ILOVEALIAS4EVER & agent belle: Thank you for your feed back

ILOVEALIAS4EVER: I was one of the Alias fans who loved the fifth season (audiences were certainly divided, weren't they?). In regards to a fic around season, at the moment I have a few ideas for some one shots, but nothing for an ongoing story- yet. The idea will come, I just have to wait for inspiration to hit.

Disclaimer: The title of this chapter comes from the song 'World On Fire' by Sarah McLachlan


Stay Close To Me When The Sky Is Falling

As Summer stepped through the front door, she could hear voices coming from the living room. Not wanting to face anybody, she planned in sneaking past. However, something made her stop.

"The facility was vacant and wired to blow," she heard her father say.

"Oh my god," came Sydney's shocked reply.

"If Jack hadn't spotted it on the surveillance…How could this have happened?"

"Vaughn, this is going to end."

"I really hope so."

"It will. Information is being contained, which narrows their options of retrieving that information. And after Dixon and Weiss, it will be days, max, before we find them. They out our friend's lives in danger and I am going to make it my mission to make them pay. Those responsible will never see daylight again after I get my hands on them."

As silence descended upon them, Summer backed towards the front door, both hands clamped over her mouth. Sydney had said they were close…they would find out that it had been her all along and then…

Taking a second to grab her car keys, Summer then sprinted out the front door. There was not a chance she was going to stay and wait to be discovered. There was only one option and that was to run.


As Summer drove aimlessly through the streets of L.A, she realized that she had not thought the whole running away thing completely through. She had no clothes, no money and no idea what to do next.

The ringing of her mobile phone broke into her thoughts. Glancing to where she had thrown it on the passenger seat, she took a quick look at the caller ID. It was Mitch.

While answering the call was the last thing she wanted to do, Summer still found herself pulling to the side of the road. She continued to star at the phone until the ringing ended. She was still staring about 30 seconds later when the phone beeped, indicating a voice message.

Curiosity got the better of Summer and so she picked up the phone and dialled her message bank.

"Sum, it's me. Look…I don't…obviously I made a mistake and I am so sorry. Please…just talk to me. I have no idea what I would do if I lost my best friend. Please call me back, Summer."

With a sigh, Summer brought the phone down from her ear, her thumb hovering over the '1' button- the speed dial for Mitch. What on Earth would she say? "Don't worry, Mitch, the kiss wasn't a mistake. It's just that I am kind of on the run from my parents"?

Running a hand through her hair, Summer looked up and out the window. Her eyes fell on a motel across the street and she realized what she could do. She realized she had no other choice.


Mitch was pounding furious at his keyboard. At times of stress he turned to his old school computer games for a release. And at this particular moment, he had a need for a good and long game of Duke Nukem.

At a crucial point his mobile rang, causing him to lose concentration and a subsequent life.

"Damn!" He slammed a hand down on the keys before picking up the phone. "Hello."

"Mitch?"

He straightened up in his seat. "Summer. Oh, thank god. Look, about before, I am—"

"Mitch, I don't have a problem with what happened before."

"You don't? But—"

"Mitch, I need your help."

His stomach tightened slightly at the sound of desperation in Summer's voice. "Summer? What's wrong?"

"I can't go into details," she replied. "But I'm at the Radisson Motel, room 47. Can you get here ASAP?"

"Yes, but—"

"I need to borrow some money. Can you lend it to me?"

"Of course I will, but Sum, I think that I am going to need some explanation."

"We'll talk when you get here…oh, and Mitch?"

"Yeah."

"Promise me that you will not mention a word of this to anybody."

Mitch drew in a deep breath, his head spinning with a thousand different scenarios. "I promise, Sum." Hearing the click on the other end of the line, he placed his phone back down. Summer had refused to explain, but Mitch had an inkling of what she was planning to do. It didn't take a genius to figure out what a person hiding out in a hotel and asking for money's next step would b


"Who had knowledge of the mission to Krakow?" Jack asked Weiss brusquely.

"Apart from you, it was myself, Dixon, Sydney and Vaughn."

"I want Marshall to do an full analysis of all of our computer hard drives," Jack ordered. "I want every possible inch inspected."

Weiss paused for a few seconds. "Excuse me if this is disrespectful, but you cannot honestly suspect any of us. For god's sake, Sydney is your daughter—"

"Agent Weiss," Jack cut him off with a glower. "I said our computer's- including mine."

"Oh," Weiss said. "Sorry. Jumped the gun a bit there."

"We have rules out the possibility of a human mole," Jack said. "But the Allégeance has somehow gained access to this facility. By limiting those with knowledge, we have severely cut down their access points. Hopefully the hard drives will show something of a leak."


Placing the phone back into its receiver, Vaughn turned to Sydney. "They don't need us in there."

"Why?"

"Uh," Vaughn brought a hand up, scratching the back of his head. "Well, Weiss was talking in code that I'm not—"

"Code? Do they think the phones are tapped?"

Vaughn shrugged. "The Allégeance are getting in somehow. Anyway, what I deciphered from Weiss was 'washing computer'…I can only assume that means Marshall is doing an inspection on our hard drives."

"But how on earth would the Allégeance get access to our computer systems?"

"With people like that, who knows?" He drew in a deep breath, looking around. "Time for a subject change. Where are Sum and Liam?"

"Liam's at the rink with Tomas and Summer head out awhile ago. Said that she was going over to Mitch's."

"Right," Vaughn smiled. "Wanna bet that we don't see her again until tomorrow morning?"


Summer was sitting on the edge of the double bed, her legs jiggling nervously, when a knock on the door made her jump.

Glancing through the peephole, she let out a sigh of relief when she saw that it was Mitch.

Detaching the chain lock, she flung the door open, pulled Mitch in and slammed it shut.

"Summer, what the hell is going on?" he demanded.

"I'm in trouble."

"Well, I sort of figured that part out," he replied. "What have you done?"

"I…" Summer raked her hands through her hair as she started to pace up and down the room. "I can't tell you."

"No. You cannot just say that and expect me to accept it. Summer, I just want to help you."

"You are helping."

"I don't mean by lending money!" Mitch let out exasperatedly. "Whatever this is, we can figure it out."

"No," Summer shook her head. "The only way for me to figure this out is to leave."

"Leave?" Mitch had assumed that this was what she wanted to do, but to actually hear her say it was another thing. He couldn't just let her leave. "Leave and go where?"

"I don't know- and you can't know either."

"Look," Mitch started. "You are really scaring me, Summer. So, either you tell me what is going on or I am calling Syd and Michael."

"No!" Summer let out, almost hysterically. "You can't. You promised me, Mitchell!"

"Then…"

"Look…" Summer thought frantically for a few seconds. "All I can tell you is that I haven't been working for an insurance company."

"Summer?" Mitch stared at her incredulously.

"Please, don't ask any more questions, Mitch," Summer begged. "I just have to leave, ok. I will be fine if I can just leave."

Mitch paused before taking a step towards her. "Then I'll come with you."

Summer shook her head. "No."

"Sum, you cannot do this by yourself."

"And you can't just up and leave your life and world behind because of me," Summer protested.

"Don't you get it, Summer?" Mitch said quietly. "You are my world."

Summer stopped short. "Don't do this, Mitch."

"Why not? We've been there for each other since day one, Sum." He took a few more steps towards her. "I am not going to let you go. Not now, after…"

"After what?" Summer whispered. Mitch was so close to her that she could feel his breath on her face.

"You said that you didn't have a problem with before?"

Summer gave a short nod. "Yes…I said that."

"Then did you really think that I was going to just let you leave without a fight?"

"You don't get it, Mitch," Summer protested weakly. "If I don't leave then you will have nothing—" she was cut short as Mitch pulled her tightly into his arms, and brought his lips down to hers.


After a night of restless sleep, Vaughn made his way into the Rotunda early. He felt responsible for the disaster of the Krakow mission and was desperate to feel productive.

Arriving at his desk, he carelessly tossed his briefcase down, knocking Summer's photo frame off and onto the floor. It landed with a small crash, breaking into several pieces.

"Sh…" Vaughn swore, kneeling down. What a way to start the day…

His thoughts came to abrupt halt as his stomach turned over with a nauseating roll. Because there in front of him, amongst the pieces of a gift from his daughter- the gift she asked him to take to work- was a recording device. A recording device that was in no way CIA sanctioned. A device that could have recorded his discussions of the Krakow mission.

A recording device with a definite purpose.