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[And from out of the blackness, a familiar voice.]
Voice: Do you, Ethan, take Julia to be your lawfully wedded wife?
[FADE IN on a tropical locale. ETHAN HUNT, stands in the impossibly bright sun, wearing a suit, smiling warmly. Across from him, a BRIDE in a simple white dress. We can just make out her lovely face. A face we might recognize. She smiles. Nervous, happy, deeply in love. THE MINISTER looks on them, his back to the audience.]
Ethan: I do.
Voice: (offscreen) To have. To hold. To love, cherish, honor and protect?
Ethan: I do.
Voice: (offscreen) To shield from terrors known and unknown? To lie, to deceive…
Ethan: What?
Voice: (offscreen) To live a double life? To fail to prevent her abduction, erase her identity, force her into hiding, take away all she has known-
Ethan: Stop.
Voice: (offscreen) -in a selfish, futile, fleeting attempt-
Ethan: Stop!
Voice: (offscreen) -to escape your own true self?
Ethan: Please, stop.
Voice: (offscreen) And Julia. Do you choose to accept?
Ethan: Don’t.
Julia: I do.
[A blinding flash fills the sky behind her. Ethan, shaken, turns to the Source of the voice: THE MINISTER, looking up from his bible at Ethan. He is:]
Solomon Lane: You should’ve killed me, Ethan.
[Ethan looks back towards Julia — and the ever-approaching nuclear light.
He grabs her, holds her tight as the light consumes them, incinerates them and:]
[Ethan's eyes open, waking from his nightmare. He's on a cot in a dark and barren room. Rain batters the dormer windows. A faint knocking snaps him out of bed, pistol in hand.]
[A long set of stairs down to a door. Ethan opens it TO REVEAL
A SILHOUETTED DELIVERY MAN in a rain slicked coat and hat.]
Man: "Fate whispers to the warrior. "
Ethan: "A storm is coming."
Man: "And the warrior whispers back. "
Ethan: "I am the storm."
[The Man hands over the package and walks off. Ethan stares as he walks away, slinking back into the safe house.]
[Ethan sits at a table and opens the envelope. Inside is a book: Homer’s The Odyssey. Inside that is a small, REEL-TO- REEL TAPE PLAYER with a tiny needle protruding from a depression in one reel. Ethan presses his finger to it, leaving a drop of blood there.
It’s absorbed and the recorder plays. He sucks his finger as a projector pops up from the tape player, displaying images on the wall. The first image is that of SOLOMON LANE.]
Briefing Agent: Good evening, Mr. Hunt: the anarchist Solomon Lane. Since you captured him two years ago, his absence from the world stage has had unintended consequences; his Syndicate of rogue covert operatives continues to wreak havoc around the globe.
[INSET: ARMED MASKED MEN in black tactical gear, a hit squad, standing over several DEAD BODIES.]
Briefing Agent: The CIA's Special Activities division has relentlessly hunted Lane's network of hostiles, but many remain unknown and at large. The remnants of this extremist splinter cell refer to themselves as "The Apostles". They have since adopted a policy of terror for hire, making them an even greater threat. They are responsible for the recent small pox outbreak in Indian-controlled Kashmir along the borders of China and Pakistan, threatening one-third of the world's population. The epidemic is being contained, but intelligence would indicate that a new client has hired the Apostles for a more ambitious operation. They have been contacted by this man: an unidentified extremist known only by the codename "John Lark", author of this apocalyptic manifesto calling for the destruction of the current world order. It is believed Lark is responsible for the disappearance of Norwegian nuclear weapons specialist Nils Delbruuk. Doctor Delbruuk's security clearance was revoked after he expressed fiercely anti-religious views. Meanwhile, the Apostles have been in contact with elements of the Eastern European underworld, who are in possession of three plutonium cores stolen from a missile base in Eastern Russia. This would indicate that John Lark and the Apostles are working together to acquire functioning nuclear weapons. N.E.S.T. estimates that a man with Delbruuk's knowledge, using the materials in play, could complete three nuclear weapons in as little as 72 hours. These devices would be man-portable and deployable anywhere on Earth overnight. In the hands of John Lark and the Apostles, these weapons represent an unprecedented threat to countless millions. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to prevent the Apostles from acquiring Plutonium using any means at your disposal. If you or any members of your IMF team are caught or killed, the Secretary will disavow any knowledge of your actions. Good luck, Ethan. This message will self-destruct in five seconds.
[The player stops. Ethan places the pages back in the book and closes it. A beat later, smoke emerges from the book as:]
[An abandoned covered railway - open on one side, revealing the city beyond. The other side is lined with cavernous dark archways forming perpendicular tunnels to God knows where.
TITLE: BERLIN
Ethan and Benji stand in the center, waiting patiently. A BMW is parked a few yards behind them. Benji checks his watch.]
Benji: He's late. He's never late.
Ethan: He'll be here.
Benji: I don't like it. Something about this guy just. really gives me the creeps.
Ethan: Okay, just. relax.
Benji: I'm relaxed!
Ethan: You don't sound relaxed. Luther, does he sound relaxed to you?
[LUTHER STICKEL watches the alley on multiple screens.]
Luther: He sounds terrified.
Benji: (on comms) Please-- I'm not terrified, I just have a bad feeling, is all.
Luther: (on comms) I thought you said you were relaxed.
Benji: It's entirely possible to be relaxed and extremely uneasy at the same time!
Ethan: No, it's not.
Benji: You do it all the time!
Ethan: No, I don't.
Benji: Yes, you do!
Luther: No, he doesn't.
Benji: I'm supposed to believe that you are perfectly relaxed? Right here, now? Y'know.
Ethan: Benji.
Benji: (cont'd.) . a dark alleyway, waiting to buy black market plutonium from a psychopath.
Ethan: Benji. I won't let anything happen to you.
Benji: Oh, [scoffs] okay.
Luther: (on comms) See, Benji? You're perfectly safe!
Benji: That's easy for you to say, you're in the van.
Luther: Well, you wanted to be in the field, tough guy.
Benji: (on comms) And tonight, Luther.
Benji: . I would like to be in the van!
Ethan: He's here.
Benji: Oh, God. [clears throat]
[OVER Ethan and Benji as headlights approach. They walk toward them.
Ethan and Benji approach the car as it comes to a stop. Three men climb out: A man we will call THE EUROPEAN and TWO GUNMEN. GUNMAN 1 lingers by the car.]
[Luther watches, tense.]
Ethan: Have that money ready, Luther.
Luther: Copy.
[Luther leans down to zip up a black duffel bag containing the money. Suddenly, his screen black out. The power in the van quits.]
Luther: Ethan, do you copy? Do you copy?!
[Luther springs up from his seat, rushing to the door.]
[Luther wrenches the door open and is met with a gun pointed in his face.]
[Gunman 2 sticks to The European as he approaches. There is something about him - the way his look lingers too long. The way we can’t read what he’s thinking. After a beat.]
Ethan: Are we finally gonna do this, or not?
[The European steps closer studies Ethan and Benji.]
The European: I have survived in this business with the help of a voice in my head. This voice is never wrong, and whenever I meet you, it tells me the same thing.
Ethan: What's that?
The European: Nothing.
[Benji studies the gunmen.]
Ethan: I'm here to do business. Tell the voice to flip a coin.
[Tense beat. The European thinks. Has to guess. He motions. Gunman 1 opens the car door, pulls out a case and brings it forward. He opens it TO REVEAL:
Three plutonium cores. Benji pulls out a phone, activates a Geiger counter on the screen. It’s already reading small amounts of radiation. He pulls out a strip of metal and touches one of the spheres. The counter goes wild.]
The European: What's that?
Benji: This is a Beryllium rod, which is causing a reaction with the plutonium inside the core.
[Benji touches the other two spheres, picking up the same reaction. The Gunmen 2 instinctively steps back.]
Benji: That's them.
[Gunman 1 closes the case.]
The European: The money?
Ethan: Money. Bring the money.
[Beat. The European looks around. Nothing.]
Ethan: Luther, bring the money.
[Now Benji and Ethan look behind them, expecting Luther. But he’s not there.]
Ethan: We're gonna need that money, Luther.
The European: Kill them.
[BANG. A shot rings out. The European drops. BANG BANG, his gunmen drop. Ethan and Benji scatter as more shots ring out.
Ethan runs for the case. A spray of bullets drive to the side. He runs for cover.]
Benji: I got it!
[Benji manages to grab the case, but the bullets prevent him from going after Ethan. He runs the other way, taking cover behind a pillar.]
Ethan: Luther, do you copy?! Luther!
Voice (on comms): Luther's not here right now. What can the Apostles do for you, Hunt?
[Benji and Ethan share are a look of dread, separated by the treacherous width of the tunnel.]
Ethan: What do you want?
Voice (on comms): You're boxed in, Hunt. Give us the plutonium and walk away.
[Silence. Ethan thinks for a beat.]
Ethan: Benji, get the car.
[Benji peeks at the car, way down the tunnel. Bullets pepper the brick near his face. He recoils.]
Benji: I don't think I can do that!
Ethan: Benji. Get. The car.
[Benji realizes, pulls a phone from his pocket, activates the screen. A second later, the BWM fires up and screams to life, screeching down the alley and into the archway next to Ethan.
Ethan is a few feet from the car, looking down a tunnel at the city beyond. The door pops open.
Benji throws the case across the tunnel. It lands at Ethan’s feet. Ethan has a clean getaway. But only if he leaves his friend behind.]
Voice: We'll make you a deal, Hunt: Give us the plutonium, and we won't kill your friend.
[Ethan dares to stick his head out. Luther is standing in the center of the tunnel, a Shadow using him as a shield.]
Luther: Don't you do it, Ethan! Not for me!
[Ethan looks down to the case at his feet. The BMW. The exit.
At Benji, terrified.]
Voice: I'm gonna count to three. One. Two.
Ethan: Luther. I'm sorry.
Voice: Three!
[Ethan steps into the open and fires twice - hitting Luther in the chest. Luther collapses, exposing the man behind him.
Ethan fires. The man bolts for cover. Ethan charges. Benji runs into the open, grabs a rifle and backs Ethan up.
They charge as the gunmen flee. Ethan and Benji reach Luther. He rolls over in considerable pain. Ethan tears Luther’s shirt open to reveal the bullet proof vest underneath.]
Ethan: I'm sorry. I didn't know what else to do.
Luther: We're good!
[Ethan helps Luther up.]
Ethan: You okay?
Luther: I should be dead.
Benji: We should all be dead!
Ethan: Why aren't we?
[The teams looks around. Strangely, the unseen enemy seems to have gone. Odd.]
Luther: Where's the plutonium?
[Ethan looks to Benji. Realizes, runs.]
[Ethan arrives to find the case missing. Benji and Luther arrive a beat late.]
Ethan: It's gone.
Wolf Blitzer: (Pre-Lap) If you're just joining us, three massive explosions have gone off simultaneously in what appears to be a coordinated attack.
[CLOSE ON: A television. We see ROME, at a distance, a pillar of smoke at the center. INSET: WOLF BLITZER of CNN.]
Wolf Blitzer: This image is live in Rome, looking toward the Vatican. It is as close as our cameras can get. It is believed that the Pope was in residence at the time of the blast.
[REVEAL: Ethan with his back to the television, his expression unreadable.
ON TV: ISRAEL, again from a distance. Again, smoke and fire.]
Wolf Blitzer: Also live: We're looking at Jerusalem from just outside the city.
[FROM THE DECK OF AN AIRCRAFT CARRIER, looking toward land and a column of smoke miles away.]
Wolf Blitzer: Also live: The holy city of Mecca, from the U.S.S. Ronald Reagan in the Red Sea off the coast of Saudi Arabia. Radiation has been detected, indicating that nuclear weapons were used in these unspeakable attacks. No word on casualties yet.
Luther: (offscreen) Ethan. It's time.
Wolf Blitzer: . but we can assume the death toll is catastrophic.
[Ethan looks up and nods.]
[A room of institutional concrete and drab paint - the windows are cornered in steel grating. We’re in a prison hospital.]
Wolf Blitzer: Early reports suggest the weapons used would require highly specialized knowledge that very few people possess.
[NILS DELBRUUK lies in bed, bruised and bandaged, slowly coming to. He realizes he's cuffed to the bed. He sees the news on television and his face flashes a range of emotions - the most predominant of which is confusion.]
Wolf Blitzer: The question now is, who would attack all three of these holy sites and why?
[A MILITARY NURSE checks his chart, adjusts his IV.]
Wolf Blitzer: The attacks occured at precisely the same moment, just over an hour ago at 4 A.M. Eastern Time.
[Delbruuk laughs, quiet but joyous.]
Wolf Blitzer: Within minutes of the attack, Congress ordered an emergency recess and the Capitol Building was evacuated. The President left Washington on Air Force One. The White House has declared a state of emergency, placing the military on highest alert.
[Ethan and LUTHER enter. Luther is calm. Ethan is agitated. Ethan mutes the television as he walks past.]
Luther: Would you excuse us, please?
[The Nurse leaves.]
Luther: Doctor Delbruuk.
[Delbruuk doesn’t answer.]
Ethan: We know who you are. We read the manifesto, we found your lab.
[Luther tosses a stack of papers on the bed.]
[Delbruuk flips through them - photos of The Vatican, Mecca and Jerusalem, a diagram of the nuclear device, and a copy of the manifesto. He reads from it:]
Delbruuk: "There has never been peace without first a great suffering. The greater the suffering, the greater the peace." See, this will unite them, hm? When they read this manifesto, they will understand.
Ethan: Nobody's gonna read that manifesto. Ever. I can promise you that.
[Luther gives him a look that says “back off.”]
Delbruuk: What day is it? How long have I been here?
Luther: What's the last thing you remember?
Delbruuk: Uh, I-- I was driving. Someone hit me.
Ethan: That was two weeks ago.
Delbruuk: Two weeks.
Ethan: Two weeks.
[Delbruuk looks over to see Luther holding up a locked cell phone.]
Luther: This is yours, isn't it? It's how Lark communicated with you.
Delbruuk: Lark?
Ethan: John Lark. We know all about him.
Delbruuk: You know nothing.
Luther: There's information in this phone that could lead us to him, and you have the passcode.
Delbruuk: You think Lark is the enemy -- but you. well, whoever you are, you're the enemy. You're why the system survives. Why the suffering goes on!
Ethan: Shut up! We don't care about you. We want Lark.
Luther: What if we make a deal?
Ethan: No, there's no deal. Luther, step outside.
[Ethan stalks forward, then lunges for Delbruuk. Luther has to hold him back.]
Ethan: Hey! No-- Give me five minutes with this guy.
Luther: Ethan, I can't let you do that. That's not who we are.
Ethan: Well, maybe we need to reconsider that.
[These words strike Luther. He thinks, half turning to Delbruuk.]
Luther: What if they read the manifesto on the air?
Delbruuk: What, you can do that?
Luther: We can do it with a phone call!
[Delbruuk turns towards the TV.]
Delbruuk: Well, if he reads Lark's manifesto.
Delbruuk: I'll give you the passcode!
[Ethan lunges at the bed, Luther restrains him.]
Luther: E-- Ethan! Think, Ethan. Think of the greater good, please!
Delbruuk: Yeah, you do that.
[The words bring silence. After a beat, Ethan rips himself away, staring Luther down.
As Delbruuk laughs, Ethan takes the phone from his pocket, paces as he dials, puts it to his ear.]
Ethan: Sir. No, he won't cooperate. Yes, sir, if we read the manifesto. On the air. I'm sorry, sir.
[Ethan hangs up. Crushed, he sits on a stool in the corner of the room as Luther turns up the volume:]
Wolf Blitzer: . trading and global markets plummeted. Stand by, I’m told we’re about to get some additional information. I’ve just been handed a document from Nils Delbruuk, a nuclear weapons specialist who claims to have built the weapons used in these attacks. I have been asked to read this manifesto in its entirety.
[As Wolf continues, Delbruuk smiles. Ethan stews.]
Wolf Blitzer: (reading) There has never been peace without first a great suffering. The greater the suffering, the greater the peace. As mankind is drawn to his self-destruction like a moth to the candle, the so-called defenders of peace - the church, the government, the law - work tirelessly to save humanity from itself.
[Delbruuk extends a hand to Luther. Luther hands him the phone. Delbruuk unlocks it.]
Delbruuk: Well, it's not gonna help you now.
Wolf Blitzer: (reading) But, by averting disaster, they serve to delay a peace.
[Delbruuk hands the phone back to Luther.]
Delbruuk: What's done is done.
[Ethan glares at a grinning Delbruuk.]
Wolf Blitzer: (reading) . that can only come through an inevitable baptism of fire. The suffering I bring you is not the beginning of the end. It is the beginning of a greater mutual understanding.
[Luther connects the phone to a laptop. The screen is suddenly flooded with raw data that only Luther can understand.]
Ethan: Did we get it?
Wolf Blitzer: (reading) . through common suffering. It is the first step toward the ultimate brotherhood of man.
Luther: We got it.
[Delbruuk cackles.]
Wolf Blitzer: (reading) The suffering I bring you.
[All four walls of the hospital room fall away. REVEAL: We’re in a warehouse. In the background we see a desk, a camera, a green screen. A SHADOWY FIGURE approaches.
Ethan stands, walks to the bed, looming over Delbruuk. Ethan’s agitation is gone, replaced by serene certainty.
Luther stands beside him, smiling.]
Wolf Blitzer appears over Ethan’s other shoulder.
Wolf Blitzer: Did we get it?
Ethan: Course we got it.
[Wolf rips off his face TO REVEAL: BENJI DUNN.]
Benji: (in Wolf's voice) Toldja we'd get it.
Delbruuk: I-- I don't understand. The attacks didn't happen?
[Luther hands Benji a rolled up wad of cash. Benji gleefully pockets it and takes off the vocal synthesizer.]
Luther: The car accident you were in? That was an hour ago.
Benji: (normal voice) I was driving the other car!
Ethan: What's done is done. when we say it's done.
[Ethan holds a syringe gun up to Delbruuk’s neck and fires.]
[Light the fuse. Tease the plot. The roar of idling jet engines take us to:]
[TITLES: RAMSTEIN AIRBASE, GERMANY]
[Ethan arrives by car, pulling up to a waiting DIRECTOR ALAN HUNLEY. Hunley turns, and heads towards a massive C-17 Cargo plane. Ethan hops out and falls in step. Hunley hands Ethan a dossier. The first image is that of a decoded e-mail.]
Hunley: That phone you unlocked led us to a server in Iceland where we managed to decrypt a communique between John Lark and this woman:
[IMAGE: A BLONDE WOMAN in sunglasses, her personnel behind her.]
Hunley: Alana Mitsopolis, activist and philanthropist whose charity work has earned her the nickname "The White Widow". It’s all a front for her real trade: arms dealing, money laundering. Extensive political connections provide her with protection. Now, Lark and the Widow are meeting tonight to negotiate delivery of an unspecified package, which we can only assume is our missing plutonium. They’ll make contact in a private lounge of the Grand Palais in Paris during her annual fundraising event, the details are in the file.
[IMAGE: The stately Grand Palais in central Paris.]
Hunley: If Lark isn't there by midnight, the Widow will leave, and sell the package to the highest bidder, which gives you. [He checks his watch.] two hours from now to find Lark.
Ethan: Sir, I think. there's something you need to know. I don't--
[Hunley stops, faces him.]
Hunley: I’m going to stop you right there. You had a terrible choice to make in Berlin: recover the plutonium or save your team. You chose your team and now the world is at risk. Some flaw deep in your core being won’t allow you to choose between one life and millions. Now, you see that as a sign of weakness. To me? That's your greatest strength. It also tells me I can count on you to cover my ass, because coming over here from the CIA was a lateral move, some say a step down. But I did it. because of you. Don’t make me regret it.
[A WOMAN’S HARD HEELS, followed by A MAN’S LEATHER SOLES.
REVEAL: ERIKA SLOANE, A FORMIDABLY SUITED WOMAN (40s) walks with purpose, followed by A FORMIDABLE MALE (40s). This is WALKER.]
[Sloane and Walker stride across the tarmac toward the C-17.]
Sloane: Make the call.
[Walker dials a cell phone. Sloane focuses on Hunley and Ethan, engaged in intense conversation. Sloane can’t hope to hear them over the engines. But that doesn’t matter.]
Walker: Shut 'em down.
[A beat later, the C-17’s engines wind down. Ethan and Hunley are momentarily confused. Then they see Sloane and Walker.]
Hunley: What do you think you're doing, Erika?
Sloane: It may be your mission, but this is the CIA's plane. It doesn't take off without my say-so.
Hunley: We don't have time for this.
Sloane: I have a team in Paris ready to grab Lark as soon as he leaves the Palais. A G5 is standing by to rendition him to Gitmo, where a waterboard is waiting.
Hunley: Spend twenty-four hours we don’t have to pull a confession we can’t trust from a man we haven’t positively identified? No. We need reliable intelligence and we need it now. This scenario is precisely why the IMF exists!
Sloane: The IMF is Halloween, Alan. A bunch of grown men in rubber masks playing trick-or-treat. (to Ethan) And if he’d held on to the plutonium in Berlin, we wouldn’t be having this conversation.
Hunley: And his team would be dead.
Sloane: Yes. They would. That's the job. And that's why I want one of my own men on the scene, to appraise the situation. (re: Walker) Agent Walker. Special Activities.
[Both Hunley and Ethan’s expression darkens.]
Hunley: His reputation precedes.
Sloane: You use a scalpel. I prefer a hammer.
Hunley: The answer is no. I have operational authority here, direct from the President. You have a problem with that, you take it up with him.
Sloane: I have already, and he agrees with me. My man goes, or no one goes.
[Ethan looks at Hunley. Hunley looks at his watch. They have no choice. Ethan walks up the ramp and into the plane. Sloane turns her back to Hunley, speaking so only Walker can hear.]
Sloane: No one comes in between you and that plutonium. Not Hunt, not his team, not anyone.
[Walker nods and heads into the plane, right behind Ethan.]
[The full moon fills the frame until the black silhouette of a giant C-17 Globemaster cargo-plane rises in front of it.]
[Walker and Ethan in the empty cavern of the plane's belly.]
Ethan: The White Widow has spies in every level of government; this plane is posing as a commercial airliner so we can jump into France undetected.
[Walker looks at the file Hunley gave to Ethan. One side is the picture of the Widow. On the other, a picture of an ID band.]
Ethan: The Widow's meeting Lark in the VIP lounge at midnight. No one will be admitted without a pre-issued electronic ID band.
[IMAGE: Walker studies a photo of said ID band.]
Ethan: We’ve acquired the unique RFID number for Lark’s band, allowing us to locate it with these:
[Ethan holds up two smartphones.]
Ethan: You find that ID band, you find Lark.
Walker: Then what?
Ethan: Then.
[Ethan aims a wand at Walker. It projects a grid on his face through his visor. Walker blinks. Ethan gestures to the machine. On the screen is a copy of Walker’s face.]
Ethan: I assume his identity. Make contact with the Widow, she takes us to the package.
Walker: (re: Mask Machine) People actually fall for this shit?
[Ethan decides not to answer.]
Walker: (cont'd) How do you intend to make Lark cooperate?
[Ethan holds up a small syringe.]
Ethan: I bump him in the crowd: in ten seconds he’ll look like any other drunk at the party - incoherent and completely pliable. After I borrow his face, you walk him out the front door and hand him to Sloane’s extraction team.
Walker: You're not getting rid of me that easily, Hunt.
Ethan: That's not what this is about.
Walker: Sure it is! I know you don’t want me on this detail, but let’s face it; if you’d made the hard choice in Berlin, I wouldn’t be here.
Ethan: And if you didn’t gun down every Syndicate agent they sent you to find, I wouldn’t be here. (off Walker’s look) That’s right. I know all about you. You’re why we don’t have a living witness who can identify John Lark, or the Apostles.
Walker: If you have a problem with my methods, you can always stay behind. "Your mission, should you choose to accept it." Isn't that the thing?
[Before Ethan can reply, the plane’s interior lights turn from white to soft red. That’s the signal.]
Pilot: (over speaker) Two minutes to decompression.
Ethan: Suit up. The Widow is meeting Lark in thirty minutes.
[A brief shot of the plane. Back inside, Walker and Ethan are completely suited up. Ethan turns on his oxygen valve. The light near the back of the plane flashes from red to yellow to green.]
Pilot: (over speaker) Ten seconds to decompression.
[Ethan sees Walker’s helmet visor is foggy.]
Ethan: Is your oxygen on?
[Walker searches for the valve. Ethan grabs it and turns it on.]
Ethan: There's no atmosphere at this altitude; I don't need you blacking out on me.
[Walker's visor de-fogs just as:
HISSSSSSSSSSS. The lift-gate opens at the back of the plane, revealing the blackness of night beyond.
Ethan points to a glowing display on Walker’s mask:]
Ethan: Hey. Your Heads Up Display is a built in guidance system. Follow it to the target. Open your chute when the system says -- not before, and definitely not after. Or the last thing that goes through your mind will be your kneecaps. Is that clear?
Walker: Crystal.
[Walker nods. Ethan reluctantly walks toward the rear of the plane. He stands with his toes on the end of the gate and looks down. REVEAL:
A massive lightning storm where the target should be. Ethan turns, sees Walker coming and rushes to stop him.]
Ethan: We gotta talk -- need to rethink this.
Walker: Out out my way, Hunt.
Ethan: Walker, we got a problem. There's a storm and we need to--
[Walker disconnects Ethan’s oxygen and storms off.]
Walker: Enough talk. I'll see you in Paris.
[He runs off the edge headlong. Ethan scrambles to reconnect his air before running after him, hurling himself into space. We go with him into:]
[Terminal velocity. The full moon gives everything a cold, lapis-colored sheen.]
Guidance System: Altitude: 25,000 feet.
[We are coming up fast on the storm.
(NOTE: The following plays in one continuous take, never leaving Ethan.)
Ethan flies past us, chasing after Walker, silhouetted against the storm.]
Ethan: Walker!
Walker: What's the matter, Hunt? Afraid of a little lightning?
[BOOM. Lighting explodes in front of Ethan. He blows through a layer of dissipating ozone, half blind, escaping the storm.]
Guidance System: Altitude: 20,000 feet.
Ethan: Son of a bitch!
[When Ethan's eyes adjust, he realizes Walker is gone.]
Ethan: Walker. Do you copy?
[Nothing. Ethan looks left, right, rolls over onto his back to look up, revealing the bright lights of Paris. No sign of Walker.]
Ethan: Walker. Oh, no.
[He rolls again, facing down. Then, by sheer luck he sees:]
Ethan: Walker!
[Walker's silhouette plummeting, limp as a rag doll. Ethan dives toward him. He, misses, tumbles.]
Ethan: C'mon!
Guidance System: Altitude: 15,000 feet.
[Ethan recovers, turns, tries again.]
Ethan: Walker! Walker--!
[They collide, stabilize, falling together.]
Ethan: Walker! Walker?
[Ethan sees Walker has lost his air tank.]
Guidance System: Altitude: 10,000 feet.
[He hurriedly fumbles with the chord.]
Guidance System: 9,000.
Ethan: Shit!
[Ethan rips the broken hose from Walker's helmet.]
Guidance System: 8,000. 7,000.
[He takes several deep breaths before attaching his own tank to Walker's helmet.]
Guidance System: 6,000. 5,000. 4,000.
[The fog clears up in Walker's mask, but Walker remains unconcious. Ethan jostles him.]
Ethan: Walker! Walker.
Guidance System: 3,000. Deploy! Deploy! Deploy!
[Over the pleas of the guidance system, Ethan yanks Walker's ripcord. Walker is torn up and away. Ethan rolls over and sees a massive, glass roofed building coming up fast - bright lights glaring up from within. He yanks his ripcord.
[The Grand Palais is a massive, elongated, 19th century structure, the roof is made entirely of glass. A giant, spired dome rises from the center. Ethan’s chute barely deploys as he barely misses the spire. He's going to hit hard. Then his chute is impaled on the spire above him. It tears, then snags, yanking him violently to a halt.
Ethan stifles the pain. He's still twenty feet above the roof with no other way down.]
Ethan: Oh, god.
[He yanks a release and falls.
He slams into the roof He lays there, winded and in pain.
A beat later, Walker drifts past, landing gently. He turns, sees Ethan in a heap, notices:]
Walker: [taps his tank] Looks like you lost your oxygen!
[Off Ethan’s look. ]
[Luther scans an unconscious Lane’s face, as Benji stands next to him, dressed identically to Lane.
Benji check the progress of the machine, then sits down back to back with Lane.]
Luther: You alright?
Benji: Yeah, I just. [He puts on the voicebox -- Lane's voice filters through:] . got a bad feeling about this one.
[Luther hands over the mask and Benji pulls it on over his head. The transformation is remarkably swift. Benji stands, turns, looks down at the unconscious Lane. They are identical.
Luther handcuffs him.]
[Walker looks at the CCTV from Lane’s cell as Ethan grabs his gun out of a bag and loads it.
Deep behind Ethan, Luther enters with a transformed Benji, still in hand cuffs.]
Ethan: If you don’t hear from us.
Walker: . I’ll do it my way.
[Ethan starts walking away. As he goes:]
Ethan: (to Walker) Don’t take your eyes off him.
[Ethan follows Luther & Lane as they head towards the exit.
Walker shuts the laptops. He then picks up a bag and removes the box containing the tracking device kit and discards it on the table. He pockets his knife before pulling out the syringe case and taking with him as he heads to Lane’s cell.]
[Walker enters to find Lane bound in the center of the room.
He throws away the camera, then turns and injects Lane, who quickly comes to.]
Walker: Enough games. I’m taking you out of here.
Lane: Where’s Hunt?
Walker: He’s gone to the meeting with a copy of you.
Lane: Calm down. Call the Apostles. Warn them.
Walker: I have no way of contacting them, for their safety and mine. What I do have is an extraction team on satellite overwatch and a prearranged rendezvous. They’ll know as soon as we leave the building.
[Walker turns to exit.]
Lane: No, I’m staying here. I haven’t finished with Hunt yet.
[Walker pauses, looking over Lane incredulously, before storming over to him.]
Walker: Why did you have to make this so fucking complicated?!
Lane: I don’t understand what you mean.
Walker: The deal was simple: I help you frame Hunt, you give me the plutonium. You’re wasting. Time.
Lane: "There cannot be peace without first a great suffering. The greater the suffering, the greater the peace."
Walker: When I wrote those words, I wasn’t referring to your peace, or Hunt’s suffering. The old world order needs dismantling and we have the tools to dismantle it. All you seem to care about is that Hunt lives to take the blame. That’s not anarchy. That’s revenge.
Lane: Yes, It is. And when I have what I want, the Apostles will give you the Plutonium.
[Walker turns to leave, frustrated, then doubles back:]
Walker: Hunt's the only friend you've got! You’re only alive today because he didn’t have the guts to kill you. Sloane was right. The IMF is nothing but Halloween. Nothing but grown men wearing.
[Walker turns and looks at the mask machine on the table. Lane looks back nervously.]
[Walker turns to Lane, studies him. After a beat, he lunges, grabs Lane’s scalp with both hands and tears his face down the middle TO REVEAL: BENJI.]
Benji: It’s just the job. No hard feelings.
[Walker raises his fist. Until a pistol taps the back of his head and stops him cold.]
Hunley: I've ruined your day, haven't I?
[Beat. In one fluid motion, Walker grabs the gun and wrenches it free as he turns to face Hunley, pulling the trigger without hesitation, CLICK, CLICK, CLICK. It’s empty.]
Hunley: Oh. and you were doing so well up until then!
[REVEAL: Hunley holds a second gun tight to his waist, aimed at Walker’s belly.]
Hunley: But I think this one's loaded. You wanna find out?
[Benji rips off the mask and takes the gun from Walker. Hunley leads Walker out of the cell at gunpoint, then passes a magazine to Benji, who loads the gun.]
[Walker enters to find Ethan, Lane and Luther waiting. They never left.]
Benji: So how’d I do?
Ethan: I never had a doubt.
[Luther taps his fist directly over his heart.]
Hunley: I’m beginning to see why you guys enjoy this so much.
Benji: Hats off, Mr. Secretary.
Luther: I mean, the man's a natural.
Ethan: Welcome to the team, sir.
Walker: (to Hunley) You’re making a mistake.
Ethan: No. The mistake was mine, when I saved your life over Paris.
Walker: This proves nothing. I’m playing a role, just like you are - trying to recover that plutonium.
Hunley: That doesn’t explain why you gave Sloane the dossier and tried to frame Hunt.
Ethan: He makes a good point. Lark.
Walker: (to Hunley) He's paranoid. Delusional. Just like the dossier says.
Hunley: So where did Sloane get that dossier from?
Walker: I have no idea.
Sloane: (offscreen) I do.
[Hunley takes out a cell phone. On the screen is Erika Sloane, having heard this entire exchange.]
Hunley: Did you get all that, Erika?
Sloane: I did. I don't appreciate being used, Walker.
Luther: Oops. Bad boy.
Hunley: Where would you like him delivered?
Sloane: I’ll come to you.
[And the lights cut. EIGHT HEAVILY ARMED SPECIAL ACTIVITIES MEN rush in.]
Special Activities Man 1: Nobody move!
Special Activities Man 2: Nobody move, weapons down!
Special Activities Man 1: Drop 'em! Hands in the air!
Special Activities Man 2: Weapons down! Drop it!
[Everyone lowers their guns, and raises their hands.]
Special Activities Man 1: (re: Ethan) You!
Ethan: It's okay.
Special Activities Man 1: (re: Ethan) You! I'm talking to you, put it down!
Ethan: It's alright, it's okay. It's alright! It's alright.
[Ethan finally complies. The phone is still in Hunley’s grasp.]
Hunley: I thought we had a deal!
Erika: We did. And now we don't.
[Further back within the safehouse, Ilsa sneaks in.]
Erika: (offscreen) There's too much at stake here for me to take any chances.
Erika: (cont'd) I'm taking you all in.
Erika: (cont'd) Along with Walker.
Hunley: The plutonium is still out there!
Erika: And I don't trust a living soul in that room to get it.
Erika: (cont'd) We'll sort out who's who in Washington.
[She hangs up.]
Hunley: Erika--!
Ethan: Sir? It's alright. Let's just. do what she says. The only real threats are in this room, and we have them.
[Tense pause. Walker turns to Ethan, a confident look in his eye.]
Walker: Do you?
Sloane: (Voice Over) Per your request, I'm handing Solomon Lane back to MI6. Through a broker, of course. Part of our ongoing arrangement. After what happened in Paris. we prefer to keep a low profile. And that closes your friend's account in British Intelligence.
[Ilsa comes up to the bed. She reaches down, touches Ethan's chest. He winces.]
Ethan: The ribs. Watch the ribs.
Sloane: (Voice Over) I understand now why Hunley believed in you. The world needs the IMF. We need people like you, who care about the one life as much as they care about the millions. That way, I never have to.
Ethan: You okay?
Ilsa: You've never looked better.
[Ethan laughs then winces again.]
Ethan: Don't, please--
[Benji nods, they’re okay.]
Benji: How close were we?
Ethan: The usual.
Ilsa: "Usual"?
Ethan: Please, don't make me laugh.
[And off Ethan’s look we cut to:]
