[Fisk is staring at a painting in an art gallery - it is made up of layers of textured white. Vanessa approaches him.]
There's an old children's joke. You hold up a white piece of paper and you ask, "What's this?" A rabbit in a snowstorm. You interested or just looking?
People always ask me how can we charge so much for what amounts to gradations of white. I tell them it's not about the artist's name or the skill required, not even about the art itself. All that matters is "How does it make you feel?"
BUBen Urich
Stories like this are built on sources, Miss Page. Credible sources. I did some digging into your, uh... past activities.
Well, I did some digging, too. I read every big story with your byline. The VA kickbacks, toxic runoff, the Teachers Union scandal. Hell, you pretty much brought down the Italian mob back when I was in diapers! What ever happened to that reporter, Mr. Urich?
He got old. And a hell of a lot less stupid.
The city's really changing.
I don't know. Be a shame to see all the character scrubbed away.
You didn't grow up here, did you?
[laughs] What gave it away?
When I was a kid, I used to dream what it would be like to, to live somewhere far away from Hell's Kitchen. Somewhere beautiful.
I didn't. When I was 12 years old, my mother, she sent me to stay with relatives. Had a farm, middle of nowhere. Those were good years.
Yes. Time and distance, they afford a certain clarity. I realized that this city was a part of me, that it was in my blood. And I would do anything to make it a better place for people like you.
You have X-ray fingers now?
I can hear your bones shift when you breathe. No grinding means nothing's broken.
What does a hairline fracture sound like?
[they both smile]
How do you…I mean, I know that you're blind, but you see so much. How?
I guess you have to think of it as more than just five senses. I can't see, not like everyone else, but I can feel. Things like balance and direction. Micro-changes in air density, vibrations, blankets of temperature variations. Mix all that with what I hear, subtle smells. All of the fragments form a sort of impressionistic painting.
Okay, but what does that look like? Like, what do you actually see?
If all I saw was fire, I'd probably want to hit people too.
[smacks the new photocopier in frustration] UGH! Gosh! You don't make any sense!
[amused] Whoa, be nice to it! You know, for when the machines take over.
[smiles] I can't get any of this crap I bought to work!
Bad time to mention the phones? All I hear when I try to dial is a bunch of clicks. Could be the machines plotting, but I don't speak computer overlord.
The who what now? [Matt comes in]
[scoffs] They chewed through the main line. Phone guy's working on it now. Exterminator's Monday.
We have rats now? I'm never sleeping here again!
So why does a man like you feel alone?
Nature of my business, I suppose.
And what kind of business is that?
Rebuilding this city. I want to carve something beautiful out of its ugliness…set free its potential.
You sound like an artist.
I'm just a man with a dream.
What do you think an artist is? [indicating his cufflinks] Are those the only ones you have? You were wearing them last time.
They were my father's. I wear them every day to remember him.
When I was a boy. May I ask you something now?
I'd say you've earned it.
What kind of gun is that you have in your purse?
Did you think you would need that tonight?
We've been sitting here talking for hours and you're going to insult me like I have no idea what you really do?
What I said about what I want for this city is the truth. But money and influence is not enough to usher change on such a scale. Sometimes it requires force.
I know you're a dangerous man. That's why I brought a gun to a dinner date.
No. I'd like a reason to stay.
I've done things that I'm not proud of, Vanessa. I've hurt people and I'm going to hurt more. It's impossible to avoid for what I'm trying to do. But I take no pleasure in it, in cruelty. But this city isn't a caterpillar. It doesn't spin a cocoon and wake up a butterfly. A city crumbles and fades. It needs to die before it can be reborn.
No. By my side is the safest place that you could ever be.
[Matt needs to treat Vladimir's bullet wound, so he calls Claire]
I need your help. I found someone who has intel on what I've been looking for, but he's been shot.
Can't. Police are the ones that shot him. I'm thinking they'd like a crack at finishing the job.
Do you want me to come out to you? In all this?
No. I want you to walk me through stabilizing him.
It's not as easy as it looks in the movies, you know?
I don't really go to the movies. I like records, though.
[Over the police radio] I'd like to speak to the man in the mask, please.
Are you there? Can you hear me?
I think you know. You've been asking about me. I thought it was time we spoke.
[Matt hesitates]
That's what I thought. You and I have a lot in common.
That's what you'll tell yourself.
You're feeding off this city like a cancer.
I want to save this city, like you. Only on a scale that matters.
Now tell that to the people you've hurt.
Young man, life is not a fairy tale. Not everyone deserves a happy ending.
I'm gonna find you, and I'm gonna make you pay for what you've done.
No, you are not. Not that I don't admire what you're trying to do, to change the world, with nothing but desire and your own two hands, secure in the knowledge that you're doing the right thing, the only thing. That's something that I do understand. But we both can't have what we want. So, your part, in this drama, by necessity, comes to an end.
It's gonna take a lot more than a voice on a radio to stop me.
It's not me you need to worry about. It's the city you just blew the hell out of.
[chuckles] You... You think anyone's gonna believe that?
You're running around in a mask, holing up with a known felon in the wake of a series of bombings. There's that police officer you're holding hostage, so... yes. Actually, I do. But it doesn't have to be this way. The Russian, is he alive?
VVladimir
I'm still here, you fat shit!
Does that answer your question?
It's a one-time offer. You kill the Russian, and we'll call the night a push. You know what he's done to women. To children. To the people of this city that you claim to care about. But do you know how much he enjoyed it?
You just confirmed how important he is. That must worry you, what he might tell me.
Which means he hasn't told you anything yet. You're a child playing at being a hero.
No, no, I'm not trying to be a hero. I'm just a guy that got fed up with men like you and I decided to do something about it.
That's what makes you dangerous. It's not the mask. It's not the skills. It's your ideology. The lone man who thinks he can make a difference. I'm glad we could talk. I, I respect your conviction even if it runs counter with my own.
