Title: Finger Paints and Poison Ivy
Author: Sweetness
E-mail:
Disclaimer: Not mine, blah, blah, disclaimercakes. The name of the camp belongs to the TV show "Bug Juice." Blah, blah, more disclaimercakes.
Rating: PG-13, for now, for language; might turn to R later on.
Spoilers: COMPLETELY AU. It's so on the AU side, it's not even funny. But, I'd say S3, just to be on the safe side.
'Ship: Sarkney. Like I'd write anything else.
Summary: Involves the usual ALIAS gang (minus a certain BOVINE member); Sydney and Sark are teenage camp counselors who meet at a summer camp. It's dislike at first meeting, but will that be enough to come between their attraction?
Distribution: SD-1, Mad-Love, this site, my LJ. All others just ask. Take without asking, and I shall have to go Jack Bristow on your ass.
Feedback: Is welcome and appreciated. Either here or my e-mail is fine.
A/N 1: This idea came from a couple weeks ago when I was watching old eps of "Bug Juice" and last week when I was watching "Heavyweights" on TV. Yes, I know they're weird inspirations for a story, but I've had weirder inspirations.
A/N 2: The story flips between P.O.V.'s, and I'm apologizing in advance for any confusion. Ask questions if you don't understand what's going on.
A/N 3: For the purposes of the story, Sydney's mother's name is Laura, she wasn't a KGB spy sent to marry Jack, and she is really, truly dead. So please don't shoot me for not including SpyMommy in any non-dead state. I really love and miss SpyMommy, but she's just not in the story, aside from flashbacks (maybe) and Sydney talking about her. And don't even try to convince me to write her into the story in an alive capacity. ducks flying objects from SpyMommy fans
A/N 4: This is dedicated to the readers of "Stupid," Gaudy and undoubtablyjess for putting up with my crap for other stories yet to be written, and sorchafeanor for beta-ing.
A/N 5: For those of you who read "Stupid" (which is, maybe, 2 of you) and want the sequel (which is probably none of you), you'll have to wait 'til my muse decides to cooperate long enough for me to write it. This is sort of a peace offering for y'all, in hopes you won't kill me for sorta maybe promising to have it done a couple months ago.
"Are you sure you still want to go?" Jack asked his sixteen-year-old daughter Sydney as he was driving her to the local park.
Sydney sighed, exasperated. "For the thousandth time, yes, Dad, I want to go!"
"I know...it's just that...you don't have to go if you don't want to. I won't be mad if you decide to stay home this summer."
"I've gone to camp every year since Mom died! It's the reason why I started going to camp in the first place! I'm not about to miss it this year! And Francie and Will are going to be there! Besides, why do you even care that I'm going? You're never around anyway." Sydney looked out the window, pouting.
"Just because I haven't been around very much doesn't mean that I don't miss you, sweetheart."
"Really?" snarked Sydney. "Since when have you missed me?"
Jack swallowed painfully. "I always miss you."
Sydney rolled her eyes. "Riiiight. If you had really missed me, then you wouldn't have abandoned me and left me with nannies when Mom died."
Pain flashed over Jack's face briefly before it once again became its usual stoniness. "You know how important my work is."
Sydney jerked her head back around. "Oh, yes, just what would the world do without the great airplane parts salesman Jack Bristow? God forbid someone runs out of wing nuts or landing gears! What about me? Where do I rate in your scale of importance? I obviously can't be too high on it, since it seems you would do absolutely anything just to avoid seeing me."
"Sydney—"
"No, Dad. Stop trying to placate me. Does my resemblance to Mom cause you that much pain? That you'd rather do anything else in the world to avoid seeing a reminder of what you lost?" Sydney's eyes started to fill up with tears. She turned around to look out the window again.
"Sydney, how could you say that? Yes, it's true that I miss your mother, but what could possibly make you think that I would rather work than spend time with you?"
Sydney turned around harshly to face him once again. "Oh, I don't know...maybe the fact that I'm lucky if I see you a couple of times a year? That you run out the door every time work beeps you, like you were waiting for it because you can't wait to get away from me? That you're NEVER around? That you've left me with countless nannies to raise me? That a wing nut is more important than events like my birthdays, my ballet recitals, my Sweet 16 party? Pick one." Sydney turned back around to stare out of the car window, unseeing.
Seeing he couldn't win this argument with Sydney without driving her further away, he drove the rest of the way in silence. He took a couple furtive glances at his headstrong daughter. Even though she had gone to Camp Waziowski since Laura's death, it still hurt to let his baby girl go every year. He had hoped to convince her to stay at home this summer, in hopes that they could try to bridge the gap that Laura's death had brought about, but to no avail; Sydney was as stubborn as her mother had been. And me, if I really admit it, Jack mused. In spite of frequent business trips and considerable amounts of time spent away from Sydney, he kept tabs on Sydney's life through the various nannies he had hired to care for her and phone calls to her teachers. He sighed and hoped Sydney wouldn't notice. Laura would be so proud of Sydney. He had discovered that Sydney aspired to be a literature professor, as her mother had been. At least she doesn't aspire to be an "airplane parts salesman." Because, then she would eventually discover the truth of what I really do, and I can't let that happen.
The park came into view, making Sydney sigh in relief. The sooner I get away from Dad and on the bus to camp, the better. Jack pulled into the parking lot inside the park and as close to the buses as possible and popped the trunk. Sydney climbed out of the car, opened the trunk, and started to pull out her bags. Jack stepped out of the car to help her. Sydney muttered something under her breath that sounded something like, "I could've gotten that myself. I'm not a baby anymore." Jack ignored her comment and walked over to one of the adults with a clipboard.
"Hey," said a cheery, blue-eyed, blonde-headed woman who looked more suited to being a cheerleading coach than watching over a bunch of little kids and teenagers. Her nametag indicated her name was "Heidi."
Sydney smiled. "Hey. Could you tell me what bus I'm supposed to be on?"
"Sure. What's your name?"
"Sydney Bristow."
Heidi stuck her hand out to shake Sydney's.
"Uh..." Sydney said, as she decided what to do about her full hands. "Dad, could you hold my bag?"
Even though Jack's hands were full, he said, "Of course."
Heidi laughed. "Having some problems?"
Sydney blushed slightly as she shook Heidi's hand. "Yeah, you could say that."
"Nice to meet you, Sydney."
"Nice to meet you, too, Heidi."
Heidi looked down her clipboard, blowing air out of her cheeks as she ran her finger down the list of names. "Oh, here it is. You're on Bus 4, which is..." Heidi looked around until she spotted the bus, saying, "right over there," pointing to a bus close to the end of the line. "And according to the clipboard, I'm the counselor in charge of your cabin."
Sydney smiled. "Sounds good. Well, I guess I should be heading over there now." She started walking towards the bus, when someone squealed, "SYDNEY!!!!!!!!" She turned around at hearing her name, only to be plowed into, and then squeezed into the biggest bear hug she'd ever had.
"Ooooooof!" exclaimed Sydney, as she dropped her bags. Then, she squeaked out, "Francie, I can't breathe!"
Francie immediately released her death grip on Sydney. "Sorry, Syd! It's just, I haven't seen you since Christmas, and I've missed you so much!" Francie then grabbed Sydney into another hug, and started dancing around.
"Okay, Francie, okay!" Francie let go of her again. Sydney said, laughingly, "For the record, I did miss you, too."
Francie laughed triumphantly. "I knew it! You missed me as much as I missed you!"
"Of course I missed you, Fran! It hasn't been the same at school without you."
"I know! I hate that my parents moved me to Seattle of all places! It's so rainy and there's no beach! And no good malls! I miss you and Will! Speaking of Will, have you seen him?"
"Nope, not yet. How about we go look for him?"
Francie looked at Sydney's dropped bags. "How about we go load your bags into the bus, THEN go look for Will?"
Sydney smiled sheepishly. "Yeah, that might be a good idea."
It turned out they didn't have to go far to find Will. He had just finished putting away his bags on the bus, when he spotted Sydney and Francie.
"Hey, guys!"
Francie squealed, "WILL!!!!!!!!" She squeezed him in the same bear hug as she had Sydney.
Will patted her on the back. He spoke as his air supply dwindled, "Yeah, yeah, missed you, too, Fran. Could you please let go of me? I need to breathe."
Francie let go of him and said, "Sorry, just missed you so much! I can't believe I'm standing here again with my two best friends!"
Will smiled. "So, how's Seattle been?" he asked, as he helped Sydney put her bags in the storage compartments at the bottom of the bus.
Francie sighed dramatically. "Rainy. Boring. Fucking depressing! No wonder all those grunge bands came from Seattle! It's so gloomy and depressing! And I hate school there, so much more than I hated school here with you guys." She glanced meaningfully at her two best friends. "You have no idea how much I've missed you two."
Sydney laughed. "I think we kinda got an idea from your deadly bear hug." Will murmured in agreement. Francie frowned slightly.
"Is there something wrong, Francie?"
Francie brightened up slightly. "Not really. It's just not the same without you two, that's all."
"So, have you made any friends?"
Francie immediately brightened up at the question. "Of course! Not to brag, but I'm one of the most popular people at school. Guess it has something to do with being from Cali, or something like that. But, anyway, the only problem is I haven't made any friends that are as great as the two of you are."
Will said sarcastically, "Well, I'm glad. I thought for a minute you'd replaced us or something."
Francie punched Will in the arm lightly. "You bastard! How could you even think that? Especially after that hug?"
"Relax, Fran, I was kidding!"
"I know. Oh, how I've missed your wit!"
Sydney groaned, feigning pain from Will's humor. "How could you say that, Fran? His wit is absolutely dreadful!" she said in an overdramatic fashion, winking.
"Oh, so that's how it is? You're gonna pay for that!"
Sydney ran away before he could tickle her, and Will ran after her. Francie thought as she looked on, God, I've missed them!
Meanwhile, a stretch limousine pulled up to the curb behind all the other buses. Inside were an older man with gray hair and his considerably younger, sullen son. The man was a Russian diplomat of considerable power conducting business in the States during the summer, and wanted his son closer to him, to keep him on a shorter leash. If I leave him alone in England, he'll surely get in himself into trouble. Again.
Julian stared out the window, in a rather surly mood. If this old bugger thinks that by sending me to be a camp counselor at a camp in the States will keep me out of trouble, he has another thing coming to him. Who the fuck does he think he is, anyway? Julian glanced at the man who claimed to be his father, sighing disgustedly. The bastard treats my mother and me like we're yesterday's rubbish, then sends me off to school in England. Great role model there, Daddy.
Andrian saw Julian's disgusted look his way, and sighed. Why couldn't he be more well-behaved? I sent him to boarding schools in England! They're the epitome of well-mannered! You would think he learned a thing or two!
"You might as well resign yourself to your fate this summer. Fighting against it will not do you any good," Andrian said to his son impatiently.
Julian turned around, flipped him off, opened the door, and climbed out before his father could admonish him for his juvenile behavior.
He walked around the back of the limo and started to pick up his bags. Nikolai, his father's most trusted chauffeur, had come out to help the younger Lazarey with his bags.
"What did you do to anger your father so?" Nikolai asked in heavily-accented English.
"He does not like my 'surly' attitude, apparently. I wouldn't worry, Nik; he has always been a crotchety old bastard, and will continue to be a crotchety old bastard to the grave. At least he won't have to see his greatest disappointment this summer."
"Master Julian—"
Julian raised his hand up to Nikolai, effectively silencing him. "You know very well what my father thinks of me, Nik. Do not try to convince me otherwise." He walked away, carrying a considerable amount of baggage.
Then, fate struck. Sydney, running away from Will and not watching where she was going, plowed straight into Julian, causing him to drop his bags.
Horror and embarrassment flashed across Sydney's face. "Oh, my god! I'm SO sorry!"
"Bloody hell!! Watch where the bloody hell you're going!!! I have half a mind to—" Julian looked up from his strewn bags and up at Sydney's face. My god, she's beautiful!
Sydney caught one look at him and nearly swooned. Oh. My. God. He's so gorgeous! Will just watched the exchange, not sure what to say or do.
Then, Julian remembered what had just transpired. "You might want to pick your jaw up off the ground," he spoke, his voice haughty to match his attitude.
Sydney snapped out of her trance and spat, "Shut up! At least I wasn't the one who was carrying so many bags that I couldn't see where the fuck I was going!"
Julian dryly countered, "And I was not the one running about, paying no mind to my surroundings. And, do you kiss your mother with that mouth?"
The last comment really hit home. "You're one to talk! And, hey! I'm trying to apologize to you, and you're being an asshole!" She paused for a moment. With a raised eyebrow, she continued, "Oh, so you don't want an apology? Well, that can easily be arranged." She made her way back to her bus, leaving Julian standing in her wake. Will took one more look back and followed her.
Just then, Nikolai walked up. "Are you—"
"Yes, I'm fine, Nik," Julian said as he watched Sydney walk away. He picked up his bags and headed over to the nearest counselor.
"Excuse me, but could you tell me which bus I am to ride on?"
A skinny, freckle-faced redhead looked up from his clipboard and smiled. "Sure thing. What's your name?"
"Julian Lazarey."
The counselor scanned the list of names until he came upon Julian's. "Yeah, uh, you ride Bus 4, which is that-a-way," pointing in the direction Sydney had gone, "and you're just in luck; you're in my cabin." He smiled and stuck his hand out to shake Julian's. "My name's Colin."
Julian politely shook Colin's hand. "Nice to meet you, Colin." He said, as he was walking away, not bothering to look for Nikolai, "Well, I should be making my way to the bus." He walked through a crowd of mostly tearful goodbyes. At least two others had goodbyes similar to his own. He smirked a little at this. Maybe this won't be as bad as I originally thought.
Reviews
vaughn is hot: Glad you like it so far. I'll give you a hint about who won't be included in the story: the evil mouth-breather that utterly destroyed all the characters on the show. That one should be EASY to figure out.
Canard: Wow! Enthusiastic response! blush I love "Bug Juice," too, and I'm glad I'm not the only one who's heard of it. I did get the camp name right, didn't I? I'm trying!
Meghan: Aw, thanks! Hey, I try, and I have a good beta.
katey watey: "Great?" Eh, I wouldn't go quite that far. I'll try to get it out as fast as possible!
jaden nighthawk: Hi! Glad you like it! It'll be here by this weekend if my beta will just send me some feedback!
Starry: Okay, now that's just weird. Sorry, no update yet. I'm trying my best!