Freak

“Mr. Jewell... 

DID you conspire

with David Dutchess 

or anybody else 

to plant a bomb in Centennial Park?”

“No.”

“Then how the FUCK did you know to be on the other side of that AT&T tower where you KNEW you'd be protected from the blast?

A bomb went off RIGHT where you were stationed.

CHAOS erupts.

BODIES hit the ground.

COPS go flying — 

Hell, I was ONE of them.

You come out without a GODDAMN scratch.

How does THAT happen, RICHARD?”

….What matters here is not whether all this was TRUE but that it was what a sufficient number of ground-level proud, ambitious, bottom-feeding and wounded FBI Agents firmly BELIEVED. 

This belief had extraordinary repercussions.

(Picard is in casual clothes, packing a case) 


TROI: 

So, where have you decided to go? 


PICARD: 

Hmm? What? Oh, er, France. 

Labarre. My home village. 


TROI: Really? 


PICARD: 

Yes. It's the first time in almost twenty years. 


TROI: 

Interesting. 


PICARD: 

Counsellor. 


TROI: 

I just find it interesting. 

Captain Jean-Luc Picard, the man who couldn't be pried out of his seat for a vacation for three years 
—

PICARD: 

It's Earth. It's Home. 

Do I need another reason? 


TROI: 

I don't know. 

What do you think? 


PICARD: 

Your help has been invaluable 

during my recovery, but, look, I'm better. 

The injuries are healing. 


TROI: 

Those you can see in The Mirror. 


PICARD: 

The nightmares have ended. 

All I need now is a little time to myself. 


TROI: 

I agree. In fact, I'm delighted you're going. 

It's just that the choice of where you're going could stand some scrutiny. 


PICARD: 

If you wish to believe that my going home 

is a direct result of being held captive by the Borg, 

be my guest. 


TROI: 

Is that what you believe? 


PICARD: 

I hate it when you do that. 


TROI: 

Captain, you do need time. 

You cannot achieve complete recovery so quickly. 

And it's perfectly normal, 

after what you've been through, to spend a great deal of time trying to find yourself again. 


PICARD: 

And what better place to find oneself 

than on the streets of one's home village. 


TROI: 

Interesting. 

Have a good trip, Captain. 


(She kisses his cheek and leaves him to his packing. He decides against some books, takes a final look around and walks out)

And then I realised, like I was shot — 

like I was shot with a diamond...

a diamond bullet right through my forehead. 

And I thought: 

My God, the genius of that. The genius! 

The will, to do that: perfect, genuine, complete, crystalline, pure. 

And then I realised, 

They were stronger than We, 

because They could stand it. 

These were not monsters. 

These were men, trained cadres — these men who fought with their hearts, who had families, who have children, who are filled with love — but they had the strength — the strength! — to do that. 

“Can I ask all you fellas a question?”

“Jesus. WHAT?”

“Do you have ANY kind of CASE against me? 

I mean EVIDENCE. 

Like, any traces of anything on my mama's Tupperware? 

Or did you find any bomb-making materials in her apartment? 

Did you find some - 

Hey, hey. Hey. Richard, we don't need to volunteer- 

I'm gonna say this 

if I'm gonna say anything :

I walk in here and I look at the circle decal on your windows there, and I'm thinking... 

“I... I used to think that federal law enforcement was just about the highest calling a person could aspire to.”

And I'm not sure I THINK that anymore, you know? 

Not after all THIS. 

I did My Job that night, 

and some people are alive because of that. 

Do you think that the next time some security guard sees a suspicious package, 

that he or she's gonna call it in? 

I doubt it. 

You know? 

'Cause they're gonna look at that and they're gonna think, 

"I don't wanna be another Richard Jewell... 

So I'm just gonna RUN." 

How's that make anybody any safer? 

Y'all can keep following me around some more, doing what you're doing, I can stand it, but — 

I just know that every second you spend on me is time that you're not spending on the real guy who did it, and it's like Watson said... 

What happens when he... 

What happens when he does it AGAIN? 

So, do you have ANYTHING you wanna charge me with? Can you? 

Well... 

I think it's time to go…..