Chapter 15: Shoot Yourself in the Foot

Disclaimer: Alias isn't, nor was it ever, mine. This particular brilliant creation is not mine.

A/N: Yes, this title does have some significance. It's not just funny.

Spana: Yeah! That's the spirit!

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Michael was suddenly roused from a fitful sleep. For once, he was thankful to have his sleep interrupted, however it came about, because it also disrupted the very disturbing dream involving Sydney Hecht. Even though the dream had been enjoyable…

Another sharp ring of the telephone chased away the lingering wisps of the dream, dragging him back to reality. Michael glanced at the clock as he reached for the phone. Three AM.

"Vaughn," he said, fighting to keep sleep from his voice and succeeding for the most part.

"Bristow. Be at Miller's in two hours. My contacts will be there by 5:30."

Jack hung up before Michael could respond.

"Great," Michael muttered, stumbling around his room in the vague light filtering form the bathroom, trying to find a pair of jeans to pull on. In the process, he slammed his foot into his dresser.

"Damn!" he growled, limping slightly for a few minutes.

He ran his hand through his hair; yep, it was sticking up every way possible. He'd have to do something with it to look presentable, even before dawn…Bristow was still a superior, after all.

By the time Michael was awake enough to get ready to his satisfaction, he was glad Jack had called him two hours early. Al this hour, the drive to Miller's house should take, at most, 15 minutes. And normally, half an hour would have been more than sufficient for him to get ready. Being on constant alert all the time that he'd stayed at the Hechts', plus his virtually sleepless night, had left him more than a little groggy. After three cups of coffee, he started toward Miller's house at a speed far greater than he should have needed to.

He parked a full block away form the house, and noted Jack's car almost a block the other side of Miller's house. He slipped around the house and almost ran into Danny, who was also sneaking around Miller's backyard in the dark and praying not to run full into a shrub, or trip over some unknown tree stump.

"Where's the kid?" Michael asked quietly as he came up beside Danny. "You leave him alone?" He tried to sound disinterested.

"He'll sleep. Sydney never wakes him up until seven," Danny said, shrugging.

"He never wakes up early?"

"If he does, Sydney takes care of it. She doesn't wake me up."

"Great," Michael muttered as he knocked lightly on the door.

Danny gave him a look that, even in the dark, clearly showed his irritation.

Jack answered the door and led them silently into the kitchen, where the only light was on. Danny wondered how the other two men kept from ramming into something in the dark hall.

"My contacts, tow men who've done some freelance work for years, will be here soon," Jack said, quickly taking control of his makeshift taskforce. "All of you need to understand what Sydney and Lorrie's extraction is going to entail, leaving you the opportunity to back out while you still can."

Jack managed to make it clear that he was addressing himself to Danny and Taylor, not Michael, the trained agent that already knew what to expect. Only fair, Michael thought.

"My contacts will supply us with weapons, electronic lock picks in case on a security system, a com system. Everything necessary to break into the facility undetected. I have confirmed that they are indeed at the facility in question," he added, giving Michael a look that clearly suggested he not inquire as to his sources. Michael decided he didn't really want to know anyway; he was already going against all of his common sense, not to mention the entire CIA. The less he knew, the better.

Jack continued to explain basics, and Michael continued to wonder if there was a good reason he was there. But as he watched the blank looks that crossed the two men's faces, he decided that Jack wanted him, as the only other agent around, to know exactly what they were dealing with.

Finally, about five minutes before jack's contacts were due to arrive, Michael stopped him.

"Are you sure you can trust your sources?" he asked, deliberately not asking about them specifically.

Jack nodded. "They're reliable."

"What about these contacts? Should you have brought them here? It would have been safer to set up a meeting in a slightly more neutral location."

Jack stared at him a moment.

"One of my guys is an ex-cop, currently in place in the Russian Mafia and feeding information to the UN about their actions. The other is currently CIA, works in weapons, and can provide us with what we need in that area." He looked hard at Michael. "He may well be someone you have, or will eventually, run into in the Op Center."

Michael nodded, just as there was a soft knock on the back door. Jack grimaced and looked untrustingly ar Taylor and Danny, both of wore looks similar to that of an eager, playful puppy.

"You two just don't say anything, okay?" Jack snapped. "This guy may not leave weapons here if he's afraid you'll shoot yourself in the foot."

"Either of you ever handle a firearm?" Michael asked quietly as jack stalked out.

Danny shook his head, and Taylor said, "I had a BB gun when I was a kid."

"Great," Michael muttered, beginning to feel he should have a death wish.

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A huge warehouse, large crates everywhere. Knockout gas or something, Sydney thought as her mind began to clear. She'd read about how hard it was to think after being hit with something like that, but reading was nothing compared to living it.

Her feet were shackled together and chained to a thick metal ring attached to the concrete floor, but her hands were loose, and the chain was pretty long.

Lorrie lay beside her on the cold floor, and as Sydney's vision cleared she saw that there was an ugly bruise forming under Lorrie's left eye. Other than that, she looked okay. As Sydney shifted, she realized her shoulder was stiff, and she wondered how long they'd been wherever they were, if her arm had had time to become painfully stiff.

Lorrie stirred before she had long to wonder about that, and she moved over to be in Lorrie's line of sight.

"Lorrie?" she called softly, strangely wary of being heard. "Open your eyes and say something, Lorrie."

Lorrie opened her eyes, blinked hard, and winced. Her hand moved to touch her face.

Sydney gently pulled her hand away. "You're gonna have a nice shiner there," she said ,attempting to lighten the situation.

Lorrie wasn't deterred for even a second. She sat up and looked around with frenzied eyes. "Where are we?" she asked in terror.

Sydney shook her head. "I don't know. But we have to stay calm, okay?"

"Okay," Lorrie said shakily, blinking back tears and sliding over closer to Sydney. She glanced fearfully at her feet as the chain clinked. "I'm scared," she whispered, looking at the floor.

"I know. Me too," Sydney said, putting an arm around Lorrie and hoping her voice sounded a whole lot stronger than she felt.

For a while, they just talked. Just so they didn't have to think. They talked about friends, old and new, their extended families, even things as trivial as favorite foods and colors. Sydney began to talk about Michael and all the little battles they'd had.

"You know," Lorrie put in thoughtfully, "I don't think he hates you. It sounds like he just doesn't like people to know what he's thinking. You know, like he just acts that way to throw you off or something.

That hit Sydney pretty hard; if he didn't hate her--Lorrie's comment did make perfect sense--what did he think? And if the cold man she'd been seeing wasn't the real Michael, but rather the friendly man that had peeked through occasionally, then what did she…

"Sydney. Lorrie. You're awake. Good." Irina Derevko had appeared from behind one of those crates, and for the split second before she was furious, she was actually grateful to Derevko for interrupting her thoughts. "I brought you some soup. I wasn't sure how those sedatives would effect you. If you want something else, I'll get it." The woman sounded like…well, like a mother. And timid, as though she wasn't sure what to say now.

"I want something else, all right," Sydney snapped. "What the…what are we doing here? And where are we?"

Irina shook her head. "I really only wanted to talk to you both. It was dangerous for me, and you put up such a struggle…I had no choice." Derevko placed the tray with two bowls of soup in front of Sydney, and smiled sadly. "You've both grown up wonderfully."

Lorrie had been too shocked to react at first, but suddenly a ragged sob escaped her.

"No! Mama, no! Please, no!" she sobbed hysterically.

Sydney hugged her, realizing that, despite all that had happened, Lorrie had still been clinging to the hope that everything had been a mistake. Derevko made a move as if to comfort Lorrie, and Sydney shot to her feet between her and Lorrie. Despite the fact that her head was spinning, she spit out, "Don't you even! Leave her alone! This is your fault!"

Derevko looked shocked, and took a step backward as though afraid Sydney would hit her, while Sydney stooped down to calm Lorrie.

"Lorrie…" Derevko said uncertainly. "Sydney, I…I only wanted to tell you both, I'm sorry. I wish I could have stayed with you. But it was dangerous, for me and for you." She shook her head when she realized neither of them was listening to her. Carefully, she got down on her knees next to them and put one hand on Lorrie's shoulder and the other on Sydney's. "I'm sorry," she said simply; the look on Lorrie's face cut through her like a knife. "I'll get you some ice for your eye, Lorrie," she added after an awkward moment of silence.

Lorrie visibly regained her composure as soon as Derevko disappeared.

"I'm sorry, Sydney," she said quietly. "I'm scared. I can't…I can't be around her. I'm not really scared of her but…I want to go home."

"I know. I don't know what's going to happen from here, but I think we'll be okay. Just hang in, and we'll be okay." Sydney sat with her arm around Lorrie, and Lorrie rested her head against her shoulder.

Irina witnessed the scene from between two crates, where she was sure they couldn't seen her. She'd screwed up a lot back then. Leaving Sydney and jack felt like the stupidest thing she'd ever done. Getting involved with Taylor Miller had been a mistake from the beginning, too. Lorrie had been an accident, a fluke. That didn't mean she loved her any less, and it had been just as hard to leave her when the time had come. She'd screwed up, and now she couldn't go back, couldn't even safely continue contacting them. It was far too likely that someone would discover their link, and she would be baited all too easily if anyone threatened Sydney or Lorrie.

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Jack repeated the address again. "It's a CIA owned warehouse, never used anymore. Noon tomorrow. No excuses. We have to act on this before it's invalidated."

Michael nodded, but the other two looked shocked.

"We can't wait that long!" Taylor snapped. "Lorrie…and Sydney might not still be…that might be too late!"

"Yeah!" Danny echoed.

"Noon tomorrow," Jack said simply, closing the door behind himself.

Michael stood and noted it was bordering on seven o'clock.

"Hey, Danny, shouldn't you go check on your kid?" Michael asked carefully.

Danny shrugged. "He's probably still asleep."

"It seems like your wife takes care of him most of the time," Michael continued after a moment. "You know, officially, I'm still assigned to keep an eye on your house. The order hasn't been withdrawn."

"You weren't there last night."

"Bristow covered," he lied. He wanted Danny to think the CIA still believed the house needed to be watched. "It won't hurt to stick around in case there's a call for ransom. I can help you out with the kid. This has all got to be hard; I'd like to help out a little while I can." He was lying outright now; he no more wanted to help Danny than he wanted to throw himself off a bridge, but he felt strangely protective of Sydney's kid. He wanted the baby to be taken care of, even if not in good hands.

Danny eyed him warily, then decided that, if nothing else, it was a way to keep Jaime out of his hair for a little while.

"That's be great. I don't' really want to leave him at the day care after all of this," Danny said. Lying through his teeth, Michael thought.

"I'd be glad to keep him. If Derevko knows there's any agents around, she's less likely to try anything."

Taylor sat silently through the exchange, watching the other two. He saw the friendly smiles. And the fight in their eyes. And he sensed that the two men were rivaling each other, even though one of them was unwilling to admit he was fighting for anything.

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