Elle

 Elle VIDEO

THE STATION CLOCK

SEASON 2 · Episodes 7 · 8 · 9 — "Elle"

"She's Back"

Dark room. One chair. A figure. Still.

"Missing for three weeks."

"No one found her."

"Because she didn't want to be found."

Morgan and Val have been in Room 9 for two hours.

Planning. Discarding. Starting over.

Then someone knocks on the door.

Three knocks. Pause. One more.

Val stands up.

— That's the signal.

— What signal? — Morgan asks.

Val opens the door.

And there she is.

Elle.

Thinner. Short hair now. Dark clothes.

But the same eyes. One brown. One gray.

Morgan doesn't speak.

Elle looks at her.

— You must be Morgan.

— You must be Elle.

— In person. — She enters. Closes the door. — Sorry it took so long.

— Where were you? — Morgan asks.

— Inside.

— Inside what?

Elle sits on the bed.

Looks at Val. Val nods.

— Inside Allen's organization — Elle says.

Silence.

— Voluntarily? — Morgan asks slowly.

— Voluntarily.

Morgan looks steadily at her.

— Ray has been looking for you for months. He thought you were...

— I know.

— And you didn't tell him anything?

— I couldn't. If Allen had discovered that Ray knew where I was...

Pause.

— He would have used it against me.

Morgan processes this.

— How long have you been inside?

— Starting three days after Hart's arrest.

— That's almost a year.

— Three hundred and forty-two days — Elle says. Without emotion.

Elle takes out a USB drive. Black. Unbranded.

Just like Nina's.

Morgan looks at it.

— What's on there?

— Everything — Elle says. — Names. Operations. Accounts in four countries. Enough evidence to bring down Allen and everyone above him.

— Above him? — Val says. — Is there someone above Allen?

Elle looks at both of them.

— Allen has a boss.

— And that boss has been in the shadows for twenty years.

Val plugs in the USB. The first file is an audio. Forty seconds. A voice giving orders. Morgan listens to the end. Then she looks at Elle. "I know that voice," she says. "It's impossible," Elle replies. "It's yours."

"The Voice"

Laptop screen. Audio waveform. Playing.

"A voice giving orders."

"Morgan recognizes it."

"It's hers."

— Play the audio again — Morgan says.

Val plays it again.

Forty seconds.

A cold voice. Precise. No hesitation.

"Phase two activates when Ray surfaces. Not before. Confirmed."

Silence.

— That voice... — Morgan starts.

— It's yours — Elle repeats. — I know.

— It's not me.

— It sounds like you.

— It's not me.

Val pauses the audio.

— Morgan. Listen. The cadence. The way you pronounce the R's.

Morgan listens again.

Stops.

Something moves in her stomach.

— It sounds like me. But it's not me.

— Are you sure?

— I'm sure about what I say and what I don't say.

Elle looks at her for a long time.

— Do you have a sister?

Morgan doesn't answer.

— Morgan. Do you have a sister?

Morgan. Something changes in her face.

— I had — she says finally. — She died five years ago.

— How did she die?

— Car accident.

Elle and Val exchange glances.

— Did you see the body? — Elle asks.

Morgan opens her mouth.

Closes it.

— It was a closed casket — she says slowly. — They said...

She stops.

Closes her eyes.

— They said the impact was very severe — Val finishes quietly.

Long silence. Very long.

— I found your sister four months ago — Elle says. — Inside the organization. High rank.

— No. — Morgan's voice is hard. — No.

— Her name is Dana. Right?

Morgan doesn't answer.

But her face says everything.

— Dana didn't die — Elle says. — They recruited her. And erased her life to do it.

Solo piano. Just like in Episode 9 of Season 1. The same melody.

Morgan sits down slowly.

As if her legs can't hold her anymore.

— Where is she now?

— I don't know — Elle says. — But in that audio... she's using you as cover.

Morgan looks at the laptop.

— Why me?

Elle breathes.

— Because you were the only person Allen couldn't control.

— And Dana knew that.

Morgan's phone vibrates. Unknown number. She answers. Silence on the other end. Then a voice. The same voice from the audio. "Hello, Morgan." A pause. "It's been a long time."

"Dana"

Morgan. Phone to her ear. Eyes closed.

"Her sister."

"Alive."

"On the other end of the phone."

Morgan doesn't speak.

She can't.

Five years.

Five years believing Dana was dead.

— I know you're there — the voice says.

— Dana — Morgan whispers.

— Hello.

That word. Simple. As if it were any ordinary Tuesday.

— Where are you?

— Close.

— What did you do?

Brief silence.

— What had to be done.

— You were declared dead, Dana. Mom cried for a year.

— I know. I'm sorry.

— You're sorry?

— Morgan. Listen to me. I don't have much time.

— Then speak fast.

— Allen is going to move Ray and Tara tonight. Transfer. After that, you won't be able to find them.

Morgan stands up.

— Where are they now?

— Warehouse at the port. Pier 14.

— Why are you helping me?

Long pause.

— Because I'm tired — Dana says.

The same phrase Elle said in Season 1.

Morgan recognizes it.

— How long have you been inside?

— Since before you started getting involved in this.

— Were you the one who sent me Ray's photo?

— Yes.

— Why me?

— Because you're the only one who isn't afraid to lose nothing.

Morgan looking at Elle and Val. Both listening.

— That has changed — Morgan says quietly.

— I know. That's why I'm calling now and not later.

— Dana. When this ends...

— When this ends, we'll talk. I promise you.

A pause.

— Go to the pier. Bring Elle. And Morgan...

— What?

— Allen will be there.

— He's using Ray and Tara as bait.

— For whom?

— For you.

Morgan lowers the phone.

Looks at Elle.

— Do you trust her? — Elle asks.

Morgan thinks for two seconds.

— I trust that she's tired.

She grabs the USB. The file. The evidence.

— Let's go to the pier.

The three of them. Morgan. Elle. Val. Walking out the door.

ENTRY AT THE END: "At Pier 14 there were four cars. Twelve men. And Allen standing in the center, looking at the water. As if he had been waiting for hours. Then he turned. And smiled. 'I knew Dana would call,' he said. 'She was always too sentimental.' He took out his phone. Dialed a number. 'She's here. You can release the others.'"

...