(Continuing from last week. Vaughn's shaving when he sees blood coming from his fingernails. He reaches over and takes out a box of Band-Aids. He puts them on his fingertips. Buttons up a white shirt. Takes his silver watch and puts it on. He looks in the mirror. Later, he's on his cell phone, still at his home.)

DR. NICHOLAS: This is Dr. Nicholas calling.

VAUGHN: Thanks for getting back to me so soon. Uh, the thing is, I think I have a problem.

DR. NICHOLAS: I know you're worried, but we ran every available diagnostic test for viral infections. Everything that could be related to your exposure to the fluid inside the Rambaldi device. They all came back negative.

VAUGHN: Yes, I know. Under my fingernails, there's blood.

(Pause.)

DR. NICHOLAS: Okay, here's what we're going to do. The virus isn't airborne, but as a precaution I'm going to send an isolation unit to bring you in.

VAUGHN: Don't send anyone. I'll come to you. But first, there's someone I need to see.

DR. NICHOLAS: See them later! Right now, you stay put!

(Vaughn hangs up.)

(In his car, he hesitantly looks at his bandaged fingertips.)

(Vaughn is at the entrance to Irina's cell. The bars move aside as he walks down the hall. Inside her cell, Irina sits on the floor reading a book.)

IRINA: I know what you did for me. Proving Sydney's father betrayed her in Madagascar. I would have been ex*cuted for that. Thank you.

VAUGHN: I didn't do it for you.

(Irina gets up and walks to the glass. Vaughn looks down, avoiding eye contact.)

IRINA: While that might be true, I owe you my life.

VAUGHN: You owe me my father's life. In Cap Ferrat, I saw Khasinau experiment on people who had been exposed to the liquid from inside the red ball. I want to know what he learned from doing that.

IRINA: If he found a cure?

VAUGHN: Yes. I know the terms are you only cooperate with Sydney, but this disease, it works quickly. I don't have much time.

IRINA: You're the one who's sick.

VAUGHN: Yes.

IRINA: Tell me how you feel about my daughter.

VAUGHN: That's none of your business.

IRINA: Are you in love with her?

VAUGHN: I don't know why that matters to you.

IRINA: I don't have the advantage of observing casual behavior. I'm curious.

VAUGHN: Help me, and I'll tell you what you want to know.

(At Francie's restaurant, Sydney fixes some flowers in a vase while Will fills up many salt shakers.)

WILL: Okay, tell me if this sounds weird. I mean, can we talk here?

SYDNEY: Hang on.

(She r*fles around in her purse and produces a lipstick. She uncaps it, turns it up, and it beeps. She sets it down on the table.)

SYDNEY: Bug k*ller. In case anyone's listening.

WILL: Seriously? In a lipstick?

SYDNEY: What were you going to say?

WILL: I looked up twenty years of standardized tests to see if any of those IQ-type questions Vaughn's interested in were ever used.

SYDNEY: And?

WILL: They weren't. At least in none of the tests I looked up. But there was a year missing and the educational testing service didn't have a hard copy or a disk. I mean, it is like 1982 never existed.

SYDNEY: Maybe someone had a reason to make it disappear.

(Francie comes over with a pot and a mixing spoon.)

FRANCIE: You've got to try this bouillabaisse that I'm making. Here.

(She gives the spoon to Sydney. She tries it.)

FRANCIE: What do you think? Too spicy, too salty?

SYDNEY: Perfect.

WILL: I'll be done in, like, two minutes.

FRANCIE: Okay, great.

(She goes back to the kitchen.)

WILL: So it's weird, right?

SYDNEY: There was an operation called Project Christmas. My father developed it. It used standardized tests, asking specific questions to identify children the agency could later recruit.

WILL: Children?

SYDNEY: It was an experiment. The KGB sent my mother here to steal details about the program. About that time, the CIA stopped the operation. Vaughn thinks maybe Russian intelligence is still running it to recruit Americans.

(Her cell rings.)

SYDNEY: Hello?

KENDALL: We need you at operations.

(They hang up.)

WILL: I'll tell Francie you said good-bye.

(Sydney walks in the ops center and finds Kendall.)

SYDNEY: Hey, what's up?

KENDALL: It's Vaughn. He's developed symptoms.

SYDNEY: What symptoms? The doctor said we were fine.

KENDALL: Yes, but his exposure was far more extensive. He's developed some kind of a blood coagulation disorder.

SYDNEY: Do we-- are you sure that it--

KENDALL: We're sure.

(Jack walks up to them.)

SYDNEY: Where is he?

JACK: He came to see your mother about an antidote. Shortly after leaving the facility, he collapsed.

(Irina's cell. She sits on her bed reading her book. Sydney walks up to the glass.)

SYDNEY: Is there an antidote?

IRINA: Yes. It can be found in Paldiski. It's a former Soviet training base for nuclear submarine personnel.

SYDNEY: Who operates the base now?

IRINA: When Estonia gained independence, the local authorities graciously accepted our offer to take over the facility. I can tell y8ou were it is in the facility, but even if you can get it, I can't guarantee anything.

(Upstairs at the ops center, Kendall, Sydney, Jack and a specialist stand around in a circle.)

SPECIALIST: This antidote sounds almost as dangerous as the infection. If Derevko is telling us the truth...

JACK: Which is a valid question.

SPECIALIST: Then the serum is a blood derivative. Meaning you just can't get the medecine and inject it into the sick patient.

SYDNEY: How would something like this work?

SPECIALIST: You need blood from the patient. In this case, Vaughn. The equipment that manufactures the serum reads the blood and creates a custom genetic-specific antidote for that particular patient.

SYDNEY: I'll need to take some of Vaughn's blood with me.

SPECIALIST: Yes.

(A man enters the circle.)

KENDALL: This is Agent Chapman, he'll be running the op from here while your father leads the team into Paldiski.

CHAPMAN: According to Derevko, the antidote is located at three separate decontamination stations within the former nuclear facility. We'll launch a zodiac a couple miles up the coast and drop you in as close as we can.

KENDALL: The plane's ready. You can spec out the mission in flight. You've got thirty minutes with Vaughn, maybe less.

SYDNEY: How much time does Vaughn have?

SPECIALIST: There doesn't seem to be a consistent pattern, but the virus could act quickly.

SYDNEY: Are we talking weeks, days? Just tell me.

SPECIALIST: Given his level of exposure, three days would be my guess.

JACK: I'll buy time for us with Sloane. Go.

(Helicopter lands outside the US Naval Medical Center. Inside, Sydney walks up to Vaughn's bed where he appears to be sleeping in a hospital gown, tubes and monitors everywhere. Sydney puts on some rubber gloves and sits down beside him. He wakes up and looks at her sleepily.)

VAUGHN: Hi.

SYDNEY: Hi. I talked to my mother, there's an antidote. I'm going to go get it.

VAUGHN: How dangerous?

SYDNEY: Getting the serum? Nah, it'll be easy. But I need to take some of your blood with me, okay?

(He looks away, in pain. She ties a band around his arm and takes the needle. Sydney injects him with it, taking he blood. His head lolls around. She caps the needle.)

SYDNEY: Couple of days, you'll be doing wind sprints.

(Vaughn takes her hand.)

VAUGHN: Be careful. Syd... sorry I'm so tired.

(Still holding her hand, his eyes close. Sydney sniffles a little and suddenly the monitors start beeping and Dr. Nicholas rushes over, pushing Sydney out of the way.)

SYDNEY: Vaughn! Vaughn!

DR. NICHOLAS: He's bleeding internally!

(Out in the hallway, several doctors push Vaughn's bed down the hall to another room.)

FEMALE DOCTOR: Shall we prepare for a lavage?

DR. NICHOLAS: Yes, have you called the blood bank?

FEMALE DOCTOR: They've already typed and crossed for six units of packed RBCs.

DR. NICHOLAS: Have you reached Dr. Simon?

FEMALE DOCTOR: He's not on call, but Dr. Carlson is on his way in--

(They take Vaughn in another room. Sydney, who was trailing behind, approaches a nurse.)

SYDNEY: Wait, wait, wait! Wait a minute, what's going on? Is he going to be all right?

NURSE: We don't know, but you have to wait here. Your designated cover -- you're with the state department bureau of arms control. Your name is Rita Stevens, give no details about his illness.

(A blonde haired woman goes to Sydney.)

WOMAN: Excuse me, did they tell you anything?

SYDNEY: No.

WOMAN: The paramedics called. "What was his last meal? Is he allergic to any medication?" I got to the hospital as fast as I could... So you work with Michael?

SYDNEY: Yeah. We're in the same bureau at state. I'm Rita.

WOMAN: I'm Alice. I'm listed as his emergency contact. I'm Michael's girlfriend. Excuse me.

(Crying, Alice walks away.)

(Sloane sits in his office, at his desk. He hits the button to open the door when someone knocks. Jack enters.)

JACK: I was contacted by an informant in Baku. He indicated that the triad has set up a listening post near the Armenian border. I took the liberty of assigning the recon op to Sydney. I'll be on the next plane myself.

SLOANE: I went ahead with the exhumation. I opened Emily's grave. It was empty.

JACK: Have you checked with the funeral home? Detailed a forensics unit to the gravesite?

SLOANE: I saw her, Jack.

JACK: Maybe. You can't be sure.

SLOANE: Emily's alive. And she knows what I did. So I am d*ad to her.

JACK: If the Alliance finds out about this from another source--

SLOANE: I just got off the phone with Christophe. I told him that someone was trying to make it look like I faked Emily's death in order to secure my position.

JACK: It was the smart play.

SLOANE: I'm not so sure. Even if they believe me, the timing might make it seem like I was looking for an excuse for my recent performance.

JACK: Are there concerns?

SLOANE: Since I was made a partner in the Alliance, SD-6 has consistently stumbled in its operations. We lost the terahertz wave camera. We failed to retrieve the formula for zero-point energy. We didn't acquire Derevko's operations manual.

JACK: The situation regarding Emily has been a distraction. Informing them puts these setbacks in context.

SLOANE: Christophe wnat sme to meet with him in Tokyo. I need a victory, Jack. I need to bring something tangible to the organization.

JACK: We have an asset in custody downstairs who is familiar with Derevko's operation. I suggest we take advantage of that.

(Klaus Richter is on a table in the conversation room. SD-6's doctor who almost tortured Sydney before Rusik was k*lled last season, stands behind Sloane.)

SLOANE: As the virus progresses, it causes something called ascending paralysis. Your nervous system is being poisoned from your feet up. You see, the paralysis is affecting the nerves that control your ability to breathe. Soon, you will suffocate. Interestingly, you still have feeling, but you're paralyzed. You can still feel both pleasure... and pain. Tell me where is Derevko's base of operations, hmm?

RICHTER: Please...

(Sloane looks at the t*rture doctor. He takes an object out that hisses and then produces a flame like a torch. He presses it down on Richter. Richter screams in pain.)

SLOANE: I want a location.

RICHTER: Aaaah... (sobbing) Smila. Smila.

(On the side of a road, Will waits. A car drives up and Abby -- his British coworker from the newspaper -- climbs out. She walks over to him with a business-sized envelope in her hands.)

WILL: Hey. Thanks for meeting me.

ABBY: So I did the work you asked me to do, but please don't tell me you're chasing some alleged CIA conspiracy again.

WILL: No. I'm just helping out a friend, that's all.

ABBY: Well, you can tell your friend the questions he's interested in weren't on the test in '82.

WILL: Are you sure?

ABBY: Those ridiculously difficult spatial relationship questions? The ones about why rainbows occur and why you have to be standing behind the sun to see them?

WILL: Yeah.

ABBY: Not on there. Sorry.

WILL: Huh.

ABBY: Come on, off the record. What's this all about?

(On the plane to Estonia, Jack gives Sydney the run down.)

JACK: These are propulsion boots. You can do five knots with them. We drop you a hundred yards offshore. You should be at the pier in under two minutes.

(He picks up a g*n with a sil*ncer.)

JACK: Heckler & Koch P-11 underwater p*stol. Holds five rounds of tranq darts. Thing's virtually silent. Good luck.

(In Paldiski, Sydney goes though the water with the propulsion boots. She reaches the side of the building and climbs the ladder up. She takes out two guards with her P-11 and grabs one of their security badges.)

SYDNEY: I'm at stage one, outside the facility.

(Back in LA at the ops center, Chapman and Kendall listen with headsets.)

KENDALL: Copy that, Mountaineer. We're standing by.

(Sydney enters the main part of the building wearing a yellow biohazard protection suit. She sees another worker taking a barrel so she does too. As she walks by, she sees Sark in the control room with a few others.)

SYDNEY: I just spotted Sark.

KENDALL: I don't need to remind you to stay out of sight.

(She goes through the room and enters the decontamination center.)

JACK: (voice over) Our intel indicates that to use the serum generator, you need the security pass code.

(Flashback to on the plane. He gives her a small computer the size of a cordless phone.)

JACK: The jack in this computer, it's got a satellite link that will let us get into the system and provide us with the code you need.

(Back in the center, Sydney takes out the computer and inserts the jack into theirs.)

SYDNEY: I've got sat link. You should be receiving data now.

CHAPMAN: Roger, Mountaineer. Stand by for the pass code. 2664729.

(Sydney enters the numbers as she relays them back.)

SYDNEY: 26647--

CHAPMAN: Wait.

SYDNEY: What?

CHAPMAN: The generators are peripheral to the main system.

SYDNEY: I don't understand.

CHAPMAN: The machine is connected to their central security systems. If you try to generate the serum, their security system will be alerted.

SYDNEY: Can we circumvent the system?

CHAPMAN: Not from here.

KENDALL: Mountaineer, abort the op and head back. We'll find another way to--

SYDNEY: Abort? We don't have time to find something else!

KENDALL: If you use the machine, they'll know you're there.

SYDNEY: Then I'll run fast.

(She punches in the last of the numbers.)

KENDALL: You've been ordered to abort, Mountaineer, do you copy?

(Sydney finishes the procedure by inserting a drop of blood into the machine. The computer starts analyzing the exposure levels in Vaughn's blood. In the control room, one of the employees takes off his headset and goes to Sark.)

CONTROL GUY: Sir, someone has accessed the decontamination room.

(Inside the room, Sydney hears the alarm wail as the machine synthesizes the dosage. When it's completed, she takes the serum and walks out. A few guards sh**t at her. She army rolls out of the way and takes the f*re extinguisher off the wall. When one of the guards goes to her, she hits him in the head with the extinguisher. She kicks the other guard and hits him with the back of his g*n. He falls to the ground. Sydney, now with the guard's g*n, runs down some stairs on her way out. She opens a door, running and gets to the next door. Locked. She goes back, but that door is now locked. She looks up and above her is the control room windows, with Sark looking down at her.)

SARK: Agent Bristow. Those pipes are rigged to disperse ammonia flurochloride. Wonderful for decontaminating metals and concrete. Not so good on organic materials, such as your suit. Or your skin.

(She cocks her g*n and sh**t at the glass protecting Sark. He closes his eyes as the b*ll*ts bounce off the bulletproof glasses. He doesn't even flinch.)

SARK: You and I, we're destined to work together. I truly believe that.

(He hits a button and the ammonia starts pouring down on her.)

SARK: Of course, any future collaboration requires my turning the sprinkler system off.

(Sydney looks as her suit is being disintegrated, melting away. She looks up.)

SARK: Notice your suit is already being eaten away. I'd give it another forty seconds. I could use your help. I need access to Arvin Sloane.

SYDNEY: Why?

SARK: Because I intend to k*ll him.

SYDNEY: I can get you to Sloane, but only if you promise to let me keep the antidote.

SARK: No. Sloane first. Then you'll get back your precious antidote.

(Sydney slowly nods in acceptance of the deal.)

(A naked Sydney stands in an industrial shower, hands over her breasts while men in suits scrub her down with large brushes.)

SYDNEY: (voice over) Sark had me taken to the decontamination room. He let me go. I came back here to Los Angeles.

KENDALL: And Sark never asked you who the antidote was for?

SYDNEY: No. He didn't seem to care.

KENDALL: What exactly did you promise Sark?

(At the operations center, Sydney and Kendall are talking with Jack standing behind them, observing.)

SYDNEY: That I would render Sloane unconscious, and deliver him to Sark.

KENDALL: So he could k*ll him.

SYDNEY: Yes.

KENDALL: There are just so many problems with this that I don't even know where to begin.

SYDNEY: How about we start with Vaughn?

KENDALL: Do I need to remind you that the American intelligence, Agent Bristow--

SYDNEY: You said yourself that Vaughn is in critical condition!

KENDALL: --Are not in the business of committing m*rder!

SYDNEY: Arvin Sloane k*lled my fiance. I have had plently of opportunities to return the favor, but I have chosen not to because, yes, I know, it's not what we do. It's what he does and it's reprehensible! But we have no choice here! Vaughn could be d*ad in two days!

KENDALL: Well, we'll do our best to prevent that. Agent Bristow, you don't collaborate with the enemy like this!

SYDNEY: What the hell would you have done?! There is NO choice here!

JACK: (quietly) Sydney--

SYDNEY: I am NOT going to do nothing!

JACK: Give us a minute, would you?

(Kendall leaves.)

SYDNEY: Don't try and convince me not to work with Sark!

JACK: That's not what I'm doing. I'm on your side here. We can't lose Vaughn.

SYDNEY: So what do we do?

JACK: We don't go through Kendall. Push him, and he'll run it through channels. This needs to be handled quietly.

(Marshall's office. He's working on a polar bear skin rug, inspecting the fur intently.)

JACK: (voice over) Sloane is scheduled to attend an Alliance meeting in Tokyo. I'll find out the details of his itinerary.

(Jack enters the office.)

JACK: My S.T.U. is not recognizing my crypto-ignition key. I need it fixed.

MARSHALL: Fine. Do you know that polar bears can't be detected by infrared photography? Their fur emits no heat. Nothing. Nada. Zip.

(Jack gives him his trademark cold stare.)

MARSHALL: I guess I thought maybe it would be applicable to something I-- Crypto-ignition key. I got to do that from the server room. Excuse me.

(He clears his throat and runs out. Jack calmly walks over to Marshall's computer and starts typing.)

(At Francie's restaurant, Will looks at the tests. Francie comes over and sits down across from him.)

FRANCIE: What's that?

WILL: Oh, it's one of those standardized tests kids take. A friend from the newspaper is interested in me maybe tutoring his kid.

FRANCIE: (flipping through) "Reading comprehension essay. Based on our invasion of Grenada..."?

WILL: Yeah. You know, it was weird. The only test I could download was from 1982. Sort of the height of the Reagan ear, Cold w*r indoctrination.

FRANCIE: Well, back when I was listening to Duran Duran every single day my uncle was one of the marines Reagan sent into Grenada. The invasion was in 1983.

(Will meets with Abby again.)

WILL: I mean, why would the Department of Education give you a fake test? How can I get a hold of a copy of the original test?

ABBY: For the love of God, Will, have you lost your mind?

WILL: I mean, the whole test is a fake.

ABBY: I got it from the Department of Education.

WILL: Abby, Abby, look, I don't know exactly what this means but it could be important.

(Sloane's office with Jack.)

SLOANE: I spoke to our man in custody. All he gave us was a province in the Ukraine. Smila. I sent a team there to search for Derevko's headquarters. So far they've found nothing.

JACK: When do you leave for Tokyo?

SLOANE: I leave in one hour. I need you to help me, Jack. I need you to get Richter to talk, to tell us exactly where in Smila we could find Derevko's center of operations. If I go to Japan without something tangible, something valuable, I don't know what the Alliance might do.

(In the conversation room, the SD-6 t*rture doctor applies the torch to Richter's legs again. He screams.)

JACK: It doesn't have to end this way. You could be made very comfortable. All you have to do is give us an address.

RICHTER: Smila...

JACK: Yes, in the Ukraine. Where in Smila? All we need is an address.

(Richter starts sobbing. Sloane, who had been standing over to the side, comes up in Richter's face.)

SLOANE: Just tell me where the hell Derevko's operation is! You give me an address now, you son of a bitch! Where in Smila do we look?!

RICHTER: (sobbing) Smila... Smila is my wife.

(He starts laughing and sobbing.)

RICHTER: And I love her. I love her so much.

SLOANE: Just k*ll him.

(Will meets with someone in charge of the tests.)

PROFESSOR: You said 1982, right?

WILL: There's a serial number. FYB55L.

PROFESSOR: Popular test.

WILL: Popular?

PROFESSOR: I got a call once from someone at ETS. Said they were centralizing their files. They wanted my originals.

(He finds the folder and gives it to Will.)

WILL: Can you remember if you put any questions in about spatial reasoning?

PROFESSOR: Why would I do that? There's no statistical utility in asking questions maybe one in ten thousand first graders could answer.

(Will points to the sheet.)

WILL: Well, how would you explain a question like this, then? "How can rainbows be seen? Only when the sun is behind the observer." PROFESSOR: This wasn't in the test I sent to ETS. I designe the questions, I proof the test booklets they print up, and then when they send the final corrected copies, I put them on file.

WILL: About how many first graders took this test?

PROFESSOR: They administered this in thirty-three states. That's over five million children.

(Self-storage building. Jack and Sydney meet.)

JACK: Sloane's on his way to Japan. He plans to stay at a Yakuza-run Ryokan, the Nyoshi Ginza. Use the numbers he gave you and contact Sark. Tell him we will hand him Sloane the night before his Alliance meeting.

SYDNEY: Tell me you agree with me, that we have no choice in this.

JACK: Of course we have a choice, and it's a moment I never wanted you to face. To k*ll someone. I'm not talking about self-defence, I'm talking about premeditated m*rder. To be there when the door closes on him for the last time. Knowing you are responsible. That is something you never came close to considering before getting to know your mother.

(In Tokyo, women walk on the grounds of where Sloane is staying, dressed in full geisha outfits. Sydney, in her own geisha uniform, walks in.)

SYDNEY: I'm on the grounds.

(Sark, in a parked car outside, talks to her via transmitter.)

SARK: Good. My associate just arrived to meet your father.

(In Los Angeles, Jack stands outside the US Naval Medical Center where Vaughn is. A car drives up and the back window comes down.)

JACK: Is that the antidote?

ASSOCIATE: Yes. However, the briefcase is security coded with a secondary system wired to a remote detonator.

JACK: As I expected.

ASSOCIATE: Only Mr. Sark has the security code. Until I receive word from him to release the serum, the case remains closed.

(Back in Tokyo, a geisha prepares towels for a massage and rub down. Sloane enters wearing a robe. They gesture at the bed. He takes it off and sits down, looking a little depressed. Outside, Sydney walks and comes to the building.)

SARK: Good luck, Sydney.

SYDNEY: I don't need you to wish me luck, you son of a bitch.

SARK: That's a wonderful attitude.

(She walks up and nods to a gentleman guarding the outside. He speaks Japanese to her. She answers him, probably telling him that she works there. He asks a question and she flips him over, elbowing him in the face. Someone else comes. She hits him with her fan and he kicks her. She does a back flip and kicks him in the crotch, then in the head. He falls. A geisha rubs Sloane's legs. Sydney walks over a bridge and enters the room. She comes in and speaking Japanese to the geisha, gets her to leave. She's now alone with Sloane. He speaks Japanese to her and she answers. Sydney starts the massage.)

SLOANE: Oh... God, I'm tense. Not a big surprise. I saw a man die yesterday.

(He turns over to look at her.)

SLOANE: Do you understand?

(Sydney speaks Japanese, shaking her head.)

SLOANE: Yeah. He was in incredible pain, but it was the love he had for his wife that sustained him.

(She takes a pin from her wig and pulls the end off with her teeth.)

SLOANE: I loved my wife, too. But I had to take action.

(Sydney jabs him in the back of the neck with the pin.)

SLOANE: No...

(He turns over, in pain, and then falls on the bed, unconscious. Sydney runs out and alerts people in Japanese.)

SARK: You are so good, do you know that? (on walkie talkie) Send the ambulance.

(Sark's paramedics takes Sloane out, wearing a mask on his face. They put him inside their ambulance. Sark walks up to Sydney, who is watching.)

SARK: It went well. Look, when I said "Good luck" before, I wasn't mocking you.

SYDNEY: Call in for your man to release the serum.

SARK: (on phone) Hand over the antidote. The security code is 10-11-92.

(In Los Angeles, in the lobby of the medical center, the associate and Jack sit on a bench together. The associate punches in the numbers and opens the briefcase. Jack takes the vial.)

JACK: You'll stay here until we've tested it.

(He goes inside.)

(In Tokyo, Sark climbs in the ambulance with Sloane and his men. Sark looks at Sydney.)

SARK: It was nice working with you.

(Sydney looks at Sloane on the stretcher. Last chance to stop them. She doesn't. The ambulance drives away.)

(Los Angeles. Vaughn is in bed, without the tubes and monitors but still in his hospital gown. He wakes up slowly and looks around, a bit dazed. Jack sits next to his bed.)

VAUGHN: What's happening?

JACK: You've been asleep for forty hours.

VAUGHN: Am I dying?

JACK: Almost. Sydney got the antidote. The doctors say your blood levels are looking good.

VAUGHN: How did she do it?

JACK: She had Sloane k*lled.

(Sydney walks into the SD-6 offices, heading for her desk. She looks in and sees Sloane's empty office. She removes her jacket at her desk and sees someone in the conference room. Sydney walks over, and nearly runs into Sloane.)

SLOANE: Sydney. Good morning.

SYDNEY: Good morning.

SLOANE: You know Mr. Sark.

(Standing beside him in a suit, is Sark.)

SARK: I don't think we've ever been officially introduced.

SLOANE: Mr. Sark is now cooperating with us in our ongoing search for Derevko and the remains of her company.

SYDNEY: He's cooperating.

SLOANE: This is a strategic alliance, Agent Bristow. Debrief him. Take down everything he knows about Derevko and we'll see and decide about what goes on after that.

(Sloane leaves the two of them alone.)

SARK: Agent Bristow, working with you--

(Sydney cuts him off, gestures with her head.)

SARK: Don't worry. I pulsed the bugs. We can reminisce.

SYDNEY: What are you doing here? How?

SARK: I took the ambulance to a remote location. And then I revived him.

(Flashback to Tokyo and inside the ambulance. Sloane is sitting up.)

SARK: Here's the situation. Rambaldi's true aim is a puzzle. I have certain pieces, you have others. We'll never solve his mystery, but together -- together, we cannot fail.

SLOANE: How do I know you have anything real to offer?

SARK: I can prove myself in two ways. The first is obvious. I intercepted communications indicating that there would be an assassination attempt on your life. Now as this conversation proves, I've prevented that.

SLOANE: How do I know you didn't plan the attempt in the first place?

SARK: Which brings me to my second piece of information.

(He takes out a folded piece of paper from his inside jacket pocket and hands it over. Sloane reads it and looks at Sark.)

(Back to the conference room.)

SYDNEY: What was on the piece of paper?

SARK: I'm afraid that's need-to-know.

(Downstairs at the ops center, Vaughn is pushed by someone in his wheelchair. He stops at the start of the hallway.)

VAUGHN: I got it from here, thanks.

(He gets up and walks down the hallway to Irina's cell.)

VAUGHN: You asked me some questions. I told you I'd answer them if you helped me. You did help me and I thank you for that.

IRINA: I didn't do it for you.

VAUGHN: I'm trying to live a normal life, which was always hard given what I do but it's gotten harder since I met your daughter. It's not that knowing her hasn't made my life better. It has. But it's also made it that much worse. I think I've said enough.

IRINA: The problem, Mr. Vaughn, is that to the one person who matters, you haven't said anything.

VAUGHN: Listen, this may not mean anything to you. This may not be something you can understand or appreciate, but we have rules. Very clear and important rules that govern the relationship between a handler and his asset.

IRINA: And between a man and a woman?

(Upstairs, Sydney waits. Vaughn comes up from visiting Irina and sees Sydney. He looks at her. She walks over, smiling.)

SYDNEY: Hi.

VAUGHN: Hi.

(She hugs him, crying.)

VAUGHN: Thank you.

(They break the hug.)

VAUGHN: I heard about Sark.

SYDNEY: Sloane actually brought Sark to the Alliance and presented him as their new ally.

VAUGHN: How did that go over?

SYDNEY: Apparently, Sark was a big h*t. And thanks to me, Sloane's standing has never been higher.

VAUGHN: I understand you met Alice.

SYDNEY: She seems nice.

VAUGHN: Yeah, she is. She's a good person. We have a lot of history, we're trying to... You know we broke up.

SYDNEY: Yeah, you mentioned that.

VAUGHN: Yeah. A couple of months later, we saw each other at a friend's and--

SYDNEY: You don't have to explain.

VAUGHN: No, I know, but I want to. If things were the other way around...

SYDNEY: Seriously... don't explain. I'll see you tomorrow.

(He nods. She walks away. Vaughn watches her as Kendall rushes over.)

KENDALL: Jack briefed me. He and Sydney broke protocol but I'm glad it worked out.

VAUGHN: Excuse me.

(He starts walking to catch up with Sydney. She rounds a corner. Walking faster, Vaughn tries catching up with her. He turns a corner but she's gone. With a little smile on his face, he turns back.)
{"type": "series", "show": "Alias", "episode": "02x07 - Counteragent"}