Title – Twisting Fate
Summery – What if Sydney was recruited by another agency before SD-6 or the CIA?
Type – Romance/Drama
Relationships – Vaughn/Sydney-----Sydney/Sark
A/N: It going to go a bit fast, this is the introduction so…yeah. Anyway this is an idea that I came up with after Jack told Sydney that he was going to recruit her after college but Sloane got her first, but what if Irina got to Sydney first! Ha, Ha! We have an AU! And a reasonable explanation to get Sark in the picture with Sydney!
The Beginning -
During the roles of changing laws and political assassination two races came from the underground, Political Anarchist or Worldly Conspirer. Both labels are evil drenched in blood from the wars of good and bad, in the grand name for the country of independence and freedom. The United States was in war, maybe not identified, maybe not known, but it was at war everyday. The country named for independence, founded for freedom was neither autonomous nor liberated. It was a jail for those who knew and it was their jail for those who made it.
There were two sides to this war and they had to be one of them. Sometimes it was a choice, a rebellion but sometimes it was forced into their mind as the greater side. Life was changing for America, new threats and empowerment of evil has surfaced in the faces of political leaders. People slaughtered, hurt, killed, lost, and loathed, all in the name of freedom and independence.
Sydney Bristow has seen this, encounter it, lived with it everyday until she lost herself in familiar eyes. She was one of them, an anarchist, a Marxist, a democrat, a republican, and even a socialist. She believed in false pretences told by confidants who tricked her and fooled her. Then tested her honesty when they told lies of their own.
She had her own war though than the underground rivalry of agencies below, she had her own life outside of politics and power hungry men. She was a perfect student, a perfect woman to marry, a perfect mother if she wanted any of those things and she did.
In the beautiful day of June 13, 1994, the year when the grudge music faded from the surface and the misconception of Green Day's crossover from independent to material came about. The year was anyone could wear a plain shirt and jeans, no long feathered hair, no swatches, and definitely no father. Jack Bristow was a modest man whose work came before his family. But there wasn't a family; a family had to have three people a Father, a Mother, and a Daughter. There were only two so it defies the logic of family. There was no mother, Laura Bristow died or abounded Sydney when she was six. The misconception of either the way of death and abandonment came from her father's words.
Her mind faded and reminisced the windows of their new home in Los Angeles, nothing like West Virginia. Her fourteen-year-old body shifted though the rooms filled with cardboard boxes as the sun orange light transcended though the glass of windows. "Do you even know where she was going that night?" Sydney took the box cutter and started to cut the duck tape in fast flicks of her elbow. "Coming home from work." She opened the last box of all the possessions she could sneak from her father eyes. "That late? Sydney she was leaving us." Beautiful boxes of nothing but string pearls, velvety cocktail dresses, her mother's schedule book, and ultimately the picture album. "Mom would never do that, she loved me!" She took the frame from nadir of the box and placed it on the dresser. "And I thought she loved me too, but she had another life before me. She wanted so many things, your mother, but she couldn't have them." She gazed at the picture in classic colors of black and white, the days at their beautiful colonial house replaced by a family house in the suburbs. "Because I was born." Her mother hair was at it longest point, in waves down to her waist and there was Sydney at six on her lap looking out of the window full of fireworks, smiling. "Sydney-- your mother loved you but she loved her old life more." Those days were the only times where she could remember sleeping all night.
Sydney snapped from her memory and looked up where kids were blasting Sheryl Crow 'All I wanna do' as their graduation song. Dancing around with the parchment paper rolled with a red ribbon in their hands with white satin robes and caps with a blue fringe entwisted with gold thread. But she wasn't dancing in those groups instead she gathered her paper for her valedictorian speech and shook hands with her teachers and before she left with her nanny. But one hand shook harder, unfamiliar to all the hands shook on the podium.
"Miss Bristow?" His thick Russian accent came though the music and sounded beautiful enriched with sophistication. Sydney was startled but resented showing it, she smiled and answered at his addressing
"Yes." He placed his card in front of her; she took the thick black parchment paper with white ink stamped into it, an uneven amounts of number equaling a phone extension.
"My name is Demtri Russek, I'm with the International Agency of Intelligence. My employer is very interested in you for a job placement, why don't you give us a call?" Her eyebrow folded in perplexity.
"What's the job?"
"A agent for an Intelligence Agency." He said
"What you mean like the CIA?" Sydney asked
"Not entirely but most of the positions are in likeness to the CIA."
"Are you kidding me?" She asked
"No we are quite serious. We've been watching you, and you interest us very much so."
"I don't understand, I don't have a college degree-" He waved his hand to stop her, he smile lightly at her bewilderment to a job offering so soon in her life.
"We want to get you before anyone else does," Sydney smiled as she took it as a joke but it was nothing but. "Please just give us a call if you agree, my employer would be thrilled." She came to speak again but he interrupted her again. "I must go, please don't speak of this to anyone, I cannot stress this enough…Oh, Miss Bristow my employer sends congratulation as valedictorian."
***
Her mind bottled with so many questions that month, she didn't know many things she could do that day but sit at home reading Jane Eyre as the card kept her mark on the words. She wasn't a popular girl, she wasn't invited to parties are went out dancing. Instead she sneaked a bottle of Merlot from her Nanny, which also qualified as a graduation present. A tall large glass of red wine and a white candle light in the edge of the room next to her mother's picture and music playing in the background changing from Etta James to Ella Fitzgerald.
Instead of reading the book she just starred at the piece of paper dangling between her figure tips, it rough edges and it uniqueness in color. Black was a strange color to have for a business card, but this didn't seem like a nine to five day job like other father's. She mused at it for hours on end, going on carefully on the decision. She wanted to be a teacher, and go to UCLA like her mother did in the city. But ever since that memory of moving into the house years ago and the discussion with her father that day and now her dreams had been stained and tarnished. Sydney didn't want to honor a life that was loathed by the woman, who lived it, but Sydney really wanted to be a teacher, she always loved babysitting.
"What should I do Mom? Should I take the job?" She mused in thin air. Her father wasn't going to pay for college after talks of her career, she didn't want to ask the nanny's advice because she didn't very much care for it since she wasn't in the picture. She took the phone from the dresser and turned down the music playing softly, she took another sip of the wine to stabilize her future.
Ring. Ring. Click. "Hello?" Her voice echoed though the line
"Your name please…" Answered a woman's slight accented German voice.
"Sydney Bristow."
"One moment." Click.
"Hello, Miss Bristow I'm so glad you called me and this soon." His Russian voice ruffed as he was still at his office collecting paperwork.
"What exactly does the International Agency of Intelligence do?" Sydney mused
"We collect intelligence of illegal affairs of different countries specializing in the sales of weapons, narcotics and artifacts by espionage." He told her flat out straight and she was automatically taken back by his honesty.
"Spying?"
"Well yes."
"You want me to be a spy?"
"An agent it that field, yes."
"Wow." Sydney spoke.
"Can I ask you something now?"
"Surly."
"Why did you call me?" His voice clearer than before,
"A little excitement? I don't exactly know. Well looking at my choices, I realized I didn't have any that were realistic as this one." She commented
"Don't worry Miss Bristow, my employer sent instructions that you would have special requirements with this job and were happy to oblige." He told her.
"What kind of requirements? And who exactly is your…" She was cut off by his voice again.
"We should talk off the phone, why don't you come over to my office tomorrow morning? Say about seven thirty. Meet me at Welting Field Insurance and Associates on twenty third and fifth. Good bye Miss Bristow."
With that he hung up leaving Sydney confused in compelled way and he dialed again, but a different number and in a secluded voice he answered. "Your right she called." And hung up leaving the office to go home from a hard days work of recruiting other soon to be agents.
The morning she told her nanny she was out to the city for a day trip. She dressed in her white shirt and black slacks, nothing too casual but nothing too occupational. She thought this was some kind of joke since this was a politic related job, not in insurance. But as she entered the building she asked the secretary for Mr. Russek and directed her to the back room where she sat for a couple of minutes intimidated by the sounds of the men talking in Russian outside the door. But suddenly she took notice of the manila folder thick as 'Moby dick'.
She turned and opened the folder and saw her school senior portrait with her mother's pearls and her long blonde hair flowing evenly on both her shoulders in a black long sleeved shirt and a navy blue background. She turned the picture and saw her school report, her birth certificate from a hospital in Charleston, all her medical history, her grades and then looking at the copy of a school report she wrote two months ago and a note attached to the smooth paper.
Subject: 34b-521 from writing sample her handwriting shows insecurity towards others, but also a dominating side if threaten, generosity, curiousness, and rare clumsiness if intimidated. Rare stroke of subject's letter 'T' shows great power in learning and instructing.
Sydney was taken aback, they had everything on her even going though her doctor files which she though were classified. She was getting herself into something that shook her body to the bone. But she was more surprised as they describe her handwriting as if they knew her, and all the details were extremely incorrect. Well they did get the curiousness correctly when she did thought about it but she tried to ignore all the others. As she turned the page and saw the cutouts of newspaper trimmings of her mother's accident, and that almost made her to the point of leaving until she leant over to the door to hear the conversations and footsteps getting closer.
She strained to hear and leaned her body to the right to see out the door and listen closely but instead her nervous fingers lost their stability and clumsy fell onto the floor with a plop. They turned around and saw her trying to get back up, she smiling nervously as her face blushed to the point of a rose. As they entered to room, two of the men smiling as she got back up onto the chair since they already know of her 'clumsiness if intimidated'.
"Good Morning Miss Bristow, I hope traffic wasn't terrible." Mr. Russek said
"I took the bus." Sydney informed them, they took their pens from the side and started to write what she told them. "What going on?"
"Well at this point, we would like to ask you a few questions before we start informing you on your job." He explained and she nodded her head stiffly as she saw the pens rotating in their fingers.
"Would you rather take the bus or drive?" One of the men asked, she nervously took the hair and brushed it behind her ear and smiled at the awkward question.
"Um, drive I guess." She answered
"Why?"
"Well, I guess the large crowd, I mean it great when there's traffic and it on the environment. But…" they took down more notes on that statement.
"Anti-social." One of the men mused
"Not really, just that people don't interest me on a bus, I rather meet people at a bookstore or a coffee house than on bus. I like to met people in a place I would be found in."
"Interest based."
"I guess that it." Sydney figured
"What do you feel about the United States government?"
"Well sometimes I feel that it corrupt and immoral but I'm loyal to it." Sydney answered, but immediately fell back at the answer in regret.
"Please specify why?" One them asked
Sydney waited to find the right words to describe what she really did feel about the government. She didn't want to come off as an anarchist but she wanted to be truthful at the same time. "Well some of their decisions seem wrong to me, but I wouldn't speak against it since they probably know more about the problem and fixing it than I would." Sydney explained and they quickly jotted on the lines nodded mused by her answer.
"Do you understand if you take this job you will hold a secret life?"
"Yes."
After an hour of odd questions that filled the room Sydney still felt stiff and bottled up telling them the armor shine of it. Never going to personal but she didn't know to avoid not to since they knew everything, they knew about her mother, and that bothered her the most. She cooperated with some of their questions and sometimes asking them the meaning of the stupid questions like what side do you sleep on at night or her favorite the profuse question of Pepsi or Coke. But the smile of hysteria from the odd questions faded as they landed on territory that should never be embarked by a stranger let alone a stranger taking notes on it.
"What is your relationship with your father?"
"You want me to answer that question?" She huffed
"Please Miss Bristow."
"I refuse, I've been-"She neglected
"Miss Bristow please just answer the question."
"No, I have been patient and cooperative with all your bizarre inquiries. But I will not allow you to ask me any kind of question involving my relationship with my father. You might have a right to know, but not right I know of. I'm sorry I cannot answer that question." She said firm with esteem as they smiled and jotted down the notes.
"I assure you Miss Bristow we meant no disrespect." Mr. Russek said, Sydney nodded not saying anything more. "Why don't I show you around, before we start going?" Sydney sat up and all three of the men did, before they turn to leave she gave them a nice firm handshake and let Mr. Russek show her to the back of the building where it seemed like one big gym with countless body moving and seating in. Equipment used but newly bought, mats and water bottles scattered everywhere.
"This is where you'll be staying for eight months learning in all of fighting skills possibly imagined. If you take the job." He told her, she saw all the men being trained but nothing but men and she thought this seemed a little weird so she questioned it.
"Well we have a new employer who seems that woman would do a better job, so we're recruiting woman over men now."
"Who is this employer person?"
"We nicknamed him 'the man', he has control over every branch. I'm sorry I rushing, what you just joined is a black ops agency called K-Directorate. During World War I, Treaty of Versailles privately came up with 'the council' to look upon the countries that to illegal transactions." He explained.
"Isn't that like the UN?" She asked
"Well they do it publicly, but the main difference here is we use spying as our way of investigating, and we do a little recovery of artifacts that are unknown to this date that must go secretly over threat of world dominance." He explained, she nodded again in understanding. "But one thing is that there are chairs on the council, ten to be exact, each one having a little more power than the other. So our employer is in charge of the council and in control of the ten branches of K-Directorate and all transactions."
"But doesn't that seem a little…much?" She asked
"That the thing, The Man hasn't been very interested in the Los Angeles department until now." He explained
"Have you ever met the man before?" She humored
"Yes, I was one of his screeners during his recruitment." Sydney wondered what the man was like, if he was some knight in shining armor or just a regular bold man behind a desk.
"What if I don't want to take the job?" Sydney humored again.
"You must not speak of this to anyone, as I said this was a black ops which this agency rely on its secrecy." He told her.
"Why me though?"
"My employer has a special interest in you, and he gave me special instructions for you." He took a long white envelope from his inner coat pocket and gave it to her, she open the unsealed fold and saw a white typing paper with the address of UCLA.
Miss Bristow
We're hear to inform you that your tuition had been paid full including house and board. Hope to see you in the fall.
Roger Milder
Director of Admissions
She looked at the paper with bewilderment as she knew she couldn't pay for college that why she was applying for this job. That was part of her need for this job, but this was beyond weird.
"Oh course, we can also cancel this and refund it." He said
"No…I take the job." She put the piece of paper in her purse and he smiled.
***
During those eight months she went to school at UCLA as a freshman and the same time going though every martial arts known, and the some that weren't she was physically and mentally exhausted. She came home and collapsed at the end of the day but they kept on pushing her as she kept on succeeding. Soon she was in the office doing paperwork, and she could see the pay off. All her fat was missing and now her body was slender and lean with a new admiration and high regard she couldn't help but know was present. She even made some friends along the way; Francie Calfo and Will Tippin who were both intimidated by her sometimes. She was different, special, and now she knew why, she was accepted.
That all what Sydney wanted from this job, for financial support though college, a family that she evolved, and a future though acceptance. That what Sydney always wanted, just an emotional state when she wasn't going to cry because she was lonely. But she knew this couldn't last forever, that she had to pay a price soon for her choice.
She came into the office where the meeting was going to be held, she looked at her watch and saw she was right on time but they came in late. She saw Mr. Russek and another man with the Armani suit and blonde short locks combed messily and fourteen caret gold cufflinks, he was intimidating but when he saw her he looked back in mist of her beauty and smiled evilly. She smiled back at him, they sat down after they shook her hand and addressed themselves. Sydney placed a strand of hair behind her ear from the locks that escaped from her messy French bun and he took note of that.
"Mr. Sark." He said
"Hello."
"Well, Miss Bristow, we were informed that you received a job position in the CIA." Sark said, his English accent was too far beautiful to sound. She remember the day at the UCLA campus writing part of her thesis when the man came over and gave her a business card almost being hit by Frisbees.
"Yes."
"You brought this to the attention of Mr. Russek, did you not?" He asked, I nodded. He smiled at her beautiful and starred at her necklace of pearls. "Well those are quite exquisite on you." He remarked she put her hand up to above her collarbone and touched her pearls, she smiled in admirement.
"They were my mother's." She told him
"Well their stunning." His eyes never left hers as he just starred in amazement of her loveliness. Seconds went by as Mr. Russek coughed in tension of the room and her gathered up his thoughts. "Well we were implying that we might use this position to get you into the system."
"I don't understand." Sydney hand traveled down to her lap of her pinstripe black slack never laying her hand back on her silk red blouse.
"Miss Bristow you know that there are illegal actions take place in all agency of the world, some of those agencies are imposing as real CIA branches, and we have men in these agency to keep tabs on the actions."
"You want me to be a mole?" She questioned
"Yes, and during that time your handler would be Sark."
"Oh." She breathed
"It be a pleasure to work with you Miss, Bristow." Sark said
***
So here she was as a double agent, in the world of SD-6. She dreaded the same about of training but made no notice of her advancement in the field. The same about of the first year of being a freshman went to being a sophomore in Literature studying theories of science and history's writings.
Her meetings with Sark had turned into weekly or daily events. He smiled always out of the ordinary for her, gave her some hope when she was dead tired of going though another round of training. He gave her cocky smiles, sometimes she would to aggravated with his snotty attitude. But he was already under her skin. Even if they couldn't be seen in public, he talked to her like no one else did like if he knew all her secrets, her childhood, and all her desires.
Thing she didn't know, he did.
And then she was emerged in the world of intelligence work, as she came in the office from two years and on a mission. Her only mission here, at SD-6 working for K-Directorate.
She came in though the glass doors of his office the same amount of curiosity she had on her face as she did when she entered K-Directorate. She saw the man who ran the cell of the alliance his eyes as cold and empty like coal, she knew he was a snake and she was going to be a thorn in his back.
"So this is Sydney Bristow, I heard a lot of things about you." Sloane spoke and shook her hand; she smiled even if she felt strange about this mission.
But things would go on.
So it begins…
A/N: I need a beta reader anyone out there? And please review…more to come