Author's Note: Finally, a little action. :-) And I've redone the chapters so that the parts finally correspond to the chapters. lol! -Ashni
********************
MYSTERIA: Part 4
********************
Sydney crept through the dark offices, staying as low to the ground as she could manage. A security guard's flashlight swept by her. She pressed against the wall and forced herself to stay still. When the guard had gone, she darted around the corner, halting at the glass doors. With a quick glance around the room to make sure no one was in sight, she slipped through into the corridor where Sloane's office was.
She lost precious minutes fumbling with the lock. Even as she crept into the office and closed the door behind her, footsteps warned her that another guard approached. There was no time to take cover. Sydney huddled behind the door, hoping against hope that he wouldn't notice that the door wasn't completely closed. The footsteps passed by without faltering. Taking a deep breathe, she rose slowly and went to Sloane's desk.
Earlier that day, as she raced home from Tahoe after a rushed conversation with Vaughn, her dad had deactivated the motion sensors and other security measures around the office. Or so he said. No matter how hard she tried, Sydney couldn't quite bring herself to trust her dad. He'd lied to her so many times before, and knew she only saw in him what he allowed her to see. But Vaughn had assured her that the office was, in fact, safe for her to enter. And she trusted Vaughn.
Not that he had been happy about her going. When she'd called to tell him that Francie had seen her doppelganger at a café only a few blocks from her house, he'd grimly replied with the information he'd just received: that the look-alike had been sent by SD-6.
"Then surely she reported back that a helicopter airlifted me out of the forest," she exclaimed. "And maybe she thought it was sent by SD-6, but-"
"But Sloane would know." Vaughn's flat tone confirmed her realization…and her bafflement. "And he let you go free."
"I have to find out what's going on."
She could picture his face at that moment, the way his brow would furrow and his eyes darken. She'd seen it every time he sent her off on a mission, not knowing if she'd return. "No, Syd, you can't! It's too dangerous!"
"Don't ask me to wait patiently hundreds of miles away while I have *this* hanging over my head!"
"Sydney-"
"Vaughn, *please.* I can't-" She broke off and closed her eyes, fighting for control. When she continued, her voice was level. "I can't live without knowing. Please help me in this." Hearing her pitiful, pleading tone, she stopped. The seconds crawled by and it seemed to be years before Vaughn finally sighed and responded.
"Fine," he said wearily, sounding defeated. Then, louder: "Fine. Start back now. I'll contact your father and have him disable the surveillance in Sloane's office. I assume that's where you want to investigate?"
A thrill of anticipation ran through her and she could barely mask the excitement she felt. "Yes. I'll start heading back to L.A. now."
"There will be a CIA team waiting in Reynor Park."
"Thank you, Vaughn."
He hesitated a moment before answering. "Be careful."
Now, surrounded by glass walls and watching the distant illumination of flashlights on the empty rows of desks, Sydney wondered if she hadn't been too hasty. She'd barely been in Los Angeles for ten minutes before the team had whisked her off to Credit Dauphine.
No time for regrets now. She pulled a key from a pocket in her vest and opened the top drawer of Sloane's desk. She rifled through the files quickly, repressing her natural curiosity to look at the folders that had nothing to do with the particular assignment she was looking for.
Finally she came across one labeled "Olim Idlabmar." She drew it out of its place carefully and crouched down behind the desk before opening it. A slip of paper was clipped to the first page. She squinted at it in the dim light, turning the folder slightly. It read: "K.S. - first mission - success."
Sydney's eyes widened. K.S.-that must be the woman who had come to her rescue in Pennsylvania! She closed the folder and lay it on the ground before returning to the open drawer. A quick search revealed a file in the far back, labeled "K.S." She took it out and returned to her seat behind the desk.
Her hands trembled. When she had spoken with him last, right before coming here, Vaughn had asked her if she was sure she wanted to uncover this mystery. "Sometimes, there are things better left unknown," he had cautioned her. She had been set on coming, though, so he had wished her luck and stood at the sidewalk as she disappeared down the street.
*There are things better left unknown.* Was he right? She hesitated, and it was in that hesitation that she heard it. A whisper of sound, easily dismissed if her nerves hadn't been so jumpy. But they were, and she froze, holding her breath.
A slight change of shadow upon shadow told her that a figure crouched at the door. A faint footstep told her that he-or she-had entered the room. Sydney guessed that she hadn't been seen: she heard no cry of shock, no anxious retreat into the hallway. She set the folders down silently beside her. She turned, balancing on the balls of her feet, and peered around the edge of the desk.
"You!" she gasped, then cursed herself for the outburst. The figure spun around to look at her. She found herself face-to-face with a gun, looking at her own face, her own eyes.
Her doppelganger took a step back, letting her gun fall to her side. She snarled softly. "Sydney," she breathed. Suddenly her eyes took on a wild, raging glint. "You're working against him!" She raised the gun again.
Sydney cried out and stumbled behind the desk as a shot rang out. The glass behind her shattered. A waterfall of shards cascaded down on her. She heard the guards shout out and they came running. Desperate, she grabbed the files and threw herself through the jagged opening in the glass, shielding her face with her arms. The hot sting of blood bit her cheek.
When she finally staggered outside, the CIA team pulled her into the car. The tires screeched as they shot down the street. Sydney clutched the files to her chest. Her face was cut and bruised, and tears rose in her eyes that had nothing to do with the pain.
* * *
Journal,
I don't even know what to write, I'm so torn up with anger and hate and betrayal right now. Betrayal, yes, *betrayal* from she who didn't even know that I existed until I saved her sneaking, conniving ass in Pennsylvania. I tried to kill her, did you know that? My shot went wide and she got away, but it makes me all the more determined to bring her down.
All I've ever done, I've done to live up to her kindness, her strength, her *loyalty,* and now I find she's working against us after all! Why else would she be sneaking around in his office, looking through files she has no business looking through? Not to find out about me, I assure you. She's grown up free of the burden of my existence, although I get no such courtesy.
I'll show Father who is truly worthy of his love. I went in to find out about her, and find out about her I did. I found out her traitorous, deceitful mind. I *will* bring her down. I will bring her down, and only when she is dead will I reveal to Father the truth about her. Then he'll know that I should be the one he trusts, the one he turns to, the one he boasts about. I won't let him assign this to anyone else. I will show him her dead body, and only then will he realize the danger he so narrowly escaped.
I will give him her head and he will give me my right.
Kesi
********************
MYSTERIA: Part 4
********************
Sydney crept through the dark offices, staying as low to the ground as she could manage. A security guard's flashlight swept by her. She pressed against the wall and forced herself to stay still. When the guard had gone, she darted around the corner, halting at the glass doors. With a quick glance around the room to make sure no one was in sight, she slipped through into the corridor where Sloane's office was.
She lost precious minutes fumbling with the lock. Even as she crept into the office and closed the door behind her, footsteps warned her that another guard approached. There was no time to take cover. Sydney huddled behind the door, hoping against hope that he wouldn't notice that the door wasn't completely closed. The footsteps passed by without faltering. Taking a deep breathe, she rose slowly and went to Sloane's desk.
Earlier that day, as she raced home from Tahoe after a rushed conversation with Vaughn, her dad had deactivated the motion sensors and other security measures around the office. Or so he said. No matter how hard she tried, Sydney couldn't quite bring herself to trust her dad. He'd lied to her so many times before, and knew she only saw in him what he allowed her to see. But Vaughn had assured her that the office was, in fact, safe for her to enter. And she trusted Vaughn.
Not that he had been happy about her going. When she'd called to tell him that Francie had seen her doppelganger at a café only a few blocks from her house, he'd grimly replied with the information he'd just received: that the look-alike had been sent by SD-6.
"Then surely she reported back that a helicopter airlifted me out of the forest," she exclaimed. "And maybe she thought it was sent by SD-6, but-"
"But Sloane would know." Vaughn's flat tone confirmed her realization…and her bafflement. "And he let you go free."
"I have to find out what's going on."
She could picture his face at that moment, the way his brow would furrow and his eyes darken. She'd seen it every time he sent her off on a mission, not knowing if she'd return. "No, Syd, you can't! It's too dangerous!"
"Don't ask me to wait patiently hundreds of miles away while I have *this* hanging over my head!"
"Sydney-"
"Vaughn, *please.* I can't-" She broke off and closed her eyes, fighting for control. When she continued, her voice was level. "I can't live without knowing. Please help me in this." Hearing her pitiful, pleading tone, she stopped. The seconds crawled by and it seemed to be years before Vaughn finally sighed and responded.
"Fine," he said wearily, sounding defeated. Then, louder: "Fine. Start back now. I'll contact your father and have him disable the surveillance in Sloane's office. I assume that's where you want to investigate?"
A thrill of anticipation ran through her and she could barely mask the excitement she felt. "Yes. I'll start heading back to L.A. now."
"There will be a CIA team waiting in Reynor Park."
"Thank you, Vaughn."
He hesitated a moment before answering. "Be careful."
Now, surrounded by glass walls and watching the distant illumination of flashlights on the empty rows of desks, Sydney wondered if she hadn't been too hasty. She'd barely been in Los Angeles for ten minutes before the team had whisked her off to Credit Dauphine.
No time for regrets now. She pulled a key from a pocket in her vest and opened the top drawer of Sloane's desk. She rifled through the files quickly, repressing her natural curiosity to look at the folders that had nothing to do with the particular assignment she was looking for.
Finally she came across one labeled "Olim Idlabmar." She drew it out of its place carefully and crouched down behind the desk before opening it. A slip of paper was clipped to the first page. She squinted at it in the dim light, turning the folder slightly. It read: "K.S. - first mission - success."
Sydney's eyes widened. K.S.-that must be the woman who had come to her rescue in Pennsylvania! She closed the folder and lay it on the ground before returning to the open drawer. A quick search revealed a file in the far back, labeled "K.S." She took it out and returned to her seat behind the desk.
Her hands trembled. When she had spoken with him last, right before coming here, Vaughn had asked her if she was sure she wanted to uncover this mystery. "Sometimes, there are things better left unknown," he had cautioned her. She had been set on coming, though, so he had wished her luck and stood at the sidewalk as she disappeared down the street.
*There are things better left unknown.* Was he right? She hesitated, and it was in that hesitation that she heard it. A whisper of sound, easily dismissed if her nerves hadn't been so jumpy. But they were, and she froze, holding her breath.
A slight change of shadow upon shadow told her that a figure crouched at the door. A faint footstep told her that he-or she-had entered the room. Sydney guessed that she hadn't been seen: she heard no cry of shock, no anxious retreat into the hallway. She set the folders down silently beside her. She turned, balancing on the balls of her feet, and peered around the edge of the desk.
"You!" she gasped, then cursed herself for the outburst. The figure spun around to look at her. She found herself face-to-face with a gun, looking at her own face, her own eyes.
Her doppelganger took a step back, letting her gun fall to her side. She snarled softly. "Sydney," she breathed. Suddenly her eyes took on a wild, raging glint. "You're working against him!" She raised the gun again.
Sydney cried out and stumbled behind the desk as a shot rang out. The glass behind her shattered. A waterfall of shards cascaded down on her. She heard the guards shout out and they came running. Desperate, she grabbed the files and threw herself through the jagged opening in the glass, shielding her face with her arms. The hot sting of blood bit her cheek.
When she finally staggered outside, the CIA team pulled her into the car. The tires screeched as they shot down the street. Sydney clutched the files to her chest. Her face was cut and bruised, and tears rose in her eyes that had nothing to do with the pain.
* * *
Journal,
I don't even know what to write, I'm so torn up with anger and hate and betrayal right now. Betrayal, yes, *betrayal* from she who didn't even know that I existed until I saved her sneaking, conniving ass in Pennsylvania. I tried to kill her, did you know that? My shot went wide and she got away, but it makes me all the more determined to bring her down.
All I've ever done, I've done to live up to her kindness, her strength, her *loyalty,* and now I find she's working against us after all! Why else would she be sneaking around in his office, looking through files she has no business looking through? Not to find out about me, I assure you. She's grown up free of the burden of my existence, although I get no such courtesy.
I'll show Father who is truly worthy of his love. I went in to find out about her, and find out about her I did. I found out her traitorous, deceitful mind. I *will* bring her down. I will bring her down, and only when she is dead will I reveal to Father the truth about her. Then he'll know that I should be the one he trusts, the one he turns to, the one he boasts about. I won't let him assign this to anyone else. I will show him her dead body, and only then will he realize the danger he so narrowly escaped.
I will give him her head and he will give me my right.
Kesi
