CROSSES OF SAINTS By D. Skiles TEASER OPEN EXT. ALLEY - DAY As a large red vortex opens up. Rembrandt Brown, still in Kromagg prison scrubs, falls out, and lands on all fours. He stands up, dusting himself off, and peers down one direction in the alley. He smiles. This seems to be the place, all right. As he walks OFF-SCREEN in the direction he was looking, something is revealed behind him. Standing at the opposite side of the alley, down in the distance, appears to be the figure of a woman. She's been watching him. ANGLE ON - REMBRANDT'S END OF ALLEY At the end of the alleyway, Rembrandt hears a large crowd just around the corner. He peers cautiously around the edge of the wall to reveal... EXT. TOWN SQUARE - DAY As we PAN OVER a huge crowd standing before the courthouse where the Sliders first emerged onto Seer world. Again, this crowd is holding signs up... ANGLE ON - VARIOUS SIGNS Which say things like "S.O.S. - Save Our Sliders" "Free Mallory!" "Release Diana!" "S.S.N. - Save Sliders Now!" etc, etc. ANGLE BACK ...to Rembrandt, who is looking all of this with concern and confusion. He notices for the first time that a television REPORTER stands not 20 feet away from his alley hiding spot. She's standing with her back to the crowd, her gaze focused on the cameraman before her. Holding a microphone, she's talking, and we begin to hear her for the first time... REPORTER ...with LeBeau still claiming that Brown escaped using a Kromagg sliding machine. Regardless of the lack of any new developments in the case, one thing has done nothing but grow: (turning to gesture behind her) The size of the crowd outside the courthouse. Pending the possible order to move elsewhere, it is likely that the number of fans of "The Sliders" protesting here will be at its largest tomorrow, during the trial of their heroes. A large number of fans were also in attendance today at the wake of Marc LeBeau, the man who... Her voice fades out as we angle OFF Rembrandt's reaction. He's shocked, and doesn't know what to do next. EXT. ALLEY - DAY SUDDENLY, a hand whips around the corner and pulls Rembrandt back, slamming him against the alley's brick wall! A slick pistol is lifted to his chin. Rembrandt stares at the face of his assailant. His eyes go WIDE. ANGLE ON - WOMAN'S FACE We can see now that it's the same woman who was watching Rembrandt from the end of the alley. But, now that we are closer, we recognize a familiar face... REMBRANDT (extreme disbelief) LOGAN ST. CLAIR?! She just grins. END TEASER OPENING SEQUENCE REMBRANDT What if you found a portal to a parallel universe? What if you could slide into a thousand different worlds? MAGGIE Where it's the same year... DIANA And you're the same person... MALLORY But everything else is different? REMBRANDT And what if you can't find your way home? [THEME MUSIC PLAYS] WHISPER: "Sliders" END OPENING SEQUENCE ACT I OPEN INT. PRISON CELL - NIGHT Four criminals are all in this cell, which makes it obvious that we are not looking at a genuine prison, but rather a holding cell in the depths of the courthouse. We easily recognize our criminals as MALLORY, DIANA, MAGGIE, and MRS. MALLORY. Maggie is staring out the small barred window in the back of the cell. Mrs. Mallory is seated on a bench on the side of the cell, munching on some sort of prison food. Sitting next to her, on the same bench, is Diana, also eating from a prison tray. She takes a bite of bread. Mallory is sitting on the other side of the cell, on the bench opposite her. He too is forking something into his mouth. ANGLE ON - MALLORY He pauses his meal for a moment. His eyes trail from his food over towards Diana. He looks displeased. ANGLE ON - DIANA ...who is obliviously munching away on her prison bread. ANGLE BACK TO - MALLORY ...who is now back to eating, looking at the wall behind him intently. He's trying to ignore something. ANGLE BACK TO - DIANA ...still oblivious, her eyes now angled towards the ground, watching her foot sweep back and forth across the cement floor as she chews. ANGLE BACK TO - MALLORY His eyes are now tracking away from the wall and back to Diana. He finally rolls his eyes, swallows his bite of food, and hunches slightly, his head completely focused on her now. ANGLE TO - Back and forth between Mallory and Diana during this conversation. Diana looks up, finally noticing Mallory's stare. She chews a couple more times, then stops. A beat. DIANA (mouth full) ...what? MALLORY Do you have to do that? Her eyes are shifting back and forth. She's not getting it. DIANA (mouth still full) Do WHAT? MALLORY That thing with your jaw. She swallows her mouthful. DIANA (sarcastically) Chewing? MALLORY No, I mean that THING. DIANA What thing? Mallory raises his hand slightly, using it to imitate the movements of her mouth. He opens and closes his hand, coinciding his movements with the obnoxious "smack/click" noise that he makes with his mouth. He stops. MALLORY That clicking thing. DIANA (insulted) I do not click! MALLORY (matter-of-factly) You click. (beat) And it's annoying as all HELL. DIANA (definitely) I do NOT click. You never USED to think I click. MALLORY Well maybe that's because I've never been trapped in a silent prison cell with you before. MRS. MALLORY Hey... A beat. They both look up sheepishly at her. MRS. MALLORY I know it's none of my business. But is this really necessary? They both look guiltily at each other and then look down, resuming their meal. Mrs. Mallory smiles quietly to herself, amused by their exchange. She looks over to Maggie, who has continued staring out the window during all of this. Mrs. Mallory gets up and goes over to her, putting a hand on her shoulder. Maggie turns to look at her. MRS. MALLORY Won't you have something to eat? MAGGIE Thanks, but I'm not really hungry. A beat. MRS. MALLORY Thinking about him again, are you? Maggie nods to her. MAGGIE I just... can't believe he's gone. After everyone else. Remmy... MRS. MALLORY Then don't. (beat) You said yourself that he's never given up on separating Quinn. Why should you give up on him? MAGGIE I just... I don't know. I don't think Quinn is coming back. That's me. Of the two of us... me and Remmy... I guess I'm the rational one. MRS. MALLORY Rational or pessimistic? Maggie gives her a look. MRS. MALLORY All right. Have it your way. But try to give him a little more time. It's only been a couple of days. Maggie nods to herself, glancing down, a look of incredulity on her face. MRS. MALLORY (sigh) Quinn always tried to be rational about things. At least when he got older. (chuckle) He didn't always succeed, either. But... well... (beat) When I see you like this, I can see how much you cared for him. And how much you care for all your friends. And... (beat) I can see why he liked you. This finally breaks Maggie's shell. She cracks a smile. MRS. MALLORY (smiling back) Better. They embrace. Over her shoulder, Mrs. Mallory all but whispers. MRS. MALLORY (quietly) Don't give up hope. Maggie nods. She looks like she's on the verge of tears. When she speaks, her voice wavers. MAGGIE (quietly) I won't. She still sounds unsure, trying to convince herself. INT. CHANDLER HOTEL ROOM - NIGHT CLOSE ON - REMBRANDT Rembrandt is sitting here in a chair. He appears to be sleeping. The room itself is lit only by interior light, as it's obvious that no sunlight is coming in from the nearby window. Remmy's hands are tied behind the chair, and his legs are strapped around the chair's legs. He awakes with a start. As he looks up, we go to a... WIDER ANGLE And we see another chair sitting before him. On it is Logan St. Clair, who is sitting on the chair backwards, straddling it and facing him. Naturally, her gun is trained on Remmy. Rembrandt also notices that she has added to her arsenal. A sheathed knife is hanging off of her belt. LOGAN Good morning, Rembrandt. (beat) It's been a long time. REMBRANDT (mock good-naturedly) Oh, yeah. Three years? Even then, I barely saw you the whole time. I'm surprised you'd even remember me. LOGAN (smiles) Oh, no. I promise, ever since the day Quinn banished me to a life of wandering the multiverse alone... well, let's just say it wasn't hard to get all four of your pathetic faces permanently etched into my memory. (beat, sighs) I've been waiting a long time for this. So. Let's get started. She pushes the gun harder underneath Rembrandt's chin, who gets that determined look on his face once more. Logan's expression is a mass of hate. LOGAN (angrily) Where's Mallory?! Rembrandt's face shows his mild surprise. Mallory? What the hell does she want with Mallory? Logan reaches into her jacket with her free hand and whips out a timer. It's counting down from 17:27:33. LOGAN I don't have time for games. If I'm not out of here just before three tomorrow, I'm stuck on this world for the next 29 years. (beat) And I can promise you, if that happens, I won't be the only one who'll have to suffer. For some reason, Rembrandt is amused at the sight of Logan's timer. REMBRANDT (smiling slightly) Open the wormhole a little early, did ya Logan? She pistol whips him hard across the face. Rembrandt let out a low grunt. LOGAN Thanks to you four, yes. I ended up on a world consumed by fire, a world that I had followed you to. I don't know how you survived, but my only way out was to open the wormhole immediately. REMBRANDT (chuckling softly) No wonder it took you three years to catch up to us. Brutally, she pistol whips him again. Rembrandt again grunts in pain. LOGAN (angry) Last chance. Where is Quinn Mallory?! It takes a few moments, but it finally dawns on him. Rembrandt's face begins to show the shock of his realization: she's not after the Quinn Mallory that's with them now. She wants Q-Ball. She doesn't know. REMBRANDT My god. (beat) You want Q-Ball. LOGAN What? REMBRANDT Quinn. You're after Quinn. Logan gets an incredulous "duh" look on her face. LOGAN Of course, you idiot. Now where IS he?! A beat. Rembrandt takes a deep breath. He's not sure she's going to believe this. REMBRANDT Logan... Quinn is gone. The words come out sloppily. This is hard for Rembrandt. He doesn't even truly believe that Quinn is lost forever. But, best not for Logan to know that. A quick beat. LOGAN What? REMBRANDT We lost Quinn a year ago. There was an experiment on another world. Some kind of a... combine. They took our Quinn... LOGAN (interrupting, low) Bull. A beat. It's obvious that she won't believe this. LOGAN You're trying to protect him. Well, it doesn't matter. I'll find him myself. She turns around to the dresser, picking something up off of it. LOGAN And in the meantime... She turns around, holding a syringe. Rembrandt tries to struggle, but obviously in vain. He's in no position to escape. She injects something into Rembrandt's neck. He slumps over limply. LOGAN Sleep well. ANGLE ON - REMBRANDT As we hear Logan walk out. She shuts off the light as she goes. We continue to hold on Remmy's limp body until we cut to... INT. PRISON CELL - NIGHT Mallory is now sleeping atop the bench he was sitting on earlier. The same goes for Diana. Mrs. Mallory is slumped in a corner, also sleeping. Maggie is curled up underneath the window, also sitting against the wall. Her eyes are open, but stare forward blankly. Moonlight from the window above serves as the only illumination. A large, overweight GUARD walks up to the cell. He stops and looks in on them. Maggie looks up at him. MAGGIE May I help you? GUARD (sheepishly) Sorry. I just wanted to check in on you. (beat) You know, I'm your biggest fan. Maggie sighs, annoyed. MAGGIE No autographs, please. GUARD No, really! Well, I don't just mean you, but all of you. I love "The Sliders." It's my favorite show. And I've read all your books. MAGGIE Great. So how about giving us a hand and letting us out of here? The guard is slightly taken aback. GUARD Uh, sorry Ms. Beckett. But, I'd lose my job. Mallory stirs and looks up to see the guard staring in on them. He rubs his eyes. MALLORY Who're you? GUARD Oh. Right. My name's Bob. It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Mallory. MALLORY Yeah, swell. Hi Bob. (beat) Shouldn't you be pacing the halls, or holding down the perimeter, or... uh, something? BOB Oh. Probably, yeah. He nods and starts off. MALLORY Hey, hey! Uh, Bob, wait up. Bob pauses and steps back before the cell again. His look is confused and curious. MALLORY Hey, um... you ever watch our... MAGGIE (interrupting) He does. MALLORY (grinning) Aaaahhh. So, then, Bob. Think you could lend us a... MAGGIE (interrupting) He can't. Mallory's face falls. He glances over to Maggie, then looks back at Bob. Bob shrugs. BOB I'm sorry, Mr. Mallory. I'd love to help you, but I just can't. I can't afford to lose my job. Mallory sighs. MALLORY Yeah, got it. Well... seeya 'round, Bob. Bob nods and moves on down the hall again. Mallory and Maggie look at each other. Mallory shrugs, then Maggie, and both resume their original positions. There is a long moment of silence. The mood seems to shift to a sadder, more contemplative one. Mallory and Maggie's eyes remain open, thinking. Mallory, sitting up again, finally speaks. MALLORY I'm starting to think maybe we should've just played along with Clair. MAGGIE (almost angry) No. No way. That's not what Remmy would've done. MALLORY At least if we'd played her little game, we could've searched for a way to slide out of here if he came back. But instead, Claire's decided that if she can't turn us into gods, she'd rather demonize us. (beat, he gives the cell a quick once-over) And we're stuck rotting in this cell. MAGGIE Remmy would've stood up for what was right. There is a quiet, sad determination in her voice. Mallory is quiet now. He nods slightly to her comment, and lays back once more, closing his eyes. Maggie stands and turns, looking out the window at the moonlight. Her eyes are beginning to tear again now. She speaks, almost silently, to no one. MAGGIE (whispering, low) I hope you're all right. EXT. CHANDLER HOTEL - DAY As we notice that the sun is up. Tonight has become tomorrow. INT. CHANDLER HOTEL ROOM - DAY Rembrandt is awakening. Now, the sun is streaming in through the window. Although it's day, exactly what time of "day" remains unsure. Probably before noon. Remmy looks around groggily. He tests out each of his bonds, systematically, and then all at once. Nothing gives. He looks around for Logan. REMBRANDT'S P.O.V. - PANNING Nothing. No sounds, not even a light from the bathroom. BACK TO 3RD PERSON At the least, Remmy is left to look for some sort of aid to his plight. He continues looking over the room. No knives are around, though he does soon pause. He notices... ANGLE ON - PHONE It's sitting on the end table next to the bed. There's some kind of odd machinery on the bed, as well, but we can't see it too well because it's lying in the shadows. ANGLE ON - REMBRANDT Rembrandt begins to thrust his weight sideways, turning the chair to the appropriate angle. One. Two. Three. Four. He's now skidded himself to a better position. He begins to scoot forward, towards the phone. He's jerking his body forward as best he can, but the going is slow. REMBRANDT (mumbling) Dammit. He finally scoots up to the end table. He looks around. Still no sign of Logan. Leaning his head over, he opens his mouth on the phone, trying to pick it up with his teeth. Instead, he pushes the entire phone over, and it goes crashing to the floor. Remmy shakes his head. REMBRANDT (quietly) Damn, damn, damn. Suddenly, the door to the room flies open. Logan steps in, holding her gun in one hand and some circuitry in another. She flips the light on. LOGAN Oh, good. You're up. I figured you would be by now. She tosses the circuitry on the bed. It lands next to the machine there, which we now see in full. It is something that is big enough that it needs to be held with two hands, but certainly not too large to carry. A small remote lies next to it. Logan walks over to Remmy and, with one hand, pulls him back into position, keeping the gun in her other hand the whole time. Remmy keeps his eyes on the strange machine. REMBRANDT What the devil is that thing? LOGAN That "thing"... (she nods towards it) ...is something that I've been working on for a couple of years now. Ever since I first heard about it, back on one of the worlds I followed you through. I got the basics then from various news reports and the like, but I've been piecing the rest together ever since. And thanks to a poorly-guarded Kromagg storage facility I heard about in the paper, I've got the last piece of the puzzle. (a beat, she grins) This machine can wipe this entire world of human life... by moving it into the next. It takes a moment for this to sink in. This machine looks nothing like the tiny slidewave device we know, but it's still believable that that's what he's dealing with. Rembrandt looks gradually more horrified as this occurs to him. REMBRANDT Oh no... you've gotten your filthy claws on a slidewave device?! LOGAN Not gotten. Created. And I'm going to have it up and running in just a couple of hours. (vicious) And unless you coorporate with me, I'm going to shoot you open first and wring this world dry of people when I'm finished. REMBRANDT Listen, I told you the truth. Quinn is gone. LOGAN And I told YOU that that's bull. REMBRANDT So shoot me then. A beat. He's calling her bluff, and she's slightly taken aback by this. She responds with a pistol whip. Remmy does his best to take it, but is really starting to wear down. When Logan next speaks, her voice seems inexplicably unsure, but still quite vicious. LOGAN I will SHOOT you... when I am damn good and ready. (beat) And besides... She stands, grabbing a newspaper off of the table and tossing it onto the bed, next to Rembrandt. She points directly at a specific section of it. LOGAN (continuing) ...you're in no position to argue. Rembrandt looks at what she's pointing at. ANGLE ON - NEWSPAPER She's got her finger on the text of a front page article. As we ZOOM closer, we're able to see what Rembrandt sees... "...the suspects, Maggie Beckett, Diana Davis, Amanda Mallory, and Quinn Mallory... " CUTTING BACK OUT again, we see Remmy sigh and nod his head slowly, looking down. A beat. He looks up at her, defeated. REMBRANDT All right. What are you planning to do? Logan walks over to the dresser, snatching a tool off of it, and sits down on the bed, starting to work on her slidewave device. LOGAN You'll see in a few hours. As she works away, Rembrandt's head lowers again. He turns to look out the window as we... FADE OUT END ACT I BEGIN ACT II FADE TO - INT. PRISON CELL - DAY ANGLE ON - MALLORY'S WATCH It's 1 P.M. He's checking it anxiously as they all wait. We pan away from his watch to see... Mallory, Maggie, and Diana are standing and waiting. They know the trial is soon. Mrs. Mallory paces anxiously in the back of the cell, fidgeting with her hands. BOB and two other guards walk up now. Bob begins to unlock the cell. MALLORY Hi, Bob. BOB 'afternoon, Mr. Mallory. Me and the boys here get to escort you to the courtroom. MAGGIE (not really caring) Well, glad to hear it, Bob. The four prisoners exit their cell and are surrounded in the hall with one guard at their back and one at each side (including Bob). They give each other an anxious glance and start off down the hall. INT. CHANDLER HOTEL ROOM - DAY ANGLE ON - ALARM CLOCK It reads 2:15. Logan, sweating, gets up from her work on the slidewave machine. She smiles. Throwing down her tool, she picks up the small remote, which she places into a pocket on her jacket. She heads over to Remmy, who shoots her a dirty look on her way over. Unsheathing her knife, she slices through each of Remmy's bonds, keeping the gun held on him in her other hand. Remmy doesn't try anything. When she's done cutting him free, she steps back, gesturing for him to get up by waving her gun. Rembrandt does so and we cut away again... INT. COURTROOM - DAY ANGLE ON - WALL CLOCK Which now reads 2:45. ANGLE ON - MAGGIE, MALLORY, DIANA, AND MRS. MALLORY Who sit in the front right (looking from the front of the room) bench. Maggie is the one eyeing the clock. Bob is standing here, next to the exit into the aisle from their row, guarding them from escape. Maggie turns her attention back to the witness stand, which we now pan over to. Claire LeBeau is on the stand. The PROSECUTING ATTORNEY is pacing in front of her. CLAIRE ...two guards came with my father and I, just in case. When we went to see who had broken in, we found them... (she gestures towards the Sliders and Mrs. Mallory) ...there, trying to steal the Kromagg technology. I asked them what they were doing, and they became hostile and attacked us. Maggie leaps out of her seat. MAGGIE That's such a load of... She's interrupted by the hand of the defense attorney, who grabs her by the shirt and yanks her back down into her seat. He leans over, talking her down quietly. Claire shoots Maggie an amused look. CLAIRE Anyway. The guards and I were thrown into cold storage. They kept my father behind to gloat over their victory. They didn't consider a poor, defenseless old man in a wheelchair to be much of a threat to them. But as the guards and I were dragged out by that one... (indicating Mallory) ...I overheard that they planned to escape through a Kromagg vortex and take the technology with them. ANGLE ON - BENCH OPPOSITE SLIDERS Where the two guards taken with Claire to cold storage now sit. Loyal to the end, they nod at Claire's story. BACK TO - WITNESS STAND PROSECUTING ATTORNEY Thank you, Ms. LeBeau. No further questions. (he glances over to the defense attorney) Your witness. The defense attorney rises. DEFENSE ATTORNEY Ms. LeBeau... if my clients were indeed spies intending to steal the technology you were hoarding and return it to their Kromagg masters, why wouldn't Mr. Brown have taken some with him if, as you say, he slid off of this world? CLAIRE The Kromagg machine was badly damaged when I found it. I imagine they couldn't send much through the vortex other than just one person. DEFENSE ATTORNEY I see. And why exactly WERE you hoarding Kromagg technology? Shouldn't you have turned it over to the government? CLAIRE I was only doing what was best for my people. You all knew my father. He was a kind and generous man. He had been searching for years for capable, trustworthy scientists to examine the... She's interrupted as the doors to the back of the room fly open. Logan St. Clair walks in, roughly pulling Remmy in with her. She holds her gun to Remmy's head. Numerous people in the courtroom jump to their feet. A murmur washes over the crowd. Up in the front of the room, our heroes spin around. MALLORY Oh... DIANA ...my god. MAGGIE (screaming) REMMY!! Remmy manages a weak smile. He looks fairly battered. One FANBOY in the audience, wearing a "The Sliders" t-shirt, freaks at the entering couple and points at Logan. FANBOY That's Logan St. Clair!!! Another wash of murmuring occurs. Logan smiles slightly, briefly at the recognition. We cut back to the Sliders as Maggie hears the name and REACTS... MAGGIE (quietly) No. DIANA What? MALLORY Who is that? MAGGIE (quietly) Logan St. Clair. Quinn told me about her. She was trying to steal resources from other worlds to use on her own. When she followed Quinn into the next world, he tricked her into randomly sliding. He was all but expecting her to show up and take revenge. (beat) She's Quinn's female alternate. Mallory and Diana look at her incredulously for a moment, but know full well that she's perfectly serious. Maggine continues, shaking her head. MAGGIE (shaking her head) But that was two years ago. I'd almost forgot. I think Quinn did, too. Her words are practically interrupted by the OLD JUDGE... OLD JUDGE (to Logan) How did you get in here? LOGAN The roof, actually. (turning to the two guards by the door) You. Your weapons. Drop them and kick them to me. (she turns back to the front, looking at Bob) Same for you. The gun. Do it. The guards in the back manage to do so first, getting their guns from their holsters and kicking them, sliding them over to Logan's feet. Bob does so next, and his gun taps into the toe of her left boot. She lets go of Remmy for a moment, keeping her gun on him, and grabs Bob's gun, pulling out the waist of her pants and slipping the barrel into the side. Her waistline snaps tight, holding the gun in place. She then grabs Remmy once again and turns her attention back to the crowd as a whole. LOGAN (louder now) I have a proposition to make. I'm willing to release Rembrandt Brown to you. All I ask for... is Quinn Mallory. More murmuring spreads around the room. We see the Sliders looking at one another nervously... especially Mallory. Cutting back to Logan, we see that she's scanning the room. She speaks again, quietly, slightly annoyed, talking to Rembrandt. LOGAN (quiet, angry) I don't see him. (beat, louder again, to all) Hiding him won't do any good. It'll only cost you Brown's life. Maggie stands up. MAGGIE Killing him won't do any good, either, Logan! Logan turns. Maggie has her attention. MAGGIE This whole world is crawling with Sliders fans. You won't make it two steps before they rip you to shreds. Logan grins that evil, twisted grin again. LOGAN Luckily, I have a backup incentive for you all. She lets go of Rembrandt with her hand, keeping the gun to his head. With her free hand, she pulls the small remote out from within her jacket. LOGAN Whether I kill Brown or walk out with Mallory, no one is going to follow me. If anyone tries, this entire world will be an empty shell. The crowd is silent. MAGGIE What the hell do you mean? REMBRANDT Maggie... she has a slidewave device. Maggie's eyes are horrified. Mallory and Diana are looking at her in confusion again. DIANA Slidewave? Maggie whispers to her, her eyes not moving from Remmy and Logan. MAGGIE (whisper) It's a sliding device that washes over the entire world. All human life is transported. Now it's Diana's turn to be horrified. Mallory is trying to keep his cool, but this doesn't set well with him either. LOGAN Now. Unless I get Quinn Mallory within... (checking her watch) ...THREE... minutes... I'm going to kill Brown and slide all of you out of here on general principle. Everyone is still. The court has no power to trade prisoners. The sliders are looking at one another without a clue as to what to do. Mallory starts to solidify himself. He makes a decision. He stands up. MALLORY I'm Quinn Mallory. Everyone starts talking again. DIANA (whispering) Mallory, NO! The talk dies down. Logan shows only an annoyed smirk. She's less than amused. LOGAN Nice try. REMBRANDT It's true. Logan fixes her glare on Remmy now. She looks a bit confused. REMBRANDT (continuing) It's just like I told you. They're combined. Quinn is gone. And he's trapped... (nodding towards Mallory) ...inside of HIM. Logan's face is now moving towards horrified. She can see it may be true. She can hear it in their voices. Diana stands now. DIANA You can do a DNA test if you like. There's still genetic patterns that are similar to the Quinn you knew. But Mallory is dominant. Logan is shaking her head, her jaw agape. LOGAN (softly) No... REMBRANDT Face it, Logan. You're too late. You've spent the last few years chasing Quinn, leaving your world behind, letting them run out of natural resources and die. (beat) And all for nothing. (beat) Give it up. You're the only one who can stop this now. Make it end here. Logan is sinking to her knees, still holding the gun and remote. Her mouth hangs open, her eyes wide in horror. We can almost see the beginning of tears. What has she done? LOGAN (lower, softly) No... In a few brief seconds, her expression changes. She goes from saddened and desperate to blinding rage and fury. LOGAN (shrieking) NOOOOOOOO!!! She leaps to her feet and slams Rembrandt hard upside the head with her gun, knocking him to the ground brutally. The crowd gasps. She points the gun down at him. She looks up to Mallory. LOGAN (enraged) Give me Quinn Mallory NOW. (she points the gun towards Mallory) THAT one. (smiling coldly) I'll kill Quinn even if I have to kill two of him to do it. OFF Mallory's reaction as we... FADE OUT END ACT II BEGIN ACT III INT. COURTROOM - DAY All is as before. There's clearly no other choice. Mallory steps out into the aisle and starts towards Logan. He passes by Bob when... LOGAN Stop. He does so, just past Bob now. LOGAN (to Bob) You. Handcuff him. (beat) I'm not taking any chances. Mallory holds his hands behind his back in front of Bob. LOGAN'S P.O.V. As she opens the flap of her jacket with her "remote" hand. Her timer is resting in her front pocket. ANGLE ON - THE TIMER Which is counting down from 00:05:57 when we see it. BACK TO 3RD PERSON Logan closes her jacket flap. She makes a decision. LOGAN Cuff him in front. Bob, who has started cuffing Mallory's right hand, pauses and looks at her. LOGAN I don't want him slowing me down. LOGAN'S P.O.V Mallory turns to face Bob, his back angled, hiding half of his front from Logan. Only his left hand is visible to her. Enough to be sure, though. BACK TO 3RD PERSON Or so she thinks. Bob is handcuffing Mallory again now. BOB Sorry, Mr. Mallory. MALLORY (whispering) Bob. The key. Bob looks at Mallory nervously, still applying the cuffs carefully. BOB (quiet, uneasily) I... I can't. MALLORY (whispering) Bob! C'mon. Do you really want to go down as the guy who handed me over to Logan St. Clair? A beat. Bob finishes cuffing Mallory and considers this. It doesn't take long. CLOSE UP - With a flick of his left hand, Bob tosses Mallory the key. Mallory catches it without moving his right hand and discreetly slips it into his right pocket. ZOOM BACK OUT - In time to see Mallory giving Bob a quick wink before turning back to face Logan. Mallory walks down the aisle to Logan, the eyes of the audience watching him the whole way. He stops in front of Logan. Logan reaches out with her "remote" hand and uses a few fingers to pull on the chain holding the cuffs together. A nod. LOGAN Good. Let's go. She pulls Mallory in front of her and, holding her gun in his back, she nudges him. They start for the door. At the doorway, Logan pauses and turns, holding up the remote. LOGAN Remember. DON'T screw with me. And they head out. Rembrandt starts to get up from the floor. Everyone is focused on the door still, talking about what has happened. The two guards by the door are distracted as well, now running over to their guns, which are still on the ground. So no one cares that Maggie, Diana, and Mrs. Mallory all leave their station and come jogging down the aisle, up to Rembrandt. Maggie throws her arms around him. MAGGIE Remmy... REMBRANDT Hey, girl. I've missed you guys. Maggie breaks off the hug and looks at his face. She grimaces at his bruises. MAGGIE You look awful, Rem. You okay? REMBRANDT (smiling) Better than I look. I'll tell you all about it later. (quick beat) But for right now, what the devil are we gonna do? Another beat. They all stand, looking towards the door. We see that the guards, now with their guns back (other than Bob) are also simply standing still, unsure. MAGGIE (definitely) We wait a few moments, until she's out of sight. Then we follow her. (beat, she looks at the others) We're not going to lose anyone else. Diana and Remmy nod. Another beat. Maggie looks specifically at Mrs. Mallory now. MAGGIE (softer) He'll be all right. She nods, now, too, but still looks anxious. DIANA C'mon. We can grab our stuff off of the evidence table. It's evident from the chaos in the room that no one's going to notice if they do. They run back down the aisle to do so. INT. HALLWAY As Logan walks Mallory down it. MALLORY (mockingly) So why don't you just shoot me right now? LOGAN Shooting is a little too simple for Quinn Mallory. But try to get cute and I'm willing to settle. ANGLE ON - MALLORY As we see him glancing at the wall. ANGLE ON - SIGN Which shows us what he sees... a sign next to a nearby doorway. The sign says "Stairwell" and has an arrow pointing to the door. ANGLE ON - MALLORY AND LOGAN Mallory stops. He spins on Logan and faces her. He decides to press his luck. MALLORY Yeah, well if I was a sex-starved little bitch like you, I'd probably have a hangup on my male double, too. Logan can hardly believe this. She rears her gun back to pistol whip him, but as she swings, Mallory quickly moves his head and catches her forearm in his teeth! The force of her arm jerks his head back pretty hard, but he manages to bite down on her. Logan lets out a shout of pain and drops her gun. Mallory lets go when he sees it fall, and Logan stumbles back as he does so. He dives for the gun, bringing it up in his cuffed hands and pointing it at Logan. Unbelievably, Logan just smirks. LOGAN Go ahead. Shoot me. Mallory looks at her incredulously. He takes a brief moment to aim for a non-fatal wound and pulls the trigger. Click. He pulls it two more times. Two more clicks. His face shows what he's thinking -- "oh crap." Logan laughs. LOGAN I've been dry for the last two worlds. Why else do you think I would've bothered with this... She says this as she reaches down for Bob's gun with her free hand. As she starts to bring it up, Mallory flings the gun in his hands forward, hitting her hard in the face. Logan drops her gun and the remote, bringing her hands up to her face and stumbling back a step. As this happens, Mallory takes a second to scoop up the remote, and then flies for the stairwell, flinging the door wide open. Logan recovers fast and scoops up Bob's gun, spinning and firing for the stairwell. The bullet harmlessly bounces off of the wall along the first few stairs inside. Mallory is already on his way up. Logan races into the stairwell now, too. She looks up the gap between the circling stairs. She can just barely see Mallory. He's already a floor and a half up. She points her gun up the gap and fires, but it's no surprise that it ricochets again, this time off of one of the metal bannisters. LOGAN Dammit! She takes off, flying around the corners and up the stairs as fast as she can. Mallory is now a little more than three floors ahead of her. Meanwhile, farther up, Mallory has just a little less than two floors to go. Still handcuffed, he swings around the corners with his hands on the bannister, racing up to the top. He makes it, and bursts out of the door. EXT. COURTHOUSE ROOF - DAY As Mallory emerges onto it at high speed. It's less than ten yards from here to the edge of the roof. Just off of that, after a five-foot gap, is an adjacent building with a roof set just four feet or so below that of the courthouse. Mallory sees this as he runs, and manages to somehow go even faster. His feet pound to the edge of the roof, and he jumps, flying... EXT. ADJACENT ROOF - DAY ...and hits the other side with ease, rolling on impact. The roof here is covered in antennae, a couple of doors to two different stairwells on opposite sides of the roof, and various other outcroppings. Mallory heads behind one as we... CUT TO - EXT. COURTHOUSE ROOF - DAY As Logan bursts out of the door. She has time to see Mallory running behind an outcropping on the next roof. She is SCREAMING. LOGAN (screaming) MALLORYYY!!! CUT TO - INT. COURTROOM - DAY The sliders and Mrs. Mallory are just racing out the door. The audience, noticing this, murmurs and, after a few beats, starts filing after them. The two GUARDs from the back and Bob stand with the OLD JUDGE, now at the front of the room. GUARD #2 (to Judge) What do you think? He nods to the door and points to the crowd filing out of it. OLD JUDGE Follow them. Our three guards do so, attempting to push through the crowd. CUT TO - EXT. ADJACENT ROOF - DAY Just as Logan lands on it in a smooth crouch. Deftly, she stands up and holds her gun at the ready. Slowly, she heads over to the outcropping that Mallory disappeared behind. It stands next to an elevated doorway to the top of a stairwell. She presses her back against the outcropping and spins out, aiming her gun. Nothing. Suddenly, Mallory leaps out from behind the nearby stairwell entrance. With his hands now free, he wraps the chain of his handcuffs around Logan's neck, strangling her. Logan's hands fly up, dropping the gun, grasping at her throat in an attempt to pull the chain off. They struggle, their shifting feet kicking the gun away, sliding it halfway across the roof. Finally, she elbows him in the stomach. Mallory stumbles backwards, dropping the handcuffs. Logan spins and unsheaths her knife in one move, holding it in her right hand. She faces Mallory now, who finishes his recovery from her last hit and stands at the ready. Both begin to circle one another. Classic arena fighting. LOGAN What is it with you Mallorys... MALLORY I think this time, you'll find you've messed with the wrong Quinn. They both stop moving. LOGAN (smirking) Oh yeah? Which one? MALLORY (smiling) Both. And with that, Logan lunges at Mallory, swiping her knife at him. He jumps back, trying to dodge, but she still slices a line across the stomach of his shirt, just missing flesh. Mallory fakes right, and Logan swings at the fake, but he catches her right hand in his right and spins, rolling into her arm, slamming his left elbow into her head. She's knocked back a step, but still manages to jab for him as she stumbles. Mallory jumps away from her just in time to dodge by all of an inch. Now, Logan spins and expertly delivers a kick to the back of Mallory's head. He stumbles over and falls on all fours. She lunges, swinging down her knife towards his back, but he reaches up with his right hand and catches her arm a foot from his face. Both opponents push with all of their strength for a moment before Mallory thinks to swing his leg out and into her shin. He lets go of her knife hand just as her stance slips back a little from his kick, and her swing goes wild, missing him. Mallory jumps to his feet and grabs her right forearm with his left hand, quickly elbowing her wrist with his right arm, causing her to drop the knife. She reacts, punching him hard in the face with her left hand, making him lose his grip and stumble away. She kicks out for his stomach, with her right leg, but he recovers too fast and grabs her leg in mid-flight. Holding her ankle in one hand and her knee in the other, he pauses only momentarily to smile at her before twisting her leg, and her body with it, slamming her face-down into the hard concrete roof. She starts to get up, making it to all fours, but he takes the opportunity to throw another elbow, this time into the center of her back. She goes down again. Amazingly, she manages to slowly stagger to her hands and knees again. But she's clearly almost out of energy. Mallory pauses. MALLORY You can consider this one from Quinn. And he swings down, punching her hard in the face, knocking her down again. As she falls, something slips out of her jacket, clattering to the ground. This time, Logan doesn't get up. Out cold. Mallory sees the black object that fell out of her pocket. He picks it up and spins it around to see its front. Logan's timer. It's counting down. 00:00:38, 00:00:37, 00:00:26... Mallory is half shocked, half pleased. MALLORY Oh... damn. ANGLE ON - COURTHOUSE ROOF As Maggie, Diana, Remmy and Mrs. Mallory walk onto the edge of it, looking down slightly upon Mallory. DIANA Mallory! MALLORY Hey, guys! (he holds up the timer) You'd better get over here fast! Over on the other rooftop, the others gradually recognize what Mallory has in his hand. They all grin. MAGGIE Way to go, Mallory! She's the first to make the jump over. She lands smoothly and jogs over to Mallory. She pauses to look down at Logan. MAGGIE She give you any trouble? MALLORY Nah. No sweat. I've been through some rough times. I can handle myself. She eyes him suspiciously, noticing that he's still panting from the fight, but he maintains his facade. Diana hits the roof next. Not a perfectly smooth landing, but it could've been worse. She heads over to Mallory and Maggie as we notice the crowd from the courtroom gathering behind Remmy and Mrs. Mallory on the other roof. DIANA Hey. How long we got? MALLORY 'bout 15 seconds. Rembrandt makes the jump, barely managing to hit the roof. He lands on all fours, and turns back to Mrs. Mallory. REMBRANDT C'mon! She looks down the gap between buildings. Five floors. MRS. MALLORY I can't! REMBRANDT Yes, you can! Now c'mon, we don't have much time! I'll catch you! She hesitates momentarily, then takes a deep breath. She jumps... ...and doesn't quite make it. Her waist hits the edge of the building, and, though she initially doubles over, holding her torso on the edge, she quickly slips and starts to fall off of the side. MRS. MALLORY Noooo! Remmy grabs her hand. REMBRANDT I got ya! Meanwhile, over with the others... MALLORY 2... 1... here goes! Mallory hits the button and opens the vortex. It appears just off the edge of the building, a swirling orange mass floating in mid-air. EXT. TOWN SQUARE - DAY Where a huge mass of protesting "Sliders" fans look up as they see the vortex appear in the air off of a nearby building. Many point up. The crowd is impressed. EXT. ADJACENT ROOF - DAY MALLORY (looking back to Rembrandt) Rembrandt! Time to go! Rembrandt heaves Mrs. Mallory up onto the roof with all of his strength as Maggie runs and vaults off of the side of the building, into the vortex. Diana goes next, hopping lightly off of the edge of the roof. Mallory waves Remmy and Mrs. Mallory on, both on their way over, before he makes his leap into the orange pool in the air. Rembrandt turns to Mrs. Mallory. REMBRANDT You've gotta come with us. There's nothing for you here. She smiles. MRS. MALLORY I'm not arguing! They both grin as the guards finally make their way through the crowd on the courthouse roof. GUARD #1 Stop! Stay where you are! Remmy looks up and just shakes his head at them as the runs over and jumps into the vortex. Mrs. Mallory gives the guard a friendly wave as she goes and does the same. EXT. TOWN SQUARE - DAY Mrs. Mallory is seen briefly leaping into the orange vortex. It closes, and the crowd goes wild with cheers. EXT. PARK - DAY In the middle of a grassy park, people are walking their dogs, riding their bikes, having their picnics. Then, an orange vortex opens and the recreating people scatter. Maggie falls out into the next world. Then Diana, then Mallory. Finally, Remmy and Mrs. Mallory land on the grass. The vortex closes. All are smiling. MRS. MALLORY Well that was... something! REMBRANDT Yeah, quite an escape, huh? DIANA I just hope that our fans won't be disappointed in us for running from 'the long arm of the law.' REMBRANDT (shrugs, still smiling) Hey, it's the cross we bear as public figures. Sometimes, you let down your public, and sometimes, your public lets you down. Heck, sometimes, you let yourself down. You get used to it when you're in the business. MAGGIE (grinning) Spoken like a true showman. REMBRANDT Amen to that! Gradually, silence comes over the group. One by one, all look over to Rembrandt. He looks back at them, confused. Maggie finally says it. MAGGIE Well? Did it work? He grins now, realizing. REMBRANDT Oh, yeah. My home is magg-free. The gang cheers and applauds him for his success, patting him on the back, so on. Maggie and Mrs. Mallory, especially, are grinning from ear to ear. Maggie embraces him. MAGGIE I'm so glad, Remmy. This is... wonderful. MRS. MALLORY My home... OUR home is safe... all thanks to you, Rembrandt. REMBRANDT Not just me. Diana did it, too. DIANA (baffled) What? REMBRANDT Hey, not only did you get that 'magg sliding machine going for me, but... well, I'll tell you guys later. Right now, we better figure out our next move. How much time do we have here? MALLORY About a full day. DIANA (interrupting) But, Rembrandt... the seer said that you'd die on the other side of the wormhole. Rembrandt shrugs. REMBRANDT I didn't. He said we'd all die on the other side of the wormhole. Maybe we stopped it by my sliding alone. Maybe we would've all died, had we gone together. God knows I almost fell into a huge vat of molten metal on the other side. Maybe if we'd all been there, we would've all gotten knocked in. Diana nods. DIANA I suppose. And maybe his powers were just clouded by visions of his own death. He seemed to die instantly right after you slid. (beat) Hm. I guess we'll never know. Rembrandt nods solemnly to this. There is a moment of silence between them. Mallory finally breaks it. MALLORY Hey, Diana... heads up. He tosses the timer over to Diana. She pulls out her PDL. DIANA So, uh, where do we go from here? They all look at each other, waiting for the first suggestion. Mrs. Mallory gives it. MRS. MALLORY Well, if it's not too much trouble... I'd like to go home. I imagine they'll need some help cleaning up after the Kromaggs. REMBRANDT Sounds good to me. Maybe I'll join you. I'm gettin' tired of this life. I think it's time to settle things down and take it easy. Diana sighs and nods. DIANA Well, anyone opposed... ? Maggie goes up to Rembrandt. MAGGIE Uh, Rem, could I talk to you for a second? REMBRANDT Sure... They step away from the group a little, leaving Diana and Mallory to look at one another and shrug. Remmy and Maggie keep their voices low throughout this scene. REMBRANDT What's on your mind? MAGGIE I don't want to stop. A beat. Rembrandt shakes his head. REMBRANDT You gotta be kiddin' me. After two and a half years, you're not ready to quit sliding? MAGGIE No... I'm not ready to give up. (beat) Remember, when we first heard about the virus, just a few days back... and I told you that you should never give up hope? A beat. Rembrandt nods. REMBRANDT Of course. And you were right. MAGGIE Yeah, well, I should practice what I preach. (beat, this comes hard for her) Remmy, after you slid... I thought I'd lost you. I gave up. And it's not the first time. I gave up on splitting Quinn from Mallory a long time ago. REMBRANDT Yeah, well, you were right again. We did our best, and it didn't work. MAGGIE But we came so close! While you were gone, Mo... Mrs. Mallory said that I shouldn't give up on you. You didn't give up on Quinn, and I shouldn't give up on you. (beat) And she was right. I can't give up. Not now, now that you've come back. If you can come back... then maybe other things, other things that I never thought possible... maybe those things can happen too. (beat, she sighs) Things like splitting Mallory. And recovering Colin. A few more beats. Rembrandt sighs, rubbing his chin. MAGGIE Listen, if nothing else, Colin's not gone. We know that now. The seer practically told us, remember? He said that he felt the deaths of... (quick beat, her expression falls) ...of Wade. And the professor. But he didn't say he felt Colin's death. (beat) Geiger was wrong. Colin's alive, and we can't just leave him out there. Rembrandt understands. He nods, resolved anew by her words. REMBRANDT All right. (smiling now) All right. Let's keep goin'. But I'm gettin' too old for this. MAGGIE C'mon, Remmy. You're forever young. They embrace. ANGLE ON - DIANA AND MALLORY As Rembrandt and Maggie talk off to the side, the others sit, with Mrs. Mallory peering over Diana's shoulder as Diana works on her PDL. She has it hooked up to the timer now, and is attempting to input Earth Prime's coordinates. Mallory is eyeing Diana's PDL suspiciously. MALLORY Hey... I thought they confiscated that when they arrested us. DIANA (nodding) Yeah. But I got it back off of the evidence table. Which reminds me... She pauses her work and reaches into her pocket, withdrawing a wallet. She tosses it to Mallory. DIANA (resuming her work) There you go. MALLORY Thanks. (beat, he slips it into his back pocket) I think I've got something for you, too. She looks up again. He reaches into his jacket and withdraws Logan's remote. He holds it up momentarily before tossing it to Diana. She catches it and looks it over. DIANA Hm. It's pretty much just a paperweight now. It's not like it's going to work across dimensions. MALLORY (nodding) Yeah, I figured. DIANA Still, maybe the parts will come in handy sometime. She slips it into her pocket and resumes her work for a second. Maggie and Remmy come walking back over. REMBRANDT Hey, guys... DIANA (reacting to her PDL) Whoa. Everyone looks to her. MAGGIE What is it? DIANA I tried to input Rembrandt's homeworld coordinates, but it looks like Logan's already got them. (beat, she looks to Mallory) And OUR homeworld's, too. (beat) In fact, she's got all kinds of coordinates stored in here. REMBRANDT Probably every slide she followed us through over the past three years. Diana grins. DIANA Well, in that case, we've got quite a stockpile of worlds we can return to. None of them are labeled, but, this COULD come in handy. Plus, we can track wormholes. MALLORY Wow. The new timer model comes fully loaded. They all smile. Rembrandt starts in again before too long. REMBRANDT Listen... (beat) I'm not going home. Diana, Mallory and Mrs. Mallory all look up at them. DIANA What? MALLORY Why? REMBRANDT (looking to Maggie) I guess you could say I've gotten a renewal of faith. (beat) We're not gonna give up on saving Colin. Not just yet. And, given how close we came the last time we tried to separate Mallory, we don't want to quit on that front, either. (beat, he looks at Mallory) That is, of course, assuming you're game, man. There is a quiet moment. Mallory looks uneasy. He contemplates this for a moment, then smiles. MALLORY What can I say? Got nothing better to do. (beat, he smiles) Yeah. I'm game. Now they all look at Diana expectantly. She laughs. DIANA Well, I guess you can't do it without me. Sure. I'm in, too. REMBRANDT All right! They all smile. Maggie turns to Mrs. Mallory. MAGGIE We're not giving up. We're going to get your son back. (beat) And his brother. Mallory turns to Mrs. Mallory, now, too. MALLORY Yeah. Come hell or high water. MRS. MALLORY (smiling) Thank you... Maggie helps her to her feet. MAGGIE I'm gonna be able to truly call you mom, yet. They both smile and laugh, hugging. REMBRANDT (to Mrs. Mallory) So, we'll head back to my homeworld, drop you off... (beat, he looks to the others) ...and slide randomly once more. (another beat, he looks back to Mrs. Mallory) And we'll be back. MRS. MALLORY Oh, I believe it. They all turn, walking off, out of frame. REMBRANDT (V.O.) So, how about some new clothes, and maybe some food? I haven't eaten in days, and this 'magg prison get-up is really starting to wear on me. EXT. - ADJACENT ROOF - DAY - BACK ON SEER WORLD Logan St. Clair is lying on the ground. She startles, awake. Looking around, dazed, she's pulled to her feet by Bob, who's holding her right hand behind her back, cuffing her. The other two guards from the courtroom are holding guns on her on each side. BOB You have the right to remain silent... you have the right to an attorney... He CONTINUES throughout the scene as Logan feels over her jacket with her left hand. Her face shows panic. It's not there. Her panic quickly turns to seething anger as realization dawns on her. She grits her teeth, looking to the sky, as we PULL BACK... LOGAN (screaming in rage) MAALLOORYYYY!!! And we... FADE TO BLACK CLOSING CREDITS END