Later, Lauren secretly meets with Mr. Zisman, a Covenant agent, to discuss Syd and Vaughn's assassination. Lauren hesitates but soon informs him that they'll board a jet at Dover Air Field. The Covenant poisons the pilots.

Mid-flight, Syd gets angry at Vaughn's aloofness and says they can no longer work together. The jet veers out of control as the poison pilots take ill and die. Syd and Vaughn gain controls and take evasive manoeuvres to avoid incoming missiles. The jet goes down. They survive the crash and flee the N. Korean military. They have 8 hours to meet the defector. As Syd and Vaughn commandeer a jeep, she admits to sleeping with Will but says she's moving on.

Jack suspects the Covenant is responsible and Dixon, disobeying orders, the team to help in any way. Sloane calls to offer help but Jack denies him. He instead contacts Irina, who directs him to Syd's apartment. Once there, he meets Katya, Irina's sister, who confirms Syd's survival and offers her help on the condition he murder Sloane. She calls it a "preventative measure."

In LA's Koreatown, Jack and Katya enter a restaurant and call on the owner, Mr. Cho, to repay a debt to Katya. When he declines, she stabs his hands with skewers and demands he contact Mr. Kwan.

Syd and Vaughn arrive in Gai-Li and identify Lisenker. They see him with Sark, who's been informed of the defection through Lauren's treachery and is posing as a CIA agent. As a knife-wielding Syd confronts him, N. Korean troops appear. Sark flees as Syd and the others are caught.

Jack enters Sloane's Zurich office, prepared to kill him. Meanwhile, Katya calls Sloane to tell him to back off Irina. She says he's not protected by his friends, even by Jack, — who's visible on Sloane's security system — and that his life is a favor from her. She then calls Jack and tells him to abort. Sloane tells Jack that he never forgot what it feels like to narrowly escape death.

Syd and Vaughn are beaten in prison. Vaughn admits he pushed her away on purpose. She says they always find each other. They kiss passionately before they're led out to the firing squad. One soldier turns on all the others, it's Mr. Kwan. They then rescue the Lisenker and escape.

They're welcomed back to the CIA. Syd notices that Vaughn runs to Lauren. Jack tells Katya he knows what she did, that she destroyed Sloane's trust in him. He wonders to what advantage it served Irina. She says Irina's intentions will become clear to him some day. And then she kisses him ferociously.