This was a key factor in the two-part storyline in the second-season episodes "The Abduction" and "A Higher Echelon", where Marshall accompanied Sydney to hack a classified database on-site and was subsequently abducted by a terrorist cell seeking the same information, requiring Sydney to return him to SD-6 when she had made arrangements for him to be picked up by the CIA and told the truth about Sloane and SD-6 after that mission was over.