Chapter Text
INT. A COFFEE BAR - NIGHT
A BARTENDER, 50s Hipster, serves a Jaeger-Bomb to a PATRON
who barely looks legal.
A 20-something HANDSOME TECH NERD disassembles a Rubik's cube
and begins reassembling it on a nearby coffee table, while a
singer-songwriter strums a song.
And there he is, HENRY FITZROY, still looking 25ish despite
his 480 years on the planet, singing a song that sounds
contemporary with hidden gems of the prior eras he's lived
through.
The minute she walks in, Henry looks up. He'd know the scent
and vibe of VICKI NELSON anywhere, no matter how undercover
her 32-year-old private investigator self intends her to
blend into the background.
HENRY
And now we'll switch gears. A song
about a girl who broke my heart.
Vicki looks him in the eye. He grins.
HENRY (SINGING) (CONT'D)
'I saved your life,
and you saved mine
only half a dozen times,
Trusted you
to mend my wounds
on the streets
and in my bed...'
Vicki tries to hide a blush behind an eyeroll.
HENRY (CONT'D)
'Tried to get you out
of my head,
But the further you are
away the more I think of you...'
She took a deep breath and approached the bartender.
VICKI
Rum and coke. And give him whatever
he's drinking these days when he
finishes this song.
She nodded toward the stage.
The bartender leans in to whisper -
BARTENDER
I think you know him well enough to
know he doesn't drink anything I
serve at the bar.
Vicki pulled back to look at him inquisitively. His eyes took
on a not-so-human green glow.
VICKI
Right. Am I the only human
connection he has?
BARTENDER
I'm guessing you're Vicki.
VICKI
I didn't think he'd talk about me
that much.
BARTENDER
I've heard this song many times.
The bartender taps a coke into a GLASS WITH ICE, pouring in
the rum last.
VICKI
How is he doing?
BARTENDER
Ask him yourself.
He slides the drink across the bar. Vicki tries to pay.
BARTENDER (CONT'D)
Don't bother, he told me to put it
on his tab.
VICKI
How?
The bartender taps his own temple.
BARTENDER
We all have our gifts. Henry knows
how to think at a volume I'll hear
above the crowd.
VICKI
I guess chivalry isn't dead.
She pulled a stool over and sat down, holding up her drink
with a nod to Henry in thanks.
Before she knew it, the song had ended, and that presence she
always felt intensely was just behind her, practically
resting his chin on her shoulder, smelling her drink.
HENRY
Do you always spike your soda?
VICKI
Better than spiking a vampire,
wouldn't you say?
HENRY
You're a long way from Toronto.
VICKI
And you're not exactly in
Vancouver. Why Port Coquitlam?
HENRY
I commute.
She turned to face him.
VICKI
That doesn't draw too much
attention?
HENRY
Like you I know how to blend in
when I want to - and how not to
when I don't.
She let herself swipe a piece of his neck-length long hair
behind his ear, he leaned into the proximity.
VICKI
You always stood out to me.
He put an arm against the bar, inching his face closer to
hers.
HENRY
That's because you're one of the
few who knows the real me.
She let him enter her space, but didn't close any gaps.
VICKI
Seems the bartender knows you too.
HENRY
I know how to build community
wherever I go.
VICKI
Do you? Seems like you left your
Toronto community behind
completely. You don't call. You
don't write.
He took a half step back.
HENRY
I thought you needed space.
VICKI
I'm not the one who moved three
timezones away.
HENRY
I told you where I was going.
VICKI
You didn't exactly leave a
forwarding address.
HENRY
With you, I know I don't need to.
You'll always know how to find me.
VICKI
I'd rather not have to look.
HENRY
(guffaws)
Are you kidding? That's half of
what a private eye does - look.
Search. I was just giving you
something worthwhile to find.
(a beat)
Took you long enough to come
looking.
VICKI
I thought you were the one who
needed space.
HENRY
I asked you to come with me.
VICKI
You know I don't walk away before a
case is closed.
HENRY
The case was closed. All of them
were closed.
VICKI
But the mess it left behind wasn't.
I don't like loose ends.
HENRY
Fine. And how loose are your ends
now?
He put a single finger under her chin and lifted her face a
bit higher and closer.
VICKI
I have a new case.
He scoffed. Of course.
HENRY
Let me guess, you're here for help.
VICKI
I'm here for you.
(half a beat)
And for your help.
HENRY
I don't know if I can do this again
Vicki.
VICKI
(genuine but lightly
flirtatious)
We didn't really get to do it the
first time.
He couldn't resist a charming grin at her tone. But then -
HENRY
And Mike?
VICKI
He's back on the force. Finding his
vic worked in his favor during the
IA review. But he and I haven't
really kept in touch.
HENRY
Not even with me out of the way?
VICKI
It wasn't you the first time we
split up, and it wasn't you the
second time. We're just too
different.
HENRY
(with all double meaning
fully implied and
intended)
What do you want?
VICKI
My client lost a twin and traced
them as far as Nanaimo.
HENRY
I wasn't really talking about the
case, but that's a decent place to
start. Though you could have done
your tracing remotely.
VICKI
You know me, I've always preferred
to be boots on the ground, hands
on.
HENRY
Or you wanted an excuse to see me.
VICKI
Comme ci, comme ca.
HENRY
What happens if I say yes?
She smiled.
HENRY (CONT'D)
IF.
VICKI
Is it too honest if I point out
you've always said yes to me, even
a few times when maybe you
shouldn't have?
HENRY
You're not really selling me on
this.
VICKI
Alright. Look -
HENRY
Tell me in the car.
VICKI
(hopeful)
You're in?
HENRY
It may have taken me some time to
forgive you, but I've never been
slow to come to your aid when you
need my help. You know that.
VICKI
I do.
HENRY
Tell me where I'm driving.
She tosses the answer over her shoulder as she heads for the
door.
VICKI
A couple's retreat.
His super-hearing was always pitch perfect accurate but -
HENRY
A WHAT?!
INT. HENRY'S CAR - NIGHT
Henry speeds a bit, as usual Vicki is urging him to slow
down, take in more.
VICKI
When I say couples retreat, what I
really mean is pairings. Some of
the people there are business
partners, others twins. Anyone who
needs to improve their connection.
HENRY
And what are we?
She hesitates. He sighs.
HENRY (CONT'D)
For their purposes, how should we
introduce ourselves?
(grins)
I for one am happy to play the part
of your devoted fiancé. That way if
I treat you especially familiarly,
they won't feel it's a conflict of
interest the way they might if we
simply claimed we were business
partners.
VICKI
(twist her arm)
Fine. Fiancé.
He takes her hand and gives it an 16th century kiss.
HENRY
Yes, dear.
VICKI
I could get used to this.
HENRY
You still haven't told me what the
actual case is.
VICKI
Twins. One dead, one alive - but
lately the dead one has been
haunting and largely appearing as
if alive to those around her. Small
difference being that she walks
through walls and such.
HENRY
Funky but I'm not sure where we fit
into that equation.
VICKI
We're partly there to help them
blend in; the retreat leader isn't
really aware of the undead aspects
of their connection.
HENRY
Couldn't they just hire a
therapist? Not that I mind having a
reason to concoct stories of how I
proposed to you...
VICKI
The dead twin, Tara, trusts this
speaker for some reason - she isn't
sure what's keeping her tied here.
She knows it's something
unresolved, and the living twin
Suzanne is fine with pretending
everyone at the table is alive.
HENRY
Should I even ask how you got tied
up in this?
VICKI
The mom is the one who hired me;
she's in Toronto, the non-living
twin has been taking shelter in her
basement, and lovely as that extra
quality time has been, is concerned
that this has been going on for so
long.
HENRY
That takes living in your mother's
basement to a new level.
VICKI
Key word being living. Or not.
HENRY
And this really couldn't have been
resolved back at the source in
Toronto?
VICKI
You desperate to get rid of me
already?
He smirked, lacing his fingers with hers in sharp reply.
VICKI (CONT'D)
The living twin lives here, the
speaker works out of this lodge on
Whistler here. A bit remote, I know
but...I was hoping you wouldn't
mind and coming all this way would
help them put their best foot
forward. We're mostly there for
support - and, maybe - to help the
dead twin peacefully crossover.
HENRY
I'm not really a medium.
VICKI
Oh you're definitely a large.
HENRY
(grins)
You wouldn't know that yet.
VICKI
I wouldn't bring this request to
anyone else. It's hard to say what
kind of support they'll need from
us.
HENRY
We'll figure it out as we go, like
we always do.
VICKI
(noting his hand still
holding hers)
It almost feels like no time passed
at all.
HENRY
Almost. But six months for me is
shorter than it is for you.
(a beat.)
For now.
She looks at him with curiosity. What the hell was that
supposed to mean? Just because she had a few sips of his
blood that one time...
His sports car speeds into the night.