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Leverage Main | When Darkness Falls

4x11 The Experimental Job
[Interior Cell]

Schaevel (holding his head): Make it stop! Make it stop! Aaaah! (looks out) Let me out! I won't die in here! (throws his bunk against the wall) You hear me?! (starts pounding on the wall and trashing his cell) Aah! (throws himself against the door and escapes, running up a flight of stairs)


[Fraternity Living Room]

(Schaevel bursts into the room from a doorway, obviously overwrought and unable to see or think clearly. The group of young adults stare and laugh at him as he moves through the room, bumping into people and knocking things over)

Schaevel: Help me! Help! Help me!

(Schaevel grabs at his chest and falls to the floor, dead. Everyone in the room gathers around him, looking down at his body)

Girl: Is he, like, homeless or something?

Travis: Not anymore.


[Bridge]

(two men carry Schaevel’s body across a bridge)

Man 1 (to Travis): You all right, man?

Travis: I was this close with Ashleigh Berkowitz, man.

Man 1: You and Berserkertits?

(the two men lay the body down)

Travis: Yeah. Until this happened. Man, I want them out of the house first thing tomorrow.

Man 2: The entire experiment?

Travis: Yeah, move them to the psych building. (gestures toward body) Come on. Let's go.

(the two men throw the body over the railing and into the water before walking away. Travis looks after the body then around quickly before following them)


[McRory’s Bar]

(Nate and Eliot sit at the end of the bar with Miss Schaevel, Nate reading a file)

Nate: So, Boston PD took this as part of an investigation?

Miss Schaevel: More like that was the investigation.

Eliot: How do you mean?

Miss Schaevel: Their whole attitude was when a homeless man dies in a river, it's not a crime, it's a heart attack. I had to pay for the autopsy myself.

Eliot: And?

Miss Schaevel: Heart attack.

Nate: Miss Schaevel, I'm-I’m sorry for your loss, but this is really not the sort of thing –

Miss Schaevel: They moved his body. (opens file) Look. This is a call for volunteers to participate in experiments studying the sleep patterns of people with post-traumatic stress disorder.

Eliot: Your dad had PTSD?

Miss Schaevel: You know, just a little something to remember Vietnam by. That's where he was when he died. Look, you have to understand, these university experiments are run by undergrads. I mean, kids -- literally.

Nate: Okay, so y-y-you're saying that you think your dad died, the kids panicked, they tried to hide his body.

Miss Schaevel: I think that they thought that because he was homeless, nobody would notice, I mean, much less care. I mean, help me prove them wrong.

(Nate looks reluctant)

Miss Schaevel: I thought what you guys did was help people when nobody else would.

(Nate and Eliot exchange a look)


[Leverage HQ]

Hardison (with information pulled up on the monitors): Travis Zilgram. He's a 22-year-old senior with a concentration in psychology. Now, the experiment seems to be his honors thesis, and it's a sleep study on patients with PTSD. Until recently, they held these experiments in, like, a private farm facility, but after Schaevel's death, they moved it here, to the basement of the University Psychology building. Now, most people would dive into the question of, why did they move? I, however, am not most people.

Nate: You want to skip the "behold my genius" part and just tell us what you found?

Hardison: All right, all right, look. In addition to studying psychology, Travis also serves as the student president of the Order of the 206. Part fraternity, part secret society, it was originally formed in 1874 by a group of university physicians and Shakespearean scholars. "206" refers to the number of bones in the human body, which is why they refer to each other as Dustmen.

Sophie: "Titus Andronicus."

Hardison: Yeah.

Nate: "I will grind your bones into dust and, with your blood and it, make a paste."

Parker: Mm. Clever. (everyone looks at her) C-creepy. It's creepy.

Eliot: It's not as creepy as the number of Dustmen that hold high positions in intelligence agencies around the world. You got CIA, MI6, NSA, Mossad.

Nate: It's a feeder fraternity for spies.

Hardison (pulls up info on monitors): Well, the file that the Boston PD had on Shaevel's death was closed within an hour and sealed by a federal order.

Eliot: Somebody with a lot of juice is protecting Zilgram. Dustmen take care of one another.

Nate: Yeah, but which Dustmen? What are they protecting?

Sophie (pulls out phone): Well, why don't we just try asking, for a change? (dials phone) Hello. Yeah. Travis Zilgram, please. I'm on hold.


[Basement, Psychology Building]

(Travis and the Interrogator walk across a hallway to the door of a cell)

Interrogator: This the one?

Travis: Yep. (opens hatch in door) Subject has been awake for 72 hours. I was gonna give him a couple more and then send him to you.

(Interrogator looks inside the cell where a veteran writhes in pain on a bed, holding his ears as music plays loudly)

Interrogator: Three days. (closes hatch)

Travis: We've got it pretty loud in there. Would you like to hear?

(Travis pushes button on remote to play music loudly in the corridor, making the Interrogator flinch. After a moment, Travis turns the music off)

Travis: Nah. Plus, it's very cold. That seems to be the magic recipe. Temperature near zero, volume 90 decibels, and just let them bake for two to three days.

Interrogator: And they do all this for, what, 50 bucks a day?

Travis: Well, when you're homeless and hungry, you'd do anything for 50 bucks a day.

(the Interrogator laughs)

Travis: Look, your job is to break them. Let me worry about how to soften them up for you.

Man 1: Yo, Trav. Phone. (hands Travis a phone)

Travis (takes phone): Zilgram here. Who's this?


[Leverage HQ]

Sophie: Who am I? I'm the cop holding a warrant--


[Basement, Psychology Building]

Sophie: -- with your name on it.

Travis: That case is closed. Nice try.


[Leverage HQ]

Sophie: Well, I got it reopened.


[Basement, Psychology Building]

Sophie: Merry Christmas, mother—

(Travis hangs up the phone)


[Leverage HQ]

Sophie: He hung up.

Nate: Shocking.


[Basement, Psychology Building]

Travis (dials phone): Yeah, hi. Uh, Mr. Conrad, please. This is Travis Zilgram.


[Leverage HQ]

Hardison: Safe to assume Zilgram's on the move?

Nate: Ever been quail hunting, Hardison?

Hardison: Do I look like I go quail hunting?

Eliot: Ask him something like, you ever played a video game where you go quail huntin’?

Nate: You see, the birds, understandably, they don't like to be shot.

Parker: So they hide in the bushes. When you hunt, you have to beat the bushes with a stick. That way, you scare the birds into the sky, and there's a man waiting there with a gun and good aim, and he picks them off.

Hardison: That is seriously messed up. Why would y'all tell me something like that? Why do you know that?

Nate: Okay, Sophie, Eliot, go to Boston PD, try to get in a little trouble. Hardison, you're with me.

Hardison: Where we going?

Nate: Quail hunting.

Parker: Obviously.


[Police Interrogation Room]

Eliot: Yeah, she's not gonna settle for anything under $30,000 in case you do not close this deal. (Grayson enters the room) I got to call you back. (hangs up phone)

Grayson: You the ones requesting the records on the Schaevel death?

Sophie: Guilty as charged. Carla Crim.

Eliot: That's Carla Crim.

Sophie: Novelist, true crime variety.

Grayson: Yeah, well, those records you requested, sealed by a federal order.

Sophie: No idea what that means.

Eliot: She doesn't.

Sophie: I live in a monarchy.

Grayson: It means in this country, politics trumps justice every time.

Eliot: But you think there was a case.

Grayson: Oh. A rookie on his first day could have told you that body was dumped. And generally, people don't move a body unless they got something to hide. I-I'm sorry. You came a long way. Wish I had something more to give you.

Eliot: What if I want to get to know you better? Maybe... take you to dinner, you know, talk shop, exchange certain things unofficially?

Grayson: To anybody who knows me, it's probably best if she calls me. (hands file to Sophie)

Sophie: Oh? Uh... Ohh.

Grayson: Guess I accidentally left that file behind. (stands up) I'll be back in five minutes. (leaves room)


[Field]

(Nate and Hardison sit in a field watching Travis, who is standing near his car in the middle of the field. Hardison is holding a listening device while Nate looks at Travis through binoculars)

Nate: Kid's making me nervous.

Hardison: He's not doing anything.

Nate: Yeah, but that's my point, you know? I mean, he should be panicking, and he's not.

Hardison: He's just a kid, Nate. How bad could it get?

Nate: How many grown men said that about you while you were raining digital fire down on their lives?

Hardison (laughs): Now I'm nervous. (looks around the area, confused)

Nate: What?

Hardison: I'm getting some weird feedback. It's like a – like a whumpa-whumpa.


[Police Interrogation Room]

Eliot: Wait. What do you mean? What kind of whumpa-whumpa?


[Field]

Hardison: I mean, how many kinds are there?


[Police Interrogation Room]

Eliot: There's seven of them. Is it whumpa-pop whumpa-pop?

Hardison: Are you being serious right now?

Eliot: Hardison!


[Field]

Hardison: It's like a-a whumpa-tink—


[Police Interrogation Room]

Hardison: -- whumpa-tink.

Eliot: All right, Nate. You need to get out of there.


[Field]

(helicopter flies over the trees and enters the area)

Nate: Yeah, well, it's too late.

(the helicopter lands and Conrad exits with bodyguards, moving to shake Travis’ hand)

Hardison: Nate, who do you think that is?

Nate: The CIA.

Hardison: You know him?

Nate: I know the type.

(in the middle of the field, Conrad and Travis seem to come to an agreement)

Nate: Dangerous.


[Leverage HQ]

(Sophie walks around the table and Nate watches her as she goes past)

Sophie: My contact in MI6 is gone AWOL, so he's off the list, you-- You-- are you just check -- you're checking out my --

Nate: No.

Eliot: Wow.

Nate: What?

Eliot: He's got to be pretty high on the list. Aren't that many people anymore in the CIA that rate heli-transport.

Sophie: Well, whoever he is, he's not afraid to take risks.

Hardison: I told you, they take this Dustman stuff pretty seriously.

Nate: All right, what's the point of secret societies? Why do we form them? What's their function?

Eliot: Keep secrets.

Sophie: Unh-unh. No, no, no. To tell secrets.

Nate: So, if we want Zilgram's secrets, we need to become the people he tells them to.

Hardison: How do we do that?

Nate: Well, not we. You.


[Lecture Room]

(Hardison walks across campus holding a stack of books and looking like a college student. He enters a lecture area where other students are gathered)

Hardison: Nate, he's here. Just can't sit close.


[Leverage HQ]

(Eliot and Sophie sit at the table. Eliot cracks an egg and puts it into a glass of tomato juice before drinking it)

Nate: Well, fortunately, nothing brings people together faster than a common enemy.

Sophie (handing Eliot some asprin): Who's the common enemy?

Nate: Who do you think?


[Lecture Room]

Nate: (enters room and puts down his bag near the podium) Hello. My name is Dr. McClure, and I'm visiting from Holyoke. Dr. Bennett is feeling a little under the weather today.


[Flashback]

(Eliot and Dr Bennett are sitting at a bar amongst a group of college girls, drinking as they yell in encouragement)


[Lecture Room]

Nate: Heh. Since this is a game-theory class, I thought we'd start by, uh, by playing a game. How about you? (points at Travis) Do you want -- do you want to play?

Travis: Uh, sure.

Nate: Great. I need you to come up here.


[Hallway, Psychology Building]

Parker: There's a lot of security here.

Justine: Yeah, it's there to protect your privacy. So, what year are you?

Parker: Freshmore -- man. First one, first year. Yeah.

Justine: Nervous?

Parker: Uh-huh.

Justine: Well, don't be. We treat our volunteers very well.

(Parker watches closely as Justine enters a password on a keypad at a doorway to the stairway.

Justine: (entering stairway and starting upward) Follow me. Downstairs is restricted.


[Lecture Room]

Nate: Now, Mr. Zilgram is sitting in this chair because he's a very bad man.

Travis: Well, it's true. I am.

Nate (to Travis): You committed a crime. And maybe it was an accident, but someone died. It was your fault. And you got away with it. (to class) Not really. No, he didn't get away with it because, for the purposes of our game, sitting in that chair means that Mr. Zilgram has been arrested. Okay? (to Travis) You had an accomplice. Now, I'm gonna tell you the same thing I told him. If you rat out your friend, I'll make sure you get a lighter prison sentence. Now, the way we play this game is very simple. You tell me whether or not you will do that, and I'll tell you whether you won or lost.

Travis: Well, I won't do it.

Nate: Why not?

Travis: 'Cause I'm not a snitch.

Nate: So you're saying you're irrational?

Travis: No.

Nate: Then you're stupid.

(class laughs)

Nate (to Travis): 'Cause he's gonna betray you 'cause that's what's in his best interest. That's what he's gonna do. What you're gonna do is, you're gonna go to jail for a very long time. (leans close to Travis) You will, you know. (to class) So what we're doing here is -- I have just, uh, demonstrated -- is a classic form of prisoner's dilemma. And what I'm gonna prove today, mathematically, is that in this situation, it's always best to betray your accomplice.

Hardison (clapping): Give that man an award. Bravo. Bravo, sir. Please stop. I can't take no more. Seriously, stop. The problem with classic PD is that it doesn't take into account Hofstadter's theory of superrationality.

Nate: Hofstadter's theory was…

Hardison: It was first paper in JIGT six months ago. Or do you not get the peer-reviewed journals at your school? You know what? Y-you probably don't. (gathering things) My bad. Thing is -- that little one-act, it might impress the folks at Holyoke, but this ain't Holyoke, brother.

(walks out to classmate’s applause)

Nate: Quiet, everybody. Quiet.

(Travis follows Hardison out)


[Exterior Street]

(Hardison walks out of the building followed by Travis)

Travis: Hey! Hey, man, wait up. You bodied that fool back there.

Hardison: Yeah, a little bit, right?

Travis: Where'd you learn all that?

Hardison: I just made it up.

Travis: Are you serious?

Hardison: Yeah.

Travis: Why?

Hardison: Because, man... screw that guy. That's why.

Travis: Nice. (sees parking ticket on his windshield) Come on. Are you kidding me?! Damn it!

Hardison: Hey, let me see that. And your license.

(Travis hands over his license and the ticket)

Hardison (using phone): Okay, if I just spoof this thing right here... wrap a dot host inside this thing right here... and we have... a convoy. (hands back Travis’ things) Like it never happened.

Travis: For real?

Hardison: Yeah.

Travis: So, you're some kind of genius, huh?

Hardison: Maybe.

Travis: That's cool. I'm super rich. (gets into car) This afternoon, there's a party at our farmhouse, hot chicks, cool guys. You should come.

Hardison: Yeah. Sounds like a plan, man.

(Travid drives away)


[Lab, Psychology Building]

Justine: This is an experiment that tests how negative reinforcement affects learning. On the other side of that mirror, we have a volunteer hooked up to a machine that can administer electric shocks. This device signals the machine to shock the subject. Shock ranges from very annoying to mildly painful but can't cause any serious damage to the volunteer.

(Justine pushes the button making the subject on the other side of the one way glass jump and cry out in pain, then puts the device down)

Parker: Oh.

Justine: So, now I'm gonna ask the subject a series of questions. If he gets any of the questions wrong, what you do is use the device to --

(Parker picks up the device and presses the button to administer a shock to the volunteer, then puts the device down)

Justine: Okay. Yeah, you should wait –

Parker: I didn't.

Justine: -- until I ask a question and then –

Parker: Oh.

Justine: (takes the button from Parker) If he gets the question wrong, you can use it.

(Parker presses the button to administer a shock to the volunteer, making him jump and cry out in pain)

Justine: Okay, yeah. Just give it to me.

(Parker presses the button to administer a shock to the volunteer, making him jump and cry out in pain)

Justine: Give me the device.

(Parker hands her the device)

Justine: Okay, I'm just gonna hang on to this while I read the instructions.

(Parker leans over her shoulder)

Justine: "Thank you for volunteering your time. In this study, you will --"

(Parker presses the button to administer a shock to the volunteer, making him jump and cry out in pain)

Volunteer: Ahh!

Justine: Wha— (holds out her hand)

Parker (scoffs): What?

Justine: You obviously have it.

Parker (scoffs): I don't have it.

Justine: Okay. Give it to me.

(Parker presses the button to administer a shock to the volunteer, making him jump and cry out in pain)

Justine: You cle--

Parker: Oh. This?

(Justine tries to grab the device as Parker keeps it away from her while continuing to press the button, making the volunteer cry out in pain)

Justine: Yeah. Give it to me. Come on. G-give it to me. Give it –

(Parker slips Justine’s ID into her pocket)

Justine: Just give it to me. Come on.


[Exterior Psychology Building]

(Parker is being dragged out of the building and down the stairs by two security guards)

Parker: Don't touch me! Aah! Aah! Take back the night!! Soup is good food! Ooh-hoo! (guards let her go) Okay.

(Parker runs around a bush and pulls Justine’s ID and a ring of keys from her pants. She then pulls a bag from the bushes and takes out a white jacket and a dark wig and puts them on)


We treat our volunteers very well.


[Psychology Building]

(Parker walks past the security guard and shows him Justine’s badge. She pauses at the doorway to the stairs)


[Flashback]

Justine: We treat our volunteers very well.

(Parker watches closely as Justine enters a password on a keypad at a doorway to the stairway.


[Psychology Building]

(Parker puts Justine’s code into the pad on the stairwell door and heads downstairs. She enters the hallway and takes a clipboard from the wall. She approaches a desk where Man 2 stands guard)

Parker: Hey, you!

Man 2: Can I help you?

Parker: Hi. Ooh. You don't remem-- sorry. I thought you went to my gym.

Man 2: No.

Parker: I mean, obviously, you go to a gym. (feeling his bicep) Ooh. What, uh, you play ball? (she uses the clipboard to steal some papers from the desk)

Man 2: I play for the school.

Parker: Oh, yeah. What number are you?

Man 2: My number's 42, baby, the real deal.

Parker: 42. That's the number of days I've been off my meds. And counting. (starts to walk away) See ya. Call me. Make it 43.


[Leverage HQ]

Eliot: Look at this manifest.

Nate: Every single one of these volunteers has the same address. It's a homeless shelter.

Eliot: Well, it makes sense. There's a lot of PTSD among the homeless.

Nate: Okay, so that's where they go to recruit when it's time to start a new trial.

Eliot: When's the next one start?

Nate: Couple of days. What are you thinking?

Eliot: Well, while Hardison's waiting on his invite to the little sewing club, I'll do what I do.


[Homeless Shelter]

(Eliot, dressed as a homeless man, enters the homeless shelter and takes a look around)


[Garden Party]

(Hardison and Parker walk through the crowd at the garden party, both dressed like preppies. Someone opens a bottle of champagne and another student drinks from a glass)


[Homeless Shelter/Garden Party]

(the scene flips back and forth between the 2 locations, showing the disparity between the college scene and the homeless shelter)


[Garden Party]

Hardison: Whoa.


[Homeless Shelter]

Eliot: Whoa.


[Leverage HQ]

Sophie: All right, if you're selected, they'll hand you a pledge token. You'll know when you see it.


[Garden Party]

Sophie: Also, you need to be mingling.

Hardison: I'm mingling.

Sophie: With someone other than Parker. They recruit the people they like.

Hardison: This is a bad -- it's a bad idea. It's a real bad idea. It's bad.

Sophie: Hardison, relax.


[Leverage HQ]

Sophie: You've pulled off a hundred cons.


[Garden Party]

Hardison: Yeah, playing stereotypes, okay? Nigerian princes, Saudi billionaires, British people –


[Leverage HQ]

Hardison: -- no offense. But look, Sophie, this is different, all right?


[Garden Party]

Hardison: I-I got to be me, but, like, cooler, and you can't fake cool.


[Leverage HQ]

Sophie: Parker?


[Garden Party]

Parker: Come on. (pulls him to his feet)

Hardison: I don't -- I don't want to get up. I don't -- I-I don't -- I don't want to get up.

Parker: No. I know. Remember the other night when you were playing with your pretend friends?

Hardison: They're real. Look, they're -- they're not pretend. They're just not in the same room with me.

Parker: They're an elf, a dwarf, and a thing with a tail. I'm pretty sure they're pretend. Remember when you took the thingy with the glowing thingy and then you used it to kill the guy who was on the shiny stuff and then also there was all this magic?

Hardison: I-I think so.

Parker: That was so cool. I mean, how many people here are cool enough to kill the guy with the thing?

Hardison: Yeah, you know what? You're right. That was pretty cool.

Parker: Yeah. (kisses him on the cheek) I'm gonna get our... (walks away)

Sophie: That actually worked?

Hardison: No. But the fact that she thought it would work -- that worked.

Travis (walking up): Bro, you been in the corner since you got here. What's up?

Hardison: I'm chillin', man.

Travis: Look, if you're not having a good time, you don't need to stay.

Parker (comes back with champagne hangs on Hardison) Oh! That's probably my fault, huh? What? A guy can have his hands all over a girl, and he gets a medal for it! But when it's the other way around, oh, suddenly, I'm a slut. Well, you know what? Fine! (kisses Hardison passionately) Yeah. Take that. (walks away)

Travis: Dude. Nice.

Hardison: R-real nice.

(Hardison touches glasses with Travis takes a long drink of champagne)


[Homeless Shelter]

Eliot: They're here. Already recruiting.

Man 1: There's three meals a day...

Nate: Take your time. Look for a way in.

(Eliot sits down at a table)

Marine: Seat's taken.

(Eliot just looks at him)

Marine: I said, "seat's taken."

Eliot: Take it easy, all right?

(Marine reaches for Eliot’s tray, Eliot grabs him and twists his arm, driving his face to the table)

Eliot: Don't do that. Don't do that. Don't touch my food. I just got back from Iraq, and after what I've seen over there, if you think I won't take you down, then you're crazier than I am.

Marine: Army, right? Rangers? No. Green berets. (shakes his arm) Ho!

Eliot (releases Marine): Something like that. How about you?

Marine (shows tattoo on bicep): Semper fi. You know what it means? In English? Most people don't.

Eliot: It means "always faithful." (takes bite of food)

Marine: That's the promise a Marine makes to his country. They don't tell you it only goes one way.

Eliot: If this country was known for keeping its promises, we wouldn't need Marines, would we?

Marine: You got that right, brother!

Man 1: You guys just got to fill this out...

Marine: Hey, if I can get you in on something, you want to make a little money?


[Lawn Party]

Hardison (using phone): And... boom. All right. There you go. (hands ticket back to student) Record's clean. But no more jaywalking, you mad, reckless son of a bitch.

(student walks away, Parker rejoins him)

Travis: Yo, Harry! HP.

Parker: Who's HP?

Hardison: 'Sup? It's, like, a nickname 'cause I'm like a wizard with computers.

Travis: Tomorrow morning, first thing. (tosses Hardison a pin) Don't be late.

Hardison (looks at pin): Nate... I'm in.

(Hardison and Parker smile at each other)


[Homeless Shelter]

Man 1: Come on, let's go, guys.

(homeless men getting into a van)

Eliot: Nate, I'm in.


[Basement, Psychology Building]

(Man 1 walks among the volunteers, handing out clipboards)

Travis: Look, let me just break it down for you. You agree to participate in good faith, and, in exchange, we agree to provide squares, a bed, and 50 bucks a day.

Veteran 1: $50?

Travis: Now, this is, as they say, non-negotiable.

Marine: They had me at "food."

Travis: Now, you will always have the right of walk-away. No one will keep you here against your will. If you do walk away, then you don't get paid.

(Eliot uncaps a pen with his teeth and signs a form. The men are put into cells by the students. Man 2 pushes Eliot into his cell. Eliot lies down on the cot and as soon as he closes his eyes music blares from the speakers)


[Fraternity Living Room]

Travis (pacing in front of pledges): The order of the 206 is not a fraternity. It's a brotherhood. The next seven days will be the worst of your life. But if you make it through, then you're one of us. Let's get started.

Man 1: Down to your boxers! Get down! Strip!

Students: Let's go! Strip! Let's go!

Man 1: Let's go! Let's go! Let's go! Ho-ho-ho! What the hell is this?! (walks to a man on the end of the line)

Travis: Ho-ho-ho!

Man 1: Are you kidding me?! Tighty whiteys, huh? Where's your self-respect? Get him out of here. Let's go. Move. (students lead the man away) Better luck next year.

Travis: We're 30 seconds in, and you're already down one?! (bumps fists with Man 1) Oh, I'm gonna have the time of my life this week! On the other side of campus is the TSE plaque. Run to the plaque, memorize it, and be back in less than an hour. Go! Go! Go!

Man 1: Let's go! Move! Move!

(pledges begin running from room)

Travis: Get out of here!

Man 1: Go! Let's go!


[Basement, Psychology Building]

(Veteran 8 lies on a cot, holding his hands over his ears to block out the music. He pulls the pillow over his head, but it doesn’t help. In the next cell, Eliot sits cross legged, looking upward. Man 1 and Man 2 enter his cell and lead him into the corridor, where the Interrogator gestures for him to sit at a table. They both sit)

Interrogator: Do you know who I am?

Eliot: You're the guy in charge.

Interrogator (laughs): Do I look like a psychologist to you? No. I'm here dancing for my food, just like you. You've got your part to play, and I've got mine.

Eliot: And what's your part?

Interrogator (pushes an envelope across the table): Inside that envelope is a word. Go ahead. Read it.

(Eliot opens the envelope and looks at the word)

Interrogator: You and I are gonna play a game. (grabs word) The rules are simple. I'm gonna try to get you to tell me (lights paper on fire) that word. You are gonna do whatever it takes to keep it secret. For every day you're successful, you'll earn another 100 bucks. But if I learn that word before the end of the experiment, you get nothing.


[Leverage HQ]

Interrogator: I won't physically harm you, but other than that —


[Basement, Psychology Building]

Interrogator: -- any means necessary.

Eliot: Do you really think promising not to hurt me is your best first move?

Interrogator: Well, haven't you heard? Torture doesn't work.

Eliot: Depends on the torture. Depends on the man. When do we start?

Interrogator (leans forward): We started as soon as you walked into this room. Where have you been? (stands and leans over table in Eliot’s face) Don't you eyeball me, leech. I don't want you in my room any more than you want to be here. So why don't you do us both a favor and tell me the word? 'Cause if you make me work for this, I'm not gonna send you home with your tail between your legs. I'm gonna cut the damn thing off! (pounds on table) I'm gonna break you into pieces!

Eliot: So we start tomorrow, then?

(Interrogator straightens and looks down at Eliot)


[Exterior Campus]

(Hardison and the other pledges run across the campus and come to a stop in front of the plaque)

Pledges together: "Here, said she, is your card, the drowned Phoenician sailor..."


[Fraternity Living Room]

(pledges stand in front of Travis

Travis: The sailor has eyes made of?

Pledges: Pearls.

Travis: The hanged man fears?

Pledges: Water.

Travis: The one-eyed man has how many staffs?

Pledges: None!

Pledge: Three!

Travis: Ho-ho-ho. Do it again! To the plaque and back! One hour!

(pledges head for the door)

Travis: Come on, ladies! Let's do it! I said run!


[Basement, Psychology Lab]

Eliot (reentering cell): Nate, this experiment is not about sleep. They got a professional interrogator in here. I think they're trying to find new ways to break people.

(music begins to blare once more. Eliot puts his hand over his ear)

Eliot: They're not trying to cure PTSD! They're trying to cause it!

(later Eliot and Veteran 8 are standing in the lunch line)

Eliot: How you holding up, Mac?

Man 2: No talking!

(cook continues to dish out disgusting looking food and Eliot moves off to sit at a table)


[Dorm Room]

Hardison (using Girl’s phone): And that is how you jailbreak a phone. (hands her back her phone)

Girl 2: So, you have this dorm room all to yourself?

Hardison: Yeah.

Girl 2: Then do mine next, HP. (hands him her phone)


[Basement, Psychology Lab]

(Veteran 10 stumbles and nearly falls, Eliot catches him)

Eliot: I got you. I got you.

Man 2: I said no talking!

(Man 2 tries to hit Eliot with a stun gun, but Eliot catches the weapon before it can hit him. Eliot holds it away from his body for a moment as he looks around, then rolls his eyes and lets it hit him in the chest. Eliot falls to the floor, stunned)

Man 2 (to other veterans): Huh? Huh? Get back in line!


[Fraternity Living Room]

(Man 1 pours Hardison a glass of wine. Hardison smells the wine, then takes a drink)

Sophie: Don't think. Just answer.


[Leverage HQ]

Sophie: Fruity or acidic?


[Fraternity Living Room]

Hardison: Fruity.

Sophie: Great. One more time. Gut reaction. Dry or racy?

Hardison: Dry.

(students gathered around him nod)


[Basement, Psychology Lab]

(Eliot sits across from the Interrogator once more)

Interrogator: You ever count them?

Eliot: Counted what?

Interrogator: You know. The people you've killed?

(Eliot doesn’t answer)

Interrogator: Give me a ballpark. It's got to be a big number, right?

Eliot: You think asking me about my past is gonna open up old wounds? Maybe put me off balance a little? Make me easier to break?

Interrogator: I'm just trying to get to know you better. Why does that question make you so nervous? Is that what all this is for you? Are you trying to punish yourself for the things you've done?

(Eliot doesn’t answer)

Interrogator: I think that's it. I think the reason why you won't give me your word and walk out that door is 'cause you think you deserve to be here.

Eliot: What do you want to know? Names? Dates? Locations? (softly) You want to know what food was on their breath? Their eyes – what color their eyes were? You want to know the last words they spoke? You want to know which ones deserved it. Or, better yet, the ones that didn't? Do you want to know which ones begged? Do you know why I remember these things?

Interrogator: I don't know.

Eliot: You don't know? 'Cause I can't forget. So there's nothing you can do, no punishment you can hand out that's worse than what I live with every day. So, to answer your question, no. No, I haven't counted. I don't need to.

Interrogator (shaken): All right, we're -- we're done for the day.


[Leverage HQ]

(Nate hangs a picture of Conrad on a board covered with other pictures and information)

Hardison: He's the CIA guy from the chopper. They call him Mr. Conrad. He's definitely the one protecting Zilgram.

Nate: That's got to be our focus. We got to find a way to make him believe that protecting Zilgram is not worth his trouble.

Hardison: Won't be easy, Nate. The Brotherhood of Dust runs bone deep. I'm so sleep-deprived, I'm starting to talk like them. This rush week is torture.

(Hardison hears a noise through the comms)

Hardison: What's that noise?


[Cell]

Eliot: That's my teeth chattering. It's 20 degrees in here, but at least there's no music. Don't worry about me, Hardison. You got rush week to deal with.


[Fraternity House]

Man 1: "Black ops"? "Black ops"? Anyone? Clan match against Phi Kappa Gamma tonight. I want to rip their freaking throats out!

(Hardison stands slowly)

Man 1: HP, you play?

Hardison: I dabble.


[Psychology Building]

(Parker runs through the hall carrying a large sack. She opens a door and a moment later enters a cell, closing the door behind her)

Veteran 8: Huh?

Parker: Shh!

(Parker opens her bag and pulls out a coat, which she drapes on Veteran 8. She proceeds to go to other cells, covering each veteran a jacket)


[Fraternity House]

(Hardison sits on a couch with a cigar clenched in his mouth, surrounded by students as he plays “Black Ops”. The sound of an explosion is heard, and the students cheer, congratulating Hardison)


[Psychology Lab Basement]

(Interrogator takes a drink from a glass of water, sitting at a table with Eliot once more. Eliot is ignoring the glass before him)

Eliot: No more questions about my past?

Interrogator: Oh, I'm trying a new approach. (grabs coat) You're not thirsty?

Eliot: Yeah. I am. (gets up to go back to his cell)

Man 2: Want me to get it printed?

Interrogator: Don't bother. He didn't touch it. (stands) This guy's good.

Man 2: Could you get a print off this? (sets stun gun on table)


[Exterior Campus]

Hardison (running up): Look, I'm sorry I'm late. I just got caught up playing games with the guys. I was kicking some butt.

Woman (walking by): Hey, HP.

Parker: Here's your homework, HP. (hands him a paper)

Hardison: What? Oh, wow. I kind of dropped this class.

Parker: You mean you dropped it, uh, before or after you asked me to write a 10-page paper on the history of cross-stitching in America?

Hardison: Parker, I don't really go to this school. You know that, right?

Parker: Yeah. Yeah. I guess I didn't really do your homework. (rips up the homework and walks away)


[Basement, Psychology Building]

(Travis looks through a file as he walks down the corridor with the Interrogator)

Interrogator: The question I'm trying to answer is whether he's active or not. Those are known associates.

(Travis looks through the file and sees a picture of Hardison)

Travis: Well, the good news is, I can answer your question. Bad news is, he's definitely active.


[Dorm Room]

(Hardison takes out his earbud and dials his phone)


[Exterior Campus]

(Parker’s phone rings and she looks at it without answering)


[Dorm Room]

Parker (on voicemail): Leave a message!

Hardison: Hey, um, Parker. It's me, Hardison. Look, listen, I just wanted to talk about, you know, what happened earlier because –

(Travis knocks on the open doorway)

Hardison: Um... c-c-call me back.


[Exterior, Campus]

Parker (answers phone): Hello. Hardi-- hello?


[Dorm Room]

Hardison: Hey, what's happening, man? Come on through.

Travis (entering the room): All right. (closes the door and holds up a black envelope)

Hardison (laughs): I'm in?

Travis (hands envelope to Hardison): Read it and find out.

(Hardison opens the envelope to find a CIA file on himself. Travis pulls a gun and points it at Hardison, then holds up a black hood)

Travis: Put it on.

(a few minutes later Parker knocks on the door, then opens it enough to wave a white handkerchief through it before looking inside)

Parker: Hardison?

(Parker sees empty room and CIA file on the floor. She enters the room and closes the door, then picks up the file)

Parker: Nate, we have a problem.


[Leverage HQ]

Nate: Eliot, we need you on the outside.


[Basement, Psychology Building]

Eliot (sitting at the table): Why? What happened?

Nate: They made Hardison, snatched him 10 minutes ago.

(the Interrogator enters the area)

Eliot: Where'd they take him?


[Leverage HQ]

Nate: We don't know.


[Basement, Psychology Building]

(The Interrogator sits at the table)

Eliot: Give me five minutes.

Interrogator: Five minutes?

(Eliot stands and throws the table across the room. He attacks the Interrogator, getting him in a tight hold)

Eliot: We're gonna do things a little bit differently today, all right? I ask, you answer. Now, I got four minutes to prove your theory wrong.

Interrogator: What theory?

Eliot: That torture doesn't work.

(Eliot throws the Interrogator to the floor and proceeds to beat him as the other veterans look through the hatches of their cell doors)

Eliot: Where is he?! Where is he?!

(Eliot throws a chair across the room and turns toward the cells)

Eliot: I know where they took Hardison.

(the Interrogator lies on the floor, holding his throat)


[Lecture Room]

(two men carry Hardison down the stairs as Travis follows. They throw Hardison on the table)

Travis: All right, don't do anything until Mason gets here.


[Basement, Psychology Lab]

(Eliot begins opening doors to the cells)

Veteran 8: Took you long enough.

(the Veterans run upstairs and through a guarded corridor. One of the students comes out of a side room)

Student: Hey!

(Veteran 8 punches the student)

Veteran 8: Holy crap. That felt good.


[Fraternity Living Room]

Travis (mingling): I'm really happy with the new members this year. I think that we've got a good batch. Cheers. Wonderful to see you. Thank you for coming by.

Conrad: So, what did you want to talk to me about?

Travis: Mason's got it under control now, but I'll get you the details later. (drains his glass) Would you excuse me? (moves away) Brothers, gather 'round. We have some new members to welcome.

(one of the students opens the door of the Fraternity and lets in some Police)

Officer: We have a warrant for the arrest of Travis Zilgram.

(Travis looks stunned and begins to push his way to the back of the room, leaving his glass on a table)

Travis: Just take that. Hey, guys, just...


[Exterior Fraternity]

(Travis exits through the back door, only to run into Grayson and Sophie outside)

Grayson: Boston PD. Up against the wall. (grabs Travis and pushes him up against the wall) Let's go.

Travis: I'm gonna be out in an hour, anyway, so why bother wasting my time?

Grayson (cuffing Travis): Because it's fun! Obviously.

Travis: So much fun.

(Grayson drags Travis away)


[Lecture Room]

(men put Hardison on the table. One of the men pick up a flag and remove the fabric from the wood)

Man 2: What are you doing?

Man 1: Just having a little fun.

(Man 1 hits Hardison across the chest. He tries to hit a second time, but Hardison sits up and pulls off the hood and hits Man 1 in the throat, which makes him drop to the floor. Another man hits Hardison in the face, and after Hardison hits him back, Man 2 grabs Hardison from behind. Another student punches Hardison until he falls to the ground. Other students kick and punch at Hardison as he is curled in a ball. Parker enters and grabs a chair, smashing it across the back of one of Hardison’s attackers. She uses parts of the now broken chair to take out the rest of the men)

Parker: Okay.

Hardison (grabs pin from student): Got it.

Parker (helping Hardison up): Here. Lean on me. Lean on me.

Man 1: Nerd! You hear me? You were never gonna be one of us! You're no Dustman. You're a geek!

Parker: Should I tell him it's the age of the geek?

Hardison: He'll figure it out eventually.

(Parker kicks Man 1 in the face and helps Hardison from the room)


[Interrogation Room]

(Travis, slumped over the table, wakes to find himself handcuffed to a chair. Sophie and Grayson enter the room)

Grayson: Good! You're awake.

Travis: What am I doing here?

Sophie (turns on TV): Pay attention.

(footage plays of Travis and other students entering the cells beating several homeless veterans)

Travis: Where'd you get that?


[Flashback]

(a Veteran lies on a bunk covered with the jacket Parker gave him. A button on the pocket is a button cam)


[Interrogation Room]

Sophie (turns off TV): It doesn't really matter, does it? We have it. We have lots of it.

Travis: It's not gonna do you any good. See, I've got friends in places so high, you don't even know they exist.

(Sophie and Grayson turn to look through the open door. Conrad walks by, escorted by several police officers. Conrad pauses to look into the room and meet Travis’ eye before he is led away)

Sophie: Are you talking about Mr. Conrad, Travis? We arrested all your friends, all your little Dust bunnies.

Grayson: Brothers.

Sophie: Whatever. You do bad things long enough, eventually it catches up with you, even in America.

Grayson: Mr. Conrad's in even more trouble than you are. Unless he starts handing people over, he's going down the hard way.

Sophie: I suggest you beat him to the punch -- unless you think he'd rather go to prison than throw you to the wolves.


[Flashback]

Nate: What I'm gonna prove today, mathematically, is that in this situation, it's always best to betray your accomplice.


[Interrogation Room]

Travis: I made recordings. Phone calls, meetings, every interaction I had with him -- hours of it. What would I get for that?

Sophie: Well, we'll talk to our boss and get back to you. (leaving room)

Grayson (opening handcuffs): Sign of good faith.

(Travis is obviously nervous, fiddling with his clothing and tapping at the table)

Travis: Don't you dare. Don't you dare. (later) I want to call my dad! (pacing room then peering into one way glass) Hello? I'm still here.

(Travis tries the door and finds it open. He runs out of the building to find that he’s been on campus the whole time)

Travis: What? What's going on?

(Travis walks down the stairs and nearly runs into another student)

Travis: Watch it.


[Flashback]

(Grayson pushes Travis against the wall and handcuffs him)

Travis: I'm gonna be out in an hour, anyway, so why bother wasting my time?

Grayson: Because it's fun! Obviously.

(Sophie pushes a needle into the palm of Travis’ hand and gives him an injection before Grayson leads him away)

(Eliot and the other veterans place a sign across the front of the psychology building that says ‘Fumigation in Progress – DO NOT ENTER’)

(Eliot and the other veterans enter the Psychology lab carrying ladders and equipment. They quickly set up what looks like an interrogation room, complete with a one way glass)

Eliot (to Grayson): What do you think?

Grayson (tosses a cup of coffee on the wall) There. Perfect.

(Travis wakes slumped over the table to find himself handcuffed to the chair. Sophie and Grayson enter the room)

Grayson: Good! You're awake.


[Exterior Campus]

(Travis stumbles around and another student runs into him)

Student: Watch it, dude.

(Travis turns and a police siren is heard. Travis turns to run, but sees the Leverage team standing nearby. Officers get out of their cars and approach him)

Travis: Fellas, look. I mean, wait.

Officer: Travis Zilgram?

Travis: Let's just talk.

Officer: Turn around, please. (grabs Travis and pushes him down on the hood of the car)

Travis: No, come on.

(Officers handcuff Travis and lead him toward the back of the car)

Officer: Let's go.

Travis (to onlookers): What are you looking at?

Hardison: You really think he has hours of tape on Conrad?

Nate: If he does, he won't for long.

(Officers put Travis into the back of the car and the Leverage team walks away)

Nate: As for Zilgram, all we had to do was scare him. Rational choice took care of the rest.


[Flashback]

(Nate pushes aside a student and approaches Conrad as Parker helps Hardison over)

Nate: Mr. Conrad.

Conrad (to Hardison): What the hell happened to you?

Hardison: I have a message for you, Dustman to Dustman, (puts a 206 pin on the table) that somebody didn't want me to deliver.

(Sophie and Grayson turn to look through the open door. Conrad walks by, escorted by several police officers. Conrad pauses to look into the room and meet Travis’ eye before he is led away. Close up of the officer’s face and subsequent flashbacks show him to be Veteran 6)

Cook: Move along.

(Veterans walk out of an office removing uniforms)

Veteran 6: Let's go.

Travis: I made recordings. Phone calls, meetings, every interaction I had with him -- hours of it. What would I get for that?

(Conrad and Nate stand behind the one way glass, watching Travis talk to Sophie and Grayson)

Sophie: Well.

Conrad: Okay. I'm impressed.

Sophie: We'll talk to our boss and get back to you.

Conrad: But what is it that you want?

(Sophie exits the interrogation room and Grayson opens Travis’ handcuffs)

Nate: Withdraw your protection. Let the system do its work. Let him stand trial for the death of David Schaevel.

(Conrad leaves the observation room)

Travis (peering into one way glass): Hello? Look, I-I'm still here.

Nate: Prisoner's dilemma, kid. (walks away)


[Exterior Campus]

(Officer gets into police car and drives away)


[McRory’s Bar]

Nate (into phone): Guilty on all counts.

(Nate nods at Miss Schaevel, who is sitting at the end of the bar with Eliot, who takes her hand)

Nate: I thought the jury was still deliberating.

Miss Schaevel: Thank you so much.

Conrad: Doesn't mean they haven't reached a decision.

(Miss Schaevel gets up and leaves the bar)

Nate: Well, I guess it's my turn to be impressed.

(Eliot takes a wine glass from the top of the bar and replaces it with a shot glass)


[Office]

Conrad: I hope this has all been worth it, Mr. Ford.


[McRory’s Bar]

Nate: Worth what?


[Office]

Conrad: Attracting my attention. (hangs up)


[McRory’s Bar]

(Nate tosses his phone onto the bar and picks up a shot glass)

Nate: Here we go.

(Nate and Eliot touch glasses and drink before setting the glasses onto the bar)

The End

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