(We join the ‘unlikely threesome’ slightly after we left them, but still trapped like rats. Hornet’s face is obviously still smarting from the slap Ivy laid on him, while Teri is still in the bathroom – with Ivy’s purse for some reason. If the Hacker’s intent was to reopen old wounds, it appears he’s done it.)

IVY: You don’t know anything about Mark and…

HORNET: And I don’t want to.

IVY: It wasn’t… I don’t have to explain myself to you.

HORNET: Let me guess, we were ‘on a break?’

IVY: Don’t make me hit you again.

HORNET: Why? Because you wouldn’t want to hurt me? Or because you just want me to shut up? If you believe it’s all an act, then what’s the difference.

IVY: How long has it been? What was I supposed to do, throw everything in my life on hold? Measure everything against what Paul wants me to do? You certainly did it. Otherwise you wouldn’t have slept with her. It was over. It still is.

HORNET: Of course it is. But this is the first time in those years that we’ve been forced in the same room together, isn’t it?

IVY: We talked through all this…

HORNET: No we didn’t. You did. Just enough to make yourself feel better about shutting me out completely. Just enough to absolve yourself of the guilt of putting me on the ‘block list.’

IVY: What? Was I supposed to invite you down to Starbucks for a latte and a chat? What the f---?

HORNET: Is that what you and Miles did between shots? Or is that how it started with you and Mark?

IVY: You’re dangerously close to getting kicked in the head.

(Hornet stands up and faces the metal door that has them trapped in the cabin.)

HORNET: You ran away. You ran off to the fWo. You didn’t respond to any of my messages. You wouldn’t even call me back when you were recovering from being shot. But you had time to run a company on the West Coast, help Merritt run the CSWA, help Coop run a gym in New York, listen to Craig spout his latest plan for anarchy and ideas for the NFW, time to listen to Mark blabber on in his ‘awakening’ garbage, but you couldn’t even send me one e-mail, not even when you knew I was in rehab. Why?

IVY: Why do you think? Because it HURT, g--damn it! Is that what you want to hear? Does that make you feel better?

HORNET: …

IVY: Because I couldn’t be responsible for you or for trying to figure out what you’d do next, when even you didn’t know. Because I got over it and moved on, and I wasn’t going to risk getting sucked back in. Because I met Sean…

HORNET: And you moved on.

IVY: And I moved on. It was the only healthy thing to do.

HORNET: Otherwise you might have ended up in rehab. (laughs)

IVY: Why are you doing this?

HORNET: I don’t know. Maybe I needed to know that you hurt like I did. Maybe I needed to know for sure that it all actually meant something and I didn’t just dream it…

IVY: …

HORNET: Damn it! I was going to ask you to marry me. Do you know that?

(Ivy looks down, obscuring her face behind her hair. Hornet continues to stare at the solid door. Then he erupts into motion, slamming his fist into the drywall next to the door. The wall cracks open – either Hornet’s still pretty strong, or the building materials on this ship aren’t as sturdy as they look.)

HORNET: Hell, maybe I’m just going through an early mid-life crisis.

IVY: Early? What, you think you’re going to make it to 80?

HORNET: Funny lady. (He pauses.) Look at me.

IVY: What?

HORNET: LOOK at me.

(Hornet grabs Ivy’s arm and pulls her off the bed to a standing position right in front of him. His back is now to the wall, the injury to the wall just over his left shoulder. He grabs Ivy’s shoulders and forces her to face him.)

IVY: Have you lost your f---in’ mind?

HORNET: I don’t know. Do you know me well enough to tell anymore? LOOK AT ME, damn it!

(So she does. She stares in his brown eyes and doesn’t see any gleam that would make her think that he’s completely lost his mind, and yet… She sees his eyes glance to her left and she follows his gaze.)

HORNET: So what’s the verdict? Can you see what I want?

IVY: I see it. But I don’t know if I can do what you’re asking.

HORNET: But you’re willing to try?

IVY: Yes. Of course. It’ll have to be a secret, though.

(They’re trying. The act has to be believable enough for their audience. There’s no doubt that the Hacker and the Red Midget are somewhere on the boat reveling in their fight and this apparent make-up. But it’s not romance on the minds of the former lovers, it’s escape. Ivy pushes Hornet away and throws herself against the wall, covering her face, apparently crying.)

IVY: But I can’t do this to Sean. I can’t hurt him the way I’ve been hurt. (sobs)

HORNET: Forget about him. Think about the here and now.

(Hornet crosses the room and stands in front of the television. If his guess is right, this is the way the Hacker has been watching their every move. One of the first things they did after they realized who was holding them hostage was to search for hidden cameras or pickups. Deduction suggests that if they aren’t obvious, then they must be hidden and getting power from somewhere. And if he’s right, then this might just block the Hacker’s view and give Ivy a chance…)

IVY: I just… I just need some time to think.

HORNET: I don’t know how much time I can give you, Ivy. I don’t know how much time we still have together.

(Neither of them know how long it will take the Hacker to see through this ploy. If he can tell that Ivy is fiddling with the control panel that Hornet’s punch exposed, then it could be moments before he sends someone to stop them. It all depends on how believable they can make this melodrama… or if someone spoils it. Teri steps out of the bathroom….)

TERI: I’m not staying locked up in there anymore. I don’t care if you threaten to break my nose again or not. I’m tired of being treated like a second-class citizen just because you’re my boss and you’re some guy I tricked into thinking I was pregnant. I’m Teri Melton, damn it.

(Ivy turns from the wall and flicks a glance at Hornet… Hooters could expose everything with one slip of her forked tongue. As Hornet steps over to mask the work she’s done through the hole in the wall, Ivy takes a deep breath and steps around the bed towards Teri.)

IVY: Look, you’re right. I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have broken your nose. It was just years of all our… mess… coming out. Can you ever forgive me?

(Teri looks completely nonplussed as Ivy does the unthinkable… she hugs Teri Melton.)

TERI: What the hell?!

IVY: I just hope you can accept my apology and that one day we can… (she almost chokes, literally) … understand each other better.

(It’s got to be too much. Whoever the Hacker is can’t actually believe this, right? Not if he knows anything about these two. Time is ticking away...)

TERI: I think I’m going to be sick.

(Ivy pulls away from Teri and turns back towards the wall, using eye contact with Hornet to try and convey everything. He steps back in front of the TV, hopefully blocking the Hacker’s view.)

TERI: What the hell happened out here while I was in there? You too are making eyes at each other…. Ivy’s obviously taken some sort of sedative or happy pill that’s made her loopy. And what are you doing with…

HORNET: (interrupting) It’s nothing, Teri. We just talked some of our differences out. And we both realized that sometimes the wounds of the past are like cysts, even though they’re covered over, they aren’t really healed. The only way to really heal is to lance them, let them open up and get rid of all the hurt. So we realized that we needed to get over our disgust of you…

TERI: Gee thanks, you’re making me feel all warm and bubbly inside.

HORNET: (to Ivy) I can’t do this anymore. About ready?

IVY: I think so. If I’ve found the right circuit…

TERI: What are you two doing?

HORNET: You’ll know in just a second. But I need to tell a couple of other people first.

(Hornet turns and sits on the bed, facing the television. He lays back against the headboard and starts talking.)

(fadeout)