"Cater Waiter"

Writer: Silvio Horta
Director: Harry Winer
Air Date: 09/23/03

Cast:
Christopher Gorham...Jake Foley
Keegan Connor Tracy...Diane Hughes
Philip Anthony-Rodriguez...Kyle Duarte
Judith Scott...Louise Beckett
Marina Black...Sarah Carter

Guest Stars:
Ling Bai...Mei Ling
Terry Chen...Chinese Agent
Ian Marsh...Driver
Grahame Wood...Rep. John Ramsey
Bert Steinmanis...Head Caterer
Terence Dament...Agent De Grasso
Kurt Evans...Tech Agent Hart

Synopsis

The episode opens with Jake sprinting across town, aided by the nanites. He arrives at a library just as Sarah Carter is floating down the stairs. he feigns surprise, despite the fact that she remembers telling him where she would be. Jake is thrilled when she accepts his invitation to lunch. At lunch, they reminisce about college—particularly getting drunk at the Lincoln Memorial. Apparently, young Jake had never had tequila prior to that instance, and Sarah recalls the particular shade of green he turned just before puking on the statue of the president's shoes. Jake is feeling confident, and Sarah notices the change in him, albeit she laughs off his insistence that he's been working out. Meanwhile, later that evening, a laptop with the encoded designs for a new, next-generation tank is stolen by the Chinese.

The next morning, Diane runs Jake through a series of tests designed to test his control over the nanites. Despite blowing up the X-Box, Diane notices Jake is in high spirits. Jake tells her about his pseudo-date with Sarah. Diane becomes slightly jealous, telling Jake to make sure and "not push it" with Sarah. Meanwhile, in Sat Ops Lou approaches Kyle about contacting one of their Chinese double-agents, Mei Ling Wong, with whom Kyle had a tempestuous affair several years earlier. Kyle tries to refuse the assignment, but Lou insists that regardless of his personal feelings, too much is at stake and she's not giving him a choice. He tells her that fine, they're contact Mei Ling, but he'll be the agent doing the contacting. Lou balks, reminding him that his cover is compromised. Kyle stands firm, pointing out that Mei Ling could spot any agent they might send it. Lou tells him "Not necessarily."

The meeting is set up at an art gallery, where Jake and Kyle await Mei Ling's arrival. As Jake eavesdrops using the nanites, Kyle tells Mei Ling about the laptop and offers her asylum and five years expenses if she will help them recover it. She counters with $2 million, and tells him the laptop is scheduled to go out that night via diplomatic pouch. There is a reception being held at the embassy that night. She will arrange for Kyle to be there as her guest. Outside, Jake observes there's a Casablanca thing going on between Kyle and Mei Ling, and tries to draw a parallel between their situation and his relationship with Sarah, but Kyle is disinterested. Back at Sat Ops, Kyle presents Mei Ling's terms to Lou. Lou doesn't want to send Kyle out into the field, but Jake tells her that he doesn't think the mission will work unless it's Kyle. Lou relents. Diane is nervous about Jake first official mission—as is Jake. Kyle's cover will be a South American oil exec, and Mei Ling will pass him a security keycard at the reception so that he can gain access to the laptop. Jake's job will be to interface with the security cameras to hide Kyle. Mei Ling will then be spirited away from the embassy in a catering truck driven by Agent De Grasso. Jake asks what his cover will be—another oil exec, or a dot com millionaire? Lou tells him it's their job to choose his cover.

Cut to Jake putting on a white tux, and standing on the balcony of the embassy, observing the party. He is approached by a slightly snooty man who hands him a tray of canapés, telling him they won't serve themselves. Jake is undercover as a member of the catering staff. Back at Sat Ops, Lou and Diane are monitoring. Diane is concerned because Jake's vitals show he's very nervous. As Jake circulates, picking up champagne glasses, he spots a familiar face: Sarah Carter. Quickly ditching the tray, he tries to pretend that he's a guest at the party. In Sat Ops, Diane notices Jake's vitals are going crazy. She wants to pull him out, but Lou tells her the mission hasn't even started yet.

Sarah and Jake make small talk. Sarah is there to approach another guest, Congressman Williams, about the Farm Bill. Sarah is less than thrilled, and in order to avoid the Head Waiter, Jake asks her to dance. On the dance floor, Kyle and Mei Ling are dancing. He remembers the red dress she is wearing. She wore it in Hong Kong. Apparently, she didn't have it on long, that time. As they dance, Sarah sees them and makes a comment about the two of them needing to get a room as Kyle strokes Mei Ling's neck, and she palms the security card from her cleavage and passes it off to him. As she and Jake dance, Sarah recalls with fondness college days of hanging out and drinking beer. Suddenly, she suggests to Jake that they ditch the reception and go to the Lincoln Memorial with a six pack. Kyle interrupts them, handing Jake his empty champagne flute. Sarah is shocked as she realises Jake is working the party. At the bar, Jake asks Kyle if that was really necessary. Kyle reminds him that the mission is their priority—not Jake's personal life. Jake comments that he doesn't seem to be the only one with a personal life. However, it's showtime.

As Kyle slips out towards the secure door, and Jake moves into position. Sarah approaches him, telling him that his moonlighting to make extra cash is no big deal. Jake comes clean, telling her he's undercover on a mission, but she merely laughs, assuming he's joking. They make plans to meet at the Lincoln Memorial in an hour. Jake uses the nanites to rewind the security cameras thirty minutes. Jake picks up a glass of champagne as the angry Head Waiter asks him what he's doing. With a grin and a wink, Jake tells him he's quitting. Meanwhile, Kyle is walking through the basement of the embassy, searching for the laptop with the tank schematics. Jake goes out to the catering van, which is still parked. Back at Sat Ops, Lou gets a call that Mei Ling never arrived at the safe house. Jake enters the van to find Agent de Grasso, dead.

Kyle finds the briefcase that is suppose to hold the laptop. It's empty. Mei Ling and two Chinese agents meet him, and he realises he's been set up. Kyle tries to fight off the agents, but is captured and tied to a chair. Mei Ling tells him this is her last mission. After delivering him, she's out. She believed that Kyle abandoned her two and a half years ago. As he is injected with a drug to make him more compliant. Back at Sat Ops, Lou realises that the whole mission was a set-up. Kyle's knowledge of the NSA's agents in China is more valuable to them than the tank schematics.

Drugged, Kyle pleads with Mei Ling, and confesses his love. She refuses to be moved. Jake calls in, and tries to talk him out of the embassy. Meanwhile, the half-hour delay on the security cameras is ticking down. Kyle reveals to Mei Ling that he had no choice. His cover had been compromised, and had he met her in Spain, they would have both been killed by her government. She is stricken by this news, but nevertheless refuses to back down, telling the agents to start work on him. She leaves, and one of the agents begins removing torture devices from their case. Still on his cellphone with Lou, Jake does not want to leave without Kyle. While Diane looks on, a bundle of nerves, Lou tries to assure him that Kyle's an experienced agent and can handle himself. When he overhears Kyle through a basement window. Lou gives up and tells him the truth: that they were after Kyle all along. She orders Jake to get out of there, however he ignores Lou and goes back in. Using the nanites to open locked doors, he heads down to the basement. Kyle is being shocked by one agent, and Jake hears him cry out in pain. He rushes to his air, but the Chinese agent interrogating Kyle proceeds to beat the crap out of him. Using the nanites, Jake finally fights back, flinging the Chinese agent backwards. The agent is impaled on a piece of rebar, and dies.

The timer on the security cameras runs out, and klaxons and red lights go off. Jake starts to untie Kyle, who tells Jake that he has to stab Kyle in the throat to prevent him from spilling government secrets. Jake refuses. Kyle tries to tell him that there is no way out, but Jake tells him to trust him. Jake kills the lights, and uses the nanites to gain night vision. Carrying Kyle out in the dark, they exit the basement and crouch in a stairwell, watching Chinese agents swarm around the building. Jake spots a new Cadillac sedan, and notes they're computer controlled. using the nanites to start the car, he creates a diversion. While the agents attack the car, he and Kyle slip out, only to come face to face with Mei Ling. She holds a gun on Kyle, and then kisses him and tells him to go. Kyle asks him to go with them, but she tells him she can't. Jake and Kyle make it to the catering van and speed away, breaking through the embassy gates. Back at Sat Ops, Lou and Diane are relieved that Kyle and Jake are alive. Lou gently tells Diane that the her fear when people she cares about are out in the field? Will never go away. Diane nods, looking drained.

At the Lincoln Memorial, a dishevelled Jake and Kyle watch the sun rise, bottles of beer in their hands. Kyle remembers how he first met Mei Ling in Bali, and Jake recalls when he first saw Sarah, freshman year at Georgetown. Kyle notes that now, the last time he'll ever see her, she held a gun to his head and kissed him. Jake reveals that he's never kissed Sarah. They continue drinking.

Guest cast