Alias season 2, episode 9
Original air date: December 18, 2002

Sloane tortures Sark after the Kashmir deal falls apart, accusing Sark of not living up to his end of their agreement. Sark respectfully asks if it's possible that the leak came from within SD-6, which turns Sloane's gears a bit. He has a female agent begin an investigation into Emily's disappearance, reappearance, and Sloane's blackmail, bearing this new mole threat in mind.

Meanwhile, Sloane sends Sydney to Paris with Sark to intercept a terminal that Sark's old associate, Cuvee, is moving to a more secure location. The terminal is part of a project called Echelon, in which the US government can eavesdrop on financial transactions, emails, phone conversations, etc., to gather information on possible threats to national security. Of course, in the wrong hands, it could be used for insider trading and blackmail, as Vaughn points out. Sydney's countermission is to install a program on the terminal, once it's recovered, which will wipe its memory if and when SD-6 tries to access it. Sloane will just think that the terminal had a failsafe on it installed by Cuvee.

Sydney's none too pleased to be working with Sark, especially since it complicates her countermission. However, since she and Sark will be flying home separately, to maintain Sark's cover of still being independent, the plan is for her to install the software on the way home. When they hijack the armored truck, though, the terminal's not in it. Sydney has to chase one of Cuvee's men through the streets of Paris to grab it.

The terminal self-destructs as planned, but Sloane wants to go after the backup of the files that Cuvee had in a data storage facility in London. Since only the client can access the server, and it can't be hacked remotely without detection, Marshall has to go to London with Sydney to hack the server and destroy the files. Vaughn informs Sydney that there can't be any countermission, because Marshall has a photographic memory and will be able to turn all the files over to Sloane. Their only option, Vaughn says, is to get Marshall out of SD-6.

Sydney's concerned about Marshall's position once he leaves SD-6; it's his whole life, and she's worried that he'll fall apart when he finds out that he's not, in fact, working for the good guys. He's never been on a mission, either, so he's quite a handful. To get into the data facility, they have to steal the security card from Cuvee's head of IT security. He routinely goes to the London Philharmonic, so Sydney and Marshall get seats in his box and slip him a mild sedative. They have until intermission to return his security card to his pocket.

They enter the storage facility under the pretense of being another client of the facility, a dummy corporation SD-6 set up to gain access. Cuvee's rented out the entire 3rd floor for security, so they have to break onto the third floor. They're met by guards, and Marshall freaks out, yelling at them in Ewok. He takes a tranquilizer dart to the right shoulder while Sydney beats up the guards. He's a little woozy, so Sydney has to carry him to the computer to hack it. She also has to jumpstart his system by smooching him, which revives him brilliantly. He hacks it and destroys the files. They slip the key back into the guy's pocket at the Philharmonic, but as he wakes up, someone's watching them from another balcony, someone in a motorized wheelchair.

Sydney says goodbye to Marshall when they land at LAX again. He's going to be intercepted on his way home by the CIA, and Sydney feels terrible about it. However, as he's on his way home, the car's stopped by a group of masked men with guns, who force him out. Next thing you know, Marshall's strapped to a gurney and the deranged dentist guy from Taipei is leering over him.

Things aren't going well for Jack either: Derevko has reminded him that they're still married, and Sloane's investigator sees Jack as a prime suspect in the Sloane blackmail case. Or at least, as she firmly insists to Sloane, Jack has something to hide.