Chapter 11
Vaughn was already waiting for her in the warehouse when Sydney got there. Her stride was fast, assured and Vaughn admired her resilience. If he had been in Sydney's shoes, he would probably still be crying in bed, he thought.
"Hi Sydney," he greeted her with a smile.
"Hi."
On closer look, she seemed tired but as beautiful as ever. Vaughn mentally shook himself. Inappropriate thought for a handler.
"Did you get any sleep last night?"
"I'm fine," she said to avoid further questioning.
Vaughn understood and went on with the business stuff.
"So, how did the meeting with Sloane go?"
"He's sending me on a mission in Tuscany."
Quickly, she detailed the task ahead to him. As soon as she was finished, he gave her the counter mission. She was going to transmit the account numbers to the CIA at the same time she was giving them to SD-6. Nothing fancy.
"Okay, I've got it," she nodded.
"Good."
"Now I've got to go. My plane is leaving in 40 minutes," she explained.
"Then I'll see you when you get back."
"Okay."
She started to walk away, but his voice stopped her.
"Sydney?"
She slowly turned around.
"Yeah?"
"Be careful."
Her first instinct was to be cynical and think that he was only saying that because the CIA needed to keep its only double agent into SD-6 alive. But something in Vaughn eyes made her think that he really cared.
So her voice was gentle when she answered:
"I will."
For once, Sydney was happy to be swamped with homework to do, because it kept her from thinking about the spy portion of her life. She was almost done with her essay when the plane began its descent.
As she saved her work and turned off her laptop, Sydney's thoughts drifted to Vaughn. He really seemed to care about her well being, and she was kind of surprised about that. After the way she had treated him… Maybe she should try to be nicer to him on their next debrief?
The mission ahead was fairly simple, but it was going to be her first real step into the double agent life. She wasn't afraid, no, but she felt kind of… angry. After all, it was the first task she was going to complete for SD-6 since she learned that they were on the wrong side of the law. She was going to give them the accounts numbers they wanted… and that made her sick.
At least the CIA was going to get them too.
Several hours later, Vaughn and Weiss were sitting in front of a computer, waiting for Sydney's transmission from Tuscany.
"So, have you bought the tickets yet?"
Weiss shook his head vigorously.
"No, I'm still convinced I won the bet."
Vaughn couldn't believe his ears.
"Eric, you dialled her number yourself!"
"Who says this piece of paper really was the one she gave you? You could have forged it…"
"Eric, if the bet had been about a Ferrari or something like that, maybe I would have spent a bit of my time and energy to do such thing. But… come on."
Weiss was about to make a witty comment of his own when the numbers from Hassan's bank accounts began to appear on the screen.
Sydney was transmitting.
Fifteen minutes later, Weiss and Vaughn were about to call it a day when Agent Taylor rushed to their side.
"Guys! Look at this!"
"What is it?"
"Well, to make a long story short, we just picked up the word on Echelon that Sydney Bristow is going to be taken down right before getting on the plane back to LA. That's in 35 minutes."
Vaughn's breath caught in his throat, so Weiss was the one that said:
"What? By whom?"
"By SD-4, but apparently the order came directly from Sloane."
Getting back to his senses, Vaughn instructed:
"Damn! I want a team ready for extraction in 25 minutes. As soon as she gets to the airfield, we're pulling her out."
"Got it," Taylor replied before walking away hurriedly.
"Mike, I'm not sure this is the way to go," said Weiss carefully.
Vaughn looked at his friend incredulously.
"What? We have to do something or we are going to lose her!" he replied vehemently.
Weiss was surprised by the desperation he heard in Vaughn's voice. Of course, the life of his asset was at stake here, but he also knew his friend was usually remarkably calm in any crisis.
"Mike, think about it. Wouldn't it be the perfect way for Sloane to know if Sydney is a double agent or not? Don't you think it's awfully convenient that SD-6 was careless enough to give us the chance to learn about that assassination request?"
"Eric, we can't take that risk. We have to extract her. Now," Vaughn pleaded ardently.
"And bring her on the WPP? From what I gather, she would hate you for it."
Vaughn had a short hesitation that didn't go unnoticed by Weiss, but after a second he replied:
"At least she would live to be angry with me."
Weiss paused a second, knowing full well his friend wasn't going to like what he was about to say.
"Let's call Lambert."
Vaughn's eyes got wider than Eric ever thought possible.
"Are you kidding me?"
"No. He will make the decision."
"Lambert can't even see his big nose in the middle of his ugly face, and now you want to put Sydney's fate in his hands?"
"He's supposed to supervise this case. And you know what? For Agent Bristow's sake, I truly hope he agrees with me, because you can't see clearly. But I think I'm beginning to and we'll need to have a little talk about that later."
"What is that supposed to mean?" asked Vaughn, irritated.
Weiss put his hands in front of himself as if to stop the oncoming train of his friend's anger.
"Listen, I can see you care for her. I'm not taking this lightly, Mike. I want her to make it home, too. But just ask yourself… what would Sydney decide, if she could hear us right now?"
Vaughn sighed deeply. Weiss was right. He had to surrender.
"I'm just scared for Sydney. I want her to come back," he said quietly.
Seeing the extreme anxiety in Vaughn's green eyes, Eric put a comforting hand on his friend's shoulder and said, his voice as assured as he could possibly make it:
"She will."
Twenty minutes had gone by when Agent Seth Lambert entered the satellite relay station where Vaughn and Weiss were taking care of the extraction team's deployment. Whatever Lambert decided, they would be ready. As usual, Vaughn noticed, the man perspired with self-satisfaction.
"So, gentlemen, what seems to be the problem? You're having a fight?" he said in a condescending tone, looking around in search of approbation from the other agents present.
Weiss, who knew the way Vaughn felt about Lambert, saw his friend's clenched jaw. So, to avoid any trouble, he stepped in and explained the situation.
Lambert rubbed his chin pensively.
"Bristow… Oh yeah, that's the file I got this morning… Let me see…"
Lambert opened the file and whistled.
"Look at her. I wouldn't kick that out of bed," he commented, grinning in Vaughn and Weiss' direction as if they'd agree he had the right to even voice that very thought.
Vaughn felt his blood pressure rise and tried to reason with himself. This arrogant son of a gun wasn't worth getting into trouble for. The thought of what Sydney would do to him before he ever got anywhere near her bed even made Vaughn smile inwardly.
But Vaughn's good intentions flew out the window when Lambert declared:
"We don't do anything. Having a double agent into SD-6 is crucial. We have to take the chance she will get out unharmed."
"What if she gets killed?" Vaughn questioned a bit more fervently than necessary, earning an enquiring look from Weiss.
"She's a double agent. She must know her chances of having grandchildren someday are pretty slim," Lambert replied, chuckling a little.
Vaughn thought he would explode. How could he show that much disregard for Sydney's welfare? He was about to tell the man exactly how he felt about him when Weiss discreetly touched his arm. Vaughn looked at him and understood immediately. His pal had realised how upset he was and didn't want Lambert to also recognise that. But then Vaughn's thoughts paused for a second as a question nagged him: why was he this upset?
"Team, stay put. Don't do anything unless Bristow is shot," Lambert ordered.
Really struggling to contain his anger and resigned to the fact he had lost the war, Vaughn sat down in front of the screen and waited.
In 10 minutes, Sydney was supposed to be at the extraction point.
7 minutes.
4 minutes.
Weiss was sitting next to him, unusually silent.
"Tell me you're not wrong about this, Weiss?" Vaughn suddenly said weakly.
Gazing at his buddy, Eric noticed how pale he was so he put his hand on his shoulder.
"I'm not," he said, trying to reassure him.
1 minute.
"There she is," announced Weiss, even though they could all see her on the screen, thanks to the satellite feed.
They watched anxiously as Sydney got closer and closer to the plane. When the pilot suddenly got out to meet her, they held their breath. Weiss was particularly sweaty. What if he had been wrong? Now that it had dawned on him that Vaughn seemed to nurture feelings for Sydney, he knew his friend would never forgive him if something happened to her.
They were unable to take their eyes off the screen until Sydney closed the plane's door behind her.
"She's okay!" Weiss couldn't help but say, feeling immensely relieved. He had managed to keep alive both Sydney and his friendship with Vaughn.
Looking like he had just ran the marathon, Vaughn got up promptly. Weiss stared at him intently, sending him numerous 'we need to talk' looks, but Vaughn dismissed them.
"I've got to go. Alice is waiting for me," he announced curtly before leaving.
On his way home, Vaughn had almost cancelled the date he had with Alice that night. They were supposed to go to the movies, but now he felt so drained that all he wanted was to sink into bed. But having not really been around for Alice since his mission in Slovakia, he knew he couldn't cancel without exposing himself to her fury. Sitting in a dark room pretending to watch some silly movie wasn't so terrible after all.
For the twentieth time, Vaughn gazed at the clock. 4:46am. Alice was by his side, sound asleep. She had ended up staying the night, in spite of the fight they had had earlier that evening. After the movie, she had been angry with him because he wasn't paying much attention to what she was saying. He had tried to deny it, but she was right. The thought of what had almost happened still made his heart race. He hadn't been able to relax until he had gotten confirmation, almost an hour ago, that Sydney had safely returned to LA.
But now… why wasn't he able to sleep? After all, Sydney was safe. Maybe the problem came from the conclusions he had seen in Eric's eyes. Obviously, his friend thought the anxiety he felt earlier for Sydney went beyond professional worry.
Could he be right?
Surely all handlers sought to protect the safety of their assets, but Vaughn wondered now if Sydney had ever been just an asset. Initially, she had been Lisa, the gorgeous brunette with the contagious smile. You didn't see smiles like hers everyday. He remembered thinking how beautiful her hair looked, the word 'brown' not being a sufficient description of the colour. Vaughn recalled the lights of the bar had created a soft, bronze shine, which contrasted with the depth of her dark eyes.
Vaughn had to admit; her being revealed as Sydney Bristow had done nothing to diminish her beauty. He tried to shrug that off as a matter of fact. Any guy would be crazy not to find her attractive...even if they didn't know how brave and determined she was. She was an incredible woman…
Vaughn suddenly sat upright in his bed. Did he really have feelings for Sydney Bristow?
Alice rolled on her back, disturbed in her sleep. Vaughn went back to a lying position, wondering how deep those feelings could be. He quickly reassured himself: this couldn't be more than a crush that would go away on its own. After all, he barely knew her. But still, there was only one word to describe those feelings: inappropriate.
That fact, added to the way he had almost exposed her tonight, led him to make the decision he knew Sydney wouldn't like.
He was going to resign as her handler.
