Batten Down the Hatches

"Batten Down the Hatches" is the eighth episode in the second season of Cleaners. It aired 19th August, 2014 on Crackle.

Summary
Veronica comes to a crossroads and realizes she is not alone. Phillips finds a place to hole up while waiting on the storm to roll through. Roxie wakes up in a strange environment and realizes she is in trouble.

Plot
The episode opens with Phillips driving Mother to a small lake house to stay in until the storm breaks away (possibly rented with the help of Airbnb as per JR's suggestion in the previous episode). Since Mother doesn't have a viable choice, she reluctantly agrees to stay with him.

Meanwhile, Matilda promises the late Walkers that she will avenge their death, even if she has to travel across the world to do it. After, she meets up with Veronica, who has just finished up maintenance on the vehicle, and tells the other she's going to clean herself up and join Veronica in the search for Roxie and Carlos. However, Veronica wants to bail on looking for Roxie. Matilda does not take this lightly, reminding Veronica that if Roxie does not receive the antidote today, the nanobot will implode and kill Roxie. Veronica responds aggressively, eventually leaving Matilda at the Walker Manor. As Veronica is driving away, she repeatedly apologizes to Roxie in frustration whilst hitting the steering wheel.

Back at Carlos' shelter, Carlos removes a knife from his locker and stands before Roxie, whom he believes to be his late wife, at the end of the bed with it in his left hand.

Veronica has found a delirious Frank, who reveals Mother sent someone after she and Roxie.

Weak and vulnerable, Roxie awakes in the shelter, stumbling out of the bed. The door out is locked, and her vision is blurred. She stumbles over to some books and begins to look through them, trying to figure out where she is/who took her. After stepping away from the books, Roxie turns to see the bulletin board collage Carlos put together of him and Sally, with her picture pinned front and center.

Veronica in the stadium with Frank asleep, his head in her lap, and sees two girls taking a picture together with their phone. The girls perform a handshake similar to Veronica and Roxie's, and flashbacks begin playing. Veronica is then seen holding the Polaroid from the night of the Masquerade-themed party, and she looks at the timer on her wrist to see how much time Roxie has left. The timer reads 15 hours and 45 minutes.

At the manor, Matilda is scrubbing blood off of a white pillow with a white washcloth. Hearing of someone's arrival, she reaches under the chair and picks up a gun before going off to investigate. Downstairs, she sees Frank sitting on a bench and threatens him to not move. Veronica responds to this by explaining he won't move -- he's out cold. She then reluctantly asks Matilda for help in finding Mother, who can find/contact Carlos, because she was the one who sent him in the first place.

Eileen is enjoying her stay at the house of Julio.

Veronica and Matilda are cleaning guns when Frank makes his appearance, thus shocking Matilda, who is uneasy about Frank's status as a "Federal Agent". He asks where Roxie is, and the two ladies reveal she was abducted by a man whose location is unknown and that that is where Frank comes in. Frank then goes on to explain things as he knows it: Mother's still alive, but she was working with Eileen to terminate Veronica and Roxie's commission so Eileen wouldn't have to pay either contractor a portion of the millions of dollars she came to own at the end of Season 1. Phillips is a rogue agent. If they find Phillips, they find Mother, who will lead them to Carlos, the kidnapper of Roxie. Veronica then reveals Roxie's dying and explains the nanobot and the antidote.

Roxie has 14 hours to live.

At the shelter, Roxie finds Carlos' knife in the locker. Carlos is seen outside with three bloody rabbits. Roxie removes a pin from her hair and starts working on unlocking the locker. Carlos is approaching the shelter. He steps inside, and she is standing in front of the locker, facing him. Carlos invites Roxie to sit down at the table, and he puts down his things and sits across from her when she does sit down. His hands are bloody and bare on the table. Roxie wants to know why she's there, and Carlos goes on to explain that she's home, but he calls her "Sally". Roxie's right hand is behind her back, clenching tightly to the knife from the locker.

Veronica, Matilda and Frank walk into a room with a large display of guns and prepare to begin their mission.

Cast
(TBD)

Quotes
Roxie: Okay... I've either been taken by a sixteen-year old girl...or my Nana.

Matilda: Does a bear shit on the pope?

Frank: Is that whiteboard still an option?

Trivia

 * Isabelle and Marcus' graves are located near Mia's, which is in her favorite place.
 * The Twilight Saga was popular among teenage girls after the first movie was released in 2008. The saga's book covers shown in this episode are the original covers of the books.
 * Whiteboards are often used for brainstorming and explaining things.