DAWSON - It's a long time since we were both boys in Chicago.

JUSTIN - New school for the kids. [off the pot] Five to me? What the hell. [He tosses in a chip.]

MIKE - [to Justin; re cards] How many?

JUSTIN - [putting down three cards] Three.

[Mike gives Justin three new cards as:]

MAUREEN - [off her cards] I'll take two. [She exchanges two cards.]

MIKE - I was in Boulder for a while. [beat] Great looking women.

[Maureen throws him a look.]

DAWSON - [exchanging cards] Three. And try to do a little better.

IAN - [turning in a card] One.

[The others shoot him looks. Ian ignores them, fanning out his cards carefully with tiny, controlled movements.]

JUSTIN - You got a helluva poker face, Ian.

IAN - Tool of the trade, my boy.

MIKE - Dealer takes two.

JUSTIN - [re his cards] Fold.

MAUREEN - [tossing a chip] Five bucks.

MAUREEN - Spends a lot of time at the library.

DAWSON - [putting in the chips] I'll call.

MIKE - I heard some guys were laying 8 to 5 that he'd be the last.

IAN - [indignant] What guys?

MIKE - [sheepish] Did I say something?

DAWSON - I could only see the beginning. Grayson was all over him. [beat] Somehow MacLeod turned it around.

MIKE - Not when I was following Martin Hyde around Spain and Brazil. I couldn't wait to see that guy get his.

[Nobody pays Mike any attention.]

RITA - Here's May-Ling. [She rips it in half.] The game keeps going, right? With or without her.

[There's dead silence at the table. Rita tears a couple more cards in half.]

RITA - There went Gaspar. There goes Legris. Here's Stanton. [beat] Here's Darius. [She holds up a card.]

DAWSON - [beat] I'm sorry. I know you two went back a long way.

[MacLeod stands by the window with the Chronicle. He raises his eyes from the book. Looks out the window to see - THE ALLEY - Joe Dawson moves toward his car.]

MacLEOD - [calls down to Dawson] Thanks.

[Dawson waves.]

[Another POV - Binocular matt also watching Dawson from afar. The binoc POV tilts off Dawson and up the side of MacLeod's building, settling on MacLeod, silhouetted in the window of the loft.]

RITA - [lowers her binoculars] Perfect.

IAN - It wouldn't be the first time, would it?

[Dawson now seems a bit daunted, realizing his dilemma. He struggles to defend himself.]

IAN - Joe, you broke your oath. It's as simple as that.

[Ian looks at Dawson a beat. Reads his silence.]

[MacLeod points to his sword.]

MacLEOD - That was his gift to me.

[May-Ling nods, knowing the import. Their sparring continues. MacLeod uses his weight and tries to throw May-Ling off balance. May-Ling uses MacLeod's weight against him. He is thrown.]

MAY-LING - You must be the crane and the reed, not only the tiger.

[MacLeod massages his hurt back.]

MacLEOD - [grumbling] I'll try to remember...

[May-Ling extends a hand, helping MacLeod up. He wipes the sweat from his brow with his sleeve as May-Ling puts her sword away.]

MAY-LING - You are a fine warrior, MacLeod. If you are willing, you can become a great one.

MacLEOD - Maybe, if you don't wear me out first...

[MacLeod has been studying with May-Ling for many weeks. He is near the end of a Kung Fu kata with fierce joy. The night is lit by fire and moonlight. MacLeod has had a master for a teacher and it shows. May-Ling watches him with a mixture of pride and something else, perhaps melancholy. He finishes and she approaches.]

MAY-LING - You are a joy to watch, MacLeod.

MacLEOD - I have a good teacher.

MAY-LING - I certainly hope so. [They kiss.]

IAN - May-Ling was caught without her sword. That's how he took her. I checked the reports, and guess what? That seems to happen to Christian a lot. Now how do you suppose he gets so lucky?

RITA - I couldn't say.

IAN - I could.

DAWSON - The things I learned from him... More than about the Watchers, about life.

MacLEOD - Losing him doesn't mean losing what he gave you, Joe. What Ian taught you, you still have.

DAWSON - Do I? [off MacLeod's look]

[Dawson reacts.]

RICHIE - He said he had to get away from it for a day. [beat] Look, man, humor me here -- tell me none of Mac's old enemies are in town.

DAWSON - [The truth, as far as it goes] None of his old enemies are in town. [a beat]

[After hours. The place is abandoned. Dawson enters, flicks on the lights. Moves across the room toward the stage. Tired and reflective.]

[MacLeod hauls branches along the shore.]

[Dawson's on stage, playing gently, barely more than a tuneup.]

[MacLeod sits silent and still, a low fire scorching the rocks that radiate heat.]

[Dawson's into it, spilling out the blues, trying to shake off his worries. Sweating with effort and concentration.]

[MacLeod draws his knees up to his chest, wrapped up tight, gazing forward. All his exertion is internal...]

[MacLeod swings at "The Cloak" and finds himself standing over Richie.]

[ON THE DOWNSTROKE As MacLeod kills Cullen and collapses, drained.]

[Nefertiri plunges her sword into MacLeod and he goes to his knees.]

[Michael Moore is on his knees, MacLeod standing over him.]

MICHAEL MOORE - Duncan, if you care about me, you have to kill Barnes.

MacLEOD - Forgive me, my friend...

[As he swings...]

[Keogh, muddy from battle, stares up at MacLeod, nothing but hate in his eyes.]

KEOGH - Finish it, MacLeod! Because if you don't, I'll be coming for you.

[MacLeod emerges from his meditation into the cool night air, breathing deeply. He looks at the copy of the Chronicle beside him. Flashes back to his memory of May-Ling.]

[Dawson finishes a blistering run and sits in silence for a moment, hanging his head over his guitar, drained and released.]

MacLEOD - [with a wry smile] Nice of you to stop by.

[Richie is ecstatic, but down plays it.]

RICHIE - I was in the neighborhood. [beat] Mac... It's good to see you.

MacLEOD - It's nice to be seen.