The Name

 The Name

THE STATION CLOCK SEASON 2 · Episodes 11 · 12 · 13 — SEASON FINALE

Dana. Cold face. Eyes locked on Morgan.

“He called Allen’s boss to catch him.”

“Or that’s what he said.”

“What if he lied again?”

The dock. After the chaos.

Allen in handcuffs. Loaded into a car.

The twelve men scattered.

Ray and Tara free.

Everything seems resolved.

It isn’t.

Ray approaches Morgan.

— Who did you call?

— Dana knows.

They both look at Dana.

Dana stands alone. At the water’s edge.

Watching the horizon.

Morgan walks up.

— Dana. The name.

Dana doesn’t turn.

— His name is Director Warren.

— From what agency?

— None official.

Morgan frowns.

— What does that mean?

— It means he exists above the agencies. — Dana pauses. — He exists above everything.

— How did you meet him?

— He recruited me. — Long pause. — He killed the girl in the car accident. Used her as my body.

Morgan closes her eyes.

— How old were you?

— Twenty-three.

Silence.

— Dana. Why call him to catch Allen?

Dana finally turns.

— Because Warren and Allen hate each other. They’ve been competing for the same territory for years.

— You used that rivalry.

— Yes.

— And now Warren thinks you work for him?

— He still thinks so.

Ray listens from behind. Tense face.

— That’s dangerous — Ray says.

— All of this is dangerous — Dana replies.

— What does Warren want in exchange for Allen?

Dana reaches into her pocket.

Pulls out a folded paper.

Places it in Morgan’s hand.

— This.

Morgan opens it.

Reads.

A single line.

On the paper:

“Bring me Nina Cole’s full file. Everything she collected before she died.”

Morgan looks up.

— Nina Cole. — Pause. — Was Nina your last name?

Dana nods slowly.

— Nina was my sister too.

— We have the same mother — Dana says. — Different father. I never told any of you.

Morgan doesn’t breathe.

— Warren killed Nina — Dana continues. Flat voice. — And he’s been searching for her file for two years because he doesn’t know what she saved.

— And what did Nina save?

Dana looks straight at her.

— Warren’s real name.

“Nina’s file was on the USB Elle kept for three hundred forty-two days. Elle knew. She always knew. And she didn’t say anything.”

"The Archive"

The black USB. Slowly spinning. Cold light.

“Inside is a name.”

“A name that changes everything.”

“Are you ready to hear it?”

Morgan looks at Elle.

Elle holds her gaze.

— You knew about Nina’s file.

Not a question.

— Yes — Elle says.

— Since when?

— Since I went undercover.

— Why didn’t you say anything?

Elle breathes.

— Because the name inside… protecting it was the only way to keep all of us alive.

— How?

— If Warren knows we have his real name… he eliminates us. — Pause. — If he doesn’t know… he needs us.

Ray cuts in.

— That’s over. Allen’s down. We don’t need shields anymore.

— Warren is worse than Allen — Elle says. Firm voice.

— Then we use the name — Morgan says. — We publish it. Like Val published Hart.

Silence.

Everyone looks at Val.

Val nods slowly.

— If I publish it… this time there’s no newsroom to buy off. I have contacts in four countries.

— How long do you need?

— Less than last time.

Morgan looks at the USB.

— Open it.

Val plugs the USB into the laptop.

Searches for Nina’s file.

Finds it.

A document. Long. Dates. Names. Operations.

And at the end.

A single bold line:

“WARREN, DIRECTOR — REAL NAME: SENATOR JAMES P. COLE.”

Absolute silence.

Ray reads it twice.

— Cole. — He looks at Morgan. — Is that…?

— My father — Dana says from the doorway.

Everyone turns.

Dana leans against the frame.

Still face. Dry eyes.

— He’s been building this for thirty years — she says. — Before Allen. Before Hart. From the beginning.

— You knew? — Morgan asks. Broken voice.

— I found out two years ago.

— And you said nothing?

— I was gathering proof. — Pause. — The same proof Nina has in that file.

Morgan closes her eyes.

Breathes.

— Our father killed our sister.

— Yes.

No one speaks for ten seconds.

Then Morgan opens her eyes.

— Val. Publish everything.

— Are you sure?

Morgan looks at Dana.

Dana nods.

— Publish everything — Morgan repeats.

“Thirty seconds after publishing, Val’s laptop exploded. Literally. Someone was monitoring it. And Senator Cole already knew what they had done.”

The station clock. The hands. Approaching 11:00.

“Everything started here.”

“Everything ends here.”

The laptop burns on the table.

Val steps back.

— It went out — she says. — It reached the servers before it blew.

— Is it online? — Ray asks.

— It’s everywhere.

Morgan grabs Dana’s arm.

— We have to move. Now.

They leave the hotel.

Street. Cold. Early dawn.

Six people running through the city.

Morgan. Dana. Ray. Tara. Elle. Val.

The first time they’re all together.

— Where are we going? — Tara asks.

— Back to where it started — Morgan says.

The station at 10:50 PM.

Almost empty.

The long platform. The fog. Echoing footsteps.

Just like the night of episode 1, season 1.

They stop at the center of the platform.

Ray looks around.

— Why here?

— Because this is where Cole won’t expect to find us — Morgan says.

— And if he comes?

— Let him.

The station clock. 10:55.

Dana’s phone vibrates.

She looks at it.

— It’s him.

Everyone tenses.

Dana answers.

— Dana — the voice says. Deep. Cold.

— Father — she replies.

Long silence.

— You did what you shouldn’t have.

— I did what I had to do.

— It will cost you everything.

— It already cost me everything thirty years ago. — Pause. — When you decided your family was a tool.

Morgan listening. Eyes closed.

— I can fix it — Cole says. — Still.

— No. — Dana’s voice doesn’t shake. — Not anymore.

She hangs up.

Looks at Morgan.

— He’s coming.

Footsteps at the station entrance.

A single man. Dark suit. White hair. A senator’s presence.

Cole walks along the platform unhurried.

As if it were his.

Because for thirty years, it was.

He stops ten meters away.

Looks at his two daughters.

— It’s been a long time since I’ve seen you together.

Neither responds.

— You can stop this — he says. — What you published can be erased. I have the means.

— Not anymore — Val says, pulling out her phone. — It’s in one hundred forty countries. In twelve languages. They’re reading it in Congress right now.

Cole looks at Val.

Then at Ray.

Then Tara.

Then Elle.

Finally at Morgan.

— You look like your mother — he tells her.

— I know — Morgan says. — She left you too.

Something breaks in Cole’s face.

Then calm returns.

He reaches into his pocket.

Everyone tenses.

He pulls out… a phone.

Calls someone.

— Cancel everything — he says. — Yes. Everything.

He hangs up.

Turns.

And walks toward the exit.

— Where is he going? — Ray says.

— To turn himself in — Dana says quietly.

— How do you know?

— Because it’s the only thing he has left.

Sirens in the distance. Getting closer.

The station clock. Exactly 11:00.

The hands still.

One second.

Two.

They keep moving.

Morgan looks at the clock.

Dana stands beside her.

The two sisters. The platform. The fog.

— What now? — Dana asks.

Morgan thinks.

— Now we sleep.

Dana lets out a short laugh.

The first in the entire series.

Morgan smiles.

All six of them.

Together.

On the platform.

The city waking behind them.

“The Senator Cole turned himself in at 11:04 the next morning. His trial lasted eleven months. Dana testified for three days. It became the most-watched testimony in the country’s history. Ray went back to work. This time without an official badge. Tara opened a private agency. Elle disappeared again. But this time she left a note. Val won the most important journalism award that year. And Morgan returned to the station one last time. She stood looking at the clock. And for the first time since she arrived in that city… there was no mystery left to solve.