A/N: Hey, thanks for reading! This is definitely not what it appears to be
just from this chapter. Give me a chance to develop the story. This is a
serious Sark story! I just have to do the set up and all that! ( Thanks and
please review!
"You didn't tell me."
Sydney Bristow looked pained, her eyes full of unshed tears. "Anna, I wanted to tell you. But.", she paused, shaking her head, "You saw what they did to Danny. I couldn't let that happen again. Not to my best friend." Sydney sat up straight in her chair, searching the woman's shielded face infront of her.
The woman across the plain, imposing table, brought her head up, her chocolate eyes focusing accusingly at Sydney, who gasped looking at the swelling, purple bruise on her friends cheek. "Friend? Friend? You let me believe I was working for the CIA, for my country. I thought I was a good guy. But you, you knew what SD-6 was! You knew they weren't the CIA! You knew that I was working for the very people I thought I was fighting! How is that excusable?! How is it justifiable? Tell me that!" She banged her fist angrily on the tabletop, gently running her hand over her face.
"Listen, Anna, if SD-6 had found out what I was doing, let alone what we were doing, they'd have us killed!" Sydney shot back, heatedly. She breathed in deeply before continuing in a softer voice, "I couldn't.I couldn't lose someone again. You're my best friend! How could I set you up to die.like I did Danny. Not to mention, that if we had been found out, Francie, Will.they would be gone.like that! Like Danny! That was a risk I was not-"
"You didn't give me any options, Syd! I could have helped. You seem to forget that I have been an agent just as long as you have! I know how to keep secrets, for Christ's sake; I've been doing it for more than 5 years. But that's just it, isn't it. You don't trust me." Anna paused and stood up, her hands shaking in anguish. "But I guess I should've known better. We've learned not to trust. Why trust a friend? That was a mistake that I made and one that I don't intend on making again!" Anna knocked on the thick door of the visitation room. "I'm finished here. For good."
A tall guard stepped into the room, prepared to lead Anna back to her cell, as she trembled with the intensity of what she had just said.
Sydney jumped from her chair, her smooth skin streaked with tears. "Anna, please. They're going to give you a job here, if you want it. We..we can start over! We have to get Sloane!"
Anna spun around, meeting Sydney face to face and staring her straight in the eyes, brown on brown but one pair was full of coldness. With a steely expression and an even chillier voice, she replied, "I'm finished, Syd. Did you not hear what I said? For good. I'm through with you. We may work together and see each other, but we are no longer friends. We never were. Don't ever speak to me again."
"Get me out of hear", Anna barked at the guard. Don't look back, she told herself, and don't cry. It didn't matter though as she felt a single tear cascade down her face. As she passed the crystalline glass, she saw Sydney's dejected body slumped in a chair and couldn't help but wonder if this was really the end of their friendship. Yes, it is. She lied to you! The one person who always told the truth to you and you to her. "Bye, Sydney", she said gently, more to herself than to anyone else.
* * * Sydney rolled over onto her back, pulling the inviting sheets full over her body. She couldn't stop thinking about all of the things that had happened over the past two weeks. First, she had finally taken down SD-6 only to find out that it was all set-up; Sloane, the devil himself, had carefully orchestrated the takedown of the Alliance in order to pursue his own goals. Whatever those may be, she thought frustratingly.
There was an upside, looking over at the man lying a next to her, a man who had been a part of her life for only a few years and yet it felt to her like he knew her every smile, her every look. Sydney quietly watched Vaughn for a second, letting her eyes scan his serene face and adorable forehead wrinkles and at the moment, she realized how much he meant to her. Vaughn had been her 'guardian angel', her safe place when everything else seemed chaotic and unhinged. And now they could be together. In the open. Out loud.
Sydney smiled to herself. She was started a whole new chapter in life and she had a father to whom she was growing closer everyday, a chance at real love with Vaughn, and friends that she could be honest with. Her smile faded as she remembered her.she couldn't even describe exactly what it was.was it a discussion? Was it an interaction with her best friend? Sydney rolled over at the thought, thinking that it just seemed so unnatural to her-Anna had never been so frigid before. Ever.
Sydney Bristow and Anna Parker had met in a counseling group through their elementary school for children who had lost parents. Sydney's mother had been 'killed' in a car crash when she was only six while Anna's mom had died a slow, painful death as a result of leukemia. Both had been rather shy, but their bond was instantaneous and they became fast friends, sharing an easy bake oven together and playing Barbies to no end. Luckily, their friendship superceded the turbulent time of adolescence and became stronger as Sydney drew away from her absentee father, relying more and more on Anna and their friendship. She could not even remember how many times she had spent the night at Anna's house and looking back, she fondly remember Steve Parker was always willing and caring enough to take her in.
Sydney felt her eyes brim with tears as she thought about Anna's dad and his tragic death when Anna had been just seventeen. A car accident, Sydney thought bitterly, like my mother. Since her mother had returned, Sydney often wondered if there was not more to Steve Parker's death but both of her parents had assured her that Anna's father had no ties or links to the CIA or any other organization like that. His death really was a freak accident. In some ways, Sydney felt guilty that her mother, a master manipulator and murdered, had cheated death whereas a good man, a loving and honest father, had truly lost his life. Sydney tried to shake those thought from her head. More disturbing memories are the last thing I need, she thought, rubbing her temples.
She and Anna had even ended up going to the same college, meeting Will and Francie and for a time, it seemed as though life was good. Happy. Then SD-6 had recruited Sydney, under the request of Arvin Sloane, and she became an agent of the CIA. Or so she thought. Shockingly, Anna had also been recruited by Sloane and Sydney still wondered why her, why her best friend? Sloane had always claimed innocently that Anna had fit the profile, just like Sydney, and therefore, she had just has much of an opportunity to be an officer of the 'CIA' as herself. The two of them had enjoyed their job, just the pure rush of it and the sense of danger. The lying to Will and Francie was, naturally, a sore spot for both of them but they reveled in the idea that they were serving their country and it was their duty to protect the people they loved.
But Sydney couldn't protect Danny. She, with all her fighting skills and above-average intelligence, could not save him. That was when she had found out that SD-6 was not a branch of the CIA but a member of the Alliance, an organization that was the enemy of the CIA. Sydney had begged to be able to tell Anna and constantly reiterated that Anna would never knowingly betray the United States of America. But the CIA refused, unless Sydney wanted to risk exposing herself as a double agent and in effect, her life, and Anna's life, then she was not to tell anyone.
And now she had lost one of her best friends. Just when things seemed to be improving, they became that much worse.
"You didn't tell me."
Sydney Bristow looked pained, her eyes full of unshed tears. "Anna, I wanted to tell you. But.", she paused, shaking her head, "You saw what they did to Danny. I couldn't let that happen again. Not to my best friend." Sydney sat up straight in her chair, searching the woman's shielded face infront of her.
The woman across the plain, imposing table, brought her head up, her chocolate eyes focusing accusingly at Sydney, who gasped looking at the swelling, purple bruise on her friends cheek. "Friend? Friend? You let me believe I was working for the CIA, for my country. I thought I was a good guy. But you, you knew what SD-6 was! You knew they weren't the CIA! You knew that I was working for the very people I thought I was fighting! How is that excusable?! How is it justifiable? Tell me that!" She banged her fist angrily on the tabletop, gently running her hand over her face.
"Listen, Anna, if SD-6 had found out what I was doing, let alone what we were doing, they'd have us killed!" Sydney shot back, heatedly. She breathed in deeply before continuing in a softer voice, "I couldn't.I couldn't lose someone again. You're my best friend! How could I set you up to die.like I did Danny. Not to mention, that if we had been found out, Francie, Will.they would be gone.like that! Like Danny! That was a risk I was not-"
"You didn't give me any options, Syd! I could have helped. You seem to forget that I have been an agent just as long as you have! I know how to keep secrets, for Christ's sake; I've been doing it for more than 5 years. But that's just it, isn't it. You don't trust me." Anna paused and stood up, her hands shaking in anguish. "But I guess I should've known better. We've learned not to trust. Why trust a friend? That was a mistake that I made and one that I don't intend on making again!" Anna knocked on the thick door of the visitation room. "I'm finished here. For good."
A tall guard stepped into the room, prepared to lead Anna back to her cell, as she trembled with the intensity of what she had just said.
Sydney jumped from her chair, her smooth skin streaked with tears. "Anna, please. They're going to give you a job here, if you want it. We..we can start over! We have to get Sloane!"
Anna spun around, meeting Sydney face to face and staring her straight in the eyes, brown on brown but one pair was full of coldness. With a steely expression and an even chillier voice, she replied, "I'm finished, Syd. Did you not hear what I said? For good. I'm through with you. We may work together and see each other, but we are no longer friends. We never were. Don't ever speak to me again."
"Get me out of hear", Anna barked at the guard. Don't look back, she told herself, and don't cry. It didn't matter though as she felt a single tear cascade down her face. As she passed the crystalline glass, she saw Sydney's dejected body slumped in a chair and couldn't help but wonder if this was really the end of their friendship. Yes, it is. She lied to you! The one person who always told the truth to you and you to her. "Bye, Sydney", she said gently, more to herself than to anyone else.
* * * Sydney rolled over onto her back, pulling the inviting sheets full over her body. She couldn't stop thinking about all of the things that had happened over the past two weeks. First, she had finally taken down SD-6 only to find out that it was all set-up; Sloane, the devil himself, had carefully orchestrated the takedown of the Alliance in order to pursue his own goals. Whatever those may be, she thought frustratingly.
There was an upside, looking over at the man lying a next to her, a man who had been a part of her life for only a few years and yet it felt to her like he knew her every smile, her every look. Sydney quietly watched Vaughn for a second, letting her eyes scan his serene face and adorable forehead wrinkles and at the moment, she realized how much he meant to her. Vaughn had been her 'guardian angel', her safe place when everything else seemed chaotic and unhinged. And now they could be together. In the open. Out loud.
Sydney smiled to herself. She was started a whole new chapter in life and she had a father to whom she was growing closer everyday, a chance at real love with Vaughn, and friends that she could be honest with. Her smile faded as she remembered her.she couldn't even describe exactly what it was.was it a discussion? Was it an interaction with her best friend? Sydney rolled over at the thought, thinking that it just seemed so unnatural to her-Anna had never been so frigid before. Ever.
Sydney Bristow and Anna Parker had met in a counseling group through their elementary school for children who had lost parents. Sydney's mother had been 'killed' in a car crash when she was only six while Anna's mom had died a slow, painful death as a result of leukemia. Both had been rather shy, but their bond was instantaneous and they became fast friends, sharing an easy bake oven together and playing Barbies to no end. Luckily, their friendship superceded the turbulent time of adolescence and became stronger as Sydney drew away from her absentee father, relying more and more on Anna and their friendship. She could not even remember how many times she had spent the night at Anna's house and looking back, she fondly remember Steve Parker was always willing and caring enough to take her in.
Sydney felt her eyes brim with tears as she thought about Anna's dad and his tragic death when Anna had been just seventeen. A car accident, Sydney thought bitterly, like my mother. Since her mother had returned, Sydney often wondered if there was not more to Steve Parker's death but both of her parents had assured her that Anna's father had no ties or links to the CIA or any other organization like that. His death really was a freak accident. In some ways, Sydney felt guilty that her mother, a master manipulator and murdered, had cheated death whereas a good man, a loving and honest father, had truly lost his life. Sydney tried to shake those thought from her head. More disturbing memories are the last thing I need, she thought, rubbing her temples.
She and Anna had even ended up going to the same college, meeting Will and Francie and for a time, it seemed as though life was good. Happy. Then SD-6 had recruited Sydney, under the request of Arvin Sloane, and she became an agent of the CIA. Or so she thought. Shockingly, Anna had also been recruited by Sloane and Sydney still wondered why her, why her best friend? Sloane had always claimed innocently that Anna had fit the profile, just like Sydney, and therefore, she had just has much of an opportunity to be an officer of the 'CIA' as herself. The two of them had enjoyed their job, just the pure rush of it and the sense of danger. The lying to Will and Francie was, naturally, a sore spot for both of them but they reveled in the idea that they were serving their country and it was their duty to protect the people they loved.
But Sydney couldn't protect Danny. She, with all her fighting skills and above-average intelligence, could not save him. That was when she had found out that SD-6 was not a branch of the CIA but a member of the Alliance, an organization that was the enemy of the CIA. Sydney had begged to be able to tell Anna and constantly reiterated that Anna would never knowingly betray the United States of America. But the CIA refused, unless Sydney wanted to risk exposing herself as a double agent and in effect, her life, and Anna's life, then she was not to tell anyone.
And now she had lost one of her best friends. Just when things seemed to be improving, they became that much worse.