01x08 - The Arrival

[bunniefuu]

Previously on Allegiance...

These are files that were on Mikhail's computer.

If it's real, then we need to take this to the FBI.

They have a mole inside the US government.

The Treasury maintains a database to track suspicious money transfers.

That's for law enforcement agencies only.

CIA doesn't have access.

But your task force is full of FBI agents.

I won't steal an FBI agent's access code.

Katya: Alex, stealing the code is what the operation requires.

Special Agent Faber.

Have you ever spied on your country, Alex?

No, never.

Mark: The money from Tolliver's bank is going to Rome in three days.

We needed to figure out a way to get you there.

Why are you looking at me like that?

[men grunt]

[g*nshots]

Sam: The good news is, Intel is matching up to known SVR officers.

We seem to have a Russian Easter egg on our hands.

[retching]

Where is the Triggerman now?

He's on the move.

Now, Alex, this man is highly, highly trained.

You're not gonna be able to stand up in about ten minutes.

You got to let it go.

There's too much at stake.

Alex. Hey, did you make it back okay?

Michelle said you didn't answer her texts.

[g*nshots]

Alex: He was escorting his own cutout.

I let him get away. Fadi's dead.

I screwed up everything.

[engine roaring]

What do you see?

Darkness.

I'm sorry, what exactly do have to be so melancholy about right now?

The operation was a success, and you got some.

Okay, wipe that grin off your face before James Bond back there catches on.

Sam: Just got off with Brock.

Going through the data on that drive is like drinking from a fire hose.

Did you find anything?

A few midlevel SVR assets.

Nothing on Black Dagger.

It'll take 1,000 man hours to sift through it all.

But we did well yesterday.

To small victories.

[glasses clink]

So what's your secret, Alex?

What do you mean?

Last night, you were puking out your lower intestine.

Today you look like you could go 12 rounds.

I... sleep, I guess.

Amazing, isn't it, what a good night's rest can do?

Well, the science backs it up.

Okay, you're weird.

That the science backs up that sleep helps...

No.

Then why?

Alex, I'm messing with you.

If the last thing I do, I'm going to teach you how to recognize when that is happening.

Speaking of sleep, I want to, so please shut up.

Princess needs her beauty rest.

Wrong finger.

You're blind. Your eyes are closed.

How is it that you're employed by the same organization that tracked down bin Laden?

Jealous?

I will pay you to let me sleep right now.

I'll tell you what.

You sink this, and I'll be quiet the entire rest of the trip.

I will hold you to that.

No, no, no, not that one.

That one.

All right, then you say out loud that the FBI is a superior organization to the CIA.

Done.

Wow.

Say it, and reflect on your sins in silence.

Is this what you meant when you said don't get into a game of quarters with her?

[mysterious music]

♪ ♪

[suspenseful music]

♪ ♪

My friend, it's been a lifetime.

Is everything prepared?

All specs as you requested.

You won't believe the detonation velocity of such a small amount.

Show me.

Of course.

We have 10 centimeters thick b*llet-resistant glass.

We have steel-reinforced doors and chassis.

Several dozen currently in service to 20 countries' heads of state.

Yes, of course. Watch.

[wind whistling]

[remote clicking]

The material is flawless, I assure you.

My idiot nephew must've improperly wired the cap.

Jozef.

Forgive me.

My sister's son.

She begged me to teach him a craft, but no good deed goes unpunished.

It's a temporary glitch.

As I said, you will never find a... Jozef!

[expl*si*n roars]

A man who cannot be trusted to wire a blasting cap cannot be trusted to see my face.

Don't you agree?

It was a tragic accident.

I am sorry for your loss.

That was only 1/100th of a kilo.

I'd like 50 kilos.

50.

Do you plan on leveling a mountain?

[tense music]

♪ ♪

Alex: Fadi took this picture before... before he was k*lled by this man.

Alex: Any of you recognize him?

No.

Alex: We have to assume this is the person that's gonna carry out Black Dagger.

I need to alert the task force.

And tell them what?

That you snuck away from a covert CIA operation to follow a suspected t*rror1st on your own?

And all you have is a blurry photo that could be anybody to show for it?

You can tell height, weight, skin tone, age within 20 years.

Alex: That's something.

The Rezident has a mole somewhere with exceptional access to CIA and FBI intelligence.

If you tell anyone even this, the SVR will find out and k*ll you.

He's right, Alex.

Natalie: We need a name.

We need something they can follow up on and verify.

There is an imminent att*ck.

We can't just stand around talking.

We won't.

We'll get a name.

How?

This man is a ghost.

That's why the SVR hired him.

Well, then the SVR knows who he is.

The Rezident knows.

Maybe if I ask him, he'll tell me.

Try that. See how it goes.

If we got listening devices in his office...

We? You mean me.

Of course.

Bugging an SVR rezident is out of reach for anyone but an insider.

We get a bug in the Rezident's office.

Then we lead him to believe the CIA caught on to Black Dagger in some way.

If we're lucky, he contacts the Triggerman.

You have to sign in at the guard desk to even get access to the area with the file vault and the Rezident's office.

They do an electronic sweep every other day.

If it gets discovered, I will be on a very short list of suspects.

The electronic sweep won't detect anything if there's no electronics to detect.

What?

I can modify the bug to experience a power surge 24 hours after you plant it.

The surge fries the electronics. Voila, undetectable.

MIT.

We'll need to bug his car as well.

Faber: Got your message. Come on, you're buying.

Rain check. Got to be back in four hours.

I remember the days we used to drink all night and still make the turnaround.

Remember that?

Yeah, long time ago.

Yeah, so what did you want to talk about?

This is off the record.

I'm just looking for some advice right now.

Okay.

Well, you know I spent most of my career looking outside the agency for bad guys, people who were dirty, weak, ripe to turn.

Objectively speaking, I'm good at spotting them.

Agreed.

Hate to admit it, but agreed.

But I've never had to look inside at my own people.

Never had a reason.

Theoretically speaking, what am I supposed to look for to spot someone who might be working for the other side?

Think of it like a cheating spouse.

It's the little things you can't put your finger on.

White lies, half truths, unexplained absences, an inflection in the voice, hyper-protest of innocence.

Human beings out to deceive have the same tells.

Who?

It's not important right now.

Yeah, so it's the boy genius you took under your wing.

Alex O'Connor.

Very nice, Faber. Very nice.

Objectively speaking, I'm pretty good at my job.

I got a weird feeling about this, Jason.

Feelings aren't facts, Sam.

You start pointing fingers. You get it wrong.

You might burn down a promising career before it gets off the ground.

All right, well, this is an off-the-record conversation.

What do you think?

Honestly, based on what I saw and what you told me about him, I don't think someone whose mind works as differently as O'Connor's could hold it together as a double agent.

Now, that said, you should keep an eye on him.

Does something else unexplained.

Maybe we get a surveillance order.

Dig deeper on him.

[sighs]

All right, thanks, Jay.

I owe you one.

Last one.

When we lost contact with you in Rome, as awful as the thought was of losing you, I felt something else.

Pride.

Going after that operative by yourself, that was brave, Alex.

I wish I could tell you this was all gonna be over soon, but bugging the Rezident is daunting.

We need a backup plan.

In case he kills us all?

Natalie.

It's the truth, Dad.

Alex is a part of all this now.

He needs to confront what it really is.

Somehow we need to alert the task force that the operative in charge of Black Dagger is on his way here.

It just can't come from you, not directly.

Victor is right.

The mole would come after you.

Natalie: Dad and I have an idea.

We plant a letter for the task force to find in the SVR cache that we created that you recovered in Italy.

A letter ordering the Rezident to help prepare for the arrival of the operative in New York to carry out Black Dagger.

In order to add to the cache, I'd need to have unfettered access to the FBI server.

You still have your partner Michelle's log-in codes, right?

All right.

It'll take me a day to create a document that will bed-in well enough with what we already created.

I'll text you.

Hey, do you know who those people are?

Michelle: Computer analysis response team.

They arrived overnight.

They've combed through 5% of the SVR cache so far.

Anything about Black Dagger?

Not yet.

Hey, I'm thinking I need a change of scenery.

Too long in one place, my mind shuts down.

What time did you get in this morning?

Half hour ago.

We can't do anything until the computer team finishes their search anyway.

Let's go work at my place.

We'll be more productive.

How would it be more productive?

Anything we can do there, we can do here.

Not everything, Alex.

Michelle: I told you we'd get more done here.

You're so beautiful.

We have a leak inside SVR.

I don't have all the details, but the Americans got their hands on a data cache...

[speaking indistinctly]

No.

Information stolen was only moderately sensitive, though the cover of several of our diplomatic officers was blown.

Oh.

No one important.

Here's the latest, but this feels like an overture from one of our operatives to the Americans.

The way of establishing he has real information in exchange for immunity.

Never mind. I will do it myself.

Tim...

That was a good night.

Grocery bags in our boots so the dogs lost our scent.

But you were the best in our class, Dmitri.

The big man.

Now I drive the big man.

And I admire your self-control.

If an idiot accidently sh*t me in the knee on the range...

Sometimes I think that b*llet was the best thing to happen to me.

I need to use the facilities.

[mysterious music]

♪ ♪

Thanks for the beer and the conversation.

We should do this again.

One more. My wife texted.

If I'm not there for bedtime, she'll have my head.

♪ ♪

Is that Sacha?

My God, he's huge.

Time passes, huh?

He plays linebacker for his football team.

Not hockey.

Treason, I know.

[Speaking Russian] My friend.

Buh-bye. You as well.

[Both speaking Russian]

This is really good.

Michelle: It's hard to screw up eggs.

I can.

Not in this house.

Sorry.

I-I usually read when I eat.

I noticed. Why is that?

I never know where to look.

Look down, you're being rude.

Too much eye contact, and people think you're weird.

Facts, numbers, patterns, they make sense to me.

People... people don't.

They're...

Irrational, erratic, inconsistent.

Not knowing what people will do, that's what makes life interesting, Alex.

Never thought I'd be "dating" my partner, for example.

Are we dating?

That's a polite way to say it, yes.

That's what the air quotes were for.

What?

Never mind.

Yes, we're dating.

So no side projects from now on, okay?

Sure.

[cell phone vibrates]

Michelle: What's wrong?

Oh, uh, nothing.

I have to stop by my sister's apartment on the way to work.

Natalie: Meet Cindy Reynolds.

She's an SVR asset working for the New York Stock Exchange.

We're making it look like she's receiving secret orders from Moscow to arrange a drop for the operative who's gonna carry out Black Dagger.

Now I embed the file into a jpeg and plant it in the dot over the I in "Cindy" like so.

Alex: Steganography.

When the task force does a scan and finds this, they'll know the Triggerman is here along with his age, race, and body type.

Any questions?

What does it mean when a girl says, "No side projects"?

Oh, my God.

What?

You have a girlfriend.

No, no, I just...

Alex, that's... that's awesome.

I'm really happy for you.

Thanks.

So what does it mean, this no side projects thing?

You're the dumbest genius ever.

It means she doesn't want you sleeping with other people.

What? Why would I do that?

Well, you wouldn't.

Is this someone from work?

Holy crap. Alex.

Can we not tell mom about this?

The last thing I want to talk to mom about is your love life.

Romance at work. Tricky.

Have you ever, you know, been with someone from work?

Yeah.

Is this the woman whose access codes you stole?

The codes you're gonna need to plant the file?

[sighs]

I'm sorry.

Just remember, what you're doing is gonna keep a lot of people safe, including her.

Are you okay?

Fine.

My mom's all over me to fly home to San Antonio tonight.

You don't like seeing your mom?

Tomorrow's the anniversary of my sister's death.

Not sure getting together to cry over a slab of granite will make us feel better.

Maybe your mom needs you there.

No.

She wants me there so she can blame me.

I got drunk at a bar.

I didn't want to drive home, so I called my sister, and she came and picked me up.

We got sideswiped. I walked away; she didn't.

I'm sorry.

She was gonna be a doctor.

She would've saved lives.

You save lives.

You saved mine in Brighton Park, and you'll save more when we stop Black Dagger.

You truly believe that, don't you?

That we'll stop it.

Yes.

I never met anyone like you, Alex.

[speaking Russian]

There's more thumb than office in a lot of these.

You try taking covert photos in the middle of a meeting with a paranoid spymaster.

So from what you're describing, trying to go in at night would be riskier than going in during the day when the alarms are off.

Sure, I only have to know in advance when the Rezident won't be in the building, find a way to get into his office without being seen, and then plant a bug.

There has to be a time during the day where he leaves the office regularly.

He takes his dog for a walk around the block a couple of times a day.

Then there's your window.

And for the bug, I can put it in a decanter stopper like this one here.

You just have to get into the private office and switch it out.

Are you sure you can replicate it exactly?

Every scratch, every mark.

It must be exact.

He's incredible with his hands.

Still no sign of him out front.

Victor: Stay at least a foot back from the window, or the infrared cameras will pick you up.

Natalie: Relax.

Everything's under control.

Rezident's on the move, go.

[suspenseful music]

♪ ♪

It's not here.

Natalie: What? What's not there?

The decanter, the thing I was supposed to bug.

The glasses are gone too.

[speaking indistinctly]

We should abort. Victor...

We can't abort. This is our only chance.

I have an idea.

Natalie: What are you gonna do?

Improvise.

[dramatic music]

♪ ♪

[glass shatters]

♪ ♪

Natalie: He's on his way back. We're out of time.

I just need one more minute.

He's coming your way. He's coming inside.

♪ ♪

I'm done.

Then get the hell out of there.

Natalie: If he catches you in there, he's gonna k*ll you.

[computer chirping]

Alex, what are you doing here?

Uh, Brock gave us a lot to analyze.

You came in at 2:00 AM to analyze.

I had to cross-reference a file with one on my desktop.

What are you doing here at 2:00 AM?

Sleep cycle's out of whack from Rome.

So did you find anything?

No.

Nothing that's odd?

I mean, we had solid Intel that the documents we were going for in Rome were Mikhail's documents, that it would be a treasure trove of information about the SVR.

The cache has yielded the identities of several undercover SVR officers.

Minnows. Paper pushers.

What if this whole thing was just a play to get us to spin our wheels?

Fly half way around the world chasing a false lead in Rome.

Well, the SVR would have to be ten steps ahead of us to pull that off.

That seems impossible.

Unless they had help, but that doesn't seem likely, does it?

See you later.

[dramatic music]

♪ ♪

[knocks on door]

Rezident: So what more do you have for me?

The files, names of our officers, were acquired in Rome.

How?

Don't have that yet.

But I do know the Americans were tracking a double homicide in Rome.

An ex-KGB operative and a Camorra member known to move money for black ops.

The CIA believes they are connected to chatter about an imminent att*ck on American soil.

[clears throat] Anything else?

Not yet.

Thank you, Victor. That will be all.

[phone line trilling]

Are there any loose ends in Rome?

man: I don't leave loose ends.

[woman speaking French]

[man speaking French]

Our colleagues from the other side are looking into a tragic incident.

man: Let them.

Has everything been arranged?

[intercom buzzes]

Hey. Hey.

Michelle: Want a drink?

Sam: No, I'm fine.

Michelle: So why the off-campus visit?

[sighs]

I need this to stay between us.

What is it?

It's probably nothing.

I'm just worried that Alex might be hiding something from me.

Really?

Last night, he came into the office at 2:00 in the morning.

He says he never sleeps.

Yeah, I know.

He says that.

You don't seem convinced.

No, he was acting... I don't know. He's been off since Rome.

Little things: white lies, vocal pattern stress.

I ask direct questions he avoids.

I think something happened in Italy.

Sam, you may be right.

Something did happen in Italy.

You saw something.

Yes.

Involving Alex.

What I saw definitely involved Alex.

Wait, you didn't...

I did not see that coming.

I said I could coach.

You and Alex?

Sex with Alex O'Connor?

Feel better?

About Alex, yes, not about the fairness of the universe, to be frank.

[sighs]

I will have that drink now.

[man speaking French]

Rezident: Our colleagues from the other side are looking into a tragic incident.

man: Let them.

Has everything been arranged?

Rezident: Friends will be waiting at Campbell's, 4:00.

Victor's doing some digging to try to see if there's an SVR asset or a site code named Campbell.

In the meantime, I hacked Customs who were taking passport photos of everybody arriving from France, Ivory Coast, Monaco, Belgium.

He's from Canada, Quebec.

How could you possibly know that?

Well, he ordered poutine, a signature dish of Quebec, and a croakmatin, a local beer.

It's hard to find outside of the province.

How long ago did you make this recording?

Three hours.

The flight from Quebec to New York is two hours.

He's already here. He's in the country.

Natalie: Alex, where are you going?

Task force.

They have to know the operative in charge of Black Dagger's here, and they need to know now.

I'll pretend to find the file.

We can't wait for the techs.

You cannot be the one to discover it.

The mole will k*ll you. Do you understand that, Alex?

A friend is waiting at Campbell's.

I mean, what if it isn't a code name?

What if it's Campbell's Apartment, the cocktail lounge at Grand Central Station?

Natalie: They were on a highly secure line, and they weren't bothering to use code words throughout the whole conversation.

It's possible.

Even if you're right, the Rezident said the meeting was at 4:00; that was 20 minutes ago.

We can get the security footage from Grand Central.

Just give us a little bit more time.

Faber: So you get any clarity on O'Connor?

You were right.

The night he disappeared, he was out getting laid.

Hey.

Well, I suppose you should find out who.

Make sure she's not an SVR sparrow.

I already know who.

Every once in a while, you impress me.

You know that?

Who?

This stays between us?

Come on, if you don't know that by now...

Michelle Prado.

Prado, really?

I know. Can you believe it?

[chuckles]

I read the kid's file when I polygraphed him.

He couldn't check a box for sexual orientation.

Well, mystery solved.

No known romantic relationships in his history.

Now, suddenly he ends up in bed with Michelle Prado.

How does that work?

Maybe Michelle likes misfits.

Yeah, maybe, maybe.

[foreboding music]

♪ ♪

[speaking Russian]

[fist thuds]

[man groaning, gasping]

What is this?

Our rat, Victor.

[panting]

This was in my car.

It wasn't me! Tell him, Victor.

You know I was... [coughs]

Dmitri says you will vouch for him.

I will.

Dmitri is loyal.

I disagree.

I believe Dmitri used to be loyal back when he thought he was destined to run the Service.

But then a stray b*llet felled a great career.

It was my mistake to hire him as my driver.

To be that close to center stage without being in the spotlight, it led to bitterness.

This man has a family.

He's happy.

He would never betray us.

Dmitri: I have two children. Please.

Shut up! Shut up!

He hears everything you say anyway.

Why would he need to bug your car?

Someone could've broken in there while he was away.

Possibly.

But that would mean Dmitri failed at his duties to protect my car, to protect me, and if not that, he must be a spy for the Americans.

No matter which, the consequence is the same.

No, don't!

[g*nshots]

[dark music]

♪ ♪

Cindy Reynolds.

Who?

Cindy Reynolds, she's an employee at the New York Stock Exchange, an asset of the SVR.

And?

She majored in forensic science at the University of Iowa.

And this is more important than my mu shu pork because...

Oh, it's a curriculum heavy with steganography.

She knows how to send and receive hidden messages in everyday documents.

You found one of these messages?

Not in my files, but there's letters between her and the SVR in the cache we got in Rome.

I think she could be connected to Black Dagger.

We should run a jpeg scan of all of her correspondence now.

Get it to the computer analysts.

Have them look at it within the next 24 hours.

No, we can't wait. We shouldn't wait.

I mean, I can run it.

Brock: Every piece of correspondence Cindy Reynolds sent or received in the past year.

Knock yourself out.

[suspenseful music]

♪ ♪

I'll be damned.

Nothing.

No, that's impossible.

It's a hidden jpeg. It shouldn't even be here.

Why is it empty?

I have no idea, but I do know this.

Nothing worse than cold mu shu.

[cell phone ringing]

Hey. It wasn't there... the file.

Alex: I opened the jpeg. It was empty.

Natalie: That's impossible.

You coded it, right?

If it's gone, that's because someone went in and erased it.

We need to get what we know to the authorities right away.

Could you get into the NYPD's real-time crime center?

Natalie: Yes.

Put out a be-on-lookout notice on him in the system.

Suspect in a double homicide in Rome believed to be hiding in New York, and include the blurry photo we have of him.

Say it's from an Italian security camera.

Natalie: Even if the BOLO went out tonight, tomorrow when the foreign liaison team gets in, they're gonna call Rome to follow up.

They're gonna figure out the request was a fake, and they're gonna come looking for whoever planted it.

Alex: So we get eight hours of cops scouring the city.

We get to use their eyes too.

Look, I have to go.

[knock at door]

Hey.

What's wrong?

I need to tell you something.

Okay.

I've been lying to you.

About what?

Everything.

You've seen the operative who's running Black Dagger in person.

I saw him k*ll two men in Rome.

I have a picture of him from there.

And rather than tell me or Sam or anyone, you pursue it on your own.

I had no choice.

There's a mole, I think, in the task force.

What makes you think that?

I planted a file about the operative on the FBI server so the techs would discover that he's here.

They missed it, so I went to Brock.

And we opened the file, but the file was missing.

Someone had deleted it.

You planted intelligence on an FBI server.

You need a log-in.

You used mine.

No, please. Michelle.

Back, back!

This whole time, that's what this was about.

You got close to me so you can use me!

No, no. No, this is real.

Everything about you is real to me.

You don't know anything about me.

I do.

I know that... how your hair falls in front of your face like now, but you never move it, because you'll only have to move it again.

I know that you blow on your coffee three times before you take your first sip.

I know that you crinkle your nose when someone pays you a compliment.

I know that when you kiss your tattoo to remember your sister, you blink twice to hold back the tears.

I'm not lying.

You have to turn yourself in.

To who?

I don't know who to trust.

And I should trust you?

Yes.

Yes.

And I need your help.

I need you to log in to the server.

I need to find out who logged in last.

You're out of your mind.

Show me the picture.

What?

The picture of the operative.

You said you have a picture of him from Italy.

Prove it to me.

Give me something I can verify, and I'll help.

I'm not carrying it around with me.

I need an hour.

Hurry.

[touch tones beeping]

[phone line trilling]

We need to talk.

[indistinct radio chatter]

Mark: Natalie planted the request for assistance from Rome's police.

A man wanted for two open homicides.

Katya: And an alert has gone out to all New York City officers, and we're going to monitor the police band for any hits.

In the meantime, we're searching every traffic camera in a ten-block radius of Grand Central, so we are going to find him.

[phone dings]

It's work. I have to...

Is everything okay?

Everything's going to be fine.

[indistinct radio chatter]

I love you guys.

[sentimental music]

♪ ♪

You be careful.

We're still not really sure what the mole knows.

Okay, you be very careful.

I will.

[ethereal music]

♪ ♪

[dark music]

♪ ♪

[floorboard creaks]

[footsteps]

Don't.

[silenced g*nsh*t]

Don't...