01x22 - Almost Thirty Years

[destinyros2005]

"Almost Thirty Years" episode #1.22

(In Taipei, Will is dragged into a room by two guards. The doors to the room are very similiar to the ones in he t*rture room in the pilot, so it could be he same room Sydney was in. They throw Will down on a chair and handcuff his ankles to the legs and handcuff his wrists. His face is swollen and bruised. His left eye is swollen shut and blue. Sark follows them in and nods to the guards. They leave Sark and Will alone.)

SARK: My employer instructed me to keep you alive... but not comfortable. So, I'll ask you once. What is the circumference? And how do you know about it?

WILL: Listen to me, man. There's been a major misunderstanding here. I don't know what the circumference is. Do you understand me? I don't know.

(Sark nods and turns. He leaves. Just like in the pilot, we get closer on those doors. They suddenly burst open and the gentleman from that episode walks in. A guard comes in with him and grabs Will by his hair. He yanks his head back.)

WILL: Aahh!

(They pry open his mouth with a clamp. The man leans in close. Will's eyes get wide.)

SUIT AND GLASSES: Hello.

(Back home, Sydney is just waking up. She sits up in bed. Francie comes in with some sheets in a folder and sits down next to her bed.)

FRANCIE: I'm opening a restaurant.

SYDNEY: What?

FRANCIE: Screw it. I have to open a restaurant. I just decided.

SYDNEY: How--what are you talking about?

FRANCIE: I feel like I've been sitting around, waiting for my life to start. My ass is on that couch, like, twelve hours a day.

SYDNEY: Francie, you're about to graduate from business school...

FRANCIE: Yeah, but then what? I don't have a plan. Here's a plan.

SYDNEY: Where is it? Do you already have a place?

FRANCIE: Yeah. It's in Silver Lake. I'm not even sure what it's going to be yet, but--

(Syndey's cell phone rings. She gets up out of bed and answers it.)

SYDNEY: Hello?

SARK: Sydney Bristow.

SYDNEY: Yes.

SARK: I'm calling on this line because I know it's untraceable. Listen to me very carefully. We have your friend and we plan to k*ll him... unless you do the following. There's a document recently stolen from a nightclub in Paris. It belongs to my employer. Now, it appears to be a blank page and it has a great value to him. He wants it back, along with a certain container of liquid. I believe you are familiar with the items to which I am referring?

(Sydney is crying. She tries to answer firmly, as if she isn't.)

SYDNEY: Yes. I am.

WILL: SYD! Don't listen to him! Don't do anything for me!

SARK: You have forty-eight hours. There's an alleyway in Taipei at Ho Ping and Ryuian. Be there Tuesday at midnight.

(On the pier, Sydney and Jack meet. She's crying.)

SYDNEY: The CIA has the page Khasinau wants. SD-6 has the ampule. You and I could get them both and just turn them over.

JACK: We can't afford to blindly hand the enemy something he wants so desperately.

SYDNEY: I don't know much about you. Do you have any close friends? I mean, people that you love?

JACK: I don't need a lecture on friendships to understand what's at stake here. And while I might look at scenarios more strategically than emotionally, you could learn something from my experience. The Rambaldi document Khasinau wants -- he can't make the ink on that page visible without the vial of liquid, the ampule. Reading that page is so important to Khasinau that he risked sending a team into SD-6 to try and steal it.

SYDNEY: You want to get the page and the ampule and see for ourselves what that page is?

JACK: We can't strategize our next move without that information.

(A few minutes later, Jack has his laptop out and he's typing.)

JACK: Getting the ampule from he CIA storage facility should be straightforward. It's recovering the page that I'm concerned about. It was moved to the SD-6 off-site lab for analysis. The lab is on a former m*llitary site near Santa Barbara. It's surrounded by water. You'll have to get in through the drainage system and access requires Sloane's voice ID and fingerprints.

(Her pager goes off.)

SYDNEY: It's Vaughn.

JACK: Khasinau knew about the safehouse. He must have someone on the inside.

SYDNEY: I know.

JACK: As long as there's a mole at the CIA, you can't tell Vaughn a thing. Not that you've been contacted, or that you and I have spoken.

(In the self-storage, Sydney sits on a chair with her head in her hands. Vaughn paces.)

VAUGHN: Sydney, I'm so sorry about this but there's no reason to assume the worst. They used tranquilizers on the security team, which means they weren't out for blood. If this is a kidnapping, they'll contact us.

(He sits down in the chair across from her and she looks up.)

SYDNEY: I'm just so scared for him. You'll contact me if you hear anything?

(He looks in her eyes.)

SYDNEY: Vaughn.

VAUGHN: What's going on?

SYDNEY: What do you mean?

(At the CIA, in Weiss' office, Vaughn paces again while Weiss sits behind his desk.)

VAUGHN: I haven't known Sydney that long, but I feel like I have. Like I know her well enough to know that she doesn't just accept problems. She tries to fix them.

WEISS: So, you think she'll try and get her friend back by using back channels?

VAUGHN: Maybe.

WEISS: And why wouldn't she tell you?

VAUGHN: The safehouse was compromised. She doesn't exactly trust the CIA right now. Would you?

WEISS: Trust is a tricky thing.

VAUGHN: What does that mean?

WEISS: I think you need to fill Devlin in on what you've been thinking about Sydney.

VAUGHN: Not a chance.

WEISS: Michael--

VAUGHN: What, fill him in on conjecture?

WEISS: I know this is a difficult time for you--

VAUGHN: What are you saying?

WEISS: Do not let your concern for Sydney get ahead--

VAUGHN: Eric, that's not--

WEISS: --GET AHEAD of your responsibility to the Agency!

VAUGHN: That's not what I'm doing here!

(Haladki pops his head in.)

HALADKI: Hey, my investigation is on a schedule. You have an appointment with me. You're late.

WEISS: Yeah, I didn't think you'd mind.

HALADKI: Hey, guess what? I do!

(Weiss leaves. When he passes by Haladki, he gives him a little shoulder check.)

(At a beach house somwhere near the ocean, Sloane leads Emily outside where two chairs are placed.)

EMILY: Arvin, this is beautiful... what did you do, did you rent this place for me to recover in?

(He doesn't say anything and guides her over to the chairs.)

EMILY: Stop. You've been quiet since we left the hospital.

(They sit down across from one another.)

EMILY: Arvin, you're scaring me.

(He looks out at the water for a few moments.)

SLOANE: SD-6 is not part of the CIA.

(He leans forward and tells her everything. Her eyes tear up and she looks frightened of him. He gets closer, pleading. She begins to cry, staring at him as he talks. She doesn't say a thing but she begins shaking slightly and crying. He pleads. She shakes and yells something. Sloane gets up and moves away from her. Then he walks away and goes back inside. Emily is shaking and crying. She closes her eyes.)

(In a van, Jack and Sydney debrief.)

JACK: This shirt is made of a heat sensitive material. Get Sloane to touch it. It'll transmit a digital copy of his prints and I'll create a latex duplicate.

(He gives her a watch.)

JACK: This is a wireless relay. It'll log me into Sloane's computer once you're in range of the terminal. I'll acquire the passwords then you'll lead the conversation. He doesn't need to say the actual words. Every word in the English language is comprised of forty-four basic phonemes. He's likely to say most of them in casual conversation. I'll shape them into the words we need. Once you'll leave Sloane's office, you'll have less than an hour to get to the facility before the passwords change.

SYDNEY: Dad... thanks.

(Marshall's office. He's working on something -- not a pop-up book -- when Dixon enters.)

DIXON: Marshall, can you remember back to the Aconcagua operation? Sydney's code name?

MARSHALL: Miss Bristow? It was, uh, Bluebird.

DIXON: Bluebird. So it wasn't Freelancer?

MARSHALL: Freelancer? No, no, it was Bluebird. Definitely.

(Sloane's office. He sits behind his desk looking depressed. Sydney enters.)

SYDNEY: Excuse me. Do you have a minute?

SLOANE: Yeah. Yeah, of course.

SYDNEY: I feel so selfish coming to you like this...

(In the van, Jack sits behind a few monitors and watches Sydney's view on Sloane from the camera she's wearing. He's listening in on the conversation.)

SYDNEY: ...Especially knowing what you and Emily must be going through right now. I'm sorry.

SLOANE: Sydney...

(He gets up and leaves his computer, comes around to talk to her.)

JACK: Okay, Sydney, keep him away from his computer.

(Sydney clicks the watch and pretends to look upset.)

SLOANE: What is it, Sydney? You can tell me.

(He touches her shoulder.)

SLOANE: Come on. You can tell me.

(The transmit from Sloane's touch comes up on Jack's monitor. He tears out the latex duplicate.

JACK: Got his prints. Still accessing central security.

SYDNEY: I don't remember much about my mother. When I think of the things that I miss, the experiences I wish I had with someone... sitting in a garden, talking... look, I think I had those things with Emily and the thought of losing that connection...

(His phone rings on his desk, right by his computer.)

SLOANE: Excuse me.

(It still shows on his computer monitor that Jack is accessing the security. Jack types quickly. He's in. He puts the screen back up. Sloane answers the phone.)

SLOANE: Yeah? I'll be right there.

(He hangs up and comes closer to Sydney.)

SLOANE: When Emily was diagnosed with cancer, the doctors predicted she had six months. That was three years ago.

(Jack, in the van, starts configuring the sounds and manipulating them for the passwords.)

SLOANE: And you know, in a way, we're lucky. Thinking every day may be her last has reminded us how priveleged we are to have her in our lives.

JACK: We still need the consonant "ch," Sydney. As in "choose."

SLOANE: I have to get ready for this meeting--

SYDNEY: Did you and Emily ever think of having children?

SLOANE: What we do here Sydney, is more than just a career. I didn't think it would be fair to bring someone into the world who couldn't really know their father. Seeing the kind of woman you've become, knowing that I had something to do with it... that's as rewarding as if I had a child of my own.

JACK: Bastard.

(He configures the last sound for "choose." Sydney walks out of the office and sees Dixon sitting at his desk.)

JACK: You have exactly fifty-seven minutes before the passwords change.

(She smiles. Dixon smiles back and watches her walk out.)

(In the t*rture room, a drill whirs in Will's mouth. He gasps and screams. Suit and Glasses takes the drill away and wipes it off.)

SUIT AND GLASSES: You had a cavity. Talk to me about the circumference.

WILL: I don't know anything about the circumference... I swear to God... I swear to God... Please...

(He gets out the pliers.)

WILL: No, no... no, no, no, no...

(He comes closer.)

WILL: NOO! Arghhhhhhhhhhh! AHHHHHH!

(Suit and Glasses yanks out a tooth. Will squirms and screams.)

(Sloane's office. The Alliance leader Ramond sits across from Sloane at his desk.)

RAMOND: As you know, the Alliance granted your request to spare your wife. Your argument at the time was that she was suffering from a terminal illness. But that is no longer the case.

SLOANE: Well... I propose we bring Emily in. Emily spent eight years in the state department, she was a senior partner at--

RAMOND: Arvin.

SLOANE: Emily will be an asset here.

RAMOND: If I were in your position, I might try to do the ame but it won't work. I am truly sorry but these are the prescripts of the Alliance.

SLOANE: You don't know the kind of mistake that you are making here.

RAMOND: As I said before, threats will do no good.

SLOANE: This thr*at might. It's not what I'll do if you have Emily k*lled, it's what I won't do. The Alliance is falling apart, Ramond. This organization is crumbling under the weight of corruption, bureaucracy, infighting, fear. With enemies like Khasinau, we live in a new world. Do you tell me that you think the Alliance is going to survive under its current state? We need new leadership. With Briault and Poole gone, there are two empty chairs around the partners' table.

RAMOND: And you want one of them.

SLOANE: I demand one of them.

RAMOND: Arvin, I came here today not only to hear your appeal for your wife but because the Alliance has already voted and they agreement was unanimous. We agree that you should be admitted to full partner.

SLOANE: Good.

RAMOND: However... this offer is contingent on your fulfilling the other matter.

(Sydney drives up, alone, to the water's edge and gets out. She zips up her scuba outfit and puts her mask on. Looks at her watch. Gets her pack on. And dives in. Dixon sits in his car nearby and watches her. Sydney swims, flashlight in hand. She gets to the drainage cover and takes out a torch, removing the grid. She enters.)

(The CIA conference room with Vaughn, Weiss, Haladki and Devlin.)

VAUGHN: So, I'm confused. Why was I called in here?

DEVLIN: Mr. Weiss mentioned that you were suspicious of Sydney Bristow.

(Vaughn looks at Weiss, who is sitting next to him..)

(Sydney enters the building and takes off her mask.)

(At the CIA storage building, Jack drives up and shows his badge to the security officer. She nods and clears him in.)

(Conference room.)

VAUGHN: When I mentioned I was suspicious, I simply meant that Sydney seemed troubled.

HALADKI: But that isn't the word you used, is it?

(Sydney runs in her scuba gear to the security panel. She checks her watch. She has eight seconds left before the passwords change. She takes out the latex duplicate and covers her finger. She takes out a tape recorder and plays the manipulated passwords.)

SLOANE'S VOICE: Rule. Dear. Choose.

(She presses her finger with his fingerprint up to the panel and enters. She runs in the lab and sees the page. She rolls it up and puts it in a can. She runs out.)

(Jack walks in the storage room. He punches in a code and opens the doors.)

(Conference room.)

VAUGHN: What I said was I feel I have an understanding of Sydney Bristow and that she doesn't just accept problems, she tries to fix them.

HALADKI: And that perhaps Ms. Bristow and her father are trying to secure release of Mr. Tippin on their own?

VAUGHN: It was just a conversation. I have--

DEVLIN: Is it your opinion, Mr. Vaughn, that Ms. Bristow is hiding something from you? Hiding something from the Central Intelligence Agency?

(Vaughn looks at Weiss all, "How could you?")

VAUGHN: Yes, sir.

(Jack takes out the ampule and closes the box up.)

(Devlin's office. He's alone and speaking on the phone to the female guard who let Jack through.)

DEVLIN: Yeah, it's Devlin. Records say Jack Bristow checked into your location.

GUARD: Yeah, like, twenty minutes ago.

DEVLIN: Keep him there!

GUARD: Sir... he already left.

(On the shore, Sydney takes off the headgear and shakes out her wet hair. Dixon walks up.)

DIXON: In Aconcagua, when I was sh*t, you radioed for help. You used the call sign Freelancer. Sydney, your SD-6 call sign was Bluebird. I want to give you the benefit of the doubt. I even made excuses for you in my head. Trouble is, I don't believe any of those excuses. Who are you working for? And do not play games with me!

SYDNEY: Dixon, you know that I would never do anything to hurt you. You know that I would never do anything to betray what we believe in!

DIXON: How am I supposed to know what you believe when you've been lying to me? I'm your partner!

SYDNEY: Just think about this for a minute. Just think about everything we've been through. Just think about who I am. Now, what I am going to ask you to do is just accept the fact that I cannot tell you what this is about. What I am doing is classified but Dixon... I swear to you that I am not betraying this country. I could never do that. You know that!

DIXON: I don't need rhetoric, Sydney. Right now, I need a reason not to report you to security section.

(Devlin's office. His telephone rings.)

DEVLIN: Yeah.

(Jack's driving in his car, talking on his cell.)

JACK: It's me.

DEVLIN: Jack? What the hell are you doing?

JACK: I'm saving someone's life.

DEVLIN: Really? Well, you may be destroying another one! You just stole classified property of the United States government!

JACK: You'll get the solution back plus a copy of the Rambaldi page.

DEVLIN: Jack, I have accepted your methodds for a lot of years now but there's a mole hunt going on here.

JACK: Any leads on the mole?

DEVLIN: Well, so far... I'm talking to the guy. I gave Haladki authority to start an inquiry. He's got some good questions. Why you were willing to risk Tippin's life, in the first place, how come you came to know about the circumference? Jack, this doesn't look good. Come back to the office.

JACK: We're friends, you and I.

DEVLIN: What?

JACK: You'd consider us friends?

DEVLIN: Well, I used to. What the hell are you talking about?

JACK: I'll see you when the job's done.

(He hangs up. Devlin covers his mouth with his hand.)

(In the Taipei t*rture room, Suit and Glasses picks up a jar of yellow liquid and a very large syringe.)

SUIT AND GLASSES: A gentleman I know makes this... truth serum. I would have used it earlier except that one in five men who receive it has an unfortunate reaction.

(He injects the syringe with the serum. Will's head is hanging low and blood drips down from his mouth onto his sweatshirt.)

SUIT AND GLASSES: Results in... paralysis, among other things.

(He finishes loading up the syringe and grabs Will by the neck.)

WILL: Aahh...

(Suit and Glasses injects the serum into Will's neck.)

WILL: Owww... oohhhh...

(Will breaks down. He starts shaking a little. Suit leans in close. Will starts sobbing.)

SUIT AND GLASSES: Tell me about the circumference.

WILL: (sobbing) I don't know... I don't know...

(Litvack's office at Will's newspaper. Abby stands before her desk while Litvack reads the article.)

ABBY: It's been six days. Will warned me something might happen. He didn't even turn up to his own awards dinner. Called his friends, they haven't heard from him either. Are you going to publish his story?

LITVACK: Yeah. In the "A" section. I have to tell Deitrick that this is coming in. Call Orsay in graphics, get a photo of Will!

(In a garage, Sydney wipes the solution on the page and the ink slowly appears.)

SYDNEY: Then Dixon just turned and walked away. I think he's going to report me.

JACK: If we have to dela with that crisis, we'll deal with that crisis.

(All of the ink appears and it shows the designs and instructions for the Mueller device from the pilot. The U-shaped base with a red floating ball. Sydney gets a flashback.)

SYDNEY: Oh, my God...

(She remembers how when she unlatched the sides, the ball exploded and liquid came out.)

SYDNEY: This device... I took it from Taipei last year.

JACK: Two weeks ago an unsubstantiated report came in through CIA claiming Khasinau's been looking for something called the circumference. Instructions describing a method of applying technology Khasinau had acquired. This must be the circumference.

SYDNEY: So if Khasinau built one of these devices this page would tell him how to use it.

JACK: (nods slowly) Keep this safe...

SYDNEY: Wait, Dad, what are you doing? We have to be in Taipei in sixteen hours.

JACK: Keep your phone with you. I'll call you when the plane's ready. Don't go home.

(That night Haladki walks to his car. His car alarm chirps. He climbs in and is about to start the engine when he's grabbed from behind. His attacker drags him to the back seat. Haladki kicks and tries to scream. Jack presses a g*n to his throat.)

JACK: How the hell did you know about the circumference?

HALADKI: You are out of your mind, you know that?

(Jack calmly slams his g*n into Haladki, knocking him out.)

(Garage. Jack walks and picks up a spray bottle filled with a liquid. He calmly walks over to Haladki who is spread out on a table on his back. His hands are in two wood vices. Jack sprays it on his face to make him wake up.)

HALADKI: Aughhh... dammit, my eyes! Ahhh! Oh, God!

(He sees that his hands are in the vice.)

JACK: How long have you worked for Khasinau?

HALADKI: You sick SON OF A BITCH!

JACK: Devlin said you mentioned the circumference.

HALADKI: I want to see you BURN IN HELL, you HEAR me?

JACK: You don't have the clearance to know what that is.

HALADKI: You BASTARD!

JACK: You must have learned about it from the outside.

HALADKI: You SON OF A BITCH!

(Jack twirls the vice and tightens it. Haladki's fingers cr*ck and break.)

HALADKI: Ahhh!

JACK: Do you work for Khasinau?

HALADKI: No!

(He tightens it some more. Crunch.)

HALADKI: Ahhhhhhh!

JACK: Do you work for Khasinau?

HALADKI: You son of a bitch!

(Jack tightens it even more. Haladki's hand crunches under the pressure, breaking.)

HALADKI: YES! I work for Khasinau, yes!

(Jack presses his g*n to Haladki's throat.)

JACK: How long?

HALADKI: Two years!

JACK: Why does Khasinau want the circumference?

HALADKI: It's the key to something he's had built!

JACK: Something he's built. Tell me about it.

HALADKI: It's a battery! All I know is it's just a battery!

JACK: For what?

HALADKI: I swear I don't know! Jack, Khasinau's the future!

JACK: Where is this thing? This battery?

HALADKI: It's in Taipei! The Fu Sing district, at a warehouse! Pang Pharmaceuticals! In an underground lab, in room forty-seven!

JACK: You gave Khasinau the information about the safehouse.

HALADKI: Jack, this is a gift I'm giving you! Khasinau can save you! You should be with him!

JACK: You told him that my daughter is a double agent with SD-6.

HALADKI: Jack, look at yourself--

JACK: You exposed Sydney!

HALADKI: Come with me! I can save you! I can save you!

(Jack looks in Haladki's pleading eyes. Jack stares. sh**t him.)

(Train station. Sydney sits curled up in a chair.)

ANNOUNCER: Attention, passengers. "Pacific Surfliner" to San Diego departing from platform five in fifteen minutes...

(Vaughn sits down on the other side of the seats. Their backs are to each other.)

VAUGHN: Hey.

(She looks and then looks away.)

SYDNEY: Hi. How did you find me?

VAUGHN: You told me a couple of months ago that when you feel the need to disappear, you go to the observatory. But the observatory was closed. And then I remembered you said the pier calms you down. But you weren't there. And you weren't at the bluffs and the palisades, either.

SYDNEY: You didn't really go to all those places.

VAUGHN: Yeah, I did. And then I remembered you liked the train station, too. Normal people going to their normal jobs.

SYDNEY: I can't believe you remember that.

VAUGHN: He's contacted you, hasn't he? Khasinau? And he wants the page. You're going to give it to him.

SYDNEY: (crying) You came here to stop me.

VAUGHN: My father used to keep a diary and when I was a kid I used to say, "Hey, Dad, only girls keep diaries," and he'd just laugh. He was a really good guy, my dad. Yeah. But he was too hard on himself. I mean, he was such a company guy that whenever he slipped up even in the slightest way he took it so personally. There were a few operations -- his last one among them -- that he questioned. Operations he refused to participate in. But only in his diary. He'd write out what he wanted to say to the CIA director. I mean, things he could never say in real life. He was a company man, and I loved him very much. But it k*lled him, never questioning orders. His blind devotion to the job. If you're doing what I think you're doing, I'm in if you need me.

SYDNEY: Thank you.

(On the plane, Jack, Sydney and Vaughn sit together and go over the mission. Jack has several surveillance photos of Taipei in front of him.)

SYDNEY: Who told you about this?

JACK: I found a source. Khasina's already built one of these devices and it's in this warehouse. In an underground lab, room forty-seven. The meeting with Sark is scheduled to take place in two hours from now. That means by the time I hand over the page in exchange for Tippin, you must have destroyed not ony the device they've built but the lab itself.

SYDNEY: Destroying the device should be easy. It's the size of a shoe. What about the lab?

(Jack gives her a bag.)

JACK: Here. It's a red mercury charge with a mechanical fuse.

(A red light flashes over their head and a buzzer goes off.)

SYDNEY: I'll see what they need.

(She leaves them alone.)

JACK: I understand the risks you've taken here and you have my respect for that.

(Vaughn nods.)

(t*rture room. Suit and Glasses talks to Sark.)

SUIT AND GLASSES: If he knew anything about the circumference, we would have heard it.

SARK: I suspected as much. Prepare Mr. Tippin for the exchange.

(Will watches, looking completely dazed from the serum. His shoulders are hunched over and he stares at the ground, twitching slightly. The two guards and Suit and Glasses walk in. S&G snaps his fingers. The guards take off the handcuffs. As soon as they're off, Will leaps to his feet and knocks down the guards. He takes the needle from the tray beside him and lunges at Suit and Glasses. He stabs him in the neck with the needle.)

WILL: One in five, you little bitch! ONE IN FIVE!

(The guards scramble and get up. They come after him but Will elbows them in the face.)

WILL: One in FIVE!

(Will crazy laughs as the guards get up again and drag him out of the room. As Will passes Suit and Glasses, he kicks him hard, still laughing. Suit and Glasses gasps for air.)

WILL: (high pitched laughter) ONE IN FIVE!

(Sloane's mansion. In the dining room, an operatic aria plays. Dinner is on the table. Emily sits in front of her plate. Sloane puts his back to her and opens a small package of powder. He sprinkles the substance in her wine glass and puts it in front of her. He takes his seat across from her.)

EMILY: Arvin... I can't judge you for what you do. I was never there, I was never faced with the choices you had to make and I have never... What I'm trying to say is... I forgive you.

(He tries not to break down. He looks at her wine for a second. She picks it up and he tries to smile, but can't. He picks up his own glass. She takes a big drink. With tears in his eyes, he takes a drink from his own glass. He looks at her and smiles weakly.)

(Taipei club. Sydney is wearing a blue chin-length wig and a black bra with black netting over it. Dog collar. Vaughn's in a long leather jacket with his hair spikey. They walk in the club together and weave through the dancing people. A guy comes up and leers at Sydney. Vaughn stares for a second and shoves the guy away. She smiles. They take hands and walk off together. They walk through the club and go to the back. She breaks open the lock and they go inside. They drill out a panel and climb through to the underground level.)

(In an alley, Jack drives up and gets out of his car. A limo drives up. Jack stands by his vehicle, waiting. Sark gets out of his white limo.)

SARK: Jack Bristow doing his daughter's work. There was speculation that you might make an appearance tonight.

JACK: If you're not comfortable with me, we can waive our business for the night and say good-bye.

SARK: Are you comfortable? Do you feel comfortable trading priceless documents for a low-grade reporter?

JACK: You should read Tippin's stuff. It's not so bad.

SARK: Let's see the artifact.

JACK: Let's see Tippin.

(Sark turns and nods. The door opens and Will is being held up by another goon. He's covered in blood and his head wobbles a bit. Jack blinks at how bloody Will looks. Then he focuses again.)

SARK: Shall we?

(Jack opens the suitcase on the hood.)

SARK: You've exposed the page.

JACK: You would have done the same thing.

(In the underground level of the club.)

VAUGHN: When I activate the surge inducer, you'll have ten seconds to cross the hall before the system resets.

SYDNEY: I'll go radio silent until I'm in the lab!

VAUGHN: Good luck!

SYDNEY: You, too.

(They run off.)

(In the alley, Sark examins the page closely.)

SARK: The parchment fibers are consistent with the other Rambaldi documents. Yes. We have a deal.

(He nods again. The goon brings Will forward. Sark closes up the suitcase.)

SARK: Please pass along to your daughter how much I enjoyed her stage show in Paris. She has a marvelous singing voice.

(He walks away, smirking. The goon pushes Will forward. They get in their limo and drive away. Jack looks at Will. For a moment it looks like Will might fall to the ground like a sack of exhausted flour. Will stumbles closer to Jack... and hugs him.)

WILL: Thank you.

(Jack looks uncomfortable, not used to this.)

WILL: (sobbing) Thank you...

(Jack puts a hand on Will's back and pats him gently.)

(Vaughn makes the cameras in the control room go down. Sydney runs down the hallway and opens the door. She runs down another hallway. Two guards come her way. She kicks one in the stomach and he bangs in to the one behind him. She elbows the first one. He bends over in pain. Sydney rolls over on his back and kicks the other guard in the face. She kicks the one behind and roundhouse kicks the other one. The guards go down. Sydney grabs her bag and runs down the hallway to room forty-seven. She hits the red button and the door slides open. She walks inside and turns a corner, looking around. Then she looks up, up, up, up. She gets closer. The red ball is definitely not the size of a shoe. It looks ten stories high.)

SYDNEY: Vaughn... it's bigger than I thought.

VAUGHN: Syd, I can't hear you!

(The feed on Vaughn's end is crackling.)

SYDNEY: If I turn this thing off, I'm going to have to swim out of here.

VAUGHN: You're breaking up! Syd? Syd, I'm coming down!

(Vaughn starts running. In room forty-seven, Sydney looks at the prongs that she unlatched in the first episode. They're the size of large pillars now. Two guards run up to her and yell, their g*ns pointed. She runs from them and ducks behind some boxes. She runs around and finally attaches the expl*sive to the Mueller device and runs out. One of the guards run up, sees the expl*sive beeping and he yells. The expl*sive goes off and the guards fly in the air. Sydney runs from it all. The fire gets closer to the red ball and it bursts. The liquid starts rushing out. Sydney runs. Vaughn is also running, but towards the water and Sydney. They meet at the end of a hall. He watches as the liquid starts rushing toward them. Sydney is running fast and motions for him to go. She runs up to him and grabs him by the chest, getting him out of there. They turn another corner and run down the hallway to get out of there. Sydney's ahead of him. She scrambles for the door where she punched the red button to get inside. The door's sliding closed. She runs in, tries to hold on to the door to keep it open for Vaughn to escape, but the door closes. Vaughn looks at her through the window in the door. The water's creeping up behind him. The force of it all slams Vaughn against the door. Sydney grabs the fire extinguisher and starts banging it against the window to get him out but it doesn't work. She hits it again. And again. And again. Vaughn stares at her, engulfed in the liquid. He motions behind her and to get out of there, but she won't stop. She bangs the fire extinguisher against the window again. His eyes close. She keeps on, frantic now. Vaughn disappears. A guard from behind takes Sydney down. She elbows him in the face and gets up. Vaughn's gone. Someone hits Sydney across the face.)

(In another t*rture room, Sydney is handcuffed to the chair. Just like in the pilot, she has blood dripping down from the corner of her mouth. She wakes up and sees Khasinau standing before her with a tray of food. He sits down.)

SYDNEY: You're Alexander Khasinau.

KHASINAU: You should eat something.

(He takes a spoonful of food and offers it to her.)

SYDNEY: I'm not hungry.

(He nods and puts it back down. He gets up to walk out.)

SYDNEY: Wait. I have questions for you.

KHASINAU: You can ask my boss.

SYDNEY: Your boss? I thought The Man was the boss.

KHASINAU: Yes. Yes, but I am not The Man.

(Sydney watches as a woman walks in. Sydney's eyes get big as the woman stands in front of Sydney.)

THE MAN: I have waited almost thirty years for this.

SYDNEY: Mom?