Title: Skeletons in the closet

Summary: Sydney faces her past at SD-6.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything Alias related, only the characters you don't know.

Spoiler: 3:17 'The frame' and before, AU after that.

Rating: PG-13

Sydney Bristow had expected the mission to be easy. A simple assignment of collecting a disk from a covenant defective in Las Vegas. That was four hours ago when she'd first been briefed. Now she sat in a cramped little van next to Vaughn and finished getting changed into her cocktail waitress costume.

She silently nodded to him as she left and didn't wait for his response. It would only hurt her. She entered the casino using the staff entrance and through the kitchen into the main gaming area. Holding a tray of drinks she made her way over to Andre Vassal, the covenant contact she was meeting.

Vassal noticed Agent Bristow immediately, even though her hair was a deep red and her eyes were a cerulean blue. It was definitely his contact. She placed his drink down and he discretely handed her a note.

She smiled and walked off, disappearing into the crowd. She ditched the tray and returned to the van after reading the note. "Vaughn, he's given us the location of the disk. He said it has the identity of two covenant moles within the CIA."

"Good job. Where is it?" He asked as she changed into plain back clothes and removed the wig and contact lenses.

"In a locker at the train station. Locker one nineteen. "She answered. "We better get going."

"Syd...about the other day..." Vaughn began but Sydney cut him off.

"We've got work to do Vaughn." He nodded and put the van into motion.

They arrived at the train station and Sydney grabbed a ski mask to put over her face. "There are two covenant guards. I don't want to be recognised." She explained.

"I'll come with you..."

"It's only two guys Vaughn." She objected. She'd been pushing him away ever since he'd returned to Lauren. She understood how he worked. If someone were in trouble Vaughn wouldn't abandon them. He was too nice.

Inside the train station was almost deserted, with only the odd passenger still waiting for their train out of Las Vegas. She slipped discretely into the back area that homed the lockers and searched down the endless rows for one nineteen. On her search she found the two guards. One close to the entrance, she'd had to use all her stealth to sneak past him, and the other standing next to one nineteen. She jumped him and he fell to the ground after she'd sprayed sleeping gas in his face, but as he fell the large man thudded loudly off the concrete ground. She picked up his gun and waited for his partner to rush her, but he never came.

She cautiously took out her lock picking kit and popped the lock of the storage locker. Still no one came after her. It was all too easy. She was about to pocket the disk when she felt pressure on the back of her neck. It was the familiar feeling of a .9mm pushed against her. Then she heard a click signalling the bullet loading into the chamber.

"I believe you've done our job for us." A male voice laughed and then she was shoved back against a locker so she was facing him. He wasn't alone. His partner, a woman of Sydney's age held the gun at her.

"I doubt you're Covenant." He continued. "Who do you work for?"

Her smile was visible under the ski mask and the man frowned. "You have a gun to your head. Why the hell are you smiling?"

"Drop it!" Vaughn ordered from behind him with a gun aimed at his head. "You okay?"

Sydney nodded and went to move. "I don't think so." The woman grabbed Sydney around the neck and pulled her against her. The man quickly scrambled beside his partner.

"Let her go!" Vaughn ordered the two masked assailants.

The woman shook her head. "Hmmm, let me see, no." She reached into Syd's jacket and pulled out the disk. "No, my partner and I are going to take your associate with us to our car and then we'll let her go. Give us the gun."

"Don't do it..." Sydney argued. The gun was pressed harder into her neck and she stifled back a whimper. Vaughn handed his weapon to the man and he snatched it without delay.

They pulled Sydney backwards towards an open fire exit. How had she missed that? A Mazda MX5 with tinted windows sat by it, waiting patiently for its owners.

Sydney was pushed against the car and her hands bound with a shoelace from the man's boot. Vaughn tried to move forwards, but the gun at Syd's head stopped him. She looked at him with urgency as she was shoved into the back seat of the car and the man sat in beside her. The woman moved to Vaughn and whacked his head with the butt of the gun. He fell to the ground, conscious but dazed and the woman got into the front seat of the Mazda and drove off.

Sydney was fuming. These people had ruined her mission and abducted her! She needed that disk to identify the CIA leak. She couldn't believe it had been senator Reed, but she couldn't tell Vaughn her suspicions. 'By the way I think your wife's Covenant and killed her father to cover it' sounds slightly jealous ex like.

"So what do we do with her?" The man asked as he sat beside her on the small backseat. His partner looked at her in the rear view mirror.

"We'll take her to the safe house and interrogate her there." He smiled and nodded.

"That sounds like a plan."

The safe house was five minutes away. A small apartment just off the strip. They forced her into the living room and pushed her roughly onto the couch. She fell down and lay with her face pushed against the cushions. She felt her bound arms being pulled backwards and sat up freely, but as she was pulled to a seating position she threw her head back and tried to head butt her attacker. The woman anticipated it and pushed her back down. Straddling her from behind.

The man pulled off his mask and knelt down next to the couch where Sydney lay pinned down. "Let's see who our new friend is." Sydney began to panic. How hadn't she recognised him before? If he was him, that meant she was her.

She struggled and was pushed down harder. "No. Please, let me..." Her mask was pulled off and her face exposed. He sat back on the floor with a large grin spread on his face.

"What is it?" His partner asked and turned Syd over so she was straddling her from the front. She beamed at her partner and Sydney cowered slightly.

"Agent Sydney Bristow." She purred. "Well, seeing as SD-6 no longer exists. I guess it's just Sydney Bristow, who were you with and why did you want that disk?"

"Sydney Bristow, field agent, number..." The woman on top of her pushed down harder on her and she flinched.

"That name rank and number crap will get you no where Bristow." The man warned. "What should we do with our guest Elliot?"

"How about we catch up, Zac?" She suggested and rose from Sydney. They man handled her into a wooden chair Zac placed in the middle of the living room. Tying her down with duck tape they made sure she was secure. They knew of Sydney's strength and abilities.

They sat back on the couch and admired their handy work. She was secure except for her mouth, but they needed her to be able to talk.

"So, Syd, who you working with now? I hear the CIA's got Sloane." Zac began.

"Actually I've heard a lot of things too." Elliot interrupted. "I heard Sloane killed Danny and that you went missing for two years. Rumours are you got stolen by the Covenant."

She remained silent. With a blank look spread over her features. The last thing she wanted was to be tied up around Elliot and Zac. Elliot laughed at her silence. "Perhaps I should contact the Covenant. I'm sure they'd love you back."

Her eyes became wide with unsuppressed fear. "No, please. I..."

"Who do you work for Bristow? And why did you want that disk?" Zac asked.

"I can't go back to them. The disk has Covenant information on. Some of which reveals information on an operative I've been following."

Elliot d held the disk up in her hand. "We just wanted it for leverage. I'll make you a deal Sydney. You up for that?"

"What kind of deal?" She asked cautiously. Elliot was as deceptive as Sloane. Well she did work for him since she was eighteen. She and Elliot had been the top field agents when Sydney had first joined SD-6. They'd taken her under their wing and babysat her until she began to rival their own legacy.

Sydney sat in the CIA debriefing room and explained the deal to Dixon, her father, Vaughn, Lauren, Weiss and Marshall. "I help them out on one assignment and they give us the master copy of the disk." She explained.

"It's too risky Sydney..." Jack began, but Sydney's piercing look stopped her.

"Syd..." Dixon stopped mid sentence too. The glare in her eye warning her superior to leave the past buried.

"N-no!" Marshal managed to stammer out. He shook his head. "No way! It's t-too dangerous. I mean I know you're a great agent and stuff, but Syd, you can't..."

"Marshal." She glared and felt terrible as he cowered from her.

"Is this some SD-6 thing?" Weiss asked.

Sydney watched as the three men who had worked at SD-6 scowled at her and urged her to come clean.

"It was a long time ago!" Sydney objected. "They didn't even mention it." She found Vaughn's concerned eyes and Lauren's curious glare upon her. She had no choice but to rake up the past. A past she wanted to forget more than she wanted to remember her time as Julia Thorne.