In the cool, cool, cool of an Afghani night, even the hardened Afghani freedom fighters, who have endured no small share of suffering and privation since we declared war nine years ago, are really not up to the torture of Aaron yammering on about what he saw in his flashforward.

And now, we find out that Hellinger is a real hands-on head of shadowy time-tripping cabals, because he's there to meet the SUV conveying "Gabriel McDow" personally. And Mark's ruse sort of works, if it weren't for an agent subtly shaking his head as Mark gets closer to Hellinger. The "big guy" immediately sprints for the airy workspace where all the cabal's computer geeks are, and shouts for them to "burn it all." A bazillion SWAT agents descend on the place, but they are no match for the speed with which a computer's hard drive can be deleted. Oh no! Petabytes of incriminating evidence have vanished into the ether! But as a consolation prize, Mark does get Hellinger.

We then zip to Simon lurking in a basement and fondling the QED like a modern-day Smeagol.

That night, in the FBI parkling lot, Janis is putting the cap on a very long and nerve-wracking day by preparing to get in her car. Too bad for her that Mark slams the door shut. He snarls, "Who do you work for?" Janis, feigning outrage: "What?" Mark: "You're not FBI, so who signs your paychecks?" Janis looks around as if to see whether anyone else can hear Mark's very loud line of inquiry (answer: no), then concedes, "CIA. I got recruited when I was at Quantico. How did you know?" Mark tells her, "I got suspicious when you sold out Marcie as the mole. The meetings with Vogel ... the fish store, where I assume you're meeting your contact. But it was the Hellinger sting that confirmed everything."

We flash back to that: Wedeck is telling Mark, "Your assignment today goes beyond being McDow's decoy." Vogel jumps in, "Intel says they're planning to kidnap McDow en route to the safehouse ..." "So it's our best chance to capture someone of value," Janis says. Mark asks Janis, "Based on what intel?" Vogel deflects, "There's a lot of chatter," a line that Mark promptly calls out as bullshit. He notices Janis looking all uncomfortable, and realizes she's the source of the intel.

Back in the now, Mark asks Janis what possessed her to blow her cover today, and she says flatly, "Because they wanted me to kill you, Mark. I told them I would." Mark absorbs that body blow, and says only, "A lot of people are going to be wondering who you really are." Janis mutters, "I did what I had to." Getting angry now, Benford says, "'A sacrifice for the greater good.' I've tried that line. It doesn't work. Looks good on a plaque, though." Janis doesn't really appreciate Mark getting all judge-y on her right now, and points out, "I've been living in between two separate lives in this tiny space where nothing ever happens." Except Carline's frequent death threats and unnatural (for her) sex acts with Demetri. Don't those count? Anyway, we find out that Janis is very lonely, and clinging to "I was doing my job" as a defense. Mark is in a hell of a mood, so he punctures holes in that by pointing out that Janis's real job has been to lie, she's been very good at it, and from now on, that is all anyone will see. He warns, "You're on the outside now. If you sacrifice everything, be prepared to walk alone." Janis asks, "You're walking right beside me. You're about to lose your family. Is it worth it to you?" Mark replies, "I don't ask that question. Too much at stake." He stalks off, but not before agreeing to let Janis tell Demetri herself.