Nas
In the Blood
Where's Oleg? It's just us now.
We don't need anyone else.
Only each other.
Soon it'll just be you, Vladimir.
No, my brother.
We leave here together.
Tonight.
Where did you get this? A gift from Alexei.
The guards shouldn't have left him for the rats.
Will we see Moscow? Moscow? It's a city buried in the past.
We must look to the future.
America.
Where we will rule as kings.
He's here! Who do you think? No, I don't know how he found us.
Where's my brother? Listen, shut up! Shut up! I don't care what he told you get him on the phone! You've been busy.
Yeah.
Ow.
Sorry.
So, how's that working out for you? You should see the other guys.
I have.
The one you threw off the roof, at my place? He's in a coma.
Do you know that? Yeah, I heard.
How do you feel about that? I'll live.
Hey! Get off the counter! Wow, you don't like cats.
I'm allergic.
I was supposed to be coming in, feeding this guy twice a day while my friend was out of town, not hiding out here using up all my sick days.
Just a while longer.
Just till I know the Russians aren't looking for you.
I'm not the one that looks like they've been through the grinder.
You really need to get some kind of body armor or something.
It would slow me down too much.
So will a bullet.
You worried about me? What if I were? I would tell you I'm a big boy, and not to be.
Right.
That's why you keep ending up here.
Well, maybe I just like the sound of your voice.
Hmm.
So what happens the night you come by I'm already talking to someone else? - Yeah, it crossed my mind.
- Yeah? Here.
Um, you shouldn't have.
I didn't.
The burner's for me.
Memorize the number, put yours in.
Next time I need to come by, I'll call.
By "come by," do you mean stumble in, bleeding half to death? Yeah, something like that.
You're gonna get yourself killed.
You really gotta ease up.
No, I can't.
Not yet.
I can take care of myself, Mike.
- You know - It's not just about you.
It's a little more complicated than that.
You ever heard the name Wilson Fisk? No who's that? Just a name somebody gave me.
But there's no public record.
Nothing on the Internet.
Not one mention of Fisk.
Maybe whoever gave you his name was lying.
I would have known if he was.
How? Heartbeat.
Right, of course, heartbeat.
So, what, you're just gonna go out there punching whoever you can, hoping to find somebody who knows this Fisk guy? Well, apply enough pressure, someone will break.
Sooner or later.
- Oof.
Those look like they hurt.
- I've had worse.
I know how much your people delight in extolling the amount of pain they can endure, but maybe next time you could try ducking? Leland's finalized the paperwork.
Prohaszka's holdings in Kitchen Cab have been acquired and transferred via third party to Veles Taxi.
Your distribution infrastructure just doubled.
Tell your employer we are grateful.
Don't think he really cares at the moment.
You were light again this week.
There was a complication.
One you assured us you were addressing.
Do you know what he was asking? This fool who laid hands on my brother? - Not my concern.
- It should be.
He was asking about your employer, by name.
All the more reason to settle this.
You sneeze, we all catch a cold.
Madame Gao and Mr.
Nobu have expressed their disappointment.
We have not heard of this.
Hmm, that's because we've been talking behind your back, about how the Russians can't seem to handle one man running around in a mask.
I mean, if he had an iron suit or a magic hammer, maybe that would explain why you keep getting your asses handed to you We're done here.
He's weakened your operation.
You think us weak? This isn't personal, Vladimir.
It's business.
Distribution of Madame Gao's product has been affected, which in turn is causing delays in other ventures.
This is not acceptable.
Fortunately for all parties, my employer has agreed to help return you to solid footing.
How? By aiding you in certain duties deemed vital to the continuation of service He wants to take over.
We value the services you provide, but clearly you need help providing them.
We'll all profit nicely under the new structure.
How nicely? - Tell Mr.
Fisk - We don't say his name.
Tell Mr.
Fisk that if he wants a pound of flesh he can come here and carve it himself.
This is an offer, not an order.
The choice of how we proceed is yours.
Talk it over with your brother.
We'll be in touch.
Prissy little bitch.
Reach out to Piotr.
Why? Why do you think? If Wesley's employer finds out His "employer"? Do you know why Fisk doesn't want anyone saying his name? Hmm? Because it would betray that he's just a man.
So's the guy in the mask and look what he's done to us.
Yeah.
What do we know about him? Nothing.
Semyon might have found something but he sleeps like the dead.
Jesus rose on the third day Semyon has slept long enough.
Did you look at it? Yeah, I looked at it.
And? And it's a story I've heard before.
Company gets caught up in a scandal, files for bankruptcy, then quietly restructures under a new name.
They killed Daniel Fisher.
They tried to kill me.
I'm still a little unclear on that point.
You say here Rance assaulted you in your apartment.
And a man in a black mask saved your life? Yes, but he just He came out of nowhere.
- And you'd never seen him before? - No.
Stranger things, right? Well, what about Rance? Do you really believe that he just up and hung himself in jail? That guard tried to do the same thing to me.
Why don't you ask him? Farnum? He's dead.
Ate the barrel of his gun in his basement.
And your old boss, McClintock? Overdosed on pills or some such.
You seeing a pattern here, Miss Page? Then why isn't anyone looking into this? You don't understand how lucky you are.
Count the angels on the head of a pin, and move on.
So they just shuffle some papers and all this disappears? - Wouldn't be the first time.
- Oh, don't bullshit me.
A construction company is brick and mortar, literally.
All right, you cannot just shift cranes and trailers and office equipment like you can numbers on a page.
There has to be a trail if everything is being liquidated.
Thanks for the coffee.
What? So that's it? Stories like this are built on sources, Miss Page.
Credible sources.
I did some digging into your, uh past activities.
Well, I did some digging, too.
I read every big story with your byline.
The VA kickbacks, toxic runoff, the Teachers Union scandal.
Hell, you pretty much brought down the Italian mob back when I was in diapers.
What ever happened to that reporter, Mr.
Urich? He got old.
And a hell of a lot less stupid.
My God.
Give me the kit.
This could kill him.
Semyon's usually the one we send for this sort of work.
He'd understand.
You hear back from Piotr? Said he'd call when he had something on Fisk's movements.
Fisk is cautious.
If he suspects Then what? What are you so afraid of? We were in that hellhole for three years.
From princes of Moscow to shitting in a bucket.
I promised myself if we ever got free we'd never lose what we had again.
Especially not to pride.
Back when we had nothing, we agreed on everything.
We've lost our way in this land of riches.
Then let's find it again together.
You sure this was epinephrine? Get his tube out.
Semyon It's us Anatoly and Vladimir.
That's it Breathe Breathe And tell us about the man who did this to you.
The devil.
The devil.
Did you see anything? Semyon? Anything that could help us find him? There was a woman Get Sergei on the phone.
Hola.
Hola.
Anatoly may be the way in.
He seems more amenable to the proposition, or at least not quite as vitriolic as his brother.
Well, confrontations can be expensive.
I'd prefer to handle this quietly.
How are we on the timeline? Within a reasonable margin.
Assuming we can settle with the Russians quickly.
We will.
One way or another.
What about the masked idiot? If the brothers can't handle him, I'll find another solution.
No.
You stay with the car.
Sir I need to attend to this alone.
Thank you, Wesley.
Well, hello there.
Hello.
How are you enjoying "rabbit in a snowstorm"? You remember.
Of course It's one of my favorite pieces.
I hung it in my bedroom.
It's the last thing I see every night.
That's either very romantic or very sad.
I like to tell myself it's the former.
Don't we all? I wanted I wanted to thank you for it personally.
That's really not necessary, but you're welcome.
Is there anything else I can help you with? No, I Yes, I was actually wondering if you cared to join me for dinner.
I'm the only one working here tonight.
That's okay.
- Another time then.
- Mmm-hmm.
That's it? You're not gonna offer to buy every painting in here so I can close up early? A guy actually tried that once.
A woman that can be bought isn't worth having.
I'm partial to Italian.
We agree on more than art.
Vanessa.
Wilson.
Eat it, you little bastard.
My mom wanted me to be a butcher, you know that? Oh, not the butcher story.
I said, "No, Mom, I want to be a lawyer.
" I don't remember what I said next.
No, you never do.
But I'm fairly certain it wasn't about bailing out a piss-drunk electrician who nearly burned his house down.
Let's cross.
Ed's wife left him, Foggy.
It was an accident.
Admittedly involving cigarettes and gasoline, but still.
I could be carving my own corned beef.
Making my own pickles, have a little shop of my own.
- You got your own office.
- We have office space.
An actual office would involve plantery and equipment, fax machines or whatever successful people use.
I don't think they use fax machines anymore.
How would I know? Which is endemic to the problem.
Matt, what if we're doing this all wrong? What if Landman and Zack was the way to go? You hated interning there.
I hate being broke.
You think Landman and Zack would have helped out Ed? No.
But they had free bagels every morning.
And they had furniture that didn't smell like a pack of cigarettes.
And elevators God, I miss the elevators.
- We're doing good here, Foggy.
- Are we? Yeah, we're making a difference.
You get a new phone? We afford that? Hey, one sec.
Foggy, I'll see you tomorrow.
It's a girl, isn't it? You got a new phone just for your girls.
- My life sucks.
- Get home safe.
Hey, what's up? Claire? Claire, can you hear me? Claire! Claire.
Yeah, we have the woman.
We're taking her there now.
5 and now 50.
50 right there, and now 55.
55,000 here.
Now 60.
60,000.
Who will bid 60,000? Do I have 60,000? 55, going once, going twice.
Sold for 55,000.
Next up, lot 87.
Liquidation of Union Allied Construction LLC.
Forty-two desktops with Thunderbolt display, 14 copy machines, 62 IP phones, as well as supporting equipment listed in your catalog.
Estimated value, 540,000.
We'll start the bidding at 70,000.
Do I hear 70,000? 70,000 right here, and now 75.
75,000? I have 75 over here, and now 80.
Do I have 80,000? 80,000.
80,000 in the back, thank you.
And now 90 Stop what you're doing.
Don't turn around.
100,000.
Who'll bid 100,000? Right here, now 110 This is how you get caught.
110, and now 120 110, and now 120 The hell do you care? To your right, a woman in a white blouse.
Eyes front.
Jesus! To your left, a man in a navy blue pinstripe suit.
150 now, and 160.
Who are they? Don't know.
But they aren't bidding either.
Who'll bid 180,000? Now 190.
190.
190 here, now What do I do? Spend the next hour raising your paddle.
Win something.
One of the smaller lots.
- I don't have any money.
- Figure it out.
Meet me at the diner when you're done.
How did you know I was here? Ben? 225, now 230? 225 going once, going twice.
Sold for $225,000.
Let's go.
It's okay.
It's me, Santino.
Do you remember me? Yes.
Claire's been taken by some very bad people.
I heard them say your name.
I need your help.
Please.
I didn't say anything.
Not at first.
Then they took me up to the roof like you did with that man They told me if I said anything to anyone they'd come back for my mother.
Do you know where they took Claire? No.
I'm sorry Those men are going to hurt her because of me.
No, it's not your fault, Santino.
It's mine.
Is there anything else you heard or saw? Anything that might help me find her? I saw them get into a taxi.
But not in the back, in the front.
Like it was theirs.
What was the company? Did you see a name? Veles.
Veles Taxi.
Yes.
I hope you like it.
It's delicious.
I don't know much about wine.
My assistant, he recommended it.
Maybe I should be out with him.
- That was a joke.
- Yes, of course.
A bad one, but mmm You don't do this much, do you? No.
I've been preoccupied for a long time.
This is nice.
I didn't even know it was here.
Yes, it just opened last month.
The city's really changing.
Not fast enough.
I don't know.
Be a shame to see all the character scrubbed away.
You didn't grow up here, did you? What gave it away? When I was a kid, I used to dream what it would be like to to live somewhere far away from Hell's Kitchen.
Somewhere beautiful.
What made you stay? I didn't.
When I was 12 years old, my mother, she sent me to stay with relatives.
Had a farm, middle of nowhere.
Those were good years.
But you came back.
Yes.
Time and distance, they afford a certain clarity.
I realized that this city was a part of me, that it was in my blood.
And I would do anything to make it a better place for people like you.
To a better place.
You answer, he stops hitting you.
Everyone is happy.
I told you, I don't know who he is.
Tell me his name.
I don't know.
He never told me.
He never told me! Sergei Vladimir told us not to kill her until she talks.
This gives me no pleasure.
It really doesn't.
But I have been given a job to do.
So please, answer the questions that I was told to ask.
Or I will begin breaking you, a piece at a time.
Mikhail, check the breaker.
Check the breaker! Mikhail? Mikhail! You want to know his name? Ask him yourself.
Up.
Let her go.
I'm walking out of here.
No, you aren't.
I'm not playing with you, man.
I'm walking out of here I'll blow her brains out! Put the gun down or I promise you you'll never hold anything in that hand again.
It hurts, doesn't it? Being in pain, being afraid.
It's okay.
I'm here.
I have you.
- You bid on anything? - Yeah.
Some, uh office equipment from a realtor.
Nearly as old as I am.
Win? Yeah, 3,500 I don't have.
I charged it to the law firm where I work.
Probably just got my ass fired.
Beats the alternative.
- More coffee? - Uh, can I have a decaf? - Oh, sure thing.
- Thanks.
How did you know I was gonna be there? Wasn't looking for you.
I thought you weren't interested.
I said you should move on.
Didn't say anything about me.
So I was right.
About the office equipment.
Union Allied or whatever it is that they're calling themselves now, they're buying it back.
I mean, you follow that, maybe you find the guy behind the curtain.
You said you read a bunch of my articles.
Remember the one about the, uh the runoff? What that company was dumping into the river? Yeah, sure.
Fished the guy that tipped me off out of that same river a month later.
And that fella trying to clean up the Teachers Union? Moved out of state after flyers went up saying he was a pedophile.
They underestimated what people in power will do to stay there.
Didn't think you'd make the same mistake after what happened to you.
What about the woman? From your first series of articles about the VA? What happened to her? She met the worst fate.
Married beneath her to a workaholic who never appreciated her.
I'm sorry, I didn't mean to We need to be smart.
Smarter than they are.
Don't visit me at the office anymore, and don't tell anyone else about this.
If that doesn't work for you, get up and get the hell out of my life.
- That works for me.
- Good.
First thing, sign the agreement from the Union Allied lawyer.
What? No! No, I sign that, I can't ever talk publicly about this.
Yeah but I'm not signing it.
Sergei.
Sergei Who did this? The man in black All right.
Stay there.
That was Piotr.
Fisk has come out of hiding.
We need his help, brother.
I will not bow before that man! Then I will go And bow for both of us.
Go.
Make the deal.
Are you sure about dessert? They have an incredible Zuppa Inglese.
Don't children have that at birthday parties? Yes.
When I was a kid, I loved it.
Probably loved it a bit too much.
Well, now I have to know what it tastes like.
You wanna split one? Yes.
- We'll have a Zuppa.
- Yes, sir.
Chocolate was always my downfall.
Milk chocolate, not the dark stuff they say is better for you.
I can order something else.
No, no, it's good to try new things.
Get out of the comfort zone.
Yes, we get caught up in what we're doing who we think we are.
So who are you, Wilson? Tonight, I'm just a man enjoying the company of a captivating woman.
I told you he's indisposed.
Sir, I need to speak with you.
What is this? We need to go now.
I'm sorry.
I want to tell you, my brother and I, we gratefully accept Wesley will take care of you.
Put him in a car.
Understood.
Promise you won't get mad.
You bought a fax machine? From the early '90s.
Oh, it's not that old I think.
Um, but the rest of the stuff's coming tomorrow.
The rest? Yeah, like, a printer and conference phones and a copier and Yeah, there was an auction and, you know, we needed stuff, so I, um charged it to the office.
But don't freak out, okay? I got a thing, some money coming in from You know what? It doesn't matter.
You mad? I ever tell you my mom wanted me to be a butcher? A butcher? Yeah.
You know what I told her? This isn't gonna feel great.
Ow.
You got pretty good hands for a blind guy.
Used to patch up my dad.
He ran around in a mask, too? He was a boxer.
- Took a lot of beatings.
- Huh.
So you take after him then.
Ow.
Shit.
I'm sorry.
It's okay.
You've had a lot worse.
I mean, I'm sorry for getting you into this.
I I never thought that I'd be putting anyone else at risk.
It was my choice.
You didn't ask me to pull you from that dumpster.
No, you did it because you're a good person.
And you almost got killed because of me.
Tell me it was worth it.
Tell me that you've got a plan an end game.
- Claire - Anything? I'm just trying to make my city a better place, that's all.
Ow.
I think maybe it's a little more complicated than that now.
Nothing's changing out there.
No matter what I do, I'm just I'm making things worse.
Tell that to the boy you saved from the Russians.
Or all the other people you've helped.
And what about the people I've gotten hurt? What do I What do I tell them? Feel my heart.
Come on, feel it.
What is it telling you? That you're scared.
Because I am.
More than I've ever been in my life.
And I am not alone.
But you can do something about it for all of us, Mike.
Matthew.
My name is Matthew.
Will I see you again? I don't usually date customers.
You came out with me tonight.
And here we are, so I can return the painting, and then I'd no longer be a I'm not interested in gestures, Wilson, or your money, or whatever that was all about at the restaurant.
I went out with you because there's something different about you.
Not so sure it's a good thing now.
Like you said I don't do this much.
And I'm sorry that our night, it went sideways.
But I enjoyed our time together very much, Vanessa.
If you don't feel the same even a little bit just tell me, and I promise you won't see me again.
I don't know how I feel.
And even after all that, you didn't even get a name out of the girl? No.
The man in black came before our men had finished.
You were right to reach out to us, although a call would have been more appropriate.
Look, I I wanted to speak with him in person.
Try to put the past behind us.
Why are we stopping? They say the past is etched in stone, but it isn't.
It's smoke trapped in a closed room, swirling changing.
Buffeted by the passing of years and wishful thinking.
But even though our perception of it changes, one thing remains constant.
The past can never be completely erased.
It lingers.
Like the scent of burning wood.
Sir? Yes, passenger side.
Was that him? Mmm.
He'd like to have a word with you.
You embarrassed me.
You embarrassed me in front of her.
Tell Mr.
Potter I'll need a new suit.
Hmm.
What about this? Take what's left of him and send it to his brother.
It'll start a war.
I'm counting on it.