Star Dance
Author: Keren Ziv
Rating: G
Disclaimer: Box and clowns! Box and clowns! ...I don't own Alias.
You can't help but stare at her, taken in by the way her hair falls
down and brushes against her cheek like a lover's caress. The poets
would never cease to find new ways to express their adoration in
sonnets, writing about the way the stars played in her eyes and
lamenting over how they hadn't the privilege of viewing the dance. At
least, you remedy, you would never find the proper place to end.
She moves smoothly, like a cat. You've been around cats all your life
and you know the look of a cat on the prowl, getting ready to strike
at something. The muscles are not tense, but fluid, and the pupils
are large and dilated. This woman knows that something is about to
happen and she welcomes it, much as the cat waits for the mouth to
peep its miniature head out of the hole.
She's not just a woman, you argue with yourself when the facts are in
front of you, glaring, screaming. She's an agent. She did what she
had to do. It isn't as if you wouldn't do any differently than she.
Why, you serve your country to the best of your ability, always. She
is not a traitor to the United States because she was never loyal to
the United States in the first place.
That doesn't come out at all like you wanted it to come out. She is
now loyal to the United States, you reason, and she would not do
anything to harm it. Irina Derevko may have murdered CIA operatives,
but was as an enemy of the country. As an ally, an asset ... she
would be inequitable. The wealth of knowledge she has stored up in
her head could never be bought by monetary means.
The only thing this stoic Athena wants is for time with her family.
Her daughter, her husband, and, in some sick way, the son of a man
she killed. You have to wonder why she has such a fascination with
Agent Michael Vaughn. She does not at all appear to be sadistic.
A perfect agent, yes. Sadistic, no.
Irina Derevko is being wasted by the government of the United States.
They are afraid of her because she is so much more clever than they
could ever expect her to be. They do not wish to appear foolish when
she inevitably (in their opinions) commits a crime against the
government once more.
You wish that they could see how much Derevko could help them. She
could design new ways to train field agents. She could help them
crack the codes of foreign intelligence gathering agencies. She could
do a myriad of other things, including taping and disturbing that
technique that is just as effective as sleep in half the time.
So you read some of the conversation transcripts. You have to live
vicariously.
The smart tapping of high heels on the tiling causes you to look up.
A woman walks by, flashes an identification badge in your direction.
You gaze at her for a few moments, confused. She cocks an eyebrow,
waiting. You realize what you've forgotten, the protocol.
Agent Bristow,you say, typing in the security code to allow the
daughter to visit her mother. She nods at you and walks past the
rising bars. Just once, you wish silently, she should bang her head.