02x07 - Half a World Away

[bunniefuu]

You know I would not have called unless it was very, very important, I promise.

Uh-huh.

Just face it, Miss Walker, you miss me already.

The agency and the D.P.D. and yours truly are doing just fine without you, thank you.

Really?

Then what is so important that you had to call me on my vacation?

I can't remember the name of that salad that I like from the cafeteria.

Oh, well, that is serious.

Okay, there is also something else I wanted to ask you.

I think it's amazing that you're going back to the International Jazz Festival in Istanbul, but how exactly does a blind man navigate a huge music festival in a foreign city?

I know Istanbul better than some Turks, and for what I don't know I can always make a friend.

Excuse me, sir, can't you see that won't fit?

No, actually, I can't see.

[Chuckles]

Oh. I'm sorry.

It makes it harder to win at darts, that's for sure.

And to find a good place for your bag on a crowded plane.

Well, it's my job to take care of your bag, so don't worry about that.

Thank you.

So if you want to maybe talk about darts later or a more suitable game like chess, I could call out all the moves.

I'm actually k*ller at Battleship.

Done.

Excuse me for just one minute.

Green goddess salad, no peanuts.

Made a friend already, huh?

Hanging up now, Walker.

You know, you should learn to say good-bye when a phone conversation ends.

It's what normal people do.

What a perfect reason not to.

Sorry about that.

[Chuckles]

[Birds cawing]

[Man chanting]

[Child laughing]

[Upbeat music]

♪ ♪

Auggie.

Kasim.

Hey, Auggie.

Hey! How are you?

Fine, dude.

I didn't think you were coming this year.

Oh, and miss Jehan Barbur?

No way.

You have three parabolic microphones set up?

Four. I want to really try and capture the ambient experience as possible, not just the show.

And I'd love to plug my reel-to-reel directly into the sound board if that's okay.

You also love me for this.

Oh, yeah.

Come with me, old friend.

Okay, I got it. I got it.

[Singing in turkish]

♪ ♪

[Woman singing comes through headphones]

♪ ♪

I still can't believe that you missed this today.

I can't believe you didn't come back sooner.

Well, while I appreciate that, you really did miss something special.

Listen to this.

[Music comes through speakers]

That isn't just a song.

Those musicians are speaking to each other about the struggle to stay hopeful after loss, about believing that something better is always possible.

Yeah?

Mmm.

Sounds like guitar to me.

You're lucky you're cute.

[Laughs]

You don't know that.

Oh, yes, I do.

Give me just a minute to finish up this mix.

See, I don't get that.

Are you a music journalist or a sound engineer?

Well, the first for money.

The second for love.

Well, actually both for love, but being a journalist pays the bills.

Just another second.

I bet there's something I could do to distract you.

I don't think so.

Mmm?

♪ ♪

I might be wrong.

I'm a little distracted.

Oh, whoa, hold on.

What is it?

It's...

[Music stops]

There's something on this tape.

One of the ambient mics must have picked it up.

[Men speaking in Arabic]

It's a voice.

Whose voice?

The man who blinded me.

Can You Save Me? By Apple Trees and Tangerines

♪ Covert Affairs 02x07 ♪
Half a World Away
Original Air Date on July 19, 2011

♪
♪ Can you save me ♪
♪ from this nothing I've become? ♪
♪ It's just something that I've done ♪
♪ I never meant to cause you worry ♪
♪ don't you blame me ♪
♪ for this nothing I've become ♪
♪ it's just something that I've done ♪
♪ I never meant to show you my mistakes ♪

[Man speaking in Arabic]

[Helicopter blades thumping]

When I was there, I was with my brothers.

We found a way to make it like home even though it was the opposite of home.

It was bleached out and scorching, and the air was full of smoke, sand, and the ringing screams of bombs.

We had our own place in it.

We had each other.

And we had football.

♪ Hey baby ♪
♪ this is not a challenge ♪
♪ just means that I love you ♪
♪ as much as I always said I did ♪
♪ I was wrong ♪
♪ I have been laughable wrong ♪
♪ sandpaper, paper mache, chalk ♪
♪ and hung out wet ♪
♪ that just the slightest bit of finesse ♪
♪ might have made a little less mess ♪
♪ but it was what it was ♪
♪ let's all get on with it ♪
♪ now ♪
♪ discoverer ♪
♪ discoverer ♪
♪ discoverer ♪

I don't know why you guys keep challenging us.

It only ever goes one way.

[Laughter]

[Bombs explode distantly]

Hey, uh, you mind taking a picture for us?

Just try and frame out the burning buildings in the back.

It's kind of a downer.

Let's go.

Yeah. Good, good, good.

Captain Anderson, sir.

General Oubash wants you.

Put some clothes on, huh?

For his benefit, right?

Not yours.

Whatever.

You wanted to see me, sir?

You looked at your Terror Deck recently?

Remember the Jack of Diamonds?

Yes, sir.

CIA paramilitaries have pinned down his safe house outside Tikrit.

You've prepped for this.

Now it's a go. Understand?

Yes, sir.

Then get your men together and hit the road.

Thank you, sir.

We were trained to believe two opposites.

The first is that a man is nothing on his own.

We were only and always a unit, one entity serving God and country.

The second is that one brave individual's actions can change the shape of w*r.

The army can't know whether you will be brave or cowardly in crisis.

No one can.

Although they preferred you to be brave.

[Phone rings]

Annie Walker.

Hey, it's me.

Hey!

How's Jazzapalooza?

Great. How's Langleypalooza?

Oh, you would not believe what my last 36 hours have been like.

Three shifts on the Central American watch desk.

If I have to read one more Nicaraguan email, I think my eyes will bleed.

Can't wait to go home and get some sleep.

So you're completely game to doing me a big favor is what you're saying?

I have the next two days off.

Lots of ice cream, bad movies, and sleep.

Lots and lots of sleep.

That is my future.

Okay, I misspoke.

It's actually a very small favor, and you'd be saving my butt.

Sure. What is it?

Just a little something I forgot to wrap up before I left, and now it's bugging me.

Could you look up the name Afran Felat Khani in the database and just confirm that he's deceased?

Khani, that's a Kurdish name?

Yeah, he was an Iraqi t*rror1st during the w*r.

Just double-check his status.

Would you?

Shouldn't take you more than two minutes.

Yeah, okay.

I'll leave you a secure voicemail.

Please.

Oh, and, Annie, if you could just keep this between the two of us.

It'd be really embarrassing if Joan found out.

Sure, no problem.

You're a star.

The man is incapable of saying good-bye.

Kasim.

Kasim. Auggie, welcome back.

Hey, thank you.

You're here to see Sanem Kalfa?

You know me well, my friend.

Take a seat. She's going to start soon.

You know what, before she does I have a question.

My recording of the set yesterday didn't turn out exactly as I'd hoped.

I set up your mix perfectly, I promise.

I know you did. This is a strange request, but did you set up any additional parabolic mics on the northwest corner of the stage?

I want to get some crisper ambient sound.

Let me see.

I think I have something for you, but it was turned around in the breeze.

Not sure you will get anything except wind.

You know what, it might be worth listening to.

Would you mind burning those tracks for me?

For you, Auggie, my pleasure.

Think I'm really onto something.

[Beeping]

Something wrong?

No.

Just doing some cleanup, and it says that a file's been removed.

Mmm, it's tough without Auggie around.

Yeah.

It's just weird. I'll figure it out.

Did you check the file tree?

The file tree?

Every file's connected with others in the same record.

So if something's been removed, you can look at the ones around it.

Oh, great. Thanks.

Sure.

[Bell dings]

[Car horns honk]

[Phone line rings]

Hey, just calling you back.

Great. Listen to this.

Khani's been removed from the database.

But I followed the file tree, and he has a sister in Baltimore.

File tree.

You're learning to speak nerd. I'm impressed.

I don't know how much more of this I can do while keeping it from Joan.

It's your day off, so I'm guessing you don't have an active assignment.

I'm going to Baltimore, aren't I?

I wouldn't ask if it wasn't really important.

Of course.

But when you get back, you're gonna tell me who this guy is, right?

This doesn't seem like some little thing you forgot to do.

Drive safe.

Sorry, but I've gotta run.

[Recorded music plays]

♪ ♪

[Man speaking in Arabic]

[Overlapping music and speech]

Did you get the additional tracks?

Yeah.

Anything good on them?

Don't know yet.

Hmm.

[Bells jingle on recording]

We have to go back.

Gotta find some bells.

Okay.

I love treasure hunts.

Listen, in a perfect world I'd be doing this by myself for lots of reasons, but one of them is that you might have some questions that I can't answer, and I don't think that's particularly fair to you.

I think I can decide what's fair to me.

I need you to be my eyes.

Let me get dressed.

[Recording continues to play]

Okay, so we hear bells.

I also hear sizzling meat.

Are there any kabbatz carts nearby?

I mean, there's food stands everywhere.

This might sound strange, but there has to be rain around here somewhere, so think creatively.

I happen to you know you're a girl with an imagination.

Okay.

Okay, there's your rain.

It's a rain stick.

Never question this blind man about sound.

I stand corrected.

All right, what now?

[Speaking turkish]

Very cheap, very cheap.

Move.

Come on, let's go.

I thought you wanted to talk to him.

That's the other voice on the tape.

[Jazz music playing]

♪ ♪

Billy, what the hell is this music?

Jazz, baby.

Played with Dave Holland and Elvin Jones.

Get into it.

You're not convincing me, Billy.

You know the only reason I'll let you get away with that is 'cause you outrank me, right?

You are a smart man, William. What's our E.T.A.?

Halfway there.

I've waited two years for a mission like this, Captain.

You've got to let me take him out.

You're gonna k*ll the Jack of Diamonds, huh, Jason?

That's right. Who else?

I bet you a week's pay.

I'll take that action.

Stop.

Stop.

What the hell?

Nasir, what do you see?

There's something in the road.

Up ahead.

[Goats bleating]

That looks like a dead dog.

All right, Nasir, come with me.

[Speaking Arabic]

[Speaking Arabic]

[Continues in Arabic]

Auggie.

Captain Anderson, please, don't take another step.

What did he say?

[g*nshots]

It's not just a dead dog.

Looks like we're taking a different road to Tikrit.

Let's go.

[Music playing]

♪ ♪

Where is he now?

He's about half a block ahead.

I'm doing everything you said.

I'm staying two cars behind.

All right, good.

Try not to tailgate.

Don't change lanes too often.

And don't draw attention to yourself.

Okay.

What kind of car is he driving?

It's a black Mercedes C63 AMG.

Sweet ride for a guy selling drums from a homemade stand.

Must have some interesting side businesses.

[Horns honk]

Excuse me. Are you Leyla Khani?

Do you have an appointment?

Yeah. I'm so excited.

My friend said she got the best manicure of her life here from you and that it lasted forever.

That's so nice to hear.

Please, choose your color and take a seat.

I can almost guarantee you that when my sister sees this she will want the exact same color.

Well, send her here.

Oh, she'll want to know exactly where I got it done.

She's a little older than me, so she'd never admit it.

But secretly, she wants to be just like me.

Well, that's the thing about family, isn't it?

Sometimes she wants to be like you.

And sometimes she just wants to be close to you.

So I take it you have sisters?

A brother.

And he wants to be just like you?

He's dead.

Oh.

I'm sorry.

Hey, Auggie, it's me.

I made contact with Khani's sister.

She says he's dead, but I think she's hiding something.

Call me back.

Get in.

Agent Rossabi.

So are you usually in the habit of getting into strange cars because someone tells you to?

I made you for FBI.

Your plates are a dead giveaway.

Really?

How does someone who works at the Smithsonian know what FBI plates look like?

We had an exhibit on license plates through the ages.

Wasn't very popular.

Am I in trouble or something?

I don't know. Depends.

On what?

My mood.

By visiting Leyla Khani you walked into an investigation I've been working on for three years.

So what were you doing in there?

Getting my nails done.

It's my day off.

You drove all the way to Baltimore for that, really?

Heard she's the best.

Oh, she is. She's one of our best assets.

And she's been feeding us information about her brother, Afran Felat Khani.

She told me he was dead.

I wish he was.

He's been operating cells in the Middle East since 2006, targeting U.S. soldiers and interests.

A special forces unit even pursued him during the Iraq w*r, and I am so close to nailing him.

So the last thing that I need is for you to spook Leyla into cutting off our intel.

Do you understand?

That was never my intention.

No, I know, I know.

You were getting your nails done.

Did you say a special forces unit was pursuing him during the w*r?

Yeah, why?

No reason.

I think he's going into a restaurant.

I'm gonna need you to wear this.

[Chuckles]

Okay, not that I don't embrace this, but we are in public in a Muslim country.

Right.

Also probably best if the blind man isn't in charge of hiding the bug.

Okay, I'm ready.

Great.

I need you to go into the restaurant and order a coffee, whatever drink you'd normally order.

While it's being made, casually scan the restaurant like you're waiting for a friend who hasn't arrived yet.

Just be yourself and have fun.

[Speaking Arabic]

[Conversation comes through the headphones]

[Glass shatters]

I read somewhere that wars are not fought to k*ll people.

They're fought to affect political change, to move resources and borders.

Maybe that would be true if you were looking in from a thousand miles and a hundred years away.

To us, it was mostly about k*lling.

Maybe because we'd been sent there to k*ll.

[Horn honks]

All right, here's the plan.

Billy, you cover the front.

I want a four man stack up to the breach.

Chris and Jason, break off and lock up the rear.

Let's go.

[g*nshots]

Billy?

sn*per!

Ahh!

[Groaning]

Chris! Damn.

[Groaning]

Chris.

Chris, hey, look at me.

Look at me, you stay strong.

You're gonna be fine.

Nasir, you're with Chris.

Jason, you're my cover. Let's go.

[Groaning]

Okay, okay.

Shh, shh.

[g*nf*re continues]

[Groaning]

All clear.

[Men speaking Arabic]

[Dialing]

[Line rings]

Hey, it's me.

Auggie, did you know Khani was being investigated by the FBI?

Rossabi intercepted me in Baltimore while I was visiting his sister.

So to answer your original question, he's not dead.

But I think you already knew that.

Annie, I have to make this fast.

I have to be in Sanayi at 4:00.

The concert can wait.

There was a special forces unit tracking him during the Iraq w*r.

That was you, wasn't it?

Annie, I have something I have to tell you.

Please. Why could you have told me from the beginning?

Look, I want to thank you for all that you've done for me.

I am sorry that I didn't read you in, and I'm sorry you went to all this trouble.

I truly am.

Auggie, please, tell me what's going on.

Let me help you.

Thanks again.

For everything.

Good-bye, Annie.

Good-bye.

Yeah, Annie?

What is it?

I hope it's not a bad time.

Actually, I am having a terrible day.

My computer crashed again.

So unless you can fix a motherboard or have some good news, it's a pretty bad time.

I can't fix a computer and I don't have good news, but I do need your help.

What is it, Annie?

I've been working on something for Auggie.

He asked me to confirm that a certain Iraqi t*rror1st was dead.

It was just a small favor, which turned out to be not so small when I walked into the FBI investigation of the man.

You did what?

I have a strong feeling that Auggie has located him in Istanbul and is attempting to track and k*ll him on his own.

What makes you think that?

He said he had to be in Sanayi, Mahali, by 4:00.

First I thought it was for a concert, but the jazz festival never leaves Istanbul.

The only thing in Sanayi is a little airport.

And the only flight leaving at 4:00 is a cargo plane headed for Lima.

Joan, he doesn't sound like himself.

I think something is really wrong.

Who's the t*rror1st?

Afran Felat Khani.

Damn it, Auggie.

Do you know who that is?

Do you know why Auggie would be trying to track him?

[Speaking in Arabic]

Nasir?

Hey, you gotta get out of there! There's a b*mb!

[Groaning]

Chris! Jason!

Run!

[Mouthing words]

[Groans]

I was able to get the plane's specifications from an old friend in air traffic control.

Tell me everything you see. How many aisles are inside?

Uh, just one down the middle.

Cargo containers are at the front and back and along each wall.

What's inside them?

On this flight?

Textiles.

There's rolls of silk, wool, and cotton.

There's also some woven carpets.

Good, nothing to spill or break.

Do you see any measurements?

The aisle's about 1 1/2 meters wide.

The ceiling's about three meters high, so you won't hit your head.

Good to know.

Also the hold is the length of the plane minus the cockpit.

There's room to maneuver but nowhere to go.

Just like I like it.

Meeting me.

What can I do for you?

Actually, it's something I can do for you.

Well, that's even better.

In theory, of course, if Afran Felat Khani were to roll out of a plane onto a tarmac in D.C., does the FBI have enough evidence to prosecute him?

Five times over.

What if the name of the airport and the time of the flight came to you as an anonymous tip?

The FBI is obligated to investigate all anonymous tips that relate to terror suspects.

Then I'd wait by your phone.

How many miles do you have?

I work for an international airline.

I've got about 800,000.

Then pick a place, anywhere in the world, and I will meet you there in a month.

Anywhere?

Anywhere.

This really was the best layover I've ever had.

Barbados?

I'll buy the Planter's Punch.

[Chuckles]

[Cell phone rings]

Hang on.

Hello.

Hi, can I talk to Auggie, please?

It's for you.

I think it's your wife.

She sounds rather upset.

Yes?

You haven't been picking up your phone, so I had to resort to other measures.

Look, whatever you're about to do, don't.

Annie, like I told you, it's complicated.

It's not!

The FBI are ready to take Khani into custody.

They have enough evidence to prosecute him and shut down all of his networks.

That's dozens of cells all over the world plotting att*cks against Americans and American interests.

The Office of International Affairs at the Justice Department is on board.

And we've arranged to reroute that flight to D.C.

Please, Auggie, I know you're furious and hurt, but this is what we do, what we work towards every day.

Thousands of lives could be saved.

I'm sorry.

It's too late.

That wasn't my wife.

I don't have one.

Okay.

Wait.

How did you know you could trust me?

I didn't know.

So thank you.

[Beeping]

There's a short plank and then five steps down.

After that, walk about 30 meters straight ahead.

Be careful.

[Man breathing heavily]

[Breathing continues]

[Device beeps]

[Sounds of g*nf*re]

[Grunting]

You?

[Grunting and groaning]

[Grunting]

[Tires screech]

♪ Don't write me ♪
♪ no more letters ♪
♪ my mailbox is full ♪

The Purple Heart is the only award the army gives out for which you are not recommended but entitled, from being injured.

I didn't think I was entitled at all.

♪ ♪

So I didn't tell anyone about it.

Until now.

♪ We were strangers for many hours ♪

I can't imagine how hard that must have been for you.

You did the right thing about Khani.

When you're blind, you forget things like color.

Faces.

But I still remember that picture and every face and every color in it.

♪ ♪

I guess that's why I still carry it around with me.

Which probably sounds strange 'cause I can't see it.

But I can.

♪ There are not reasons ♪
♪ to believe ♪
♪ I buried my faith ♪
♪ in another block ♪

Crisp and vivid every day.

It's the only thing I have from the w*r that seems pure.

Almost like it was from a time of peace instead.

♪ We were lions, lovers in combat ♪

So now you know what happened to my unit.

♪ ♪

Thanks for telling me.

Thanks for helping me.

♪ ♪

You up for another round?

Yeah.

I have a question for you.

Yeah?

How'd you get Franka's cell number?

A girl's gotta have her secrets.

Oh, that's nice.

[Laughs]

♪ We were young ♪