Our first set of "Previously on Alias"! Sydney's "She's supposed to be dead" and Jack's "So are a lot of people..." Clipped scene of the "boutique fight" "She can have the blouse..."
Sloane: "I believe that if the two of you go out on this mission, and Anna Espinosa has her way, only one of you will return...alive."
During the surveillance mission, Sydney: "Let's take her..." Henchman: "Bad idea..." -Shortened version of Nadia/Henchman fight. -Shortened version of Sydney chasing Anna. -Nadia leaning over henchman as he whispers in her ear. Nadia and Sydney almost shooting each other and then Anna shooting Nadia. Open to Sloane shoving open a hospital door and stalking down a hospital corridor. He walks over to stand next to Sydney, who is watching her sister through the glass outside her room. Sydney turns and sees Sloane beside her and then looks away again. Cut to the heartrate monitor and then slide to Nadia lying unconscious in bed with an oxygen mask over her nose and mouth. Cut to Sloane's reaction to seeing his daughter that way; he's definited moved.
Sydney: The surgeons in Estonia got the bullet out. She's stabilized, but the internal bleeding was severe.
Sloane: They put her in a coma.
Sydney: Until she recovers at least basic metabolic function...48 hours at least, they think. Sydney meets Sloane's eyes. He looks hurt and worried. Sydney looks away is if she feels guilty.
Sydney: I'm sorry.
Sloane: It was Anna Espinosa. She did this.
Sydney: Anna...has got the bomb. We didn't stop her. Sydney looks down again as if ashamed. Sloane's phone rings. With him still staring at Sydney he answers the phone.
Sloane: I said I'm not to be bothered. (pauses, listening) I'll be right there. Sloane closes up his cell phone and walks away.
Cut to elevator doors opening. We see the bottom third of a handtruck and several men "guarding" it. On the handtruck, we see a man's feet and legs from the knee down, dressed in what appears to be grey prison garb. As the entourage turns and starts to walk down the APO hallway leading to the office, the camera pans up to take in the man's hands in handcuffs in front of him and straps holding him to the handtruck. His head is covered over with a black bag. As he's wheeled into the office, other random APO workers stop and stare.
Cut to the man being strapped into a chair, and then the guard removes the bag to reaveal Julian Sark, who finds himself seated across the table from Arvin Sloane. Sark stares at Sloane for a moment and then begins to smirk.
Sark: This is...classic.
Cut to a monitor showing that scene and then pull back to reveal Jack and Dixon watching.
Dixon: Is this really the only way to get intel on the CRF?
Jack: You disagree with my methods.
Dixon: Sloane signed an agreement with Langley. He's prohibited from engaging with certain operatives...Sark is on that list.
Jack: Sark will only negotiate openly if he feels he's met his intellectual match. As Acting Director, I'll take full responsibility. Dixon nods his understanding. Cut back to Sark and Sloane.
Sark: Four years ago, if I'm not mistaken, you convinced a small army they worked for the CIA, when in fact, they worked for you. However you convinced the US Government into offerring you the real thing is a story I'm dying to hear. Suffice to say, Arvin...you have my undying admiration. Sloane doesn't say anything, just slides a manila folder across the table toward Sark and waits for him to open it. Inside are pictures of mutilated bodies.
Sloane: You recognize those men? They were going to help you escape our custody in Johannesburg. Turn the page. Sark does, and he sees another picture of someone who's been killed. Apparently it's not pretty, because Sark looks a little uncomfortable.
Sloane: An object lesson. This is what we will do to you if you refuse to cooperate. (pauses for effect) Now...how do we retrieve the bomb?
Sark: The Cadmus Revolutionary Front is run by a man named Ushek San'ko. We worked together under my last employer. Jack searches the CIA database as Sark continues to talk.
Sark: He'll be taking possession of the bomb shortly.
Jack (to Dixon): I've got him.
Sark: I told Mr. Vaughn in Johannesburg, I would help you infiltrate CRF and retrieve this bomb from San'ko...and I promise you, I will. You have my word.
Sloane: Your word.
Sark: Which has a considerably greater value than when you knew me last. Incarceration has given me a sense of...perspective. Sloane (in a scoffing, almost condescending tone): Well, I'll consider that.
Sark: But first, I have a demand. I've heard from unreliable sources that Lauren Reed...is dead. Now, I've filed numerous requests about her status; all have gone unanswered. What I want...is to visit her grave. I want to see her body for myself. Sloane sits as if weighing this demand, and then says with a sigh,
Sloane: I'll arrange transport. Sloane gets up and starts to leave.
Sark: There's something else. Sloane turns back to look at him.
Cut to Sydney and Vaughn, walking through an APO hallway.
Sydney: I heard about Sark. He didn't give you anything in South Africa?
Vaughn: Nah...He was on to us from the beginning. They're questioning him now. If Sark can give us intel on how to stop the CRF, we still have a chance.
Sydney: We can't depend on Sark.
Vaughn: I understand he's cutting a deal. Sydney makes a face.
Vaughn: Look, I don't like it any more than you do, but if listening to him helps us get the bomb back, I can live with it.
Sydney: Well, even if you're right, what if Anna gets away? Vaughn gives Sydney an empathetic look. Jack walks up to them and stops.
Jack: Sark has agreed to lead us to Ushek San'ko, the leader of CRF. We believe San'ko can provide us operational intelligence that will allow us to stop Anna and recover the weapon.
Sydney: When do we leave?
Jack: He has, however, made a demand...(looks at Vaughn) which involves you. Sydney looks at Vaughn worriedly. Vaughn puts up an stoic face, preparing himself for whatever he's about to hear.
Jack: He wants to exhume your wife's body. Sydney closes her eyes and flinches empathetically for Vaughn. Vaughn looks as if he doesn't quite know how to react to that. He glances at Sydney, looks down in troubled thought, swallows audibly, and then,
Vaughn (tightly): Fine. Let him. Sydney sneaks a glance at Vaughn to guage how he's taking the news.
Jack: That's not all. Sark has demanded that you open her coffin for him.
Vaughn looks down and away: anger, pain, guilt, hatred and disgust mingle on his face.
Sydney: No!
Jack: Agent Vaughn?
Sydney: You can't order him to do this!
Jack: I'm not ordering; I'm asking. (to Vaughn) Sark's participation, leading us to CRF, stopping Anna is dependent... Vaughn (very tightly, cutting Jack off): I'll do it. Sydney looks up at him in reaction, almost surprised he was willing to do it, knowing how much Lauren's death still haunts him. Vaughn eyes meet Jack's and he swallows audibly again, almost as if swallowing his own disgust at what he now has to do.
CUT TO BLACK
Alias Theme. (Or, Now is the time in Alias when we dance!)
Cut to nighttime establishing shot of LA via helicopter. Cut to several men entering a darkened room. The lights go on and we see it is Vaughn and an armed detail guarding a handcuffed Sark. The room is some sort of mausoleum.
Sark (to Vaughn): This is where you keep her? Vaughn bends down and pushes against a screen in front of one of the drawers.
Vaughn: For security reasons, some bodies aren't allowed a public grave. In this case, we didn't want Lauren's death to become public knowledge. Vaughn puts his hand inside the box behind the opened screen and a light turns from red to green. Vaughn stands and pushes a button and the drawer unlocks and starts to open. Sark watches the covered drawer slowly slide open as Vaughn assesses Sark.
Vaughn (snarky): This make you feel better...watching this happen?
Sark (quietly): It gives me hope...that I can still achieve closure. Vaughn stands in front of the drawer and slows its movement to a stop.
Vaughn (sarcastic): Guys like you don't believe in "closure". That would actually require you care about something.
Sark: Perhaps that's true. Perhaps all I can hope for is a moment for us all to share: you, me... (looking down at the drawer) her. Vaughn purses his lips in annoyance and looks away.
Sark: And in letting go of the subterfuge, we can finally admit the truth: Your wife loved me. Not even death can change that. Vaughn glares at him.
Sark: Do it. Open it. Vaughn nods for a moment and purses his lips in tense anger.
Vaughn (voice gravelly, still sarcastic): You want your moment? Here, take it. Vaughn grabs the lid to the drawer and, looking away, pulls it up. He rubs at his nose and walks away. He stands several feet from the drawer, arms crossed, turned about 90 degrees so that he doesn't have to look at the body. Slowly, Sark, his hands cuffed in front of him, approaches the drawer and kneels down. Vaughn sneaks a sideways peek and Sark and then looks away again. The look on his face tells us how much this is costing him, both having to be near Lauren again, and having to do this for Sark. Sark purses his lips, as the sight of Lauren in the drawer obviously affects him, as if he'd been hoping until that moment that it weren't true. Slowly, he starts to unzip the body bag that surrounds Lauren from the neck down. Vaughn immediately reacts to the sound of the zipper.
Vaughn (suddenly, vehemently): Stop! Sark slowly looks up at Vaughn and says softly,
Sark: My agreement, Mr. Vaughn, allows for this. Vaughn looks away and swallows and steels himself. Sark continues to unzip, pulling the flaps of the bag aside to reveal a gunshot wound in the area of Lauren's heart, and then two bulletholes on the other side of her chest. Seeing the bullet wounds affects Sark; his grief shows on his face.
Sark (almost to himself): And a perfect triangle at that... (a little louder, bitterly) consistent with CIA training. He stands up and stares at Vaughn, as if betrayed.
Sark (accusing): It was you. Vaughn turns toward him, showing no remorse.
Sark (accusing): You did this. Vaughn (hard, steely, not giving an inch): Yes, I did. Sark purses his lips and Vaughn looks away. Sark kneels before the body again and tries to hold back a sob of grief. Vaughn, turned away from Sark, looks slightly guilty. After several moments, Sark stands and tries to compose himself again.
Sark (pained): I'll take you to CRF... Vaughn looks over at Sark for a moment, almost as if he were surprised at how easily Sark gave in, nods slightly and looks away again.
Sark (softly): But I want you to face what you did. Vaughn turns to look at Sark. A split second of surprise and then dread crosses his face before he steels himself and then looks down at Lauren's body. For the first time, we actually see Lauren's face as she lies dead in the drawer. Vaughn takes a deep breath as if steadying himself, and then another as he stares at Lauren's face. A host of emotions cross his face: guilt, bitterness, anger, betrayal, sadness and finally the tiniest bit of grief. Slowly, he raises his eyes and meets Sark's. Sark turns his eyes to look down at Lauren again and Vaughn turns his face away, looking as if it's only with sheer willpower that he's able to hold himself together in front of Sark.
Cut to Sydney talking on her cell phone outside Nadia's hospital room.
Sydney: Do a search for "Black Widow"; it was one of Anna's callsigns. Who knows, she might still use it. Dixon, will you call me if you find anything? (pauses, listening) Okay. She turns off her cell phone as Weiss, sitting in a chair just outside of Nadia's room stands up. They both look as Sloane walks out of Nadia's room.
Weiss (to Sloane): Is there anything you need?
Sloane (shaking his head wearily): No. Weiss leaves Sydney and Sloane alone, and enters Nadia's room.
Sloane: You shouldn't blame yourself, Sydney. I certainly don't hold you responsible for what happened to Nadia. I've said this before; Anna won't kill Nadia. She can't.
Sydney: After all this, you still believe.
Sloane: Sydney...my daughter lies there in a medically-induced coma. What else do I have but my faith? Sydney looks away in thought, and then a red light on the ceiling in the hallway starts to blink and an alarm starts to sound.
Voice on intercom: All patients and personnel, please remain calm. Weiss turns and walks out into the hallway, approaching Sydney and Sloane.
Voice: We experienced a small fire in the subbasement. Please proceed to the nearest exit in an orderly manner. Weiss draws his gun.
Sloane: There should be a security detail in the building.
Sydney: Stay with Nadia until they get here. Sydney and Weiss take off down the hallway, guns drawn. Cut to patients and personnel evacuating. We see one nurse walking the other direction. She turns, and we see it is actually Anna Espinosa. Cut to Sydney jogging up the staircase. Cut to Weiss and he rounds a corner with gun drawn and starts down a hallway. He gets to the end of a hall and starts up the staircase. Cut to Anna, who had ducked into a room on that floor. She walks down the hallway and into Nadia's room, where she is covered from head to toe with a blanket. Anna takes three shots and we see the blood starting to seep out the holes before she turns and starts to leave. Sydney enters the otherwise empty floor and starts trading gunfire with Anna. As Sydney ducks for cover, Anna breaks the glass on the fire hose, wraps it around her arm a few times and then approaches the window at the end of the hallway, emptying her clip into the window and then jumping out. Sydney runs toward the sound, but seeing the taut hose, knows she's too late. Cut back to Anna as she dangles a story from the ground and she jumps, safely reaching the ground. Sydney watches Anna sprint away into the night, then turns to run to Nadia's room. Running into the room and seeing the blood on the blankets, she grabs the blanket in dread, whips it back and sees...piles of bagged blood pints on pillows in the otherwise empty bed.
Sloane: Nadia's next door. Sydney whips around at the sound of Sloane's voice.
Sloane: I thought it prudent to change her room until her extraction arrived.
CUT TO BLACK
Cut to Nadia being relocated to Medical Services at APO.
Jack (to Sloane): The doctors at the hospital assured me that Nadia will be able to complete her recovery here.
Cut to an unconscious Nadia as nurses and doctors scramble around her, getting her settled.
Sloane: Anna came after us, Jack. In a public place.
Jack: The operative question is: Why? Anna has the bomb, why come back for Nadia?
Sloane (menacing) : I don't care about her agenda. That woman is a threat; I want her destroyed.
Jack: Your daughter has just been attacked. I understand that...but this is not the time to react emotionally.
Sloane (still menacing): Whatever it takes; you find Anna. Whatever corners you have to cut, whatever favors you have to call in, do it...but find her. Eliminate her.
Jack: And what about your faith...that Nadia will survive?
Sloane: Oh...This isn't about faith.
Cut to Marshall in his office, watching a security feed on a screen in his office, talking to Jack.
Marshall: Well, it took me a while to patch into the security system in Estonia...the firewall was a piece of cake, but the CCTV was rigged with a fluctuating log-on and...(looks at Jack)you don't really care...about... The point is, I did manage to hack in. By the way, is it just me or...does fast-forward make you a little nauseated?
Jack (ignoring last question): Do we have audio?
Marshall: All we have is raw video feed, but, fortunately I wrote a voice-reconstruction program based on lip movements a few years ago and...check this out.
Marshall runs the part of the tape where Nadia is convincing the henchman to talk.
Nadia (with stilted computerized voice): Why is CRF assembling this bomb? What do they have planned? Nadia leans forward as the man speaks in her ear. Watching the feed, Jack says,
Jack: What did he say?
Marshall: Well, that I couldn't rebuild. But...look at this...you see that shadow, right there in the background? Well, I enhanced the detail, and...look at that! Marshall focuses in on it and clarfies it. It's Anna, watching as her henchman talks to Nadia.
Jack: That's why Anna came after her in the hospital.
Marshall: Excuse me? But Jack is already walking off. Marshall:I don't...under...stand...(louder to Jack's retreating form) You're welcome!
Cut to Sydney and Vaughn in the APO briefing room. Vaughn (showing Sydney the classified section of the newspaper): Sark gave us the contact protocol to meet with CRF; its a coded message in the classified ads. If all goes as he says it will, we should have a response by the evening edition.
Sydney: And then what? You and I go in there alone?
Vaughn (smiling): You mean as in a glorified date?
Sydney (smiling also): That's not what I meant, but is it?
Vaughn: No, not exactly. We've got to take Sark with us. He insists we won't get in the front door without him...so we rely on the explosive tracking device we put in his neck. If he tries to burn us in any way--sabotage, escape, whatever--
Sydney: We take him out. Vaughn nods and Sydney nods grimly in response. Sydney's face quickly dims and she stares at her fidgeting hands. After a moment, Vaughn puts his hand over hers in a comforting way.
Vaughn: Hey...Nadia's gonna make it.
Cut to Nadia's hospital room at APO. A nurse is monitoring her and has just attached a heartrate monitor to Nadia's finger. Cut to Jack talking to Dr. Jain.
Jack: You're monitoring Agent Santos' progress. If she were to be...awaked from her coma early, what risks would she be exposed to?
Dr. Jain: It would increase stress on her circulatory system. The quicker you revive her, the higher the risk of shock, heart attack, stroke. Is there some reason to wake her?
Jack: Not yet. Jack looks away in troubled thought.
Cut to CIA transport plane. Cut to Sydney, Vaughn, and Sark in the cargo hold of the airplane.
Sydney: The man we're meeting with, Ushek San'ko...what else can you tell us about him?
Sark: San'ko's expertise is coordinating terrorist activity.
Vaughn: And you're convinced he'll know where the bomb is?
Sark: I'm quite certain he's the one who tasked Anna to get it. Following our protocol, he took out a series of ads in response to mine. This one here says I'm to meet him in a club in Venice where we've done business before. It says I'm to come alone.
Vaughn (in disbelief): Alone!? That's interesting.
Sark: I gave you my word, Mr. Vaughn. Am I to take it that you don't trust me?
Vaughn: You're about to betray one of your former partners; it doesn't really instill faith in your loyalty.
Sark: My past infidelities are just that; mistakes I've learned from...repented for. I've become a trustworthy man.
Vaughn: Well, the answer's no. Where you go; we go. Sark and Vaughn look at each other for a long moment, then Sark turns to study Sydney as well. Sark purses his lips just slightly, as if it bothers him they don't believe him, but can understand why. Then he says,
Sark: Well, Lauren and I, we set up a weapons deal with San'ko before the Covenant imploded. The thing is, he's never met her face to face. All he knows is her voice. Sydney straightens in her chair when she realizes what Sark is getting at, and then glances at Vaughn to gauge his reaction. Vaughn looks back at Sydney, worried. Cut to Sydney in a wavy blond wig. She is putting blue contacts in her eyes. She adjusts her hair, applies blush, eye pencil, mascara to her eyebrows to darken them, clear lip gloss.
Cut to Jack apprehensively looking through the glass in Nadia's hospital door into the room, where Sloane sits in vigil at Nadia's bedside. Cut back to Sydney putting the finishing touches to her look. She is dressed only in a black silk bathrobe. As she fixes the fit on her wig, cut to Vaughn, watching her progress with the disguise as if seeing Sydney dressed as Lauren just brings back all those painful and angry memories of being duped. Still, he seems transfixed; like a car wreck he can't turn his eyes from. Sydney notices him standing there and turns to face him. Putting on Lauren's air and accent, she says,
Sydney: How's this? Quietly, his Adam's apple bobbing, Vaughn answers,
Vaughn: Perfect.
CUT TO BLACK
(V)ENICE
Cut to a strange nightclub built like a large stairwell. The bottom floor has a seating area, otherwise everyone is congretated on the staircase, talking and drinking and swaying to the loud music. As we pan down the stairwell, we see Vaughn dressed appropriately in a black leather jacket, leaning on the corner of the armrail, keeping lookout on the bottom floor. Cut to Sydney, dressed in a semi-kinky black dress with a buckles holding the bust together. Vaughn watches Sydney and Sark's progress as they sit on a couch in the middle of the floor, giving Vaughn an excellent position for reconnaisance. Sark is appropriately dressed in a black shirt and black dress pants.
Sark (as they sit down): I must, uh, tell you...Lauren and I had a... reputation; certain intimacies were public knowledge. We must maintain appearances.
Sydney glances up at Vaughn and then balances herself on the arm of the couch next to Sark.
Sydney (rolling her eyes): Dream on, you perverted freak.
Cut to San'ko and his girlfriend walking toward them and sitting down opposite them.
San'ko: Mr. Sark!
Sark: San'ko. It's good to see you.
San'ko: And you must be...Lauren Reed. Sydney tips her head to the side in a cold-shoulderish gesture of acknowledgement.
San'ko: What a pleasure to meet you after so long. San'ko grasps Sydney's hand and places a kiss across her fingers.
Sydney (in Lauren accent): The pleasure's all mine...obviously.
San'ko: So...let us toast! To CRF, hmm? San'ko pours tequila into glasses for them. Cut to Vaughn watching apprehensively from above. Sydney and Sark each take one of the glasses, and San'ko raises his.
San'ko: Salud! Sydney and Sark each drink their shot in one gulp; San'ko drinks half of it and then pours the other half in his girlfriend's cleavage and slurps it out. He takes a lusty bite from his lime as Sydney looks on.
San'ko: So...what is the nature of your business?
Sark: We represent certain interests that stand to profit should the market fall...If you would provide us with some insider information, we would be happy to split the profits.
San'ko: How nice of you! Information about what?
Sark: Our sources tell us you've just acquired a chemical bomb. What do you intend to do with it?
San'ko: Which weapon are you talking about?
Sydney: The one you hired Anna Espinosa to steal. San'ko doesn't answer, just looks surprised. Either that, or he doesn't know what Sydney's talking about. She stands abruptly.
Sydney: Obviously you've never heard of her. Sorry to waste your time.
San'ko (to Sydney): You want something from me? (He leans forward in his chair, closer to Sydney) I want something from you, my dear. Sydney sits back down.
Sydney: And what is that?
San'ko: Mr. Sark has told me about your...predilictions. I have a room above this club. I'd like to watch that...for myself. Sark looks up at Sydney in amusement, obviously both because she didn't believe him earlier, and also to see how she will react. Vaughn, from his vantage point, tells Sydney through her comms,
Vaughn: You have my permission to kill him, if you'd like... (meaning Sark) Sydney leans forward in her chair and picks up another shot of tequila.
Sydney: I'm sure Julian's told you that we never mix business with pleasure. Sydney places a lime with the pulp facing out in between Sark's lips, drinks the tequila and then pounces on Sark's lips, kissing him deeply as she sucks at the lime. San'ko is quite obviously enjoying this show. Just as obviously, Vaughn is not enjoying the show. As Sydney extracts the lime from Sark's mouth, she gives him a nip on his lip for good measure that draws blood. Sark says "ow" and touches the spot, realizing he's been blooded. San'ko looks incredibly turned on and pleased and starts to laugh. Dabbing the blood from his lip with a napkin, Sark says,
Sark: I told you she was special.
[SCENE_BREAK]
Cut to Sydney, still sucking on the lime (now the long way), her eyes pinned on San'ko.
San'ko: Ohhhh, yes...she is indeed special. San'ko lifts his glass to drink another shot, (and probably planning on extracting the lime from Sydney)...when he is shot in the neck, shattering his glass. He grabs at his neck and falls sideways as Sark and Sydney duck. Vaughn pulls his pistol and looks up as San'ko's bodyguard is taken out also from higher up the staircase from Vaughn. Sark and Sydney start to take cover.
Sydney (to Vaughn): Anna!
Vaughn (to Sydney): Above us.
Sydney (to Vaughn): I'll take the lead; we'll cover each other's corners. Vaughn turns to start following Anna. Sydney turns to Sark.
Sark: Give me a gun; I can help! Sydney pulls out a set of handcuffs and cuffs Sark to the staircase.
Sydney: Stay here and shut up. Anna takes a couple of shots at Vaughn as he follows, but misses. Sydney catches up to Vaughn, and takes the lead. Anna tries shooting at Sydney, but misses also, hitting the metal staircase railing instead. They get to the top of the stairs, but Anna is gone. A door opens out onto a street.
Sydney: Let's get Sark. We might still be able to cut her off. They rush down the stairs...but Sark is gone, his handcuff undone, the other still attached to the handrail. Cut to Anna, three of her henchmen...and Sark, walking down a hallway. They exit the building and out to the riverbank where a small speedboat awaits. Cut to Syd and Vaughn as they climb down the stairs of the club to the outside. Cut to the speedboat as it pulls away around the corner. Cut to Anna putting on a surgical glove and approaching Sark.
Sark: What are you doing?
Anna: There is an explosive device in your neck.
Sark: Wait, how do you know that?
Anna (to henchman): There's no time for painkillers; hold him down. (to Sark) Don't move! Anna cuts into the side of Sark's neck.
Sark: Please! Ughh...God!
Cut to Syd and Vaughn. Vaughn has used the tracking device and located Sark's signal. Vaughn pulls the detonator out of his pocket.
Vaughn: Syd, we have to blow the tracking device.
Sydney: Vaughn, wait a second...
Vaughn: No...it's our backup protocol.
Sydney: No, no, no...wait. He might lead us to Anna.
Vaughn: He's out of our custody; we can't take that chance. We have to blow it now. Cut back to the boat, where Anna pulls the tracking device from Sark's neck and throws it out of the boat into the river. Cut to Vaughn's finger as the activates the detonator. Suddenly, the screen on the locator goes dark and reads "Signal Lost".
Sydney: What happened?
Vaughn: It failed.
Cut to the boat. Anna extends a hand to Sark, and Sark shakes it.
Anna: Anna Espinosa. Sark holds a cloth to the wound in his neck with the other hand. His face is all sweaty; the extraction of the chip caused him a good deal of pain.
Sark: Julian Sark. It's nice to meet you.
CUT TO BLACK
Cut to an evening establishing shot of the canals of Venice. Cut to Sydney, who has pulled off her "Lauren" wig, but it still otherwise dressed in costume, pacing the hotel room, talking to Jack on the phone.
Sydney: We played right into her hands. Anna killed San'ko in front of our eyes and then distracted us long enough to grab Sark.
Sydney dumps the "Lauren" wig onto the bed.
Jack (over phone): You couldn't have predicted this. He had no intelligence suggesting the two shared a history or an agenda.
Sydney: Still, I should have considered it was a possibility.
Cut to Jack in his office at APO.
Jack: We need to focus on where Anna and Sark are headed with the bomb. Contact all your sources; see if anyone has heard anything. Cut back to Sydney.
Sydney: I'll check back on the hour. Cut back to Jack.
Jack: Good. Jack looks up and then starts to walk out of his office. He's met at his doorway by Dixon.
Dixon: APO is monitoring traffic. We've called in every favor we can to get Sark and Anna on difference intelligence radars. Considering the destructive capacity of the bomb they have in their posession, they're going to take extra precautions to cover their tracks. At this point, we'll take anything we can get. As Dixon walks away, we focus on Jack's face and the realization of what he knows he must now do. Cut to an elevator door opening onto the Medical Services wing. Jack exits the elevator. He surreptitiously looks around to see if anyone notices him, and then walks into a medical supply room. Once there, he locates a specific vial, removes it from the fridge and grabs a sterile syringe. After looking in the window of Nadia's room, he enters and stands beside Nadia. He reaches into his jacket and pulls out the already loaded syringe and injects the medicine into Nadia's IV tube. Jack sits down in the chair next to Nadia, then reaches out and brushes the hair off of her forehead in an almost fatherly gesture, intimating that it is not his intention to harm her, but that he had no more options. We hear the heart monitor start beeping more rapidly, then Nadia takes a deep breath inward, her head moving to the side as her eyes flutter. Sleepily, Nadia shoves the oxygen mask away from her face as Jack watches on with worry.
Cut to a full plate of food. Pan up to find Sark sitting in front of it, not eating. As he looks up, Anna walks into the room with a bottle of wine and two glasses. She places them down on the table and says with a smile,
Anna: Not talking? I thought after a year in a maximum security prison, that...you would appreciate a decent meal. Anna pours wine into the glasses.
Sark: "Beware a summit that begins with shared bread; the sated man is at his weakest." Anna looks at him and then sits down across from him.
Anna: Who said that?
Sark: A Vietnamese general I had dinner with once. By dessert, I put a bullet between his eyes. Anna gives him a "Touche" look and then reaches across the table with her fork, spears a piece of asparagus from Sark's plate and eats it. Sark notes that his food is not poisoned and gives a slight smile before saying,
Sark: I appreciate the rescue...I assume there's a price.
Anna: When I heard of a young man so ruthless in his shifting allegiances that he killed his own father...I thought, "This is a man I am fated to work with." Sark smiles, but does not say anything, so Anna continues,
Anna: My aim tonight was Ushek San'ko's head. CRF is a...weak organization. No vision, considering the power of the bomb I stole for them, and...they did not pay me nearly enough.
Sark: So you decided to go into business for yourself.
Anna: I thought it an appropriate time. Sark smiles as if impressed.
Anna: And then I spotted you in the club...
Sark: ...and you saw your opportunity.
Anna: Yes. Sark (as if trying the idea on for size): A partnership...my brains, your skills...
Anna (smiling): You flatter yourself, but something like that. Anna takes a sip of her wine.
Sark: I must tell you, selling a bomb on the black market can be tricky.
Anna: I already have a buyer in mind... Sark takes a sip of his wine.
Anna: ...right here in this very city. Michel Guinot.
Sark: A man with whom I have an excellent credit rating.
Anna: Yes, Mr. Sark... I know you do. Sark gives Anna a hint of a smile and deliberately takes a bite of his food and eats it. She raises her glass to him and takes a sip.
Jack: Anna is selling the bomb to a man named Michel Guinot, gateway of all arms sales in and out of Central Russia.
Cut to Sydney and Vaughn in their hotel room. Vaughn is packing while Sydney talks on the phone to her father.
Jack (over phone): Guinot's on the watch list. We have surveillance coverage.
Sydney: Where'd the intel come from? Cut back to Jack.
Jack: Classified...but reliable. Your mission is to intercept the bomb and detain the principals.
Cut to Sydney.
Sydney: Do we have a confirmed location for the meet between Anna and Sark?
Cut to Jack, sitting at the desk in his office.
Jack: Guinot's on the move to a property he owns; a graveyard. He's been known to hold meets there. Marshall's sending coordinates. If this meet goes through, Sydney, both Anna and Sark will be in the wind. We may never have this opportunity again.
Cut to Sloane, walking down a hallway of Medical Services toward Nadia's room. He is stopped in the hallway outside of Nadia's room by Dr. Jain. Sloane looks inside as Dr. Jain speaks,
Dr. Jain: We called as soon as there was any change. Inside, we see an awake but groggy Nadia with a nurse attending to her and Weiss at her bedside.
Sloane: When did she wake up?
Dr. Jain: A few minutes ago, but she's fine; out of the woods.
Sloane (hoarse with emotion): Thank you.
Dr. Jain: There was an irregularity we thought you should see. Niloxin's a drug we use to wean patients out of medically induced comas. Your daughter had four times the amount we normally use. Sloane looks up at the doctor in shock.
Dr. Jain: Mr. Sloane...Nadia didn't just...wake up. Someone did this to her, and I believe I know who it is. Off of Sloane's reaction, we,
CUT TO BLACK
Panning from a foreign skyline by day to an open courtyard, the words "Venice, Italy" are superimposed. Three men stand in wait in the courtyard. Cut to ground level as Sark and Anna pull up to the edge of the courtyard via gondola and disembark. The man who is obviously in charge, who we can assume is Michel Guinot asks in French,
Guinot (in French): Is that you, Mr. Sark?
Sark (in French): Oui.
Guinot (in French): How long has it been since you've been out of prison?
Sark (in English): About fourteen hours. Miss Espinosa was kind enough to set me free. Sark and Anna come to stand across the courtyard from Guinot, guarded by one of his guards.
Guinot (in French): You vouch for this woman as a business partner?
Sark (in English): She came here with me, didn't she?
Guinot (to Anna): Madamoiselle Espinosa. (bows slightly in greeting) As the buyer, I dictate certain terms, starting with good faith on your part. Put your weapon on the stone, please. Anna walks forward and places a briefcase on the edge of the step for the fountain and opens it to reveal a small bomb about the size of an hourglass. Then she steps away to allow Guinot to inspect it.
Guinot: It's very nice.
Cut to Syd and Vaughn watching the exchange from a roof on the edge of the courtyard.
Syd (quietly): Let's go. They move away from the edge of the roof. Cut to Guinot shutting the suitcase and stepping backward.
Anna: Is the device acceptable to you, Monsieur Guinot?
Guinot: It is. Sydney and Vaughn get into position at the edge of the courtyard.
Anna: And the price...is that acceptable also? Guinot reaches into his coat pocket and extracts a cell phone and dials a number. Cut back to Syd and Vaughn, still jockeying for position.
Guinot (in French): Guinot. Wire twenty million dollars to the account I gave you earlier today. Merci. Vaughn walks down another corridor to set up across the courtyard from Sydney.
Vaughn (quietly in comms): Give me ten seconds.
Cut to Sydney still watching. Vaughn stops and looks quickly around a corner, ready. Cut back to Guinot, Sark and Anna.
Guinot: The transfer is almost complete. Guinot smiles at Anna and Anna turns to look triumphantly to Sark.
Sydney (on comms): Go. Sydney shoots one guard; Vaughn takes out the other. Guinot grabs the suitcase and runs one way, Anna and Sark run the other way. As they chase, Vaughn says,
Vaughn: You get Sark. I'll go after the bomb.
Cut to Vaughn running down a hallway. Cut to Sydney running down a different hallway and looking down a hallway, not finding Anna or Sark. Cut back to Vaughn, who has almost caught up to Guinot. As they run down a set of stairs, Vaughn jumps Guinot and they tumble to the landing. A short fistfight ensues. Guinot drops the suitcase and the bomb drops out, clattering down the next set of stairs one step at a time. Vaughn catches up to it just as it has rolled across another landing and is about to drop into the river.
Cut to Sark, running down a hallway. Anna sees him and starts to follow. Sark rounds a corner, looks over his shoulder, almost as if to make sure that Anna is following, and then runs on. He gets to the end of the hallway, bursts through a wrought iron gate, then quickly turns and locks it behind him, just in time for Anna to be locked in. In horror, she asks,
Anna: What are you doing!?
Sark (calling out loudly): Sydney!
Cut to Sydney as she stops walking and listens. Cut back to Sark, who stares at Anna through the gate as he speaks.
Sark: I'm a man of my word! He stares at Anna for just a moment longer and then turns and starts to walk away.
Anna (desperately): I will kill you! You b*st*rd! She turns and looks back down the hallway. Cut to Sydney who rounds a corner with gun drawn. Anna has taken down one of the heavy metal gilt light sconces and uses it as a battering ram, whacking Sydney in the stomach with it. Sydney's gun goes skittering off. Anna drops the sconce as they begin to fight. They trade a couple of punches and kicks and then Anna sweeps Sydney's feet out from under her quickly, causing Sydney to flip over and land on her back hard. While Sydney is winded and struggling to get up, Anna crawls toward her like a cat nearing it's prey and punches her wickedly across the face and then stands to viciously kick her in the face. Sydney falls over backward and Anna grabs the sconce whacks it full force into Sydney's stomach. Standing over Sydney as she struggles to stand, Anna holds the sconce across Sydney's neck and pulls her up from behind and starts strangling her. It appears that Anna firmly has the upper hand, but then Sydney runs up the wall and flips over Anna's back, taking the sconce with her. She kicks Anna against the wall and then whacks her in the back kidney-punch style, and Anna crumples to the floor. Sydney drops the sconce and pulls out a ziptie and puts around Anna's hands and pulls it tight.
Sydney (winded): The United States Government has some questions for you. Suddenly we see a hand shove Sydney's gun across the floor to her. Sydney looks over to find Vaughn standing there. Sydney picks up the gun and holds it for several seconds as if she is going to shoot Anna in the face, and then instead uses her elbow to knock Anna out. Vaughn walks toward Sydney and then takes her in his arms.
Sydney: We got her.
Vaughn: Yes, we did. They hug for a moment and then Sydney says apologetically,
Sydney: Sark...
Vaughn: We'll get him back. They continue to hug.
Cut to daytime establishing shot of LA via helicopter. Cut to Nadia's bedside where Weiss is entertaining her with magic tricks. Weiss (pulling a long line of colorful handkerchiefs from his hand): Now, most people attribute the words "Abra Cadabra" to Houdini. That's not actually the case. What it... (suddenly pulls a bouquet of magician's flowers from his sleeve, which startles Nadia, and then she laughs) Okay...okay...that was not supposed to happen... Weiss walks around to the other side of Nadia's bed as she looks on, beaming with amusement.
Weiss: You know what? Keep 'em. There's a knock on the door behind them and Weiss turns around to see Sydney.
Sydney: Can I come in?
Weiss: Hey! Yeah, sure. I'll be out in the hallway entertaining sick people, if you need me... Weiss leaves. Sydney sits down next to Nadia's bed.
Nadia: Como estas?
Sydney: I'm good. You?
Nadia: Better. (pause) So, you got her?
Sydney(nodding): Mmmhmm.
Nadia: And the bomb?
Sydney: Yeah, we got that, too.
Nadia (teasing): And hey...we didn't kill each other...
Sydney: Nope. They smile at each other. Cut to Jack signing paperwork in his office as Sloane enters. Jack finishes signing and caps his pen.
Jack: My closing report as acting Director. The job's yours again. Sloane (tentatively, as if testing Jack's reaction): Nadia's out of her coma.
Jack (standing): Thank God she pulled through.
Sloane: God had nothing to do with it. Her medical chart indicates that someone injected her with a counteragent in order to wake her up. As a professional courtesy, I would like you to justify your decision. Jack rounds the desk to stand right in front of Sloane.
Jack: Your words: Do whatever it takes to stop Anna. We stopped Anna. You also indicated this wasn't Nadia's time, that she would pull through. (Slightly snarky) Don't tell me you're losing your faith? Sloane (his voice quiet, but you can tell he's royally ticked off): When I stepped down as Director of this Task Force, you had full discretion. I'm not going to argue with your choice because the mission was a success..but I would appreciate it as a father to be apprised of your (through clenched teeth) decision to put my daughter's life...at risk. Jack (not backing down one inch): As you do mine every day. Sloane (speechless for a split second, then): When I accepted this position, I made two agreements: one with Langley...and one with you. A pact.
Jack: That's still in effect.
Sloane: But only because my daughter is unhurt. (sarcasm) I wonder, Jack...what assurance do I have that you will continue to honor it? Jack just stares at him, his jaw clenching, then turns abruptly and walks away. Cut to Sloane watching Jack's retreating back, a menacing look on his face.
CUT TO BLACK
Plan: A: sale; Q: What is Espinosa's bomb ready for? A: Sark; Q: Who helps Sydney capture Espinosa? A: his own escape; Q: What does Sark secure? A: Jack; Q: Who wakes Nadia prematurely? A: the Cadmus Revolutionary Front; Q: What is the name of the group that Jack is trying to get information on? A: Sloane; Q: Who confronts Jack? Summary: Espinosa's bomb is assembled and ready for sale. Sark claims to be a man of his word and helps Sydney capture Espinosa while securing his own escape. Jack wakes Nadia prematurely to gain intel on the Cadmus Revolutionary Front. When Sloane confronts him, Jack claims to be a man of his word as well.