Title: One Fish, Two Fish
Author: Snowangel (Christie17@alloymail.com) Feel free to email me about the story!
Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters. Yet.
Spoilers: Up to Season 2 I think. This takes place before Phase One, because if it didn't absolutely nothing would make sense. Syd and Vaughn haven't gotten together yet.
Authors Note: Im so excited! I have just had an enlightening experience! I've somehow conjured up a brilliant plot for this story! Woohoo! Ok so I think its brilliant but hey, cut me some slack its my first Alias fic. I really hope you like this story and I know similar plot lines to this have been done in the past but trust me, mine is definitely an original. Hehehe. Oh yeah, this story isn't about fish (contrary to the title) so don't worry!
Chapter 1
Sydney Bristow let out a huge sigh of frustration as she slammed her hands down on the steering wheel in defeat. It was insane, trying to pass through rush hour traffic in L.A, in less than an hour. Vaughn has just called, she could sense the urgency and stress in his voice, even though he had only said two words; "Joey's Pizza?" She had hung up the phone and immediately headed out her front door, grabbing only her keys. And now here she was, stuck on 694, in what looked like a parking lot rather than a freeway. She absent-mindedly flipped on the radio, but all that blared back at her were mindless commercials. Feeling defeated yet again she turned off the radio and stared at the clock. 5:02. Vaughn was going to pissed, not that he'd ever show it. He was probably at the warehouse already. She could practically see him there, in the musty warehouse, halfway hidden by the long shadows cast by the late afternoon sun. She snapped out of her daydream and stole another glance at the clock. 5:03. "Damn it!" she said under her breath as she contemplated calling him on his cell, but decided against it. She laid her head back on the seat as one last defeat and just sat there, giving in to the stationary traffic.
Sydney finally arrived at the warehouse around six o'clock. Vaughn's ears perked up as he heard her footsteps, not steady and paced like usual, but more hurried and with different shoes, with less of an echo. Tennis shoes, he thought to himself, it was a Monday, but she had taken the day off and called in sick, and therefore wasn't wearing the usual three-inch heels. Sydney suddenly appeared in front of him, he was too busy thinking of what she could be wearing with those tennis shoes to notice that the footsteps had stopped.
"Sorry I'm late." She said quickly, pulling Vaughn out of his trance, and she wasn't greeted with his normal warmness. Instead, Vaughn wasted no time and he got right down to business.
"Syd, when you were on your last SD-6 mission in Fez, did they have to do any black market trading for them?" he questioned, his green eyes beating down at her. Sydney was intently listening him, returning his gaze.
"No I just completed the mission, the usual grab and go." She said with an even voice, not knowing where this conversation was headed.
"The CIA has obtained photos of you and Armando Salvatore in Fez." He said as he pulled out a large manila envelope and handed it to her.
"Armando Salvatore, the world's third largest black market weapons dealer." She said softly, calling the name from her memory. "That's impossible." Sydney slightly shook her head in confusion.
"So SD-6 didn't have you contact him?" Vaughn asked as he studied her, he started at her feet, indeed she was wearing tennis shoes, but also some sort of velour pants and tank top. He let his eyes wander up her body, greedily taking in the view.
"No. As far as I know Salvatore still holds a grudge against SD-6 and hasn't traded with them for five years. You know these pictures could have easily been foraged.
How did the CIA get these?" She asked skimming through the pictures contained in the manila envelope, her forehead wrinkled as she concentrated.
"Routine security checks. They were checking out security cameras in the hotels of all major cities overseas and you came up from the face recognition software." He paused and studied her face for a moment. He blushed when she looked up and found him staring at her. Sydney's face also flushed as she self-consciously tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, and they both looked away for a moment, trying to regain their composure. Vaughn cleared his voice and spoke, breaking the awkward moment and tension.
"Do you know of anyone that would want the CIA to think that you're in on black market trading?"
"I don't know, it can't be any one from SD-6, but other than that it's impossible to track down anything about anyone."
He nodded in agreement. A small pause followed.
"Is that all?" Sydney inquired, while she took her turn to study his face while she handed the folder back to him.
"Yeah," he said, not really wanting her to leave. "Is SD-6 still planning the mission in Russia?"
"Yeah, I leave on Wednesday." She said, dreading what that day would bring.
"I'll have your counter-mission ready for tomorrow then."
"Okay, I'll see you then."
"Right," Vaughn said as she walked away. "Syd," he called after her, "Be careful."
She turned around and half smiled at him in response.
~~~~~***~~~~~
He sat at the table waiting, it was cold, it was always cold here, a reflection of so many things but mostly of himself. A single lamp dangled from the ceiling, dimly lighting the dank room. All was quiet and he heard nothing except the heavy breathing of the burly guards that stood outside the door. Finally he could hear footsteps coming down the hallway, echoing so much that he almost couldn't stand the sound of it when it hit his ears. She finally appeared in the doorway, standing tall, dark hair cascading just to her shoulders, with a shadow casting darkness over her face. She made her way to the table and pulled out a chair, but remained standing, showing she had control.
He was the first one to speak. "You got them?" he asked in a thick French accent, trying to not show her his fear and yet attempting to intimidate her at the same time.
"Of course I got them. You do what I said?" Her dark eyes focusing on his little beady ones, silently warring with him, each trying to gain an upper hand.
"It was simple," he said arrogantly. "I just hacked into their mainframe and the CIA placement system and placed the surveillance pictures in their files. Does the CIA suspect anything?"
"No."
"Good. What about Gulnik?" He asked in a low voice as he shifted in his chair.
"What about him? He's dead." She said nonchalantly as she began pacing back and forth across the room.
"I thought you said no casualties this time." He said, anger creeping into his voice.
"Yeah well things got messy, you do what you gotta do." She retorted.
"This little habit of yours will give you away if you keep it up. I'd never thought I'd see the day when you of all people would despoil this. This is just the sort of thing Irina Derevko was sure not to let happen." He said, the corners of his mouth slightly curving up into a smile.
She whirled around at the sound of the name. "How dare you bring my mother into this. You are not to even mention her name." She said vehemently with a steady voice, her face contorting from annoyance to rage.
He drew back, his face turning white, he knew her temper but yet he couldn't resist the temptation of setting her off, he thrived on her passion. She pushed the chair in, signaling the meeting was over, throwing him a steely glance. She strode over to his side of the table, cowering over him while he sat in the metal chair. She reached in her tall black boots and before he knew what was happening he heard a loud bang and felt a sudden burning in his left foot. He looked down and saw a gaping hole, and smelled the acrid stench of gunpowder and he looked up at her again. She simply blinked and said, "You should know better by now." as she spun on her heels and exited.
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