Leverage Transcripts derived from the closed captions available online and formated by slaysvamps. Feel free to download and share, but please give credit and a link back to me here.
Leverage Main | When Darkness Falls

5x01 The Very Big Bird Job
[Exterior Courthouse]

Jenny (into camera): It's not going okay, dad.

(Jenny turns the camera on the court house steps where Roemer is giving a press conference)

Roemer: Although Global Transit Airlines truly regrets the deaths of its valued employees, we feel the court found appropriately. Global transit was not at fault. This was a tragedy, not a crime. I just hope that everybody can move on.

(Mrs. Sanders comes out of the court house and begins down the steps)

Mrs. Sanders: Murderer. (walks away)

Roemer: Not according to the courts, ma'am.

(Mrs. Sanders moves down the sidewalk away from the conference, followed by Jenny)

Jenny: Mom. Mom. What happened? You said that the courts would fix it. You said they would do the right thing.

Mrs. Sanders: Jenny, just give me a minute, okay? Just give me a second. Turn that off, please. I just need... (starts crying)

Hardison: Excuse me.

(Camera pans up to see Parker and Hardison standing nearby)

Hardison: You need some help?


[Exterior Ship/Dock]

(Nate sales a ship into a dock and disembarks, carrying a bag up the planks to, where Sophie waiting for him)

Sophie: Ah, my bonny boy, back from sea.

Nate: You waited for me.

Sophie: Oh, yes. I walked the widow's walk. I wore the black veil.

Nate: Ah, what'd you really do?


[Flashback]

(Man is examining a jeweled necklace)

Man: The lost Crown Jewels of Tzar Nicholas. These are without price.

Sophie (holds up another necklace): I think I can think of a price.


[Exterior Dock]

Sophie: Well, a girl's got to stay in practice. How about you? How'd you get on with your big plans?

Nate: Well, I-ah, I got my priorities in order.

Sophie: Oh...

(Nate’s phone rings, he looks at the display which shows a map and a pin that states ‘go here’)

Sophie: Oh. What's that?

Nate: Directions.


[Brew Pub]

(Nate and Sophie enter to find Eliot sitting at a table. He stands as they approach)

Eliot: Back room.

(Eliot gets up and follows Nate and Sophie toward the back of the Microbrewery)

Sophie: Nice vacation?


[Flashback, Site 47/A, 120 KM outside Tehran]

(a rocket is shown in a silo, the doors opening above it)

Eliot (placing explosives on a rocket booster): How are the kids? (tosses explosive to Friend)

Friend (placing explosive on another area of the rocket): Outstanding! (punches bad guy) Tommy made varsity.

Eliot: I'll bet he did, man. Tell him I said "hi." (punches another bad guy)

Friend: Ha ha. We should get together more often.

(both men punch a third bad guy near a pari of open elevator doors)

Eliot: Yes, we should.

(both men enter the elevator. Eliot looks up at his friend)

Eliot: I don't remember you being that tall.

(bombs explode as the elevator doors close)


[Brew Pub]

Eliot: Hung out with some old friends.


[Leverage HQ]

(Eliot leads the way into an office area at the back of the building)

Hardison: Scott Roemer, owner of Global Transit Airlines. Now, Global got their start making drones for military contractors, then they expanded into cargo shipping. And now they're one of the biggest cargo airlines in the world. Three years ago, Roemer fired all of his American workers, and then he off-shored his aircraft maintenance to Mexico.

Sophie: Excuse me. Uh, what is this place?

Hardison: Oh, this? This is Leverage Incorporated, Portland branch. Come on, baby. So, look, look. Since we have to stay here a while, I found us a client. I did up the office real nice and proper. Right now you are looking at our target, Scott Roemer, on a state-of-the-art projection video system. The room is filled with anti-surveillance bafflers so we don't get bugged again. Learned from that lesson. And we have nice, high ceilings for, uh...

(a rope drops from the ceiling and Parker slides down until she’s sitting on the counter)

Parker: Whew! We should add lasers.

Hardison: Put it in the suggestion box.

Sophie: Unh-unh. No, no, no, no, no. We did not agree on this. No, this was just gonna be a stopover until we made it back to Nate's place.

Hardison: Yeah, oh! Nate's apartment. About that. (changes display) You see that street? That's the street in front of Nate's apartment. That car right there's FBI. S.U.V.? Is state police. And that little pretzel cart is both delicious and Interpol. Nate's apartment is burned.

Eliot: Well, you can't just set up shop in the back of somebody's restaurant.

Hardison: Of course not. That's why I bought the microbrewery. (to Parker) What? No, he di'n't!

Parker: Yes, he did!

Hardison: What? Dude, we brew our own beer now.

Parker: Yeah, and we're calling it "thief juice." "Tastes like bad guys."

Hardison: Hey, no, we're not. I told... the suggestion...

Eliot: This is the dumbest idea you've ever come up with.

Sophie: Thank you.

Eliot: Pairing food and drink. Is hard enough with the wine, okay? They have textural and taste consistencies throughout both the vineyard and the grape categories. Okay. But you're not dealing with wine, you're dealing with beer. It's got a stronger palette. The brew pub menu is the hardest menu to design.

Sophie: That's what you're upset about?

Eliot: You're not?

Parker: Thief juice. "It's a mouth crime."

Hardison: Suggestion box. Okay. You see these people? (shows various photos of the group) All of these... your people, your fake aliases that I lovingly created. Over the last four years... they are also burned, useless. Guys, Dubenich and Latimer, they took the fall for most of our mistakes, but that last job emptied out our bag of tricks. Got to start from scratch. I got to create new IDs.

Sophie: Nate...

Nate: No, no. See, this is great. No, restaurants have, see, unusually high staff turnover. So that's good for us. Also, it's a different tax zone than our old fake IDs, right? And different state and federal jurisdictions in case there's any criminal charges. That's good for us. No, no. Portland is great. It's the perfect place... to lay low for a little bit.

Sophie: Yeah. We're moving to Portland. No warning. Anything else?

Parker: Mm, Hardison and I are dating.

Hardison: Yeah. We just got back from a 'round-the-world trip. It was different, like, it's new, and we working it out.


[Flashback]

(various scenes of Parker and Hardison repelling down the side of buildings)


[Leverage HQ]

Hardison: W-we working it out. Yeah. All right. Anyway, you can keep complaining about how I solved all of our problems while you were on vacation, or you can let me tell you about what happened last May when one of Roemer's cargo ships fell out of the sky, killing both the pilot and the co-pilot. Now, the pilot's widow is on her way right now. She needs some help. I think you know what to do.


[Brew Pub]

(Eliot is behind the bar talking to Jenny while Mrs. Sanders is at a table with Sophie and Nate)

Mrs. Sanders: Ken flew passenger jets, but he wanted to spend more time with Jenny, so he switched to cargo flights. He's been flying planes back and forth to Mexico... maintenance runs... for Global Transit until...

Sophie: I'm so sorry.

Mrs. Sanders: The court ruled it an accident, but Ken told me Global's maintenance facility in Mexico cuts corners and pays inspectors off to cover it all up.

Nate: Do you, um... do you have any proof or...

Mrs. Sanders: The crash that killed him.

Sophie: What is it that you want, Mrs. Sanders?

Mrs. Sanders: I understand Scott Roemer's going to get away with it. Fine. But how am I gonna pay for Jenny's education?

Roemer: While Global Transit Airlines truly regrets...

(Jenny is preparing a video for email)

Eliot: You're pretty good at that.

Jenny: Thanks.

Eliot: Who'd you e-mail that to?

Jenny: My dad. I send all my movies to my dad. He gets them. (sadly) I know he gets them.

Eliot (whispers): I bet he does.

Nate: We're gonna help you.

Mrs. Sanders: I can't pay you.

Nate: No, no, no, no. We, um... we operate on an alternative revenue stream.

Mrs. Sanders: Thank you.


[Exterior Microbrewery]

(Eliot opens the door to let Mrs. Sanders and Jenny out. He watches them walk down the sidewalk, then spots a man sitting in a car across the street)

Busey (into earbud): They're on the move. (pulls car forward)

(Eliot goes into the building. Around front, Mrs. Sanders and Jenny are followed by two thugs as they approach their car)

Thug: Got 'em.

(Mrs. Sanders reaches into her pocket for her keys as one of the thugs grabs her from behind)

Mrs. Sanders: Help!

Jenny: Get off me!

(Eliot comes running out of the building and attacks the two men, pushing them away from the women)

Eliot: Come on.

(Eliot fights off the two men and Busey pulls up in his car. The two men bolt in that direction)

Thug: Get up. Let's go.

(Eliot turns to check on the two women)

Mrs. Sanders: All this, and now car thieves.

(the two men get into the car and Busey pulls away)

Eliot: Yeah, car thieves, huh?


[Leverage Headquarters]

Hardison: What would Global want with Sanders? I mean, the trial's over. Global won.

Eliot (looking at tablet): These guys weren't amateurs.

Hardison: Sophie's at Global right now. She'll get us into the server room. Hey, Nate. Thanks for tailing Roemer. Look, once he's at his office…


[Airplane Museum]

Hardison: … I can lock into his GPS.

Nate: Yeah, problem, Hardison. He's nowhere near his office.

Roemer (on phone): You're a fool for scheduling it. You know I never miss this day. Look, I'll make it for lunch, shake some hands.

Nate (following Roemer): I don't know, we're at some sort of museum.

Hardison: What kind of museum?

Nate: You know, the kind that has a 747 on the top of it. Portland is... Odd.

Sophie: And very, very wet.


[Global Transit]

Sophie (entering Lobby): We're gonna have to have a serious talk about moving somewhere with less rain.


[Leverage HQ]

Hardison: London has rain.


[Global Transit]

Sophie: No, London has fog. Fog is mysterious. Rain just ruins my hair. (Eastern European accent) Hello. I am here for janitor job. You security checking?

Receptionist: Go to H.R. In the other building.

Sophie: Who is "archer"?

Receptionist: Just sit there for a second.

Sophie (sits down): When's delivery?


[Leverage HQ]

Hardison: Incoming. We'll advise.

Eliot: This guy. (points to tablet) This guy right here... that's the guy was running point.

Hardison: Okay. That's Samuel Busey. He's head of Global Transit security. He's ex-CIA, very nasty. I'll get you a full background.

Eliot: Nate, is Roemer meeting anybody there?


[Airplane Museum]

Eliot: You need backup?

Nate (following Roemer): No, he's just walking around.


[Global Transport]

Executive: Did he say when he'd be in?

Receptionist: Uh, he was...

Executive: Oh, never mind. We'll go stall. And call him again.

Sophie: Hmm. This place is melting down. There's got to be something in that museum that's more important to him than his own company.

Nate: Let's find out what.

[Airplane Museum]

Nate (moves closer to Roemer): Look at the size of that engine, huh?

Roemer: 1,900 horsepower. Wright R-2600. She could hit about 300 miles an hour. I run a cargo airline, so...

Nate: Yeah. Scott... Scott Roemer, right? Global Transit? Yeah, we've done some business together.


[Leverage HQ]

Hardison: Nate, please do not introduce yourself. Like I said, I have no IDs that...


[Airplane Museum]

Nate: Tommy Mackinaw. Mackinaw Import/Export. Nice to meet you.


[Leverage Headquarters]

Hardison: Yes. Please. Thank you. Do go ahead and pick the one name on earth that does not exist.

Eliot (looking at tablet): This is not a background.

Hardison: Oh, sorry, man. That's a menu for the pub.

Eliot: Damn it, Hardison!

Hardison: I said I'm sorry, man. But I mean, do you have any suggestions?

Eliot: No, I don't have any suggestions, man! 9 out of 10 restaurants fail! Especially when you're... You can't put anchovies and pineapple on the same pizza.

Hardison: Obviously, you do not have a refined taste palate.

Eliot: Don't come crying to me when this thing goes bankrupt.

Hardison: I'm sorry. Sophie, incoming.


[Global Transit]

Sophie (to Receptionist with accent): Please. Please, may I use the restroom? Is lady's problem!

Receptionist: Okay. Okay. Here. (hands her a bathroom key)

Sophie: Ah.

(Sophie enters the bathroom and walks out a few moments later looking completely different. She hands the key to a mail clerk)

Sophie: Oh, hi! Could y'all drop this off at reception for me? (drops the key and grabs a file while the clerk is distracted) Thanks... (runs into a man in the hall) oops!

Man: Oh!

Sophie: Oh, my, I am sorry. (steals man’s badge)

Man: No problem.

Sophie (uses badge on stairwell door): I'm in.


[Airplane Museum]

Nate: They tell me these things still actually fly.

Roemer: Absolutely. The museum specializes in restoration. Every plane is in working order. Fuel them up, and you could put any one of these into the sky. Including the big bird.

Nate: The big bird.

Roemer: Oh, you didn't know? (laughs) You're in for a treat, pal. Today's the day they fire her up. Once a year.

Hardison: The... the Spruce Goose?


[Leverage HQ]

Hardison: The Spruce Goose, built by Howard Hughes, the Tony Stark of the '40s. Biggest plane on earth, made of all wood, "wingspan longer than a football field" Spruce Goose?


[Hallway]

(clerk wheels a large box down the hallway. Sophie comes out of an office and stops him)

Sophie (Southern accent): Oh, that's for my office here.

(clerk puts box in the office and leaves. Sophie taps the box and Parker pushes it open)

Sophie: Server room is two back. (checks the hallway)

Executive: Excuse me. What are you doing there?

Sophie (Southern Accent): Well, I do...

Executive: Are you here with the Australian group?

Sophie (Australian Accent): ...wish you blokes would put some maps up around here!

Executive: Meeting's this way. I'll take you.


[Airplane Museum]

Roemer: There she is. Greatest plane ever built.

Tour Guide: Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. And now, on the 65th anniversary of her flight, let's hear the roar of the spruce goose engines again.

(the plane’s engines ignite and continue to run for several minutes)

Roemer: Whoo! Ha ha! Listen to her. That's the sound of what a great man can do when little people get out of his way.

Nate: Can we go inside?

Roemer: Oh, yeah. That's the best part.


[Server Room]

(Parker removes a ceiling panel and climbs down on top of the server racks)

Hardison: Parker. The server room at Global Transit Airlines has floor sensors.

Parker: Copy that. (shimmies down between to racks opens a door and plugs in a flash drive) Transferring now.


[Conference Room]

Executive: Again, I am so sorry about the delay. And I assure you, Mr. Roemer will be here before the board of directors meeting.

Sophie: No worries. (walks into room) G'day. (goes to end of table, picks up a report and starts reading)


[Spruce Goose]

Roemer (giving Nate a tour of the airplane): The Hughes H-4 Hercules. Her wingspan is the length of a football field. She can carry a thousand men. Come on. I want to show you something. Plywood laminate he used is called "Duramold." Watch your head. We still use a version of it for composite materials in miniature drones today. Huh? I tell you what I admire about Howard Hughes. The government tried to take this thing, and he told them to go screw themselves. He flew it once... just once, to prove it worked. Then he put it away in storage for 50 years, where no one could touch it.

Nate: Yeah. He showed them, huh?

Roemer: Yeah, I started working with government contractors... Drone business. Believe me, there wasn't a day when I didn't wish I could tell them off. (climbs into pilot seat) You know what this is? This is his seat. He flew it himself. Took the risk himself! Oh, god, that's what I love about this bird, you know? She's like a...

Nate: Like a shrine.

Roemer: Yeah. Yeah. A shrine. A shrine to people who build the world, like me and Hughes. People who take risks.

Nate: I read somewhere that they, ah, they were chasing you and your company about something?

Roemer: Yeah, yeah. My company had a little accident, and a couple employees got hurt. Yeah. So the government fines me. I pay the fine... I still get sued.

Nate: Eh, that hardly seems fair.

Roemer: The airline industry has lost $60 billion since 9/11. $60 billion. I'm trying to save an industry, and all I get is grief.

Nate: Sure. Sure you are. Yeah. Big fine?

Roemer: A million bucks. But, hey, at least there's something good about the system. I mean, you and I kill a guy, we go to prison. I mean, my company kills a guy and pays a fine. I mean, that's just the cost of doing business. But it's the principle of the thing, you know?

Nate (softly): Oh, I know.

Roemer: Look at this thing. I wish I could fly it, you know? Just once. Just once.


[Server Room]

Parker (checking display): There's a lot of video tagged at the Sanders'...

[Leverage HQ]

Parker: ... dated this week.

Eliot: They're watching the house, man. I told you. I'm going over to Sanders' house! (leaves)

Hardison: Gotcha.

Sophie: It gets worse.


[Conference Room]

Sophie: Tomorrow, the board of directors are voting on a merger with two passenger airlines.


[Spruce Goose]

Sophie: And Roemer's gonna move the maintenance to his Mexico facility.


[Conference Room]

Sophie: The next time one of his planes falls out of the sky, it's gonna be full of people.


[Leverage HQ]

Hardison: Okay. Nate, I realize this is the kind of guy that makes you very angry. Please do not do --


[Spruce Goose]

Hardison: -- what I think you're about to do.

Nate: Mr. Roemer, I got to admit something to you. I intended to meet you today. This plane, this one-of-a-kind plane, this biggest plane in the world... How would you like to own the Spruce Goose?

(Roemer gets out of the pilot’s seat, obviously interested)


[Leverage HQ]

(Nate paces in front of the monitors, thinking)

Sophie: I blame you.

Hardison: Me? I didn't tell the man to run a scam using the biggest airplane on earth.

Parker: The big wooden plane belongs to a museum. You can't sell it.


[Aircraft Museum]

Roemer: Museum owns the Spruce Goose. Can't sell it.

Nate: Correct. I work for a group of foreign aviation enthusiasts from a nation which, for now, shall remain nameless. The National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 states that no non-U.S. Citizen can buy United States Historical property or artifact, and the spruce goose is a certified historical artifact.


[Leverage HQ]

Parker: Is that true?

Hardison: Mm. To do... hack the U.S. National Artifacts website. Yay! What else?


[Aircraft Museum]

Nate: We have an interesting idea. We're looking for a U.S. partner... a full partner.

Roemer: My board would never go for it.

Nate: No, I mean, we wouldn't want the company to know. Right? We wouldn't want them to know anything about it. They got wind of this... that foreign nationals were involved in such a thing... there would be government interference. Much like they interfered with Hughes. Much like they interfere with everything that you do. We don't want that.

Roemer: Two conditions... to even consider this. First, I get to meet the buyers face to face.

Nate: Absolutely. That's a given. I mean, you know, a sign of good faith, probably a half-a-million-dollar buy-in, just so they feel good about it.

Roemer (laughs): You expect me to give you the money, just like that? You're a funny guy.

Nate: You're right. Forget about that. No. Tell you what. Open up a cash account in your name, right? Then I'll get my people to put their money into your account. Then you own the plane. You buy the plane and everything, and then you loan it to a museum overseas. The plane will always be yours.

Roemer: Second, I get to fly her... nobody else. She gets to a new location, I get to take her up.

Nate: I guarantee you, you will fly this plane. (they shake hands)


[Leverage HQ]

Sophie: That is the scam that I used to sell the Brooklyn Bridge the year we met.

Nate: Yes. Yes, that's right. That's... that's why I did it.

Sophie: Oh. That is... that is so romantic.

Hardison: So, wait, wait. Let me get it... he gives us the information to transfer our funds in. We take his money out and give it to the widow. Done deal. It's nice.

Parker: No, but that still leaves the merger. We can't let him fly people around in his broke airplanes.

Nate: Do you have the deal memo?

Sophie: Yeah.

Nate (looks at memo): All right. Okay. Oh, okay. Well, he didn't assign a proxy, meaning that he... if he's not at the board of directors meeting, the deal can't go through. So we have to distract him. And I don't mean just like take him out, but I mean completely discredit him. Now, he relies on the company to protect him, so you strip that away, considering the fact that he's an engineer. So you give him a mystery to solve.

Parker: Mm. He's gonna obsess.

Nate: Yeah, and, you know, he likes to take risks. So... and he wants to be like Hughes. You know, I mean, wears the suits, he's got the hat.

Sophie: And he's in love...

Nate: Huh?

Sophie: With a plane.

Nate: I've got just the thing. And I promise I'll keep it simple this time, okay? Hardison, you're gonna need a fake I.D. To be the buyer. I'm thinking something sheikh-y.

Hardison: I did tell you that these IDs don't hold up.


[Exterior Sanders’ Home]

(Jenny sits on the steps with her laptop as Eliot follows Mrs. Sanders out of the house)

Mrs. Sanders: What would they want?

Eliot: Did your husband leave anything behind?

Mrs. Sanders: He brought back little gifts on every trip... Jenny's backpack, her bear, pretty much every T-shirt she wears now. She won't wear anything else.

Eliot: What about that computer?

Mrs. Sanders: His laptop went down in the crash. I'm sorry.

Eliot: No, that actually helps. Uh, pardon me for a second. Sorry.

Mrs. Sanders (to Jenny): Hey.

Eliot (on cell phone): Yo.

Hardison: Yo, what's up?

Eliot: Hey, Global cleaned up the crash site, right? I think they may have recovered Sanders' laptop.


[Leverage HQ]

Eliot: That's what spooked them.

Hardison: Well, they claimed everything was destroyed, but (types on keyboard) let's poke around. Nice catch. (pulls up video) There's a video fragment on Sanders' laptop.

(on screen, Busey hands an envelope to another man)

Ken (voice overlay): You can see that this is a payoff. All the maintenance records are faked.

(a third man walks between Busey and the other man, interrupting them, and says something to Ken in Spanish)

Ken: Sorry, wrong turn. Sorry about that. I'll leave.

Hardison: Ken Sanders had a hidden camera. Okay, look, the video fragment stops there, but at least now we know why global has people on the widow. Look, man, you find the rest of this footage…


[Exterior, Sanders Home]

Hardison: … you can prove negligence.

Eliot: They think she's got the whole video. And they're not gonna stop till they get it. (hangs up phone)



[Exterior Park]

Parker (runs up to a waiting Sophie): Sorry. We spent most the morning setting up the thing... for the thing.

Sophie: Ugh. Why are you okay with this? You seem perfectly happy to be in this... town.

Parker: We're here.

Sophie: Yeah, I know. "We’re here, get used to it."

Parker: No. We're here. Us.

Sophie: Oh. That's sweet.

Parker: Yeah. Me and my money, Hardison and Eliot, Nate and you. (walks away)

Sophie (following): Yeah? Parker, why does the money always come before the people?

(Sophie walks past, then returns to look at a sign advertising a theater for lease)


[Warehouse]

Nate (on phone): I don't know anything about running a theater! How would I know that? I don't know. I'm being helpful. No, listen. Sophie! Sophie! I don't know. Maybe you just, you know, you lease the building and then you incorporate. The theater... group... player... people thing. I don't...

(Nate reaches Hardison, then hangs up when a noise reverberates through the warehouse and Roemer joins them)

Nate: Ah, hello, great. Okay. Good. You came alone. That's great. Scott Roemer, I'd like you to meet Mr. Jabreen. Mr. Jabreen, Scott Roemer. Abdullah ib Jabreen.

Hardison: (speaks Arabic, then speaks with accent) The pleasure is mine. The money has been moved?

(Roemer holds up his phone to show the transfer on the display)

Hardison: Excellent. If you simply give me the bank information, we will transfer our own funds.

(the door opens and goons enter the warehouse)

Nate: Hey, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. You're supposed to come alone. What is this?

Roemer: Your phony company fell apart the moment my guy did a background check on you. Question is, who the hell are you?

Nate: Who am I?

(Hardison says something angrily in Arabic)

Nate: No, no, no. I didn't know. I didn't know!

Hardison: You're dead. We'll find you wherever you go.

Nate: Whoa.

Hardison: We'll find you!

Roemer: Hey, hey, hey. Who's "we"?

Sophie (entering): We are.

(Sophie points gun at Nate, and Hardison also pulls a gun)

Goon: She was in the office yesterday. What was she doing in the office?!

Hardison: You think you're safe? We know all about you. We have people in your business! We have people in your homes!

Nate: Whoa. I'm on your side!

Sophie: You told him about the device.

Nate: No.

Sophie: You take care of this.

Hardison: I take care. (points gun at Roemer)

Roemer: Hey... hey! Hold on a second! This has been some kind of mistake.

Hardison: You are the mistake! Move. Move!

(Roemer and Nate exit with Hardison following. Behind them comes the sound of two gunshots. Roemer turns to look but sees nothing)

Hardison: Go! Move! Walk. (guides them toward an opening garage door) Hurry. Hurry.


[Exterior, Warehouse]

Hardison: This your car?

Roemer: Yes. Yes.

Hardison: Get in the car.

Roemer: Yes.

Hardison: Drive. Now.

(Roemer gets into the car. Hardison turns the gun on Nate)

Hardison: You, get in the car. Get in the car. Get in the car.

(they all get into the car)


[Warehouse]

(Roemer and the other goon are lying on the floor at Sophie and Parker’s feet. Parker holds up a stun gun while Sophie fires blanks at the ceiling)


[Interior Car]

Hardison: Who you sell us out?

Nate: Hey! Nobody.

Hardison: Who? FBI, CIA?

Nate: No! I'm on your side!

Hardison: My side. You lie. (to Roemer) You. Who else knows of our interest in the plane?

Roemer: No one.

Hardison: Tell me right now.

Roemer: I didn't tell anyone. Get that gun out of my face!

Hardison: Shut up. Drive. (to Nate) You. Tell me.

Nate: Hey, hey. Hey.

Hey, guys. What's that? Under the dash?

Nate: It's a bomb!

(Roemer stops the car and all get out quickly, running away. A moment later the car explodes, throwing them all to the ground.

Roemer: My god.

Nate: Ah.

(Roemer sees Hardison’s gun lying on the ground and picks it up. Hardison comes at him, and Roemer shoots him. Hardison falls to the ground)

Nate (grabs Roemer): Come on!

Roemer: I didn't...

Nate: Come on! (pulls Roemer away)


[Parking Lot]

(Nate and Roemer wend their way between cars, looking for one to steal. Roemer still has Hardison’s gun)

Roemer: We should call the police.

Nate: Yeah, yeah, great. You do that. You just shot a guy.

Roemer: He was a terrorist!

Nate: A terrorist that you were doing business with. Look, a company kills a guy, they pay a fine. Like you said, you kill a guy, you go to jail. You killed that guy.

Roemer: All right. (puts away gun, takes out cell phone) My security works for me, not the police.


[Conference Room]

Executive: What do you mean you don't know where he is?

Busey: I'm his chief of security, not his babysitter!

Executive: The Australians get on a plane tomorrow morning. If he's not here for the meeting, the whole deal falls apart.

Busey (phone rings, he answers it): Busey

Roemer: It's me.

Busey: Where are you? My men haven't called in.

Roemer: Something happened.


[Parking Lot]

Nate: Stop it! Wait. That was a bomb in your car. And Jabreen was just as surprised as we were.


[Conference Room]

Busey: Mr. Roemer?


[Parking Lot]

Nate: Now, listen. It was obviously a double-cross. Is there anybody in your office that works... has ties with intelligence or...

Roemer: Ex-CIA.

Nate: Ah, geez. Great.

(Roemer hangs up the phone)


[Conference Room]

Busey: Roemer. (lowers phone) We do not need this. (to thug) Get a trace on his cellphone.

(Thug moves off as Busey receives text from T. Bortolotti “FOOTAGE DECODED”)

Busey: Oh.


[Parking Lot]

Roemer: Hey! Why should I trust you?

Nate: I was just the middle man. I know they were just as ready to cap me as they were you. Look, right now, you and I, we're just trying to stay alive. Okay, now, that money in your account, they get a hold of that, you're tied to the terrorists forever.

Roemer: I need that money.

Nate: Well, just transfer it.

Roemer: No, no, no, no. They'll just chase it through the system.

(Nate finds a set of keys hidden beneath a car fender)

Roemer: I need to cash it out. That first.

Nate (holds up key): You're the boss.

(they both get into the car and Nate pulls away. Hardison and Eliot come out from between two parked cars)

Eliot: To be honest, when you're not on the receiving end of it, watching him mess with somebody's head is pretty impressive.

Hardison: Yeah. It's like one of those aliens that feeds off of people's fear. (looks at computer) My image analysis is scanning the footage that Ken Sanders took. It's not much. It's not a camera phone. It's a cheaper model used in nanny cams.

Eliot: It's like a security camera.

Hardison: Yeah. Spy on the nanny so it looks like it belongs in the kid's room. But it doesn't look like a camera.

Eliot: I know where it's at.

Hardison: Footage is stored in the drive...

Eliot: I know. I know! Parker, I'm going over to the Sanders' house. Get to the school. (gets into his car)

Hardison: Sophie and I are gonna set up Nate's show.


[Interior Car]

(Roemer exits a bank with a briefcase and gets into the car. He opens the briefcase to reveal it’s full of cash before pulling the gun on Nate)

Roemer: All right. Start talking.

Nate: Like I said, I am on your side. Look, you know, I knew they weren't legitimate buyers, okay, but, I mean, I didn't think they'd kill anybody.

Roemer: Who were they?

Nate: I don't know. A foreign government... maybe Iran, maybe Pakistan. Don't know.

Roemer: Well, what the hell do they want with a 70-year-old airplane?

Nate: All I know is that they want to ship it overseas and take it apart, leave you hanging. It's a mystery.

Roemer: Take it apart?

Nate: Yeah.

Roemer: No, no, no. We're gonna get the plans to the Spruce Goose.

Nate: How the hell are we gonna get those?

Roemer: The museum. Get us to the museum.


[Exterior Sanders’ Home]

Eliot (exiting house): Parker, it's with her.


[Exterior School]

Parker (looks across street): I got her.

(Jenny is walking down the sidewalk. A car pulls up and Busey gets out, running over to her and grabbing her backpack)

Busey: Give me that.

Jenny: That is mine!

Busey (grabs bear and tosses backpack to the ground): That's yours. This is mine.

Parker: They figured it out. They know the camera's in the bear! (runs across street, sliding across the hood of a car and running after Busey)


[Exterior Sanders’ Home]

Parker: They got the bear.

Eliot (getting into his car): Did you get a license number? Maybe Hardison can hack some traffic cams.

Parker: That's okay.


[Exterior Car]

(Parker is hanging beneath Busey’s car)

Parker: Just track me.

Busey (into phone): Go.

Thug: We have a rough search area off Mr. Roemer's phone.

Busey: Get to it.


[Aircraft Museum]

(Nate and Roemer are looking over schematics with flashlights)

Nate: I gotta... I can't make sense of these.

Roemer: I can. I've worked in aircraft my whole life. That woman said "the device."

Nate: Yeah, I mean, they're all... what do you call it when they're all smudged out?

Roemer: Redacted.

Nate: Redacted. Yeah.

Roemer: 1947.

Nate: Yeah.

Roemer: Other sections still classified. (looks at plans) Well, that's odd.

Nate: Hmm?

Roemer: A lot of this is about radar. Radar was brand-new. Let's see. What do we got here? "Materials report." Hughes built it out of wood. (flips pages) But all of this is redacted. Why? Everyone knew he built it out of wood.

Nate: Spruce.

Roemer: No, birch. A wood-polymer composite. Just like we use on... On drones. Of course. Of course. Wait a minute. It’s... wait a minute. Right there. You see that? You know what that is? That coupling sends a current through the whole plane. An E.M. Field surrounds it.

Nate: Hey, tell me... layman's terms. This is all gibberish to me.

Roemer: If the plane was made of aluminum like most of them were in 1947, that would've electrocuted everybody inside! Don't you see?

Nate: Right.

Roemer: It's made of wood. That's it. That's it. Come on. Let's go. Come on! (exits area)

Nate: Wow, nice job on the plans, Hardison.

Roemer: She's built of wood. She's got radar countermeasures. The Spruce Goose is a stealth bomber. Howard Hughes built a stealth bomber in 1947.

Nate: Why would the Iranians, you know, be interested in stealth technology that's 70 years old?

Roemer: There are atomic bomb secrets still classified from the 1930s. Stealth technology is the world's top secret. Even an old version, you could reverse-engineer it. Heck, you could be the only guy on earth making stealth technology for hire.

Nate: Okay, great. Okay, so now that we know this, let's go tell the cops.

Roemer: Hey, hey. What's on that plane is worth billions. Billions.

(a car pulls up)

Roemer: Wait. Who's that?

Nate: Who's that? (softly into earbud) It's not supposed to happen like this, guys.

Sophie (with Parker elsewhere in the museum): No, it's not.

(Busey gets out of car with several other thugs)

Thug #1: Come on. He's inside!

Thug #2: Whoa, whoa! Let's wait for Busey.

Sophie: It's Roemer's babysitters... they found him. They're coming your way.

Nate: Okay, well, then, move up the timetable. You're gonna have to hit us now.

(Hardison pulls a mask down over his face and Sophie pulls a gun)

Roemer: Maybe they're here to help.

Nate: No, I don't think they're...

Sophie: Get them!

(Sophie yells in Arabic and she and Hardison fire toward Nate and Roemer. Nate appears to be shot and stumbles after Roemer, who pulls his own gun)

Sophie: Fan out. Find him.

Nate (grabs Roemer’s arm): No, no, no. Oh, no. I've been hit. They got me. They got the place surrounded. We got to hide.

Roemer: The Goose. We can get into her through the landing gear...

Nate: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Roemer: Lock the bulkheads behind us. Come on.

Busey (joining thugs): Well, where is he?

(Eliot pulls up in his car and gets out, approaching the men menacingly)

Eliot: I'm only gonna say this once, boys. Give me the... Teddy bear.

(the men laugh and several thugs head toward Eliot, who fights them off)


[Spruce Goose]

Roemer: Bulkheads are closed. We're safe.

Nate: That'd be great if we weren't in a plane made of wood.

Sophie: Open the doors. Everyone inside! (sounds of a large door opening)

Nate: They're coming through the front.

Roemer: That was their mistake. (climbs into the pilot seat and begins flipping switches)

Nate: Whoa. What are you... what are you doing there?

Roemer: There's still gas in the lines from when they turned over the engines. We're getting out of here.

(Roemer laughs as he propels the plane forward)


[Aircraft Museum]

(Eliot punches the last of the thugs, then turns toward Busey, who pulls a gun. He tries to fire, but the gun is empty. Parker steps out behind him, holding the clip from his gun)

Parker: This is the part where you get punched.

(Eliot punches Busey and catches the bear as Busey falls to the ground)


[Spruce Goose]

Roemer: Here we go!

Nate: "Here we go"? Whoa, whoa, whoa. I don't think this is such a good idea.

Roemer (laughs): We're just taxiing till we get away.

Nate: The buildings! Watch out for the buildings!

Roemer (laughing): Come on. Come on. Come on. (manages to get the plane off the ground) We're up! We're flying! I'm the first man since Howard Hughes to fly the Spruce Goose! Is this beautiful or what?

Nate: Where are we going?

Roemer: We'll follow the river, and if need be, I'll put her down on the water.

Nate: Yeah, yeah, down there?

Roemer: Yes, down there! Isn’t this great?

Nate: Great.


[Aircraft Museum]

(the windows of the Spruce Goose are being hit by the projection television system Hardison had installed in Headquarters. It’s clear that the plane hasn’t gone anywhere.

Sophie: You're feeling very pleased with yourself, aren't you?

Hardison: I am.


[Flashback]

(Hardison tests out a mechanism designed to mimic the feeling of movement that he and Parker then install in the cabin of the Spruce Goose)


[Spruce Goose]

Nate: Hey. Hey!

(Roemer gestures that he can’t hear Nate over the sounds of the engines)


[Flashback]

(Hardison tests out speakers that he and Parker then install in the cabin of the Spruce Goose)


[Spruce Goose]

(the view from the windows clearly shows a night time aerial view of Portland)


[Flashback]

(Hardison pulls the projector in Headquarters down)


[Aircraft Museum]

Sophie: You plan on telling me how you're gonna let them land?

Hardison: Who says he gets to land? (hits a button on a tablet, initiating a crash program)


[Spruce Goose]

(the ‘ride’ gets rougher, and the engines begin to cut out)

Roemer (manipulating controls desperately): Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. No, no. Check starboard engine four! Mackinaw! Mackinaw!

(Nate is slumped in his seat, unconscious. Flames appear on one of the engines)

Roemer: No, no. No, no, no, no, no, no!


[Aircraft Museum]

Hardison: Ready for the piece de résistance? (hits another button on the tablet)

Sophie: Oh.


[Spruce Goose]

Roemer: I don't want to die! I don't want to die!!

(Nate rises up and punches Roemer, knocking him out)


[Crash Site]

(Roemer wakes up at what looks like a crash site with pieces of wreckage all around him, including his briefcase and scattered money. He gets up and looks around)

Roemer: Oh, god. (pulls his phone and sees a news report that the Spruce Goose has been stolen) Oh, my god. (dials phone) Busey.

Busey: Mr. Roemer --


[Conference Room]

Busey: -- where are you?

Roemer: This thing in the news... it's me.

(Busey turns to see a news report on a monitor that shows Global Transit is under investigation, and plays the clip Hardison had found earlier)

Busey: Sir, don't say anything. I'm pretty sure these phones are tapped.


[Crash Site]

Roemer: I killed a man.


[Conference Room]

(Busey winces)

Roemer: The plane crash! It's all my fault.


[Crash Site]

Roemer: Cover me till I can get my lawyers in place.


[Conference Room]

Roemer: I'm going away for a while.

(Busey hangs up and turns to look at several FBI agents standing behind him, going through paperwork)


[Crash Site]

(Roemer stumbles to his briefcase and picks it up, grabbing some of the scattered money from the ground. He closes the briefcase, then looks at the GPS on his phone)

Roemer: Canadian border. Yeah, yeah. Canada. (heads off to the north)


[Brew Pub]

(Parker and Hardison are busy in the kitchen. Eliot is showing Jenny how to use a knife while Sophie and Nate sit at a table with Mrs. Sanders)

Eliot: Two fingers on the blade. Right there. Then you put your hand around there. Easy. Oh, higher. Higher. Okay, now... very good. Good stuff. Right there.

Nate: This, uh... that's for you. (hands her a check)

Mrs. Sanders: I don't know what to say.

Nate: Well, your husband's video proved negligence, and Global didn't want to go to trial, so that settlement should take care of you for a little while.

Sophie: And the merger's fallen through. Global's under investigation, what with Roemer "missing" and all.

Mrs. Sanders: What happens to Roemer?

Nate: I'll tell you. He's gonna figure it out eventually, but no one will ever take him seriously ever again.


[Flashback]

Agent: So, your story is, you didn't flee the country because of embezzlement or fraud. You fled because you thought terrorists were trying to kill you for secret stealth technology.

Roemer: Yes!

Agent: But you didn't report that to the FBI because you believed you stole the world's largest airplane...

Roemer: That's right.

Agent: Out of a museum.

Roemer: Yes.

Agent: Which you then crashed.

Roemer: Yes. Now you got it.


[Brew Pub]

Mrs. Sanders: I hope you two are as happy as Ken and I were.

Nate: We...

Sophie: Sorry.

Nate: When you say... no.

Sophie: No, you...

Mrs. Sanders: Just be happy for now.

Sophie: Mm. Thanks.

(Mrs. Sanders and Jenny leave as Parker and Hardison carry a tray of drinks to the table

Sophie: What do we have here?

Hardison: Here is the first of my new batch.

Nate: Oh, you know, I'm really more of a whiskey kind of guy.

Sophie: Can I have a glass of white wine?

Parker: Drink our juice.

Sophie: What? We have to?

Parker: Yes, please.

(Nate takes a drink from his glass)

Sophie (raises glass): Cheers.

Eliot (joins the group at the table carrying a tray of food): All right. All right. All right. Black porter chili.

Sophie: Well, that's very, uh... Interesting.

Hardison: It's good, right?

Sophie: Here. How about this? Try that.

(Eliot takes a drink and spits it back into his glass)

Hardison: Hey, I saw that.

Eliot: Are you kidding me with this, man? You can't serve this to people. They'll shut you down before you even get started.

Hardison: That is amazing.

Eliot: You can't learn how to make beer online. You actually have to go to the brewery.

Hardison: I went to the brewery, and they gave me books.

Sophie: It's his first one.

Nate: Are you sure it's finished?

Hardison: It's very finished. Fermented for, like, 24 hours.

(later, in the office area, Nate and Hardison are alone. Hardison is on a laptop and Nate brings him a drink)

Hardison: I don't like lying to them, Nate. Especially Parker.

Nate: It's for the best. Everything set?

Hardison: Almost. I'm locking in the money right now. You're sure about this?

Nate: All good things come to an end, Hardison. And by the way... (offers him a toast) Thank you.

(they both drink)

The End

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