just a little ways. up to those trees.
sure.
why not?
it's possible.
i hope not.
it's a common question.
a dime.
average.
taken.
everyone who plays the game knows the rules.
don't know. that's how it works.
right.
what are you thinking about?
and an r.c.
go ahead.
everyone handles it differently. some are ready, some are not.
some.
can i ask you a question?
why didn't you fade?
yeah.
yeah.
no.
yes. please come in.
i prefer it like this.
i prefer it, that's all.
would you like a drink?
why are you working today?
you're very good at this aren't you?
i know what you expect, but i don't want.
i called because i just want.  i need to talk.
i've been thinking about my life, about things i have done.  what i do for a living is in some ways similiar to what you do.
i know that everything has a price. i want you to understand that i'm willing to pay.
honesty.
i just want to ask you some questions.
do you ever regret things you've done?
but when you finlsh a job, afterwards do you think about them?
do you think about their wives or their families?
do you ever think about starting over?
can you tell me about it?
and what if you never meet that man?
do you believe that?
yes.
thank you.
fuck you, nick.
i don't give a fuck --
fuck you, fuck cleveland, and fuck your contracts --
you fucking should be --
shit. just do them all. all of them. shit.
shit. what are you doing, old man? you're too fucking slow.
okay. which one? which one is yours?
amateur.
your move.
son of a bitch.
i'm not done yet.
this is 1242. i got it.
no. no problem. the airport, right?
how'd you cut yourself?
you a waiter? you look like a waiter.
where?
what restaurant?
so you're from around here?
where you from?
not too good at small talk, eh?
i know just what you mean. i'm pretty beat myself.
since you looked like a waiter, i had to ask what restaurant because of what happened at the trattoria roma.
didn't you here all them sirens? it's been all over the radio. some guy shot leevio valli, and a bunch of bystanders, in the trattoria roma.
yeah, it's terrible. i mean valli, and i don't care what office he's running for, the guy's a crook. he probably had it coming, but all the other people. real sad.
but they caught the guy. i heard it all. sounded like he just went berserk, fucking loco. shooting anybody. drugs, probably.
i'd love to sit in that jury. send that s.o.b. right to the chair.
what?
you're right. talking too much again.
what? you think i'm running you up?
get out. you think i'm running you up? get out.
the hell i can't. it's my cab. i don't like you. so, get the hell out!
we're both going to the airport.
sit back. put your seatbelt on.
okay, don't.
if either of us fucks around, the other can blow the fuel line.
what's your name? we both know it's not nicholai.
how long have you been freelance?
it's just a shoot-out then. sixty- forty, at best. not my odds.
you're wearing a wig now.
we both know what you were doing.
tachlinkov.
after those cops, you'll never be able to come back to cleveland.
we go around once.
okay.
there's a sand barricade up ahead; i'm going to ram this cab into it. the cab has an airbag, odds are good i'll survive. but with this steel casing and bullet proof glass, odds for you are not so good.
i know you're going to jump.
you're still young. young enough to still think you're indestructible. invincible. you believe with utter certainty you can bail out at the last second and survive.
if you do survive, we'll see each other again.
i bet you fucking know!
i give a fuck? i'm done! i quit! do you fucking hear me! i'm fucking gone!
i'm being set up. fucking set up!
is this how it went, nick?
a joke? a joke?
you think this is a fucking joke?
a player?
sorry. my mistake.
hi. up ahead my boss is in that black limo. we're not sure which hotel we're at, so could you just follow them?
one vegetarian plate and a can of tuna fish. room 1014.
don't be stupid and you will live.
hurry.
turn here.
how many bodies were there?
he has to clean up. how many bodies were there?
one hour per man.
get on the expressway.
nowhere yet.
nikita? she helped me find you.
took a guess. lucky for you, i guessed right.
i work for the government.
yeah.
i'm part of the game, just like you.
twenty large? that's all?
the bonus on the contract for you was one million dollars.
slow down.
i figure that means these are worth ten times that, maybe more.
now you understand why i'm here.
i really think you should slow down.
turn off the engine.
no, stay in the car. i want you to understand something. if i intended to kill you, you would already be dead.
oh shit.
dammit.
want a drink?
okay.
i'm not good at this sort of thing, but we don't have a lot of time, so i'll just go ahead and get started. first: you. i ask myself, 'what is she thinking?'
simple. she's scared. she's almost been killed twice and now she is alone in a room with a man that she believes is an.  assassin.
furthermore she was brought here not entirely on her own accord which only increases her fear and suspicion. thus, as long as she is afraid, her first, maybe her only thought will be escape. does that leave me any other option?
no.
the gun is silenced. she could shoot me right now.
she could take the car and be far from here before the maid comes in the morning, but --
you're the computer hacker, you tell me.
yellow pages. v for veterinarian. there aren't that many.
'them'?
until a minute ago.
if i still was what i used to be, you would not be pointing that at me.
another contractor.
no. they hired bain. the contract would have been mine, but bain took it from me as he took the previous one.
he stole the contract knowing that i would come after him.
because he is trying to retire me.
yes.
the nature of the business. you remove your competition.
yes.
we don't have a choice.
right.
it's simple. you need me. i need you. and we will both need money.
if it hadn't been for me, you would be dead.
this is something that is never going to end. you can never work in the business again with this contract, because he will find you. to survive, you have to go into deep hiding. and that's going to take money, a lot of money.
if you walk out that door, bain will still come after you.
because he took a contract on you. he'll come for you and he'll find you.
no. it's the truth. i know what you are. like me, like bain, you're a ghost, you're not part of the real world. you don't have a social security number. you don't pay taxes. you've probably used ten different names over the last ten years. a long time ago something probably happened, something illegal and you ran, you disappeared and it was easy. you think you can do it again. but i'm telling you, fading from the law is nothing. no matter what you do, where you go, i swear to you that bain will find you.
right now, as we sit here, he is tearing through your apartment. he is digging through your drawers, emptying your closets. he will take your telephone and address books, your appointment books. if you keep a diary, he is reading it. he'll go into the kitchen and find out what kind of food you eat, liquor you drink, cigarettes you smoke. in the bathroom he will find any prescription drugs you take and where you get them filled. if you have video tape or recordings he will watch and listen to all of them.
he will know everything about you. everything. i know, because i've done it. once you've been inside a mark's home, you're in their head. if you're any good, you'll find the mark in a week, and bain is good because i was the best and i couldn't take him.
rath. robert rath.
just electra?
as in daughter of agamemnon?
what do you want to know?
no.
because i'm done.
do you play?
it's not the same, is it?
i had an opponent.
he was russian. nicholai tachlinkov. a legend in the business when i was just starting. i admired him. when i heard he loved chess i became obsessed with the game.
we played with a code using the new york times obituaries. over three years we played twelve matches. i never won.
he was.  taken.
i killed him.
because that's how it works. that's what it's about. he was the best. he was on top.
yes. as soon as you get into this business, all you can think about is getting to the top. that's all there is. until then, there is nothing. you are nothing.
the same way everyone does; the government, the agency.
more or less.
they recruited me when i was in high school.
languages. i was already fluent in nine languages.
some people said that. i never thought so.
i was just different.
no. i graduated from george washington university. then i entered the agency training program.
no, they didn't.
of course. i was going to be james bond.
they are very good at what they do. it's very seductive. the training, the weapons, the travel --
women? no.  not really.
women.  i don't.  i don't want to talk about women.
because you are a women.
the same reason everyone does. you hear your name on c-span and you realize you're a skeleton in someone's closet and they're coming to bury you.
yes. it didn't matter much to them as long as i disappeared.
the only thing different about the private sector is that a general contractor takes less of a percentage than the government, so you make more money. then once you make the transition, you realize you were never working for the government; it was always the private sector, the vested interests and it's the same vested interests that continue to buy your plane tickets.
my first take?
why?
it was.  mechanical. very precise. it was exactly like the training drill except for the adrenaline.
no. just the first one.
they become complicated.  messy.
did it ever bother james bond?
this is fiction! don't you see that? this is another reality. and the people that come into the world to play this game -- nobody forces them! they're here, they know the rules, the stakes, the risks! do you understand what i am saying? no one is innocent -- including you!
you get a job swinging a hammer, the first day you get a blister, it tears open, it bleeds and it stays sore a long time. you keep swinging the hammer, you get a good hard callous that covers that spot and it never bothers you again.
check.
is that what you wanted to hear? something cold blooded.  something remorseless.
it. tell it. for all i know it could be a machine.
i don't.
the kind preferred by drug smugglers, arms dealers and politicians.
do you have a passport?
good.
mexico.
thinking.
nothing.
i don't know.
yes.
good afternoon. we have reservations at the hotel paraiso in costa blanca.
no, no. i said the hotel paraiso.
no, the other hotel paraiso, in the city. near the plaza del sol.
take us there.
that's where he'll be.
i wasn't expecting this. i need to think.
no.
it helps me to focus. it centers me, helps me think.
work. the things i need to get done.
yes.
no.
no.
i don't know.  maybe i'll live on a boat, sail to all the places i've never been.
you can have the bed. the chair is fine for me.
here?
yes.
i don't know.  but i'm sure he's not sleeping.
breakfast.
okay.
he won't be looking for you. just be careful. buy a book. keep your sunglasses on.
you should knock.
how was the beach?
taiwan.
thank you.
you should. it's very important, that the body release the energy that builds in it.
i'm going to shower. if you're hungry, go ahead and order some dinner.
i'm going to call.
sit down.
okay --
transmits and receives.
i paid a lot for these.
it's too late now. okay? we'll have to deal with these.
this is the bank. this is the hotel. in the morning i will enter the bank.
he will be hidden somewhere out here, probably somewhere low, in the crowd. he'll stay there until he sees me enter the bank.
no. it would be amateur. a risk. he'll wait for the prime shot, that he knows is coming. once i'm inside, he'll move to the hotel. he'll go up the back, too much traffic in the front.
you'll be here. a restaurant. a public place far enough away that he won't notice you, but with a good enough view you'll be able to see him when he moves inside.
then, we wait.
it will take the entire day, but he will begin to doubt himself. he will begin to believe that he missed me, that somehow i slipped by and am already on a plane to europe.
the sun will be low, almost dark, the air cool and the bank will almost be closed. 5:45. 5:50. he will put the rifle down, he will get up and he will walk across the plaza to the bank.
he won't be able to. he'll have to go inside. he'll have to see with his own eyes, whether or not i am there. if the bank closes, he won't know for sure. he'll come. i'm sure. and when he does you'll go into the hotel, go upstairs and take the gun.
he can't. the bank has an expensive security system; metal detectors and x-ray machines.
that's right.
if things go well, i don't have to. you'll already be in a rented car waiting for me.
i'll be walking out of the bank, unarmed. you'll have the gun and i'll drive the car.
five million apiece. you get on your plane, i get on mine.
i've been thinking about it for a long time.
what?
i told you, he will.
i was.
ten years ago, i sat there in that same hotel window, sweat pouring off of me waiting --
yes.
i don't know. it just happened. i was here ten years ago, i'm here now. that's it.
it wasn't planned or premeditated. i swear. things happened beyond my control. i understood; i saw where they were leading and i suppose that it just made sense.
yes.
i waited until i was insane and then i walked into the bank. he was sitting there, very calm, waiting for me.
he wanted what i want now; to get out of the business. to disappear to some empty greek island.
what did he say?
he said i couldn't win. that no one wins at this game.
then he offered me one million dollars to walk away, to quit the business.
no. i went back to the hotel. and waited.
yes. here i am again.
no.
five million dollars will buy a lot of rolaids.
why did you trade a bishop for a knight?
they're worth less points.
i didn't notice them.
how do you know they're not?
what?
jesus, if someone had --
why in the hell would you take that chance?
thank you.
no.
it's always been that way. the world has always functioned on two levels.
why?
and you were drilling these holes?
apparently this doctor was unable to cure you.
did he explain how this happened?
what are you doing?
that's a ridiculous move.
because, i'll take it.
i'm sure you will.
yes.
yes.
why? i don't know.
both.
i didn't want to complicate the situation.
it can be.
yes.
someone like me, like you. a pro.
she was taken.
no. i tried to stop it. i couldn't.
after her, i realized that to survive i had to live without.  it's dangerous to let things become complicated.
i'm not sure that i care anymore.
no.
honestly?
when i gave you my gun and you almost shot me.
why?
i'm not normal.
martin.
all right. i'm in the bank. he'll move now. how are you doing?
good.
yes. could you check on a transfer for me?
rath. robert rath.
good. now i'll need to close this account. i'd like you to ready the paperwork.
that's correct.
american currency.
i have all day.
now, we wait.
i'm sorry, but i am waiting for an associate. can you hold everything for me until he arrives?
thank you.
four minutes.
i waited another four minutes.
wait until he is on the stairs.
i'm taking off my mike.
electra --
last night --
yes.
i knew the same way in ten years you're going to know.
it means that i'm going to tell you things, even though i already know that you're not going to listen to a god damned thing i say.
it's irony. that's what it is. but the real irony is that you won't know it's irony until you're sitting over here.
when you walked in here and you saw me, sitting here, waiting; the first thing that went through your head was that you were a dead man.
you're thinking that you've been sold out. that's the only way i could know you were out there. why would you think this? because you don't trust your contractor. you don't trust anyone. it's automatic. it's the first and last commandment. it's the only thing that keeps you alive. so, try as i might to tell you the truth, you can't believe me. do you see the irony of the situation? it's kind of funny, isn't it?
listen to me, bain. two days ago, you contacted your contractor, who told you that they knew when and where i was going to pick up the transferred money from microcell. you don't know how they got the information. it bothered you, but you didn't care. how do i know this? because ten years ago, i was sitting in that chair, as scared shitless as you are now.
yeah you are and you hate it. you hate the fact that your hand is shaking and mine isn't. that you're sweating your balls off and i'm not. you've got fear and hate in your belly like battery acid, all because of me.
all right, bain. pay attention, because this is where everything changes.
you're a businessman, right? this is a business deal. behind that counter, i have over ten million dollars. i'll give you half of it, more money than you'll make in the next ten years if, you walk away.
that's right.
did you see how i did that? magic wasn't it?
you understand what's going on? it makes sense, right?
what i just said, no assassin would say. what i've said, only a mark would say.
you would be.
why don't you tell me.
now i'll tell you something. it wouldn't fucking matter if i offered you one hundred million dollars. you'd still be thinking the same thing, that you're going to take me. and here i am, sitting through this, knowing it's bullshit, looking at you and the only thing going on in my mind, the only thing i can think is that, in just a few minutes i'm going to take you.
electra?
electra?
electra, get out.
he's coming, electra! get out now!
electra, listen! you have got to come to the bank for the money! the money!
electra!
electra!
electra, what's happening? what are you --
electra.
bain!
shit!
electra!
electra!
down! get down!
electra!
the gun! he needs the gun! get rid of it! throw it!
yeah, i know what you're thinking.
game over.