(Black screen BERLIN. Push through the R. Berlin skyline at night. A janitor in a hallway is mopping the floor. He is wearing headphones, as if listening to a Walkman. Two men walk up from behind him, speaking to each other in German. Texttype across the screen identifies the building as the LEIZIG AEROSPACE HEADQUARTERS. One of them men says "Good nacht," to the janitor as they pass him. The janitor replies, "Izt morgen," as they get into the elevator. The two men get into the elevator, still speaking to each other in German. The doors to the elevator slide closed. The janitor turns on a comm in his ear.)
Janitor (in Russian): They're in the elevator.
Head of Op (in Russian): The clamp is set. (pushes a button on a device he's sitting next to) Activating the charge.
Voice over Comm (in Russian): Acknowledged. ETA one minute.
(We see the elevator box descending through the shaft, then a view of the digital readout inside the car, clicking down 29, 28, 27. Cut to the two men, still speaking to each other in German. Cut to the device about ready to detonate. it explodes. We see the elevator begin plummeting down the shaft. Cut to reaction of the men in the car and then back to the car descending in the shaft. Cut back to the digital readout as the numbers whiz by 21, 20, 19, 18... The two men in the car are screaming. Suddenly, as the car reaches the 13th floor, it stops. we see a cable attached to one of the broken ones stretching taut. Then suddenly, the car starts rocketing upward. the younger of the two men in the car is screaming again. We see the car as it rockets up the shaft and then right out of the roof, where it is being carried, attached to a heliocopter and flying away into the night. )
(Black Screen. LOS ANGELES. Push through the G. We look through a fence in what appears to be the warehouse. Two figures sit huddled over a small table.)
Jack(voiced over the scene): Okay, Sydney, the test is over.
(cut to Sydney removing two disks that were covering her eyes)
Jack: If you were still under the influence of any valid brainwashing technique, I'd know it. As for your memory loss, some forms of torture, electroconvulsive shock therapy for example, can cause amnesia.
Sydney: He was unarmed. Dad, I slit that man's throat.
Jack: Your remorse is premature. Without knowing the circumstances, you can't be sure you didn't have just cause.
Sydney: I know you don't want the CIA to see this tape to protect me, but maybe they should.
Jack: Sydney, they'll detain you indefinitely. If they learn you murdered Lazarey, you won't be able to participate in finding out what happened to you over the last two years, which, frankly, I need you for.
(Jack stands up from the table. Sydney follows suit.)
Sydney: I don't trust myself right now, Dad. Maybe the CIA shouldn't either.
Jack: Well, I trust you. I'll keep looking into Lazarey. Your mother may be helpful...assuming she's still alive. I haven't spoken to her in a year, but we established a protocol for making contact. I'll try and reach her. You deserve to get on with your life.
(Cut to an aerial shot of houses along a beachfront. Cut to Sydney, standing in front of a breakfast bar, wiping it down. The background is littered with moving boxes. Weiss walks in from a side door, carrying a moving box.)
Weiss: Why does moving heavy objects automatically mean, uh, that I need one of those beers? Chop, chop!
(Sydney smiles, grabs a beer bottle from a sixpack on the counter, twists off the top and turns to hand it to him.)
Sydney: Maybe because you're a slave to advertising.
Weiss: Thank you.
(Sydney walks across living room to unpack a box)
Weiss: Is that a smile? It's nice to see that again.
(Sydney looks up a little surprised, gives a cute, embarrassed smile, and looks down again.)
Sydney: Yeah.
Weiss: You're sure you're okay with this? I mean, are you going to be all right? By yourself?
Sydney: I just can't wrap my head around it. I mean, Francie's been dead for two years, but I feel like I saw her a few days ago. And...now that Will is in witness protection, I can't even contact him. All my friends are just...gone.
Weiss: Not all your friends...
(Sydney smiles, then looks around and sits on couch.)
Sydney: This place isn't so bad...
Weiss: (laughs) Come on. Two blocks from the beach! Are you kidding me!? And you've got me as a neighbor... trust me, you're set.
Sydney (seriously): Can I ask you something?
(Weiss turns around from taking a swig of his beer.)
Weiss: Yeah.
Sydney: Vaughn's wife...What's she like?
Weiss (looks down uncomfortably, sighs, then sits down): I'm not sure if you really wanna hear this.
(Sydney looks at him expectantly.)
Weiss: When Vaughn heard that you were dead? He dropped off the face of the earth. I mean, literally, Syd, he..he was..he was out of the country for, like, six months. You need to know that he was not cavalier about moving on.
(Sydney nods painfully.)
Weiss: I mean, I could barely convince him to consider coming back to the Agency.
Sydney (surprised): He's thinking about coming back?
(Weiss can't seem to maintain eye contact with Sydney now. He looks everywhere but her.)
Weiss (more softly now): Well...you don't have to worry about that, 'cause it's not gonna happen.
Sydney: Because of me...because I came back, right?
(Weiss pauses to consider an answer, then his phone rings. Sydney continues to ponder what Weiss has just said...and not said.)
Weiss: Weiss. Yeah. Got it. We'll be right there.
(Sydney sighs. Cut to black.)
Voiceover of unknown man's voice: At 1300 UTC, two agents of the Central Intelligence Agency were abducted in Berlin. (Scene of the two men sitting in a dark room against a wall, bound and gagged. A door opens and a man walks in. We only see his leg and an arm as he reaches down and drags the younger of the two agents to his feet as he appears to protest from behind his gag.) We claim responsibility for this act of aggression against the world's remaining superpower. (Two men take the younger agent and forcibly throw him backward onto a metal medical table and chain his arms down.) Who we are, is unimportant. What we represent is unimportant. (Cut to a gray-haired man with a scar down the left side of his face and eye, holding a hacksaw. The man on the table is screaming in terror.) What we want it to be heard. (The scene of the "doctor" as he stands over his "patient' while two guards stand by from the doorway of the room. The door swings closed.)
(Cut to the briefing room of the JTF as Sydney, Jack, Dixon, Weiss, and Marshall listen to the audiotaped message.)
Voice: Within this audio file are coordinates leading to a designated location. Go there. Retrieve the package. Follow our demands.
Jack (as photos of the abducted men appear on screen in the middle of the room): The two agents, Klein and Rotter, were working undercover for us at Laszig Aerospace. We believe they were abducted by a group known as "The Covenant," a loose affiliation of Russian Nationalists, comprised of former Central Committee members, and retired KGB; that we know little about them. The Covenant seems to function like an organized crime family.
Marshall: Now the pickup location the Covenant specified is a theater in Munich in the...red light district, actually...it's an adult theater. Now, I checked and um, today's feature, now a rough translation...I don't actually speak German...it's "Penal Code, Part Deux" if anybody...cares...I have the times...
Dixon: I don't like the idea of sending someone in alone to pick up the package.
Jack: It's doubtful they'd betray us at this stage. Breaking their own rules before we even know their demands would result in a loss of negotiating credibliity.
Sydney: I'll go. I want to.
Dixon: Run the optech with Marshall. That's it. (People get up to leave) Syd, stay a minute. (Jack and Syd exchange a look before Jack leaves.)
Dixon: I'd rather send Weiss. You're allowed to give yourself time before you jump back in with both feet.
Sydney: The best way I can think of to start feeling normal is to start acting that way. I need this.
Dixon: I'm allowing you to go, but you should know...you're not the only CIA operative that's experienced lost time. There's a group. Their next meeting's at the end of the week.
(Off Sydney's reaction we, cut to black. MUNICH. Push through the C. Night scene of what is supposedly the red light district Marshall spoke of. A lone man in spectacles sits watching the movie. Sydney pushes the curtain aside and enters the theater.)
Sydney: I'm in the theater.
(Cut to a building schematic lit up in green on a computer screen. Weiss is leaning over it.)
Weiss: We've got you on fly-by, Mountaineer. The perimeter's clear, no suspect signals...we're on standby.
(Shot widens. Jack and Dixon are standing behind Weiss, listening to comms. Cut back to Sydney in theater. She walks down the aisle and then stops, looking down a row of seats with a flashlight. She holds the flashlight under her arm and pulls out latex gloves, putting them on. She kneels down and pulls a box from under a seat. It's about the size of a large shoe box, maybe slightly larger. It's wrapped in brown paper.)
Sydney: It's a box; I'm sweeping it for explosives.
(Sydney uses a device over the box. Cut to Jack's reaction.)
Sydney (voiceover): It's clean. Going to open it up.
(Camera pans to Dixon, also looking concerned.)
Dixon: Proceed with caution, Mountaineer.
(Sydney opens the box and moves aside some bubble wrap, feeling around the edge of the box with one gloved hand. She pulls her hand out of the box; her fingertips are covered in blood.)
Sydney (to herself): Oh, God...
(We see the box as she moves aside the bubble wrap. It's the severed head of the younger agent, Klein, eyes closed, a paper sticking out of his mouth. Sydney breathes hard, reacting to the sight of the severed head. Cut to Dixon on comms.)
Dixon: What is it?
Sydney: One of the agents...Klein... (cut to reaction of Marshall, then Weiss)...it's his head. (Pan up to Jack and Dixon). There's a piece of paper wedged in his mouth. Gimme a sec. (Sydney extracts the paper and opens it). It's written in Russian. I have their list of demands.
(Cut to black. End of Act One)
[SCENE_BREAK]
(Aerial scene of LA, daytime. Cut to conference room at the JTF. Dixon is pacing while other meeting members are sitting.)
Dixon: The death of Peter Klein is a great loss to this agency, but keep in mind that his colleague is still alive, and it's our job to bring him home.
(Cut to Lindsay, then Sydney.)
Dixon: National Security Counsel Director Robert Lindsay will be coordinating with us.
(Dixon sits.)
Lindsay: As some of you already know, the Covenant has agreed to return our remaining agent in exchange for the release of Mr. Sark. (Cut to reaction of Jack.) I'm here to inform you, trading Sark for your remaining asset has been approved by the NSC.
Sydney: Wait a minute...we can't just let him go!
Lindsay: To the best of our knowledge, Sark's been bled dry of every piece of intel he knows. The burden of criminal justice not withstanding, he now has a value to us only as a commodity in trade.
Sydney: Without even knowing why these people want Sark, how can we even consider this!?
Lindsay: We think we know why they want him. They want him so they can kill him. Intelligence provided by Arvin Sloane (Cut to a look shared by Sydney and Dixon and then back to Lindsay) indicates that Sark may be responsible for the death of a high ranking member within the Covenant. They may want revenge.
Sydney: If your 'revenge' theory is wrong, we're setting a terrorist free, to say nothing of the fact that taking Arvin Sloane's intel at face value is insane.
Lindsay: While I'm fully aware of your history with Sloane, if Director Dixon can trust him, I think you can, too.
Dixon: For the record, I don't. I never will. But I can't deny that, despite my feelings for Sloane, he has provided us with accurate intelligence for over a year now. I'm authorizing the trade. You and Weiss will escort Mr. Sark to the exchange point in Mexico. You'll leave in four hours.
(Lindsay gets up from the table and starts to walk off, as he passes by Dixon's chair he speaks.)
Lindsay: I'll come back...
(Jack and Sydney both give Lindsay a dirty look as he leaves. Cut to Jack and Sydney walking in the JTF rotunda.)
Sydney: Since when did the NSC become so eager to negotiate with terrorists?
Jack: Bob Linsday has the White House spin machine ready to cover him when his actions prove ill advised. He's nearly untouchable.
Sydney: I'd love to prove that wrong.
Jack: You've come close enough in forcing his hand with my release. While you're in Mexico making the exchange, I'm going to Zurich to see Sloane. He'll be expecting me and we should appear predictable.
(Sydney stops walking, staring at something. Cut to a plaque on the wall with the title "Agents Killed In Action". Cut to a closeup of Sydney's name on the plaque. )
Jack: I'll have that adjusted.
(Sydney turns to look at Jack.)
Sydney: Where was I buried?
Jack: You were...cremated. Vaughn spread your ashes at sea.
(Cut to a college campus. It does not appear to be the same one Sydney went to school at. Cut to Vaughn standing behind a desk in a classroom, speaking in French.)
Vaughn: N'oubliez pas lundi soir "les 400 coups", on le joue à la Cinémathèque. D'autre part, ce sera une version sans sous-titres. (Translation: Don't forget on Monday evening "Les 400coups" is showing at the film library. Moreover, it will be without subtitles. *Thanks to vaughn ally for the French and the translation*) So, if you guys didn't understand what I just said...good luck on the quiz...
(Students snicker, then get up to leave. Vaughn is looking through some paperwork. Sydney enters the room as the students exit. She looks nervous, anxious. Vaughn looks up, noticing someone there. He's shocked to see her there. His expression turns anxious and tense, as if steeled against another outburst. Vaughn doesn't know what to expect from Sydney. He sighs. Sydney meets his eyes.)
Sydney (softly, sort of wistfully/painfully): You're a French teacher, huh?
Vaughn (pauses, answering cautiously): Yeah.
Sydney: I know that you're thinking about coming back...to the Agency.
(Cut to Vaughn's reaction. He still has the same expression on his face. He's waiting to find out what Sydney wants, why she's there.)
Sydney: On the off chance that your hesitation is out of some courtesy to me...you can forget about it. I...I mean... I can handle you being there. Don't worry about me.
(Cut back to Vaughn's reaction. He looks off, as if in deep, troubled thought, then looks down and away. He takes a step or two closer to Sydney, while Sydney crosses her arms across herself in a self-protective gesture. Vaughn sighs again, then speaks, mildly defensive.)
Vaughn: The other day you said I gave up on us because I didn't have faith; that somehow you didn't mean enough to me.
Sydney (pained): When I said that, I was...
Vaughn (earnestly, in a pained half-whisper): No, let me finish.
(Cut to Sydney, she looks at him, sorrow and pain reflected in her eyes.)
Vaughn: After you died, I used to talk to you...like you were still around. Literally, out loud, whole conversations about...nothing (Vaughn looks lost in memory as he speaks): the weather...Should I get a new car? Should I have another drink?...
(Cut to Sydney. She's clearly hurting for Vaughn. Cut back to Vaughn as he continues to speak.)
Vaughn (meeting her eyes now): Then one day...you started answering. (shakes his head slightly...his voice turns a bit unsteady and hoarse.) I mean, I could hear you in my head...like you were right next to me, Sydney.
(Cut to Sydney. It looks like she wants to cry. Cut back to Vaughn.)
Vaughn: And although rationally I knew I was a guy who...stayed up nights drinking...talking to his dead girlfriend... Still, I couldn't stop.
(Cut to Sydney. Her eyes are watery. Cut back to Vaughn.)
Vaughn: So, before you tell me you can handle me coming back to the CIA, there are two things you need to know: First...is that I was so in love with you...that it nearly killed me.
(Cut to Sydney, eyes still watery, her face awash in pain and sorrow, and then back to Vaughn.)
Vaughn: And second...(Vaughn shakes his head)...that I don't regret moving on with my life.
(Cut to Sydney. She's devestated by what Vaughn went through. She nods.)
(Cut to scene of Zurich at night. Cut to Sloane's office. His personal assistant is in the room with him.)
Assistant: The president of the World Bank that you stop by his table. We've received word that he's...willing to make a sizable contribution to our cancer research.
(A man walks in with a file folder. Sloane opens it and signs it, still talking to his assistant.)
Sloane: His wife's a vegetarian, so make sure she's attended to. (His phone rings; he answers. He's wearing an earpiece, so we don't hear what is said to him.) Yeah. Send him in. (Sloane hands the folder back to the man and speaks to both of them.) I need you to excuse me. (They leave. He takes his earpiece out. From Sloane's point of view, we see Jack Bristow enter.)
Jack: A world relief organization...the sheer audacity of your alleged turnaround would be laughable, if you weren't so dangerous.
(Sloane smirks.)
Sloane: I was wondering when you'd come to see me, Jack.
Jack: You don't really expect me to believe that you've changed.
Sloane: I expect you to believe in the consistency of my obsessions. Jack, I pursued the Rambaldi puzzle across the world for over 30 years. It never occurred to me that when the artifacts were finally assembled, that they would produce nothing more than a message...of peace.
Jack: Personally, I would have found it anticlimactic...that after expecting to assemble a weapon of ultimate power, you ended up with a revelation you could have acquired from a fortune cookie.
(Sloane smirks again.)
Sloane: Always the aetheist, Jack. Hmm... I've missed you.
(Jack walks forward menacingly.)
Jack: I'll come to the point. I believe you're responsible for Sydney's disappearance. Tell me why, right now, and give her the peace of mind she deserves. In exchange, I'll halt my efforts to invalidate your pardon agreement.
Sloane: Jack, don't go digging; you won't find anything. I know that you were imprisoned for making contact with your ex-wife. You went to Irina Derevko for help to find Sydney. Now I wouldn't have believed that you would ally yourself with a woman you vowed you'd never trust again. So, if you're capable of having such a change of heart, why is it so hard to believe that I am as well?
Jack: Because every morally questionable thing I have done has been to protect Sydney. You don't have the same excuse.
Sloane: Really?
(Sloane retrieves a mini disc from a davenport and returns to face Jack.)
Sloane: I investigated Sydney's death, too. This file contains all the leads I pursued...mostly dead ends. (He slides the disc across the desk toward Jack.) I'm hoping you'll find something in it that's useful. I trust that you will look at it...before you dismiss it outright.
(Jack picks up the disk.)
Jack: Should I take this as your official denial of any involvement in Sydney's disappearance?
(Sloane nods.)
Jack: Then, you've just made the worst mistake of your life. I'm going to bury you.
(They stare each other down, then Jack turns and starts walking away. Cut to black. End of Act Two.)
[SCENE_BREAK]
(Cut to cell door sliding upward. Sydney walks through to stand before the glass of Irina's old chamber. Sark is sitting on his bunk, head against the wall, knees up, with his arms lying across his knees.)
Sydney: I wanted a word before you get traded.
(Sark looks over at Sydney, clearly shocked. He gets off his bunk and walks to the glass to face Sydney.)
Sark: Dear God, it can't possibly be you...
Sydney: Don't start this conversation by acting surprised that I'm alive.
Sark: Sydney...you know how highly I regard your abilities as an operative, but...even I didn't think you were capable of cheating death once your remains had been identified...which begs the question...if it wasn't your body they removed from the ashes...whose was it?
Sydney: I read the transcripts of your confessions...including the fact that you and a woman named Allison Doren killed my friend...Francie.
Sark: If you've read my transcript, you know how cooperative I've been. I'll be glad to pay you the same courtesy if you simply tell me what you're getting at.
Sydney: That explosion in my apartment was a cover up...to make the CIA believe I was dead. What I believe is that Sloane abducted me, I think you know why...but you failed to mention that in your confession.
Sark: If I'm to understand what you're saying, you have no idea where you've been for the last two years.
(Sydney doesn't answer.)
Sark: None?
(Sydney gives Sark a dirty look. Sark lets out a short laugh.)
Sark: Unbelievable! (snickers again) I'm sorry, I don't mean to laugh, it's just...I'm speechless. Sydney, if Sloane had intended to abduct you, I wasn't privy to it.
Sydney: What if I said I still don't believe you?
Sark: I'd say it'd make no difference. In 24 hours I'll be free, and...you'll remain in the dark.
(Sark and Sydney stare each other down, then finally, as Sydney turns to leave...)
Sydney: See you in Mexico.
(Cut to black. MEXICO. Push through the X. A deserted desert plain, hills in the background (filmed with an amber lens...everything looks yellowish). Two vans in the distance drive toward the camera. Cut to Sydney, speaking to other team members in one of the vans.
Sydney: We've agreed to a location in the Sonora desert as the point of exchange. Each side is allowed no more than a five man cover team.
(Cut to the two vans as they stop. The team starts to disembark from one van.)
Sydney (voiceover): Once the exchange is initiated, Sark and Rotter will be released simultaneously.
(Sydney disembarks from van, walks over to the other van. Cut to Sark sitting in the van and then Sydney as she bends down next to him to remove his foot shackles. She looks up at him and they make eye contact.)
Sark: I assure you, this organization, the Covenant, is as much a mystery to me as it is to the CIA. I can't imagine why they'd want to make this trade.
Sydney: You're about to find out.
Sark: My life's in danger, isn't it?
(Sydney makes eye contact, but doesn't answer. Cut to two other vehicles as they drive toward the exchange point. Cut to Sark as he steps out of the van, followed by Sydney. Cut back to two sedans driving closer. Cut back to Sydney and Sark standing, watching their approach. Cut to wide screen view of the two vans on one side, the two sedans on the other side, with plenty of space between them. Cut to the two sedans. Three men climb out of the first sedan. One holds a flare gun up into the air and sends a flare into the sky. Cut back to Sydney, standing next to Sark.)
Sydney: Space Ops, we've received a call signal. Should I confirm?
Dixon: You're authorized, Mountaineer.
(Sydney points her flare gun into the air and fires. Close up on Sydney as she waits. People in the other sedan get out. Cut to a close up of Rotter. Cut back to Sydney.)
Sydney: We have a visual on Agent Rotter.
Dixon: Roger, Mountaineer. Release the prisoner.
(Cut to Rotter as he begins to walk toward the CIA side of the exchange. Cut to Sydney unlocking Sark's handcuffs. He looks toward her, clearly uncomfortable.)
Sydney: You're up.
(Cut to wide angle shot of Sark and Rotter as they walk toward each other. Cut to close up of Sark walking. Cut to close up of Rotter walking. Cut to Sydney and Weiss as they stand watching. Cut to Sark and Rotter approaching each other in the middle. Cut to Sydney, she's noticed something amiss. Cut to three vehicles approaching the exchange area. As Sark and Rotter meet in the middle, Sark puts up a hand to halt Rotter's progress, nodding toward the group of cars that Sydney's noticed. They both stare in that direction. Cut to the six Covenent men as they turn and look behind them. Cut to the three oncoming vehicles, then back to Sydney and Weiss.)
Sydney: Space Ops, we have incoming vehicles. We need an Iden immediately.
Dixon: They're not ours, Mountaineer. We're trying to get a visual. Stand by.
Sydney: If we don't finish this trade before those vehicles get here, the Covenant will think it's a doublecross.
(The vehicles get closer. They're police cars. Cut back to Sydney and Weiss as we hear heliocopter blades whirring. She and Weiss turn and look behind them as a heliocopter comes over the closest hill toward them.)
Sydney: There's a chopper inbound. It's one of ours!
(The heliocopter flies overhead and emits an announcement.)
Voice: CIA operatives! This is Sgt. Trask of Delta Force! Put down your weapons! This operation has been countermanded by the National Security Council!
(The Covenant members begin firing at the heliocopter and jumping into their vehicles. Cut to Sydney and Weiss as they move around the side of the van.)
Weiss: Take cover!
(Cut to Sark and Rotter, who both lay down on the ground to get out of the fire exchange. Cut to Covenant members still shooting at copter and getting in vehicles. A police car screeches into view. The Covenant members start shooting at the police car. Cut back to Sydney and co. using the vans as cover.)
Dixon: Sydney, report!
Sydney (yelling over sounds of gunfire): Delta Force just showed up out of nowhere! Lindsay ambushed us! (fires her weapon) Dixon (to ops officer on comms at desk he's standing over): Get me Bob Lindsay! Now!
(Back to gunfight. A Covenant member is shot. A policeman is shot. Members of the CIA team firing. Cut back to a really ticked off Dixon.)
Dixon: Don't tell me to calm down! You used my agents as bait!
Lindsay: I'm trying to reaquire your missing agent without releasing Mr. Sark. Now, I'm sorry I didn't fill you in, Director Dixon, but I don't trust the CIA to maintain operational secrecy.
Dixon: You son of a bitch!
Lindsay: Yeah...can I get back to you, Director? I'm a little busy...
(Dixon hangs up on Lindsay. Cut back to policemen in the gunfight. They shoot another Covenant operative. Cut to Delta Force members in heliocopter taking aim and firing. Cut to Covenant member as he takes out the oil or fuel line on the heliocopter. The heliocopter starts to lose altitiude. The head Covenant operative runs around the side of his car to drag one of his men who has been shot out of the way so he can get in the car. Cut to Sydney.)
Sydney: Great!
(Head Covenant member drives the car forward as the other car provides his cover, shooting another one of the police officers. He pulls up next to Sark and Rotter, still lying on the ground and points a gun at them.)
Covenant member: Both of you! Get in! Go!
(Both Sark and Rotter get up and scramble toward the car. Sydney sees this and starts bolting toward the car. More gunfighting between Covenant operatives and the police and CIA agents.)
Weiss: Psycho's getting away with both of 'em!
(Sydney runs toward the car, but they're too far ahead. She yanks off her sunglasses and holsters her gun. She's ticked. Cut to black. End of Act Three.)
[SCENE_BREAK]
(Aerial view looking down over LA in daytime. Cut to Lindsay, standing facing a urinal. He flushes it, then partially turns. Although the screen cuts him off at the waist, it's very clear he's zipping up his zipper. He walks around the corner to the sink and leans over, turning on the water and washing his hands. The frame widens. We see a reflection of Sydney in the mirror, standing behind Lindsay in the men's room, looking very 'hell hath no fury', but controlled, ticked off. Lindsay looks up, sees Sydney's reflection and jumps, getting water all down the front of his pants.)
Lindsay: Son of a bitch!
(He shakes water off his hands and looks down at his wet front.)
Sydney: We should have gotten that last hostage back. We would have if...
Lindsay: Who the hell do you think you are!?
Sydney: I'm the person who's going to hold you accountable if they kill him!
Lindsay: Oh, you're going to hold me responsible!?
Sydney: Did I stutter?
Lindsay: What exactly is the purpose of this conversation? (Sydney starts talking over him here) Did you want me to apologize...say I'm never going to do it again?
Sydney: To let you know that I will take you to the mat...every time you pull something like this! I am not impressed by the fact that you play golf with the President...
(Lindsay gives Sydney a condescending smirk)
Sydney: It was moronic, and borderline criminal!
Lindsay: Did it slip your mind that I am the Director of the National Security Council!? I could pick up the phone and have you thrown in the same jail cell your father just vacated...Hell, it's still warm!
Sydney: Do it. Give me an object lesson in the abuse of power! Show me how it's done!
Lindsay: If you're finished...this is the men's room...
Sydney (snidely): Who let you in?
(Sydney turns and walks out. Lindsay mutters under his breath and starts pulling paper towels out of the holder to clean off his front.)
[SCENE_BREAK]
(Cut to black. Then we slide to the left to reveal Sark, sitting at a table under the lone light in the room, leaning both arms on the table. An empty chair sits before him. We hear a door open and Sark looks in that direction. It is the Covenant agent, carrying a wine bottle with a corkscrew sticking out of the top and two wine glasses.)
Agent: Chateau Patreuse, 1982...Your favorite, no?
(Sark looks rather surprised. The Agent sits down in the other seat before him.)
Sark: Have we met?
Agent: No...but you knew my brother. Antonin San'ko.
Sark: And I suppose this is to be my last drink.
(The Agent pulls the cork out of the wine bottle.)
San'ko: Not necessarily. (Begins to pour wine into the wine glasses.) I know the bomb you placed in that vehicle was not meant for him. On the other hand, it does seem that you owe me... (takes a drink of the wine)
Sark: And what would that price be?
(San'ko finishes his mouthful of wine.)
San'ko: 800 million dollars.
Sark: 800 million dollars? I have nowhere near that amount in my nest egg.
San'ko (smiling): That, Mr. Sark, you do...
(San'ko slides the full wine glass over to Sark. Sark looks up at San'ko. Cut to Sydney walking into the rotunda of the JTF. She rounds a corner and stops. The camera pans 180 degrees so that we can see what she's looking at. It's Vaughn, dressed in a grey suit, talking to Dixon and shaking his hand. Close up of Sydney's reaction. There is pain in her eyes, but also a determination, as if saying 'I can do this.' Vaughn notices her standing there and stares, dropping Dixon's hand. Dixon turns, also sees Sydney, and beckons her over. She walks toward them and stops, standing next to Dixon.)
Dixon: Sydney...Vaughn's qualified for reinstatement. (Dixon's voice continues as voiceover of following scene) Until his field rating's been updated, he'll be on analysis, but he's back...effective immediately. If there are any special considerations either of you would like me to take into account, now's the time to speak up.
(Close up of Sydney's face, then Vaughn's. Vaughn is clearly worried about Sydney's reaction; there's worry etched on his face. He looks at Dixon and then finally meets Sydney's eyes as if asking her, "Are you sure you're okay with this?" Cut to include all three of them in shot as Dixon continues talking. Vaughn stands with his hands clutched together in front of him, as if awaiting a verdict. Cut to Sydney. She looks away briefly and then back, meeting Vaughn's eyes. For a split second, we see emotion in Sydney's eyes, but then it's gone and she's all polite business.)
Sydney: Welcome back. (She nods slightly.)
Vaughn: Thanks. (He nods back. He looks over Sydney's shoulder toward the sound of footsteps. His mouth drops open slightly, we can tell he's steeling himself for something even worse than seeing Sydney... Slightly breathless, he says) Hello, Jack.
(The look Jack gives Vaughn that is cold and unfriendly. Brings to mind the looks he gave Vaughn during their first meeting at the Chinese restaurant... a "You'd better hope I don't catch you alone in some dark alley, or else I might have to kill you for breaking my daughter's heart" look...before completely snubbing him and speaking to Dixon as if Vaughn wasn't even there and hadn't spoken to him.
Jack (to Dixon): I just found out why the Covenant is interested in Mr. Sark.
(Cut to Vaughn's reaction to the snub. He appears as if he was expecting it, but that it still hurt more than he wants to admit. He looks down.)
Jack: At 10 o'clock this morning, Sark walked into the Thornton Bank in the Cayman Islands, accompanied by Ushek San'ko, a known operative of the Covenant.
(Cut to scene of Sark with San'ko and another guard as they enter a hallway leading to a door. Sark puts his thumb on a pad next to the door. The door reads his thumbprint and the door opens, revealing a waisthigh square stack of gold bullion bricks about 8 feet by 8 feet. Sark looks shocked and amazed.)
Sark: He was then led downstairs, where he used his thumbprint to access an executive vault. Inside the vault was a little over 800 million in gold bullion. More surprising is the fact that Sark had no idea he was entitled to that money...
(Cut back to JTF)
Dixon: Entitled?
Jack: Eight months ago, an interagency memorandum reported the murder of a Russian diplomat by the name of Andrian Lazarey.
(Cut to Sydney's reaction to this news. She gives a sideways glance at her father.)
Jack: His murderer has never been found.
(Cut back to Sydney again at the bland way Jack delivers that lie. She's clearly uncomfortable, and looks down.)
Jack: However, a source of mine has provided evidence indicating he was a descendent of the Romanov royal family in Russia. The money was in his trust when he died. It went to Mr. Sark...Lazarey's son... (He looks at Sydney as he says this, she looks back, shocked. Weiss and Marshall walk up. Weiss is holding a file folder. He sees Vaughn standing there.)
Weiss: Hey! Vaughn!
(Vaughn smiles slightly, as if relieved to see a friendly face. Marshall smiles at Vaughn also.)
Weiss: We tasked a satellite to track the enemy sedan once it left the desert. They were tracked to a Frankfurt night club known for selling top of the line synthetic drugs. Analysis thinks its a front for the Covenant. (Hands Dixon the folder)
Dixon: Do we have reason to believe the last hostage is still alive?
Jack: Yes. They're aware he's the team leader and therefore has the highest security clearance. The information they could extract from him would be priceless to our enemies.
(Dixon looks at a photograph of a man inside the folder)
Weiss: His name is Otto Edel. Drug dealer; he runs the club. He'll know where our agent's being held.
Dixon (to Sydney): I want you to accompany the hostage rescue team.
Marshall: Actually, I had an idea... I think Syd should go in as a biochem major, you know, Harvard dropout, totally spoiled, maybe she got kicked out for synthesizing Exstasy in her dormroom, or crystal crank...
Dixon: Fine. Marshall, run the optech.
(Cut to Jack and Sydney outside talking.)
Jack: The CIA would have discovered Lazarey's connection to Sark on their own, so there was no added risk to you in breaking the news myself. Without that tape, the CIA can't link you to his death.
Sydney: This can't be a coincidence. I'm responsible for Lazarey's death and nine months later, the Covenant gets Sark released in exchange for his 800 million dollar inheritance!?
Jack: It's looking more likely they're responsible for your 2 year absence. Be it under duress, or by some...other unknown means, they compelled you to carry out the assassination. I've scheduled to contact your mother tonight; hopefully she'll be some help.
(Cut to Jack's sedan sitting in an underground parking lot. Closeup of computer screen as he types a message in the AudioByts chat room (in red, all caps...his handle is Mozart_182): Distinguished composer looking for music lover. He puts a comm earpiece in that's connected to some voice program in his computer. A pop up box comes up that blinks: Handel_4me wants to chat privately... We hear Jack's audio program read Irina's response when Jack opens the private window: Couldn't believe it when I saw your ad in the London Globe. Jack types back: Glad you're alive. Then he types: Our daughter is alive. Irina's text pops up: My God. How is she? He types: Recovering, though she doesn't remember the last two years. Then he types: I need your help getting background on a man named Andrian Lazarey. Irina's response: Will upload all intel to our FTP dropsite. Then: Miss you. Jack pauses, then types: Miss you, too.)
(Cut to black. FRANKFURT. Push through the U. A waitress with a short spiky blond hairdo dressed in a black top and short skirt walks by with two martini glasses on her tray. The bar is smoky. Some people dance, some are obviously under the influence of the drugs they sell there. In walks Sydney. She has a short black bob hairdo, small black framed glasses. A long black blazer is buttoned and she has a tie knotted around her neck and a long black skirt. She walks through the bar, reaching the entrance to the room where we see Edel on a couch with some young blonde babe. Sydney is stopped by one of the guards, who pats her down. He points to her pocket. She pulls out a Palm Pilot.)
Sydney (pointing at Edel): It's for him.
(Security guard shows the Palm Pilot to Edel. He nods and waves Sydney inside. She approaches Edel.)
Edel: You're very attractive...for a chemist.
(Sydney pretends to be flattered, smiling and looking down.)
Sydney: Thank you for meeting with me.
Edel: I like to keep my options open, although I doubt you can improve on my little...cocktail.
Sydney: I can triple your sales.
Edel: Really? How?
Sydney: By making your drug more addictive.
(She turns on the Palm Pilot. There is a rotating schematic of a chemical compound on it. She hands it to Edel. While he's looking at the schematic, Sydney starts unbuttoning her blazer, revealing a black corset top.)
Sydney: Take a look.
(Edel does look...at her. Sydney smiles. Cut to black. End of Act Four.)
[SCENE_BREAK]
(Camera pans from feet of dancing clientele in bar up to Sydney dancing with Edel.)
Edel: Very impressive. Where did you learn your trade?
Sydney: I was a biochem major at Harvard, not that I think they'll be asking me to make any commencement speeches in the near future. (she smiles up at Edel)
Edel: Their loss...my gain.
Sydney: I need one liter of your product.
Edel: Oh! Just like that, hmmm? (playfully, he sounds amused by her)
Sydney: I'll chemically alter it according to the spec you saw and have it back to you within the week. If you don't see demand go up, you owe me nothing.
Edel: Somehow I would not mind being indebted to you.
(Sydney laughs and touches her lips playfully with a finger. Cut to Edel's office as Edel closes the door behind himself. Sydney is already in the room. She slides her fingers sensually along the desktop as she walks around it.)
Edel: Make yourself comfortable. I will only be a moment.
(Edel heads for his wall safe. She checks Edel when he's not looking and playfully fluffs her hair when he is. Edel turns to her and holds up a small vial.)
Edel: This has a street value of 50,000 dollars.
Sydney: Mind if I try it?
Edel: Be my guest.
(Sydney takes the bottle and grabs a syringe from the table, starting to load the drug into the needle.)
Edel: Of course, if I'm going to let you walk out of here with that, I'll need some sort of...collateral. You understand.
Sydney (innocently): I didn't bring any money.
(Edel walks closer to her; stands right behind her)
Edel: I do accept...other forms of payment...
(Sydney holds up the syringe, as if ready to inject it)
Edel: There's an air bubble in there...
(Edel moves as if to help Sydney fix it. Sydney grabs his arm and twists it behind him. Cut to a view of Marshall sitting at a computer, Dixon standing over him. They are listening to the feed from Sydney. Both are wearing comms earpieces. Cut to Vaughn, standing over Marshall's other shoulder, also listening to the feed. The look on his face is hard to describe, almost as if he's worried, but doesn't want to show he is. His mouth drops open slightly as he listens to Sydney with Edel. He doesn't have a comms earpiece. They hear Edel's groans as Sydney twists his arm.)
Sydney (voiceover): Do exactly as I say or I push the plunger.
(Cut back to Sydney. She has forced Edel down into a chair. The syringe has been stuck into his neck.)
Sydney: Where is the alarm terminal that protects the sub-basement?
Edel (spits out): Bitch!
(Cut to Marshall's shocked expression. He looks over his shoulder directly at Vaughn.)
Sydney (voiceover): Tell me where it is or you get an aneurysm!
(Cut to Vaughn. He doesn't notice Marshall's glance. He leans in closer, concern more plainly etched on his face. Cut back to Sydney and Edel.)
Edel: Okay...down the hall, first door. But I only manage the facility, I do not know the codes, I swear!
(Sydney elbows Edel in the side of the head, knocking him out. Slide cut to Sydney in the hallway, rounding a corner. She finds the alarm terminal.)
Sydney: Mountaineer to Space Ops. I've found the alarm terminal.
(Cut to JTF. Sliding pan of Dixon on comms and Vaughn standing beside him, both hands on his hips, listening to Sydney's transmission.)
Sydney (voiceover): I'll need a minute to hack.
Dixon: Copy that, Mountaineer. Blue team, do not breach until advised. Alarm is active.
(Cut to chain link fence. Focus in on Weiss and a small team.)
Weiss: Copy that, Space Ops. We're holding outside rear entrance.
(Cut to closeup of Sydney's hands. She's holding one of her high heeled shoes. She slides the base off, revealing a small electronic device. She removes it and plugs it into a phone jack located on the alarm panel.)
Weiss (voiceover): Once Mountaineer disables the alarm, we'll proceed inside.
Dixon (voiceover): Copy that. Mountaineer, your entrance to the sublevel will be through the last door down on the north hallway.
(Cut to Marshall's computer screen as it displays in green the 3D layout of the building. Vaughn leans closer, looking at the schematic over Marshall's shoulder.)
Vaughn: Marshall, why does all this cabling run to the control room?
Marshall: Looks like...some sort of filtration system...
(Cut to Vaughn, studying the scematics closer, worried. Cut to closeup of the code hacker. The code is beginning to appear on the screen.)
Sydney: I've got the code; I'm entering it now.
(Cut to Vaughn, still studying the layout over Marshall's shoulder.)
Vaughn: What could it be used for?
(Cut to Marshall)
Marshall: It could be a halon based fire supression system, some alarms...
(Vaughn suddenly picks up a spare comms earpiece from the desk and sticks it in his ear.)
Vaughn: Sydney, stop! You've got the wrong code! The alarm will be triggered by that sequence!
(Cut to Sydney as she was about to type in the code. She stops immediately and pulls her hand away. She listens on her comms to what Vaughn is saying. Cut back and forth between her and Vaughn.)
Vaughn: Remember the security system in Nepal? It's the same system! Those numbers can be converted into a password; that is the real code! Read me the sequence!
(Cut to Vaughn)
Vaughn (aside to Marshall): Give me a pen.
(Marshall swiftly complies while Sydney reads off the code to Vaughn. Dixon watches with concern.)
Sydney (voiceover): 746F70686174.
(Closeup of Vaughn as he studies the number he copied down and translates it into a code. Cut to Weiss' team outside the club.)
Dixon (voiceover): Blue team, stand by.
Weiss: Copy that.
(Cut back to Marshall and Dixon watching Vaughn nervously as he decyphers the code. Vaughn puts down the pen.)
Vaughn: Okay. Tophat...try Tophat!
(Cut to Sydney typing in code. Cut to Marshall's concerned face. Cut to Vaughn's wide eyed concerned face, leaning over the desk, watching the computer screen. The red lights go off. The screen is all green again.)
Marshall: Okay, it worked; the alarm's deactivated.
(Cut to Vaughn, panting a nervous sigh of relief. He stands up, rubbing his forehead. Cut to Dixon, also tense but relieved.)
Dixon: Blue team, the system is disarmed. Move in.
Weiss (voiceover): Copy that.
(Cut to back door of club. One of Weiss' team sets an explosive on the door, they step back, it goes off. The team pulls out their pistols and pull open the back door to go inside. Cut to Sydney hurrying down the hallway. Cut to Weiss' team inside lower basement, guns drawn.)
Vaughn (voiceover): Blue team, I read two guards at your 3 o'clock.
(Weiss and team head in that direction. Cut to two guards heading toward them. They start firing. Weiss' team fires back, shooting both guards. Weiss and team move toward the downed guards.)
Weiss: Space Ops...Guards down.
(Sydney comes running from another corridor. She grabs an entry card and a pistol from one of the guards. Cut to a metal door with a swipe card entry. Sydney swipes the card. The light turns green. She pushes the door open. A man lies on a metal table. A gray haired and bearded man leans over him. As Sydney speaks, the gray haired man starts to reach for a gun.)
Sydney: CIA, freeze!
(The man is ready to fire, so Sydney shoots him. The man falls over backward into a metal storage container. Sydney hurries forward to the man on the table.)
Sydney (In German): I'm CIA. You're going to be okay, Agent Rotter.
(She removes Rotter's gag.)
Rotter: Oh, thank God! Thank God!
(Cut to a very nervous Marshall. Cut to Dixon, who nods to (cut) a very nervous but relieved Vaughn.)
Sydney (voiceover): Space Ops, I have the prisoner. He's okay.
(Cut to Sydney, starting to release Rotter's hands from the table. The evil doctor starts to speak. Sydney picks up her gun again and aims it at him.)
Doctor: You kept your promise. You said you would kill me.
(Cut to Sydney. She's shocked. Cut back to doctor.)
Doctor: You were my favorite...
(Cut back to Sydney. Her mouth drops open. Cut back to doctor.)
Doctor: ...you never broke.
(Sydney suddenly realizes this doctor knows her, has something to do with her lost time. She lowers her gun and rushes over to him. She grabs him by the lapels, shaking him.)
Sydney: Who the hell are you!? What are you talking about!? Wh...why...why did the Covenant take two years of my life!?
(The doctor makes eye contact with her for a moment before closing his eyes and drooping. We see a bullet wound in his chest. Sydney puts her hand over her mouth, gasping and sobbing.)
(Cut to black. LOS ANGELES. Push through the O. LA skyline, daytime. Cut and pan to a man's face as he's talking.)
Man#1: The last thing I remember seeing was the missile threat warning on my cockpit display. The next thing I know, I'm being lifted by a special forces team out of an Iraqi hospital. I still don't know what happened in those 18 months in between.
Woman#1: The hardest thing is...what I do remember: my life before. I can't seem to let go of it.
Man#2: Even worse than not remembering...are the dreams. And I can't tell if they're part of something that really happened to me, or my mind trying to fill in the blanks so I finally can get some answers.
(Cut to reveal a circle of about 10 or 11 people. Sydney is one of them.)
Group Moderator: Thank you, Tom. Well, we have a new member today. Sydney, welcome. If you have anything to say, we'd be happy to hear it.
Sydney: Right now, it just helps to listen, thanks.
Man#2 (Tom): How long you been back?
Sydney: A little over a week.
Tom: The dreams start yet? Nightmares?
Sydney: Nope.
Tom (resignedly): They will.
(Close up of Sydney's face as she feels distinctly unnerved. Cut to Sydney walking down the hallway to Dixon's office, pushing open the door. Dixon is sitting on the edge of his desk. Dixon looks up and starts to stand when he sees her.)
Dixon: Sydney...
Sydney (cuts him off): I appreciate that you think it's good for me to know that there are other people out there who've experienced what I have, but you cannot put me into that group!
Dixon: Sydney...
Sydney (continues, cutting Dixon off again. Her emotions are leaking out: pain, sorrow): Look, I'm not even gonna pretend that it isn't hard to see Vaughn... Do I still have feelings for him? Of course I do. Finding out that...
Dixon (more firmly this time): Sydney. This is Lauren Reed.
(Cut to Lauren, sitting in a chair on the other side of the room.)
Dixon: She's going to be our new liaison to the National Security Council.
(Cut to Sydney. She glances in Lauren's direction, then closes her eyes and smiles, embarrassed that she had her outburst in front of someone else. She tries to compose herself.)
Sydney (to Dixon): I...I didn't mean to interrupt. (to Lauren) I..I didn't know you were here...I..I..I'm sorry.
(Lauren gets up and walks over to Sydney. Lauren appears moved, respectful. She puts out her hand and shakes Sydney's.)
Lauren: It's okay, really.
(Sydney smiles, embarrassed, and turns to leave, but Dixon starts talking to her and she stops.)
Dixon: Apparently, you had a coversation with Bob Lindsay in the men's room of the federal building in which you made your distaste for him abundantly clear.
(Cut to Lauren. She appears a bit disturbed by Sydney's confrontation with Lindsay and appears to want to hear Sydney's answer. Sydney turns around, gives a sideways glance at Lauren as if she wished she didn't have to discuss it in front of this person from the NSC.)
Sydney: I...guess I did.
Dixon: Well...he got the message, because he decided to return to Washington. He's assigned Agent Reed here in his place (Cut to Lauren again. She seems to be assessing Sydney's character. There appears to be a bit of sorrow in her eyes as well, almost as if she might want to cry. Cut back to Dixon.) to assist our efforts against the Covenant. She'll also be looking into the murder of Andrian Lazarey as part of a joint investigation with the Kremlin.
(This makes Sydney nervous. She looks a bit fearfully at Lauren for a split second before saying.)
Sydney: If there's anything I can do to help...
Lauren (in a respectful, almost apologetic tone): You should know, in addition to being the new NSC liaison, I'm also Michael Vaughn's wife.
(Cut to Sydney's reaction. She's stunned. Her eyes widen.)
Sydney (softly, almost a whisper): Hi...
Plan: A: a jailed Sark; Q: Who does Sydney's search for her past lead to? A: their Q&A; Q: What is cut short when Sark becomes the ransom for a pair of abducted CIA scientists? A: whose kidnappers; Q: Who may be tied to the murder of Sydney's father? A: the murder; Q: What is Sydney's father's father's connection to the kidnappers? A: Jack; Q: Who contacts an old friend for info on Sloane's new world peace project? A: Vaughn; Q: Who makes a decision about his future as an operative? A: The episode; Q: What shows a CIA plaque with names of "agents killed in action"? A: Scott Chambliss; Q: Who is the production designer whose name is on the CIA plaque? Summary: Sydney's search for her past leads to a jailed Sark, but their Q&A is cut short when he becomes the ransom for a pair of abducted CIA scientists, whose kidnappers may be tied to the murder of his father. Jack contacts an old friend of sorts for info on Sloane's new world-peace project, and Vaughn makes a decision about his future as an operative. The episode shows a CIA plaque with names of "agents killed in action" which includes below "Bristow Sydney A." the name of production designer Scott Chambliss.