04x10 - The Index

[destinyros2005]

4X10 - THE INDEX

ORIGINAL AIR DATE ON ABC: 03/09/05

Sydney walks through the APO office. She's going by Sloane's office when she notices Vaughn and Sloane talking. Sloane touches Vaughn's shoulder. Sydney has a perplexed look on her face and moves on.

(Faint voiceover)

Weiss: Do you have a problem with all holidays?

Nadia: No...

Weiss: So you're fine with, let's say, Arbor Day?

Nadia Looks annoyed

Nadia: I'm not that into celebrating, that's all!

Weiss: That's all?

Syd approaches the two

Sydney: What's going on?

Weiss: (Sigh) You're sister doesn't want to celebrate her own birthday!

Nadia rolls her eyes and turns her head

Syd: When?

Weiss: In two days- you don't know about this either?

Syd: Get out!

Nadia: I don't even know if it is my birthday...In the orphanage they just felt bad because I was the only kid who didn't know when I was born. So the Sisters just picked a date -

Weiss: Yeah, the day after tomorrow!

Syd: We could go bowling and rent some lanes.

Weiss: Ohh, we've been through bowling...

Syd: There's always --

Weiss: Go Carts, though!

Sydney laughs

Weiss: That'd be really good!

Syd (Still laughing): Bar-hopping!

Nadia shakes her head, still annoyed

Weiss: Bar-hopping, or a raging house party! Whoo! (Makes weird motions with his hands) What's up?!

Nadia: Thank you, I don't want to do anything.

Weiss: Come on -

Marshall approaches

MArshall: Hey guys, are you guys planning a party?

Nadia: No. There's no party.

Marshall: 'Cause, I'm a really good DJ, if you need one. Anyways, speaking of parties, Sloane's having one in the briefing room, now.

Nadia gets up and leaves, leaving Weiss and Syd with sad looks on their faces

Cut to briefing room

Sloane: As most of you know, when the Alliance was dismantled four years ago, the CIA came into the possession of a multitude of artifacts, files, and intels. Among the items retrieved was the Blackwell Index.

Weiss: Blackwell? What's this, a worst-dressed list?

Jack: Damien Blackwell, head of the Gaussau crime syndicate. He is believed to have compiled incriminating information on corporate heads, government officials, common criminals. Essentially, a master blackmail list, encoded into a mobile terminal.

JAck presses button, and a weird swirly thingy appears on the screens. Everyone looks

Sloane: The Alliance was never able to read The Index, during the six months it was in their possession. It was enciphered using 4,096 bit encryption.

Marshall: Wow. I mean, even with current technology, that would take, like twenty years to decipher. And that's with a supercomputer working on it 24/7.

Sloane: Needless to say, the CIA was unsuccessful in it's decryption efforts.

Syd: Why is this an issue now?

Sloane: Last night, the Index was stolen from a CIA Research Station in Sarajevo.

Cut to the Research Station

Men are shown at a control station. sh*ts are fired. The Index is shown, and a man takes the computer. The two men at the control station are shown slumped over the controls, b*ll*ts in their foreheads.

Sloane (Voiceover): They left three of our agents dead.

Cut back to briefing room

Dixon: No leads on who stole it.

Sloane: No, it was a clean job. In and out within 2 minutes.

Nadia: Why steal something you can't read?

Sloane: The decoder disk has been located. Two weeks ago, Damien Blackwell's concealed base of operations was identified and raided by French authorities. They seized most of his possessions as evidence, including a mini disk. We believe this to be the decoder.

Jack: Our only logical recourse is to go after the decoder. Without it, The Index is useless.

Weiss: Do the French know what they have?

Sloane: No. Of course, we would rather obtain it through legal channels, unfortunately that doesn't seem to be an option right now.

Syd: Wait a minute, you want us to steal the decoder from French police?

Sloane: Right now, it's being held in the Paris prefecture (?). Sydney, figure out a way to get yourself

arrested.

Everyone looks around, Sydney looks uneasy

Cut to Dixon working on a computer. He's opening a file that has logs of telephone calls, the number called, times of the calls, and CAller ID. They all have "Arvin Sloane" as the ID, and one entry specific flashes. Dixon runs a backtrace on the call and it is for Hotel Bascarsija, in Sarajevo. Dixon stares at it, incredulously.

Cut to Vaughn, exiting the APO office. Sydney comes up behind him

Syd: Hey!

Vaughn: Hey

Syd: We got out of the briefing early. Did Sloane approve your trip?

Vaughn: Uh-huh.

Sydney: Any word on your uncle?

Vaughn: Yeah, I spoke to my mom this morning. Apparently, this last stroke hit him pretty hard. He hasn't regained consciousness.

Syd: That's awful. You gonna be ok?

Vaughn: Yeah, I'm fine. It's just that, when my dad d*ed, my uncle made all these promises about being there for me and my mother. And he wasn't. Ever. I'm not sure about how I feel about seeing him again, you know.

Sydney puts a hand on his shoulder

Syd: I wish I could go with you.

Vaughn: I know

They kiss twice

Vaughn: I'll call you when I land

Sydney (nodding): Ok.

Vaughn: Ok.

He gets into the elevator, and the door closes. Dixon approaches.

Dixon: Sydney. We need to talk.

Sydney has a peculiar look on her face

Cut to the self-storage place, where she and Vaughn met during the good ol' days of SD-6.

Dixon: OK. It's safe to talk here.

Syd (unsurely): Ok.

Dixon hands Syd a file. She opens it, and there's some papers on the mission to recover the disk.

Dixon: I was checking SLoane's facts, netting the intel he's given us. Director Chase encouraged us to watch Sloane, that's what I've been doing. I'm not going to make the same mistake I did at SD-6: blindly following that man's orders.

Syd: What has he done now?

Dixon: Sloane just said he had no leads on who stole the Index out of that research station in Sarajevo.

Syd: Yeah...

Dixon turns a page in the file, showing a picture of a man talking on his cell phone.

Dixon: Look familiar?

Syd: Miles Devereaux, former Alliance member, head of operations, SD-3.

Dixon: Sloane contacted him. 40 minutes after the Blackwell Index was stolen. Before Langley had even discovered the theft.

Syd: How do you know?

Dixon: I've got a tap on Sloane's home line.

Sydney turns her head, not really sure how to describe her expression.

Syd: Dixon!

Dixon: The call was encrypted, but I traced it to a hotel. In Sarajevo. I hacked into the hotel's CCTV feed, that's where I found this.

Sydney closes her eyes, realizing what Dixon is thinking

Syd: You think Sloane is working with Deveraux.

Dixon: I think Sloane tasked us to steal the decoder for one reason: so he and Devereaux could cr*ck the Index to retreive the blackmail files for themselves! That's why he lied about having no leads. He's using us, AGAIN. And that's not something I'm going to let him do.

Cut to black. Opening credits

Stock photo of LA. Caption: CIA Field Office, Los Angeles.

Inside an office, Director Chase is looking at a file.

Chase: So what you're telling me is that you've been illegal tapping your superior's phone.

Dixon: Keeping an eye on Sloane was a mandate, one that you specifically charged me with!

Chase: I didn't condone breaking federal laws to do it.

Dixon: Since SD-6, SLoane has wanted the Blackwell Index. And now he's coincidentally made contact with Devereaux, in Sarajevo, minutes after the theft?

Chase: Perhaps he's persuing information on who stole it!

Dixon: By contacting a former Alliance member?!

Chase: Sloane is free to contact old associates. It's one of the reasons he was appointed head of the task force!

Dixon: He lied to us, about having no leads!

Chase: Perhaps none of the leads proved useful.

Dixon looking angered. Chase hands him back the file.

chase: Irrational explanations.

Dixon: He tasked us to steal the decoder from police custody! Does this add up for you? (Angered) Are you listening to me?

Chase: I'm aware of the mission to retrieve the decoder, Mr. Dixon. I authorized it myself. No, I appreciate your concern, but these accusations are based on circumstancial evidence, so unless you have something else to give me, I would suggest you pull that phone tap.

Dixon looks annoyed (again).

Cut to Sydney and Dixon at APO

Syd: I know you want him to be guilty. I've been there.

Dixon: This is not about what he did to Diane.

Syd: Of course it is. It is for me, but you're the one that reminded me why we're here. To do the right thing. Maybe this time, Director Chase is right. Maybe we should just let it go.

Dixon: Chase refuses to see the truth! Sydney, you know I never do this, I'm asking you for me. Please, I need your help.

Cut to pic with caption: Mesa, Arizona

There is a man in a bed. You can hear the beep of an EKG machine. Vaughn is standing, in the dark, at the foot of the bed. A nurse appears at the door. She enters.

Nurse: You don't have to stand in the dark, you know.

Vaughn: Oh, uh, I didn't want to, uh -

Nurse: The light won't bother David. (looks at Vaughn, points a finger at him) You must be Bill.

Vaughn looks surprised

Vaughn: Why would you say that?

Nurse: Your uncle said you were coming to see him. He used to talk about you a lot. Before he had the stroke.

Vaughn: Bill was my father. He's dead.

Nurse: Oh, my mistake. Older people get confused some times, you know, and they get the past and the present mixed up. Was it recent?

Vaughn: Uh, no. He d*ed in 1979.

They both nod at eachother.

Vaughn: I'm Michael.

Nurse (reaching out to shake his hand): I'm Rosemary.

Michael: Nice to meet you.

Rosemary: I do the 3 and the 10 o'clock rounds in this wing. Did you come a long way?

Michael: Los Angeles. I would've come to visit sooner but...

Rosemary: Well, you're here now. That's what's important.

Vaughn nods at her.

Cut back to LA

Sloane and Weiss are walking through the APO office.

Sloane: I reviewed your recon analysis report. Your extraction plan needs some work.

Weiss: Really? I thought I -

Sloane: You're assuming everything is going right.

Weiss: No, I allowed for a contingency -

Sloane: For exiting the building. If anything happens, it's the perimeter that poses the greatest problem.

Weiss (a little annoyed): OK, I'll work up a new scenario.

Sloane: Good. You have all our resources at your disposal, Weiss, why don't you use them? The last thing we need is an international incident.

WEiss: Yes, sir.

Sloane: The rest of the specs look great.

WEiss: Well, thank you.

Sloane: I take it you'll have no problem bringing Nadia up to speed?

Weiss: Yeah, I already did. Last night.

Sloane: Excuse me?

Weiss (reaching for words): Uh, we were working. We work late. We actually like it. There were other peop - Jack was here!

Sloane (smiling slightly): Are you finished? Have the report on my desk in an hour. Impress me.

Sloane enters into his office, to find Jack there.

Sloane: Jack, I didn't realize you were waiting.

Jack: I heard the forensic reports from Sarajevo were in. Just curious, was Langley able to generate any new leads?

Sloane: No. They have nothing as far as the theft is concerned.

Jack: Then I'm assuming our agenda remains the same.

Sloane: Oh yes, we obtain the decoder.

JAck: I'll coordinate transportation now.

Sloane: Oh, Jack, one more thing. Sydney was supposed to hand me her ops report 15 minutes ago. Any idea where she might be?

Jack: No. I imagine she is somewhere, working out the details.

Cut to Sydney and Dixon in the self-storage place

Syd: I used to meet Vaughn like this, when he was my handler at SD-6.

Dixon: Must have been romatic

Sydney smiles at this. She pulls out something from her bag

Syd: Micro-CD burner.

Dixon: Where'd you get it?

Syd (playfully): I BORROWED it from MArshall's office. With a few adjustments, it'll make a corrupted copy of the decoder disk. That'll be what we give to Sloane and keep the real one safe.

Dixon: So if Sloane follows protocol and hands it over to the CIA...

Syd: No harm done. But if he tries using it, he'll be sorely disappointed. We'll have to watch and see.

There is a pause. After a minute:

Syd (smiling): What...?

Dixon: I'm just now realizing how..complicated your life was at SD-6. I appreciate you doing this. I know you have your reservations

Syd: It's just that things are a little different now, because of Nadia. He's her father. I know this may seem weird...but, I hope for her sake we're wrong.

[P]ARIS

Sydney in a punkish outfit of a short skirt, fishnets, and a leather jacket with a hair-do with multi-colored sticks in it swaggers down the street. She walks up to a car, pulls out a can of spray paint and writes "Oil is ____ (not sure what the last word is)" on the side of the truck. Weiss runs up to her, yelling.

Weiss: Qu'est-ce vous foutez?!? (or something similar, meaning "What are you doing?!?")

Syd ignores him, and he says it again.

Weiss: Ah! Police! (not sure who it's spelled in French)

Syd (pointing at Weiss): YOU!

Weiss: POLICE!

Sydney makes a funny face, likes she sorry

Policeman: Il y a un probleme, ici? (Is there a problem here?)

Weiss: Oui. Cette garce a massacré ma voiture! (Yes. This B-I-T-C-H massacred my car!)

Syd (mocking him): Massaccré ma voiture!

Weiss: J'exige de porter plainte! (I want to sue!)

Syd (micking): de porter plainte.

Policeman: Calmez-vous, monsieur. (Calm down, sir)

Syd: Je - ne - comprend - pas (I don't understand)

Weiss: J'exige de porter plainte!

Policeman: Calmez-vous, monsieur!

Syd: Je - ne - parler - francais - PAS! (She's trying to say "I don't speak French, but she said it wrong)

Weiss (disgusted): Ah!

Syd pushes the policemen into Weiss. She grabs his nightstick, and turns around and breaks the car's window.

Weiss: (Not sure what he says at first)...You filthy American tourist! (?)

Policeman (pushing Syd up against car): You are under arrest!

Commercial break

Stock photo of a big building in Paris. Cut to Room inside building. Sydney is sitting with her feet on the desk, with a pencil in her mouth. A door opens. Dixon, in alias, enters, along with a police officer.

Syd: It's about time.

Dixon: Amanda Peterson, right?

Sydney does a forced smile, obviously looking like she'd rather be somewhere else.

Dixon: My name is Richard Zachary, your legal counsel, appointed by the American Embassy.

Syd: Grreeaatt

Dixon: I see you've been enjoying your stay in Paris.

Syd: It's been swell.

Cut to the street. There's a van parked on the side of the road. Inside the van is Nadia. She's hacking into the Police Stations camera feeds.

Nadia (On comms, Upon locating the room Syd and Dixon are in): Okay, got it. Outrigger, looping the feed on your call

Dixon (reading a paper, souding almost disgusted): Vandalism, resisting arrest, assaulting an officer. These are serious charges.

Syd: So...?

Dixon: So, let's see about getting you out of here.

Dixon lifts up his pen and points it at the guard. A laser sight is pointed on his neck, and a dart sh**t out of the pen. The guard collapses instantly. Dixon pulls something out of his briefcase

Dixon: The CD burner.

Syd: Thanks, Dixon.

Dixon: Good luck.

Sydney gets up and leaves the room. She's walking down the hallway.

Sydney (on comms): Phoenix, signing in.

Nadia: Copy, we have you. It's the third door on the left.

Nadia sees Syd approach the door, a she starts picking the lock. She notices some guards coming down the hall.

Nadia: Make it quick, you're about to have company.

Sydney finally gets the door open, and hides in the shadows right before the guards see her.

Syd: I'm in.

Nadia: Ok, Lock number 430.

Sydney looks at all the locks, trying to find locker 430. She finds it, and pulls out a little blow-torch and cuts a whole in the locker. NAdia's watching all this over the Security Cameras.

Nadia: Phoenix, report. Did you get the decoder?

Sydney (as she palms the decoder disk): Negative. Moving to check the rest of the inventory.

Syd moves to an area the camera can't see, and takes out the cd burner.

Nadia (noticing Sydney is gone): Phoenix, we lost visual.

Sydney (making a copy of the disk): Still searching for the decoder.

A policeman is shown on the security camera, entering the stock room.

Nadia: Phoenix, you've got incoming! Get out of there! Now!

The CD Burner beeps and ejects the copy.

Sydney: Ok. I just found the disk

Policeman (seeing Sydney): Qu'est-ce tu fais ici? (This means, 'what are you doing here?', but he used "tu" which is a familiar, informal word. He should have used "Vous.")

Sydney beats him up and runs out of the room

Policeman (into his radio, in French): All units, prisoner in the building!

Nadia: Outrigger, abort! Going to Plan B.

Cut to Dixon in the office still, putting everything into his briefcase.

Dixon: Copy that.

Nadia: Phoenix, we're moving to alternate extraction. Head to the roof immediately!

Sydney's running down the hall, with policemen behind her. She runs up the stairwell to the roof, with b*ll*ts being fired. She's on the roof, with the officers still behind her.

Sydney (runnig toward the edge): Base, Plan B better be in effect!

A helicopter, with Weiss as pilot, flies up right next to the building. Sydney Runs and jumps of the building, grapping onto the railing thing. The helicopter flies away into the Paris sky, leaving the police officer standing on the roof.

Commercial

From here on was done by loxosceles (thanks!)

APO

DIXON: I checked with Marshall. The decoder's still in analysis.

SYDNEY: Sloane's following protocol.

DIXON: No. (in a disgusted, "that can't be," tone of voice)

DIXON: Since we got back from Paris, he's made more than a dozen calls from a secure line in his home.

SYDNEY: Were you able to trace the calls?

DIXON: They were routed through relay stations, but I narrowed them down to a number in Brussels. Syd, we need to get into Sloane's house. If we could copy the encryption key from his secure phone, we could cr*ck the calls to gain access to his conversations.

SYDNEY: Yeah, but how?

Sloane walks up.

SLOANE: Sydney, a word. My office.

---

Sloane's Office

SLOANE: I'm sure I don't have to inform you of the consequences had either of you been apprehended by the French police.

SYDNEY: With all due respect, we weren't.

SLOANE: Sydney, you took a long time in the evidence room.

SYDNEY: I assume you read my debrief. The decoder disk was misfiled. I had to search the rest of the inventory.

SLOANE: During which time Nadia and Weiss lost visual contact with you.

SYDNEY: Was that my fault?

SLOANE: Once you were out of view of the security camera, you just happened to be able to locate the decoder disk.

SYDNEY: That's correct.

SLOANE: Perhaps I shouldn't, but I expect better from you.

Sydney starts to walk away.

SYDNEY: This might not be the best time, but I thought you should know. Today's Nadia's birthday. She says she doesn't want to celebrate, but maybe she'd change her mind if the invitation came from you.

SLOANE: Actually, I didn't know (garbled). Well, what do you think she might like?

SYDNEY: Something simple. Family dinner, maybe, at your house?

SLOANE: That's a good idea. Thank you.

---

Mesa, AZ nursing home

NURSE: Think your uncle wants to listen to the game?

VAUGHN: I don't know. I'm not sure he was much of a basketball fan. Do you think he can hear it?

NURSE: Oh, you never know. I've known people to come out of comas and when you ask them what did it, lots of times they say that it was the sound of a loved one's voice that guided them back.

NURSE: Patient's hands get so dry.

NURSE: Were you and your uncle close?

VAUGHN: No, not really. Didn't see him much at all after my father d*ed.

NURSE: He must have been a good man, your father. Sometimes that's all David would talk about. Oh, you know what? David was keeping something for you.

VAUGHN: For my father?

NURSE: I think so. Maybe he wasn't clear, but he said it was for Bill, [for] when he came back. I suppose you should have it.

It's a small manila envelope, with a locker key in it.

---

Sydney's Apartment

NADIA: What do you think?

SYDNEY: It's pretty. It's perfect, actually.

NADIA: Thanks.

SYDNEY: Sure, you can borrow that necklace any time.

NADIA: I don't mean that. That too. I mean tonight at the party.

SYDNEY: Really? Because you seemed a little annoyed when I told your dad about your birthday.

NADIA: I was. But the idea of being with family, it feels better than I thought.

NADIA: I'm so glad you didn't listen.

SYDNEY: I usually don't.

NADIA: You know, the fact that you're even willing to have dinner with my father, it means so much.

SYDNEY: I'm glad.

NADIA: I'll get my coat.

---

Dinner

WEISS: I'm telling you, she was crazy in Paris. I'm not kidding. I'm thinking about making my next car a hybrid.

SYDNEY: You should. I have one.

WEISS: What do you think, Arvin?

Silence.

WEISS: Uhh, Mr. Sloane.

JACK: Well, considering the rapidly growing demand for fuel in nations like China and India, not to mention the world's oil supply is expected to peak in the next five years, then sharply plummet, I think it's pretty clear we're looking at an exponential rise in global conflict along with an energy crisis of unfathomable proportions.

JACK: So yes, I'd say a hybrid is an excellent idea.

WEISS: That's what I thought.

ARVIN: How about a toast? The Chinese have a saying: "Once choice scatters a thousand griefs." So it is in that spirit that I wish you, Nadia, the same joy that you bring to me every day. I never dreamed that something so precious would come into my life. Because of you, I am a changed man. Happy birthday.

NADIA: Thanks.

JACK: Happy birthday.

SYDNEY: Happy birthday.

Sydney's phone rings.

SYDNEY (cell): Hello?

DIXON (cell): It's me.

SYDNEY: It's Vaughn.

SYDNEY (cell): No, I have a minute. Are you okay? How's your uncle.

Sloane looks not-completely-convinced as Sydney gets up.

DIXON (cell): Sloane's secure phone should be in his desk.

SYDNEY (cell): Okay, Dixon. Stand-by.

Sydney gets into the drawer.

Back at dinner...

Nadia starts to get up.

WEISS: Uh uhh, sit down.

NADIA: Why?

WEISS: Because you're not going to lift a finger on your birthday. Come on.

SLOANE: Well, I have something for you, so I'm going to get it.

SYDNEY (cell): Okay, I'm transmitting now.

DIXON (cell): Copy, I'm receiving the phone's encryption key.

DIXON (cell): Transmission good.

Sydney hurriedly puts everything back, and gets up from Sloane's desk in a sh*t from behind Nadia's shoulder.

SYDNEY: Nadia.

NADIA: Birthday cake's ready.

SYDNEY: Okay.

Sloane's pouring some wine.

SLOANE: Nadia.

NADIA: Thank you.

SLOANE: There she is. How's Vaughn?

SYDNEY: He's okay. I think it's hard for him.

NADIA: It must be.

WEISS: Alright, don't worry. I made them promise they would not sing to you. This is a little something I whipped up. Chocolate icing, chocolate cake, chocolate mousse, just for you. Happy birthday. He kisses her.

---

After dinner, in another room

SLOANE: Come on, Nadia. Make a wish.

Nadia blows the candles out. Everyone claps.

WEISS: Speech!

NADIA: I had no idea what to expect from tonight. I never celebrated anything with family before. And I wasn't even sure I wanted to, but Sydney insisted. Now I see what I've been missing all these years, the chance to know my family for the kind of people they really are.

SLOANE: Here, here. Happy birthday.

They all drink champagne.

---

Back at home. They get through the door.

NADIA: You used me! You wanted to break into my father's office and you used me to do it!

SYDNEY: Nadia, listen to me.

NADIA: No! Tonight was nothing but a ploy!

Sydney's in full damage control mode.

SYDNEY: That's not true.

NADIA: You just said you suspected my father.

SYDNEY: I do, but for the first time in my life I don't want him to be guilty. Nadia, I was trying to prove that he's innocent.

The doorbell rings. Nadia gets it. Dixon shows up.

DIXON: Hi. Is Sydney home?

NADIA: Whatever you found out about my father, I have a right to know.

---

Mesa, AZ

Vaughn's at the Mesa, AZ bus terminal, where there are... surprise... lockers. Inside is another, larger manila envelope, with a journal that goes to December 21, 1981.

[It looks more like someone's analytic geometry notes than a journal.]

---

CIA

A tape is playing for Director Chase.

DEVEROUX (tape): Quite a coup, stealing the decoder from police custody.

SLOANE (tape): No less difficult than obtaining the index from the CIA. It seems we're both blessed with unique talents.

DEVEROUX (tape): The others have agreed. They're leaving for Brussels in the morning. It'll be nice to have you back at the table, Arvin.

DIXON: Sloane is reconstructing the Alliance... unless you require more evidence.

CHASE: You proved your point. Do we have any idea where the meeting's taking place?

DIXON: All we know is what you heard. Brussels.

CHASE: Alright, then. We'll set up a mobile surveillance, track Sloane to the meeting. Once he's led us there, we'll move in. Who else knows about this?

DIXON: Agents Sydney Bristow and Nadia Santos.

CHASE: You involved Agent Santos in this matter?

DIXON: It became necessary to do so, but she's prepared to accept the truth about her father.

CHASE: Alright then, let's do it.

---

APO

SLOANE (tel): I need the report. Yeah. I told you I need the report on my desk by tomorrow. That's it.

NADIA: You wanted to see me?

SLOANE: Your scarf. You left this last night.

NADIA: Thanks.

SLOANE: You seemed like you were in a hurry. Is everything all right?

NADIA: Uh, yeah, why?

SLOANE: Last night I thought I detected some tension between you and your sister.

NADIA: No, nothing like that. I was just overwhelmed. I still have to get used to being around family.

Sloane still doesn't look convinced.

SLOANE: Oh, I see. Okay. Well, if you ever need to talk, just know that my door is always open.

NADIA: Are you going somewhere?

SLOANE: Yeah, just an overnight.

NADIA: Where to?

SLOANE: Brussels.

NADIA: Have a safe trip.

SLOANE: Thanks.

---

BRUSS[E]LS

SYDNEY: I should have told you sooner.

NADIA: You don't need to protect me.

SYDNEY: I know that. It's just it's always been black and white where your father's concerned. I'm not used to seeing the gray.

NADIA: What if it was your father? He's done his share of compromising things. Would you work this hard to punish him?

SYDNEY (comm): Target's on the move. Is the tracker hot?

CHASE (comm): He just got onto Rue Voltaire, heading due north.

satellite tracker photo says Vehicle ID: 30947 28436

CHASE (comm): He's turning towards the river.

DIXON (comm): The dockyards.

DIXON (comm): Do you have a visual?

SYDNEY (comm): Sloane's approaching the building on foot.

---

Elsewhere

Three men are gathered around a table in a warehouse.

DEVEROUX: Gentlemen. As promised, the Blackwell Index.

---

SYDNEY: He went into the building.

CHASE: Alright, we need to move.

CHASE to Nadia: You'll monitor the perimeter.

---

Still Elsewhere

DEVEROUX to unidentified man in the foreground: You're late.

---

Docks

Nadia gets in a car and drives around the building.

CHASE (comm): Evergreen, report.

NADIA (comm): All clear. You have go.

They go in.

DIXON: Where's Deveroux? Where is he?

SLOANE: You have no idea what you're doing.

CHASE: Where's the Alliance meet?

SLOANE: It's not here. It's in another building. I am only surveilling.

On the surveillance feed:

DEVEROUX: So, we've heard rumors you've turned CIA.

VOICE OF JACK BRISTOW: Rumors were wrong.

SYDNEY: Oh my god.

Jack sits down.

JACK: It's good to be back.

Jack slides the decoder across the table.

DEVEROUX: Thank you.

CHASE: If you knew the Alliance was regrouping, why not alert the CIA?

SLOANE: You and I both know that the CIA would never have allowed me to convene the Alliance this way.

CHASE: You're damn right.

SLOANE: I had to bait them into the open to ID the players, the infrastructure.

CHASE: You should have come to me.

SLOANE: I went to Jack.

SYDNEY: You sent my father to do your dirty work.

SLOANE: Your father demanded to go, Sydney.

DIXON: He's lying.

SLOANE: No, Marcus, I'm not lying. Like you, Jack would never trust me around the Blackwell index, but he knew they would recognize him as my chief of operations at SD-6. He insisted on delivering the decoder himself.

Sydney looks at Dixon.

SYDNEY: He doesn't have the real decoder.

SLOANE: Oh no. You didn't...

They try to decode the index, and with nice BS graphics straight out of Hackers and Swordfish, it fails.

DEVEROUX: What's going on, Jack? I think the rumors are true. I think this is a set-up.

SYDNEY: Where are they?

SLOANE: Building 37.

SYDNEY (comm): Nadia, get to building 37.

Nadia drives off in a Mustang GT, license ABA 715

Meanwhile, Deveroux has jack tied with duct tape.

DEVEROUX: Where's Sloane?

JACK: My guess? Miles from here. He knew the decoder was a fake. He sold me out. When I find him, I'm going to k*ll the bastard... just as soon as I'm done with you.

Deveroux hits him.

DEVEROUX: Where's Sloane?

Deveroux gives up on battery and tries as*ault, aiming a 1911 at Jack.

DEVEROUX: Where is he?

At this point Nadia arrives, crashing the Mustang through the warehouse wall; she sh**t all three Alliance members with her HK USP.

NADIA: Jack.

They get back to the dock.

SYDNEY: Dad.

JACK: I'm okay. Really.

Tension between Sydney and Nadia...

SYDNEY: Thank you.

NADIA: I'd like to think in the future you'll do the same for me.

---

Mesa, AZ

VAUGHN: David, it's Michael. I found it, dad's diary. I don't understand... there are entries in here until 1982. My father d*ed in 1979. Please, if you can hear me I need you to wake up. I need to know... have you seen him? Has he been here? Is he alive?

A different nurse arrives.

NURSE: Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't realize you had a visitor. Everything okay?

VAUGHN: Yeah, yeah. I'm fine. Thank you. Oh, uh, wait. I need to talk to Rosemary.

NURSE: I'm sorry, who?

VAUGHN: Uh, Rosemary, the nurse. She's been taking care of my uncle.

NURSE: I don't recognize the name.

VAUGHN: What? No, that's impossible. She covers the 3 and 10 o'clock rounds.

NURSE: Sir, there are no 3 and 10 o'clock rounds. I'm sorry.

---

APO

CHASE: I trust that you'll remove the tap on Sloane's phone.

DIXON: Already done.

CHASE: And the decoder disk, the real one.

DIXON: It's been turned over.

CHASE: Okay. There's a lot of outside pressure on this taskforce. I don't want it compromised from within.

DIXON: I understand.

CHASE: You know, Marcus, when I asked you to keep an eye on Sloane, I meant it, but there are limits. That being said, neither Sloane nor I are pursuing disciplinary actions at this time. You're an asset to this team, so if anything else comes up be sure to call me.

DIXON: Anything?

CHASE: Within reason?

[Oh my god, are they flirting?]

SYDNEY: That looks like it went well.

DIXON: Yeah.

SYDNEY: I'm glad it's over.

DIXON: Is it? We'll see.

---

Sloane's House

Sloane decodes the Blackwell Index, picks up his phone, calls Jack.

SLOANE (tel): It's working.

JACK (tel): Does it have what we need?

SLOANE (tel): Yes. And more.

The index has a bunch of names, cities, codes, and either Case or Active designation.

Nicholas ? Tokyo ?

? ? Berlin

Jonathan ? ?

Angela ? Taipei

Josselyne ? Paris

Peter Anderson Dubai

William ? ? Active

Palmer Banckhorst Case

Patrcia Mozley Dallas Case

Santo Kostize? Warsaw Active

Malcom Leilich Munich Case

Karine Bautiste Monaco Case

Dominique Bettuz La Paz Case

Matthew Udea London Active

Jamie Dockins Perth Active

Karina Walberg Seoul Case

Max Varnes Cairo Case

Fernando Janousek Bombay Case

CUT TO BLACK

ALIAS