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Leverage Main | When Darkness Falls

4x01 The Long Way DownJob
[Mt Kilbari, Alaska]

Alan: Hey, pumpkin. By the time you get this we'll be out of base camp and about half way to Camp 14. Weather's good, not a lot of wind, it's perfect visibility, it's just... well… I know you had to "work" but you are missing a real great climb. I love you.


[Base Camp]

(Nate stands in the middle of a mountain climbing base camp as Eliot pulls up on a snowmobile. He raises his glasses and stalks over to Nate)

Eliot: Well, this ain't Boston, is it?

Nate: Good to see you, too, Eliot.

Eliot: Two weeks we're supposed to lay low, Nate!

Nate: Now, you climbed in the service, right?

Eliot: Two weeks after San Lorenzo, all right? There's a reason we follow rules.

Nate: This job has a specific window of opportunity.


[McRory’s Bar]

(Nate and Karen are watching Alan’s video on an iPad)

Alan: But you are missing a really great climb. I love you.

Karen: That was the last time I ever heard his voice. He disappeared in that storm, and they never found the body.

Nate: Why don't you tell me about him? (takes drink)

Karen: Alan grew up on a Kansas farm. He said the first time he climbed a mountain, it was like going to another world. We met climbing. Put himself through college and started his own investment firm to help small businesses like his family's farm. Then about five years ago, he partnered with Merced Financial Services, John Drexel's company. That's Drexel, third over.

(Nate uses iPad to pull up picture of a group of mountain climbers)

Nate: He's the guy that races cars, right?

Karen: Mm, he races anything that goes fast and costs a lot. He also climbs mountains. He liked that Alan could climb, so he took him on a bunch of his expeditions.

Nate: Uh, listen, I am sorry. I, um, I'm not sure I can help you with this--

Karen: There's something's wrong at Merced Financial, okay? One division, the mortgage investments, Alan said they were seizing properties he wasn't even sure they owned, that they were signing foreclosure forms without even reading them.

Nate: Oh, yeah. Robo-signing. Yeah, that's what they call it. What they do is they sign a thousand foreclosures, and they bet that the homeowners don't have the money to fight the case. Now, the courts, they'll stop it, if your husband had proof.

Karen: After he disappeared, our house was broken into. Our computer was stolen. His e-mails are wiped.

Nate: Is there any... I don't know... paper trail?

Karen: Not at our house. But there may be one place no one's looked.


[Main Tent]

(Nate and Eliot enter to find a group of people milling about, chatting and drinking)

Eliot: This is not what I expected.

Nate: Climbing is a rich man's playground. These people pay 50 grand to get choppered halfway up the mountain, then they climb to the peak, having a dozen guides carrying their luggage.

Sophie (joins them): Pay enough, they'll carry you to the top. Literally. Hello, Nate.


[Flashback]

(Nate lying in bed in his underwear, Sophie pops up holding the sheet to her chest, obviously naked)

Sophie: Uh-oh.


[Main Tent]

Nate: Sophie.

Sophie: I've heard of denial, but climbing a mountain to avoid talking about...

(Hardison hugs Eliot and doesn’t let him go)

Eliot: Let go.

Hardison: I'm just so damn cold.

Eliot: I don't care, man.

Hardison: Just please set me on fire. Do something. I'm all shivering, and I think one of my nipples fell off, 'cause the sensation... man...

Eliot: Don't tell me stuff like that!

Parker: Tell him what?

Hardison: Nothing. Hey, girl.

(Hardison goes to hug her, but she pushes him away)

Parker: Hey.

Nate: Okay, Parker, listen. You can climb a mountain, right?

Parker: I climb skyscrapers. You can walk up a mountain.

Eliot: It's not the same. Are there avalanches on skyscrapers?

Parker: No. But that would be so cool.

Sophie: Just how dangerous is this gig you took without checking with us first?

Nate: Yeah. Eh...


[Leverage Headquarters]

Hardison: Ridiculously dangerous! It's like a danger cupcake with murder icing. Man, that is 20,000 feet high. Only half the people who try actually make it to the top.

Nate: But t-t-they figure that Alan Scott died on the way back down, just hours above the base camp here. (uses computer to illustrate)

Hardison: I'm sorry... died on the way down? That's why black people don't climb nothin'! You know there's like a hundred dead people scattered all over that rock. That's nasty. (pulls up an article about millionaires barely escaping death) These millionaires, man, they go up these mountains just to have fun, and people die trying to drag their ass back down. But, oh, happy day, because the rich guy got saved.

Nate: Now, Alan Scott. They were the last ones on the mountain last winter, right?

Hardison: Yeah, the storm our guy disappeared in shut down the mountain for three months.

Nate: So we got a shot at this. Now, if we get there the day the mountain reopens, we can find him before anyone else has a chance.

Hardison: Fi-find him? Find the dead guy?

Nate: Well, not him, exactly.


[Base Camp]

(Nate pulls up picture and zooms in on Alan’s pockets where a notebook is in view)

Nate: Okay, so, this notebook right here, this contains his findings on the mortgage fraud, all right? Now, the rest of these teams, they're in a holding pattern until the blizzard clears. But, Parker, Eliot, you're gonna go up now.

(Eliot and Parker exchange looks and nods)

Sophie: Look, this is really, really sad, and I'm sorry, but we're gonna climb a mountain to find an executive's diary?

Nate: Merced Financial Services is taking 100 homes a day. That's 100 families out on the street a day. They're either too afraid or too broke to fight this thing.

Eliot: I agree with Sophie. This widow doesn't need thieves for a rescue mission.

Hardison: It's not even a rescue mission. The dude is dead, Nate. It's treasure hunting.

Nate: I—

(Drexel enters the tent, crowd claps)

Drexel: Thank you very much. Come on, a man's not a camel. Where's my bloody drink?

Nate: Now, listen to me. She needs thieves because this is not a treasure hunt. She needs thieves because this is a race.


[Base Camp]

(team except Sophie walks across the base camp)

Nate: All right, so, Hardison and I are gonna run things from the communications tent, which is just over here.

Hardison: Yeah, see, I'm officially working on a project for the U.S. meteorological survey. That means that I have access to the comm relays, the satellite, Internet, uh, the cell-tower repeater. Nobody talks to anybody on or off this mountain unless we want them to.

(several men in red walk by)

Eliot: Who are these guys in red?

Nate: They're forest rangers. They're why we, uh, have this window of opportunity. Drexel's team has to be cleared to officially hit the trail. That'll take a couple hours.

Eliot: So we're unofficial.

Nate: Uh, very.


[Communications Tent]

Hardison: Guys, Mr. Scott's parka had a locator beacon inside. Now, the signal's not strong enough to reach all the way down to base camp, but with this receiver, (tosses receiver to Eliot) the closer you get to him, the louder the ping. Now, I'll do my best to lead you to his last-known location.

Parker: What about Drexel?

Nate: That's Sophie's job. She's gonna keep Drexel off the mountain, distract him. You okay with that, Sophie?


[Main Tent]

Sophie: Nate, I'm at a party full of drunk millionaires far from home who are dizzy from lack of oxygen. It's like grifter Christmas in here.


[Communications Tent]

Nate: Okay, people. Let's go steal a mountain.

Parker: Again.

Nate: What?

Parker: Again. We already stole a mountain two years ago.

Nate: Really?

Well, technically, it was a mountain resort, not a mountain, but, yeah.

Hardison: You were also very drunk on that one.

Nate: Uh...


[Main Tent]

Drexel: Ladies and gentlemen, we're climbing this mountain, I am climbing this mountain to honor the people, especially my dear friend Alan Scott, who died here doing exactly what they loved to do, proving to the world that with determination and preparation, nothing is impossible, which is what Merced Financial Services is all about. It's a company where adversity is overcome.

Sophie: Wow. He is a piece of work.

Drexel: It is a company...

Sophie: Nate, when are Eliot and Parker in play?

Drexel: …here we're always trying to get to the top.


[Base Camp]

Nate: Any second now. Listen, you get caught up there, just call. I'll suit up.

Eliot: You'll suit up? You shouldn't even be up here.

Nate: No, I'm fine.

Eliot: We're at 8,000 feet already, Nate. Altitude sickness kicks in here, all right? You know the symptoms?

Nate: Headache, nausea, dizziness, fatigue.

Eliot: Exactly. Sounds a lot like alcohol withdrawal, doesn't it? So, what do you think it is? You think it's the booze? Or you think it's the blood boiling inside your skull?

Nate: Hey, Eliot, you know, if you can't handle this, you know--

Eliot: I can handle it just fine, Nate. But every second you're on this mountain, your clock is ticking. You're very good at what you do, but you can't con a mountain. (walks away)

Nate: I'll be fine.

(Hardison and Parker exit the communications tent)

Hardison: I'm just saying, I should go up that mountain with you.

Parker: You want to climb?

Hardison: Yeah.

Parker: A mountain?

[Flashback]

(Parker pushes Hardison off a building and he screams the entire way down, stopping upside down. She easily lowers herself next to him and they look at each other)

Hardison: Seriously?

(another scene of Hardison falling from a building, coming up short upside down. A third scene shows him tangled up in his line)


[Base Camp]

Parker: And that last one was a 10-foot drop!

Hardison: Okay. Fine. I just think I should keep an eye on you.

Parker: Keep an eye on me?

Hardison: Well, not... you... you and Eliot. It's a dangerous mountain. There could be some polar bears or ill-tempered Eskimos, like...

Parker: This isn't gonna become a thing, is it?

Hardison: W-what? No. Pl... no. No. This is… not. Whatever "this" is.

Parker: Oh. Yeah.

Hardison: Okay.

(Hardison holds his arms out for a hug)

Parker: Okay. Okay. (walks away)

(Eliot hugs Hardison)

Eliot: All right. (walks away) Let's roll.

Nate: What? What are you doing?

Hardison: At least Eliot gave me a hug.

Karen: Mr. Ford?

Nate: Oh, no. (turns around) Mrs. Scott, what are you doing here?

Karen: Hey. What?


[Mountain Side]

(Eliot and Parker, tied to each other, struggle through deep snow to climb the mountain in a fierce snow storm)


[Communications Tent]

Karen: I'm an experienced climber! I know my husband! I know the routes he would've taken!

Nate: No. You're emotionally involved. It leads to bad decisions.

Hardison: I'm sorry. Did you just say that? With a straight face?

Nate: Not helpful. Not helpful at all. Now, listen... Drexel, if he sees you up here, he's gonna figure out what we're doing, and we're gonna lose the only advantage that we have. All right, so, you can watch us, listen to us. (puts earbud in her ear) But you have to trust us and just let us do what we do. (sits her down in a chair) Okay. Where are they?

Hardison: They're pretty far up already.

Karen: They're gonna burn out at that pace.

Nate: We don't need them to actually reach the peak. We just need them to get where we think your husband is. If they need to, they can take pictures of the notebook and send it to us.

Hardison: No, they can't. You see this line right here? (points to monitor) Anything above that point, the signal's too weak for data. It's voice only.

Nate: Great. So we have to physically bring the notebook down?

Hardison: Yes, indeed.

Nate: Wonderful.


[Main Tent]

Sophie: Looks like Drexel's team is getting ready. How hard do you want me to run them?


[Communications Tent]

Nate: Sophie, listen, it's a straight stall. Nothing fancy.


[Main Tent]

Sophie: Well, I need to know the teams if I'm gonna run the game.


[Communications Tent]

Hardison: I got you, Soph. Anybody who goes up that mountain, they have to register with park service, so...

Sophie: No, no, no, not names and numbers.


[Main Tent]

Sophie: Personalities. Feelings. Karen, you climb, right?

Karen: Yeah.


[Communications Tent]

Karen: Yeah.

Sophie: Big sweaters, very cheerful.

Karen: That's team Strausse. The bald one is Hans Strausse.


[Main Tent]

Karen: Acquisitions and mergers for some giant German bank. He's very flirty.

(Sophie walks over to Strausse and smiles)

Sophie: Guten Tag.

Strausse: Mochten sie etwas schnapps? (offers her a drink)

Sophie: Mmm. Ja. Danke.

(she drains the glass and continues on)

Sophie: Japanese climbers.


[Communications Tent]

Karen: That's Hiro Miyashta with Makino Finance, a big investment firm, one of Drexel's main competitors. They offered Alan a job a few times.


[Main Tent]

Sophie: Konichiwa.

Miyashta: Konichiwa.


[Communications Tent]

Karen: That's odd. They're usually at the Alps this time of year. Miyashta's a very serious climber.


[Main Tent]

Miyashta: The mountain is more beautiful now that you are here.

Sophie: Ooh. Very serious about finding out what's inside my sweater, anyway. And the Aussies?


[Communications Tent]

Hardison: Oh, just some celebrities, rich kids of rich people, people who own newspapers…


[Main Tent]

Hardison: …stuff like that.

Karen: Tourist climbers. Drexel's friends.

(Drexel holds up a bottle of champagne as Sophie picks his pocket)

Woman: Yes! Bring it over!

Sophie: It's really just an excuse to jet around the world partying.


[Communications Tent]

Karen: It's one big worldwide party.


[Main Tent]

Sophie: Well, then, let's get invited. Hardison, I need a Paris phone number redirected to my phone.

Hardison: Got it.


[Communications Tent]

Hardison: Bellefleur. Number is... 06-36-37-84-75.


[Main Tent]

Sophie programs the number into Drexel’s phone)

Sophie: Nate, I could use your help. This play's much better in pairs.

Nate: Yeah, uh...


[Communications Tent]

Nate: No, no. I-I think that I should probably just, uh, stay here. It's easier to monitor Parker and Eliot. Besides, it's good that there's one face he hasn't seen.


[Main Tent]

(Sophie takes a provocative picture of herself with Drexel’s phone)


[Communications Tent]

Karen: What's she doing?

Nate: Uh, she is meeting Drexel for the second time.


[Main Tent]

(Sophie puts Drexel’s phone back in his pocket and taps him on the shoulder. When he turns, she slaps him)

Drexel: Ohh!

Sophie: Cochon!

Drexel: Uh, excuse me. Do you know who I am?

Sophie: Oui. But do you know who I am? No.

Drexel: W-we've never met.

Sophie: Huh. Vraiment? Mount Rainier. We have the hot toddies. "Oh, Mina, come to my tent. I'll warm you up." No? You don't call me?

Drexel: I don't have your number.

Sophie: Vraiment? "Oh, Mina, you type it for me." (mimicking typing on phone) "I'm too drunk to touch the little buttons."

(Drexel checks his phone and finds Sophie’s picture and a number)

Drexel: Well, I guess we have met before.

Sophie: Yes, we have met. Get me a drink, I help you remember.


[Communications Tent]

Karen: She's kind of scary.

Nate: You have no idea.


[Mountain Side]

(Eliot and Parker still climbing in the snow, approaching a half buried tent)

Eliot: We're coming up on an orange tent and supplies. Could this be Alan Scott's tent?

Hardison: No, man. That's a high camp.


[Communications Tent]

Hardison: They're like little supply depots scattered all the way up the mountain. First aid, oxygen, water, that sort of thing.

(Karen is blowing on her fingers, cold. Hardison looks at the monitors)

Hardison: All right, Nate, Alan Scott's last-known communication with base camp…


[Mountain Side]

(Parker unzips the tent and looks inside)

Hardison: …was at north 63 degrees, 6 minutes, 56 seconds, and west 150 degrees, 44 minutes, 34 seconds.


[Communications Tent]

Hardison: Okay, that high-camp elevation is 10,000 feet..

(Nate turns on a heater for Karen)

Hardison: …which means that Eliot and Parker should be getting a ping off of his beacon. But it's-it's just nothing. I'm thinking I need to send another transmitter up there to help triangulate Scott's beacon.

(Nate picks up a transmitter and looks at it thoughtfully)

Nate: No, no, we can't send another climber on the ridge, no.

Eliot: You sure about that?

(Nate puts the transmitter down. Karen looks at it)

Nate: What do you mean?


[Mountain Side]

Eliot: 'Cause I got a footprint. Russian. Spetsnaz.

Parker: Seriously?

Eliot: It's a very distinctive footprint.

(they walk away from the tent. Higher on the mountain, Dimitri watches them through binoculars)


[Communications Tent]

(Karen picks up her helmet and the transmitter)

Nate: Drexel had the same idea we had. Um, Eliot, Parker, be careful. You've got some competition up there. Sophie, what's Drexel's status?


[Main Tent]

Sophie: All good. Going nowhere.

Drexel: What was that?

Sophie: Comment? Ohh. Who are you texting, huh? You have another woman?

Drexel: Listen to you. Nah. When you're the boss of a company, you don't get much time off. But I tell you what, I will have some more spare time to do some traveling, maybe, uh, get to Paris a bit more often.


[Communications Tent]

Hardison: A text is great. The text he sent that other guy is gonna have to transfer here through my cell repeater, which means I can find our Russian, who is not on the mountain.

Nate: What do you mean?

Hardison: This doesn't make any sense. The text he just sent went to a cellphone at the base-camp tent.

(a picture comes up on the monitor)

Nate: Miyashta. He sent a text to his competitor.

Sophie: Any suggestions, Nate?

Nate: I...

(Nate looks around and sees that Karen is missing)

Nate: No. I have a more pressing problem at the moment.


[Base Camp]

(Nate finishes suiting up)

Hardison: You were right. She took the other receiver. What are you doing?

Nate: I'm going after her. You got a signal?

Hardison: Yeah. Yeah, she took the same route Eliot and Parker took. She's gonna swing north to triangulate Scott's signal, and... w-wait. Are-are-are you crazy? Come on, man. She's an experienced climber. Are you kidding me?

Nate: Yeah, h-here's what I want you to do. I want you to get financials on Miyashta's company, cross-reference them with the work you've done on Drexel's, and-and give it all to Sophie. All right, Sophie, this is on you. You got to figure out what he's up to.


[Main Tent]

Sophie: Do not do this. As if you ever listen to me.


[Base Camp]

(Hardison watches Nate walk away)

Hardison: He's gonna die. Eliot, Parker, I need y'all to double back and stop him. Can you?


[Mountain Side]

(Eliot and Parker continue to climb)

Eliot: We're a little busy here, Hardison.


[Main Tent]

Sophie: There's definitely something going on. What'd you find out in the accounts?


[Communications Tent]

Hardison: There's been some big stock transfers, like Miyashta. See, this is something you would see before a-a big corporate takeover. But that's impossible. I mean, there have been no rumors about a buyout this big.


[Main Tent]

Sophie: Drexel did say he was gonna have a lot more spare time. Check the climber registrations. Find out which of Miyashta's guys are on the mountain for the first time.


[Communications Tent]

Hardison: Most of them. They don't have a lot of climbing experience, either.

Sophie: That's because they're not climbers.


[Main Tent]

Sophie: They're lawyers. This is a buyout. (Sophie takes off her vest and puts on a coat from a rack) All right.


[Communications Tent]

Sophie: This is perfect. Mountain camp. There's no reporters. There are no other employees.


[Main Tent]

(Sophie pulls her hair back and grabs glasses from another jacket)

Sophie: This is the perfect place for secret negotiations. Drexel is... He's selling the company.

Hardison: He sells the company, and then all those mortgage records…


[Communications Tent]

Hardison: …disappear into a Japanese corporation, where the privacy laws are tighter than the Swiss.


[Main Tent]

(Sophie puts the hood up on the jacket she’s wearing)

Sophie: Yeah, Drexel gets paid and away scot-free. Hardison, you shut down his phone.

[Communications Tent]

Sophie: He cannot check his stock or his messages for this to work. I'm changing the game.

(Hardison begins typing)


[Main Tent]

(Sophie approaches Strausse looking angry)

Sophie: Hey! Ein schnapps bitte. (she takes glass from Strausse and downs it) Mmm!

Strausse: You are not happy.

Sophie: Damn right I'm not. My company came this close to snapping up Merced Financial, and then Miyashta swoops in like a white knight. The second they announce, the stock's gonna go through the roof, and we'll never be able to buy him up. That's six months of my life just wasted! I'm sorry. I didn't even catch your name.

Strausse: Hans. I am... just a climber.

(Strausse walks away and begins talking to other Germans)

Sophie: Nate? Nate?


[Mountain Side]

(Nate approaches the high mountain camp and collapses as he reaches it. Struggling up, he manages to get inside)


[Main Tent]

Sophie: Somebody say something.

(Strausse checks his phone and looks disturbed)


[Mountain Side]

(Nate takes canister of oxygen out of the tent and takes a deep breath in the mask)

Nate: Where is she, Hardison?


[Communications Tent]

Hardison: She is right ahead of you. Now, see, her receiver's working. And between her and Parker's receiver, I'm getting a fix on Alan Scott's location, but, I mean, she's got to know that she's high enough. Why does she keep climbing?


[Mountain Side]

Nate: Because she has to. We better find her, or you're gonna be hauling two bodies off this mountain instead of one. (continues up mountain)


[Mountain Side]

(Eliot and Parker continue climbing)


[Communications Tent]

Hardison: Okay, look, thanks to Mrs. Scott, I have a fix on her husband, but the location is way, way off from the location that Drexel gave the rescue crews. Does anybody else think something really bad went down that night?


[Mountain Side]

Eliot: Wha-- Here? Are you kidding me?! There's nothing here!

Hardison: Yes. No, no. It's... it's... it's got to be there.


[Communications Tent]

Hardison: It's... it's the only location for the body to logically be.


[Mountain Side]

Eliot: Well, you're wrong.


[Communications Tent]

Hardison (looking at monitor): No, I am telling you, you are standing right on top of it.

Eliot: And I'm telling you--

[Mountain Side]

Eliot: --that how can we be here, if "here" isn't even here, all right?! We are literally standing in a field of snow!

(both Eliot and Parker look down, hearing a cracking sound)

Eliot: Crevasse!

Parker: Crevasse!

(they fall into a crevasse, snow and ice falling around them)


[Communications Tent]

Hardison: El... Eliot? Parker? Parker?! (monitor shows signals are lost)Oh, Nate. Nate, man. We got a problem. Nate, we... Nate?


[Mountain Side]

(Nate sees Karen lying in the snow and makes his way toward her)


[Communications Tent]

Hardison: Come on, Nate. Answer me, man. I-I need you to answer me. Nate? Nate!


[Mountain Side]

(Nate falls to his knees beside Karen and puts the oxygen mask to her face before passing out)


[High Mountain Tent]

(Nate wakes coughing in a tent with Karen nearby, wrapping her leg)

Karen: I woke up, dragged you down here to the high camp.

Nate: What happened?

Karen: I twisted it. Kept going on it, hyperventilated, and... then you found me. I would've died out there.

Nate: No, no, no. He would not have wanted that.

Karen: I was just so...

Nate: Angry?

Karen: He never got to say goodbye. And that isn't fair.

Nate: It's never fair. Listen to me. I know. I lost someone. You don't get "fair." You don't get closure or goodbye. So you take the anger. I've learned that the anger feels pretty good. Better than the grief. I know that the anger is the thing that gets me up, gets me going in the morning. But, you know, you have to be a little bit careful because if you let yourself be driven by the anger, it will blind you, and you will get into trouble over and over again just so that you can feel, just so you can... beat something.

Karen (crying): And what happens then?

Nate: Well, eventually, you... you run into something that your anger can't beat.

Karen: Like a mountain?

Nate: And you realize that your... your luck has run out. And it's a long way down.


[Crevasse]

(Parker and Eliot are lying still on the ground. Parker wakes first and flashes her light in Eliot’s face to wake him)

Parker: Hey.

Eliot: Stop it.

(They both get up and look around)

Eliot: That could've gone a lot worse.

(the lights shine on a bit of tarp on the far wall. They both get up and walk over to it. Parker nudges Eliot and he pulls the tarp off of Alan’s face. They take a good look at him)

Parker: His leg's broken.

Eliot: Fell through the ice, broke his leg. That was it. It's gonna be a bear getting us out of here, and there's two of us. One man by himself? Never stood a chance.

Parker: He died in here? Alone?

Eliot: They couldn't find his beacon. (goes over to body) The stone walls ate the signal. Then the storm sealed him in. (takes the notebook and puts it in his own coat) We got to get out of here. Inventory the equipment.

Parker: And him. We're getting him out, too.

Eliot: All right.


[Communications Tent]

Hardison: Nate? Eliot? Parker? (checking signals) Nate?


[Main Tent]

Hardison: Eliot? Parker?

Sophie: Stop it! You're driving me mad!

Hardison: Hey. Hey!


[Communications Tent]

Hardison: I am restraining from freaking out quite admirably.

Sophie: Just stay focused.


[Main Tent]

Sophie: Drexel's got no idea that his stock's going up, right?


[Communications Tent]

Hardison: No. The Germans are buying like crazy.


[Main Tent]

Sophie: Mr. Miyashta. Konichiwa.

Miyashta: Mr. Drexel's friend.

Sophie: Well, to be honest, I work for the London Examiner. I was just trying to get a straight answer out of him. But you know what he's like.

Miyashta: Ah, yes.

Sophie: So, any comment about this... this buyout?

Miyashta: I have no idea what you are talking about.

Sophie: From the Germans. Check the stock price.

(Miyashta checks his phone and looks worried)

Miyashta: Excuse me. (goes to talk to his people)

Sophie: I'm running out of cons here. Where are they?


[Crevasse]

(Parker looks at Alan’s phone)

Alan: Hey, pumpkin.

(Parker hits a button)

Parker: Battery's okay. Cold kept it good. There's another message. Should we watch it?

Eliot: That's for his wife, Parker. That's not for us.

(Parker joins Eliot by the opening)

Parker: Okay. So, how's this gonna work?

Eliot: We don't have enough time to put the screws into the ice. So I'm gonna send you up, and then you belay me up.

Parker: What about him?

Eliot: We'll put a rigging on him, try to pull the body up.

Parker: "Alan." And he's coming with us.

(Parker walks away. Eliot swings a rope with a claw on the end and throws it out of the crevasse, where it attaches to some snow and rocks)


[Communications Tent]

Hardison: Okay, I got a fix on Nate and Mrs. Scott's signal coming down the mountain. (checks display) But there's still no audio yet, and it looks like there's a big storm coming through, and it's bouncing radio signals all over the place.


[Main Tent]

Sophie: Let me know the second that you hear anything, okay?

(Drexel grabs Sophie’s arm and pulls her around)

Drexel: A word.

Sophie: Oui?

Drexel: Stop it. The Germans and the Japanese think I'm running a game on them. (Solphie jerks away) I can't get my office on the phone. I have no idea what's going on, but what I do know is you're in the middle of it.

Sophie: Check your stock price.

Drexel: I can't.

Sophie: Just give it a sec.

(Drexel checks his phone)

Drexel: What the hell is going on?

Sophie: Oh, dear. Miyashta's pulling out, which means the Germans are pulling out, which means your stock's gonna crash, and we can take your company.

Drexel: Nice accent. Now, who are you? And what do you want?

(Karen and Nate walk into the tent)

Drexel: Karen! What are you doing here? I mean... I mean, we're all so sorry.

Karen: Don't.

Sophie: Hey, baby! Ohh! Mmmmmm! (kisses him vigorously) I'm running the Moscow circus con, and you're the Ivan. Go.

Nate: Okay, I'm kind of dying of altitude sickness here.

Sophie: Well, then, do it quickly.


[Crevasse[

Parker: All right, I go up, set up a pulley...

Eliot: Assuming there's enough rope.

Parker: I then pull you up, then him.

Eliot: We're gonna dead-lift him out of here and then carry him back down the mountain? We're burning daylight, Parker.

Parker: Well, then, we better hurry.

(Parker begins but the rope snaps and she falls to the ground. Eliot hurries to her side)

Eliot: Parker! You all right?

Parker: I got it. I got it.

Eliot (looks at rope): The rope snapped. We're gonna be short. (turns to Alan’s body) I got to take the rigging off him. We need the rope.

Parker: No! (pushes him)

Eliot: Parker! No! - It's done!

Parker: No! This is what we're supposed to do! We're supposed to get him back to his wife! Nate would do it, Sophie would do it, Hardison would do it! (her voice breaking) They would do the right thing! I want to do the right thing! (crying)


[Main Tent]

Drexel: God. I am not buying any of this.

Nate: I don't care, okay? I can gut your company anytime I want, okay, nd pick up the pieces later. Look, the widow gave me the notebook. Okay? The account numbers, verything I need to prove that the majority of your mortgage assets aren't even yours... except, of course, the worthless ones.

Drexel: You're bluffing.

Nate: Okay. Have you heard from your Russian?

Drexel: Heh. What do you want?

Nate: What I want you to do is I just want you to wait a few hours. Just stall, okay, because we're getting into position to profit from Miyashta's announcement.

Drexel: When I get back, I want to see that notebook.

Nate: Yeah.


[Crevasse]

Eliot: Hey. It's a good thing it was us.

Parker: Because we'd leave him.

Eliot: Because they would've kept trying and they would've froze to death right next to him, especially Hardison. So it was a good thing it was us. The two of us, we do things they can't. Won't.

Parker: Does that make us bad?

Eliot: It makes us... us. Now, you can take that as a gift, or you can take it as a curse. And that's up to you.

(Eliot moves over to the rope and checks it. Parker joins him, then looks back toward the body)

Parker: Wait. I want to play that last message on his phone, just in case he wanted us to do something for him.

Eliot: Fair enough.

(parker pulls out Alan’s phone and hits buttons)

Alan (on phone): Attention, base camp.


[Communications Tent]

Eliot: Hardison!

Hardison: Ye... Yes?

(monitor shows Parker and Eliot’s location once more)

Hardison: Ye... Yes! Ye... wait. Parker. Parker? You there?


[Mountain Side]

(Parker and Eliot are walking through the snow)

Parker: Talking... uses... oxygen.

Hardison: Right.


[Communications Tent]

Hardison: Look, y'all, I just... (wiping eyes) I just want to say that y'all are my peoples, and...

Eliot: Hardison.

Hardison: You know, I was so scared.


[Mountain Side]

Eliot: Hardison, shut up! Listen to this. (hits buttons on phone)

Alan: Attention, base camp.


[Main Tent]

Nate: Now, let me get this straight. When I said... when I said "simple stall," you heard “multinational, high-finance feeding frenzy," right?

Sophie: Tomahto, tomato.

Hardison: Nate, I've got Eliot and Parker…


[Communications Tent]

Hardison: …coming down the mountain, and I've got something you need to hear.


[Main Tent]

Nate (puts hat back on): Go check on Karen.


[Base Camp]

Nate: Well, can you? No? Well, tell them to try again when they get to high camp!

(Drexel comes up and punches Nate)

Nate: What the hell was that for?

Drexel: Calling your bluff. Show me the notebook, or I'm closing the deal.

Nate: I'll have to go get the notebook.

Drexel: You haven't got it, have you?

(Nate looks at him)

Drexel: That's what I thought. Tell you what... if your team find it... if... I'll tell my fella not to kill them if they hand it over. Hell, he'll even give them a ride back down the mountain.


[Communications Tent]

(Nate stumbles in and falls into a chair)

Hardison: This is not going well for you.

Nate: I got, uh, some bad news and some good news. Bad news is Drexel knows we don't have the notebook yet.

Hardison: And the good news?

Nate: He said "give them a ride."


[Mountain Side]

(Eliot and Parker approach the high camp, where a snow mobile is parked near the tent Eliot stops and looks around)

Eliot: Now, where can he be?

(Eliot cautiously approaches the tent while motioning for Parker to stay near the snowmobile. As he gets to the tent, he stops and looks back at Parker)

Eliot: Parker!

(Dimitri springs from the snow and grabs Parker, putting a gun to her head)

Dimitri: Notebook. (in Russian) Drop it!

Parker: Eliot. No! The notebook is all we have!

(Eliot takes the notebook from his coat and throws it at Dimitri’s feet. Dimitri pushes Parker away and holds the gun on Eliot as he picks up the notebook and sets it on fire with a flare. He puts the flare in the snow and lays the notebook over it before getting on the snowmobile and driving away)


[Communications Tent]

Drexel: You! I got a snowmobile out there. Frequency 2-6-8. Get him on the line right now.

Hardison: Oh. Okay. 2-6-8. 2...

Drexel (into radio): Dmitri, you hear me?

(Dimitri’s location shows on the monitor)

Dimitri: I destroyed the notebook. Nothing but ashes.

Drexel: Good work. You get back here as fast as you can.

(Drexel leaves the tent and Hardison bends to the keyboard)

Hardison: Nate. Nate, we got a serious problem, man. A serious problem.


[Main Tent]

Drexel: I assure you, you will not regret this deal.

Miyashta: We are looking forward, Mr. Drexel.

Drexel: As am I. Domo arigato.

Miyashta: "Arigato."

(Nate and Karen walk into tent. Drexel salutes them. On the TV screens scattered through the tent, Alan’s video begins playing)

Alan: You are missing a really great climb. I love you. (video changes to in crevasse) Attention, base camp. I hope I'm in range. This is Alan Scott. I'm... I'm injured. I've found shelter in this cave. But I, ah, I don't think I'm gonna make it down. John... John cut my rope and let me fall.

Drexel: No. No. That... that didn't happen!

Alan: John Drexel cut my rope.

Drexel: Where is this coming from? Hmm.


[Flashback]

(Elot and Parker standing in the snow playing Alan’s video)

Alan: Attention, base camp.

Eliot: Can you copy that?

Hardison: No. I can barely hold your audio. Look, I need you to get it down the mountain in range of the broadband connection. Get it below the cutoff line.

(Parker is standing near the snowmobile)

Eliot: Parker!

(Dimitri springs from the snow and grabs Parker, holding a gun to her head. She looks calmly at Eliot and puts Alan’s phone in Dimitri’s pants pocket)


[Main Tent]

Dimitri (entering tent): Whew!

Alan: I fell back on the...

Drexel: You! (grabs Dimitri) What have you done?!

Dimitri (in Russian): I did what you told me to do.

Alan: And I broke my leg. And...

(Drexel pulls Alan’s phone from Dimitri’s pants)

Alan: …I saw him do it. I saw him. I don't think... I don't think he planned it, but...

(Park Rangers come forward and grab Dimitri, wrestling him from the tent)

Ranger: You're under arrest. Let's go.

Alan: But he saw me talking to the other executives.

(Drexel sees the Park Rangers pulling Dimitri from the tent)

Drexel: Hey. Hey. What-this is just hearsay.

(more Park Rangers enter the tent)

Nate: A dying declaration... admissible in court.

Alan: When he saw his chance to get rid of me, he took it.

Ranger 2: Come with us, Mr. Drexel.

(Park Rangers grab Drexel and drag him toward the entrance)

Drexel: You can't do this to me! Bug off!

(Park Rangers get him outside as Parker and Eliot enter the tent)

Alan: There must be a lot more than what I found.

Sophie: Hardison, how are you doing this?


[Communications Tent]

Hardison: I'm not. Dude just tried to e-mail this the night he died, and it all sat on his phone until it could connect. Alan Scott is getting back at the man who killed him.


[Main Tent]

Alan: I'm e-mailing it to you now. I only hope that there's enough signal strength for it to get through. Uh... Karen.

(Karen looks at monitor as tears fall from Alan’s eyes)

Alan: Karen, if you get this, sweetie, everybody that goes up a mountain rehearses this speech in their head. And, um... I guess it-it...

(Karen and Sophie try not to cry as on the monitor Alan breaks down)

Alan: I guess it just comes down to this. I love you. I just... I just love the hell out of you. And I always have. So don't come up here looking for me, because I'm not up here. I am right there next to you, wherever you are. Okay? I love you, pumpkin.

Karen: I love you, too.

(Karen begins crying. Sophie wipes her eyes))

Eliot: You did it. You brought him back to her.

(Eliot exits the tent as Hardison enters)

Hardison: Uh... hey.

(Hardison hits her on the shoulder awkwardly. She throws herself into his arms)


[Leverage Headquarters]

(Hardison grabs an orange pop from the refrigerator)

Parker: You realize this isn't going to be normal, right?

Hardison: You know, my nana used to say that what's normal is whatever works for you. We all work okay.

Parker: I should meet your nana.

Hardison: Yeah, you should. She's ni... Wait. What? No, I mean, mnh-mnh.

(Hardison and Parker walk toward the table as Eliot finishes preparing plates with Sophie)

Eliot: Hey, good job on Drexel, by the way.

Sophie: Ohh.

Eliot: I've never seen you use that opening before.

Sophie: The trick is to gauge whether he's the type of guy to forget his conquests. You know, it's all in that split second when they can't quite remember. They clench their jaw, they stammer, they wave their arms around. It's a dead giveaway.

(Sophie and Eliot reach the table as Nate comes down the stairs)

Nate: So, I see we're all eating together again, uh, at my table in my home.

Sophie: Nate, um...

Nate: No, good, good.

Sophie: A word.

(she walks over to meet him away from the table as the others sit down)

Sophie: Look, we're both adults, right? And it took us a long time to reach an equilibrium, as it were.

Nate: That's a lot of words.

Sophie: And it was very memorable.

Nate: It was. I agree. Never happened.

Sophie: Never happened.

Nate: Mnh-mnh.

Sophie: And we don't tell...

Nate: Never tell them.

Sophie: Mm-hmm.

Nate: Oh, good.

Sophie: Hey.

Nate: All right.

Sophie: But listen... you may as well start calling me by my real name. Oh, it's a bit silly pretending you don't know it, after that night.

Nate: Oh, no, no, no, no. It's just... You know, if I do that, they're gonna... I mean, they're... (glances behind him at team) they're gonna know that something's, you know, c-c-changed. They'll figure it out.

Sophie: Yeah, maybe.

Nate: You know. Definitely. Definitely. Yeah, just, uh...

(behind Nate, Hardison is looking up into a light fixture, checking against something on his phone)

Nate: No, I... I'll call you Sophie, okay? That's safest.

Sophie: Uh-huh.

Nate: Really.

Sophie: Right. So, if I was to ask you...

Hardison: Better call the exterminator (pulls something from the light) 'cause you got bugs.

(Sophie and Nate walk to the table)

Sophie (taking bug): I thought you swept the place.

Hardison: I did. It's a passive-burst transmitter. It's the kind I use. Whoever this is, they got game.

Nate: You're gonna have to sweep the whole place again.

Hardison: I'm on it.

Nate: Somebody's taking a run at us.

Eliot: Sterling.

Sophie: Could be Starke. (passes bug to Parker)

Parker: Or maybe Damien Moreau had friends. (passes bug to Nate)

Nate: Yeah, or my father or the Irish mob or any one of, what, 50-odd millionaires that we've tricked, imprisoned, or generally ticked off.

Eliot: Let's face it. We've pulled off some pretty big jobs. That puts us at the top of everybody's list.

Parker: And when you're that high up...

Nate: It's a long way down.

The End

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