Fatal Mistake (34) Calories, calories...what the hell. -- Stonetree Is there anything you can remember at all, Captain? Anything else? I don't know, I must be getting too old or something. It's all a blur. It was just instinct, you know. He turned, fired, and I returned. -- Nick and Stonetree Captain, I'm sorry. I know how you must feel. Do you, Nick? Have you ever killed anyone in the line of duty? No. You must be lucky, I guess. I hope you never have to. Some cops go a whole career without ever discharging their weapons. I know its hard Captain, but its part of the job. The job? It's a responsibility we all assume. Maybe it's one I don't want anymore -- Nick, Stonetree and Schanke Man, oh, man. It is tough enough when you have to do it. I popped a guy once in '88, and he was a bad one. He burned his whole crew over five keys of powder. He ripped them to shreds, I mean he just cut 'em all down with an AK47. He must have put 20 rounds into his business partner alone. How did you feel about it, after? I just felt weird. Myra tells the story about how I stayed up all night taking showers, says I was obsessed or something. -- Schanke and Nick Captain doesn't seem to be handling it to well. Seemed a bit shell-shocked. Let's face it, Nick. He's out of the loop. He's been riding a desk too long. He's lost the edge, the edge that protects your hardness. You got to be hard in this job. -- Nick and Schanke You can't get out of sorts when you plug a guy, you know. It clouds your judgement, and the next thing you know... It's you that gets plugged. Yeah, stews with the tuna, dancin' with Mr. D. Retirement with extreme prejudice. How's Myra cope with all of it, knowing you might not come home? Myra's a brick. Well, actually we never really talk about it. We...accept it. Yup, you just got to let it roll off your back like water off a duck. -- Schanke and Nick There! There's your gun. That's not a gun, that's something nuclear, for crying out loud! -- Nick and Schanke They stay with you. Captain? They haunt you. -- Stonetree and Nick No, Nick, you can't kill somebody, watch 'em die, and not have it affect you. -- Stonetree We'll have your seats. Not bloody likely. You were just leaving...weren't you? ... All of you. Even eternal life is too short to wait for a table. -- LaCroix and Tavern Customer What'll it be? Wine, I think. Something hearty and robust. The finest from your cellar, save the swill for the rest of these hogs. It'll cost you. We can pay. -- Alexandra, Nick and LaCroix She is beautiful, isn't she? Quite beautiful. Yes, a far richer wine blushes her conplexion than ever came from a bottle. You can have her, you know. A prize for the plucking, on such a cold and lonely night. -- LaCroix and Nick Maybe you should head home and get some rest. Have some more nightmares. -- Nick and Stonetree I envy you. Why? You are so well traveled, seen so much of the world that I haven't. That you haven't, yet, you mean. The world is not as big as all that. It is, it is! It's huge from where I stand. I've never been farther than the next county. Perhaps someday you'll take me. I could take you someplace right now. (Laughter) Oh, and where is that, pray tell? Someplace that you've never been before. But I haven't a thing to wear. I was hoping you'd say that. -- Alexandra and Nick Okay, what'll it be? A leg. A leg. Not that much, just a thigh. Just a thigh. And a wing, too. And a wing? A wing. -- Natalie and Grace Well, you look like something from the back of the refrigerator. You sleep okay? No, not really. Stonetree's really got me spooked about this. He's bent out of shape, you know, he's guilty as hell. This thing's haunting him. I don't know, it might just be the power of suggestion... But what? I could swear I saw a ghost or something last night. Someone from your past? Yeah, someone I knew once, a long, long time ago. Well that's a tough one. I don't know what to say, I mean, I don't really believe in ghosts, but... ... you didn't believe in vampires, either. -- Natalie and Nick Hey, Captain, maybe we should handle this. You questioning my competence, Detective? Its not about your competence, Captain, it's just... It's just what, Detective Knight? It's dangerous, that's what, Captain! -- Schanke, Stonetree, and Knight Captain, maybe your too close to this thing, too emotionally involved. I am, and I don't want to be! That's why I'm going back out there to find out what was going on in that alley. You're tired, and you said it yourself in the past. Tired cops get careless. I'm driven, Knight. I was the one out there in that alley! -- Schanke, Stonetree and Knight Knight? What the hell? KNIGHT! Hey Nick? All right, keep your pants on! -- Schanke, watching Nick take on a bus What the hell do you think you're doing! Police officer! I don't care if you're Mother Teresa on a pizza run. I've got a bus load of people, here, and you almost turned them into road kill. Get back in the bus, this is police business. Back in the bus! This is police business, isn't it? -- Bus Driver, Nick and Schanke Mourning the loss of your prize, Nicholas? I killed her. Feel no pity for her, she was in your thrall. She was aroused by your power, she was willing, she wanted to be taken to the edge. I couldn't stop. You're not supposed to. -- LaCroix and Nick What's this feeling I sense in you? Shame. More. Fear! Fear in the fearless. Weakness in the omnipotent. It's a vestige of your former self. It is meaningless. She can have no vengeance from where she is now. ... She was a prize, wasn't she? -- LaCroix and Nick I'm telling you Nick, it's your diet, or lack thereof. It's a scientific fact that people hallucinate when they don't have enough fat or sugar. Will you lay off! I told you I thought it was a suspect with an outstanding warrant. The woman from that Dension case last year. Let's just hope that Metro Transit doesn't make an issue out of this. Sixteen cases of whiplash! City could go bankrupt. As a matter of fact, I'm feeling a little soft tissue damage myself. Right here, right here, feel it. You do have insurance, don't you, Knight? -- Schanke and Nick You know, Stonetree can get really hell-bent about things, can't he? Yeah, he did seem in a bit of hurry, didn't he? Hey, Schank, what's your voice mail password? Same as every cop's, my badge number, why? Yeah, me, too. -- Nick and Schanke You know if I don't get home before midnight, one of these nights, Myra's gonna nail the door shut. She's gonna leave my pajamas neatly folded on the veranda. She'll do that, she will. She'll make me to sleep with the racoons. -- Schanke Nicholas... So, the apparition speaks. You took advantage of me. You raped me, and you left me for dead. LaCroix came, and he gave me this...a new life after death. Eternal damnation. You are what I am. Then you understand the hunger that compelled me to feed on you. Can you control it? Can you? How many times since that night have you killed? How many innocents have you exploited to feed your monstrous hunger. So many... I never counted. -- Alexandra and Nick Drop the knife. Give me the gun. That's the gun, right? You're the one that fired on me. I'm just sorry I missed, pal. You're the reason Eddie Shore is dead. Save the speech, cop, I ain't listening. You murdered him in cold blood. You're wrong. Eddie Shore's dead because of you, not me. It's your fatal mistake. Whatever. It's payback time. Now move. -- Billy and Stonetree I'm much stronger than you, now. And you should know what it's like to be drained of life... -- Alexandra You didn't think twice when it was Eddie in the gunsite, did you? I shot in self defense. I shot to stop, not to kill. I returned fire, *your* gunfire. -- Billy and Stonetree You've been my life's work, Nicholas. After I was resurrected, I swore that I would get my revenge on the man that gave me death, and return the gift. I've been searching for you for a long time. Killing me won't change what you are, and I didn't make you that way. No, it won't change anything, but it'll be easier to sleep days with your head on my mantle. -- Alexandra and Nick What happened to you? It looks like you had a rough night. More like an old enemy, nothing I couldn't handle. I guess we both had some night, huh? Chasing our ghosts. -- Stonetree and Nick A few days ago, I never thought I'd pick this thing up again. You forget you know, you forget the damage you can do, until you have to use it then ... you know for sure. You did what you had to do, Captain. Strange. That doesn't seem to make it any easier. -- I'll never forget that kid's face, Nick. We all live with some kind of ghost, Captain. Or we become a ghost ourselves, I guess. I'll never forget this night, the power this thing has. The power it has over life and death. There's something else we should never forget, Captain, that even when we go chasing our ghosts. We should do it by the rules, without letting guilt affect our judgement. That's a good one. Difficult, though. Yeah, I know. Believe me, I know -- Stonetree and Nick Oh, my heart! Oh you want to give me a coronary, Knight? Would that make you happy? Nope. You want me to take you home? Yeah, I guess so. On second thought, it's such a mighty pretty night outside, just a few raindrops in the sky, why don't you and me go out for some BBQ, maybe yippee-eye-tie-yay down to our local bus corral. Yeah, we could do a one-on-one competition with some of them new-fangled German diesels. Yeah, now how fast do you reckon they go? Maybe zero to sixty in a millenia. An old-cow-poke like you could wrestle one of them down mighty quick. You're never gonna let me live this down, are you? Not if I don't let you partner, not if I don't let you... -- Schanke and Nick