffled)
Pezzini.

INT. TALISMANIAC - CONTINUOUS

Gabriel, hooking up his new speaker.

GABRIEL
Hey. It's Gabriel.
(beat)
Sara?

INTERCUT - PARK/TALISMANIAC

SARA
Yeah.

GABRIEL
You okay? You sound funny.

SARA
Oh, we're all sunshine and puppies
over here. What's up?

GABRIEL
I got some stuff. Photos from the
Nazi era, couple of paintings,
which probably aren't as accurate,
but -- well, anyway, looks like
you're right. That thing is new,
whatever it is.
(beat)
Sara?

SARA
Gabriel?

GABRIEL
What?

SARA
Do you have a car?

GABRIEL
Uh, yeah, sort of. It's a total
P.O.S., but --

SARA
Doesn't matter. Think you can come
get me?

GABRIEL
Sure. Something wrong with the
bike?

SARA
Bike's fine.
(beat)
I don't think I can stand up.

FADE OUT.

END ACT I