Summary: Set between seasons 2 and 3. Sydney Bristow as Julia Thorne and Michael Vaughn about to marry the enemy. Their paths were always meant to cross, but this time sooner than later.

For this fic, I have exercised a little creative freedom. Firstly, Sydney was successfully brainwashed by the Covenant and believes herself to be Julia Thorne. However, she is more than aware of the fact that there are some things in her life that do not add up.
As well as this successful brainwashing, Jack was never locked up, however Sloane was pardoned by the government, and is living his free life. Also, even though when Sydney originally returned in the series, Dixon had only been Director for 6 months, for the purpose of this fic, I have given him the promotion a little earlier.

Disclaimer: I do not own Alias. The title of this story comes from the song 'Shimmer' by Fuel (which is one of the greatest songs ever. I highly suggest that those who have not heard it yet, do so).

Chapter One:
Like She Did Before

Julia Thorne opened her eyes, her gaze falling upon the clutter of the room around her. She sighed quietly, almost inaudibly. They had only been at the hotel for about a day and already the place was a mess.

Julia hated mess. At least she thought she did. A part of her felt the need to be organized and neat, but she wasn't exactly sure where it came from. In her line of work there she was never in one place long enough to be neat. For as long as she could remember, she had always been messy.

But then again, there were a lot of things that Julia was not sure about. Yes, she knew where she had come from, what happened during her childhood, her family, her education…but it was the little things that eluded her. Like what had been her dream job at the age of six? Certainly not an assassin, or so she hoped. When had she learned to braid hair? What had been her favourite toy? Her favourite book?

'Alice in Wonderland,' a small voice in the back of Julia's mind said. All that thought left her with was confusion. She could not even remember reading it.

From beside her, Julia heard a slight moan and felt Simon stir. Instinctively she closed her eyes, not wanting to talk to him just yet. They worked extremely well together in the field, and seemed to have fun out of it, but in truth Simon Walker was nothing more than a business partner. A colleague.

A person who made it slightly easier to get through the days. Julia was always alone and she was well aware that she would always be so. But when Simon was around, there was the illusion that she had that somebody to turn to.

Like she did before.

As if hearing a silent cue, Simon's arm snaked around Julia's body, pulling her closer. "Morning," he murmured, nuzzling her neck, and Julia knew exactly what he wanted.

"Don't," she said, shifting slightly.

"What's the matter?" he asked. Simon wasn't exactly sure what had been going on with Julia lately. It hadn't taken him long to appreciate the woman he's been working with- in more ways than one. She possessed strength and determination that he almost found unbelievable. The way she went about her job, it was so professional. She was incredible to watch. And then there were those eyes, those cheekbones, that body…

But lately he'd found her almost pulling way from him, the ice, cold façade she out on when at work was starting to enter their leisure time. And then there were times when her expression turned completely blank, like she had no idea where she was.

Or even who she might be.

"Jules," he placed a hand on her bare shoulder. "Tell me."

"Nothing is the matter," she said abruptly, as she threw off the covers and grabbed a t-shirt from the floor. One of Simon's. Pulling it on, she stood up and then turned to face him. "It's just that we have a package to collect. We don't have time to fool around."

A slow grin formed on Simon's face. "That's what you said last week. But if I remember correctly…" he reached out for her, leaving the rest unsaid.

Julia stepped back from his reach. "We need to leave in the next fifteen minutes if we are to make this meet. And if you remember correctly, I happen to take my work seriously. So I suggest you get up. Now."

Aidan Moreau paced nervously. How he wished that he could be anywhere but here. But he didn't have a choice, did he? His wife, his son, they were at stake.

And all for some bit of parchment with scribbled mumbo jumbo.

But they had promised to keep him safe, and his family. Right now they were supposedly rescuing Gemma and Jeremy. Now all he had to do was hand over this stupid bit of paper that his father had left him. Then it would all be over.

'Damn you, dad,' Aidan thought, his throat constricting as he saw a car approaching. 'Why couldn't you have left money like any other normal person?'

The car pulled to a stop before him and the blonde woman and the dark haired man climbed out. The same two who had confronted him the day before.

Though, confronted was probably not a strong enough word…

"Hello Aidan," the woman's voice was clipped, void of all emotion. Aidan allowed himself a second to wonder how a person could end up as cold and heartless as she. What had she been through?

"Do you have what we asked for?" the man demanded.

Aidan gave a small nod, holding up his briefcase. "It's right here," he stammered.

Julia glanced at Simon and he nodded, pulling out his gun. Julia stepped forward and grabbed the suitcase.

"This had better be the real deal," she said, opening the case.

"It is," Aidan said quickly. "I promise."

Julia examined the page as Simon kept an eye on Aidan. It did appear to be authentic and…

Something caught her eye and Julia cocked her head. Across the top of the page, there was a clear line, resembling dried glue. She would not have even noticed it, had the sun not reflected off it.

She peered closer. What was it? Part of…she closed her eyes briefly, as something buried deep in her mind tried desperately to claw it's way out.

'...Magic Marshall's invisible liquid tracer...'

Julia straightened abruptly. "We've got a problem."

"What do you mean, a problem?" Simon asked, his voice forcibly calm, his eyes shifting between Julia and Aidan.

"This thing is bugged," she said, striding towards Aidan. "The guy is in cahoots with the CIA. Aren't' you, Aidan?" she asked, pulling out a gun and aiming it at his temple.

Aida's blood turned to ice. How could she have known? They had promised that he would be safe.

Simon's eyes narrowed. "How do you know that it's CIA?" he asked.

Julia did not blink, even though the same question was screaming itself inside her head.

"Just a hunch," she said, cocking her gun. "Though it doesn't really matter where the bug came from. The guy is tainted. Which means that our agreement is null and void."

Simon nodded and without hesitation, Julia fired her gun. Aidan Moreau fell to the ground, another notch on her already sizable tally.

"What are we going to do about that?" Simon gestured towards the briefcase.

"There's the camera in the car," Julia said, holstering her gun. "It will have to do. We can't risk taking it anywhere. But we need to move fast. Guaranteed there'll be a team nearby."

That night Julia never made it to bed, much to Simon's dismay. The day's events kept running through her mind. Why had she been so sure that the CIA had placed the tracer? Why had there been such an intense sense of familiarity?

She had never seen such a tracer before. If she had never seen it, how could she have been aware of it? And looking for it.

Julia sat up straight. She hadn't been looking for it, had she? It had been the chance of the sun…hadn't it?

'You'll get your answer, Mountaineer. All you need to do—'

"Julia?" Simon's figure filled the doorframe.

"What?" She looked at him, that blank expression on her face again. Though, not entirely blank. There was something about her eyes that was different. Softer, maybe.

"Are you ok?"

"I'm fine," she said. "I'm just thinking."

"About what?"

"I need to get away Simon," she said, looking him directly in the eyes. "I need some time to re-group."

"Why?"

Julia shrugged. "I haven't exactly been myself lately, and the last thing I want is to be a risk in the field. I know that if I could get away, have some time to myself, I'll get my focus back. "But," she paused, "I'll need your help. Our employers will never allow me vacation, not matter how small."

Simon nodded slowly. "Ok," he agreed. "I can cover for you. But only for a few days."

An extremely rare smile briefly crossed Julia's face. "Thank you, Simon."

"So, where are you going to go, Jules?"

"I'm not sure."

Julia stood in the airport, staring at the departure's board, waiting for an answer. She had her couple of days, days she hoped would clear her mind and allow her mind to go about her work without any type of disruptions.

'Where does Julia want to go?' she asked herself, not finding it all odd that she referred to herself in the third person. She did that often. It was not 'I' or 'me', it was 'Julia'.

Suddenly something occurred to her. She was going about this the wrong way. This wasn't about Julia and where she wanted to go.

Intently she scanned the board again.

'Where would Mountaineer want to go?'

A small fluttering in her stomach, gave Julia the answer she so desperately wanted.

Los Angeles.