[INTRO MUSIC]

SCENE 1 - OUTSIDE HANSEN ROCHESTER BASE

[Crickets chirp, light wind, late night sounds.]

MORGAN: There are too many security guards. We can't slip past them all. How are we going to get inside?

NOEL: I've been thinking about this since we got off the highway. Why don’t we just do the moonwalking bear?

GRACE: Huh?

NOEL: If you’re too focused on a certain detail or distraction, you won’t see the moonwalking bear right in front of your face. We don’t have a bear, but we do have Robin. If Robin causes enough of a scene, that might be enough to get us past gate security.

MORGAN: And then what? We’ve given up our only advantage.

NOEL: It's not exactly stealthy.

MAYA: And don't solve problem number two before we’ve solved problem number one.

GRACE: I say we moonwalk this bear.

MORGAN: Alright. Robin, can you make a big scene?

[Robin stands and walks steadily towards the east side of the base. With each even footstep, it grows a bit in size. It lets out a roar, so loud it shakes the leaves of surrounding trees and the grass on the lawn.]

MAYA: Come on!

[The four of them run towards the entrance to the base and manage to slip in undetected.]

MAYA: Morgan, Grace, you two go towards Robin. With any luck, it’ll lead you to Evie. Noel and I will go the other way.

GRACE: Why?

MAYA: Maybe one of us won’t get caught. There has to be some way to help you guys out-

NOEL: Or at least make Hansen’s life harder-

MAYA: -and if there is, we’ll find it.

[Pause.]

MORGAN: Okay. Best of luck.

MAYA: Check in at… 5:30. We want to be out of here before they can call for backup. 6:00 at the absolute latest.

[Pause.]

MAYA: If you grab Evie and have a chance to get out of here without us, take it.

GRACE: We didn’t come all this way just to leave someone else behind.

MAYA: We’ll do whatever we can to be at the car by six. I need you guys to trust us. Noel and I have dealt with Hansen guys for a long time. We know the pattern, and I know Will better than any of you. We worked side by side for years. That has to count for something.

MORGAN: Has it ever counted in the past?

MAYA: I’ve never had a chance to see.

MAYA: We’re wasting time we don’t have. Noel, come on.

MORGAN: Good luck!

MAYA & NOEL: Good luck!

SCENE 2 - OUTSIDE THE SERVER ROOM

[Just then, from outside the building, there’s a roar so loud it shakes the walls.]

EVIE: Finally!

[Walkie talkie static.]

SECURITY 3: (on walkie) Sir! The construct is approaching the building, just as you thought.

HIRSCH: Yes, I can hear it. Where is it?

EVIE: (under her breath, nearly frantic) Suppression pipe suppression pipe suppression pipe…

SECURITY 3: (on walkie) Approaching the east side. Coming right towards you.

HIRSCH: Dispatch a security team. Don’t let it get any closer.

SECURITY 3: I have, sir, but guns aren’t working. It doesn’t seem to notice us.

EVIE: Got it!

[Evie swings the fire ax towards the pipe. She cries out as she moves her injured shoulder, but doesn’t stop. CLANK! The ax makes contact.]

HIRSCH: No you don’t.

[Hirsch goes to grab Evie. Evie gets another swing in. CLANK! Synthetic fire suppression gas starts leaking from the pipe. She gets in one more CLANK before Hirsch grabs her. The pipe keeps leaking. Evie cries out in pain again as Hirsch grabs her arms and pulls them behind her.]

HIRSCH: Hands behind your back.

EVIE: Let me go! Hey golem, I’m in here!

[Robin roars again. She struggles in his grasp, but her injuries are catching up with her. Her adrenaline is fading.]

HIRSCH: You've been on your feet too long. You should rest.

EVIE: Over your dead body.

HIRSCH: I really wanted to help you, Evie. It’s sad you can’t see that.

EVIE: It’s sad you’re a traitor.

HIRSCH: Lucky for you, I don't care if you're thankful for the work I do. You’ll benefit… regardless of if you deserve it…

[Hirsch’s voice starts to lose energy. His words trail off.]

EVIE: Feeling a little weird, Agent? Feeling a little dizzy?

HIRSCH: What did you…

EVIE: Fire suppression system. How do you put out a fire when servers can’t get wet? Suffocate it with gas.

[Evie starts to get a bit giddy from the lack of oxygen. The hiss from the pipe gets louder.]

EVIE: How much oxygen do you really need? How little oxygen can you take?

HIRSCH: (shouting as much as he can) Get the door! Turn the air on!

[One of the security guards opens the door and switches on the fan. Evie pushes her chair backward and hits another. To stop her, Hirsch presses down on her wounded shoulder.]

EVIE: Ahh! Get your hands off me.

[Sound of handcuffs jingling. Hirsch handcuffs Evie to her chair.]

HIRSCH: I wish I didn't need to cuff you.

EVIE: Bite me.

HIRSCH: Take her back up to the overnight room on floor three. Have the RN on duty treat her shoulder and handcuff her to the bed. I think she’s done enough exploring for today. Emery, get this pipe repaired and have IT comb through our intranet and see if she did anything to our data before we found her.

SECURITY 1: Yes, sir.

SECURITY 2: (to EVIE, mockingly) Time to get you all fixed up.

[Walkie talkie static.]

SECURITY 3: (on walkie) Sir, we need backup! There must be ten of us out here. The bullets are slowing it down but we can’t stop it!

EVIE: (shouting) I’m in here! I'm in here!

[A security guard puts his hand over her mouth to muffle her.]

SECURITY 2: Ow! She bit me!

EVIE: OVER HERE!

HIRSCH: Third floor. Now. (to walkie) Maintain fire until I get there. If we can’t shoot this thing down, we’ll have to take control of it.

SCENE 3 - THIRD FLOOR HALLWAY

[Footsteps. Grace and Morgan speak in hushed tones.]

GRACE: This is the only part of the building with a labeled hospital wing, assuming the signs are correct.

MORGAN: I gotta say, I’m not super confident in this hospital theory. These Hansen people don’t sound that considerate.

GRACE: It’s the best lead we have. Robin wouldn’t stop drawing that cross. In a building like this, the only theory that made sense was Maya’s: hospital.

MORGAN: I hope you’re right. Because otherwise we’ll have to knock on every identical door-

GRACE: -and alert anyone who’s on the night shift that we’re here.

MORGAN: Exactly. This doesn’t really look like a hospital wing, though. It looks like an office building.

GRACE: I know. It’s weirding me out.

MORGAN: Maybe the signs are old.

GRACE: Or maybe they don’t get a lot of visitors.

[Suddenly, Evie’s voice comes in distantly, from down the hallway. She’s still shouting, and she’s getting louder.]

EVIE: If you stormtrooper idiots think you can keep me here forever then you haven’t seen the worst of it. I’ll make your life miserable. I’ll scream so loud you won’t be able to think. I’ll build fifteen more golems and smash this place to pieces.

SECURITY 2: Will you? Because you can’t seem to get this one to smash anything.

EVIE: You don’t know anything about what I can do. If you think you’re so much better than me, then take these handcuffs off.

[The security guard chuckles but doesn’t answer her.]

MORGAN: (whisper) Move move move. Back here.

[Evie and the security guard round the corner and come into view. Evie is handcuffed to her office chair.]

MORGAN: (breathless) Oh my god.

GRACE: What?

MORGAN: She looks- this feels so dumb, but she looks so much older.

GRACE: She’d probably say the same thing about you.

MORGAN: I guess we’re about to find out.

EVIE: My golem already beat one of your teams. If you don’t want to be–

[The security guard shoves Evie’s injured shoulder.]

EVIE: AH! THAT HURTS!

SECURITY 2: Shut up.

[Morgan goes forward to move. Grace stays him.]

GRACE: Not yet. Not now.

MORGAN: Bastard.

GRACE: I know, I know, but punching that guy isn't going to help anything, even if it would feel good.

[The security guard wheels Evie into the room, then closes the door. Walkie talkie static.]

SECURITY 2: The girl's back in her hospital room. What now?

SECURITY 1: (over the walkie) Stay here until someone relieves you. I don’t want you to do so much as take a piss without someone coming to replace you. Clear?

SECURITY 2: Clear.

MORGAN: Now what?

GRACE: We could really use Robin right now.

[As if on cue, a faint sound of Robin reaches them.]

MORGAN: It sounds like it’s got its hands full.

GRACE: Wait, I have an idea. Come here.

SCENE 4 - A DIFFERENT HALLWAY

[Quick footsteps. Maya and Noel also talk in low voices.]

NOEL: Do you want to tell me what we’re actually doing here?

MAYA: Helping.

[They stop running.]

NOEL: Maya, please. How are we helping?

MAYA: I need to find Hirsch’s office while he’s distracted. Alix and Evie were so focused on digital files. There must be physical files. Information he printed off or copied or wrote down himself. He can’t have any of that information. I can’t let him keep it.

NOEL: Why?

MAYA: Do I really need to tell you?

NOEL: I need to hear you say it. I need to know why: is it duty? Anger? You’re going to do this no matter what, so I’m not going to try and stop you, but I need to know why.

MAYA: Why does it matter?

NOEL: Because I can’t support you doing something this dangerous out of guilt or revenge.

[Pause.]

MAYA: I trusted him. I brought vulnerable people to him. I let him into their homes and watched as they told him about their anxieties, their money troubles, their fears and their shame. I watched them celebrate with him when, every so often, something finally went right.

NOEL: I know. I was there for it, too. Not every moment, but most of it. Enough.

MAYA: I don’t know where half of our friends are: Pat, Jo, Malcolm, Jesse and all the rest of them. One day, Brooklyn stopped feeling safe for them. It wasn't worth the money or the visibility. That started when Will left us for Hansen. I can’t protect our friends now, but I can protect their pasts. I can make sure that every bit of information he has about them, anything he could use to hurt them, disappears for good.

NOEL: Okay. There are people that need us back home, too. They’re equally important. In an hour, we’re going home.

MAYA: Okay.

NOEL: Say it to me.

MAYA: Noel, in an hour, we’re going home.

NOEL: Then we better move.

SCENE 5 - THIRD FLOOR HALLWAY

[Footsteps.]

GRACE: Hi! Nurse on duty, if you could just let me through.

SECURITY 2: Hold on. I have to verify you. Where's your badge?

GRACE: Here.

[Grace hands him one of the stolen badges.]

SECURITY 2: Amy Sandoval?

GRACE: It's an old photo.

[Something around the corner clatters, like boxes of nursing supplies toppling over. Grace plays up her anxiety.]

GRACE: What was that?

SECURITY 2: Could be nothing, but I'll radio someone to check it out.

GRACE: No no, wait. What if it's another one of those monsters? What if it hears you?

SECURITY 2: I can't leave the patient unguarded.

GRACE: I'll be in there with her. Isn't her leg broken? I doubt she's going anywhere.

[Pause.]

SECURITY 2: Right, okay.

GRACE: Thank you so much. I feel safer already.

[Slow, careful footsteps.]

SECURITY 2: (under his breath) Okay, nice and easy.

[In one quick motion, he throws the door open.]

SECURITY 2: Security! Hands in the air!

[Door creaks.]

SECURITY 2: What? Hello?

[Morgan and Grace shove the guard into the supply closet, knocking him into another stack of boxes. They slam the door shut and lock it.]

SECURITY 2: (muffled behind the door) Let me out! Oh, you’ll be so miserable when I find you. Open this door!

[He continues banging on the door. Grace and Morgan run away.]

MORGAN: Bonus? I swiped his keycard. We can go anywhere he goes.

SCENE 6 - EVIE’S HOSPITAL ROOM

[Door opens.]

EVIE: (weakly) Back for round two?

[Footsteps.]

GRACE: Evie! Oh my god, Evie. You’re alive. Look at you. You’re bleeding. What happened? How’d you get here? Why did you build a whole golem instead of just asking-

EVIE: Grace? Is that really you?

GRACE: It’s me. I’m here. We’re going to get you out of here, and probably to a real hospital, because you really look like a mess.

EVIE: (chuckle) Yeah, this one’s pretty bad. Say, Nurse Grace, you got any drugs? I’d kill for some pain meds.

[Footsteps. Pause.]

EVIE: Morgan?

MORGAN: Hi. I, uh, I heard you were having an emergency.

[Pause.]

MORGAN: How- how's that going?

[Pause.]

EVIE: Well, a building collapsed on top of me, and someone shot me, but other than that-

[Pause.]

EVIE & MORGAN: I'm sorry.

[Footsteps. Morgan approaches her.]

MORGAN: We have a car parked right outside. We’ll get you in a wheelchair or something and get you out of here.

EVIE: The Hansen guys will stop you the minute they see you. One already shot me in the shoulder just to slow me down. We’ll never make it.

GRACE: What time is it?

MORGAN: Almost 5:30. I’ll text them.

EVIE: Who?

GRACE: Noel and Maya. I’m not sure where they are, but they’re doing something to help us, whatever that is.

EVIE: I really missed a lot.

MORGAN: Evie, I’ve seen so much wild nonsense this week, at this point, I have no idea what is and isn't possible. I need a primer. I need a whole damn crash course-

GRACE: You guys can catch up on the way to the hospital.

EVIE: We can't leave yet. These guys have so much data on me and all my friends, names, addresses, photos, family members. I bet they have databases like that for every major city. They have a massive server room in the basement. We can't leave without destroying it.

MORGAN: How can we do that?

EVIE: I cut the line for the fire suppression system. All the gas escaped. If we could just get down there, we can burn it to the ground, but the floor's locked down. Security personnel only. We'd need an ID.

MORGAN: An ID like this one?

EVIE: Welcome back.

GRACE: We gotta move. That closet won't hold the guard forever.

MORGAN: We can't put her back in the line of fire. She's too injured.

EVIE: I’ve been trying to call my golem to help, but it’s not listening.

MORGAN: Robin's been working with us. It helped us find you. It’s trying to keep as many security guys occupied as it can, so we have enough time to get you out of here.

EVIE: Hold on, Robin? When did you name it? How can you talk to it?

[Morgan takes out his keys. The duck charm jingles.]

MORGAN: You and me. Cast from the same stuff.

EVIE: Pigeon and Duck.

MORGAN: I can’t talk to Robin directly on my own. I need someone with magic to help me, but maybe, with this charm, you can.

EVIE: I’m so- I don’t know how much energy I have left. If only Maya-

GRACE: I’ll help. Take the key chain. We’ll do it together.

EVIE: Okay. Together.

[Static, like a sizzle on the air.]

EVIE: Robin, I know you can hear me. I can see you. Grace, can you see Robin?

GRACE: Yes, outside, keeping us safe from soldiers.

[The gunfire outside bleeds into the scene, like a faraway place.]

EVIE: Thank you, thank you so much.

GRACE: We just need one more thing, and then you can rest.

EVIE: Let's burn this fucker down.

[CRASH! The wall of Evie’s hospital room breaks apart. Robin, three stories tall, reaches a hand into the hospital room.]

GRACE: Woah.

EVIE: Sick.

MORGAN: Looks like Robin’s offering you a hand.

GRACE & EVIE: Booo.

MORGAN: I think that’s your cue to leave. We’ll meet you downstairs.

EVIE: You aren’t coming?

MORGAN: Better we come from all directions.

EVIE: I wish I could help more.

GRACE: You’ve already helped us so much. You made Robin. A little piece of you kept us safe long enough to find you.

EVIE: Thanks. Grace, help me get out of bed.

[Grace helps Evie up.]

EVIE: Morgan, take my bag, and that rubbing alcohol over there. That should be enough to get a fire going.

MORGAN: You got it.

EVIE: See you down there.

[Robin lifts Evie up out of the building. As Robin starts walking away, we hear Evie whoop once.]

SCENE 7 - HIRSCH’S OFFICE/HALLWAY

!Sound of papers rustling and drawers opening. MAYA and NOEL tear HIRSCH’s office apart, looking for any information related to their friends.

NOEL

Found another external hard drive.

MAYA

Just shove it in your bag. We don’t have time to check which ones have the data we want.

NOEL

Can you help me unlock this filing cabinet too? It’s the last one.

!MAYA walks over and touches the filing cabinet’s lock. NOEL does the same.

NOEL

This filing cabinet is unlocked.

MAYA

It’s always been unlocked.

!This is the same sequence they’ve used to unlock the other filing cabinets in the room. But this time, the lock sparks and shocks them. Both yank their hands back.

MAYA (CONT'D)

Ow!

NOEL ^

Ow!

MAYA (CONT'D)

Warded lock.

NOEL

This one has to be it.

!Footsteps down the hallway, getting louder. Both MAYA and NOEL freeze and look at each other.

MAYA

(quieter)

Go time. Just like we talked about.

NOEL

It might not be him.

MAYA

I wouldn’t take those odds.

NOEL

I hate this, for the record.

MAYA

Noted. Get that filing cabinet open. You have the charms, right?

NOEL

Yeah, here's yours. You sure about this?

MAYA

I have to face him. I need to put this part of my life away.

NOEL

Just don't forget that I'm here with you. I have your back.

MAYA

I know. You always have. That's the only reason I can do this.

!MAYA exits the office into the hallway.

INT. - HANSEN ROCHESTER BASE - HALLWAY

!HIRSCH walks down the hallway towards his office. He's holding the ceramic shard he stole from EVIE. MAYA sees him first. She takes a few steps towards him, away from the office, as he notices her too. It takes him a moment to register her face. Then, he breaks out into a smile. It's almost his old one. Almost just as warm.

HIRSCH

Maya. How are you? What are you doing here?

MAYA

Same thing you are: subduing a construct that got out of hand. You grabbed a piece of it. That's good, halfway there.

HIRSCH

Did Evie build this with you?

MAYA

No. If she did, it would be a better listener.

!HIRSCH chuckles.

HIRSCH

I've missed you.

MAYA

Me too. I've thought a lot about how we left things years ago. You just took off.

HIRSCH

I didn't think you'd let me go.

MAYA

I probably wouldn't have. I was so self-righteous.

HIRSCH

Was?

MAYA

I told you. I've had a lot of time to think. I feel responsible for this. I trained Evie. I taught her how to make those ducks. I think she used them to make this monster.

HIRSCH

She made her own choices.

MAYA

And I've made mine. I get it, now, why you left us for Hansen. Unchecked magic is too dangerous. It's a weapon we need to stay ahead of.

!HIRSCH sighs.

HIRSCH

Maya, I really wish that were true, but you're forgetting something. I've known you too long. I can tell when you're lying to me.

MAYA

I really wanted to get it. I really wanted to understand why you picked this over your friends. We were an amazing team. Think of all we could've done.

HIRSCH

You could've come with me. You never even considered that, did you?

!MAYA doesn't answer.

HIRSCH (CONT'D)

No, of course you didn't.

MAYA

You know I can't let you gain control of that construct.

HIRSCH

You don't get a say.

MAYA

Alright, then. lights out!

!An explosion of darkness shoots out from the charm between MAYA's hands. It's thick and total, like tar.

HIRSCH

Please, a little darkness? I'm terrified.

MAYA

Never said you were.

HIRSCH

And I have more important things to do than play games with you.

MAYA

I won't let you pass me. I won't let you get close enough to Robin for it to matter.

HIRSCH

I'm not asking.

MAYA

You’ll have to get to me first. How long is this hallway, really? How far away am I?

!HIRSCH ignores her and starts walking down the hallway. MAYA’s voice seems quieter now, farther away.

MAYA (CONT'D)

Fifty feet? One hundred? Shouldn’t you have reached me by now?

HIRSCH

I’m done with this.

!HIRSCH takes out his phone and tries to turn the flashlight on. It won’t. The screen won’t even light up.

MAYA

Your flashlight won't work here. I told you, lights out. All of them. There’s just you, me, and the darkness. It’ll eat everything else.

!HIRSCH starts walking faster down the hallway.

HIRSCH

I could navigate this building with my eyes closed.

!MAYA’s voice is even farther away now.

MAYA

Then where are you going?

!HIRSCH starts jogging. When MAYA speaks again, it's as if she's behind HIRSCH.

!PRODUCTION NOTE: For audio editing, I'd like to play around with the left and right channels, as well as distance and echo, to make it seem like MAYA's voice switches position in space with each line.

MAYA (CONT'D)

The office is back here.

!He turns around.

HIRSCH

How are you doing this? Who’s helping you?

MAYA

You are.

HIRSCH

No I'm not. I don’t believe in this. This isn’t real.

MAYA

You must, somewhere, deep down, or it wouldn't be working.

SCENE 8 - BASEMENT

!GRACE and MORGAN run down the stairs towards the server room.

MORGAN

Still no answer from Maya or Noel.

GRACE

We have ten minutes.

MORGAN

I know. I don’t like it either.

!MORGAN calls EVIE and puts her on speaker.

MORGAN (CONT'D)

Evie, we’re almost to the server room.

EVIE

(over the phone)

Great, don’t leave the stairwell until it’s safe.

MORGAN

How do we know-

!CRASH! ROBIN bursts through the room of the basement and tears out towards the outside wall, taking several security guards with it. The gunfire redoubles, louder this time. ROBIN roars. It’s sturdy, but eventually, enough bullets will grind it down.

EVIE

(over the phone)

Run for it!

GRACE

Let’s go!

!MORGAN and GRACE rush into the server room. A few security guards are laid out on the ground, disoriented, but not unconscious. Two register MORGAN and GRACE walking into the room.

SECURITY 1

Stop!

GRACE

Give me your phone. Run for the server room. I'll buy you enough time.

!MORGAN doesn’t even hesitate. He waves the security card in front of the door lock. It unlocks and he runs into the server room.

GRACE (CONT'D)

Evie? You still there?

EVIE

Roger roger Agent Grace.

GRACE

Bring Robin closer. Let me grab onto its arm. You remember our secret garden?

EVIE

Always.

!ROBIN moves closer, with massive steps.

GRACE

And how the plants started taking it over? Like all those plants that clinging onto Robin?

EVIE

We never planted flowers.

GRACE

We can. We will, once we get out of here. Evie, when I'm with you, I feel like, no matter who's watching me, no matter how scared I am, I can do miracles.

EVIE

You can.

GRACE

With you, I can.

EVIE

Grace, no one has ever made me feel as safe as you have.

!SECURITY 4 finds his gun. He takes a few shots. GRACE sprints for it and dives behind a desk.

EVIE (CONT'D)

Grace!

GRACE

I need you to picture those plants wrapping us up and keeping us safe. I need you to build that with me.

EVIE

If we build it, it's ours.

!Out from the plants on ROBIN's body springs a woven wall of wild grasses and flowers. It grows and grows, surrounding GRACE and the server room like MAYA's plants once did, what feels like a lifetime ago. Bullets collide with it, but the wall stands firm. GRACE gives a relieved, incredulous laugh.

SCENE 9 - HALLWAY OUTSIDE HIRSCH’S OFFICE

HIRSCH

Enough!

!HIRSCH slams his hands against the wall.

HIRSCH (CONT'D)

Maya, you're forgetting, I know how your magic works. You can't throw anything at me that I don't already know. One on one, I always beat you, and I say, LIGHTS ON.

!WHOOSH like a shockwave, magical light emerges from HIRSCH's hands and travels down the hallway. It collides with MAYA, white hot and burning. She screams and goes down. NOEL bursts out of the office.

NOEL

Maya!

!Faster than HIRSCH can register, NOEL rams into him with his shoulder and shoves him into the wall. HIRSCH hits his head.

NOEL (CONT'D)

It's not one on one, asshole.

!HIRSCH goes to take a swing at NOEL.

MAYA

Noel, duck! LIGHTS OFF.

SCENE 10 - SERVER ROOM

!MORGAN enters the server room proper. He dumps the backpack.

MORGAN

Let’s see: office paper, rubbing alcohol, hairspray, flour? She always planned to burn this place.

!He hears the gunfire outside.

MORGAN (CONT'D)

Okay, deal with that later. Ugh, this stuff smells awful.

!MORGAN balls up office paper and spreads it around the room, dumps flour in other areas, spreads nail polish remover on top of a big pile of flammable material, right near the servers.

MORGAN (CONT'D)

Okay, that's everywhere.

!He’s finally done. He grabs his lighter from his pocket and holds it out in front of the can of hairspray. Then, smiling in the same way Evie does, the same way he always did right before he used to take down websites, he says…

MORGAN (CONT'D)

Alright, Evie, you said it best. Let's burn this fucker down.

!The hairspray lights up like a torch. It ignites the pile of flour, paper, and nail polish remover. The room stinks like acetone, and the blaze jumps in height. The fire grows bigger, at an alarming rate. MORGAN throws the can of hairspray on the blaze and runs for the door. We can hear it, bigger and bigger.

!MORGAN coughs as the smoke gets thicker. Then, *POP.* The can of hairspray explodes.

SCENE 11 - HALLWAY OUTSIDE HIRSCH’S OFFICE

HIRSCH

WHERE ARE YOU?

MAYA

Always a bit out of reach.

!HIRSCH yells and swings a fist towards the voice. It connects with the wall. Distance BOOM from all the way down in the basement.

HIRSCH

OW!

NOEL

And you'll never get both of us.

!He swings again, misses, collides with another wall. Then, OOF, something hits him in the stomach, OOF another hit from another direction. The fire alarm starts blaring.

HIRSCH

What-

!OOF. Something pushes him back into the wall.

NOEL

Run!

!MAYA and NOEL take off running. MAYA calls back to HIRSCH.

MAYA

Will, the building's on fire!

!We hear it then, the crackle of fire, getting louder.

HIRSCH

It can't. No, I've got to-

!He manages to stand and starts running the opposite way down the hallway.

MAYA

WILL! You'll never make it. We have to leave.

HIRSCH

You chose your life. This is mine. I will not let it burn. You, of all people, should understand that.

MAYA

Just, get out before it's too late.

!He takes off running towards the basement.

SCENE 12 - BASEMENT/OUTSIDE THE BASE

!MORGAN bursts out of the server room.

MORGAN

Run!

GRACE

Evie, Robin, grab us!

!ROBIN’s other hand closes around MORGAN and GRACE.

GRACE (CONT'D)

Hang on!

!ROBIN lifts them out of the basement to safety.

EXT. - OUTSIDE THE BASE - MORNING

EVIE

The security teams made a run for it as soon as they saw the fire.

MORGAN

Yeah, there’s no stopping it.

EVIE

You could see it from home.

GRACE

Look! That's Maya and Noel. They're halfway to the car.

!ROBIN takes one massive step that shakes the world around it. Then another. Another BOOM as the building keeps burning up. The fire is massive and bright, so hot they can almost feel it even as they reach the car. ROBIN sets them all down.

MAYA & NOEL

Evie!

!They both grab her into a hug.

EVIE

Ah! Watch the shoulder.

NOEL

I'm so happy you're okay.

MAYA

Well, mostly.

EVIE

I missed you guys so much. I'm sorry. I'm never going to do anything like this again, I promise.

MAYA

Well, hold on. Maybe just don't do it without me.

GRACE

Guys, help me get Evie into the car.

!Car door opens and closes. The scratch and pop of ROBIN shrinking.

EVIE

Did you see that! The shrinking spell works! It took me so long to get that right.

MORGAN

It’ll be a tight squeeze back here. Maybe if we put someone on Robin’s lap…

EVIE

I don’t think Robin is coming.

!Beat. All the ambient noise, all the getting ready to leave, pauses.

EVIE

(to ROBIN)

You aren’t, right? You’re staying here.

!Beat. Scraping. ROBIN nods.

GRACE

I don’t get it.

EVIE

How does this story end, every time? Deactivate the golem. Stick it in an attic until the next existential threat. I couldn’t- [to ROBIN again] I won’t do that to you. You've barely had a chance to alive, and all you've known is violence. No wonder you are the way you are. That's no life. That can't be your life.

MORGAN

Will Robin survive without your magic keeping it alive?

EVIE

For a while. How long, I don't know, but it's just like any other charm, right, Maya? If I charge Robin Pigeon one last time, Robin should be able to do whatever it wants for months, maybe years.

MAYA

Maybe. You stuffed a lot of magic into one very important vessel. Robin stayed alive long enough for us to find it, but after a few days, I have no idea.

EVIE

There’s nothing for Robin in Brooklyn, and I won’t just stow it away in a closet until the next fight.

!EVIE reaches out her hand and touches ROBIN’s arm. ROBIN is person-sized. About 6ft tall. The bullet holes have shrunk too. Tiny pockmarks up its arms and through its chest.

EVIE (CONT'D)

What’s the point of fighting if you don’t get to rest?

!The sun is rising. The first birdsong of morning fades in.

MORGAN

It’s nearly morning.

GRACE

And you need a hospital.

EVIE

I know. Robin, I don’t know when your battery will run out. I hope it never does, because I really want to see you again. We have Morgan’s keychain. We’ll call you if we need you, and I’d like you to come, but you don’t have to. And if you need us, come find us. Grace, do you see those wildflowers? The small, yellow ones.

GRACE

Yes.

EVIE

Could you give me a few?

!GRACE bends down, picks a few wildflowers off the lawn, and hands them to EVIE. EVIE tucks them behind ROBIN’s ear and threads the stems through a crack in the side of its head. She tries to hold back tears.

EVIE (CONT'D)

When you start sprouting flowers, think of me, even just for a minute.

!ROBIN touches the side of its head, its fingertips just grazing the delicate stems. Then, it steps forward and takes EVIE into a hug.

NOEL

Hey, I want to hug Robin!

MORGAN

Get in line.

GRACE

Too late!

!GRACE hugs ROBIN as it hugs EVIE.

NOEL

Group hug! Maya, get in here.

MAYA

Let me just- aah!

!She gives a surprised laugh as NOEL grabs her arm and pulls her into the group hug. We fade out on her laughter.

SCENE 13 - EVIE’S APARTMENT

!Faint sound of microwave popcorn in the background. EVIE sits on a loveseat in her living room with her broken leg propped up on the coffee table. Her shoulder is also healing, and as a result, she can’t really use her left arm. MORGAN hovers around the apartment tidying up with NOEL’s help. GRACE sits on the couch next to EVIE.

NOEL

What time is it?

MAYA

Quarter after six.

GRACE

Is Alix on their way?

NOEL

Should be.

MORGAN

Okay, there's curry in the fridge for dinner, and I’ll take the trash down on my way out.

GRACE

Good. Then I don’t have to do it.

MORGAN

Oh, in that case, maybe I’ll forget.

!The microwave beeps. MORGAN takes the popcorn out and pours it into a big bowl.

EVIE

I just have to get a really tall rolling chair. That way when I want to cook at the stove I just go up [she lilts her voice up] and then I can come back down [and lilts it down.]

MAYA

Take the help while they're still offering it. If I never had to cook again, it would be too soon.

EVIE

True, but if there’s more than one person in this apartment at a time, the AC doesn’t stand a chance.

NOEL

At least turn it on now.

EVIE

It is. Exactly my point.

!MORGAN comes over with the bowl.

MORGAN

Popcorn anyone? Grace, scoot over.

GRACE

Where? This couch can barely fit two.

MORGAN

And now it’ll barely fit three.

GRACE

Oh no, I have to snuggle up next to Evie. How will I manage?

MORGAN

Gross.

!MORGAN gives her a little shove. GRACE laughs. Buzzer sound. NOEL lets ALIX in.

NOEL

That must be Alix.

MAYA

Y’know, our apartment actually has the space for six people.

EVIE

(overly sarcastic)

You would make me, in my poor, feeble state, shoulder still bleeding, leg barely hanging off my body, take the subway?

MORGAN

(committing to the bit)

Yeah, geez Maya. You’re going to make her take the C train like this?

EVIE

Take the stairs down like this? I’m Rapunzel, trapped on the fourth floor, stuck in a gilded cage-

!ALIX enters.

ALIX

Hey!

!The whole group greets them.

ALIX (CONT'D)

Sorry I’m late, but I brought beer, so it’s fine.

EVIE

Hell yeah, send one of those over here.

MAYA

I thought you were barely holding onto life?

EVIE

And soon I’ll be holding onto a beer.

ALIX

Maya, are you around tomorrow night? My contact with that magic network in Philly is in town this week. He wants to meet you.

MAYA

Yeah, we can all get dinner. I wonder if we have any mutual friends.

ALIX

Wouldn’t be the weirdest thing.

MORGAN

That reminds me, Grace, I can come by and help on Thursday. Are you around tomorrow?

GRACE

I have class.

ALIX

I can do a shift.

EVIE

Don’t sound so excited.

ALIX

(teasingly)

I never thought I’d be a nurse. It’ll be an experience for both of us.

MAYA

I have Sunday afternoon.

NOEL

I can do Saturday.

MORGAN

So we’re set then.

ALIX

Pass the popcorn over here.

NOEL

I have the movie. I just need to cast it to the TV…

EVIE

Someone hit the lights.

ALIX

I got it.

!Scene starts to fade out.

ALIX (CONT'D)

Dude, this movie’s from the stone age.

NOEL

It’s my turn, and I like noir movies.

!movie music fades in a little

EVIE

[in the middle of a sentence, in her best transatlantic] -you simply must help me. Detective, I just know my husband is alive…

!**THE END**