RONIN

                          DEIRDRE
               I guess you don't know me, then, if you
               think I won't kill you for an insult like
               that!

     Seamus glares at Deirdre for a moment, and she glares back at
     him until he starts to laugh.

                          SEAMUS
               Just testing, lass.  Forgive me, but I
               had to do it.

     Deirdre glares a moment more and then puts away her gun.

                          DEIRDRE
               Remember what we agreed on, Seamus: when
               we get home, I don't play "the girl"
               again.

     Deirdre gives Seamus a look to make sure this last point is
     clear and we -

     CUT TO:

     EXT. A FARMHOUSE - THE COUNTRY - NIGHT

     The Stolen Car parks behind a BARN, and Sam and Vincent get
     out.  Waiting for them is a friend of Vincent's - JEAN-
     PIERRE, a Frenchman in his forties, hearty, burly, friendly.

                          VINCENT
               Hello, Jean-Pierre.

                          JEAN-PIERRE
               Hello, my friend.
                   (with a look at Sam)
               He doesn't look French to me, Vincent.

                          SAM
               American.

                          JEAN-PIERRE
               Well, Vincent's American friend, shall we
               see what we can do for you?

     INT. THE FARMHOUSE KITCHEN - LATER/NIGHT

     SURGICAL IMPLEMENTS - Are laid out on a clean cloth.
     Scalpel, forceps, a clamp, a sponge, medical thread and
     needles.  We PULL BACK TO REVEAL: Sam, stretched out on the
     kitchen table.  Around him we see - Vincent and Jean-Pierre,
     who are wearing rubber gloves and examining Sam's wound.
     Jean-Pierre holds a mirror up so that Sam can see what's
     going on.  Sam, with his medical training, is treating
     himself.

                          VINCENT
                   (to Sam)
               It's right there, beneath the surface.  I
               can just make it out.

     Sam is in terrible pain, but necessity dictates that he focus
     on what's going on so that he can talk Vincent through this
     next procedure.

                          JEAN-PIERRE
               Are you sure you won't have a drink?

                          SAM
                   (sharply)
               No booze...Pain's in the mind, and the
               mind I can control.
                   (quick beat)
               Alright, let's do it.

     During this next sequence, we CUT BACK AND FORTH between
     Sam's reactions to the surgery, and the mirror itself where
     he's watching.

                          SAM
               Douse the wound with alcohol.

     Vincent pours a healthy splash of rubbing alcohol onto the
     wound and - Sam grits his teeth as the pain explodes up his
     central nervous system.

                          SAM
                   (to Jean-Pierre)
               Take that sponge and wipe away as much of
               the blood as you can, keep it clean so I
               can see.

     Jean-Pierre does as Sam says, wiping away the blood that
     keeps filling the wound.  Throughout the procedure Jean-
     Pierre will do this; every time the sponge is saturated he
     squeezes the excess blood into - A BUCKET which sits on the
     floor, slowly filling up with drippings from the sponge.

                          SAM
                   (to Vincent)
               Take the clamp...

     Vincent picks up the clamp.

                          SAM
               Peel back the skin and attach the clamp.

     Vincent attaches the clamp to Sam's wound.  It takes perhaps
     fifteen seconds, and everyone of those seconds is agonizing
     for Sam.  He sweats, he grits his teeth, he grunts the
     smallest of grunts.  But he doesn't move.  Finally Vincent is
     done.

                          VINCENT
               Alright, it's done.

                          SAM
               You see the bullet?

                          VINCENT
               Clearly.

                          SAM
               Good.  Now take the forceps, and
               remember, Vincent, what we're doing here
               is routine.  I've done stuff like this at
               least twenty times in the field.  There
               are no vital organs where you're working,
               no major muscles or arteries -- you can't
               kill me.  Just make sure you've got the
               bullet before you try to pull it out.

     Vincent probes the wound with the forceps.  This takes
     probably thirty seconds, and it hurts even more then when the
     clamp was attached.

     Several times - Vincent seems to have the bullet in his
     grasp, but it slips, and each time it slips - Sam makes the
     smallest of noises, as if to indicate the level of the pain.
     Finally - The forceps firmly grasp the bullet, and with a
     single tug, Vincent extracts it.

                          VINCENT
                   (holding the bullet aloft)
               A souvenir...

     He tosses the bullet through the air, and we FOLLOW IT IN
     SLOW MOTION as it lands in - A SAUCER, which sits on the
     kitchen counter.  We're back in REAL TIME, as the bullet
     rolls around the plate for a second before coming to a halt.
     Now - Sam breathes the hugest of sighs, and his face relaxes.
     Instantly, Vincent puts a lighted cigarette in Sam's mouth,
     and he drags deeply on it.

                          SAM
                   (to Vincent)
               You think you can stitch me up on you
               own?

                          JEAN-PIERRE
               Don't worry, we'll take care of it.

                          SAM
               Then if you don't mind...
                   (he hands the cigarette back to
                    Vincent)
               I'm gonna pass out.

     And that's exactly what he does.

     A TIME CUT TO:

     INT. FARMHOUSE LIVING ROOM - LATER THAT NIGHT

     Vincent and Jean-Pierre sit on easy chairs.  An open bottle
     of wine sits between them, a FIRE burns in the fireplace, and
     they smoke in a contented silence for a moment.  When they
     speak, it is in FRENCH, with ENGLISH SUBTITLES.

                          JEAN-PIERRE
               He's tough, your American friend.

                          VINCENT
               Yes, Sam's tough alright.

                          JEAN-PIERRE
               And you respect him.

                          VINCENT
               Of course.  Don't you?

                          JEAN-PIERRE
               I've never seen a man who could have
               taken what he just went through.
                   (beat)
               He's a cop?

                          VINCENT
                   (beat, trying to find a way to
                    say it)
               Not exactly.

                          JEAN-PIERRE
               Not exactly?  But close enough, eh?
                   (beat)
               So he saved your life, then?

                          VINCENT
               How did you know?

                          JEAN-PIERRE
               If he hadn't you'd have put a bullet in
               his head a long time ago.

     Both men stare back into the fireplace and we HOLD FOR A BEAT
     before we -

     DISSOLVE TO:

     INT. THE FARM - KITCHEN - DAWN

     Sam is awake.  Pale from the loss of blood, he moves softly
     around the kitchen, searching professionally for something,
     giving the moment a slightly dangerous feel because he seems
     so intent on what he's doing and then he finds it - THE
     COFFEE.

     TEN MINUTES LATER -

     A stream of Hot Coffee migles with a stream of Steamed Milk.

     EXT. THE FARMHOUSE PORCH - SUNRISE

     A STEAMING CUT OF COFFEE sits in Sam's hands as he lights a
     cigarette to go with the coffee.  He sits on an ancient
     chair, smoking in silence, looking out at - THE WOODS around
     the house, and this place is postcard-beautiful, the French
     Farmhouse you see only in pictures.  But Sam's mind is
     elsewhere, he's staring into space, lost in thought.

                          JEAN-PIERRE (O.S.)
               You're feeling better?

     ANOTHER ANGLE - Jean-Pierre stands in the open front door of
     the farmhouse, with a cup of coffee.  Now, Jean-Pierre moves
     out to join Sam, sitting down on another chair opposite him.

                          SAM
                   (responding to the question)
               Some, thanks.  Enough to move on, for
               now.

                          JEAN-PIERRE
                   (pointing at Sam's wounded
                    side)
               You should really let a doctor look at
               that.

                          SAM
               Soon.

                          JEAN-PIERRE
               But first you have something to take care
               of?

                          SAM
               Yeah.

                          JEAN-PIERRE
               Something important?  A thing that cannot
               wait?

                          SAM
               It gets done now or not at all.  Another
               couple of days and the parties concerned are
               gone where I can't get them.

                          JEAN-PIERRE
               Forgive my intrusion into your affairs,
               but I am the one who connected Vincent to
               this job, his agent, if you will.  He is
               one of my oldest friends and I owe him a
               great debt, much like the debt I suspect
               he owes you.

     A QUICK CUT TO:

     INSIDE THE FARMHOUSE

     Where Vincent has just poured himself a cup of coffee and lit
     a very satisfying cigarette when he hears the voices from
     outside.

                          SAM (O.S.)
               Vincent doesn't owe me a thing.

     Vincent looks up when he hears his name and he moves towards
     the sound of the voices.

                          JEAN-PIERRE (O.S.)
               He sees this differently, as you well
               know.

                          SAM (O.S.)
               I didn't expect that he would.

     BACK ON THE PORCH -

                          JEAN-PIERRE
               You suffered through an agonizing pain
               last night, pain you could have avoided
               by declaring yourself an agent of the
               law.

                          SAM
               Vincent told you that I'm a cop?

                          JEAN-PIERRE
               Not a word.  But no ordinary criminal
               would have the extensive military and
               medical expertise you do.  And so I place
               the pieces of the puzzle together in a
               way that makes sense to me.  You work for
               some government agency and you carry a
               gun, and in my world, that makes you a
               cop.

     And now Jean-Pierre produces a LONG BARRELED REVOLVER which
     he places loosely in his lap -- a gesture which seems to say,
     "you'd better explain things to my satifaction or we're
     gonna have a problem."  Sam notices the weapon, but he
     doesn't react overtly.

                          SAM
               So this is what, a test?

                          JEAN-PIERRE
               Call it a reckoning of character.

     BEAT.  Sam looks at the Revolver again.

                          SAM
               If I was healthy, I could take that away
               from you.

                          JEAN-PIERRE
               Perhaps.  But you are not healthy, and if
               you try I'll kill you.

     QUICK CUT TO: Vincent - Who stands inside the house, out of
     sight, but not out of ear shot.  He's listening to
     everything, and we notice that Vincent has taken out his
     own gun.