01x07 - Color Blind

[destinyros2005]

"Color Blind" episode #1.07

(Sydney stares at Fisher's dead body. She looks around frantically, and runs out of the office. She runs down a hall, tries a door.)

ORDERLY: HEY!

(She turns to see an orderly headed her way. She runs down a hall, he's following right behind. Sydney goes into a room, closes the door behind her and runs for the back door. It's locked. She tries a window nearby, slams on it. The orderly enters. Advancing on him, Sydney gets into a fighting stance. He comes closer, tries hitting her. She hits him. He slams her knees with the shocking wand. Sydney falls to the ground, and on her back, kicks him in the chin/neck. The orderly stumbles back and she takes his keys, grabbing the wire/string on it, and tries strangling him with it. Another orderly comes in with a tranquilizer. Sydney holds the first orderly that she was strangling in front of her, the second orderly sh**t the first orderly with a dart instead of her. She drops him. Suddenly, Sydney arches up, in shock. She turns to see Dr. Kreshnik standing with a tranquilizer g*n behind her. She's sh*t in the back with a dart. Woozy, Sydney teeters from side to side and then falls in a heap on the floor.)

(SD-6, Sloane and Jack are in a meeting room together.)

SLOANE: Jack, I thought you should know Sydney and Fisher missed their scheduled contact. What are you thinking?

MR. BRISTOW: Worst case is they're not alone in there. Maybe someone posing as a patient, or a doctor.

SLOANE: Come on, Jack. Sydney's a smart kid, we've seen her through worse than this.

MR. BRISTOW: Maybe not.

SLOANE: Maybe not. But, I believe in her. I believe in her as if she were my own daughter.

(Mr. Bristow freezes. Sloane's saying this in a way that he's almost threatening, getting his point across.)

MR. BRISTOW: That's nice to hear. (gets up) When's her next scheduled contact?

SLOANE: Ten hours. Then we'll know how hot the water is.

(Asylum. Sydney lays in a t*nk of water with electrodes on her head. Dr. Kreshnik and an orderly stands above her. She gasps.)

DR. KRESHNIK: Let us not waste time. I know that you work for SD-6, I know that you are here to find out where Martin Shepard buried Perkashov. That you need Perkashov's DNA to read FTL code. What I do not know is whether you have succeeded.

SYDNEY: Since we're not playing games, which is refreshing, I'd like to know who's asking.

DR. KRESHNIK: My affiliation is unimportant.

(He nods to the orderly. The orderly switches a dial up, a slight buzzing can be heard.)

DR. KRESHNIK: You have until the machine charges. Answer my question.

SYDNEY: Wait, this can't be the best version of this conversation! Look, Shepard didn't talk! I don't know where Perkashov is buried! Wait, I'm telling you, I don't know anything! Wait!

(The electric charge crackles. Sydney flops in the water, electrocuted.)

(Mr. Bristow enters a Chinese restaurant.)

JOEY: Ah, Mr. Bristow, your usual table is waiting for you, sir.

MR. BRISTOW: Thank you, Joey.

(He enters a tea room in the back where Vaughn waits. Upon entering, Vaughn stands.)

VAUGHN: Mr. Bristow, I'm sorry about the--

(Mr. Bristow grabs Vaughn, twists his right arm back and slams him against the wall. Vaughn cringes and faces the wall, his head turned back. Mr. Bristow takes out a g*n and aims it high enough so Vaughn can see.)

MR. BRISTOW: Who are you?

VAUGHN: Uh, I'm CIA operations officer Vaughn. I'm Sydney's handler. I cleared this meeting with Devlin. Cretchmer walked me through your S.O.P., we're safe.

(Mr. Bristow lets him go, puts his g*n away.)

MR. BRISTOW: Are Sydney and I switching handlers, or is this a special occasion?

VAUGHN: No. We have a problem.

MR. BRISTOW: Fisher hasn't made contact. I know.

VAUGHN: No, we believe K-Directorate had an agent waiting in the hospital.

MR. BRISTOW: SD-6 doesn't have confirmation of that.

(Mr. Bristow sits.)

VAUGHN: C.I.A. does. We have an extraction team waiting on the ready line out of Serbia. I want to pull Sydney out of there.

(Mr. Bristow stares at the standing Vaughn with much contempt and maybe a little disgust on his face. He looks at the empty chair, as if it's impolite that Vaughn isn't sitting. Vaughn notices and takes a seat like he's a schoolboy waiting to be punished by the principal.)

VAUGHN: I was hoping that maybe we could coordinate this together.

MR. BRISTOW: Mr. Vaughn, you're young and you're eager, and I understand that. But one thing you're not, and this is something only time can provide, really... is wise.

(He casually pours tea and takes a drink.)

VAUGHN: You don't think this is the right move.

MR. BRISTOW: Listen carefully, Mr. Vaughn. Even with a minimal extraction team, you can't guarantee containment. And if Sloane finds out, Sydney's dead anyway.

VAUGHN: Retire her early. Pull her out of service!

MR. BRISTOW: And in the process, expose her operations at SD-6.

VAUGHN: Sydney's life is worth the risk!

MR. BRISTOW: Not to Sydney! Taking them down is what gets her up in the morning. Or... did you think it was those meetings she has with you?

VAUGHN: Hey! What is your problem with me?

MR. BRISTOW: You pulled my file last week, that's my problem, Mr. Vaughn. Now, did curiousity get the better of you, or were you trying to impress my daughter?

VAUGHN: (sighs) She thinks you were KGB. But, I'm sure you already knew that. So, what I'm wondering is what were you doing checking up on me checking up on you?

MR. BRISTOW: This meeting is over.

(He leaves Vaughn sitting at the table alone.)

(In the interrogation room. Sydney lays in the t*nk, her body limp.)

DR. KRESHNIK: Shepard told her nothing. She would've talked by now. k*ll her.

SYDNEY: You can't t*rture Shepard for information... Electroshock won't work. FTL trained him to forget everything you did. That's why you're here posing as a shrink. You're K-Directorate... aren't you?

DR. KRESHNIK: What makes you think I work with K-Directorate?

SYDNEY: Your accent's Georgian. Georgia, former Soviet Union -- their main recruiting ground. Shepard thinks I'm a patient. He's more likely to tust me than you.

DR. KRESHNIK: Except he has already att*cked you.

SYDNEY: Which I could use to seal his transference by bringing his guilt to the surface and then forgiving him.

DR. KRESHNIK: I suppose you'd like your life in return. If you'll get Shepard to recall the location of Perkashov, you might just live out your life in a Chechnyan internment camp. You have until lockdown tonight.

(The orderly takes off the wrist braces that hold Sydney's arms above her head. She breathes heavily and rubs her wrists gratefully.)

(Outside the asylum on a terrace, Shepard sits alone, crouched down. Sydney, dressed in the clothes she had on before, steps out the window onto the terrace. She approaches.)

MARTIN: Stay away from me...

SYDNEY: I'm here to help you.

MARTIN: I don't want your help. I'm not open to your help.

SYDNEY: I think I know what's happening to you.

MARTIN: I'm sure you do, because you're one of them. You know the words that are going on in my head! I know I've seen you somewhere before... I've seen you before...

SYDNEY: (confused) No, you haven't.

MARTIN: I thought I was safe here. I thought I was safe here. I thought I was safe here.

SYDNEY: What I'm about to say to you is the truth, so you got to listen to me.

(She touches him on the arm but he flinches and jerks away.)

SYDNEY: They're going to k*ll us both if we don't help each other to get out of here.

MARTIN: Then you've got a real problem, because I'm not leaving here. I would rather die than leave the way I am now.

(He leaves and goes back inside. From up above, Dr. Kreshnik looks.)

(A patient is wheeled by. Sydney is taken down the hall with an orderly, who is grabbing her arm.)

ORDERLY: Do you have the chart Dr. Kreshnik asked for?

(She sees two orderlies behind her. One takes a key and puts it in one lock. The other orderly takes a similar key, puts it in the other lock on the other side of the door. The red light above the door turns green, the security buzzer goes off, and it opens the exit door.)

(In a solarium, the orderly pushes Sydney in. She gives him a dirty look, but sees Shepard sitting at a table by himself, drawing. He's drawing a bare tree blowing in the wind, with a yellow sky.)

SYDNEY: Yellow sky. Interesting choice.

MARTIN: I told you, stay away from me.

SYDNEY: I know that you're starting to remember some things, and I know you think that I had something to do with them, but I didn't.

MARTIN: Piss off.

SYDNEY: You can't see colors, can you?

MARTIN: Who are you? If you're not one of the people that did this to me, then how do you know that?

SYDNEY: I'll tell you what you need to know, but first you have to help me. I was sent here to get some information from you, but I don't even care about that anymore. All I care about is that the main exit door has a duel-key lock. That means it takes two people using two keys at the same time to open the door.

MARTIN: I told you, I'm not leaving here.

SYDNEY: No, please believe me. There are other people here who want to find out what's in your head, and when they don't, they will k*ll us both.

MARTIN: You want me to believe you, but you don't tell me anything! I know I've seen you somewhere.

SYDNEY: Okay, okay, look... you were trained. You were programmed to follow orders.

MARTIN: Whose orders? Whose orders? To do what? To do--

SYDNEY: To k*ll.

MARTIN: No...

SYDNEY: The things you're remembering, they're real. Look, I know it's hard to hear. Listen--

MARTIN: No... no... no...

(He stands, taking his drawing.)

SYDNEY: You just have to accept that you did these things! When you're following orders--

(Martin bolts. Sydney contronts him, he backs against the window.)

SYDNEY: When you're following orders, you're trained to see everything in black and white! To keep you detached from what you have to do! Look, you're not supposed to remember everything, but you are! Your training must be short-circuiting. Look, what you did--

MARTIN: (whimpering) Yeah, yeah... stop... stop...

SYDNEY: (frantic) It's so painful to remember that you're seeing in black and white all the time, it's a defense mechanism! But it's good! It means you're starting to heal! You're starting to get better and better!

MARTIN: STOP IT, PLEASE! GUARD! Take me to my room...

GUARD: (to other) Take him. (to Sydney) Lockdown!

SYDNEY: Tell Dr. Kreshnik I have the information he needs.

(At the newspaper, Will sits at his desk. Jenny comes by.)

JENNY: A memo from legal about reporters quoting other reporters.

WILL: What's it say?

JENNY: Cut it out. Happy Thanksgiving!

WILL: Thanks, Jenny!

(He sees a computer on a colleague's desk. A picture of Eloise/Kate is shown, with a headline underneath. The reporter's working on the layout.)

WILL: (standing) Hey, can you scroll back down for a second?

REPORTER: Did you get the memo?

WILL: Can you just show me the damn picture?

REPORTER: All right, jeez. Her name was Eloise Kurtz. Local girl. Found sh*t to death in Echo Park. Did you know her?

(In another room, Will and his boss.)

WILL: She said her name was Kate Jones, but it was really Eloise Kurtz. She was my source in the Danny Hecht investigation. That means she was more than a source, she was involved somehow! She was trying to tell me something, and now she's dead!

BOSS: You're not hearing me, Will. I am not saying there is nothing here.

WILL: You won't even publish this even though I was investigating one m*rder, and now thare are two? I mean, isn't that enough?

BOSS: The fastest way to be discredited is to author a conspiracy theory without background. Believe me, I have seen this. You might as well publish your own homepage.

WILL: Will you at least just take a look at my notes?

BOSS: Leave them on my desk when you go. I'm not telling you to drop this, I'm not being a monster. I'm telling you to bring it back to me when it's more developed.

(Asylum. Shepard is in bed, alone, on his back. He's whimpering in his sleep, his head rolling back and forth. He hears voices murmuring, a bird flying by. Black and white flashes of a person, for a second. Martin whimpers. Another flash. It's a back of someone's head. Martin's eyes flicker, he moans in his sleep. We see that the person is Danny. Black and white flash of a framed picture. It slowly comes into focus, and it slowly comes into color. It's a framed picture of Sydney, sitting in front of a birthday cake with a banner behind her that says "Happy Birthday Sydney." Martin's eyes pop open in fear.)

MARTIN: Oh, my God.

(In another part of the asylum, Sydney is being ushered down some stairs by an orderly.)

ORDERLY: We are coming to you now, Doctor.

SYDNEY: What is that tattoo on your arm? Spitznas Special Forces? I almost got a tattoo once. I was on the guy's chair--

(She punches him, kicks him. He tumbles down the stairs, and falls to the ground, unconscious. Sydney takes the keys from his belt.)

(Sydney walks down the hallway in the asylum, nearing the security door, dressed in a janitor's uniform. She has a hat on, her hair tucked underneath. An orderly meets her with a platter of pills. He stops, stares at her. She keeps walking, trying to go unnoticed. In front of the security door, she takes out her mop and mops the floor, waiting for everyone to pass. She's now alone. She whips off the head of the mop and attaches the key from the other orderly on to the head of the mop. Standing, she holds the mop out in one hand and tries to put the key in the lock on the other side of the door. She misses, and then it slides in. Stretching, Sydney takes another key and puts it in the lock on the other side of the door nearest to her. Both keys are in. She's about to turn them and is about to escape, when she's zapped from behind by the orderly she met in the hallway. She falls.)

DR. KRESHNIK: Take her.

(The doctor and the orderly both take Sydney down the hallway. She struggles. They take her down a hall, but suddenly Shepard comes out of a room with a fire extinguisher and hits Dr. Kreshnik on the back of the head. He falls. Sydney punches the orderly, kicks him. She jumps and kicks him. He falls to the ground. She takes the orderly's electric shocker and zaps Kreshnik. He falls back to the floor.)

SYDNEY: Hurts, doesn't it?

(She takes his keys.)

MARTIN: You're right, I don't want to die in here.

SYDNEY: How did you get out of your room?

MARTIN: Oh, I've got good at it. I pretended--I pretended to swallow my tongue, and I lifted the keys. (shows them)

(Sydney stares at him. She takes the keys and runs to the door. She goes to one lock, Martin goes to the other. He puts the key in, and stops. He's scared. He looks at Sydney.)

SYDNEY: Hey, look at me. You can do this.

(He stares at her, shaking slightly.)

SYDNEY: You think I'd help you get out of here if I thought you'd k*ll someone?

MARTIN: Unless you're planning on k*lling me.

SYDNEY: (sincere) Why would I do that?

(He stares at her intently. She gives him an encouraging nod, and squeezes his shoulder gently. He nods. She nods. Together, they slide the keys in and they run out. A car drives down the street in front of them and stops when the driver sees Sydney and Martin come out of the asylum. Sydney runs to the driver's side, the man steps out. She punches him, taking him down, and takes the g*n.)

SYDNEY: Sorry. (to Martin) Get in!

(He climbs in the passenger side, and they peel out.)

(At SD-6, Marshall is listening to music in his office on some headphones, typing on a keyboard. He bops along to the music. Sloane enters. He takes them off, startled.)

MARSHALL: Whoa. Hey, company. (jumps up) Uh, here. I'm totally a mess in here. Sorry. Let me just--I wasn't really expecting anyone!

(He clears off a jacket that was on a big red inflatable chair. It should belong in a college dorm, really. Sloane stares at him.)

MARSHALL: Want to have a seat? I got a minor form of scoliosis, so the air ergonimically hugs me. (hugs himself) Oh, you want to stretch out? I can inflate the couch.

(He holds up an inflatable couch that's not inflated yet.)

SLOANE: I'll stand.

MARSHALL: Oh, by the way, I scanned every byte of the computer network. You'll be happy to know no more virus. That leak is plugged. Even better news, since it was exporting files at such a low bandwith. Only three per cent--

SLOANE: Marshall, the virus was a security section drill.

MARSHALL: A drill? Like a test?

SLOANE: You were the only one who caught it, and much faster than anyone anticipated. So, good work.

MARSHALL: Um, I--I--I mean, that leak was transferred over an unsecure net connection. Isn't that a little risky?

SLOANE: Security section was surveilling it the whole time. I just wanted to let you know.

MARSHALL: Okay, thanks...

(Sloane leaves.)

(Cabin in the woods. Shepard sits in front of the fire, staring at nothing. Sydney flips over a mat, and takes out a panel of a false floor. There's a kit in there. Sydney opens the lid and finds packaged food and a cell phone. She dials.)

(Mr. Bristow drives down a street in Los Angeles and answers his phone.)

MR. BRISTOW: Yes.

SYDNEY: Dad? Where's Vaughn?

MR. BRISTOW: I had his number forwarded. Are you all right?

SYDNEY: I'm at the safe house.

MR. BRISTOW: Any trouble finding it?

SYDNEY: It only took six hours of driving through the forest in the dark.

MR. BRISTOW: Is Shepard with you?

SYDNEY: Yes.

MR. BRISTOW: Get to Rinas airport in Tirana. There's a charter flight waiting for you under Kraja Petrol Corp. The hardest part's over, Sydney. We'll talk when you get back.

(Sydney hangs up, and goes to Shepard with some food. They sit in front of the fire.)

MARTIN: Why me? Why did you ever come talk to me?

SYDNEY: I was looking for a man.

MARTIN: Who?

SYDNEY: A man who you k*lled and buried. His name was Gareth Perkashov. That's what I was sent in to find.

MARTIN: The man I k*lled? The first time I had the images in my head, it was like a seizure. Flashes of people, places. A street sign. I thought I was remembering bad dreams because it was in black and white, but it was so vivid. It was so vivid! I didn't know how much of it was real. I found the street. I heard there had been a m*rder. A shopkeeper recognized me. I was convinced I had to be delusional. I couldn't be a k*ller. I couldn't be a k*ller.

(He starts to cry. Sydney has tears in her eyes.)

MARTIN: Where you found me was as remote a place as I could find to lock myself away in case... in case I was wrong.

SYDNEY: (crying) It's not your fault.

(He breaks down, crying softly.)

MARTIN: I feel like I've been stolen from myself... I don't know if there was ever a me... I don't know who... Please, tell me who you are, Sydney. Maybe that will help me to understand--

SYDNEY: How did you know my name?

MARTIN: I don't...

SYDNEY: How did you know my name?

MARTIN: (crying) The banner.

(Sydney sucks in a breath.)

SYDNEY: What... banner?

MARTIN: It said "Happy Birthday, Sydney."

(Fade into, black and white, the picture of Sydney.)

MARTIN: I heard the water running.

(Black and white. Danny stumbles around a corner, drunk. He goes into the bathroom. Martin follows. Danny goes in the other room, and when he's about to come back into the bathroom, Martin hides behind the corner. Danny comes in, wipes at his face. He goes to the sink, splashes his face. Martin is seen behind Danny, wearing a black ski cap over his head, baring his face. Danny turns, and trembles upon seeing the g*n. Martin sh**t him.)

(Sydney gasps, shaking a little.)

MARTIN: I'm... so sorry...

(Sydney jumps up, crying, and runs out of the cabin. She flies down the stairs, rounding a corner. Running, crying, running where? She finally stops behind a tree, sobbing. She looks back at the cabin, and collapses. She sobs, covering her face with her hands, crying out to no one.)

(Sydney comes back inside, crying. Shepard sits in front of the fire, a blank stare on his face.)

SYDNEY: The man you were ordered to k*ll was my fiance. His name was Danny.

(Martin closes his eyes, wincing. They're both openly crying. She sits down.)

SYDNEY: I told Danny I'm a spy because he was the one part of my life I couldn't stand to be a lie. So when SD-6 found out, they called in one of their hit men. Someone they'd alreayd enlisted. They called on you. I think the man who programmed you is named McCullough. He's their neuro tech.

MARTIN: McCullough... yeah, yeah... he's in here... (points to his mind)

SYDNEY: The irony is they never lied to me about what would happen if I told someone. It was the one thing they said that turned out to be true. Now I'm a double agent for the C.I.A. and I will be until SD-6 is gone.

MARTIN: Will... finding where Perkashov is buried help you to take down the people that did this to us?

SYDNEY: Yes.

MARTIN: I left his body in marshland on the Louisana/Texas border off the I-10.

(SD-6. Sloane and Sydney in a meeting.)

SLOANE: So, what's the deal?

SYDNEY: Shepard wote down the location of Perkashov's body. In exchange, I helped him escape the asylum.

SLOANE: I see. Where is Shepard now?

SYDNEY: He committed su1c1de. Something went wrong with his programming. He started remembering what he'd done. Snapped. When we were crossing over the border into Bulgaria, he jumped. Threw himself off of the bridge into Lake Scutari. There's no way he could have survived.

SLOANE: Well, if by some miracle, he did survive, I'm sure we'll hear about it sooner or later.

(Self-storage facility, meeting with Sydney and Vaughn.)

SYDNEY: I told SD-6 Shepard was dead. I was going to lie to you about it, too, but the truth is I can't stand lying to anyone else.

VAUGHN: Well, I appreciate that. I will be honest with you, too. There are people at the Agency who will want him found.

SYDNEY: He's as much a victim of SD-6 as I am. Shepard buried Perkashov's body in a Louisana marshland. Sloane sent out a forensics team to get a DNA sample. They should be able to use it to decode the FTL message by tonight.

VAUGHN: We were worried.

SYDNEY: Yeah, I know. The C.I.A. hates to lose its assets.

VAUGHN: No, I mean, I was worried for you. In fact, I, uh, I contacted your father. Just so you know, he, um, he knows I pulled his file and he suspects you've seen it.

SYDNEY: It's... okay.

(Pager beeps. They both look at their respective pagers.)

VAUGHN: It's me. That's what I thought. looks like our SD-6 computer virus is turning out to be a gold mine.

SYDNEY: Good. Maybe we can get head of them for once.

VAUGHN: Why don't you go home, get some rest? Happy Thanksgiving.

SYDNEY: (remembering) Oh, God...

(Sydney runs in her house. Smoke billows out from the oven where Francie stands.)

SYDNEY: Francie?

FRANCIE: Okay, were you ever going to call me back?

SYDNEY: I'm sorry.

(Francie starts opening windows to let out the smoke.)

FRANCIE: I mean, where the hell have you been? I left, like, three messages!

SYDNEY: I know, my trip was extended...

FRANCIE: You can't just disappear on me like that!

SYDNEY: What's burning?

FRANCIE: It's just a little oven fire.

SYDNEY: Francie, I just moved in here!

FRANCIE: I fricasseed the turkey.

(Sydney laughs a little.)

FRANCIE: You okay?

(Sydney hugs her tight.)

SYDNEY: I'm glad to be home.

FRANCIE: Okay, but the turkey is really burning. I mean, it's burning.

(Sydney and Francie start swatting at the black smoke with oven mitts.)

SYDNEY: Oh, great, Francie... what'd you do?

(Montage of them cooking, laughing, tasting the food. Sydney takes a drink, smiling. Charlie comes in with a bouquet of flowers. Francie kisses him. Sydney hugs Charlie, he swings her around.)

(Later, Sydney is dressed up. She opens the door to find Will and Jenny. Jenny holds a bottle in her hands.)

WILL: Hey.

JENNY: Hi.

WILL: Uh, Sydney, this is Jenny. She works with me.

JENNY: Hi! (laughs) Thanks for letting me crash your party. I would have totally brought some wine, but I got carded. So, cider.

SYDNEY: Cider's perfect, thank you. Okay, come in.

WILL: (to Sydney) Wow, you look great.

SYDNEY: Is that the sweater I got you for Christmas?

(Her hand lingers on him.)

WILL: Uh, yeah. That's not why I wore it.

JENNY: (laughs) I'm going to go put that on ice.

WILL: Okay.

(They watch her walk away.)

SYDNEY: She's cute.

WILL: Hmm? Yeah. That's the new intern. She's, uh, her parents are in Europe. So, I felt bad.

SYDNEY: That's Jenny.

WILL: Mmm-hmm. It's strictly professional.

SYDNEY: Really?

WILL: What are you saying?

SYDNEY: Hmm? Nothing.

WILL: (smiling) Oooooh...

(At the table, everyone sits.)

EVERYONE: Happy Thanksgiving!

(They all eat and laugh, drinking wine.)

WILL: (quietly to Jenny) Are you turning twenty-one?

(She grins.)

WILL: Jenny!

(She laughs. Charlie clinks his glass.)

CHARLIE: Um, somebody's always got to bang the glass. This year, it's me. I wanted all of you to be here for what I'm about to do, which is probably going to be one of the most embarrassing moments ever. This thing's burning a hole in my pocket.

(He takes out a ring box. He gets down on a knee.)

CHARLIE: Francie... you're my last stop. Baby, will you marry me?

FRANCIE: Ohhh... yes. Yes, Charlie, I will.

(They kiss. Sydney and everyone claps. Sydney has tears in her eyes. Jenny, caught up in the moment, kisses Will.)

WILL: Okay, watch the tongue.

(Sydney hugs Francie. Will hugs Charlie.)

SYDNEY: (whispering) Glad you're taking it slow.

(Knock on the door. Mr. Bristow stands, holding a newspaper. Sydney opens the door.)

SYDNEY: Dad.

(She closes the door and comes out.)

MR. BRISTOW: (re: the newspaper) This was on your lawn.

SYDNEY: It's my neighbor's. I'll give it to him.

MR. BRISTOW: Oh.

SYDNEY: Do you want to come inside?

MR. BRISTOW: Shepard k*lled Danny. I'm assuming you know that.

SYDNEY: If I hadn't, thank you for breaking it to me so gently.

MR. BRISTOW: I'm telling you because I don't want you to think it's my mission in life to keep things from you.

SYDNEY: Then why do you?

(He takes out a piece of paper.)

MR. BRISTOW: F.B.I. report signed by the deputy director under Carter, clearing me of having any involvment with the KGB. Sydney, you have to understand it was the height of the Cold w*r. After they caught Boyce and Lee in '77, everybody was under suspicion. I suppose, in a way... your mother's accident was my fault since the F.B.I. was after me. If I could give her back to you, I would. (re: the report) Take it.

SYDNEY: I don't need to. You should stay.

MR. BRISTOW: Work.

SYDNEY: I'm glad your trip went well.

MR. BRISTOW: Happy Thanksgiving.

SYDNEY: You, too.

(He leaves.)

(Sloane and Sydney in a meeting.)

SLOANE: We found Perkashov's body and ran a DNA sample through the genetic decoder you obtained last week. It decoded the FTL communique. Here's the full text.

SYDNEY: "Possible location of Rambaldi artifact discovered in Tunisia. Dig proceeding."

SLOANE: Well, now we know where all those FTL agents went off in such a hurry.

SYDNEY: So, I'm off to Tunisia.

SLOANE: Actually, no. We sent an advance team there on a recon mission and by the time they got there, the dig had been evacuated. FTL must have found what was buried there. We then traced the shipment out of El Kef to the department of engineering science at Oxford. FTL has no idea what they've uncovered or else they wouldn't risk sending it to civilians for analysis. But whatever it is, some of the best minds in the word are studying it as we speak. The university is holding a reception for visiting professors tomorrow night. You're going as a scout for the Marissa Foundation, looking for grant candidates. Now, Sydney, keep in mind that FTL is likely to have a large presence there to make sure that we don't try what we are about to try.

(Newspaper office. Will and his boss walk together.)

BOSS: In the interest of fairness, I reread your notes last night.

WILL: No, I know. You know what? There wasn't much there anyway.

BOSS: Well, you just need a lot more shoe leather if you want to go with the story you're looking for.

WILL: No, you're right, actually. I think it's better if we drop the whole thing.

BOSS: No, you've got enough, Will, for an initial piece on why the police are not more curious. So, you take it from that angle. We go to press on Tuesday.

WILL: Well, wait, wait, I'm not, I mean... wow. Thank you. Tuesday, though. Is that, like, set?

BOSS: Will, are you on dope?

WILL: Huh?

BOSS: Just twenty-four hours ago, you were begging me to publish this.

WILL: I know. Here's the thing. Danny Hecht, the m*rder that started this whole thing, he is my friend's... he was my friend's fiance. I just... after seeing her last night, I'm having second thoughts. She doesn't know that I was doing the story.

BOSS: Well, why didn't you tell her? I'd think she'd want someone to investigate it.

WILL: I did tell her, a while ago, and she asked me as a favor to drop it. I just don't want to hurt her, that's all.

BOSS: Oh, I'm genuinely sorry to hear that, Will, because this is now a legitimate piece and if you don't want it, I will give it to somebody else. Don't chicken out on me now.

(Self-storage building. Vaughn and Sydney.)

VAUGHN: Whatever the Rambaldi artifact turns out to be, the C.I.A. wants photographs of it. You'll do it in your hotel room, we'll plant a submini camera in the Bible. There's one more thing. One of our Romanian assets spotted Ana Espinosa leaving the psychiatric hospital after you escaped. Be careful. She's on this.

(Sydney stands, nodding.)

VAUGHN: Oh, how was your Thanksgiving?

SYDNEY: Good. My friend got engaged.

VAUGHN: What's her name?

SYDNEY: Francie.

(He nods, smiling. Maybe because the CIA monitors her friends, too?)

SYDNEY: How was yours?

VAUGHN: Uh, typical. Spent it with my mom.

SYDNEY: What about -- is it Alice?

VAUGHN: Yeah. We broke up.

(He looks down. She smiles, and leaves.)

(Sydney comes home, talking on her cell. She goes through her mail and finds a postcard. The drawing that Shepard was doing is on the front, but this time with a blue sky. She turns it over. From Shepard, it says "Blue skies again. I owe you." She smiles.)

(Sloane sits in his office. Alain talks over the speaker phone.)

ALAIN: Security section has made us aware of the concern that you may have a mole in your department.

SLOANE: It would appear so.

(Sydney walks in SD-6. Jack is at his desk, nods to an agent.)

ALAIN: There are some in the alliance who believe you may have more than one.

SLOANE: Well, if that's true, McCullough will draw them out.

(Sydney walks to Mr. Bristow and puts a Tupperware dish down with Thanksgiving meal inside. He smiles a little. She smiles back.)

ALAIN: It is our intention to make an example of them.

SLOANE: I know. I'm taking care of it.