BLACK BUDDHA I

*****

On the Titanic: 1912

Claire Gibson: There's no escaping. Do you understand what I am saying? I put this on.
Nick: You can't believe that. You don't know.
Claire: Yes. It's this.... I deserve to die, Nicholas. I...am the Buddha.

Nick: Oh, wear the good suit, Schank. You can expect some press out at the airport.

Nick: Maybe Myra will want to fool around a little.... It's a joke, Schank, a joke, okay? Joke.

Natalie: All I'm saying is that if you want results, you have to follow the rules.
Nick: What if the rules aren't working?
Natalie: You've got to give them time.
Nick: Four years?
Natalie: Is an eyeblink to you.
Nick: I can barely get raw hamburger down.
Natalie: See? You couldn't even do that when we started.

Natalie: You really want a shot at mortality, you got to give it a chance. Don't give up on me Nick.
Nick: Well, maybe if I spent a little less time in morgues.
Natalie: Or just stood a little farther away from the table, thank you.

Reese: This is a deal for me, okay? I don't want to blow it.
Nick: Why me?
Reese: Because you collared the bomber. Because last week you were all over the five o'clock news and because I want to keep her safe on my watch. And you're without a partner for an entire week. And can you please tell me why it is you guys can afford a new paint job every six months while we can't get urinal deodorizers? Look, the bottom line is that you could have been on your way to Edmonton tonight and Schanke would have pulled the job. Well, maybe not, but you get my point.
Nick: Her father's on the police commission.
Reese: Which I wasn't gonna bring up, but since you did, yes he is. And if I want to get a job like this permanently, I'm going to need his support. Which is why I've assigned his precious daughter to a bona-fide hero during the one week I'm here. And why you're going to do everything in your power to make sure she stays in one piece, understood? Hey, if she weren't any good, she'd still be in blues. The kid's got a head on her shoulders...discipline, feet on the ground.

Reese: Detective Vetter?
Tracy: (Waking up) Oh gosh...I'm sorry. Sorry. I guess I'm just more of a day person.

Tracy: All I'm trying to say is I didn't ask for this. I mean, I know what you're thinking.
Nick: I wasn't thinking.
Tracy: Yes, you were. Don't try to deny it. Everyone thinks it. The academy...the streets. It's like I've got this big neon sign over my head. 'Commissioner's daughter, proceed with extreme caution.' They really allow you to drive this fossil?
Nick: I won't tell anyone if you don't.
Tracy: Me? My point exactly.

Tracy: I am my own person, with my own talents, and who my father is has-
Nick: -has nothing to do with where you are in your career.
No, I'm not going to say that. I mean, we both know it's a lie. I'd just like to be-
Nick: Judged on your own merit?
Tracy: Exactly. Thank you. Sorry, I just had to get that off of my chest.
Nick: No problem.

Tracy: So, where are we going?
Nick: Ah...nowhere in particular. I just thought we'd drive around and get acquainted.
Tracy: Keep me out of harm's way?
Nick: I didn't say that.
Tracy: You didn't have to. We're almost at the airport.
Nick: My subconscious must be working overtime. Tracy: So why didn't you go? You made the caller.
Nick: Uh, Schank made it too.
Tracy: No, no, no, no, no.... They say Dollard would have gotten away, that you somehow beat his car to the end of the block and forced him into a wall?
Nick: Well, the guy panicked...I got lucky....
Tracy: So, you gave up a week in Alberta.
Nick: I hate to fly.

Tracy: I heard you were ah, allergic to the daylight, phototropic or something?
Nick: Yeah.
Tracy: So why the convertible?

There's an explosion in the sky.
Tracy: Oh my God....
Nick: Call it in.
Tracy: Oh my God.
Nick: Tracy, call it in.

Tracy: (Upon seeing the crash site) Oh my God...no one could have....

Tracy: Nick? What is it?
Nick: We're almost there.
Tracy: (After chasing after her partner, Nick finds a baby among the wreckage) I can take her.

Nick: Schanke....

Tracy: My partner got her out. I don't know how he lifted that thing.
Reese: Yeah, I've heard of things like that. Pretty damn incredible.

Nick: I could have gone instead.
Natalie: You know that's not true.
Nick: If I hadn't caught him...if he hadn't...if he'd gotten away....
Natalie: Nick, you can't blame yourself, you can't.
Nick: You know, Schank had a dream last week. He dreamt his own death. He was standing naked at the end of a bowling alley...and Myra was at the other end holding his ball. Myra....
Reese: I sent someone over to the house when we got word.
Nick: I have to go see her as well. What am I going to tell her?
Reese: That the plane went down.
Nick: There was an explosion. We saw it. We saw an explosion in the air.
Reese: It could have been a lot of things. They're not sure. You can't assume there's a connection to the bomber. For what it's worth, things like this never make sense. We're all gonna die, one way or another. It's inevitable.
Nick: I sincerely hope you're right.

Claire: Aren't you being a little irresponsible?
Nick: Excuse me?
Claire: Traveling in such high profile among mortals. A lion in our midst. I thought your kind was more...discreet.
Nick: My kind?
Claire: Don't be coy, I know what you are.
Nick: Then you should know to stay away.
Claire: I have a fascination for danger...and the occult. (She cuts her wrist and offers it to Nick.) Claire Gibson.
Nick: Nicholas de Brabant. (And he drinks from her wrist) Claire: I need your help.

Claire: It is said that great destruction and death follows anyone who removes it from the Temple of Kahn. I think it is the standard curse they place on anything of value. I paid two million dollars for it.
Nick: And the curse does not bother you?
Claire: Well, that is why I am traveling on the safest ship afloat. And, I believe my days of owning the Buddha are coming to an end. No, no...it is yours, Mr. de Brabant.
Nick: I don't understand.
Claire: The true value of the Buddha is not its jewels. It has the power to grant one wish. I know that sounds foolish, but each owner has had one spectacular dream come true. Napoleon owned it. Louis-Philippe. I bought it from an opium lord who virtually owns Hong Kong. He had a severely crippled daughter. She walks perfectly now. You must have one wish, Mr. de Brabant. You must have something you want more than anything in the world.
Nick: I do, but why would you give this to me?
Claire: I adore life. People. Laughter. My youth. You are my wish, Nicholas. The Buddha has delivered you to me. When we reach New York, I will step off the Titanic immortal.
The ship jolts a bit...

Tracy: You think both of her parents are here?
Reese: Who's that?
Tracy: The baby. You think she lost both of them?
Reese: I suppose we'll know pretty soon.

Tracy: Captain! He just blinked. I think he's alive.
Reese: He's stone cold, Tracy, there's no pulse.
No, I saw, I saw....
Reese: Look, I think we've both seen enough for tonight. Now, let's go.

Nightcrawler: Who knows the pain of death better--he who gasps his final breath, or those of us who must breathe the foul air of his decomposition? Who bears the greater burden--the cold bones of the dead man in his coffin, or the spine of the pallbearer carrying his load? No one knows this burden better than we, dear listener, we who have seen so many pass. I see you sagging, laden. And yet, I have to ask, is it grief that weighs so heavily on your shoulders, or is it that should've, would've, could've fool's game called guilt?

Nick: Was it a bomb? Yes or no?
Reese: Maybe. The crash site is closed to us. It's RCMP, TSB, FBI, FAA... You want to know what I know, turn on the evening news.
Nick: If it's a bomb....
Reese: Then someone out there wanted Dollard to keep his mouth shut.
Nick: Yeah, an accomplice.
Reese: Yes, I know that. The press knows that. We're getting reamed for moving him on public transportation. But it doesn't change a damned thing, we're out of the investigation.

Reese: Does this office have a door or not? Aw, Nick, cut me some slack here. I know I'm new at this, but listen to me, just a little, huh? We're too close to it here, Nick. I said take the week off, and I meant it. Everybody needs time, Nick, you especially. Now, come on. Just let the other guys do it.
Nick: Is Tracy in?
Reese: I gave her a couple of days. At least she's got the good sense to stay home.

Nick: Metro police.
RCMP Officer: Closed to metro, sorry.
Nick: How'd she get in?
RCMP Officer: Well, she's with the police commission.
Nick: *So am I.*
RCMP Officer: I knew that sir. Go right ahead.

Nick: Would this be, Tracy-I-never-use-my-father Vetter?

Tracy: How'd you get in?
Nick: A few well chosen words.

Natalie: This is not the best place for either one of you.

Tracy: Um, guys? I think I dropped my keys back there. Go on ahead. I'll see you tomorrow.
Natalie: Well, that Mountie is kind of cute.
Nick: You think that's why she went back?
Natalie: That would be the only thing that could get me to go back in there. Oh, God.... Why would somebody do this?
Tracy: Then it was a bomb?
Natalie: Yeah. Yeah, it was a bomb.

Tracy: Freeze! Metro police!
Vachon: You guys. You guys really say that, don't you? Freeze. Like what's that game kids play...statue?
Tracy: Slowly turn around with your hands where I can see them.
Vachon: I'm afraid that's going to be impossible. I lost one in the crash. (He holds up his other hand, and Tracy faints)

Natalie: I've heard of it...when they did that television special on the Titanic.
Nick: It's believed to be in the ship's safe. That's where it belongs.

Nick: They're putting the women and children off in boats. You have to go now.
Claire: It's sinking, isn't it?
Nick: Well, they say the ship's unsinkable.
Claire: If it were, then they would not be putting people off. The men are not leaving?
Nick: There aren't enough lifeboats.
Claire: Then this is it. The wish. The curse.
Nick: You can't believe that.
Claire: No? I should believe that vampires exist? That crippled girls can walk? That Napoleon can become Emperor...but deny his Waterloo? The ship is unsinkable. But it is going down. What are the chances of that happening? How can you think this is an accident? Oh, no, no...this is the work of the Buddha.

Natalie: And now you believe her?
Nick: Maybe if it wasn't a bomb.
Natalie: The Buddha didn't plant the bomb, Nick.
Nick: But I did. If I hadn't caught Dollard, he wouldn't have been on that plane. He wouldn't have been targeted, and all those people....
Natalie: Nick, this is a pretty black rock with a lot of big jewels glued to it, and I am not going to believe that it had anything to do with the Titanic, or those people that I was piecing together today. And you can't buy into that nonsense. But you do, don't you? Otherwise, you wouldn't still have it. And if you didn't still have it, and didn't still believe in it, then the wish you wanted from it wouldn't come true. That's it, isn't it? You know what, Nick? I'm tired. I'm going to go home now.
Nick: Nat! You don't understand. I thought that you were the wish that the Buddha granted. I...I...I thought your work, what we were doing....
Natalie: Oh, well that makes me feel fabulous. The Buddha is working its magic through me. That just sends thrills right up my spine.
Nick: Natalie, please....
Natalie: Stop it, Nick! You want to believe in black magic? That's fine. It probably goes with the territory, but us poor mortals have to live in the real world. Now that may not always be pleasant, but it is the only thing we've got.

Nick: I can still bring you across. There's time.
Claire: What would you do Nicholas? Would you want a thousand deaths on your head. Would you want to live forever carrying that kind of burden?

Tracy: Your hand....
Vachon: You're awake.
Tracy: Your face....
Vachon: You screamed. Don't, now let's try to begin another sentence with another word.
Tracy: My gun.
Vachon: Excellent.
Tracy: You stole my car.
Vachon: And what a screaming fine ride it is, too. You pick this bucket out?
Tracy: Why?
Vachon: Looks like something your parents would drive.
Tracy: As a matter of fact, I did.
Vachon: Dual airbags, ABS. Bet it gets great mileage.
Tracy: Who the hell are you?
Vachon: Javier Vachon. Tracy Vetter, metro police. Checked your ID.
Tracy: Good. Then you know why you're driving us both downtown.
Vachon: We are downtown. Or is that cop speak again? Are you talking about the station?
Tracy: Queen and Spadina.
Vachon: We don't want to do that, Tracy.
Tracy: We don't?
Vachon: No. *You're going to take me to the salvation army for some clothes and back to your place to clean up then we're gonna say buenas noches and you're gonna forget you ever saw me.*
Tracy: You're full of it, Vachon.
Vachon: Well, what if I could tell you something about the crash?

Nightcrawler: There was a young man with a suitcase of guilt that weighed his immortal life down. He just couldn't see, all it took to get free was to drop it and get out of town.

Nick: Where's Janette?
Bartender: Who?
Nick: Janette.

LaCroix: Well.... Like the changes? Sex is back. We have a striper on Friday night.
Nick: Where's Janette?
LaCroix: I broadcast from a little booth in the back. It's really quite convenient.
Nick: Where, LaCroix?
LaCroix: It really does pay to keep in touch, Nicholas. It must be at least a month. I don't know. She wanted it that way. She though it would be easier to leave without saying goodbye.
Nick: She's gone?
LaCroix: It was her time. She'd been here twenty years. Said it was getting stagnant. Been there, done that--sold me the club for a song.... Don't go searching. She doesn't want to be found. Somewhere down the line your paths will cross again, you know that. That's the way it always is. What you should be thinking about now, is yourself. Look at the life you're living. Look at you're recent losses. What is there still to hold you here? The worst thing any of us can do is to stay beyond our time. That's when you feel the burden of immortality. Friends aging, dying, our world changing and we remaining the same. That's when the loneliness sets in. Janette knew it was her time, Nicholas. Maybe it's yours, too.

Vachon: Missed a smudge in the corner.
Tracy: I should take you to the hospital, get someone look at those.
Vachon: Actually everything's healing up quite nicely. Toss me that shirt.
Tracy: You were in the crash. I saw you getting away last night. Three people are unaccounted for. Two women seated over the wing, and a twenty-five year old Toronto man, no known means of support.
Vachon: Do I look like a slacker to you?
Tracy: What you are, I have no idea, but I'll bet you're a dead ringer for J.D. Valdez.
Vachon: Good choice of words, Trace, but Valdez died in the crash.
Tracy: You're running from something.
Vachon: You can't help.
Tracy: I'm a cop.
Vachon: My point exactly.

Vachon: Not bad, Tracy Vetter.
Tracy: You were going to tell me something about the crash.
Vachon: No time. I have to go.
Tracy: This isn't making sense.
Vachon: Doesn't have to.
Tracy: How will I find you?
Vachon: It's too dangerous, don't try. I'll come to you, all right? (They kiss...he vamps out)
Tracy: Vachon?
Vachon: Thanks for the shower. (He leaves)

Tape: We copy that Pearson. 1-8-7 through 2-7-0, climbing though 14,000 feet.
Nick: One more time.
Reese: Knight, that's enough. He's got better things to do.
Nick: Congratulations, Captain.
Reese: Oh, thanks. It would feel a lot better...well, you know.
Nick: Yeah, listen to this. There's music in the background. It's tinny, like a music box or something. Back it up one more time.
Reese: The feds have been all over this tape. It's a waste of time.
Nick: Reese-
Reese: Enough, okay? Now, look, maybe Cohen would let you go off on tangents like this, but I'm not. Tax payers pay for this. I'm not going to have this guy logging hours on a dead issue that's out of our jurisdiction. Clear?
Nick: Clear.
Reese: What are you here for, anyway? You're supposed to be off.
Nick: Yeah, I just thought I'd clean out Schanke's desk before the funeral.

Reese: Well, so I suck up. Everybody sucks up. It's how you get ahead in this world.

Reese: Put in a little effort, and it all comes back to you.

Reese: What's this, Nick?
Nick: Too many changes, Captain. Not enough coming back. It's time to resign and move on.

Reese: Chocolate? They're from your father.
Tracy: My father hates chocolate. Says it acts like a germ collector in the throat.
Reese: You're not supposed to be in until Monday.
Tracy: If you're really worried about my mental state, you should put me to work. I'm going stir crazy.
Reese: What's this?
Tracy: A guy who was on the plane. The best we can do on an address is a condemned church. I guess it'll have to do.
Reese: You're not going there?
Tracy: I'm just going to swing by and say a prayer.
Reese: Well, at least have someone go with you.
Tracy: I'm off duty. And my partner resigned. It's nothing, Captain. Really. (She leaves)
Reese: J.D. Valdez.

Natalie: So you were just going to leave?
Nick: It's been better that way in the past.
Natalie: I had to find out from a desk sergeant. Do you have any idea how that makes me feel? There are people here who care about you...who love and depend on you.
Nick: I just killed my friends.
Natalie: Right. Of course. So you're running because you think that you are cursed. Because you think that you are some kind of a Black Buddha.
Nick: Yes.
Natalie: Well...you're not. Oh, there is a Black Buddha, I firmly believe that. And he did kill Schanke and all of those other people as sure as I'm standing here. But you are not that man. And, he's out there. He's crazy and he will probably kill again. Oh, wait a minute...that won't matter to you, will it? Because you will be off starting a new life somewhere, feeling sorry for yourself, running.
Nick: Natalie!
Natalie: No, no...you know what? I don't want to hear it. This isn't a debate. I don't even know why I bothered to come. This was, uh, this was wrong. I'm sorry. I guess I just expected more from you, Nick.

Tracy: Vachon? Hello?
Inca: Donde esta el? [Where is he?]
Tracy: I'm a police officer. Step back or I'll shoot. (She shoots) Oh, my God. Oh, my God....
Inca: De me lo antes se muerta. Donde esta? [You must tell me before you die. Where is he?]

Reese: Look, I'm sorry to bother you, but I've got a question. Look, uh, J.D. Valdez...does that ring a bell?
Nick: He's a victim of the plane crash. Can't find the body.
Reese: (There's an explosion) What was that?
Nick: It's out my window. About two block from here. It's the 23rd Precinct.
Reese: Are you sure?
Nick: (he hears music) What was that?
Reese: What?
Nick: The music, where's it coming from?
Reese: Um, a candy box. Who gives a damn. What about the explosion?
Nick: (There's another explosion) Don't touch the box.
Reese: What?
Nick: Don't touch it!
Reese: Nick, I-I-I-I've got my hand on a piece.
Nick: Don't move it, Reese. Vacate the building and call in the bomb squad. Now.

Inca: El piensa que se me ha escapado, pero no. Me van a decir a donde el ha ido. [He thinks he has evaded me but he has not. You will tell me where he has gone.]

Reese: How the hell'd you get over here? We just got off the phone.
Nick: I flew.
Reese: Say that again? Hey, what are you doing?
Nick: We're going to trade places.
Reese: The hell we are. The bomb unit's-
Nick: All tied up. And we don't know how these things are set off.
Reese: Why should you do this? The package was addressed to me.
Nick: Because you have a wife and two kids. Because this is something I have to do. *I think you understand, don't you?*
Reese: Yeah, I do.
Nick: *I've got it, now. Stand up and get out of here.*
Reese: Knight, I....
Nick: I've got it. Go. Go!

Inca: Donde esta Vachon?
Tracy: I don't know where he is. I don't know....

Natalie: What is it? What's going on?
Reese: There's a bomb. Knight's got it in my office.
Natalie: Nick! Nick...we can't just leave him in--

Vachon: I wish I could make you forget this, Trace.
Tracy: I can't. I won't.
Vachon: I know.

Natalie: What are you going to do with it?
Nick: Take it back out to the middle of the Atlantic Ocean where it belongs.
Natalie: You don't believe its magic?
Nick: I didn't say that. But blaming this statue isn't going to bring Schanke back. Or help me catch a killer. You were right. It's time to get on with my life.
Natalie: Still, that's a lot of expensive rocks to just throw away....
Nick: Don't tempt me.